Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 24 Dragon Oath
While chewing on the jerky, Xiaolong would occasionally steal glances at Caesar with his big eyes, as if afraid of a sudden attack.

As a result, he choked because he ate too fast and started coughing violently.

"Slower."

Caesar stepped forward and raised his hand to pat the little dragon on the back, but the dragon still shrank back warily, stopped talking, and just stared at him.

“Okay, okay.” He raised his hand, took a step back, and stopped trying to get closer.

Xiaolong then started chewing again.

The bag of jerky was quickly devoured, leaving not even a crumb.

Judging from their appearance, they probably haven't eaten enough.

Caesar glanced into the basket; besides the meat, there was a bag of whole wheat bread left, but Little Dragon hadn't touched it, probably because the bread was too hard to eat.

Even Caesar couldn't touch this bread without a knife.

Turning his head, he looked at Xiaolong, who was still huddled there. When he suddenly turned around, Xiaolong immediately avoided his gaze.

Caesar asked in the language of dragons, "Are there any other dragons or humans here besides you?"

Xiao Long glanced at him and gently shook his head.

"where do you come from?"

Still shaking his head.

"Dragons are born with strong magical powers, right? How did you end up like this?"

Still shaking his head.

Seeing that the other party was still not very stable and that he couldn't get any information out of them, Caesar gave up on the idea of ​​asking about the current situation of the dragons.

“算了，你叫什么名字？”

"Nonoa"

With this name, is this still a male dragon?
Xiao Long glanced at him furtively, his gaze seemingly evasive. Then he turned his face away and lowered his head.

“You don’t need to be so afraid of me. Look, I’m just an ordinary human child named Caesar, and I live in a nearby village. If you’re hungry, you can come to my house; there’s hot food there.”

Noah huddled there, not even glancing at him.

"I can't go"

“I told you it’s alright,” Caesar said gently, reassuringly. “It’s just me and Yumilia at home. She’s an elf, and she’ll be very friendly to you.”

"No, that won't work."

Caesar narrowed his eyes:
"Are you saying you're in an unsafe situation right now?"

Noah pursed his dry lips and said in a hoarse voice, "It's because when I appear, people are afraid of me. They will stay far away, throw stones at me, and shoot magic at me with sticks."

“Are you mistaken? If you were to transform into a dragon and go out into the world, this is how it would be,” Caesar said.

People in this era haven't seen a live dragon in hundreds of years, so if a dragon were to appear in front of them, they would most likely be regarded as a monster.

Suddenly Caesar realized something. Mana had just said that there were traces of a monster in the forest. Could it be him?
I never expected that what that kid said was actually true.

Doesn't this little dragon have any elders to guide it? How could there be such a misunderstanding?

Caesar sighed: "Don't worry, as long as you transform into a human, no one will be afraid of you. They might dislike you, but as long as you keep yourself clean, it'll be fine."

Seeing that the other party remained unmoved, Caesar stepped forward, knelt down in front of him, raised one hand, extended three fingers to form a claw, tapped the fingertips on his chest, then tapped Noah's forehead, and said with a firm gaze:
"I swear I will protect you."

Noah was about to back away when he saw him approaching, but he stopped because of this action, and the last bit of wariness in his eyes slowly disappeared.

He slowly raised his hand and tapped his forehead.

"Are you relieved now? I told you, I am a friend of the dragons," Caesar said.

Noah nodded gently.

This is a gesture that has been used by dragons for a long time, signifying an immortal vow. Dragons will tap their companions' foreheads with their claws to make a promise, and if the other party trusts you, they will also touch their own foreheads with their claws.

The Dragon King used to tap Caesar's head like this every time before he went on a long campaign, regardless of whether he had transformed or not. Caesar felt that it was fine when he was in dragon form, as it had a kind of beauty of harmonious coexistence with a great creature. But when a burly man over two meters tall did the same thing after he transformed, it really gave him a strange feeling. The key point is that it was someone else's tradition, so he couldn't say anything.

But this action has now helped him a lot.

As a unique cultural custom of the dragon race, almost no one of other races knew about it. This friendly signal from the deep bloodline of their race completely made Noah lower his guard. He twitched his nose, his lips trembled slightly, and after completely relaxing, tears even welled up in his eyes. Caesar took off his wet coat and draped it over Noah's head, covering the small dragon horns on his head, and patted his head.

"That way, no one will be able to tell you're a dragon,"

Noah clutched the hem of his robe, a faint light gleaming in his eyes.

"Get up, I'll take you home."

Caesar grasped his thin hand, and this time the little dragon did not resist and was pulled up.

However, his body was trembling due to weakness.

No wonder he fell to the ground after just one bump; in that state, that attack must have been all-out.

Caesar picked up the basket and, seeing his weak appearance, said, "Want me to carry you?"

“No, no need,” Noah said.

But he stumbled with every step he took, and Caesar worried whether he could make it to the village.

He slung the basket over his shoulder, walked up to Noah, and squatted down with his back to him.
“Come on up, you can’t even walk in this condition.”

"No?"

Without a word, Caesar grabbed Noah's feet and stood up, causing Noah to fall onto his back.

It's very light; you can barely feel its weight.

Noah struggled only briefly before obediently lying on his back.

"Thank you," he said softly.

And so, carrying him on his back, Caesar walked home.

"How long has it been since you last ate?"

As they walked, Caesar asked.

"I don't know if I've eaten anything since I came out of a canyon. All the prey I caught was burnt, and I would vomit it up as soon as I ate it," Noah said in a low voice.

"Then I just kept going hungry, until I was too weak to even transform and couldn't use magic anymore,"

"Grand Canyon?"

Caesar thought for a moment. The nearest canyon was Pendes Canyon, which was two or three hundred miles away. Sure enough, the dragons were incredibly resilient. Most creatures would have starved to death long ago with that kind of strength.

The dragon race's transformation is not maintained by magic in the human form, but by switching between two forms. It only consumes magic once during the process. If Noah does not have enough magic to switch forms after becoming human, he can only remain in human form.

Although Caesar really wanted to ask about the current situation of the dragons and Noah's fate, he decided to settle things with him first before discussing anything else.

Noah slowly walked back home. As soon as he reached the village entrance and saw humans appear, he buried his head in Caesar's back, his body trembling.

"Hey, Caesar, whose child are you carrying on your back?"

An older man, carrying a hoe, stood by the roadside and asked in surprise.

“I don’t know him. I saw him by the roadside, almost starving, so I brought him back,” Caesar replied.

"You really are a kind-hearted person. But be careful, what kind of illness might this child have?" The uncle wanted to remind him, but Caesar had already carried Noah away.

Yumilia held the soup spoon, stirred the soup in the pot, and scooped up a little to sip.

"It's a bit bland, let's add some sugar."

The door opened, and she turned around with her usual smile, calling out:

"Welcome back, Caesar. Eh?"

Yumilia turned her head and saw a dirty child getting off Caesar's back, his head wrapped in Caesar's coat, standing there silently and reservedly with his head down.

"This, who is this person?" Yumilia blinked in surprise.

“He is someone I met by the roadside. He’s very hungry and hasn’t eaten in a long time. Can we take him in and give him a meal?” Caesar used the same excuse as before.

“But, however,” Yumilia raised her hand and pointed at Noah in surprise.

"Is this child a dragon? Why is he here?"

(End of this chapter)