Chapter 8: Travel Anecdotes and Beginnings

After a quiet night, the envoy set off on their journey again the next morning.

After being escorted out of Wangyuan City by the army sent by General Duke Bertlem Greyce, they traveled a full thirty kilometers before turning back.

Ahead lay the true border of the United Kingdom.

Crossing the border, the envoy would enter a small kingdom named Kui, with a territory of approximately hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, which is also one of the border vassal states of the United Kingdom.

The shape of Kui Kingdom is quite interesting; it stretches long from north to south and narrows to the southeast, resembling a slender cucumber on the map. Given that its main economic source is exporting various fruits and vegetables, surrounding countries jokingly refer to it as the “Taro Kingdom.”

The taro here is actually quite similar to cucumbers on the Blue Star, with only slight differences in texture and flavor.

Miss Vilyric had tried it a few times before. How should one put it? It tastes a bit like grilled sweet potato-flavored bananas—definitely not bad…

As a vassal state of the United Kingdom, the royal family here had already received notice from the envoy about their passage and had dispatched troops in advance for escort. They stood guard at the entrance to the border now.

To be honest, even without mentioning Liliya’s personal selection of the finest envoy protectors, compared to the regular army of the United Kingdom, these Kui Kingdom troops already seemed rather shabby.

Among the approximately ten thousand soldiers escorting the envoy, Miss Vilyric noticed at least three or four different types of armor and insignia, with varying weapon conditions—many were akin to the town militia of the United Kingdom, which looked quite pitiful from Miss Vilyric’s perspective.

As for their military appearance and morale, there wasn’t much to brag about.

Although the Kui side was officially escorting them, Miss Vilyric couldn’t shake the feeling that if a battle broke out, the envoy’s three thousand troops could easily charge and rout those ten thousand just like that.

It should be known that to ensure marching speed and efficiency, as well as to showcase the majesty of a great power, the elite troop arranged by Liliya consisted entirely of cavalry, all at least level 10 or above.

If level 5 represents a robust but untrained adult male human, then level 10 signifies someone who has experienced several life-or-death battles, able to at least serve as a squad leader in a regular army.

Even under equal conditions in life-and-death combat, the latter could easily take down three of the former or more.

This should suffice to illustrate the power disparity between the two sides.

No wonder Kui Kingdom needed to rely on the United Kingdom for protection.

The handover and such matters were left to the envoy group leader, Miss Philena Trelop, to handle. Miss Vilyric remained in the carriage, losing interest in the Kui Kingdom troops after merely glancing at them through the window.

How boring…

The Priestess leaned back on a soft lounger, across from her was the Little Dragon Daughter, who was furrowing her brow, deep in thought while clutching a handful of playing cards. Naturally, sitting on either side of her were the sisters Leila and Renée.

They were playing a classic game from the Blue Star: the four-player version of “Landlord.”

However, this was not something invented by Miss Vilyric; it seemed that such games had long been circulated among the few nobles of the United Kingdom.

Although the rules and specifics vary slightly, there is no doubt that this was a remnant left by some otherworldly traveler who had visited this realm.

This deck of cards was a gift from Guardian Miss Edith during a casual chat, but unfortunately, even she didn’t know who first invented “Three People Fight the Tiger”—only that the game began to appear about three hundred years ago.

However classic the game may be, it gets tiring after playing all the way from the City of Courage; not to mention, Miss Vilyric had already played countless times back on the Blue Star, although the Little Dragon Daughter and the sisters Leila and Renée still seemed keen.

“I-I can’t take this!”

After hesitating for some time, the Giant Dragon Miss finally blurted out this line, which she had repeated countless times today, while Renée, sitting next to Xiao Guang, immediately nodded her head helplessly.

“I can’t take it either.”

“Well, I have a bomb, I win.”

The Black-haired Girl tossed her last four cards onto the table in one go, slumping back and yawning out of boredom.

“Ah! Darn it, I lost again! Let’s go again!”

“Um… Miss Vilyric is just too strong; wherever she is, she wins…”

The Little Dragon Daughter slammed her almost-unused hand of cards down in frustration, while Leila sighed and gently placed her cards down, with her sister Renée nodding in agreement.

“Actually… sigh, it’s nothing, as long as you’re happy.”

It wasn’t that Miss Vilyric was exceptionally skilled; it was just that these three opponents were terribly weak. For instance, after playing for nearly a month, that Dragon Daughter sometimes still used bombs on her own teammates, or the two Winged Women would split a straight and play one by one.

Moreover, for some inexplicable reason, Miss Vilyric’s luck was always remarkably good. Having played hundreds of rounds, she had hardly ever encountered bad hands, so the results were only to be expected.

“Then, Miss Vilyric, do you want to continue?”

The Priestess waved her hand as if she couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’ll step outside for some fresh air and let Edwina Cecelia come in to play with you.”

“Okay…”

“Eh? Are you not playing anymore, Master? Let’s go again, I can definitely win this time!”

Miss Vilyric couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“I’ve heard you say that at least ten times, yet I’ve never seen you win… I think you might be getting dizzy from all the playing; better not look for Edwina. You should get out and walk around; you’re almost becoming a homebody dragon.”

Having spent so much time together, Leila and Renée naturally knew what Xiao Guang truly was, and Miss Vilyric did not hide her plans from them. Such matters cannot be concealed when one stays together all the time; knowing is knowing, what else can be done?

Since Miss Vilyric had said this, the Little Dragon Daughter could only nod reluctantly and stand up.

“Alright, I’ll listen to the Master.”

Miss Vilyric and her pet disembarked from the carriage, and with nothing else to do, the Winged Sister pair followed suit.

The convoy had temporarily stopped while Miss Philena and the commander of the Kui Kingdom troops conducted a handover and identity verification, which would take some time.

Stretching lazily and breathing in the refreshing scent of fields filled with an abundance of fruits and vegetables, which had flourished due to the lack of military conflict, Miss Vilyric greeted the Holy Knight, who was driving the Unicorn Beast, and then strolled along the convoy.

Since their carriage was in the middle of the line, it wasn’t far from the front, and before long, Miss Vilyric spotted Miss Philena, clad in knight armor, engaging in conversation with several commanders from the Kui Kingdom.

Wait a minute…

From the looks of it, it didn’t seem like a normal conversation; it appeared more like an argument, or perhaps Miss Philena was unilaterally reprimanding those tall and burly generals?

What was going on?

Out of curiosity, the Priestess and the three girls who had followed behind, including the Holy Knight, quietly approached.

“So as I said, we represent the dignity of the United Kingdom, an official envoy visiting foreign lands. How could we abandon our scheduled route due to unfounded fears of risks!?”

Miss Philena’s fierce shout echoed from quite a distance away.

The few generals, being scolded by a woman, didn’t dare show any dissatisfaction, only the leader, quite helplessly, urged an earnest explanation.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, Envoy Leader! Our country didn’t anticipate the Southern Disaster awakening this year, so the original route is just too dangerous. If anything goes wrong, we truly cannot bear the consequences…”

   

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