Volume 5, Chapter 45 – Secret Plot?

“Lost?”

Ying’s greenish-blue snake eyes widened in an instant, the fruit platter in her hand nearly slipping, her entire body exuding an air of disbelief.

“Lost to whom? How did they lose?”

“Stay away from me first. We’re too close.”

Because Ying’s chest was about to press against her, Fia was forced to take a small step back, her hands cautiously held in front of her. Claire was right beside her, and she couldn’t let her misunderstand. Ying was a bold woman who would steal a kiss.

“Hmph, am I that unlikeable,” Ying turned her head away like a pouting child. She deliberately glanced at Claire and said, trying to sow discord, “We are friends of a snowy night.”

“What friends of a snowy night? I just saved you from Woz on a snowy night. There’s nothing special. Since you’ve forgotten, I’ll introduce you again. This is Claire, and also the future first consort of Silvar, so don’t say anything more that’s ambiguous.”

“Huh?”

Visibly, Ying’s shoulders trembled. The look she had been throwing at Claire, as if to provoke her, vanished without a trace. She stiffly turned her neck, a hopeful look in her eyes as if she were grasping at the last straw.

“Um… Fia, you’re not lying to me, are you? No matter how favored you are, the Elf King wouldn’t allow you to marry a human, let alone a woman.”

In Ying’s eyes, Claire should be Fia’s casual lover. It was precisely because of this that she had dared to joke with her. The beastfolk’s attitude towards lovers was just that casual.

Fia waved her hands repeatedly.

“Why would I lie to you? At first, my father did not agree to this marriage, but Claire convinced him with her strength. By the way, you may have forgotten, but Claire is Nola’s magic tutor. Before Nola became a Holy Son, she was taken in by Claire and taught magic.”

“Uh… still Nola’s mas… master? The one who makes her lose her soul…”

No wonder I’ve heard that name somewhere before.

Although Ying’s voice was small, Fia still caught it.

Claire smiled and extended her hand to Ying.

“Hello, my name is Claire. We’ve met before, but I’m burdened with a curse that makes people forget me. After a while of not seeing me, people will forget about me, which is why you can’t remember me.”

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“Uh… hello…”

The embarrassment on Ying’s face was already visible. She first fidgeted with her shoulders, then suddenly bowed deeply, just short of kneeling and touching her forehead to the ground in apology.

“I’m sorry! To have arbitrarily treated you, the future queen of Silvar, as Her Highness’s lover, I am very sorry. Please forgive me!”

“I don’t mind. It’s nice to joke around in a friendly atmosphere like before.”

“No, I was wrong.”

Whether it was out of guilt for her mistake or being intimidated by Claire’s aura, Ying became much more docile. She quickly cleared the sofa and invited Claire and Fia to sit, then moved a stool and sat beside them, completely taking on the role of a servant.

The second-floor VIP area, though called a private box, was more like a room simply partitioned with wooden boards and stone. The side facing the arena was not separated by glass, but was completely open. If the people in the rooms on either side spoke a little louder, one could even hear their conversations directly.

However, compared to the third-floor audience, who could only stand, the VIP area was already very comfortable. From Fia’s perspective, looking at the audience seats on the opposite side of the arena, she could see a dense and crowded scene. Even from a few hundred meters away, Fia could feel a pressure that seemed to squeeze the food out of one’s stomach, and a crowded feeling like being stuck in a swamp, unable to move. She began to be glad that she and Claire had not gone there.

“May I ask if it was Your Highness who defeated Chazo’s army?”

Ying, with her hands folded in front of her, asked respectfully.

This sudden politeness made Fia feel uncomfortable.

“Just use your previous tone. Talking like this gives me goosebumps.”

“You said it. Ordinary people want to hear me speak respectfully, but I won’t. I’ll switch back to the impolite mode.” Ying gently swayed her snake tail, occasionally glancing at Claire’s profile, as if looking at something new. “So can you tell me the cause and effect of the matter? We’ve already assembled our troops and plan to set out tomorrow.”

“Don’t be scared and hug me after I tell you.”

“Do I look like that kind of casual woman?”

“You do.”

Fia answered honestly.

Subsequently, she recounted the matter of Chazo’s thirty thousand soldiers being all captured, including the fact that he had brought out fifty War Behemoths, and that the disgusting man who was leading them had been killed by her.

In addition, Fia also specifically mentioned Tilulu’s claim to the throne and the earthquake that had occurred on the night of her claim. When she mentioned this, Claire asked Ying if there had been any disaster of the earth falling near the Fire Cat Tribe. Her answer was that there had been no abnormalities recently.

