Chapter 365: The Path of Power Spending

Power unsupported by sufficient strength is like a bubble, easily popped and dismissed by anyone.

Clearly, Muria's authority was no bubble. The ancient dragons standing by his side were the fundamental assurance of his royal power, making his every word and action impossible to ignore.

"Even the son of the Dragon King doesn't need to be this exaggerated," remarked Xisar, the king of the Dragonmen, shrinking his neck slightly and desperately restraining his aura in the presence of the ancient dragons, whose power matched his own.

Moreover, these were all metallic ancient dragons, and he, a pure-blooded red dragon, knew better than to provoke any of them, as any fight would leave him with no recourse for regaining face.

"Hail Duke Muria, ruler of the Kingdom of Lockman!" On the platform, under the watchful eyes of the thirty-plus legends present, the ten ancient dragons collectively congratulated Muria, giving him ample respect.

Now, with Muria's power and lineage, each ancient dragon offered him due respect. Adding to his standing were his background elements—the Gold Dragon Mother behind him, and his maternal grandparents. Any ancient dragon familiar with the Elonsas Gold Dragon lineage had to afford Muria a measure of respect.

Muria was indeed a figure worth befriending and maintaining good relations with. So when he reached out to these ancient dragons, following draconic custom, to financially incentivize them to support his appearance, they all agreed.

It was a win-win situation: they could earn money and establish a good relationship with a descendant of the Dragon King while only spending some of their otherwise idle sleeping time.

The ceremony ended smoothly, and Muria officially became the Grand Duke of the Kingdom of Lockman without opposition or disturbance. All the legends present solemnly witnessed the proceedings.

Given the ten ancient dragons were always around him, even assuming a permanent presence.

Indeed, after congratulating Muria on his rulership, these ten ancient dragons expressed their views that Lockman was a scenic and peaceful place.

They planned to relocate there, requesting Muria to allocate land for their dragon nests.

This move by the ten ancient dragons delighted the retired King Belladion, who had never dreamed that Muria could persuade ancient dragons to relocate their nests.

However, Belladion was unaware of the substantial price Muria paid for this. Just to have these ten ancient dragons support his appearance, Muria had paid 100,000 cubic meters of elemental crystals. This fee also covered the potential costs of them having to intervene if someone disrupted the event.

The expense was so high that even Muria felt the pinch, but it was a necessary expenditure. Although he could have leveraged the influence of the Gold Dragon Mother and incurred a debt, he ultimately decided against this appealing idea, fearing her wrath.

In the world of Erathia, many would pay even more to seek the ancient dragons' aid or to establish good relations, but they wouldn't even know where to send the money.

Chromatic dragons might kill those trying to bribe them and then take the bribe money anyway. Gem dragons generally didn't intervene in others' affairs. Only the metallic dragons occasionally helped creatures they favored when in good moods, usually charging for their services.

Managing to engage ten ancient dragons at once was something even other dragons dared not dream of, as it was nearly impossible. Ancient dragons didn't gather without reason.

Typically, only dragon gods or dragon kings could command the gathering of more than a handful of ancient dragons.

Muria's success was only possible thanks to the special favor of the Platinum Dragon God Bahamut, who gave him an authority usually reserved for gods. Though this authority would be useless without sufficient financial backing, Muria had the necessary funds.

He not only paid the ancient dragons to make an appearance but also to settle in Lockman, paying each dragon 5,000 cubic meters of elemental crystals annually just for residence, totaling 50,000 cubic meters a year for Muria.

This was just the residency fee, and any action taken would cost extra. However, with ten ancient dragons clustered together, unless utterly foolish, no one would provoke Muria, so this fee was negligible.

Assuming a ten-year reign, Muria would need to pay at least 600,000 cubic meters of elemental crystals—a staggering amount. Even someone as wealthy as Muria couldn't produce this much at once, but the vast sum didn't have to be paid all at once and could be financed or even deferred until he could afford it.

Muria wasn't overly pained about the prospect of paying 600,000 cubic meters of elemental crystals, nor did he haggle with the ancient dragons. With them solidifying his rule, earning back this money would be straightforward.

For this reason, Belladion never discussed any form of compensation with Muria. Handing over the rule of the kingdom was compensation enough—what more could one want?

...

After the ceremony, Muria didn't rest but

 first sent away the delegations from non-neighboring countries who had attended the ceremony. The delegations from the three neighboring countries were all kept behind for discussions.

"Duke, don't you think it would be appropriate to withdraw the 150,000 heavily armored dwarven infantry that separate our borders? It's hardly conducive to commercial exchange and cooperation between our two nations," suggested one delegation leader.

Muria looked down with a smile at the dwarf king, who resembled a small hill. "Such separation inhibits the movement of merchant caravans between our two countries, doesn't it? Isn't that detrimental to both?"

"Are you threatening me?" The dwarf king tugged at his braided beard, looking up fearlessly at the young man with black hair and golden eyes seated on the throne, his expression grim.

Indeed, anyone watched by ten ancient dragons at once wouldn't feel too comfortable.

"No, just negotiating, Your Grace!" Muria replied with a composed smile. Today, he intended to resolve all external threats to the Kingdom of Lockman.

"If you can agree to a few conditions, I will open the borders and allow free trade for Lockman's merchants."

"Please, speak," Muria said, his brow momentarily furrowing before relaxing.

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