My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

Cleenah didn’t answer right away. Long ago, she had already thought many times about the choice Mercer was now putting before her again.

Surrender the Qiezhuran to the Drazhuel, follow the direction they set, and let the other Clans stop being hostile to them.

If she had accepted that offer from the start, perhaps a night like this would never have happened.

Ordinary Dragons could have gone on with their lives without worrying about relations between Clans.

The elders would have had no reason to quietly take another side, and the Qiezhuran might still have been able to hold the Primordial Legacy Festival without seeing armed forces in their sky.

All of it sounded so easy.

So easy that Cleenah sometimes asked herself whether she was making something complicated that should have been settled long ago.

But every time she considered that possibility, the answer was the same.

She could not submit to the Drazhuel.

It wasn’t that Cleenah didn’t understand the benefits they would gain.

That was exactly the problem.

She knew that accepting Mercer’s offer might be the safest way for the Qiezhuran, but there were things she couldn’t agree to simply because the decision would make their lives calmer.

Becoming an Invader, for example. Following the Drazhuel meant accepting their decision to invade other worlds.

Perhaps to most Dragons, that was only part of the change that was coming.

But Cleenah had never been able to see it so simply.

And, of course, there was Lady Clyne. The Qiezhuran was a Clan that woman had once protected.

Cleenah hadn’t accepted the responsibility of leading it just to hand over everything Clyne left behind to someone else the moment things became difficult.

Even so, she couldn’t ignore the fact that the people she was supposed to protect were now in danger because of the choice she had held to.

There were still other reasons she couldn’t simply explain to everyone.

But even without thinking of all of them, being part of the Invaders alone was enough to make Cleenah object.

Did she truly have to sacrifice her principles to save the Qiezhuran?

Or was it because she insisted that all the members of her Clan now had to face the consequences?

”Lady Cleenah.”

The voice came from the direction of the besiegers. One of the Qiezhuran’s elders had finally opened his mouth, and Cleenah knew him well.

Not long before, that same man had still been among them as if there were nothing to hide.

”You have heard Lord Mercer’s offer. I think there is no reason to keep delaying your answer.”

Several of the Dragons protecting Cleenah looked straight at that elder.

But the man didn’t seem bothered, and continued in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

”Since long ago, we have advised that the Qiezhuran follow the Drazhuel. Look at the situation now. What have we gained all this time by continuing to refuse?”

”This isn’t about who becomes the leader,” the elder went on. ”The Dragon World is changing. The Drazhuel have the strength to determine where we go next. Rather than let the Qiezhuran fall further behind, shouldn’t we go along with them?”

Another elder joined in, ”Accept Lord Mercer’s offer, Lady Cleenah. It is for the sake of the Qiezhuran’s own future. We do not wish to see this Clan destroyed just because you keep holding to an old decision.”

Of course. The future of the Qiezhuran.

That was what they had always said, and Cleenah couldn’t call it a lie.

The elders did want a stronger Clan and a better life for its members.

It was only that the road they chose to reach that goal was different from the road Cleenah could accept.

Once, Cleenah had been able to listen to their objections without having to see a single one of them stand on the enemy’s side.

Now the same words were being spoken from behind a line of Dragons ready to attack their own home.

If the elders truly wanted to save the Qiezhuran, why did they have to do it this way?

Why couldn’t they wait, or at least tell her that they had already decided to side with Mercer?

But they wouldn’t be standing there if they still wanted to ask her opinion.

They had already chosen, and now only Cleenah was being asked to accept that decision.

Before her, Mercer was still waiting calmly.

The man didn’t join in pressing her, as if everything the elders had said was already enough to convey what he wanted.

Cleenah lowered her head slightly.

She knew that many members of the Qiezhuran were waiting for her answer, including those standing to protect her even though they had little chance if a battle truly began.

They weren’t at fault.

If anyone should bear the consequences of all these decisions, wasn’t it herself?

Unfortunately, realizing that didn’t make Cleenah able to say the words the elders wanted to hear.

Even when she tried to open her mouth, no answer came out.

There was still one thing that was far harder for her to accept.

Clyne had loved the Qiezhuran so much.

And Mercer, of everyone who had known her, should have been one of those who understood that best. They had even loved each other once.

Didn’t that mean he knew how important this Clan was to Clyne?

All Cleenah knew was that Clyne had once gone away with Mercer, and then been found on the brink of death.

What exactly had happened in between? Mercer had never given an answer that could make Cleenah understand.

And now he had come with so many Dragons, asking the Qiezhuran to surrender as if everything that had ever happened no longer mattered.

”...Lord Mercer.”

Cleenah’s voice was so soft that several Dragons nearby went quiet to listen.

She lifted her head, no longer paying attention to the elders who had been pressing her all this time.

Mercer didn’t interrupt.

Cleenah didn’t know whether the man would answer, but the words of surrender that everyone had been waiting for still wouldn’t leave her mouth.

”Why are you doing all this to the Qiezhuran...? Don’t you know how much Lady Clyne protected this Clan?”

Cleenah clasped her own hands, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

”You loved her, Lord Mercer. So... how can you do something this cruel to the Clan she cared for so dearly?”

She fell silent for a moment, then asked again in an even softer voice.

”...What is the reason that makes you do all this?”