Leopold's expression did not change upon hearing this.
This was well within his expectations; Kanu Village would not submit to the so-called "alliance" so easily.
Since his goal was to strip these village chiefs of their power, and Barrow was playing dumb, Leopold decided to play along and see how he would react.
Leopold actually smiled first. Leaning back in his chair, he asked in a leisurely tone, “Chief Barrow, who exactly are you referring to when you say 'the enemy'?”
Barrow turned his gaze to him, filled with obvious scrutiny and hostility. “Your Cabin Village harbors sorcerers, keeps demons, and goes around lobbying other villages. Isn't that just seeking death?”
“Don't speak nonsense, Barrow!” Chief Toby shouted anxiously. He did not want to lose his life alongside this newly succeeded village chief.
Leopold remained unperturbed and waved his hand at Toby. “There is no need to be tense, Chief Toby. It is only natural for Chief Barrow to have doubts.”
“After all, even someone as wise and righteous as you does not fully trust us!”
“Not at all! For the grand plan of the human race, I would naturally dedicate everything. How could I possibly not trust you?”
Standing at the door with his arms crossed, Barrow took in the entire scene.
Although he did not fully grasp the undertones, he understood the gist of it: this young man was not to be trifled with, and even Toby, that old fox, was being manipulated by him.
“Mr. Leopold, is it?” Barrow spoke up. “I don't care what you discussed with Brother Toby. My Hexi Village's stance is very clear—we will not cooperate with sorcerers, let alone collude with the Demon Race!”
“So you would rather continue letting the Demon Race abduct your people than try another way?”
“Is your so-called 'way' to bring a few demons to our village gates and force our villages to join your alliance?”
“But they didn't destroy your village, did they?” Isabella spoke up confidently. After all, this part had always been her job. “We were merely demonstrating our absolute control over the Demon Race!”
“Your absolute control over the Demon Race?”
“Of course. Don't believe it? Then we can only have our Grand General come in person to explain it to you all,” Isabella said, her tone a bit annoyed.
Barrow's brow furrowed deeply. “Grand General? What Grand General?”
Leopold did not answer him. He simply turned his head and glanced out the window. The clouds on the horizon were dyed a deep orange by the setting sun; night would fall in another hour.
“If Chief Barrow doesn't mind, you can stay for another night.” Leopold turned back, his tone casual. “Tomorrow morning, the Grand General will personally come to Kanu Village. At that time, you can see with your own eyes how we 'control the Demon Race'.”
“Fine. I will stay for one night.” Barrow turned around and waved to the guards in the courtyard. “We'll spend the night in Kanu Village. I'd like to see what this 'Grand General' of yours is made of.”
He began to walk out, but stopped at the doorway and turned his head. “Mr. Leopold, if you can't show any real capability tomorrow—don't blame me for not showing Brother Toby any respect.”
Leaving those words behind, he strode out of the room, disappearing into the twilight along with the dozen or so men in the courtyard.
The room fell silent. Toby leaned back in his chair and exhaled a long breath.
“That was close.” Toby rubbed his temples. “This kid Barrow is much more difficult to deal with than his father. At least his father would sit down and listen to what others had to say.”
Seeing the situation, Toby stood up tactfully. “I will have someone arrange accommodations for you. Rest up tonight, and we will talk about tomorrow's matters tomorrow.”
He paused at the door again and turned his head to look at Leopold. “However... are you truly certain you can get that 'Grand General' to arrive first thing tomorrow morning? It is not close to Cabin Village from here.”
Leopold smiled. “We have our own way of communication.”
Toby did not press further. He nodded and pushed the door open to leave. His footsteps gradually faded down the corridor until they vanished completely.
Only Leopold and Isabella remained in the room.
Isabella walked to the window and pushed open the wooden shutters. Turning sideways to lean against the frame, she tilted her head to look at Leopold.
“How do you plan to notify Blake?”
“I haven't been reading those books for nothing these past few days.” Leopold smiled confidently. He had already more or less mastered the Elven magic from that magic book.
Who said the dragon clan could only rely on inherited memories? I, Leopold, am a night black dragon who loves to learn!
Wait, didn't I lend that book to Adele? I wonder how she's doing with her studies, even though I gave her my Elvish notes.
“Do you plan to use that communication spell?”
“Yes.” Leopold closed his notebook. “There is a short-range transmission spell in Elven magic. Although its range is limited, as long as there is enough magic power, it can still reach from Cabin Village to Kanu Village!”
“Bella, watch me show off my skills now!” He stood up, walked to the open space in the middle of the room, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
Isabella looked at Leopold with anticipation. It wasn't that she hadn't tried learning Elvish, but as a proud dragon, she simply couldn't bring herself to focus on such inferior scripts.
So this was entirely because Leo had more perseverance! Even though studying inferior cultures was such a painful endeavor, Leo was a dragon of his word, doing exactly what he set out to do.
This truly proved that Leo was an exceptionally outstanding black dragon!
The arrangement of that line of Elvish incantation surfaced in Leopold's mind.
“Vox Noctis, Per Aera Ferar.”
(Whisper of the night, convey through the air.)
As Leopold's incantation fell, an extremely faint silver ripple spread from his fingertips, silently drifting toward the northeast.
He stood in place, maintaining his spellcasting posture, and only exhaled a long breath after about three breaths' time.
“It went through.” Leopold let out a sigh of relief and lowered his hand. “I just don't know if Blake received it.”
“If he didn't receive it, we'll just have to fly back to call him,” Isabella said, still leaning against the window, her tone carrying a hint of teasing.
“That's true...” Leopold thought for a moment and shook his head. “Oh well, if he doesn't show up tomorrow morning, I'll just fly over myself.”
“What about tonight?”
“Tonight... let's get some good rest.”
“Then...”
Isabella quietly slipped behind Leopold, leaning her mouth close to his ear to whisper, “Are we going to sleep together again today, Leo?”
Leopold's ears instantly turned red. He coughed hastily, pretending to be calm.
“Of course. This time, I absolutely won't kick the blanket off!”
Isabella didn't press her advantage. She merely chuckled, took half a step back from behind him, and skipped to the window, watching the bonfire being lit outside.
“Are we going to join the humans' gathering? It looks like they're roasting a lot of meat!”
“Yes, of course we are.” Leopold put down the notebook in his hand and turned his head to look at the firelight outside. “We can take this opportunity to see what the people of Kanu Village think of us.”
Rate on N.U.
