Chapter 606: The Royal Zoo

Hearing Sulia's question, Emperor Karl-Franz hesitated and felt a bit embarrassed. The Imperial Royal Zoo did have a dragon kept underground, but this was top secret. How did Ryan find out?

"Is there really a dragon?" the Duchess "Sulia," who was holding Ryan's arm, continued to inquire.

The Emperor felt something was off with this "Sulia." In his impression, Sulia was a noble, elegant duchess with a dignified demeanor, but today she seemed unusually lively, talking more than usual. Her tone towards Ryan had subtly shifted from mutual respect to something more commanding, though still respectful. If not for this respect, Karl-Franz might have suspected Sulia had been replaced.

"Sulia!" Ryan said somewhat reproachfully, "This is the Emperor's private matter; you shouldn't press him like this."

"It's alright." The Emperor gestured that he didn't mind. After a moment of consideration, he said, "There is indeed a dragon beneath the zoo, known as the Imperial Dragon, considered a guardian deity of Altdorf. However, this dragon is almost always asleep, rarely waking up. I've only ridden it once, so I'm not very familiar with it. If you get the chance, Amber College's headmaster, Gregor Martak, could guide you to see the dragon."

Meaning we can't see it now, thought Ryan.

Amber Wizards are essentially identical to druids. These wizards, once bound to the Lore of Beasts, grow excessive body hair, exhibit wild behavior, and have sharp nails and teeth like animal claws. They prefer wearing animal skins, going bare-chested, and wielding staffs made of wood, bone, and amber, often roaming the wilderness. The most powerful Amber Wizards can transform into animals for combat or travel.

The difference between Amber Wizards and druids is that Amber Wizards serve the Empire's court and believe that nature and humans must unite to face external threats. These wizards love the Empire and its land deeply, and their oath of loyalty to the Empire is stronger than any other oath they have taken.

Despite this, Amber Wizards often clash with nobles and city dwellers, leading to mutual distrust.

"A third new, they are guests; half new, they are friends; fully new, they are brothers." 

— A saying about the state of an Amber Wizard's clothing and their relationship with visitors

At this moment, Sulia was conversing internally with the Lady of the Lake.

"My lady, please don't be so rude!" Sulia felt a bit embarrassed. "You're making Ryan uncomfortable."

"I want to make him uncomfortable," the Lady of the Lake insisted. "Sulia, don't you think you accommodate him too much? Sometimes you need to assert your own thoughts and desires; this will make Ryan value and cherish you more."

"My lady, I don't think this is appropriate..." Sulia instinctively felt that the Lady of the Lake was trying to stir up trouble, and the knight felt uneasy. "We are in the Empire, in front of Emperor Karl-Franz. As his wife, we should maintain decorum..."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." The Lady of the Lake waved her hand dismissively. Sulia, seeing this, couldn't argue further and reluctantly agreed.

Meanwhile, Ryan continued chatting with Emperor Karl-Franz. "I met Martak last time... but that strange smell on him was really off-putting. He even invited Teclis and me to his Bestial Den; we didn't dare enter."

"Martak is a good man," the Emperor chuckled, shaking his head. "He's just like all Amber Wizards, preferring to stay in the wild, covered in mud, sleeping in forests. It's said he brews excellent tea, not only strong in flavor but also good for sleep. Drinking it makes one drowsy."

"That's why I never drank it," Ryan replied with a cold smile.

"Neither have I," the Emperor admitted, then they both shared a knowing smile.

The Royal Zoo was divided into several sections: the "Mackensen Training Area," the "Northern Zone," the "Hochland Area," the "Ostland Area," the "Southern Zone," the "Western Zone," and the central "Griffon Area." It housed almost every rare and exotic creature from the Old World, including trolls and Chaos spawns. Many Imperial Colleges, wizards, and religious scholars conducted studies on various exotic creatures here.

Additionally, the zoo provided warhorses, pegasi, demi-gryphons, and powerful gryphons for the Emperor's army.

They first visited the stables, where robust warhorses from Averland were kept. These horses were rigorously trained to charge fearlessly into chaotic battlefields.

However, neither Ryan nor Sulia nor Amelia showed much interest in Imperial warhorses, which made the Emperor a bit embarrassed, as well as the stablemasters and grooms. The Imperial warhorses, while excellent, were vastly inferior to Bretonnian warhorses. Most Bretonnian horses were descendants of elven steeds and Bretonnian forest horses. Knights' steeds had varying degrees of elven horse blood, evident in their superior stamina, sprinting ability, speed, carrying capacity, and jumping prowess.

Not to mention purebred elven steeds, which could carry a fully armored primarch like Angron across the plains with ease, while an Imperial warhorse would likely collapse from exhaustion in minutes.

The Emperor's finest horses were a few crossbred elven horses he had painstakingly imported from Ryan. Unfortunately, due to a lack of understanding and incorrect breeding methods, the Royal Zoo had been unable to successfully breed more of these crossbred elven horses.

Ryan had no intention of, nor could he provide guidance on this matter, as it was a key policy of the Knight Kingdom.

Next were the pegasi.

Like Bretonnia, the Empire also had pegasi, as they were a species largely residing in the Grey Mountains. In the Empire, they were known as Imperial Pegasi, with coats as white as snow. These creatures were far more intelligent than ordinary warhorses. To make a pegasus a mount, it had to be captured as a foal. Training them to trust their rider took many years, but once established, this trust made them loyal mounts, obedient to their master's commands.

Again, Ryan and Sulia showed little interest, as Bretonnia had similar mounts. Sulia's father-in-law, François, rode the most powerful purebred elven pegasus in the Old World, named Bragg. This pegasus not only had high intelligence but also magical abilities. When surrounded by enemies, François's pegasus could release a bright light from its magical energy, allowing them to escape combat and burn enemies.

