Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Angelita didn't answer. She just glanced at her injuries and once again assumed the Fool's Pose, exactly the same as the previous two times.

Pierre raised his eyebrows and said, "If you want to delay time, you can just try to trick me. At least that way you won't get hurt."

This time, Angelita made some changes in her moves, but her movements obviously could not keep up with the agility of Pierre, a skilled fighter. With a "swish", another wound appeared under her ribs.

But then, the Fool, this was the fourth time Pierre had seen it, just as standard and beautiful, but completely meaningless.

"Why are you so clueless, like a lowly horse? Are you really a noble of the Empire?" Pierre's eyes finally turned red as he scolded the girl, "Why won't you just admit defeat? No one will come to save you. I released a Deinonychus, a Cockatrice, and an Owlbear at the banquet!"

"You said it once."

"Very good," the man gritted his teeth, "Then this time, I'll aim for your chest. I hope you have enough fat there."

For a princess who would feel humiliated by even a wrong hand-kiss, such a blatant provocation was beyond her tolerance. But to Pierre's surprise, Angelita simply narrowed her eyes and straightened her posture.

"Let's find out," she said, but her words seemed a world away.

Another sound replaced words, filling her ears, her mind, and even every blood vessel. It was the sound of a beating pulse, the throbbing of her heart, the pulsing of her breath...

It was also the sound of a certain idea surging in her heart, replacing all rationality and thinking.

Pierre's gloomy expression, the groaning of the spellcaster with injured legs and feet on the ground, and the waving rapier all seemed to slow down at this moment. Angelita felt that her brain seemed to have been completely emptied, leaving no room for any distracting thoughts. Her whole mind was dominated by one emotion - fight, she needed to fight.

Wild wolves, chocobos, and other phantoms flashed by in her peripheral vision and disappeared. Angelita stared forward, instantly locking onto every detail of Pierre's movements. When her Fool's Pose was about to make her the Fool again, she finally moved.

At this moment, the girl's muscles seemed to have exceeded their limits, and were extremely twisted as if to overcome all physical rules, so that she was able to perform actions that were completely contrary to common sense and completely opposite - her heartbeat was as continuous as the tide in these few short seconds!

From the perspective of Pierre and his subordinates, after her foolish defeat, Angreta suddenly changed to a completely unreasonable move, and suddenly swung out the slash of Shouzhi Changshi! This attack just happened to be able to restrain Pierre Dieu's move!

But the latter was completely unable to react!

The tip of the rapier did not completely miss the target. Even for Angelita in this state, it was impossible for her to dodge after making two attacks. The weapon in Pierre's hand immediately pierced her slightly pointed earlobe, and Angelita's sword also injured Pierre's shoulder.

"You're crazy," Pierre frowned and looked at the wound on his shoulder. "I heard that elves' ears are densely covered with blood vessels, so they are extremely sensitive. You—"

He sensed something was wrong. Why was there no blood dripping from the tip of the sword?

"I'm not crazy, you're stupid." Angelita took a deep breath, and after showing a successful smile, she suddenly pushed forward. The fake ear made of clay pierced the rapier alone, and she rushed towards the man who hadn't reacted yet. "Who told you that I'm an elf!"

"No! Thunder crashes to the earth!" The spellcaster on the ground could no longer hold back, unleashing a wave of thunder without hesitation, sending Angelita and her sword flying. However, the girl showed no intention of closing the distance again. On the contrary, she turned around and ran without hesitation!

"You let her get away, you fool! We were fooled by this little liar!" Pierre cried out in despair. "I would rather she had killed me! Get up and chase her!"

Chapter 191: Only for Others

It would be difficult for a wizard like this to catch up with Angelita if one of them had a leg injury; and it would be difficult for any of the three to outrun the Deinonychus if none of them was in perfect condition.

But Pierre could draw upon the caster's remaining strength to reach Angelita, while they had no way to escape the pursuit. Finally, as the blue-purple hue of the sky began to fade to a pale pink, and the faint dawn light once again descended upon the vast expanse of this world, the weary roar of a beast finally echoed across the plains, reaching the ears of the three.

