VBNWDW - Chapter 78
Chapter 78
That night,
The established camp was arranged in an orderly fashion. Aside from the soldiers patrolling back and forth, only the rising and falling sound of long snores remained. The vast plain was consumed by darkness, the distance obscured.
Someone in a tent turned over. A new recruit, facing this for the first time, grew anxious at the thought of reaching Nia City tomorrow and couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
His tossing and turning woke the veteran soldier in charge of him, who scolded, "What are you rolling around for!"
"If you don't want to sleep now, are you planning to close your eyes for good in a couple of days?"
Those were not auspicious words. The new recruit shuddered in fright and hurriedly explained, "What are you talking about? I just can't seem to fall asleep."
The man snorted coldly and cursed, "What's there to be nervous about? Her Majesty the Queen specifically instructed us to rest well tonight, wake up a little later tomorrow, and eat our fill to build up our strength. That means they have a plan. All we have to do is obey. What's the use of you getting anxious all by yourself?"
"Rookie, stop overthinking it. We're just a bunch of ordinary people. The ones who truly decide victory or defeat are those sitting in the carriages."
With that, he rolled over and went back to sleep with his head covered.
The recruit fell silent for a moment before closing his eyes and trying to sleep.
A lamp was still lit in another tent, its faint glow like a star tearing through the darkness.
Metis stood before a wooden table, her head lowered as she stared at the unfurled map, unmoving for a long time.
The last time she had gone to war, she was just a little queen with no say. Due to the haste of the campaign, she didn't even have the right to participate in discussions. She could only follow the troops blindly until they were near Nia City, where she exposed a coward to slightly intimidate the others. Then she rode her dragon to the battlefield and hastily salvaged the situation.
To be honest, if the reinforcements hadn't been ordered back to the city and the Council hadn't discussed how to reward them, she might still not know who had led the army.
But this expedition was almost entirely centered around her, with everyone following her commands. This meant she held the future of nearly one hundred and sixty thousand people in her hands.
It would be a lie to say Metis wasn't nervous. Moreover, she had given an extremely risky order during the day: to launch a surprise attack on the Atl Kingdom the next day.
According to news from Duke Ander, their army had only brought enough dry rations to reach Nia City. They had rushed there almost day and night without rest. After setting up camp, they had no supplies and could only hunt locally. But how could the surrounding prey be enough to feed an army of tens of thousands?
Thus, the soldiers of Atl were exhausted and hungry, forced to tighten their belts and endure until their provisions finally arrived yesterday.
From this, Metis judged it to be an excellent opportunity.
After starving for two or three consecutive days, a person's stomach becomes fragile. If they eat too much at once, they could suffer from severe abdominal pain at best, or lose their life at worst.
Therefore, the opposing general would certainly not dare to let the soldiers eat much. At most, they would cook some plain congee to let them eat until they were half-full.
This was the most grueling time. They had rushed here desperately, only to starve while looking at the city walls opposite them. When they finally got food, they couldn't eat their fill. Morale would naturally be low.
Metis wanted to seize this opportunity, but no matter how thoroughly she considered it now, she still felt uneasy before the outcome was known.
The little black dragon, meanwhile, was lying nearby, looking perfectly at ease. Compared to a few days ago, there were some new additions to the pile it was resting on.
For instance, the soft cushion it used to just plop down on wherever it saw one had now become a custom-made model. When they passed through a city, Her Majesty the Queen had specifically sought out craftsmen, then personally directed and supervised them to rush its creation overnight.
Golden thread was used to embroider the silhouette of a small dragon on silver silk, the corners were adorned with gemstones, and it was stuffed with soft duck down to create a square, plump pillow.
It was now lying on this pillow, nestled in the hollow it had made, its half-closed eyes and swaying tail expressing its satisfaction.
Gems and gold coins were naturally present as well, pressed beneath the dragon's body. In front of it were freshly washed fruits and pastries.
Neither the dragon nor the queen were particularly gluttonous; their desire for food was extremely low. But when they passed through Gerkang City, Her Majesty the Queen had made a special point of purchasing a great deal, all of which was loaded into the dragon's space.
If others knew, they would be green with envy. After all, spatial rings in the human world had limited capacity. The smallest was only one cubic meter, and the larger the space, the higher the price, not to mention they were rare and hard to find.
Therefore, everyone thought long and hard, trying to stuff the most important things into that limited space. Things like fruit would naturally not even be considered.
Even the wealthy Duke of the Maple Family was the same, loading such food onto a separate carriage and using ice to keep it fresh. Who would be willing to waste space in a ring?
But when it came to the black dragon, it was all up to Metis's whim. It had casually mentioned that even if Gerkang City itself were put into its space, it could hold it all.
The dragon was more curious about Metis's sudden behavior. After buying all this, she had also specifically bought some magical beast fur carpets to lay in the carriage. During this process, she would occasionally mutter, "You should have what others have."
However, it had never been inside the Maple Duke's carriage, so it naturally didn't know what Metis was thinking. It just went along with her shopping spree and then happily lay on its custom-made cushion.
Too lazy to extend a claw, it simply hooked its tail forward, flinging a piece of cut cantaloupe to its mouth. The little black dragon stretched its head and took a bite with an "aowu," its eyes squinting in sweetness, a look of pure contentment on its face.
