Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 693 - 637 Whose Fault

"Why has it become like this..." Whined a voice filled with resentment, rising amidst the sound of chiseling. Imelt, in the form of a dwarf, knelt on a massive stone slab, her gaze dim, her hands numbly wielding a hammer to strike off the top of a stone chisel, inscribing claw-shaped Draconic script onto the slab. Imelt, under the watchful eyes of those around her, was writing something on this ten square meter stone slab.

In front of her stood Lyle and three male Dragon Priests, with the Dwarf King listening alongside. Visergg noticed the expectant look in the eyes of the Red Dragon and turned his head away, cradling a barrel of wine.

"Why... Why exactly..." Imelt lifted her head, her blood-red eyes fixed intensely on Lyle before her, appearing both man and hound. She began to doubt if something had gone wrong, had their identities been swapped? Why was she the one being punished, while he was overseeing me?

"It was all your fault..."

Under the supervision of the Dragon Priests, Imelt was writing an apology letter, a written document describing one’s mistakes to one’s superiors. Imelt was an honorable and upright dragon; she never imagined that among her siblings she would be the first one to err so gravely in youth as to need to write an apology letter. And to this point, she still didn’t know why she was implicated, and lumped in with them. The first time receiving such a public punishment indeed struck a significant blow to the model daughter’s psyche. Had it not been for the heat of the Great Furnace evaporating the moisture in her eyes, she would have surely cried.

Next to Imelt were four even larger stone slabs, upon which knelt four colossal flame giants, squeezing onto them just like Imelt, extending burning fingers to etch cracks into the stone. Four Lords of Flames, no, four Flame Venerables were being punished along with Imelt.

In the end, the fire element hadn’t utterly consumed the Elemental Plane. The surviving Elemental Lords, sensing great trouble, immediately sought outside help. The elemental creatures from the Elemental Plane weren’t limited to fire elements alone; as an affable and powerful element, water frequently maintained mercenary contracts with the Arcanists of the City of Wandering. Now that their native homes were ravaged by the flames of the Red Dragon, these Elemental Lords discarded their dignity and indifference, approaching the King of Magic, the Blue Dragon Priest Morocoy, to accuse the followers of the Red Dragon.

"This is utterly foolish, irresponsible, and twists the world! They’ve severely disrupted the balance of the Elemental Plane, triggering the wildest elemental tumult in a century!! The powers of the elements have now become unbalanced, and your material world, which is also sustained by elements, will ultimately be destroyed by their actions!!!"

The researcher sir was somewhat surprised as these Elemental Lords, in disarray yet posing as guardians of the world, their anxiousness and supplication palpable.

"What have Fleisheimer and his kin done?" The researcher sir blocked the nexus between the real world and the Elemental Plane through the magic network and, sensing his presence, Mister Dragon acquiesced to this action. In the end, the Black Dragon Priest and Blue Dragon Priest, having begged and pleaded with the Elemental Lords, arrived in McKenburn. Facing his brothers’ perplexity, Fleisheimer also feigned innocence.

It was not until the researcher sir sensed Lyle’s presence.

The three Dragon Priests watched the flustered young human along with a few Elemental Lords in silent judgment.

"What have you done now, Lyle?"

"It wasn’t me! It was the Baron of the Garden who proposed the plan! It was Imelt who sought help! I was just a good guy!"

The Dragon Priests exchanged glances and, although they did not believe a word, decided to first address the conflicts within the Elemental Plane. After much debate and quarreling, the punishment for the Red Dragon, Imelt, and the four Flame Venerables, to write an apology letter was decided upon, along with a promise not to cause unwarranted trouble in the Elemental Plane again.

The Flame Venerables, having experienced the power of the Dragon King, were naturally very amenable to discussion.