"No, no!" There was no way Pierre had misheard the cry of the Deinonychus he had paid so much for—how could that beast have caught up with him? The merchant had said that the terrifying lizard was a master at hunting for blood!

But he also said that these dinosaurs couldn't understand any intelligent language! It was almost impossible to tame them! It should either be killed by Reslaufer or be allowed to slaughter innocent people indiscriminately in the town!

Fortunately, the snake-chicken beast and the squirrel Tiaotiao fell behind early due to exhaustion, otherwise, this scheming man would probably have spit out a mouthful of blood on the ground and died of anger.

It's true that ancient reptiles like Deinonychus cannot be tamed and cannot understand real language, but for the Druid, this is not a difficult problem to solve - if the intelligence given to him can point this out, perhaps he will plan more carefully.

But now, all these ifs have become impossible to achieve.

When Angelita in front stopped exhausted, a tall figure and a huge beast behind them also stopped at the same time.

"Uncle...Leslaufer!" Angelita leaned on her sword to prevent herself from falling. "Why are there only two of you?"

"Those monsters haven't been completely eliminated yet. They'll stay behind to deal with that one," Reslaufer said, looking even more energetic than the Deinonychus. He held a large sword in his hand and responded indifferently as he walked towards Pierre. "And the two of us will take care of this one."

"But it seems you've almost done it."

"Ha, ha!" Pierre gasped. He had taken a bottle of healing potion during the pursuit, and the wound on his shoulder had healed, but the new flesh and the damaged light armor clearly told the observer that he had recently been injured by a sword. "Leslaufer! You were able to defeat that owlbear?! Tame this dinosaur? This, this is impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

"It's indeed impossible, because I didn't do it." Leslaufer raised his greatsword. "After all your calculations, you didn't expect there would be a druid among us, did you?"

"Son of Nature..." Pierre laughed bitterly and pointed at Bella, "Then why are you wearing the garb of a priest... Oh, I'm so stupid. Half of the priests in Eldath are druids, and I actually thought you were special..."

Bella is indeed special. After all, druids have their own clothes, and Bella's outfit is really not suitable for living in the mountains and forests all year round.

"Actually, I didn't even think there was a true bard among you. That girl doesn't look like one at all. On the contrary... wait," Pierre seemed to suddenly understand something. "True and false, right? That girl is actually the real imperial noble lady?"

The current situation didn't blame him for this misjudgment: Daisy's appearance and voice were both too outstanding, and her preference for musical instruments rather than swords was more in line with the usual view of nobility. Moreover, he had just discovered that Angrita's half-elf ears were a deception.

"Trust your first instinct," Leslaufer said, stretching his sore shoulders and legs. Pierre and his followers had nowhere to escape, so he wasn't in a hurry to kill them. "I thought you knew so much—then why did you hold her hostage?"

"I just asked, and he said someone from higher up wants to see me," Angrita replied. "I think it's safe to say that it's the White Blade's spies outside the empire who have established contact with the nobles of Western Inassus."

"Not too unexpected," Leslaufer nodded. "We hadn't originally planned to stay here, but it's just a little more dangerous than we imagined."

"White Blade?" Pierre, who had been at the end of his rope, suddenly shuddered. "Is it the 'White Blade' organization in the Empire?!"

"Why? Do you have anything to say?" Reslaufer responded with a nasal sound. "Why don't you say a few more words? Perhaps I can spare your life."

"You wouldn't," Pierre laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "White Blade, Empire... So I'm actually working for a behemoth I've never pledged allegiance to? And I didn't even know anything about it?"

"Does my uncle know? Doesn't he know that our entire family has been sold out by the king? Does he know that the Latour Kingdom, from the king to the ministers, is nothing more than a puppet of others? If that's the case, then who promised me all this? Dieu? Latour? Or Matt? Ridiculous... This is ridiculous."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. Aren't you here because we're adjacent to the empire?" Angelita said, "Witt told me this."

