Ariel's sudden words were clearly not part of Dragon King Perugius's plan.
Before he could react, the twelve familiars under his command had already shown their dissatisfaction, glaring at Ariel.
"Just a princess who isn't even a king yet, how dare you speak to Lord Perugius like that?"
"Know your place!"
"Even if the king of Asura Kingdom came in person, don't expect to order Lord Perugius around!"
"..."
The familiars were all emotional, looking very unhappy with Ariel's behavior.
This reaction startled Ariel. Although she still looked calm, a close look would reveal that her body was trembling slightly.
So Shirou moved a little closer to Ariel, giving her a sense of security.
But Ariel's expression didn't improve much.
At the same time, Dragon King Perugius finally turned his attention to Ariel. He said quietly, "Ariel Anemoi Asura, is it... I remember you. You're one of the barely acceptable successors in this generation of the Asura royal family."
"It's a great honor that you know about me."
Ariel said sincerely. She really didn't expect the Dragon King to know about her.
This even made her feel a little hopeful, hoping that Perugius might be willing to support her in ascending the throne.
However, Perugius quickly sighed and said coldly, "Of course I know about you. Because you are that foolish woman who lost in the dirty battle for the Asura Kingdom's throne, but is still shameless, wanting to start a muddy war, wanting to drag everyone into it."
The Dragon King's words instantly changed Ariel's face.
Shirou's expression also wavered slightly. He didn't expect the Dragon King to put Ariel down so much.
If it wasn't him here, but Luke or Fitz, they would probably be instantly angry, and wouldn't be able to easily put up with the Dragon King's words.
As for Shirou, although he didn't want Ariel to be put down like this, he didn't think he had any right to speak up for Ariel.
The relationship between the two hadn't reached the point where they could support each other.
So Shirou remained silent until the end.
On the other side, Ariel was greatly shocked by the Dragon King's put-downs, which could even be called insults. But on the surface, she still tried to remain calm as possible, answering without batting an eye, "Your description is really harsh... But the fact is indeed so."
"Oh?"
Seeing the forced smile on Ariel's face, and her attitude of still looking directly at him despite the insult, Perugius became slightly interested.
But that interest was still limited, only changing from the original indifference to being slightly willing to take a glance.
He took the initiative to say, "So, Ariel, you came here hoping to rely on my power if you have the chance?"
"No, I just wanted to see a world-famous hero."
"Heh, false words are meaningless. I know your intentions very well, Ariel Anemoi Asura."
"..."
Perugius's words pierced the soul, putting pressure that was difficult for ordinary people to bear.
Although Ariel looked the same as usual, full of leadership charm, a closer look would reveal that her face was not good, and she was even sweating.
Perhaps it was because she realized that her intentions had been seen through, and that the impression she gave to him was not as good as expected, so she felt that there was no extra credit to gain.
After seeing Ariel like that, Perugius grinned, as if looking at a child who had done something wrong.
He quietly said with cold words: "My power can be available for you, but you don't have the right to use it now. If you can find a way to get my approval, I will be willing to lend you my power. On the other hand, no matter what actions you take, you will not get any attention from me."
"Gain approval?"
"Yes, since Shirou Greyrat is willing to bring you here, it means that you at least have something worthy, right? I'll give you a chance."
"Th-thank you very much for your generosity, sir."
Hearing Perugius's words, Ariel was very excited, but it was obvious that there was still a trace of uneasiness deep in her heart.
After all, Perugius didn't directly give her a promise, but only gave her a chance.
And whether or not she can use this opportunity to gain Perugius's approval is undoubtedly a huge test and problem for Ariel herself.
...
Since Dragon King Perugius said that he still wanted to discuss with Shirou how to solve the Unlimited Blade Works problem, Shirou had to stay in the sky fortress temporarily.
To this end, the Shining Almanfi even ran directly to the Magic University to explain to Rudeus, Juliette and others, saying that Shirou would be away for a few days, and sent a message.
While staying in the sky fortress, Shirou, being bored, followed Nanahoshi to learn about summoning magic.
One of Perugius's familiars, Sylvaril, gave them a vivid description of the many theories of summoning magic, describing that summoning magic is essentially divided into two types: "Monster Summoning" and "Spirit Summoning."
The former summons living things.
The latter summons dead things, but saying that they are dead things is actually just something that goes against life.
For example, Perugius's eleven familiars are spirits that were summoned, not living beings. Sylvaril is the only living person among the twelve familiars who is not a spirit. She is a member of the Sky Tribe from the Sky Continent. Because she was saved by Perugius in the past, she voluntarily became a servant.
It should be noted that there is an important taboo for both "Monster Summoning" and "Spirit Summoning", that is, you can't summon living people, or even things that have the word "person" in their name.
It is said that this is based on an ancient agreement, an agreement that was made when summoning magic was first born in this world, and must never be violated.
Otherwise, terrible consequences will occur.
When he heard this, Shirou instinctively thought of the Great Teleportation Incident, and suspected that that was the evil result of forcibly summoning humans like Nanahoshi.
Sylvaril also talked about the history of the sky fortress.
It is said that the huge sky fortress itself was summoned by Perugius from "past time and space" to the present using summoning magic.
Shirou was undoubtedly very shocked by this ability to cross time and summon things from ancient times.
Therefore, he listened very carefully, which made Sylvaril, who was responsible for the explanation, very satisfied.
