The dragon's harem

Chapter 867: A Betting Betty

”I couldnʼt help it, could I?” Arad gasped, staring at Lucia.

”No excuses, back to class, both of you.” Lucia sent Arad and Matilda back to class and glared at Zara, ”Donʼt come to the class without the headmaster. Order must be maintained, just as you wonʼt like it if someoneʼs father came and started arguing in class while your daughter is studying, you must not bother others.”

Mira picked up her cart and went back to her classʼs workshop as Lucia returned to Aradʼs class. Zara silently headed back to his inn to wait, he couldnʼt barge again into the class even if he wanted, not with Arad still inside. He wasnʼt stupid enough to challenge him again.

When Arad returned to class, Matilda looked at him moments before Lucia would arrive. ”You really sold me in a heartbeat.”

”Heʼs your dad. Iʼll do what I can if heʼs a stranger, but Iʼll not mess with your familyʼs problems.” Arad replied with a straight face.

”What happened.” Selina asked and Matilda explained what happened to her.

”So, youʼre going back?”

”I donʼt know...my fatherʼs head is as hard as stone. He wonʼt back down now that heʼs here.” Matilda glared at Arad, ”He couldʼve just kicked him away, but he didnʼt.”

”He shouldnʼt get involved in your familyʼs problem. You arenʼt his wife,” Selina sighed, and Lucia walked into the class, ”Everyone gets back to your places, weʼll continue.”

Just as the class was about to end, the door got kicked open once again. Lucia immediately growled, ”How many times Iʼve told you...” She growled and glared straight out, but saw nothing.

”Are by any chance referring to calling me short earlier?” A voice came in and Lucia looked down, seeing Betty standing at the door.

”No! I didnʼt mean...” She gasped, but Betty locked her in a glass bottle with the flick of a finger, ”Youʼll stay there for a while.” She walked and jumped on Luciaʼs desk, kicking everything on it to the ground, and looked at the students with a smile. ”Now, I can look at you.” She was happy that she had become a bit taller than them.

Arad stood, and he was taller. ”GET DOWN!” She yelled at him. He was only messing with her, ”Chairman, what brought you here...” He smiled.

”You...” She growled, and then cleared her throat, ”Iʼve got informed of what happened, and Iʼm honestly a bit too exhausted.” She smiled, ”So, I want you to do a job for me, the whole class.”

”What are you talking about?” Matilda looked at her with a confused face.

”Your class and the artificer class will go on a field trip to the beast kingdom, specifically to the lionʼs clan to collect herbs and minerals, a field study. Youʼll be staying in the tigerʼs clan, Matildaʼs home village.” Betty smiled, and Matilda paled, ”Her father Zara would be your guide, and the royal army led by Princess Isdis would be your guards. Her Highness seems to have some political business to attend and she agreed to take you with her.”

All the students cheered, a field trip, and with the princess no less... The only one who looked terrified was Matilda, ”Why! No, Iʼm not going back.” She cried.

Betty ignored her and waved a finger, ”And guess whoʼs coming with you all as well? Itʼs none other than the archmage of Alina, Merlin. You never get to meet a wizard like her, be sure to look closely and learn as much as you can from her.”

”Why them...” Arad held his head, almost smacking the table down, ”I wanted to relax and read my book...Zul also needs healing and Iʼm close...” He mumbled.

”When are we going?” One of the students asked.

”This evening.” Betty clapped her hands, ”You better get ready, classes for the day are postponed, youʼll do them in the field.”

”Wait what?! I didnʼt hear anything about that!” Lucia gasped.

”I just got the letter from the princess, we must strike the iron while itʼs hot.” Betty replied with a smile and waved her hand to Arad, calling him. ”Aron, youʼre massive and strong. Do you care to help me carry some things?”

Arad stood and sighed, ”What are you planning?” He walked with her outside the class, ”I wanted to relax with my wives for a while.”

”Youʼre taking Mira and Isdis with you. Added to that, there is a mountain with a vast amount of mana in the beast kingdom, you and Merlin can use that energy to try and free Zephyr. Isdis is going to negotiate for that and she also wants to reopen trade with the beast kingdom, which would benefit your domain greatly.” Betty smiled, ”You and your people. Iʼm certain theyʼd love a new source for meat, hide, and monster parts.”