While Bretonnia preferred to form flying units with pegasus knights, the Empire usually used pegasi as mounts for commanders. The Royal Zoo housed about a dozen pure white pegasi. The Emperor gently approached, took a carrot from a groom, and fed it to one of the pegasi, happily brushing its mane. "These are my treasures, but the best pegasus is called Quicksilver, which now serves as Gelt's mount."

"Where is Gelt now?" Ryan asked, curious. "The competition is less than two weeks away, and he hasn't appeared."

"He'll be back soon." The Emperor nodded. "Gelt led an army to Kislev to stop a group of northern barbarians from releasing an ancient dragon demon. He successfully completed the mission and is now on his way back with his army, expected to arrive within a week."

After that, the Emperor didn't say much more, leading Ryan and the others to see a special creature: the Empire's famous demi-gryphons.

Demi-gryphons are very fierce and dangerous creatures, with sharp beaks, powerful claws, and strong bodies. They are highly destructive and have a fierce temperament. Many knights attempt to capture these creatures as mounts, often failing and losing their lives. However, those who succeed gain a loyal mount that will fight alongside them for life.

Demi-gryphons are usually found only in the Empire's black forests. Their name comes from their appearance, with a body structure resembling a griffon, though smaller and lacking wings, preventing them from flying. Some scholars believe demi-gryphons are a hybrid species, resulting from griffons interbreeding with other creatures in the black forests. Others argue they are a separate species entirely.

The largest demi-gryphon force in the Old World belongs to Duke Ivan, Ryan's godfather, who leads the Gryphon Knights. This unit, with over a hundred demi-gryphon riders, is stationed in Altdorf under the Emperor's command, known as the Altdorf Royal Demi-Gryphon Cavalry.

The zoo housed only a few demi-gryphons, as most had found riders and were serving in the military. Ryan understood that the Empire's military resources were always stretched thin.

"Nuln's champion, the Grand Judge of Nuln, and a sanctified being, Theodore Bruckner, rides the largest and most ferocious demi-gryphon in the Empire—Reaper," the Emperor warned everyone not to get too close to avoid harm. "Am I right, Emmanuelle?"

Amelia shot the Emperor a displeased look. "You seem very informed about Theodore, Karl-Franz. Perhaps I should clean house when I return."

Ryan's maid stomped her little shoe on the ground. Since reuniting with Ryan, Amelia had, as a matter of course, switched from high heels to the little shoes she preferred.

"You've become more combative since having Frederick, Emmanuelle," the Emperor commented meaningfully. He then dropped the topic with Amelia. "Next, let me show you my collection—war griffons. Ryan, you have a griffon too, don't you?"

"Yes, a possible meal," Ryan

 nodded. His griffon, Imprius, consumed hundreds of gold crowns worth of food annually, which would be unaffordable if not for Ryan's wealth.

Emperor Karl-Franz kept several war griffons in the Royal Zoo, each towering over adult men by double their height, with beaks like sharp scissors. As the group walked by the enclosure, the fierce griffons angrily crashed against the barriers, roaring and hissing, filled with hostility. Many of these griffons were captured as cubs or juveniles from the World's Edge Mountains.

Taming a griffon is an even more daunting task than taming a demi-gryphon, requiring great strength, willpower, and patience.

Even the Elector Counts of the Empire pride themselves on having a griffon in their menagerie, though true griffon knights are as rare as Bretonnian hippogryph knights. Apart from the griffon knights within the Gryphon Knights, only the "Tal's Wrath" knightly order in Talabheim has a substantial number of griffon knights.

However, some legendary Amber Wizards in the Empire have their own griffon mounts, as these wizards, bound to the Lore of Beasts, possess the magic to tame wild beasts. This allows some griffons to willingly become mounts for Amber Wizards.

"Where's Deathclaw?" Ryan asked, not seeing the Emperor's mount in the enclosure.

"It doesn't stay in the enclosure during the day. It prefers to soar in the sky, but no matter where it goes, it always returns at night," the Emperor smiled proudly, as if sharing a personal triumph. "It always comes back to sleep peacefully in the enclosure."

"Imprius is the same, though my griffon prefers hunting small animals in the forest," Ryan smiled.

"Breathes lightning? How is that possible?" the Emperor asked, curious. This question had puzzled him for a long time.

"A gift from the Lady," Ryan replied with a wink.

"Alright then," the Emperor shrugged. "Let's change the subject. Look at this, a two-headed griffon, a variant of the war griffon. It's also very powerful but extremely difficult to control, especially since the two heads often argue."

As if responding to the Emperor's words, the massive two-headed griffon ferociously clawed at the straw under it, proudly raising its heads to glare coldly at the Emperor and keepers. Its eyes were filled with anger and disdain, as if ready to tear them apart at any moment.

After viewing the griffons, the Royal Zoo tour was almost complete.

Finally, the Emperor led the group to a closed door, from which they could smell a strong sulfuric odor.

"The dragon is behind this door, but as you can see, even I don't dare go near it. Perhaps next time, I'll bring you here for a closer look," Karl-Franz nodded. "You are all guests of the Empire, and I cannot let you face danger."

"Does Your Majesty have an interest in dragons?" Duchess Sulia suddenly asked as they were leaving, with a playful smile on her face. "The one behind the door is a Silvermoon Dragon, not very old."

"Oh?!" Karl-Franz was intrigued. "Lady Sulia, do you know much about dragons?"

"A bit of study," the Lady of the Lake, controlling Sulia's body, responded, linking arms with Ryan. "Is Your Majesty interested in hearing more?"

"I'd love to."

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