About ten days later.
Artoria, who had been both tirelessly busy and constantly on guard, finally found a legitimate opportunity to venture openly into the deep forest.
This was the village's final resource-gathering effort before the rainy season: hunting, chopping timber, collecting herbs... gathering as much as possible to weather the unpredictable disasters that loomed.
Artoria entered the forest with the villagers, then slipped away down a winding path, hurrying toward the perilous depths... she hadn't seen the baby dragon in nearly half a month!
"Does he miss me?"
"Have his wounds healed?"
"The rainy season is coming… does he have enough food? Will he go hungry?"
With a mind full of questions, the golden-haired girl raced toward the cliff.
... This time, however, she didn't need to climb its towering heights.
"Hm?"
As she rounded a narrow rock wall, barely wide enough for one person, and reached a gentler slope, a structure that appeared out of nowhere seized her full attention.
On what should have been an open grassy clearing stood a pristine white "fortress."
The fortress wasn't large, its interior no bigger than a ball court... but gazing at this strange white structure, Artoria felt an odd sensation stir within her:
Built from square marble blocks, the structure was simple yet orderly, exuding a solemn, sacred atmosphere and an indescribable sense of reverence.
In the next moment, driven by curiosity and a desire to explore, she stepped into the white building. There, she found the baby dragon she'd been longing to see, curled up asleep on a massive stone.
"This little one… has he been busy with this these past few days?"
"Where did he get these stones?"
Looking at the baby dragon sleeping on the boulder, Artoria felt a mix of joy and curiosity... marble of this quality didn't seem like something he could have just found in the forest.
"If we could trace the source of these stones… we might face this year's rainy season with greater ease."
Her emotions as a girl faded, replaced by the pragmatism of a king. As the sole candidate for the King of Britain, Artoria immediately recognized the value of the marble: compared to the baby dragon nesting atop a cliff, the humans living on the ground needed such sturdy stone far more.
But...
"Roar?"
As the baby dragon stirred, letting out a slightly groggy but then jubilant cry, everything changed.
"I'm here! I came to see you!"
The king, who had been thinking rationally moments ago, transformed in a blink into a gleeful girl... the dragon's cry was like a spell, making her forget the concerns that didn't belong in this moment.
Yes, indeed.
This was a domain meant solely for dragons.
Human affairs had no place here.
…
Fully awake, the baby dragon flew swiftly to Artoria's side.
It circled above her head, letting out high-pitched or excited roars from time to time.
Artoria understood the little one's meaning:
"Hey, you finally came! I missed you so much!"
"How've you been? Eating enough?"
"I've hunted tons of Magical Beasts these past few days... especially a huge fire-breathing boar!"
"See this building? I made it! Pretty impressive, right?"
"But for some reason… it feels like something's missing. I can't figure out what."
"I threw out the old food, but I dug a pond behind the building and stocked it with fish. Shall we roast some fish later?"
These were the baby dragon's ramblings, recounting his recent days.
With a fond sense of relief, Artoria looked at the dragon, who, though unseen for days, was as spirited as ever, and quietly exhaled.
She'd been worrying too much.
... Even without her, this baby dragon could thrive, even finding ways to entertain himself.
But, speaking of which.
"Something's missing?"
Prompted by the dragon's words, Artoria suddenly noticed an odd sense of incongruity in the structure.
It was a strange, abrupt feeling.
When she first entered, this sense of wrongness hadn't been there!
"Strange?"
"What's different?"
Artoria instinctively looked at the stone pillar ahead... she suddenly felt its top was too bare, as if something belonged there!
But what could it be?
She raised her head, staring at the empty pillar, then turned to the baby dragon, still circling her with boundless energy.
Suddenly, it clicked.
"Babydrago."
"Roar?"
"Fly up to that pillar and strike a fierce pose."
"Yes, just like that."
…
Artoria stepped outside the fortress.
She found the final square marble block, its proper place unknown, and raised her sword.
Sharp, lively wind elements gathered along the blade.
Her exquisite swordsmanship, typically used for battle, now served to carve a true work of art.
Closing her eyes, she recalled the dragon's pose. Her sword swept across the marble... before the wind-infused blade, the sturdy stone was like clay, easily shaved away.
Artoria continued wielding her sword.
Chips of stone, large and small, fell away, and a complete form gradually emerged before the baby dragon.
Dragon head, tail, wings, claws.
Under Artoria's masterful design, a 1:1 replica of the baby dragon took shape.
And when Alaric tried to place this statue, modeled after himself, atop the pillar...
Whoosh...
A miraculous, no, a mystical scene unfolded.
Blinding white light burst from the statue, followed by a resounding rumble... the fortress, originally just a pile of marble blocks like a child's stacking game, with no real stability, now seemed fused with the earth itself, unyielding and as one with the surrounding mountains.
[Ding, congratulations on completing the mini-game: Stacking Game]
[After arduous effort, you have successfully constructed the building: Hall of Light]
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If they block this again, you can read it on SH (S-c-r-i-b-b-l-e- H-u-b) under the same title.