While Shirou and Nanahoshi were studying summoning magic, Ariel was undergoing the Dragon King's test. The latter asked her to use all kinds of methods to try to convince him.
As long as she can gain Perugius's approval, Perugius will be willing to help Ariel ascend the throne.
Ariel was undoubtedly very grateful for this request.
Because speaking and convincing people is what she is best at. She is least worried about trying to persuade others with words.
However, Ariel soon tragically discovered that trying to convince Perugius was arguably the most difficult thing she had ever encountered in her life.
No matter what angle she tried to persuade him from, Perugius ignored her, unable to be convinced by her, let alone helping her ascend the throne.
...
Shirou stayed in the sky fortress for several days.
He gradually got used to this special environment, and also got used to the food here.
Yes, there are also cooking facilities in the sky fortress. The person who makes the dishes is undoubtedly Sylvaril, who is responsible for the entire fortress.
With a delivery person like the luminous Almanfi, food ingredients from all over the world can be delivered in just a few minutes.
Sylvaril's own cooking skills are not very good, but she can be considered experienced by time and practice.
She is good at the local dishes of various countries. The dishes she makes are similar to the food in the Magic University cafeteria, and they are simple compared to the appearance of this castle.
But Shirou didn't criticize Sylvaril's cooking because of this. On the contrary, he actually agreed with the food Sylvaril made.
Because he could feel the emotion that she put into cooking.
She was only lacking in cooking skills, but this was completely understandable. After all, she stayed in this sky fortress all day long and had no way to contact truly skilled cooks. And the only diner in the fortress was Dragon King Perugius, who didn't look like he cared about cooking at all. This caused Sylvaril's cooking skills to fail to get correct feedback and improve.
Faced with this situation, Shirou almost instinctively felt his responsibility as a cook. He wanted to change Sylvaril's situation and teach her what delicious food really is.
So Shirou went to the sky fortress's cafeteria almost every day. Sometimes he would even cook against Sylvaril's wishes.
Dragon King Perugius himself didn't seem to object to this.
So Sylvaril couldn't refuse.
But Sylvaril still didn't want Shirou, a guest, to cook. That is, until Shirou finished cooking and brought it over for her to taste.
At that moment, Sylvaril suddenly realized how ordinary and simple the dishes she had made before were, they can be said to be tasteless.
Shirou also sent the dishes to Dragon King himself for tasting.
After the latter ate, he didn't respond directly, but asked Sylvaril to learn from Shirou how to cook in the future.
The moment she heard these words, Sylvaril felt endless shame and realized that the dishes she had made before were too simple. It wasn't that Dragon King couldn't taste the good and bad of the dishes, but that he had never cared about it too much in the past.
So from that day on, Sylvaril turned around and desperately asked Shirou for advice on cooking.
Her hard work was comparable to that of a Magic University student before the final exam.
She even directly called Shirou "teacher", which made Shirou feel very subtle. And he also instinctively remembered Randolph Marianne, whom he had met in Dragon King Kingdom before. The other party also admired his cooking so much. He wondered how she was doing recently.
By the way, there was one other person who was charmed by Shirou's cooking, and that was Nanahoshi.
Before, Shirou didn't have time to cook at Magic University, and ate in the cafeteria every day.
Now that he finally showing off his cooking skills, Nanahoshi was so happy that she was almost going to have an orgasm!
After she finished eating the dishes, she directly said to Shirou that if she married Shirou, could she eat the dishes you make for the entire life.
Because she was too serious, Shirou really thought about it for a few seconds.
Then he decisively gave her a head bump, telling her not to think about such nonsense.
As for Ariel, she had eaten Shirou's cooking at the Boreas family before. Although she also thought Shirou's cooking was delicious, she didn't have too many emotions.
The reason why she was like this was not because she didn't think Shirou's cooking was delicious. On the contrary, the fact that she could still show approval of Shirou's cooking at this time has already shown how attractive Shirou's cooking is.
For Ariel, she was in a state where she couldn't taste the flavor even of delicious dishes.
That was the Dragon King's test for her.
Although the Dragon King had always shown a tolerant attitude towards Ariel, willing to have lunch with her, and also willing to listen to her words, Perugius hardly listened to Ariel's words seriously.
No matter what Ariel said, Perugius would always look uninterested.
Out of desperation, Ariel even chose to take the evil path, trying to win him over with benefits, explaining to the Dragon King the various advantages of joining her side, such as being able to grant him the title of noble as long as she becomes king, or granting him territory in Asura Kingdom, or giving him special treatment when buying and selling goods, and even offered conditions such as dual reign at the end...
However, these things undoubtedly couldn't move the Dragon King.
After all, the Dragon King would stay away from the world and live in seclusion in this sky fortress, which shows that he had already lost interest in power, wealth, and status.
Only Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works and other abilities would attracted his attention.
No matter what, Ariel couldn't move the Dragon King with worldly benefits.
This result also made Ariel herself very helpless, and she became very anxious, and can even be said to be quite depressed.
Seeing Ariel like this, Shirou naturally wanted to help the other party.
Therefore, he directly went to find the Dragon King, asking what Ariel needed to do to get the other party to approve of her, at least hoping to get some hints.
To this, the Dragon King quietly replied: "Well, this kind of thing cannot be described in words. How about this, if you, Shirou, are willing to become the king of Asura Kingdom, I might be able to help you ascend the throne."
"Huh?"
Not expecting to hear such words, Shirou was directly stunned.
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