Chapter 39: Children, I Am Free

Unlike other dragons who fear the thunder, the butterfly dragon Shirona felt a surge of joy when she heard the rumble.

The time had come; it was time to seize the treasure!

The yellow prismatic crystals they each carried helped them track each other's positions. The guards who had been patrolling the corridor had all rushed toward the Great Hall to defend the king upon hearing the thunderous roar.

Finding a discreet corner—a gap between two magical arrays—Shirona pressed her body against the wall and held still. After counting silently to three, a dull thud echoed through the air. The wall corner was blasted open, revealing a cute dragon face.

"Victoria, hurry, hurry, crawl through..." Shirona urged.

"Ugh, I feel like crawling through a hole like this is a bit humiliating."

"Don't worry about that nonsense. Linde is still in the Great Hall facing the Red Dragon."

Shirona kept glancing back at the path they had taken, ensuring no guards were returning.

"Head first, suck in your stomach. Since your upper body can fit, your lower body certainly will too."

"I am! I'm trying!"

Victoria gritted her teeth, regretting that she had eaten just a little too much lately. Summoning the same effort she had used to break out of her dragon egg, she finally squeezed inside. Without waiting for Shirona to speak, she scooped her up and began to trot.

"Quick, quick, we only have five minutes. Keep track of the time; once it's up, we must retreat."

"Understood."

Victoria recalled the details of their mission in the treasure-snatching plan.

***

"How are we supposed to retreat together?" Shirona had tilted her head, raising the question during their planning meeting.

"How about a signal? *Smack, smack*... something only we understand, like tapping the wall with a gem in a certain rhythm, *smack*... Ouch!"

Before Victoria could let out another smack, a righteous hand-chop landed on her head.

"Stop smacking your lips while you eat." Linde glanced at her.

"Oh." The young dragon replied sullenly.

Doesn't smacking her lips just show how delicious the food is? The fruit platter Linde had made specifically for her was so good that she wanted him to hear her enjoyment.

Not only did she get hit, but her plan was also rejected.

"Signals won't work. If I'm in the Great Hall and I can hear it, the Red Dragon can hear it too. Wouldn't that blow our cover?"

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Why are we so obsessed with retreating together? We could—"

"Hmm—?"

Before Linde could finish, Victoria stopped eating entirely, tilted her head to rest against his, and glared at him with her large eyes, her claws twitching. If the young human didn't remember the lesson from that night, she would have to use the "Great Memory Recovery Technique."

"Let me finish!" Linde said, looking helpless. "I mean we can set a fixed time limit. When the time is up, whether we’ve finished looting or not, or even if the situation in the hall is still at a stalemate, we must retreat immediately."

"Hmm..." Victoria, who had been tensing her claws, slumped back down, nodding in agreement.

"How about ten minutes?" Shirona suggested.

"That might be too long. The longer we stay, the higher the chance of an accident. Besides, keeping the Red Dragon bluffed is only temporary. Once there's a risk of exposure, I have to find a way to withdraw. If you two are still searching, that would be trouble."

"I suggest cutting it in half. Five minutes. By creating a diversion beforehand to draw the Red Dragon's attention to me, Shirona, you can use your camouflage talent to sneak to the perimeter of the treasury and wait to assist Victoria. As for when the timer starts..."

"The thunder shall be the signal!"

***

With Shirona's guidance, Victoria entered the treasury without any effort. At this moment, only the two of them were inside; the other creatures had likely been drawn away by the sudden thunder and were being stalled by Linde.

Linde had told them to be quiet and not make too much noise while searching—to be mysterious. Victoria and Shirona kept this firmly in mind.

"Treasures... why are there so many..." the gem dragon whispered, her eyes wide.

Victoria had imagined the floor would be piled high with a dazzling array of riches, but she hadn't expected them to be stacked higher than two of her combined. They had even built shelves to display the treasures in layers, and the shelves themselves were made of gold. Victoria had seen so much gold and so many gems that she thought she was immune to such things.

But the hollowed-out jade sculpture caught her eye. On the emerald-green tree, various birds were carved from green gems, with obsidian used for their eyes, making them look incredibly lifelike. And this was just one of thousands of treasures.

What were the ruins she had explored during her days wandering the New Continent? Rat holes? How could the gap between dragons be so vast?

"Dreadful greedy dragon!"

She would snatch all the useful treasures first, and once she grew strong enough to defeat the Red Dragon, she would return these beautiful, fun trinkets to the dragons who truly deserved them. But before that, she, Linde, and Shirona had to pick out some things they liked; after all, they were the ones defeating the Red Dragon, so getting a reward was only reasonable.

Even while still in the midst of the heist, the daydreaming Victoria was already imagining a total victory.

"Victoria, stop staring blankly, keep stuffing the space gem..." the hardworking butterfly dragon reminded her.

Just seeing the treasures she had once offered as tribute sitting in the corner made her blood boil. The Red Dragon had eaten so much—today, she would make it cough it all back up.

"Oh, oh..." Victoria nodded.

She decided to pack up the jade tree first. Aside from its beauty, the obsidian on it was quite rare, and she didn't know if Linde might need it. He had specifically asked her to look for diamonds or emeralds; in any case, she was to pack whatever rare materials she found.

Victoria frantically stuffed "useful" treasures from the zones Shirona had marked into her storage, while desperately scanning for things Linde needed.

It was treasure-snatching time, after all. No trading, just free looting! Such an opportunity might never come again.

Once her space gem was nearly full, she turned her gaze toward the other two sections. At the same time, Shirona had finished filling hers and looked up.

"Victoria, the five minutes are almost up. Let's get ready to head back to the hole."

"Wait, there are alchemy materials over there. Let me pack some more for Linde..."

Victoria didn't care if they were useful or not; she shoved redstone powder, mithril, orichalcum, and anything else into the gem, filling every remaining gap.

"Let's go, let's get out of here. Now we just have to wait for Linde to come out."