Chapter 166: After All, First Fish (Bonus 18 of 56)

Herbert certainly hadn't guessed that Valentina was thinking about something so "dangerous."

At this moment, his heart was filled with the superiority of intellectual dominance.

Although deceiving a fool isn't right, since he'd already deceived her, there was nothing to feel guilty about.

After all, he was only tricking Young Lady Hungry Dragon into doing some hard labor—he wouldn't really treat her badly.

She'd surely forgive me!

And to distract Valentina's attention, Herbert had actually prepared something else.

After walking for a short while, they passed through the forest, emerged from the mist, and arrived safely at the seashore.

"Where are you taking me? We… wow!"

On the boundless seashore, Valentina stared wide-eyed, just as Herbert had expected.

Nightfall draped the beach; the once ordinary coastline now radiated a mysterious, enchanting aura in the dark.

The entire beach shimmered with a faint blue glow, forming a striking and wondrous contrast against the black night sky.

Fluorescent beach.

This was Herbert's trump card.

He had discovered it during his last visit to the Outer Waves on a Blood Moon night.

Perhaps due to the unique properties of the Mist Mountains, these sands contained strange energies that glowed under nightfall.

It looked as if the Milky Way had fallen onto the shore.

Herbert had also asked the guardian, and received an unexpected answer.

All the sand along the outer edge of the Mist Mountains glowed like this—beautiful, but useless, and it only glowed here, so no one bothered to collect it.

It was purely a natural wonder, with no practical significance.

But Herbert thought they were wrong.

Who said this sand was useless? This sand was perfect!

Seeing Valentina's current rapt reaction, he knew he was right.

Such a beautiful sight would surely have an extraordinary effect on Young Lady Dragon, whose nature loved glittering things.

He walked behind Valentina, gently wrapped his arms around her, and whispered in her ear: "Do you like it?"

"If you like it, we can come here every night to watch the tides rise and fall together."

He spoke softly, trying to make Valentina completely succumb to this beautiful scene, and then… forget she'd been tricked.

Clearly, his goal was achieved—Valentina had completely forgotten what had happened before.

Yet, at the same time, some unexpected events occurred beyond his plan.

What followed took Herbert slightly by surprise.

"We… hmm?"

As Herbert continued whispering sweet nothings, he suddenly sensed something was off.

Because the hand he had wrapped around her front was suddenly gripped tightly by Valentina.

!!?

Angry?

No, not that…

At that moment, Herbert caught a whiff of a familiar sweet scent.

"Trouble!"

Valentina was extremely excited.

Although she hadn't eaten yet.

But she was hungry now!

In every sense of the word, she was hungry!

Valentina turned around, tackled Herbert onto the sand, and skillfully pinned him down.

"Mmm!!?"

The matter of actual egg-laying can be thought about after building the nest—set it aside for now.

Anyway, she couldn't wait.

Just try first!

The next afternoon.

After confirming that the newly cleared land from yesterday had not been affected by any unknown force or damaged by any creature, Herbert sighed in relief.

But it was only the first day; building the house could wait a while longer—he'd check again later.

Herbert cut open his wrist and let his blood drip onto the wooden stakes he had driven into the ground.

Blood Mark.

He used the oldest method to leave his aura behind, marking this land as his own!

The creatures of the Mist Mountains would never recognize a weak kingdom's grant of land.

To establish a foothold in these mountains, he had to rely on himself… and the strength of the demon girls.

By leaving the Blood Mark, Herbert issued a warning to the surroundings—this land belongs to me!

He'd check again later; if everything proved stable, he could rest easy.

Afterward, Herbert did not attempt to retrace his steps—he rode on the Dragon Flyer along another safe route and left the area.

【"I think you're being a bit too cautious."】 Even Nie Nasha didn't understand his caution.

Wasn't he being overly timid?

"Too cautious? Maybe not."

Herbert shook his head, his gaze falling toward the mountain range, toward the lake he had encountered yesterday.

Its position had changed again!

The lake water was moving.

By now it had already moved quite far from where they had met, and was only one-third of the way from the chosen base.

That creature containing the Wine of Forgetfulness, though startled once, was still pursuing Herbert's footsteps, trying to draw near him.

"If this whole mountain range is full of things like this, then even if I were ten times more cautious, it probably still wouldn't be enough."

【"This... well, that's true."】

This place was a divine kingdom ruin.

Who could be sure that only this one thing would be interested in the Nie Nasha aura on Herbert?

A single creature holding the Wine of Heroes could become a legendary-level special being — so what about the others?

Could there be epic-level things?

Nie Nasha dared not guarantee it, and Herbert was even less willing to gamble.

Rather than build something only to have it destroyed, it was better to build nothing at all and first try to lure them in.

Scatter some bait, set up a nest, test the waters, do a little fishing.

The blood mark had already been left there — what would it draw in afterward?

To tell the truth, Herbert actually felt a measure of anticipation in his heart.

Best case, nothing bites; even if something does, it would give him a preliminary sense of how dangerous this area is — no way to lose either way.

"Hope it won't disappoint me."

Thinking these thoughts, Herbert closed his eyes, sat steadily on Valentina's back, and continued planning his next steps.

A moment later, Herbert suddenly spoke: "Alright, stop circling around — we're going back sooner or later anyway."

"What, are you scared?"

And to his teasing, Valentina could only manage a half-hearted huff: "... Hmph, I'm not scared at all!"

"Heh, alright, you're not scared, not scared."

Herbert merely smiled at this without a word.

When Valentina started circling instead of flying forward, he didn't need to open his eyes to know they had arrived.

It was just like a little dog that had been out playing all day and refused to go home no matter what.

Really too easy to read.

Opening his eyes, they had indeed arrived not far from the Mist Monastery.

"Alright, land. We'll walk the last stretch back slowly."

"... Fine."

Though Valentina was inwardly unwilling ten thousand times over, she knew she couldn't dodge it, and finally changed back to human form, walking slowly back to the monastery with Herbert.

Mmm... walking very slowly, stopping to rest for a while every so often along the way.

Every extra moment of delay counts!

I don't want to go back to prison aaaaaaaaa!!!

(End of chapter)