Perhaps Gawain’s answer was too straightforward, causing the two well-traveled high-ranking agents to become temporarily stunned. Melita was the first to react. She blinked and somewhat uncertainly asked, "Did you mean ’no’?"

"Yes, no," Gawain replied casually, "Is there something wrong with my answer?"

"...It’s just unexpected," Melita said in an odd tone, "Your reaction is so uncharacteristic of ordinary people that we didn’t react in time."

This answer, instead, made Gawain curious: "Oh? What should ordinary people be like?"

"Faced with an invitation from a God, ordinary people should either be overwhelmed with joy or deep in awe. Of course, you may have a more resilient spirit than ordinary people and remain calm—but even your level of calmness is beyond our expectations."

"That’s because you told me—you can refuse," Gawain chuckled and spoke with ease and composure, "To be honest, I am indeed curious about Talronde, but as the ruler of this country, I can’t casually embark on a trip on a whim. The Empire is on track, countless projects await my decisions, and I have many tasks ahead—that meeting with a God is not in my plans. Please convey my apologies to your God—at least for now, I cannot accept Her invitation."

What Gawain said was not an excuse—but merely one of the reasons.

Honestly, this unexpected invitation truly shocked him. He had imagined how to advance relations with Dragonkin but never imagined it would progress in this manner—a God residing in reality exists in Talronde. And it seems the God has been lingering for many years before this iteration of civilization. Gawain does not know the purpose behind such a God’s sudden desire to meet him, a "mortal," but there’s one thing he can be sure of: all matters related to Gods must be handled with caution.

Based on Melita and Nuoletta’s reactions, the relationship between Dragonkin and their God seems quite delicate, yet at least one thing is certain—the "Dragon God" hasn’t gone mad.

A mad God is terrifying. However, a rational God doesn’t necessarily imply safety.

Does She know about the defied Plan? Does She know Cecil Clan restarted the defied Plan? Has She experienced the ancient era of all Gods? Does She know the Deicide Fleet and its behind-the-scenes secrets? Is She benevolent or malevolent? All this remains unknown, and Gawain... is not blind nor self-confident to the point of feeling fearless.

He indeed stopped two God-level catastrophes, directly or indirectly defeating two "Gods," but he is very aware of how much luck and coincidence contributed during those events—even if his "satellite spirit" seems to have a suppressive or immune effect on some divine power, it doesn’t mean he actually possesses the strength to truly combat Gods, at least not with a stable power to confront them. If out of confidence from past achievements against divine disasters, he started believing he’s a "God Slayer"... he might not be far from being buried once again.

Therefore, with caution towards the Dragon God, along with basic vigilance, and indeed not being able to casually leave the Empire for a distant "journey" to Talronde, Gawain had to decline the Dragonkin’s "invitation" this time.

After turning down an invitation that truly held great temptation for him, Gawain couldn’t help but take a long breath of relief, feeling his mind clearer...

"You are indeed not an ordinary person," Melita gave Gawain a deep glance and after two seconds of silence, lowered her head solemnly and said, "Then, we will convey your response to our God."

Then, Nuoletta further spoke, "I also want to confirm—based on what you said earlier, you are ’currently’ unable to go to Talronde, and it’s not a complete refusal of the offer, am I correct?"

Gawain glanced at her and, after pondering for a few seconds, nodded slightly, "If that ’God’ is generous enough to tolerate the whims of a mortal, then I may accept her invitation someday in the future."

Nuoletta and Melita exchanged a glance, and the latter suddenly displayed a faint smile, lightly saying, "...Our God is generous on many occasions."

Gawain was about to ask what she meant by that, but Nuoletta suddenly stepped forward and bowed slightly, "Our task has been completed; it’s time to bid farewell."

Seems it was a question that couldn’t be answered.

Gawain understood and decided not to press further. He nodded gently and saw Nuoletta packing away the large case that stored the "shield of the protector" and bowed once more, "Thank you for working with us; your responses are very important to us."

"Wait a minute," Just then, Gawain recalled something and quickly spoke before they left, "About the previous signal..."