"That's him, not me! Not me!" Pierre shouted with almost all his strength. "I have a wife and children. For them, I fled the conscription of my family. For them, I was willing to take the risk and accept this mission - but I thought I was at least fighting for my family! And you, a bunch of outsiders, are now telling me that all this is just wishful thinking?"

"Brother, this isn't your fault..." the spellcaster couldn't help but persuade him, "At least you dealt with that Dragonborn completely for the sake of the kingdom."

"Dragonborn, yes, that Dragonborn!" Pierre shuddered and immediately took two steps forward. "Reslaufer, you can kill me. Although this isn't a real battlefield, you and I are both soldiers. Losing is losing. I won't beg for mercy tearfully—there's only one thing, only this one! When you go back, you must kill that Dragonborn just like you killed me! The very existence of their race is a mistake, not to mention they might be planning a rebellion! Do a good deed!"

"As long as you promise, I will never resist you! But if you break your promise, even if it means going to hell and making a deal with the devil, I will never let you go! I failed, and now the lives of the people of Ruofre Town and the border of the Kingdom of Latour rest on your shoulders, Eastsider!"

"Do I look like someone willing to take on such a task? But never mind. You two are already ready to go, so there's no point wasting extra energy." Leslough brandished his weapon. "I promise you, I will kill the Dragonborn when I return—if he really exists."

"As to whether your soul will make a deal with the devil or haunt me, let us find out."

Chapter 192: Surrender from Ancient Times

Perhaps the Nine Hells were much farther away from Pierre than Reslaufer. When the man appeared beside Reslaufer as a stiff spirit, no devil appeared there.

But unexpectedly, before Leslaufer could kill the "pancake vendor", the Deinonychus riding on Bella suddenly moved. The animal rushed to the man's side in an instant and kicked the caster in the face with a fierce kick.

It only takes a few seconds, and it can be said to be a painless death.

"Oh, it seems one of us is hungry," Leslaufer said, looking at the monster with a half-smile. "Eat, so you can get on with your journey. Don't forget who you are."

Pierre was dead, and the precious meat he had brought shouldn't be wasted—hopefully the cockatrice was still around.

The Deinonychus looked at Reslaufer, tilting its head as if thinking about something. Finally, it took a step back and used its slender forearms to turn the dead body in front of Reslaufer.

Reslaufer: "...What is it doing?"

"You could think Black Claw wants to buy his own life with his prey," Bella said, jumping off the dinosaur in surprise and stroking its sparsely feathered torso. "This is the first time I've known about and personally interacted with this creature, but it seems to be very smart, smarter than most beasts... Oh."

The Deinonychus turned its equally slender neck and roared at Bella a few times. Although it had a mouth full of sharp teeth and claws that were terrifying, it now looked like a falcon that had been tortured into submission.

"What does it want to say?"

"It..." Bella, who understood the Deinonychus's intentions, managed to simultaneously express surprise and embarrassment. "It thinks we're a hunting family now, and the late-night chase just now was a ceremony to welcome it, an outsider, into the family."

"So it's going to give its prey to you—it thinks you're the dragon, and the two of us..."

The druid rolled his eyes helplessly: "A female dragon and a baby dragon."

"...Sister Bella, you mean, it sees us as a hunting family, but it's here to join this family?" Angelita was already sitting on the ground tiredly, holding her sword, but she couldn't help but ask, "I think it's a bit strange."

Bella explained the problem to the dinosaur with a sharp roar that turned into a low growl, and then a series of bird-like calls. The Deinonychus became visibly excited, constantly shaking its body, waving its forelimbs and tail in response to the sounds.

"It said it has a normal aesthetic—bright feathers, strong muscles, and sharp, massive claws," the druid shrugged. "Annie, you don't have to worry about that, but I think the person involved has a more authoritative explanation. In short, Black Claw understands that a hunting family is one that serves the purpose of hunting. It might consist of three or four small families, working together to fight or hunt. They also divide the work and cooperate for vigilance and escape."

"Three or four, maybe twenty or so... guys like that?"