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“One person against thirty thousand soldiers and fifty War Behemoths, and in the end, not only was the main general captured, but all the remaining soldiers were captured alive… Although I knew you were strong from when you defeated Nola, just how strong are you?”

Ying’s eyes were as if she were looking at a monster. If she hadn’t known beforehand that even Nola was no match for Fia, she would have surely thought that Fia was just boasting for the sake of face because her girlfriend was there.

“Well, that’s a secret.”

Fia made a “shh” gesture mysteriously.

She couldn’t just say that she had even killed the Elf God, and that wasn’t even her limit.

“Anyway, according to that Lionfolk warrior captain, Chazo was not in their army, and the command of the army was also in the hands of that disgusting man. The captain was only responsible for carrying out his tasks. In this way, the clue is completely lost. Your Holy Son Faction hasn’t completely broken with the Royalist Faction, have you? You should know who such a high-ranking person who can move troops is.”

“I don’t know.” Ying denied it flatly. “The Lionfolk have always been arrogant and would not allow people of other races to command them. And I have never seen a guy with both elf ears and vampire fangs. Are you sure he didn’t hide his wings and tail? If he had black bat wings, it would be certain that he was a variation of a demon, which means Chazo is secretly colluding with the Darkborn.”

“But where on earth did Chazo get fifty War Behemoths… he can’t get this number, nor can he afford to raise them. Besides, since he sent so many over, why didn’t he go with the army himself? It’s all too strange.”

“Perhaps the goal was you? Didn’t you say that Chazo might just be using the declaration of war on Silvar as a pretext, but was actually after you?”

“That’s true, but I also said the reason. It’s too suspicious that Chazo himself didn’t show up. Although fifty War Behemoths are strong, they can’t possibly stop Nola. As long as the Holy Son escapes, Chazo will never be at peace. He wouldn’t miss this opportunity, unless he has another plan, or the goal is really as he said at the beginning of the war, just to send troops against Silvar, and he has no intention of dealing with us.”

Ying’s snake-like sharp teeth lightly bit her red lips, as if she were thinking about an extremely profound matter, her pretty eyebrows knitted together.

Claire, at the side, suggested softly.

“Can’t you send someone to the capital to confirm?”

“We can, but the road conditions in the Cold Night are not as good as in Silvar, and it’s winter now, so it’s easy to encounter mountains blocked by heavy snow. Even if a messenger sets out today, it will take a month to go back and forth. If Chazo really has a move, it will be too late. In the end, with thirty thousand people and fifty War Behemoths lost, even if he has a plan, it will surely be forced to be suspended. For now, as long as we send out spies to check for any abnormalities around the territory, we should be able to ensure that nothing goes wrong.”

“I don’t care what you do, as long as you have a plan. Also, I have to inform you that Silvar’s army has already reached the border of the Cold Night and can rush over at any time.”

Fia’s casual tone made Ying’s face change slightly. Chazo’s brainless declaration of war on Silvar did not mean that others were also brainless. If Silvar’s army were to rush into the territory of the Cold Night, the fate of the kingdom would no longer be decided by the beastfolk themselves.

Although the one who would die the most miserably would surely be Chazo, which was a result their Holy Son Faction would be happy to see, when she truly heard Fia lay out such a terrifying matter in a frivolous tone, she couldn’t help but feel a tremor in her heart.

Ying forced a calm and indifferent tone.

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“You’d better rush to the capital of the Cold Night in one go, drag Chazo out, and chop him up. That way, you can directly push Tilulu to be queen.”

“That would indeed allow her to become queen smoothly, but whether she can sit on the throne stably in the future is another matter. To tell you the truth, she has already recognized me as her mother. And from my perspective as a mother, I don’t think she can become a qualified queen in a short time. She needs time to accumulate experience, and what I lack most is time. I have other things to do and can’t always be by her side.”

Ying was silent for a moment.

“…Then do you want to eliminate all opposition to her, to make it convenient for her to be queen, or have Silvar rule in her stead? The United Kingdom of Silvar and the Cold Night, that name sounds nice.”

Putting aside the beastfolk’s independent stance, if the Cold Night could merge into Silvar, it would actually be a good thing for them. Silvar was rich in resources, and its technology in all aspects was more advanced than theirs. Even if Silvar only helped to mine the ore after the merger, it would be a great help to them. Their problem was the backward infrastructure and the lack of a strong and unified force, like having a treasure but not the key to open it.