”We can farm most of the common herbs, but monster ingredients like poison glands must be hunted. Itʼll be cheaper if local hunters and adventurers hunted them, but as a safety net it would be best if I could also buy them from outside.” Arad scratched his head, ”Is this all Isdisʼs plan?”

”It was mostly Robertaʼs idea to trade with them, sheʼll be accompanying Isdis.” Betty smiled, ”Iʼve got some interesting news, some old friends of yours are taking shelter in the beast kingdom.”

”Old friends? I donʼt have old friends.” Arad tilted his head.

”Oh, you do... Youʼll meet them when you get there this night.” She waved her hand, ”For now, we need to get some things ready first.”

”The heavy things you wanted me to carry?” Arad nodded.

”Thatʼs a lie. There isnʼt something that you can carry that I canʼt just teleport with magic.” Betty jumped and sat on his shoulder, ”Grandma wanted to check your stats. Youʼve been running from them for a while.”

”They are secondary, I get more power by combining magic and my own abilities. Like time slow, I can accelerate more than any amount of stat can give.” Arad waved his hand and created a magic circle.

”I know that dragons are monsters. You donʼt usually care about stats. A level one dragon is still a whole dragon capable of destroying a kingdom.” She shook her head and legs, tapping on Aradʼs chest.

”It doesnʼt scale that well. One stat point every level would be a lot for a human, but for me, itʼs like giving a human 0.01 stat each time they level up...most would just ignore it.” He clenched his fist. ”And look, the older I get, the stronger I become.” Arad smiled, ”And thus, I came with a plan.”

”What plan? Iʼll give you a rating.” Betty smiled.

”I ignore leveling up and focus on mastering my inborn powers and abilities, and aging if possible. That would probably allow me to reach the great wyrm stage in a year or two...I can then spend just a few days farming monsters to level up quickly.” He smiled.

”Six out of ten, youʼll destroy more than ten ecosystems before getting any decent result. Itʼs better to hunt slowly so nature can recover.” She smacked him on the head.

”What if I said Iʼve got a solution to that?” He smiled.

”Iʼll carry you on my back all the way to grandma if youʼve got a decent idea, heck, Iʼll even polish your shoes, Iʼm short after all...” She giggled.

”Donʼt back down...”

****

Fifteen minutes later, Bettyʼs office opened and her grandma Luminous sighed, ”Betty, what took...” She was about to ask but quickly gasped as she saw Betty crawling on all fours with Arad sitting on her back, cross-legged. She was sweating buckets, visibly exhausted, ”Betty?!” Luminous cried.

”Lost a bet, shut up...” Betty growled, slowly crawling to the couch where Arad sat. She stood and wobbled her way to her cabinet, mumbling, ”Where did I put that wax?”

”What bet?” Luminous asked with a confused face.

”Itʼs about how to level up quickly.” Arad explained what he and Betty talked about and then

went to explain his plan.

”Since I know Abel, who is a devil. Iʼll get him to take me to hell to kill sinners and level up,” Arad smiled, ”Devils donʼt care about sinners, in fact, they celebrate their suffering so I can do that. And, sinners are immortal so theyʼll quickly come back to live, and Iʼll kill them for

more experience.”

Arad kept talking with Luminous as Betty cleaned and polished his black leather boots. ”Iʼve already trashed a layer of hell, I bet Iʼll be pretty safe. And just to be careful, Iʼll make sure Abel rises in rank in the nine hells, so he can be... my tourist guide.”

Arad looked at Betty with a smile, ”Weʼll leave the message for later. I donʼt really need it for

now.”

Betty looked away, she had made a second bet right after losing, wanting to void the first, but she ended up losing again.

”Betty! What I told you about Betting?” Luminous growled, ”As who named me Betty...” She

cried.

”She asked me what would I do in case Abel betrayed me and I couldnʼt go to hell. I told her that I could go to the abyss with my wife Merida and level up there, I could also get Sara, Abelʼs brother to get me into hell.” He looked at Luminous with a smile, ”Good plans, right.”

Luminous sighed, ”All dragons plan and conjure schemes constantly in their minds. Itʼs Bettyʼs fault for trying to outsmart a dragon, and in something heʼs been thinking of for a long time.” She stood, ”So...can we get to it? Checking your stats? Iʼm really excited to see what youʼve got... youʼve seen me naked several times, so you wonʼt mind, right?” She smiled.

”I canʼt even see you...” Arad blinked twice, to him, it was like staring at a sun floating in the middle of the room. She still hasnʼt figured out a way to turn it off.