Chapter 77 | Reborn as the Last Black Dragon

“Let's find a place to stay first.” Leopold pushed the wooden cart a short distance down the street, and sure enough, he spotted an inn with a worn wooden sign hanging at the corner.

He parked the cart in front of the inn. A hunchbacked old man was dozing behind the counter, only slowly lifting his eyelids when he heard footsteps.

“Staying the night? How many people?”

“Two. Just one room is fine,” Leopold said. “Can you help find a place to put those few pieces of goods out back? We need to take them to the cathedral first thing tomorrow morning.”

“That's simple. There's an empty woodshed in the backyard. All the firewood has been cleared out. If you aren't worried about losing them, just lock them in there.” The old man glanced behind the counter.

Leopold rummaged in his pocket, pulled out three copper coins, and placed them on the counter.

The old man glanced at them and asked no further questions. He fished a rusty key out of a drawer and tossed it onto the counter.

Leopold picked up the key and pushed the cart around the side of the inn. Sure enough, he saw a woodshed right next to the courtyard wall.

Although the lock on the door was rusty, it was still sturdy. Leopold untied the bandits from the cart, shoved them into the woodshed one by one, and locked the door.

“Sorry for making you rough it tonight,” Leopold said through the wooden door. Muffled curses echoed from inside the woodshed. He ignored them and turned to walk back into the inn.

The two of them went up the creaking wooden stairs to the second floor and found their room.

They entered. The room was small and the furniture was simple, but the bed was reasonably clean.

Leopold closed the door, slid the bolt into place, and swept his gaze across the room. “To be honest, it's not bad. Better than the hunter's cabin.”

Isabella smiled upon hearing this. “Are you saying you looked down on Chief Sullivan's place?”

“I didn't mean that at all,” Leopold waved his hands hastily. “The hunter's cabin was great, it's just that the roof let in a bit of wind.”

Isabella didn't answer, sitting down on the bed with her hands behind her back.

“How are we sleeping tonight?”

Standing by the door, Leopold froze when he heard this.

His gaze instinctively swept over the room—one bed, one table, one chair. Indeed, there was no second bed.

“How about we squeeze together?” Leopold coughed dryly, staring up at the ceiling after he spoke.

He heard Isabella get up from the bed, followed by the sound of footsteps—leisurely walking up to him.

He instinctively took half a step back, his back pressing against the wooden door.

“What are you nervous about?”

“Nervous?” Leopold let out a dry laugh, his gaze still pinned to the ceiling. “I'm not nervous.”

“Then why aren't you looking at me?”

Leopold finally shifted his gaze down from the ceiling, meeting Isabella's icy blue eyes.

Isabella's white hair fell past her ears, framing her face.

“We get to sleep together again tonight, Leo!”

“Yeah, it... it's not the first time, after all...” he squeezed out dryly. Though his gaze had finally moved down from the ceiling, he only dared to let it rest on her shoulders, not daring to look any higher.

Isabella tilted her head. “Then why is your face red?”

“My face isn't red.” Leopold simply bypassed Isabella and sat straight down on the bed.

“Ugh, it's roasting! Yeah, this weather is absolutely roasting!”

“Mm, it really is quite hot.”

She walked to the window and pushed open the narrow wooden frame, letting in the night breeze carrying the scent of the forest.

Leopold secretly breathed a sigh of relief as the warmth in his face finally subsided a little.

“Are you sleeping on the inside or the outside?” he asked, trying his best to make his voice sound normal.

“The outside, I suppose.”

Isabella turned and walked back, sitting down beside Leopold. The bedboards creaked slightly under the sudden addition of weight.

“Because if I sleep on the inside, Leo can escape at any time from the outside. That would be a headache.”

Once Isabella finished speaking, the heat that had finally subsided in Leopold surged right back up.

“I-I'm going to take a bath! Yeah, since the weather is so hot, I'll take a cold bath first!”

Leopold practically fled the room. As the wooden door closed behind him, he leaned against the hallway wall, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

“...Pathetic,” he muttered to himself in annoyance. Then he straightened up and headed down the stairs.

The public bath was in a corner on the first floor of the inn. It was partitioned into several small stalls with wooden boards, each containing a half-man-tall wooden tub.

There was water in the tub, and the inn had thoughtfully provided towels.

But the problem was, there were only stalls—no doors!

He turned his head as slowly as possible, his gaze sweeping across the empty doorway as an internal battle raged in his mind.

Screw it. At the very least, he couldn't smell bad today!

He leaned against the edge of the tub, tilting his head back and letting the water droplets drip down from the tips of his hair as he let out a long breath.

“...I've calmed down.”

He slapped his cheeks and took another deep breath, preparing to submerge his head completely to cool off—

“Yo! Aren't you the young fellow here to sell slaves?” The blacksmith from earlier that day walked in carrying a washbasin.

The middle-aged man was stark naked, prompting Leopold to submerge his entire head in the water.

The blacksmith didn't care in the least. Carrying his washbasin, he stepped into the adjacent stall and splashed the water from the bucket into his tub with a loud whoosh.

“So, how did the business talk go today? The cathedral closed early, so you should head over early tomorrow morning to beat the first batch of goods.”

Leopold leaned against the edge of the tub, forcing his voice to sound normal. “I'll go early tomorrow...”

The blacksmith seemed to have opened a floodgate of conversation. As he scrubbed his arms, he continued, “When you go to the cathedral tomorrow, don't go too early. Those black-robed guys usually only show up after noon. Going early is just a waste of time.”

“After noon?” Leopold raised half his head from the water. “Don't they open in the morning?”

“Opening is one thing, but they don't accept people every day.” The blacksmith waved his hand from behind the wooden partition. “Those charlatans in the cathedral are just for show. The ones with actual power are the black-robes sent by the Demon Race.”

“Are those black-robes all sent by the Demon Race? I'm not entirely sure, since I'm from out of town.”

“Pretty much,” the blacksmith's voice drifted over the partition, mixed with the sound of splashing water. “Anyway, you can see them coming and going from the cathedral's back door every few days.”

“Aren't you all afraid of the Demon Race, then?”

“We were pretty terrified at first, but later on, everyone started doing business, and we gradually got used to it.”

“Used to it?” Leopold asked tentatively. “Aren't you afraid that one day they'll stop doing business with you and just tie you up and drag you away?”

Silence hung over the partition for two seconds before a short chuckle sounded from the blacksmith. “Of course we're afraid. Who wouldn't be? But what's the use of being afraid? You still have to eat, and you still have to support your family. Besides...”

He lowered his voice slightly. “Those black-robes might be eerie, but they pay promptly.”

“Unlike those noble lords of the past, who would drag out your payment for half a year and then deduct thirty percent as a 'storage fee.' Anyway, I've been a blacksmith my whole life. What difference does it make who I forge iron for?”

Leopold leaned against the edge of the tub, asking no further questions.

He changed into his clothes and walked out of the bath. It seemed the relationship between the Demon Race and humans was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Perhaps the blueprint of the empire in his heart was not just a pipe dream.