Escorting the Merchant Guild

After dealing with the Undead attack, Serea stretched lazily as she walked toward her tent to rest. On her way, she happened to see Leklis instructing Park on the Skeleton Drudge platform, teaching him how to manipulate the ground.

Judging by Park’s excitement, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy controlling so many Undead—it was just uncertain whether he would still enjoy it in the future…

When she returned to her tent, Serea summoned Little Black, little Red, Little White, eighty, and Augustin.

“Your Majesty the Queen, what are your orders?”

Little Black led the others to kneel outside the tent.

“Yes, I do have something for you. Since you’ve awakened your intelligence, you should have learned a great deal. So I want to try letting you handle some tasks independently. After all, there are going to be more and more things to deal with, and I’ll need people to help me.”

“Please give your orders, My Queen. We will not let your guidance go to waste.” x4

“Augustin is willing to follow any order from the Queen.”

The four skeletons and Augustin all expressed their determination, and Serea nodded in satisfaction.

“Very good. Here, take this.”

As she spoke, Serea handed a red orb to Little Black. This was the Xiyun Merchant Guild’s locator and communication device—using it, they could summon the Xiyun Merchant Guild’s caravan.

“You five will set off tonight, leading thirty Skeleton Warriors and, augustin, your troll race tribespeople. Wait at the edge of the jungle for the Xiyun Merchant Guild’s caravan. This shipment is very important to us. To guard against those with ill intent, you must escort the cargo back safely.”

“Understood!” x5

“I will give you the details via spirit connection. Since this is your first time commanding an operation on your own, you must be careful.”

“Yes!” x5

“Alright, go make your preparations, and then depart.”

With that, Serea sent Little Black and the others to assemble the Skeleton Warrior unit.

With Little Black and his group safeguarding them, even if Maregof wanted to stop the Xiyun Merchant Guild from entering the forest, there was nothing to fear—unless he truly dared to break all ties with her and the merchant guild.

Next, Serea was planning to take advantage of the night to further improve the camp, but when she saw Lola looking exhausted, she remembered that Lola had used ‘Blood Frenzy’, a skill she had not yet fully mastered, that day.

“You three go rest. You don’t need to follow me anymore.”

At Serea’s order, Celia, Lola, and Vina all retired to rest, while she herself walked to the outer edge of the Elf Trees.

She used the corpses hunted by Aruka and the others to construct two Plague Graveyards—one for ‘Destruction’ and one for ‘Undead’—right on the outskirts of the Elf Trees.

This was in preparation for future battles. Usually, it was best to let the Skeleton Warriors sleep, since constant movement would consume too much death energy.

Incidentally, Serea also evolved two of her former ordinary Skeleton Warriors and Talius into special individuals.

Three Skeleton Swordsmen!

One detail was particularly intriguing: Talius had previously used an axe, but after evolution, he became a Skeleton Swordsman. More importantly, he was a silver elite!

“It seems I really need to discuss cultivating the Undead with Leklis when I get the chance. Talius as well as the Black Knight… This guy is a true expert at raising Undead,”

Serea remarked, gazing at the nearly completed Blood Well in the distance and feeling that everything was improving.

After seeing Little Black and the others off to greet the caravan, Serea returned to her tent. Since the houses had not yet been constructed, everyone still had to squeeze together in the tents for now.

Back inside, Lola and Vina were already asleep, while Celia was sitting on the inner side of the tent, staring in a daze at a blue soul crystal.

Seeing Serea return, Celia put away the soul crystal and asked, “Finished with everything?”

“Mm, you haven’t rested yet?”

“I’m not tired. But you—being the Queen, yet working later than any of your subordinates.”

“I can’t help it. Some things require me to do them personally. You must be tired from fighting all day, so it’s better to rest early. Besides, I’ll need to trouble you to accompany me somewhere tomorrow.”

“Then let’s rest.”

As she spoke, Celia pulled a blanket over herself and lay down, while Serea entered the tent and started undressing herself to rest.

The entering winter air touched her skin, and before the cold wind could steal her warmth, Serea dove straight into Celia’s blankets.

“Hey, go back to your own side.”

“No, it’s too cold.”

Serea curled up, her body shivering slightly as she thought…

She would have to finish building houses soon. Otherwise, when the blizzards came, these tents would not be enough to withstand them.

Seeing that Serea had no intention of moving, Celia helplessly turned away and burrowed deeper under the blankets.

“When you’re warm, go back to your side. I want to sleep now.”

With that, Celia closed her eyes to sleep.

“Hehe, you’re only resting once I’m back. Celia, are you waiting for me?”

“You’re overthinking it.”

Celia replied coldly with her back to Serea. Still feeling chilly, Serea reached out and hugged Celia from behind.

“Now it’s much warmer.”

“……”

Celia did not respond and simply let Serea hold her.

Basking in the warmth from Celia’s body, Serea fully relaxed.

Sleepiness gradually crept over Serea’s mind, and so, after finding a comfortable position pressed up against Celia, she surrendered to her fatigue.

Breathing in the gentle scent on the girl’s body, Serea drifted into dreamland.

The night passed uneventfully…

……

On the other side, in a tribal camp called ‘Silver Ear,’ a gray-skinned goblin sat in a huge wooden house, surrounded on both sides by several towering ogres. He wore splendid silk garments and various gold and silver ornaments, all of which were obviously worth a great deal.

At that moment, he was listening to a scout’s report. After hearing it, he found it hard to believe and confirmed, “Are you saying there’s a woman leading the Elves, werewolves, undead, and humans? They attacked the Shorties tribe and killed both the Shorties and my ogres?”

“Yes, Lord Maregof, I saw it with my own eyes. And not only that, she also rescued the trolls and other ‘slaves’ who were about to be transported out from the camp.”

Behind the retelling, maregof’s face darkened with anger.

“A newly migrated tribe that doesn’t know the rules at all… Didn’t the Shorties mention my name, maregof, to them?”

“Uh… I’m not sure. I had to keep my distance to avoid being spotted, but they interrogated the Shorties. They probably know of your existence, Lord Maregof.”

“I see. So they know everything…”

Maregof spoke, letting out a long breath to calm his anger.

“Then, Lord Maregof, do you want us to teach those arrogant fools a lesson?”

“A lesson is necessary, but not directly. Rather than conquer with force, I’d prefer that woman kneels willingly at my feet,” said Maregof. As a qualified merchant and lord, he hadn’t let anger cloud his judgment.

“Then, Lord Maregof, your plan is…?”

“For now, don’t act rashly. Send someone to probe into their background. I want to talk to that woman first.”

As he said this, a sinister smile appeared on Maregof’s face.

(To be continued…)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep