Bart is a native of Alexandria. Of course, they call themselves "Alexandrians." As soone born in the city, he could look down on those country bumpkin beggars, even though he was just an ordinary dock worker.
He was initially very resistant to these new conquerors, but soon he discovered that these outsiders, who spoke in strange accents and languages they couldn't understand, did not take away their ager wealth as the legends had it.
Life went on as usual.
However, during the recent exodus of the city's upper class with their families by ship, he made quite a bit of money. Plus, a lot of houses in Alexandria Port were vacated, so it probably wouldn't be long before he could own a house of his own, sothing he never dared dream of before.
Thinking of this, he awkwardly made a cross in front of the crude cross on the table: "Praise the Heavenly Father, please bless to buy my own house, and it would be even better if I could marry a wife!"
Next door, that Senmut was always shouting for the Franks to get out of Alexandria, but Bart thought it was pointless. That kind of loudmouth after drinking was always avoided by smart people in the tavern.
Only those whose brains were equally filled with crap would gather around to listen to his nonsense.
Think about it, Governor Adil, such a formidable figure, with a troop of darkly armored cavalry, didn't he still die at the hands of that Crusader King?
Not to ntion that Crusader King is a "Miracle Worker," slaying dragons and gods, building massive structures overnight. To oppose such a being, even a hundred lives wouldn't be enough.
"Bart, are you ho?"
Suddenly, there was the voice of the local chief, known as Uncle Aladdin, from outside.
It's said that he got noticed by the Franks and was appointed the district governor—Alexandria is divided into four districts: the Coptic District in the west, the Jewish Quarter in the northeast, the Imperial City and Greek District in the center, and the much larger Saracen District.
Aladdin governs just one street in the Coptic District, swaggering around daily with a group of militia.
Bart put on a bitter face and smiled apologetically: "Uncle Aladdin, you know there's not much work at the port lately. I was just planning to try my luck at the tavern to see if anyone's hiring."
Aladdin patted Bart's shoulder, laughing, "No need, Bart, I've found you a good job today."
Bart, sowhat excited, said, "Uncle Aladdin, are you going to recruit into the militia?"
Aladdin's expression stiffened: "You really dare to think big. I don't even dare to put my own son in there. The city council... or rather, the Franks, are looking for people to work on a project. Daily rations of dark bread and salted at are provided, and it's rumored there'll be lamb soup at night, and you'll get paid. This is a huge opportunity."
Dark bread and salted at...
Are the Franks so generous?
Bart's interest was piqued, and he discreetly took out a silver coin, biting the bullet as he handed it over: "Uncle Aladdin, could you tell more?"
Aladdin laughed heartily: "Sure, you know about last night's event, right? His Majesty the King subdued a troubleso Demon Dragon, and now that dragon has submitted, and His Majesty intends to build it a lair."
Bart let out an "ah," his expression stiffening, half his mind filled with fear, and the other half picturing the fragrant bread and salted at, soaking in lamb soup, being ravenously devoured.
...
In the end, Bart couldn't resist the allure of food.
Upon reaching the labor camp, he found that over a thousand people had already gathered there, excavating earth and stone, crafting them into shapes and loading them onto carts. Bart, upon arrival, was assigned to a delivery team.
The cart was loaded with whole sides of pork, half a cow, and an entire sheep.
Other carts carried stone materials, and they marveled as they passed through the three fortresses that seemingly sprang up overnight a few days ago before arriving at their destination.
"Did we take a wrong turn?"
"When did a volcano appear here?"
Everyone was in awe.
"Didn't you receive the notice posted by the city council last night? An Evil Dragon appeared in the outskirts, personally subdued by His Majesty the King—this was notified to every household."
A supervisor akin to Aladdin, riding along with them, chuckled and said: "This volcano was punched out by His Majesty when subduing that Evil Dragon last night. The commotion was so great, didn't you all hear it?"
"I live on the north side, near the Jewish Quarter, far from here. Besides, the chief in charge of notifying us used to be a Crow Gang thug, probably slept through it last night with his wife."
A voice murmured: "So that noise last night was this. I thought we had failed to resist the Heretics and incurred divine punishnt."
"Tsk, the Crusader lords ordered that everyone should be inford to avoid trouble. If this gets out, the chief responsible for your area is in big trouble."
The manager looked gloatingly at them; these local "chiefs", simply filling empty positions while the real power figures had long fled overseas. Whether they could hold onto these positions depended entirely on whether the Crusader lords were satisfied.
Who would dare slow down?
After climbing the rather steep volcano with great difficulty, everyone was sweating profusely. They gathered around the volcanic fissure to take a look.
In the darkness, they could faintly see dark red lava channels and vaguely discern a large rugged shape lying prone in the abyss.
"Oh my God!"
"The Demon Dragon is down there!"
Many were trembling in fear.
Having been here once before, the manager forced a smile to reassure them: "Don't be afraid, Mr. Ladon has already submitted to His Majesty the King. As long as you don't offend him, you might even get rewarded with a few shed Dragon Scales!"
Hmph~
Hearing soone muttering behind it, the Demon Dragon suddenly rose, its three heads stretching out from the darkness, nostrils spewing six differently colored flas. It lifted its head, enjoying the amusing sight of these mortals scared out of their wits.
"Holy fire... Oh no, God above, it has three heads! If it needs one person for each al, we... No, it needs at least three for each al! I knew there was no good luck in this world!"
Bart trembled with fear, realizing their wages and als were clearly bought with their lives, no wonder it was so generous!
"Nobody run, watch !"
The manager gathered his courage and ordered: "Deliver the offerings to Mr. Ladon, quickly, it's the cattle and sheep you're carrying!"
The laborers, seeing the Demon Dragon didn't eat them imdiately, reluctantly mustered courage, shakily tossing the beef, lamb, and pork into the mountain.
Imdiately, they saw the three heads fighting amongst themselves, eating ravenously, those sharp tusks easily crushing the bones into crumbs.
The at they brought was substantial, but the Demon Dragon's appetite was enormous, quickly consuming every bit, staring dissatisfied at the inadequate quantity of "offerings" with its six eyes.
Bart's anxious heart trembled again: "Mr. Manager, this Demon Dragon is clearly not satisfied, are you sure it won't eat us?"
"I'm sure!"
The manager was sowhat uneasy himself, cautiously greeting "Mr. Ladon," then raising his voice, in case the Demon Dragon hadn't heard: "Mr. Ladon, we're here to repair your residence, please don't harm them!"
The three Demon Dragon heads stared at each other for a mont, then sulkily shrank back into the earth.
After being ssed with by Losa last night, its massive dragon body of over ten ters compared to Losa's nearly fifty-ter constant True Dragon Body made it seem like a little serpent.
No matter how arrogant or unruly, after this encounter, it dared not disobey.
Getting a severe beating was one thing, but being witnessed by those fellow dragons was too humiliating, even the mighty Dragon of the End, the Three-headed Nightmare, needs to maintain so dignity. Especially since Losa holds the key to restoring its strength.
"What are you fools fighting for? In the end, doesn't it all end up in one stomach?"
"You're generous, it's the sa inside the stomach, but whose mouth it enters does matter. From , at least you get to savor the at."
Returning to the abyss, Ladon's mood significantly improved.
"Brothers, look on the bright side, we've been reborn. Although Captain Losa is a bit harsh, stingy, brutal, and capricious, he does care about us brothers. Otherwise, he wouldn't send people to repair our lair, right!"
anwhile, several kiloters away at the Governor's Mansion.
Jeanne was playing with the King's old gun.
"You do care about this new colleague."
"Care for what? Building him a nest is purely to win over the hearts of Alexandria's people, letting them know we Crusaders are reasonable, offering good treatnt to those who work for us, and also to prevent accidental intrusion."
Frowning, Losa said: "Talking about such matters at a ti like this is a bit inappropriate, isn't it? Hmm—"
Looking down, the blonde Female Knight was bowing her head in a gentle embrace.
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