Chapter 494: Decided, and Sharon's Recent Situation

Dimia understood and said, "You plan to use Jin Along as bait."

"Yes, but even if the black dragon among the five-colored dragons isn't as smart as the green dragon, it's no fool either. A simple and obvious Jin Along bait won't work. I need the Shi Ying Town officials to set things up in advance and create the illusion of a successful trade somewhere transporting a large amount of Jin Along."

The crocodilian Jeroen paused:

"The terrain of the Dusk Hills is too open. The route for transporting Jin Along should be close to or pass through the Claw Valley Highlands. We need to suppress the dragon's aerial advantage as much as possible."

The old gentleman Humbert beside them heard this and adjusted the plush top hat on his head, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.

"Claw Valley Highlands—next to the Koshi Plains there's a town called Tayles. It used to be one of the importers of Shi Ying Town's mineral products."

"Used to be?" Rod asked, puzzled.

"Mm, yes. Our transport route used to always go through the Koshi Plains, but then the beast-plague crisis broke out and the Ruins Brotherhood ran rampant across the Dusk Hills, driving up transport costs enormously. We could never agree on a price, so it was shelved. I happen to be on decent terms with Baron Alvin of Tayles Town, so perhaps I can help get this restarted."

"That's good, then. I'll trouble you with this, Commissioner Humbert."

This meeting was fairly proper.

Rod gave plenty of face, addressing the old turtle-man as Commissioner.

That was exactly what he was thinking.

Tally, who had transformed into a dashing female guard behind him, leaned in close to his ear with a serious expression and whispered:

"Master, can I crawl under the table?"

"... What are you trying to do?"

"The moment I got here I was reminded of the taste from last time eating breakfast under this table. That time Master was a bit quick, but the nervous flavor was also really nostalgic."

You have the nerve to say that.

Last time the witch Dimia caught us and snidely remarked on it several times.

This time it's even more out of the question—the halfling Lily is sitting right beside them.

Sure enough.

Lily was a master of both magic and spirituality, and now she seemed to have heard something.

She was looking at him with a helpless expression.

Rod gave an awkward smile and pushed Tally's face away.

"No, you stay put."

After a pause, he looked at the crocodilian Jeroen: "I'll be taking part in this operation."

"So will I," Lily added.

"That won't be necessary."

Jeroen shook his head. "Since Mr. Rod can pay the price, our Blizzard Mercenary Corps will naturally display the fighting strength we should. An eighth-tier mid-stage dragon—if the strategy is sound, we're more than capable of handling it."

The witch Dimia then suggested:

"In that case, why don't we strike while the iron is hot? Once the mercenary corps engages the black dragon, we follow the previous plan and raid Coral Bay at the same time."

Two dragons with air superiority appearing on the battlefield at once would be an utterly terrifying sight.

Splitting the battlefield here would be a fairly good choice.

Rod thought it sounded good and nodded in agreement.

What followed was discussion of all sorts of details—timing, support, equipment, retreat, and contingency plans.

Rod had no experience in these matters and offered no opinions, just listening quietly.

The meeting lasted from noon all the way until evening.

Most matters had been settled, and the group dispersed, each beginning their preparations.

The exact timing hadn't been set yet—they still had to wait for old gentleman Humbert to make contact with Tayles Town.

It happened to be dinnertime.

Rod went with Dimia and Lily to the Land Naga restaurant on New Lanke Street for a meal.

This was yet another new restaurant, and the head chef was an ordinary middle-aged human woman.

Compared to the orc matron who was devoted to recommending beastfolk raw meat to others, or the halfling chef disguised as a dwarf, she was indeed relatively normal.

Her culinary skills came neither from one place nor another—she had learned them from the land nagas in the Death Desert beside the Wind Wall Forest.

This lady had originally been a local merchant, peddling daily goods and the like.

Because of that she often delivered goods to the land nagas' side, and somehow she actually managed to trade for a full set of authentic naga cuisine.

Rod had seen her several times, and every time she was startled by Pan Ni's ghoul.

She was a timid but kind-hearted matron.

Before long, the dishes were all served.

Spice-roasted snake and scorpion, moongrass salad, poison vine soup, snake-scale biscuits, fruit platter.

The nagas had no taboo against eating snake; on the contrary, they had an entire set of ways to prepare it.

Neither Dimia nor Lily were spoiled girls, and they paid no mind to the ingredients themselves, tucking in heartily.

"By the way, Rod—has Sharon contacted you recently?"

Dimia asked, slicing off a piece of snake-egg pancake and putting it in her mouth as she spoke.

Her naturally baby-round cheeks puffed out even more as she talked and chewed, making her look considerably cuter than usual.

The witch was a girl who paid more attention to etiquette, and when dining with Rod she would always cover her mouth out of embarrassment when speaking—even now that they were familiar, it was still the same.

"I chatted with her a few days ago about Coral Bay. She seemed pretty busy."

Rod said.

The dog-girl Sharon was currently in Faye, seeking to explore the deeper mysteries of the Plague Domain.

She had joined a local gang there, killed over a dozen people with a cackle to establish herself, and only then ended her rootless drifting.

After Rod explained the situation at Coral Bay, she acted like she didn't care, but in reality immediately planted an emerald tree cutting to come back and help—she just hadn't reached the point of being able to use 【Spatial Tree Form】 yet.

"Hmm."

Demya seemed to want to say something.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke again:

"Sharon told me not to tell you, but I think you need to know."

"What is it?"

"A high-level mage in Fay's area took a liking to Sharon and intended to take her as a student. Sharon refused, so that person sent someone to injure her."

"..."

Demya looked up.

She found that Rod's face had already darkened.

She had seen this expression before; it was the look a man wore only when he intended to kill.

She hurriedly added, "Sharon always said it was fine, no problem. I thought she had already told you, but judging by your expression, you didn't know."

"Mm, thank you, Demya. Once the teleportation object over there stabilizes, I will go there personally."

The survival ability of the Emerald Tree cutting is very strong.

Sharon is a mage; she should be able to survive within a few days.

Rod nodded, adjusted his mindset, and flashed a comforting smile at the Young Lady Witch.

On the side, the halfling Lily also grew indignant:

"Taking on a student can involve forced buying and selling? I despise this kind of behavior the most. Rod! Your friend is my friend! Remember to call me when you go; we'll beat that guy up together!"

Demya was somewhat worried and said seriously, "If possible, I also want to go see. That Sharon was always sloppy back at school; I must go see how she is living."

Two chapters of 4k words per day is indeed a bit excessive. Starting tomorrow, I'll challenge myself to two chapters of 6k.

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(End of this chapter)