"It’s unrelated to Talronde," Melita shook her head, seemingly wanting to say more, but after a brief hesitation, shook her head again, "We can’t trace its origin either."

Gawain silently looked at the two humanoid dragons for a few seconds, finally nodding slowly, "I understand."

The two high-ranking agents nodded and then bid farewell, their presence rapidly withdrawing, and within minutes, Gawain lost sight of them completely.

Gawain stood for a moment, allowing his thoughts to gradually settle, and once the chaotic speculations and ideas no longer surged, he exhaled softly, returned to his spacious desk, and placed the heavy, ancient protector’s shield upon it.

In the sunlight streaming through the window, the surface of the ancient shield glimmers faintly, the additional parts added by pioneer friends of the past have rusted and deteriorated, yet the metallic panel of the shield continues to shimmer under the rusted surface.

Gawain recalled that back then, among the expeditionary army, the blacksmiths tried various methods but couldn’t manage to melt this piece of metal. With extreme shortages of materials and tools, they were even unable to bore a few holes into the metal for installing handles, so the craftsmen had to resort to the most direct and primitive method—using a large amount of extra alloy casting to nearly envelop the entire metal.

Now centuries later, those traces once filled with countless people’s efforts and hopes have decayed to this extent.

Gawain pressed the call bell beside the desk, moments later, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway, and Betty pushed the door open and walked in, "Your Majesty, did you call for me?"

"Is Aunt Heidi here?"

Betty thought for a moment, nodded, "She’s here, but she’ll soon be heading to the Administrative Office!"

"Have her come here first."

...

Outside Cecil Castle, near a sparsely populated forested area, Melita and Nuoletta’s figures appeared on the clearing accompanied by a gust of wind.

The two high-ranking agents walked forward a few steps, confirmed that there were no idle personnel around, then Noreta released her hand, and the magnificent metal box she held fell to the ground. She exchanged a glance with Melita beside her, and in that brief moment, they seemed to have completed a silent exchange. The next second, they simultaneously staggered forward two steps, half-kneeling on the ground, unable to support themselves.

Tearing pain came from the depths of the soul, and even their strong bodies seemed unable to bear it, rapidly showing various anomalies. Hot patterns suddenly appeared on Noretta’s skin, and faint dragon scales spread from her cheeks to her whole body. Behind Melita, a layer of illusory shadow soared into the air, and colossal phantom dragon wings unfolded, blocking the sky while numerous shadowy figures, seemingly self-conscious, spread out from them, eager to break free and rush into the air.

This terrifying process lasted a whole ten minutes before the backlash from the soul finally began to calm down. Noreta gasped, beads of sweat dripping from her cheeks. She barely regained control of her body, stood up bit by bit, and reached out to try to support the worse-off Melita.

Melita looked up at her, trying to stand up forcefully, but then swayed and uttered a "wah" sound, vomiting.

Her internal organs were still cramping.

Seeing her friend in such pain, Noreta showed an unbearable expression on her face, subtly stepped aside half a step, and turned her face away.

After half a minute, this even more terrible process finally calmed down. Noreta turned her face back and glanced Melita up and down: "Are you okay?"

Melita: "I don’t want to talk right now."

Noreta looked at her friend sympathetically: "Are you still going to wear that stupid-looking veil in the future?"

Melita: "...(Talronde profanity, a lot)"

Noreta was shocked by her friend’s momentum, helplessly stepped back half a step, raised her hands in surrender, and Melita took a deep breath, finally calming down before lowering her head, frowning hard, and opening her mouth to spit out a blinding flame—dragon breath instantly burning away the less than decent and elegant evidence left at the scene.

Then she raised her eyes to look at Noreta, deeply regretting not being able to silence her.

Noreta seemed unfazed by the resentful feelings coming from Melita. She just took several deep breaths, further calming and healing the damage she had suffered, after a moment, she said with lingering fear: "You often deal with Gawain Cecil... that dangerous to talk to him?"