However, Ying did not think Fia would agree to this condition. The merger would be beneficial to the Cold Night, but only detrimental to Silvar. Silvar could have annexed them long ago at the beginning of its founding. The reason they didn’t was because the Cold Night was too barren. To treat it as their own land would require a continuous output of resources and manpower for support. It was better to let it continue as an independent country, which would save them the trouble of managing it.

As expected, Fia gave the answer she had anticipated.

“I won’t go that far. The king of Silvar is my father, not me. I have no right to decide these things. What I meant just now was that after I’ve dealt with Chazo and put Tilulu on the throne, I’m worried that her position won’t be stable. So, I hope you Holy Son Faction can swear allegiance to her. I guarantee that she will give you appropriate benefits, and even some autonomy is not out of the question. In this way, our goals can be achieved peacefully, which is good for everyone.”

“Is this considered a recruitment?”

Ying said with a smile.

“If you think so, then it is.”

Fia looked down at the arena.

With the excellent vision of an elf, she could see Milu and the others lining up to enter the combat area. Because the entire Hunting Ground was quite large, it was divided into six combat areas, allowing six pairs of less powerful contestants to fight at the same time.

“You don’t have to be in a hurry about this. After all, it involves many aspects. If we really want to discuss it, it will surely require many people to sit down and slowly finalize the details. The most crucial thing is that the leader of the Holy Son Faction is not you, but Nola. If you think it’s better to join us, you’ll have to find a way to persuade her.”

“Persuade Nola? Impossible,” Ying shrugged without a second thought. “She’s too stubborn. And her god said that she must rule the Cold Night. Nola’s view of her god is the same as her view of Miss Claire here, with exceptional respect. She will not go against her god’s will.”

“Then you told me before that there was a possibility of cooperation between us.”

Fia frowned.

Ying controlled her snake tail to wrap around her front. She looked down at it and gently stroked its cold scales.

“What I meant at that time was that we could live as a tribe in the southeastern part of the Cold Night, not opposing Tilulu becoming queen, but not supporting her either. So there would be no question of allegiance.”

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“In my opinion, of course, I think it’s the wise choice to join you. Although Tilulu is weak, the person behind her is you. The fate of those thirty thousand soldiers is enough to show your strength. We already have a hard time dealing with Chazo. To oppose you, wouldn’t that be like an egg hitting a rock? Besides, our goal is to let the beastfolk live a better life, which is not in conflict with her becoming queen. As long as you can guarantee our interests and won’t go back on your word, it’s good for everyone to sit together peacefully.”

“Why don’t you just tell this to Nola? If you serve as the prime minister and general to her, the queen, it’s no different from ruling the Cold Night. I don’t think Nola is completely unreasonable.”

“Not everyone can look at problems rationally, Your Highness. Besides, this is not just Nola’s business.”

Ying said with a bitter face.

“If everyone could stand in a third person’s perspective and rationally distinguish right from wrong, there wouldn’t be so many disputes on the World Tree Continent. It’s precisely because everyone has their own interests and things they can’t compromise on that everyone is in constant conflict.”

“In this case, Nola was saved by a god. To have her submit to a girl who is far weaker than her and not at all mature is too difficult. The Nola I know would not do that. And even if she could look at the problem rationally, the other beastmen below would not agree. They would only say, ‘You want me to submit to a little girl who hasn’t even grown all her fur? What a joke?’. Everyone is like that. They won’t know what pain is until they’ve been slapped themselves.”

“…I agree.”

Fia nodded helplessly.

Ying was right. The vast majority of people could only judge their opponent’s strength based on their own experience and knowledge. Who could have imagined that behind Tilulu was her, and that this little girl who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen had the power to slay gods? Without personally demonstrating it, no one would believe it.

She dusted off the non-existent dust from her formal dress, as if to say this topic was over.

“Alright, I know how to solve it. To convince you beastfolk, I can only rely on my fists.”

“Please be gentle.”

Ying had a wry smile on her face.

“Milu’s fight has begun.”

Claire’s voice came at the right time. Along with it, the entire Hunting Ground erupted. The audience shouted the names of their favorite contestants, and the contestants below began to fight under the referee’s announcement.

The equipment of the beastfolk was very simple. Most of them didn’t even have proper armor. However, these external factors did not affect their fighting spirit. Take Milu’s opponent, for example. When his iron sword was cut in half by her with a single strike, he directly used his bear paws to engage in close combat. If not for the fact that Milu was an agile and strong warrior, and was supplemented by the harassment of her summoned thunderbird, this Third-Tier bear warrior could have even given her a lot of trouble.

The beastfolk’s tough skin and sharp combat instincts were truly amazing.