Chapter 54: Being a Kami with Humanity

When Linde stepped outside, he found Cynthia chatting animatedly with two Drilbur of different sizes.

To his surprise, Cynthia had a surprisingly good affinity with dragons, even recognizing some among the Drilbur.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, Cynthia smiled and waved a wing at him, signaling Linde to come over.

"What's wrong?" Linde asked.

"Nothing, just feeling how wonderful fate can be."

Cynthia pointed to the nearby Drilbur and began to recount a past event.

Once, while she was searching for tribute items, she had passed through this Migal Valley.

Back then, flying high in the air, her sharp eyes spotted something gleaming in the rushing river.

Thinking she had struck it lucky and encountered some rare treasure, she flew down eagerly.

Only when she got closer did she realize it was a dragon egg, appearing so unique simply because of the way the light reflected off it.

Operating on the principle of "since I've already seen it," Cynthia risked getting the inner lining of her wings soaked as she rescued the dragon egg from the river and placed it safely on the riverbank.

"I didn't think much of it at the time. I just felt that we're all born from eggs. If an egg goes missing, the mother dragon must be frantic."

"So I waited and waited by the riverbank, until the careless mother who lost the dragon egg finally arrived downstream."

"When I saw the Drilbur approaching, my first reaction was that it was going to eat the egg. I even tried to chase it away with my claws and shield the dragon egg with my wings."

At this point, Cynthia looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Later, I found that no matter how I tried to drive it away, it wouldn't leave, and it didn't fight back even when hit. Or rather, compared to retaliating, its eyes held only the dragon egg."

"So I stopped attacking and tentatively let it get closer to the egg. As a result, the other party immediately wrapped its body tightly around the dragon egg, curling into a ball-like shape."

The larger Drilbur in front of her even gave a live demonstration right then and there.

Only, her child Moxi was no longer the dragon egg of back then, so she naturally couldn't enclose it completely as she had in the past.

The mother Drilbur chimed in at this moment:

"Back then, I didn't know Cynthia's name, I was just immensely grateful to this butterfly dragon who protected my child."

"No matter how I invited her to visit our tribe, Miss Cynthia just kept her head down and flew up into the sky."

"Miss Cynthia does good deeds without leaving her name—what a warm-hearted soul!"

Is there any possibility that she simply didn't understand a single word, Linde thought to himself.

At that moment, Cynthia met his eyes, her gaze carrying a warning undertone.

It seemed she didn't want him to speak out of turn.

Nor would Linde choose to expose her at a time like this.

Besides, he still had something to apologize to Cynthia for.

"Let's go over to that corner. I have something I want to tell you in private."

"What is it? Why are you being so secretive?"

Cynthia tilted her head in confusion and glanced at him, but still chose to follow him toward the corner.

"Cynthia, I apologize for my previous arrogance."

Once the butterfly dragon had come to a halt, Linde said with a serious expression.

After coming into contact with the Drilbur tribe and gaining a deeper understanding of the current situation in this region, he had realized the erroneous, arrogant mindset he held when he had first transmigrated.

Having arrived from the modern world just a few days prior, the first person he met was Victoria, who possessed both exceptional bloodline and temperament.

And possessing the Minecraft system had also made Linde subconsciously feel that he was extraordinary.

Under such circumstances, encountering Cynthia—whose strength and disposition were somewhat lacking—he inevitably ended up lecturing her from his own self-perceived height.

It is always easy to talk when you aren't the one bearing the burden.

As a newcomer who had barely been here for a week, how could he possibly empathize in any true sense with a butterfly dragon who had felt the oppressive coercion of a red dragon for years on end?

The time was simply too short.

Linde had felt that every dragon should possess the same rebellious spirit as he and Victoria did.

Yet he had overlooked the fact that not every dragon could master Minecraft, nor could every dragon walk away unscathed after provoking a red dragon.

The gemstone wyrm family was unique in being the champion of escape.

It wasn't until he felt the heartache and helplessness of the Drilbur tribe, and until he and Cynthia opened their hearts to each other, that he gradually felt he was truly living in this land.

He could not judge the plight of these dragons from a god-like perspective.

He had not yet fully mastered "divine power," nor had he activated the so-called Creative Mode.

Regardless of whether he achieved omniscience and omnipotence, he should always maintain a heart of awe toward life.

Much like Victoria sharing her heart with him, he needed to respect his own life first.

And now, Linde had awakened and made his decision.

Even as his reputation level increased and he unlocked new commands and crafting effects, he would fulfill the promise he made to the old patriarch—to become a benevolent king.

This process was actually more akin to reclaiming sovereign authority and becoming a god of the new world.

Imagine, when the chromatic dragons all submitted, when generation after generation of the dragon race came to trust him as their human king.

With endless reputation points, he would truly lack nothing.

Linde had many thoughts in his mind, but the only thing he could say out loud was that apology.

Even that apology was not accepted by the butterfly dragon.

"Is something wrong with your head?"

Cynthia pointed to her own head.

"Didn't you say earlier that there's no need between us to pin blame on anyone and that we shouldn't apologize to each other? And now you're pulling this stunt?"

"You think you were arrogant, but I thought you were very cautious. You wrote the plan for the treasure heist over and over again, and you were exceptionally meticulous during the field reconnaissance..."

"If you're talking about the time we bickered at the very beginning, I stopped caring about that long ago. Besides, I should be the one apologizing to you and Victoria for my own cowardice."

"After doing it, I realized it really wasn't that hard... Oh well, let's not talk about that anymore."

"If you really want to apologize, go say it to Victoria. Seriously, whether you're worried about your cart being flattened by her or afraid she'll throw a unreasonable tantrum—"

"You should at least have told her about building the railroad tracks. Being kept in the dark doesn't feel good, especially for a young maiden with a lot on her mind~"

Cynthia blinked at him.

Linde awkwardly scratched the back of his head, resolving in his heart to come clean to Victoria.

The butterfly dragon patted his shoulder with her wing:

"Go on, go on. I see the Drilbur taking a while with their specialty dishes anyway. Use this time to coax the sulking little dragon."

"I won't disturb you. I'm giving you some alone time."

Watching Cynthia's retreating figure, Linde followed after her.

She exited the cave unharmed.

But just as he poked his head out, a small earthen hammer smashed squarely onto his forehead.

"Where did this wretched mole come from? Taste my Dark Strike!"