Chapter 7: The Black Dragon Mount Won’t Crash… Right?

The roaring fire by the lake gradually died down.
By the time it had completely burned out, the dawn was just breaking.

Due to my habits from my past life, I first washed up by the lake in the morning, cleaning the dirt off my face and body.
Just as I was worrying about my clothes being too dirty and not knowing what to do,

Elvira pulled a set of clothes out of thin air and handed them to me.
The clothes were black, and the style was quite nice, much more conservative than what I was currently wearing.

But what I was more curious about was…

Where did she pull them from?

In response, she pointed to a bright golden bracelet on her wrist and said it was a storage magic item.
She had bought it for a hefty price, and it could hold quite a few things.

Alright, it seems she’s quite wealthy.

The process of changing clothes was torturous.
I didn’t know how to wear the dress and top Elvira gave me, and I didn’t really want her to help, so I fumbled around for quite a while.

But after changing, I instantly felt much more comfortable.
I no longer had to worry about being easily exposed.
This outfit had leggings!

After packing up our things and erasing the traces of the bonfire, we set off on our journey.
As for where we were going, I had to listen to Elvira.

“We are in the south-central part of the Holy Nation of Mancius.
If we head east, there’s a port city called Port Otas.
It’s a trade port between the two continents, and the regulations on races are relatively relaxed there.”

“Is that so…”

The Church of Mancius ostracizes other races, but they still want to make money and get resources from them?

To hell with that damn church!

It’s a completely double-standard, profit-driven organization, swindling people everywhere under the guise of a noble faith.
And what is their faith, anyway? Torturing people?

That crazy woman who tortured me didn’t seem like a devout and merciful believer.
She even called me the Thorn Witch…

Wait a minute, are witches really considered another race?
At the end of the day, I look no different from a human.
How do they identify witches?

“Elvira,” I called out to the black-haired girl walking ahead of me.
“Can others tell that I’m a witch? And does the witch race even exist? I always feel like it’s a baseless term made up by that damn church.”

Elvira slowed down slightly, and said without turning her head.

“The witch race does exist, and they are all female.
The criteria for identifying them are actually quite crude.
First, they must have innate magical abilities.
Second, they must have a long lifespan and strong vitality.
And also… they have to be good-looking.”

Even Elvira was a bit speechless at the last sentence, and I couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation at this ridiculous criterion.

What’s wrong with being good-looking?
Does being good-looking mean I ate your family’s rice?
This is pure jealousy!

The founder of this wretched church must be an ugly pervert with a dark heart, and the people under him can’t be much better.

While cursing the church in my heart, we didn’t slow down.
By the time the sun was high in the sky at noon, we had already walked out of the forest and arrived at a towering cliff.

Looking down from the cliff, there was a vast, boundless plain.
Herds of animals that looked like cattle and sheep were resting on the plain.
Further in the distance were snow-capped mountains and lakes.

The scenery was beautiful, but…

“This is a cliff. How are we supposed to get down? Jump?” I asked, spreading my hands.

“Although my wings are injured, a short flight is still no problem. I’ll take you down.”

After saying that, Elvira walked to the edge of the cliff and turned to face me.

Then, to my astonishment, she slowly fell backward, plummeting straight down the cliff.

“Hey, hey! Don’t be reckless!”
I shouted in panic, quickly running to the edge of the cliff to look down.

But the sudden gust of turbulent wind forced me to close my eyes.
My snow-white hair danced in the wind, constantly brushing against my cheeks.
Suddenly, something like a vine wrapped around my waist, and I was thrown into the air.

After a dizzying spin, I felt a solid touch on my butt.
I was sitting steadily on matte-textured scales.
Opening my eyes, a huge dragon’s head came into view.
Looking back, I saw a dragon’s body about ten meters long.

Is this… Elvira?!

Undoubtedly, the four-legged, two-winged black dragon beneath me was Elvira’s true form.
I was currently sitting on the back of her neck.

Oh my god… this is a real dragon!

The dragons in movies and TV shows are nothing compared to Elvira!

Look at these high-quality scales, those long and powerful limbs, and that stylish dragon head.
Who wouldn’t want such a mount?

It’s just that… at the base of the black dragon’s wings, there was a patch of scales that was terribly shattered, like a mirror smashed by brute force.
The dragon’s wings trembled slightly with every flap…

The dragon I just met!

“Elvira, are your wings okay?”

“No problem, I can hold on. I can maintain flight for about twenty minutes at least,”
The dragon didn’t open its mouth, but Elvira’s pleasant voice rang directly in my mind.

Is this a kind of telepathic communication?
It’s amazing…

Then what if… there’s an ability that can be used for tracking?

Back in Norn City, neither the crazy white-robed woman nor the golden spear later was something an ordinary human could do.
Even that three-meter-tall lump of iron, I think, is related to some special abilities.

“What are you thinking about?”
The voice sounded again.
I was still not used to this novel way of communicating, and I was lost in thought, so I was a bit startled.
Fortunately, I quickly came to my senses.

“I was just thinking about the Church of Mancius.
Do you think they have a way to track us?”

“They definitely do,” Elvira replied with great certainty.
“It’s just that it will take some time for the church to deal with the Broodmother.
We can still fly, and even if they use airships, they won’t be able to catch up.”

“They have airships?!”

I take back what I said before.
The technology tree of this world is quite impressive, with firelocks and airships.
Do they have anti-aircraft guns too?

We can’t just be shot down while flying, right?

While thinking, I unconsciously started playing with my hair again.
This seems to be a little habit of mine, and Elvira noticed it too.

“Thinking about airships? There’s nothing good about them.
They’re slow, expensive to build, and break easily.
They’re no match for me in any aspect.”

“Is… that so…”
Elvira clearly misunderstood my thoughts, and also misunderstood my question.

“The dragon race is hailed as the King of the Skies by other races.
I’ll prove it to you. Hold on tight.”

The dragon began to gradually accelerate and dive downwards.
The strong airflow blew against my face, causing ripples.
To avoid being thrown off, I leaned down and lay on the dragon’s body, holding on tightly with both arms, not daring to relax.

I’ve already experienced high-altitude work once before, but please don’t make this a regular thing!

And for a dragon to be competitive with an airship, is that really necessary!

Braving the strong wind, I slightly opened my right eye.
The verdant grassland rippled in the wind, with green waves rising and falling one after another.
The wind was fierce, whistling past.
The wind from the dragon’s wings not only created green waves but also startled the animals on the plain.

I didn’t recognize those animals.
They looked like cows but had antlers.
Elvira seemed to be intentionally chasing them, causing a panic wherever she went.

Then, I felt a lift from below.
The dragon flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
In a short while, we broke through the clouds and reached the sea of clouds above.

The scene before me was dreamlike.
The azure sky intertwined with the pure white clouds.
The clouds rose and fell like waves, layer upon layer, like an endless white paradise.

This was a dreamlike picture I had never seen in my past life.
As I watched, I couldn’t help but become mesmerized.

In a daze, I suddenly felt that my dream could be picked up again, pieced together, and reassembled, becoming as vast and magnificent as this sea of clouds.

But everything has to be done step by step~

After escaping the church’s pursuit, I’ll try to do some business, although I don’t even understand the economic system of this world… hmm?

My heart suddenly trembled, and a strange sense of palpitation arose…

What’s going on?
And this feeling seems to have a source?

The direction is…