Leslaufer looked at this giant creature, about 1.45 meters tall and 3.4 meters long. He found that when he first saw it, the beast might have crouched slightly, causing its prey to misjudge its size. But now it stood upright facing the scrutiny of the "head dragon", and it was much taller.

This beast was at least as big as a larger tiger, yet tigers usually live alone, while it hunted in packs... and twenty of them?!

"What requires such a hunt?"

"Hmm... I don't understand what creatures it's talking about," Bella thought for a long time after communicating with Black Claw before finally organizing her words. "But I believe that among the six main prey species it described, three of them are about the same size or smaller than it, and the other two may be similar to elephants - you should have seen or at least heard of them - and the last one, uh..."

Bella couldn't help but confirm the data with the Deinonychus again. Judging from her appearance, she must have received the same answer: "Twenty meters long and weighs twenty tons."

Not to mention Angelita, even Leslaufer's eyes widened.

"You must join our 'hunting family'!" the mercenary immediately decided. "I've lived for thirty years and killed hundreds of lives in vain. How could I have such a thing?!"

Apart from anything else, just the display of that huge mountain of flesh that was as heavy as two heavy catapult counterweights and as long as the Ampyri longship in the illusion would make him wake up with a smile every day!

"Let me finish the commission first, then we'll go gather some men. Maybe a hundred, no, five hundred would be safer. Only veterans, heavily armored and armed with spears, fully armed! You take me to find the prey you mentioned, even if it means going to the end of the world!" Leslaufer's eyes were like the flames of hell, "I'll find it even if I have to pierce through the nine layers of purgatory and the seven heavens!"

Such madness made the Deinonychus tremble involuntarily. It subconsciously retreated, but the mercenary grabbed its neck and pulled its head in front of him, which seemed like it could bite off its head at any time. "You'd better not lie to me! No, no, no, you must not lie to me!"

Black Claw retreated in fear, but was unable to do so. It did not dare to tilt its head to "face" Reslaufer's full appearance. However, even now, in the vision on both sides of the skull, there still appeared at the same time a figure that was imprinted in its ancient blood and was once feared by its ancestors.

It was also a predator, but its body length was three to four times that of Black Claw, and its weight was eighty to ninety times that of Black Claw - that was the "weight" of Reslaufer in Black Claw's eyes.

Ancient blood told the reptile that its ancestors were once snacks for such a tyrant, but if he happened not to be hungry or had better prey to target, "small predators" like them might join such a hunt and celebrate an unparalleled feast!

The Deinonychus's trembling body gradually calmed down, and its feathers, which had suddenly stood up, returned to normal. Reslough's feeling was even more profound: the beast's pulse slowed down, and its steady breathing brought a slight warmth back to its body. It closed its eyes, and then, after Reslough let go, it lay down obediently and began to rub its big head back and forth against Reslough's legs and feet like a big cat.

It even tried to purr—unsuccessfully.

"It's completely subservient to you, Eldas," Bella watched the scene in amazement. "I swear I've never seen such a way to tame a beast! You didn't even defeat it or communicate with it! How did you do it?"

"How would I know?" Reslaufer shrugged, squatted down as if it was a matter of course, and began to stroke the dinosaur's hair. "Maybe like Daisy said, we have the same type... I don't know."

Chapter 193: Everyone in their place

"A substitute, it's a substitute!"

When the three men and the dragon returned to town, Daisy seemed to be really crazy after learning what happened: "Star Platinum! World! Oh my God, I hate it! You guys don't even know what I'm talking about! But you did something that I may never be able to do in my lifetime! Wow——"

"You mean a 'stand-in', right? Like a thug, a bodyguard, or something like that?" The dwarf tried hard to understand Daisy's words. This crazy poet had saved him more than once, so Vondar was willing to spend more time on this. "But I have a question, Daisy. Who do you think is more like the 'stand-in' for whom, Old Lei or this... Black Claw, right?"

Vondar's light words restrained the frantic Daisy in place, leaving only a pair of confused eyes looking back and forth between Reslaufer and the Deinonychus.

"I think it's probably Lao Lei...right, right?"