Writing an apology was one thing, but to expect me to regurgitate the elemental power I had consumed was out of the question. That had become part of my body as a Venerable of Flame, and by extension, the expanded Flame Plane was mine—there was no returning it. The treasures that the Dwarves have scavenged from other Elemental Planes? What are those? We never touched them; those weak Elemental Lords lost them themselves, it has nothing to do with me. Visergg, sitting at the side, nearly shoved his head into his wine cup, aware that his Bronze Hall was now filled with ores and jewels, bodily fragments of earth elements scattered everywhere. Separated just by a Bronze Gate, the dwarves’ council’s wild celebration was probably still ongoing.

The other Elemental Lords were indignant about the unfairness they encountered, but the situation was stronger than any element. Logically speaking, the fire elements were followers of the Red Dragon, naturally more closely related to the Dragon Priests. That the King of Magic made an appearance to mediate the elemental upheaval was already the best possible outcome. If his arm bent inward, there was nothing to be said. Moreover, those four Flame Barons all resembled despicable thugs, flaunting their muscles and posing around the sorrowful Red Dragon Imelt, their stance conveying a threat that seemed to say, "If you don’t agree with us, then let’s fight again."

Thus, to save face for the other elements, the elemental turbulence ultimately concluded with a declaration of defeat from the fire element. The repentant Flame Barons apologized openly at the scene and wrote a ten square meter essay with passion to convey their past recklessness and current repentance. Lyle gave it a quick glance; neither remorse nor apology could be found, as every line from the Baron of the Garden was drenched in sarcasm, without a hint of genuine contrition.

This was no big deal, it was just a formality.

The only one who seemed to be hurt was Imelt.

"Why me? I clearly didn’t participate, and I had no idea about the Baron of the Garden’s plans; they have an undeniable connection with your educational operation, Lyle. I even suspect the Baron and the others were bewitched by an evil deity! Did you do this on purpose, Lyle? Do you really have no blame in this at all?" Imelt, hitting a sore point, gritted his teeth as the stone sculptures in his burning fists got twisted.

Lyle stepped back slightly.

"Slanderous! How is this related to me? Whether it’s education or reaching out to help you, I’ve been offering the right kind of aid! Have I done anything wrong? I taught the Baron of the Garden knowledge, it’s their own fault for misusing it! Moreover, Imelt, it was you who came to me for help proactively! Did I not fulfill your request according to your wishes?" Lyle’s mouth curled up slightly, the Red Dragon was indeed still too naive; if it were the Liches, they would’ve realized by now the futility of language and have started to persuade physically.

"That makes it even less related to me. Before all this happened, I had no idea what you all were planning; I was just forging in my room and providing help to a friend of mine! That means I’m not at fault either!"

"Wrong! You are the idol! The mistakes of your fans are your mistakes!"

"How is that the case?!"

"The Baron of the Garden and the others waged a struggle on the Elemental Plane in the name of your Personal Guard! As an idol who failed to manage their followers properly and ignored their excessive behavior that disrupted peace, how can you say that’s not the idol’s problem? Do you think people won’t associate their unscrupulous actions with you upon hearing the name of the Red Dragon?! Imelt, this is your responsibility, an absolute responsibility!!! If you had paid them a bit more attention and care, would you not be aware of these things?"

"Your reputation is extremely important, and these followers are your feathers; you let them fall in the mud, you idiot!"

"I’m... I’m sorry!"

Lyle breathed a sigh of relief, finally, she admitted it; with Imelt taking the blame voluntarily, the teachers won’t bother me anymore, right?

Fleisheimer watched the dispute between the two and felt it was odd; the forlorn appearance of Imelt made the Red Dragon Priest somewhat sympathetic.

"So you’re really not punishing Lyle? It’s quite obvious that he’s the mastermind."

The scholar shook his head.

"Don’t forget, Lyle is now the Dragon King Priest, only the father of dragons can judge him."

"And our thinking patterns as the father of dragons still retain a certain degree of Andrey-ization."

"A method that achieves maximum benefit through creating information gaps by deceptions..."

"Lyle would be rated as a top student in the academy."