I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

Page 107

If monsters appear in the forest, a terrible disaster will occur!

But there was nothing left there—no animals, no sun or moon, no monsters. Only that bird, and that dark forest…

From that time on, the dark and cold nights have continued forever...

Rumors say that in that uninhabited forest lives a terrifying monster...

###

"What a great story."

Gazing at the sky during the day, he sighed softly.

"Darkness originates from within; the monster is oneself."

"Presumptuous protection, blind judgment, and punishment devoid of any fairness."

"How similar they are!"

"A surveillance agency, a disciplinary agency, a judicial agency. Initially established to defend against external threats, it ultimately shrouded itself in an iron curtain."

"Without institutional constraints, such well-intentioned actions are merely empty shells."

"Hmm, I think I'm overthinking it."

Just listen to it as a story.

The warm sunshine was shining on me, and the interesting story had just ended.

Well-fed and warmly clothed, one feels happy and content.

He wanted to take a nap.

"Is there anywhere you'd like to go, Kal'tsit?"

Kal'tsit shook her head.

Before reaching Sargon, she had nowhere she wanted to go.

If I had to say, it would be to go to the nearest place where war is most likely to occur.

"Since there's nowhere I want to go, let's take a nap in this warm sunshine."

Daylight has already fallen.

He rested his head on his arm and gazed at the clouds in the sky.

Leisurely and carefree.

"Give it a try, Kal'tsit. Focus your life on yourself when you're not too busy."

"Let's temporarily set aside that endless ideal..."

The daytime has already fallen asleep.

The feeling of relief after shedding ten years of accumulated pressure is indescribable.

He has begun to live for himself.

"..."

Kal'tsit gazed at the sleeping boy.

The bright red apple was turned over and over in her hands.

For now... live for yourself.

Kal'tsit lived a long time, met countless great people, and experienced countless events.

But after all these years of hard work, she still hasn't been able to change anything.

People continued to live their lives as usual.

She prevented one war, but it will ignite another.

When one king dies, another will take his place.

Natural disasters continue, but the world remains unchanged.

She picked up the apple and gently bit it with her pearly teeth.

Perhaps she could indeed take a short nap.

Let the pack animal go wherever it wants.

Or perhaps, without being driven by anyone, it will stop and slowly live for itself for a while.

Even if it's only for ten minutes.

■■■

When Kal'tsit woke up, the pack animal had already been untied and pulled aside to graze and replenish its strength.

"Yo, wake up."

Bai Zhou, who was leaning against the car staring blankly at the sky, noticed Kal'tsit's movement, turned her head and smiled at her.

"It feels good to slack off, doesn't it? Taking a short break from work during work hours is like a break, even though it's not a break."

Without waiting for Kal'tsit's response, he spoke to himself with a hint of smugness:

"This is a secret technique I discovered myself after being a true dragon for so many years. I feel especially happy every time I use it."

"I'm only telling you this because I consider you a friend, so don't tell anyone else."

"That's natural."

Kal'tsit responded softly.

She is checking her status.

Although her body didn't change much after just a short nap, her tense mind did seem to relax as Bai Zhou had said.

She had rested properly before, but the effect was far less than in just one or two hours.

strangeness.

It's because your mind is at peace that you can relax.

Stupid lynx.

Baiyue has seen many long-lived creatures, including some who take everything as seriously as Kal'tsit. But they live a carefree and enjoyable life, far happier than this lynx that can't understand anything and refuses to calm down and think things through.

"So."

"Let's get to know each other again, my friend."

He reached out his hand to her during the day, a smile on his face.

"Bai Zixi, during the day."

Kal'tsit was stunned for a moment when she saw Bai Zhou's smiling face.

The turquoise lynx's ears twitched, and then she gently grasped the small hand.

“Your friend, Kal'tsit.”

Returning to the Eighteen Caravans, a Nightmare

[Kasimir Border]

During the day, I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the sunlight and look towards that thick, solid line in the distance.

"Hmm, Kal'tsit, is that a caravan ahead?"

There seemed to be a large caravan resting on the plain ahead; a rough count suggested there were about fifty or sixty people.

Moreover, the entire team consisted of Kurantas, with no other races mixed in.

"Judging from their appearance, they should be a caravan composed of local Kazimir people."

Teacher Kal'tsit's mini-class is now in session:

"The Kuranta are a race with great speed and endurance. Caravans composed of them can travel many times faster than caravans composed of multiple races."

"Therefore, it is common in Kazimierz, where the largest number of Kurantas are located, to have caravans whose members are all Kurantas."

"Let's see if we can exchange it for some interesting Kazimierz specialties."

He had been eating vegetable soup for several days in a row, and if he ate it any longer, he felt like the saliva he was swallowing would taste like cabbage and tomato.

It would be great if we could exchange some salted fish or dried meat at this caravan.

"Please be careful, Your Majesty."

"Don't worry, Kal'tsit. It's just fifty or sixty Kurantas. If a conflict unfortunately breaks out, we'll split it 30/70, you get 30% and I get 70%, how about that?"

No, that's not the issue.

"Don't worry, as long as we don't make the first move, they shouldn't mind doing some small business."

By day, he rode his pack animals toward the caravan.

"Boss Dean! Someone's here!"

The caravan's scouts had spotted the vehicles during the day long ago. They sent one scout to negotiate, and another to inform the caravan's leader.

“A Vaiva boy and a Philin woman. They claimed to be a master and servant traveling together and wanted to buy some food from us.”

The scout relayed the information about the two men during the day to Kuranta, the blond man beside him.

"Vaivan the child? Felin the woman?"

The man named Dean tapped the sword at his waist and nodded slightly.

"Since they are guests, let them in."

"Yes."

The scout ran away quickly.