Chapter 511: Patting Heads and Collecting Taxes

The black dragon Mikhail was the first to leave.

His black dragon-scaled body was natural cover on a moonless night, and with a thin layer of magic draped over it, he became even harder to detect.

Generally speaking, the larger the body, the harder concealment spells were to use.

To be as deft at it as he was, he must have put in considerable effort.

Rod watched his departing figure.

Still, he held back a laugh.

Although killing himself was a rather eerie thing to do.

He had still agreed to it.

On one hand, it fit the dragon persona; on the other, this fee was too good not to swindle.

"Rod! Perfect! A perfect performance!"

Lily leapt out from the shadows, bouncing excitedly around Rod.

Her chestnut little ponytail bobbed up and down behind her head.

The halfling girl was clearly one who yearned for stories of heroes and brave adventurers.

A pair of clear, bright big eyes sparkled as she gazed at Rod, full of envy and admiration.

"On one hand, you stirred up a war between two giant dragons; on the other, you set the stage for next time we swindle a fee! This is practically a fairy tale of outwitting dragons! I've already memorized it deep in my brain! Next time I meet a dragon, I'll do the same!"

"It was mostly thanks to your illusion magic — otherwise Mikhail wouldn't have jumped to conclusions so easily."

Rod said with a smile.

Instinctively, he wanted to pat Lily's cute little head.

But he immediately realized that, as a friend, a halfling girl might not appreciate that kind of gesture.

His raised hand could only smoothly scratch an itch instead.

Lily had plenty of friends in the Chivalrous Alliance — how could she not know what Rod was trying to do?

In fact, her two good friends, the cat-woman Kou Yi He Fa and the mage Doris, both liked to pat her head; she didn't mind too much, as long as they were good friends.

"Here!"

She laughed and pressed the top of her head against Rod. "I saw that — you wanted to pat my head, didn't you? You tall folks always want to pat halflings' heads. As payment for letting me watch such a good show, go ahead!"

"Is it really okay?"

"Of course, if it's Rod, it's fine!"

Since she'd said so much.

Rod naturally couldn't refuse such courtesy.

His palm gently landed on the girl's fluffy chestnut curls.

A small, rounded little head.

Soft to the touch — Lily's hair carried a faint sun-warmed scent, the strands fine and springy, feeling like a warm cloud beneath his hand.

At first, Lily kept her bright, sunny smile.

After feeling Rod mess up her hair, she pretended to be displeased and gave him a reproachful glance.

Then she hummed softly, narrowing her eyes like a docile little cat to enjoy it, a satisfied smile curling at the corners of her mouth.

But for some reason, her cheeks then flushed faintly, her breathing gradually quickened, and when Rod accidentally brushed her burning-hot ear, she gave a small shiver.

Rod thought she didn't like people touching her ears.

Just as he was about to pull away, she unexpectedly nuzzled closer on her own, pressing more firmly into his palm.

Warm breath brushed past his wrist, sending a tingling sensation through him.

It was oddly like the way Tally acted when she was being affectionate.

"."

The banshee Chris drifted out from the shadows at the worst possible moment, happening to float right between the two of them.

She looked at Rod with a strange expression, then at Lily.

"What are you two doing?"

Lily's slightly dazed eyes snapped wide awake.

Coughing, she took one big step back to cover her faintly blushing cheeks.

Rod raised an eyebrow.

But turning to Chris, he said bluntly: "Go pack up the money — what's it to you what we're doing."

"Oh!"

The moment Chris heard "pack up the money," she was instantly delighted, too lazy to even care about the oddities between Lily and her master, and called Tally along to handle the treasure.

When it came to packing money, Tally's shadow magic was extremely useful.

Scooping it up, then pouring it into the spell-pouch like a funnel.

The golden ocean of several million coins began to visibly shrink and sink.

Seeing things were going fairly smoothly, Rod looked back at Lily:

"Sorry, are you okay?"

Lily fanned her own cheeks and glared at him: "We're friends, Rod — when you pat my head, you can't treat me like one of your girls."

Rod was puzzled: "It's just patting a head, what's the difference?"

"There is! You were way too suggestive about it!"

"."

Soon enough.

The red dragon's hoard was all accounted for.

The group once again passed through the treasury's defensive works and emerged onto the outer slopes of Black Scar Mountain.

Of course.

All to push the struggle between the black dragon Mikhail and the red dragon Narth from covert little moves into open confrontation — and conveniently toss the blame onto some "white dragon just passing by."

Before leaving, Rod still stood his ground and used his White Dragon War Soul to unleash one 【Purifying Dragon's Roar +1】.

The skill was originally meant to purify magical weather, and tonight's blanket of dark clouds happened to set the perfect stage for it.

One tremendous dragon's roar later, most of the heavens were clean in an instant.

The moon was bright and the stars were few.

And Rod and his party hurried to slip away.

Just as they re-entered the bounds of Shi Ying Town, they happened to hear another dragon's roar — searing and furious.

No need to guess whose that was.

Our great patron, the red dragon Narth.

The people of Shi Ying Town were startled by the heaven-shaking dragon's roar; some thought it was an attack from Coral Bay and hurriedly activated the town's Guardian ward.

Rod couldn't be bothered to explain — too many people, too many tongues.

Let that bit of casting material go to waste; he'll make it up to the town later.

The next day.

Rod stepped out of the ranger's cabin, refreshed and clear-headed.

An undead wraith flickered past behind him, hurrying out of the room.

Then it took solid form and snatched a spellcaster's satchel from Rod's hand.

The moment she landed she nearly toppled over — both her legs and her waist were limp and unable to bear weight, and even her expression was a mix of exhaustion and delight.

"It's mine!"

Chris demanded confirmation eagerly.

One hand bracing against a tree, the other clutching the spellcaster's satchel stuffed full of Jin Along.

Seeing Rod nod, she finally burst into wild joy.

Sticking out her swollen, sore backside, she hobbled away with a limp.

But even so, beneath her plain wrapped dress, every step she took left quite a few traces behind.

Chris glanced back and shot a resentful glare at the man leaning against the doorframe, laughing as he watched her.

Detestable!

The promised reward actually had a 50% surcharge added! If that isn't pure exploitation, what is?!

After begging for half an hour, she finally got it knocked down to 20% — at the price of spending a week in his bed!

Chris seriously suspected the guy didn't care about the money at all, and just wanted a bedmate because he was in a cold war with that succubus.

Boohoo.

So sore I'm about to burst

And this is only the first night

Rod watched the banshee's retreating back.

He couldn't help finding it funny.

The girl had gotten so overexcited last night after tallying up the treasure that she even dared to secretly stash a batch of it on the side — and got beaten up by Tally for it.

"Truly worthy of a dragon's vault."

Not counting the five hundred thousand the black dragon Mikhail took, just the Jin Along alone came to four million three hundred thousand!

(End of chapter)