"What the hell," said Reslaufer, rapping her head with his knuckles. "What about the owlbear? And the cockatrice?"

"Ah! Old Lei, with your combined strength and speed, you could knock my fontanelle open!" Daisy complained, pointing to a large iron cage covered with a curtain not far away. "Look, they've locked it up again. This way, even if the petrification suddenly wears off, it'll be fine. I don't know where the cockatrice ran off to, but Tiaotiao found it."

"As for the Dragonborn, he's still locked in a cage—oh, he's been released," the poet said, seeing the Dragonborn that had just been rescued by Witte's men. "Are they not worried about the Dragonborn's conspiracy this time?"

"With a ruthless man like Brother Reslaufer around, there's no need for any conspiracy!" Edward moved his hands and feet, looking at Reslaufer with a look of gratitude and joy. "If I really wanted to deal with them, I would have killed them all long ago!"

Such words certainly caused a little dissatisfaction, but since Leslaufer was standing here unharmed at the moment, and even among his companions, only Angelita suffered some minor injuries, this dissatisfaction quickly melted into the air like ice in midsummer.

"Pierre, this is all his own fault," Witt Lovalou sighed as he walked up to Reslaufer. "Forgive me, Mr. Reslaufer, I've never had any control over this town, and I definitely didn't want this to happen. I invited you all here simply because I wanted to discuss the culture and customs of the empire with Miss Antichi..."

"I believe him, Uncle Leslaufer," Angelita pleaded for the old man. "Why don't you let him go?"

"As you wish," the mercenary said, showing little interest in killing an old man so weak he could barely tie a chicken. The Deinonychus's description of the supreme prey still lingered in his mind. "But it seems one of the three families in this town has chosen the wrong side."

The last trace of blood immediately drained from Philip's face.

"Please spare him, he's useless," Edward pleaded with his brother. "A dead man would be useless in any situation."

"Then what do you want to do?" Edward had confessed his true identity to Reslaufer, so Reslaufer chose to respect the advice of his second employer. "Does his contribution as a guide offset this time?"

"That credit has already been used to compensate you for saving him from the goblins, and it's far from enough. Besides, he's actually wronging me this time." The boy, who looked like a black dragonborn but was actually only twelve and a half years old, crossed his shoulders and looked at the sorrowful Philip Fengquan. "How about letting him be my errand boy? We're going back to Qingzun City, and he's a big boss there."

Edward specifically added and emphasized the word "big". After all, the small local tyrants in places like Joffrey Town had almost been killed by Leslough.

"He saved your life. Don't take it for granted." Leslaufer stepped forward and patted Philip's shoulder. Philip's spine instantly collapsed. "Please rest assured. Now he is the young master. No, no, no, he is the master! I will definitely serve him comfortably!"

"Really?" Edward's eyes lit up, and he immediately found a bench to lie down on. "I was wronged just now. Come and relax my shoulders, massage my back, and rub my legs—"

Philip was stunned for a moment, and in a trance, he vaguely remembered his younger brother who was now lying in the family cemetery. When he was alive, that little genius was deeply loved by his grandparents and often liked to imitate the elders' speech.

But the illusion only lasted a moment, and before him was still the nasty Dragonborn thief. Philip sighed, resigned himself to his fate and walked over, handing Edward another glass of juice. "Are you still a little thirsty, Master?"

A trace of imperceptible panic flashed deep in Edward's eyes, but it was quickly covered up by Philip's massage.

Philip couldn't, he couldn't have noticed. It was just two familiar faces who happened to have found their place again.

Edward lay down comfortably, and it was time for Reslough and others to find a place to rest, especially Reslough. He had only taken a short nap yesterday during the day, and he was really too tired now.

But Witt wasn't going to let everyone off so easily. To be more precise, he wasn't going to let Angarita off. When the sun shone above the treetops again, Leslaufer opened his eyes to see a cup of animal milk tea. Beneath the silver cup, pressed against the same invitation card as before, was the first one he had seen.

"I refused," Angelita's voice came from the bedside. "I don't really want to be a gourmet, but the way they ruined my favorite food is really unbearable."