"Almost every time he shows a ’want to talk’ attitude, he’s risking lives," Melita said woodenly, "You know how nervous I get whenever he says he has a question? I’ve even sketched the shape of my own grave in my mind..."

"It’s very scary, really." Noreta sighed with firsthand experience, and couldn’t help but think of the events at the Mithril Vault headquarters in Talronde not long ago—even Speaker Andar on the scene suffered a divine gaze, and that terrifying gaze... seemingly caused by bringing back a signal from Gawain Cecil.

"I suddenly have a premonition," said the White Dragon Lady, looking troubled, "If I continue to run around this human empire with you, sooner or later I’ll be ’talked to death’ by that pioneer hero’s casual remark. It’s really hard to imagine, I’m bold enough to talk about gods with outsiders, even actively approach forbidden knowledge..."

"Put away your worries; after this, you can return to a support position," Melita gave her friend a glance, then her eyes moved smoothly, falling on the box thrown on the ground, made from various precious magic materials, "As for now, we should get some rewards for this highly risky mission..."

As she spoke, she came to the box, began to directly dismantle the gems and crystals with her fingers, and beckoned: "Come help me; we’ll melt its frame later. Too bad this thing is too conspicuous to sell directly; otherwise, selling the whole thing would be worth more than dismantling..."

The White Dragon Noretta hesitated, walking to her friend’s side with a trace of conflict: "Is this really okay? This box was actually intended to..."

"Hey, who would know if you don’t say—last time, I sold the box too. Let me tell you, working outside is not like being a support staff in Talronde; the risks are high, the environment is harsh, and you can’t properly rest. If you don’t figure out ways to supplement, you can’t get by..."

The White Dragon Noretta’s eye twitched twice, she intended to severely reprimand (later omitted)... she came to Melita’s side, and began colluding.

...

"Ancestor, did you call for me?"

Aunt Heidi entered Gawain’s study, curiously asking, and the next second, her sight was caught by the noticeable object on the desk.

"Ancestor, this is..."

Aunt Heidi’s eyes widened and her finger pointed at the Guardian shield on the table. Her tone trembled—

As a member of the Cecil Clan, she would never mistake what this was. In the family’s legacy of books, in the portraits elders passed down, she saw it innumerable times; the Guardian shield, lost a century ago, was once thought to be the root of the family’s disgrace and a heavy burden passed from one Cecil heir to the next. Each swore to retrieve this treasure, but none succeeded. She never imagined, not even in her dreams, that one day this shield would suddenly appear before her—on the desk of the ancestor.

"The shield of the protector of Anzu Kingdom," Gawain, satisfied with Heidi’s surprised expression, smiled and said lightly, "Today is a day worth celebrating; this shield has been recovered—with the help of the Dragonkin."

"Dragonkin..." Heidi felt herself gradually recovering from the dizzying sensation, she took a deep breath and couldn’t help but step forward to examine the shield on the desk carefully, "It’s really it... it’s really it?"

"Of course, I can’t mistake my own things," Gawain laughed and said, "Why do you seem even more excited than I am?"

"Ancestor, you probably can’t understand...the missing shield has extraordinary significance for descendants like us," Aunt Heidi said with difficulty concealing her excitement, "The disgrace of the Cecil Clan began with the loss of this shield. Generations of descendants long for the glory of the ancestors; Rebecca and I also swore under your portrait to find this shield..."

"Ahem," Gawain coughed twice suddenly, "You even have such rules?"

Heidi quickly calmed down from her excitement and felt the strange atmosphere of the moment. She glanced at the ancestor who walked from the portrait to the reality, and awkwardly bowed her head: "This ... this is a normal aristocratic habit. We ask you to witness many things in front of your portrait, including important family decisions, adulthood vows, major changes in the family..."

"Alright, you don’t need to say more," Gawain felt the topic was too strange, hurriedly interrupted Heidi, "I guess when Marquis Grumman took the shield from my tomb, he probably greeted me—he might even have knocked on my coffin lid. Although it’s not appropriate for me to say that, that’s entirely deceiving the dead, so let’s end this topic here."

Heidi: "...Yes, Ancestor."