Gerkang City had long hours of sunlight and a large temperature difference between day and night, so the fruit it produced was exceptionally sweet and delicious. Unfortunately, Gerkang City was too far from Anthelia, and fruit was difficult to preserve, so only a small amount could be sold in the royal capital, and it was snatched up every time it appeared.
The black dragon ate most of it before slowly getting up. It hugged the small bowl of cantaloupe with its front paws, flapped its bony wings a few times, and landed on the table, right on the open map.
Metis didn't get angry when she saw this. She stroked its head and asked gently, "What is it? Are you full? Or did you get juice on yourself and need a bath?"
It sounded a bit like a zookeeper talking to her pet, even though this dragon was six hundred years old and an adult, while Metis's age wasn't even as long as the time the dragon had spent sleeping.
"Eat," the little black dragon said, lifting the bowl in its paws. The cantaloupe chunks in the white porcelain bowl shifted.
Metis's tightly furrowed brow relaxed, and she couldn't help but smile, coaxing, "I'm not hungry. You eat it yourself."
Although she said that, she still used a wooden skewer to pick up a piece, feeding the black dragon first, then herself. Before she could say anything, the little black dragon opened its mouth again, perfectly embodying the words "feed me."
Metis didn't find it troublesome at all. She picked up another piece of cantaloupe and tossed it into the dragon's mouth. Its sharpest canine was only the size of a fingertip, like a slightly pointed cowry shell, completely unthreatening, yet it could crush the fruit in an instant.
It ate while holding the bowl, still having the presence of mind to supervise Metis, mumbling, "You eat."
Just like that, the two of them finished off the fruit in the bowl. The now-useless white porcelain bowl was tossed onto the table, and Metis took out a napkin to wipe the dragon's mouth.
The creature certainly knew how to enjoy itself, tilting its neck and raising its head, letting Metis do as she pleased.
Once it was all clean, it blinked and looked at Metis. "Sleep."
"Hmm?" Metis was taken aback, then said, "I'm not sleepy yet…"
The black dragon was domineering, cutting her off directly. "Sleep. You've been staring at that for days. Are you hoping that if you stare a little longer, a mountain will move itself over here and crush the enemy army?"
Metis didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She coaxed, "I don't feel confident."
The black dragon glanced at her, quite displeased. "You don't feel confident, so what's the use of looking at a map? You'd be better off…"
Its tone shifted, and it said with a grin, "You'd be better off doing it with me a few more times to raise your strength."
Beasts didn't understand human subtlety and coyness. They were always direct and unabashed in this regard.
Metis didn't know what to say to it. She could only raise her hand and tap the dragon's head, her eyes filled with a gentle, lingering affection as she gave a completely unthreatening warning, "We have important business tomorrow. No fooling around tonight."
The black dragon looked unconvinced and huffed, "If I don't fool around, you won't sleep."
"That's different."
"How is it different?"
Metis didn't know how to explain it to the dragon. She flicked its head again and said softly, "Be good."
"Then you be good and go to sleep," the little black dragon said, refusing to be outdone and remembering its original goal.
"I…"
Metis was about to refuse again when she heard the black dragon lift its head and say, "You have me. What is there to worry about?"
The lamplight fell on its gilded eyes, brilliant and clear, yet filled with absolute confidence in its own power.
The dragon said lazily, "Worst case, I'll just help you move a mountain over and crush them all."
It wasn't a joke. A great dragon could actually do that.
But Her Majesty the Queen just poked its cheek and commented, "Oh, how impressive."
The little black dragon wagged its tail, accepting the compliment.
Metis then asked with a smile, "Then how much will that cost in payment to Lord Yueqing?"
The more, the better, of course!
The black dragon's eyes lit up, and it quickly replied, "Five times! No, eight times!"
It raised its claw, struggling to make the sign for eight.
What a greedy dragon. Who ever heard of changing the price after saying it out loud?
Metis played along with a light laugh, saying hesitantly, "That's a bit expensive."
"You can bargain!" the dragon said, its face full of expectation as its tail started wagging again.
So that was its plan.
Her Majesty the Queen said, "Oh," then put on a troubled expression and added, "How about four times?"
She had cut the price down to a level the dragon couldn't accept in one go!
The little black dragon gasped, its eyes wide as it said firmly, "No way! I'd be taking a loss!"
It quickly hugged Metis's arm and said clingily, "Metis, add a little more."
"Just a little more, or the dragon will take a loss."
"Didn't you say I could bargain?" Metis was now at a loss for words.
"You can't bargain like that," the black dragon whined shamelessly.
The two of them went back and forth over the price for a long time. The greedy dragon experienced human stinginess for the first time, seeing the price drop from eight to three, then get raised back to ten. The negotiations went up and down, moving from the desk to the bed.
Finally, Metis stroked the dragon's head and instructed, "You are not to make a move tomorrow."
The little queen, who had always been under the dragon's protection, wanted to truly step out from under its wings and enter everyone's sight with her own abilities.
The dragon buried its head in her chest, humming and hawing for a long time before finally saying, "Be careful. Call me if you need anything."
The black dragon didn't try to stop her, but it was still a little worried.
Metis gently patted its back and whispered, "Okay."
Perhaps the bed was too soft, or the little black dragon in her arms was too soothing. The person who had been so anxious just moments ago quietly drifted off to sleep. Their long, slow breaths intertwined as the night deepened.
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