Caesar glanced through it and found that besides several hundred gold crystal coins, the Storage Ring was filled with various monster materials—
Wind Wolf fangs, Toxic Spider Mother venom sacs, Basilisk eyeballs... a dazzling array.
Seeing this made Instructor Raymond's heart ache; this was the savings of more than half his life! To provide practical teaching for his students, he had exchanged almost all his net worth for these materials!
While Caesar had Cecilia pour out the gold coins, he calculated in his heart. These materials were useless for now, but they might be worth money later.
The evil Dragon unceremoniously claimed this largest-capacity Storage Ring for himself as a general warehouse for spoils of war—
The plundering continued.
The prize pool was still accumulating... When the Shadow Claw floated in front of Veronica, Caesar hesitated for a moment.
For some reason, he always felt that this woman's things carried an indescribable bad luck.
He curled his lip in disgust and directly used the Shadow Claw to toss the Storage Ring Veronica handed over to Cecilia.
"You handle this one."
"Yay!" Cecilia took the Storage Ring and began rummaging through it joyfully.
However, in the eyes of the noble girl Veronica, this scene took on a completely different meaning.
Veronica, who had been somewhat disillusioned by the "robbery," instantly perked up again!
It... It actually treated me specially!
It didn't touch me with that cold Shadow Claw, but let its companion do it instead!
The light returned to Veronica's previously dimmed eyes.
She understood!
It must be paying attention to me and doesn't want me to misunderstand! The reason it's robbing us is just because the Dragon Clan's way of expressing emotion is... awkward! It wants to use this crude method to get my attention!
Yes, it must be so!
"...?"
Seeing that strange blush reappear on the woman's face, along with a happy "so that's how it is" smile as she proactively handed over her Storage Ring, the entire Dragon felt unwell.
Holy crap, how can someone look so happy while being robbed...?
Could this person be a masochist?
Caesar silently labeled Veronica as a "dangerous person" in his heart and decided to stay away from her in the future.
The Shadow Claw continued to loot the last person.
A pleasant surprise appeared.
[Ding! Detected Tier 1 Magic Book "Introduction to Earth Control"! Learn Move: Mud Shot?]
Although the name sounded a bit useless, Caesar followed the principle that even mosquito legs are meat and chose "Yes."
[Move learned successfully: Mud Shot!]
[Mud Shot (Ground/Special/Power 55)]: Throws chunks of mud to attack. Slows down the opponent's movements for a short period.
Better than nothing, at least it's an extra ranged attack method in swampy terrain.
With this, the looting work was complete.
The results were impressive.
Cecilia filled a large Storage Ring with the harvest: over eight hundred gold crystal coins, over two thousand silver crystal coins, and a pile of miscellaneous magic gadgets and gems.
Caesar kept four Storage Rings in total, including Instructor Raymond's one full of materials, and returned all the remaining empty rings to the students.
"Alright, guy, you guys can scram now." Caesar issued an eviction order. "Remember, you'd better not speak a word about today's events!"
He intentionally didn't take the teleportation scrolls they had hidden in their boots.
Leaving a way out for others makes future meetings easier. What if he wanted to "trade" again in the future?
Instructor Raymond felt as if he had been granted a grand amnesty. He looked at his empty Storage Ring, his heart bleeding, but he didn't dare show it on his face.
Escaping with his life was already a stroke of immense luck.
"Quick! Let's go!"
He called to the despondent students and rushed into the dense forest without looking back, wanting only to leave this place of trouble that they would never forget as soon as possible.
Years later, when this group of students became the pillars of the Empire, today's humiliating experience of being robbed by a Dragon might become their most thrilling bragging right at the dinner table.
But they swore never to come to the Dragon Spine Mountain Range again in their lives.
Veronica walked at the very back of the group. She deliberately slowed her pace, and just before entering the woods, she couldn't help but look back, hiding behind a giant tree to peek into the distance.
That blue Dragon was facing the fiery sunset clouds, looking like a solitary and lofty king.
Her Storage Ring was indeed missing many valuable things, but to the Young Miss of the Hurst Family, that was nothing.
What truly made her heart race and her cheeks flush was that those things were gone.
—The "heirlooms" passed down through generations of Hurst Family women... embedded with exquisite magic circuits and made of expensive magic-conducting silk, they could block a fatal attack at a critical moment. These "heirlooms" had all been taken by that Dragon.
It... He specifically kept those things!
Isn't this a kind of token of affection?
He took the personal treasures belonging only to the women of the Hurst Family; he must have done it so that one day in the future, he could find me and reunite with me!
In Veronica's heart, a grand romantic epic about a human girl and a mysterious Dragon had quietly begun... It was no longer a vague "contract," but the classic composition of the first Dragon Mage receiving the blessing of the Golden Dragon on the academy's grand hall mural.
She even began to think about how to persuade the court painter to paint this "unique first meeting" into the Family gallery after she returned—of course, the robbery part would have to be artistically removed.
Heavens! This Dragon... he... he's so smooth!
"It's time to go, Miss Hurst."
Instructor Raymond's urging interrupted Veronica's reverie.
Only then did she reluctantly withdraw her gaze and jog to catch up with the team, disappearing into the woods... After the human presence completely vanished, tranquility returned to the lakeside.
"...!"
Caesar's tense nerves finally relaxed.
A strong sense of weakness and fatigue flooded his body. He stumbled, almost failing to stand, and quickly used his tail to prop himself up on the Ground.
Combining Terastalization with a Z-Move was still too much for him right now.
He needed to find a place to rest quickly and count the harvest... By the lake, Cecilia was like a little landlord, pouring out all the riches from the Storage Rings, piling them into a small, shiny mountain, and then rolling around in them happily.
"Caesar, Caesar! Look! We're rich!" The little Silver Dragon's tail was held high, waiting for praise.
However, Caesar's attention was drawn to several other shiny things in her claws.
They were several pieces of... fabric of unknown material, embroidered with complex patterns using silk thread, and even had red gems embedded in several key areas, sparkling in the setting sun.
Caesar's eye twitched violently.
A moment later.
The Dragon's exasperated scolding echoed by the lake.
"No, why did you keep this stuff?!"
"Ugh..." Cecilia shrank her neck from the shouting, looking aggrieved.
"Didn't you say to keep all the valuable things? I saw gems on them, they're quite shiny..."
"Who in their right mind puts rubies on victory underwear?! That woman is definitely a pervert, hey!"
At this moment, Caesar felt his reputation take a hit!
...Today's winner, Veronica!