"Even if that is true, you are still barking up the wrong tree. If you felt wronged, go and seek justice from the people that wronged you and your people, Lady Ophelia," Astoria calmly said.

"Also, you only thought about your people. You didn't consider the position of the seven witch kingdoms, Lady Ophelia," Vaan added before continuing, "The other countries wouldn't allow the seven witch kingdoms to continue their growth."

"If the Transcendent Witches wanted to encroach on another country's domain to save witches, they'll be risking an all-out war between the seven witch kingdoms and the rest of the continent. After all, the other countries wouldn't just sit still and watch."

"And the last thing we need is an all-out war between humans. There are no winners in this war except the demons who are hoping to conquer our world," Vaan calmly inputted.

"What do you know?" Ophelia glanced at Vaan with a frown and retorted condescendingly, "I bet you don't even know how many countries exist outside the seven witch kingdoms."

"It doesn't matter," Vaan replied indifferently.

"I am confident in my ability to grasp information and understand human nature. When humans fear something, they will band together to eliminate it if they can't control it."

"I'm sure a Fallen Witch such as yourself should be more aware of this than others, Lady Ophelia," Vaan mentioned.

The Witch Mother had no choice but to agree with Vaan.

As the founder of the Black Witch Society, with hundreds of Fallen Witches under her care, she knew exactly what it was like for Fallen Witches to be hunted because people feared them.

Ophelia wryly smiled.

"You're exactly right, Vaan," Ophelia admitted with a sigh and said, "Forgive me for ranting. Taking care of hundreds of ill-fated children and hearing about their terrible experiences builds up a lot of stress, you know? So I had to vent it all out."

"Well, it looks like you are all finished now," Lord Narvim mentioned after patiently listening through their rant.

"Although this Lord wishes to move onto the main topic, it will have to wait. The other Peak Lords have summoned this Lord for a meeting. This meeting will likely take some time, so this Lord will return you to the surface to rest first."

"Lady Ophelia, you will have to follow this Lord to the meeting. That's fine, right?" Lord Narvim asked shortly after.

"Of course, Your Excellency," Ophelia nodded and said, "I'm also interested in meeting the other Peak Lords."

Nevertheless, Vaan noticed the dragon lord's expression slightly stiffened upon hearing about the other Peak Lords.

He had the look of someone who had someone he didn't want to meet among the other Peak Lords.

That said, he didn't bring it up.

It wasn't too late to learn more about the True Dragons later. They had plenty of time while they stayed on the Ninth Peak.

Shortly after, the dragon lord gave everyone a ride on his back and dropped them off near the guest building. Then, the dragon lord took off for the middle peak, the First Peak, with Ophelia Tempest.

Feel free to tour Ninth Peak if you don't feel like resting – the dragon lord said to them before it left.

Nevertheless, before Vaan and the others could decide what to do with their spare time, True Dragons gathered around them.

The unfriendly older True Dragons stayed further back while the more curious young True Dragons came forward.

Roar!

(Hey, humans. What did you talk about with our Lord? Why is our Lord treating you all so well?)

(Why are you even talking to them in the dragon tongue? They won't understand anything you say.)

(Yeah, do you think humans are capable of learning our language when they know so little about us?)

(Eeeh? But it's more convenient to speak in the dragon tongue. The human language is so annoying to learn.)

(Then, do you prefer to learn the ancient language instead?)

(Eh? I guess I'll prefer the human language over the ancient language. Learning the ancient language hurts my head.)

The young dragons greeted Vaan's group before they ended up talking among themselves instead, as no one could communicate with them.

Little did they know, Vaan had been carefully studying their expressions and body language in his attempt to understand them.

He had been attempting to learn the dragon language since he was brought to Ninth Peak with the others.

Ding!

<Your understanding of the dragon language has increased>

<Your understanding of the dragon language has increased>

<Your dragon language has reached a preliminary level of understanding>

..

"Reow! (Hu-ah!)" Vaan growled at them.

The young dragons immediately paused their conversation and glanced at Vaan dumbfoundedly. They burst into fits of laughter in the next moment.

(Hahaha. Nice try, human.)

(Try again. You'll get it right next time.)

The young dragons gave Vaan encouraging looks, but in truth, they didn't believe in him at all. Instead, they were just making fun of him.

Ding!

<Your understanding of the dragon language has increased>

<Your understanding of the dragon language has increased>

"Ahem, that came out weird. Let me try again," Vaan cleared his throat before growling at them a second time, "Roar! (Hey!)"

Ding!

<Your dragon tongue proficiency has increased>

(..)

The young dragons fell silent with astonishment written all over their faces.

(Holy.. This human got it right. Does that mean he understands us?)

(Maybe he also knows we are making fun of him.. What if he reports us to the Lord? Are we going to get in trouble?)

(I think it's just a fluke. Mimicking our dragon tongue doesn't necessarily mean he understands what we are saying.)

The young dragons convinced themselves.

Nevertheless, Aeliana's eyes beamed when she saw the young dragons getting dumbfounded and astonished.

"That looks like fun. Let me try," Aeliana wanted to join in on the fun and started mimicking what she heard. "Roar, roar, roarrr—!"

However, the mood suddenly became serious as the young dragons looked at her with silent rage building up in their eyes.

"Eh? What did I say?" Aeliana asked innocently without a clue.

"No idea," Vaan shrugged.

He hadn't reached a proficient level of understanding in the dragon tongue yet. historical

"Kukuku, you told them to take out their dragon toothpicks and poke each other's butthole, human.." an older dragon chuckled with amusement.