Jona Velli lifted her dragon head high and narrowed her eyes.
"Friel, how dare you compare me to those weaklings? Hmph! You are being far too rude."
Friel wasn't angry; on the contrary, this felt right—this was how a dragon should act... Art led a caravan of over three thousand people to White Crystal City.
The one who received them was the city lord on the surface—Fanny.
"City Lord Fanny, it Is a pleasure to meet you again. I hope this trade will satisfy both of us."
As the saying goes, one does not hit a smiling face; Art showed a friendly side as soon as he arrived.
This behavior was usually quite popular with creatures like the Little Fairies, but unfortunately for him, because of Jona Velli's suspicions, Fanny was not interested in these humans and didn't even show the enthusiasm typical of a Little Fairy.
Little Fairies were like that; they basically wore their emotions on their sleeves because they were pure spirits of nature, which made their hearts very pure and unlikely to engage in schemes.
Facing the cold attitude of the fairy, Art, who had been a traveling merchant for most of his life, believed he could handle it well.
"I wonder why Your Excellency Fanny looks like this? Has something happened to displease you?"
Fanny scanned the caravan, which had clearly grown several times in size, her brow furrowing slightly as she spoke coldly.
"Why are there so many people in the caravan this time?"
"Your Excellency Fanny might not know, but in order to deepen our trade relations and make our cooperation closer..."
"...I specifically brought more goods to trade, which can help perfect your newly built City-state. This Is the sincerity I am showing."
Looking at Art, who still had a smile on his face, Fanny only felt hypocrisy and disgust.
If not for Jona Velli's reminder, she might have been as happy as before and warmly received these merchants, but now... 'Hehehe, I hope you won't cause trouble, or else the wrath of those three Lords Is not something you mere humans can endure.'
Fanny sneered inwardly, but said with a lack of interest on the surface.
"Enter the city."
After saying that, she took Anna and flew into the City-state. Watching the backs of the two Little Fairies as they left, Art's gaze turned cold.
"Hehehe, just a fairy, what Is there to be so smug about?"
But then, Art slowly put on a money-grubbing smile again.
"I wonder how many gold coins two fairies can be sold for? Hehehe."
"Everyone, enter the city!" The grand caravan marched into the City-state. Art was at the forefront, but after seeing the scene inside, his eyes sparkled with little stars.
"By the God of Wealth! Look what I see? Sub-humans, Snake People beauties—these are all races that can be sold for a high price."
Sub-humans and the Snake People race generally have high levels of beauty; for those noble lords, they are excellent races to be used as tools for venting or as maids.
On the Wolf Supercontinent, many nobles' estates have many such sub-human beauties, and some even have High Elves.
But these things cannot be brought into the open; after all, this behavior of enslaving other races for one's own pleasure would undoubtedly provoke war.
But speaking of the best mount, it still has to be the Dragon Species.
The benefits of the Dragon Species are simply too many. If a family has a dragon backing them, their status and power will rise to an unimaginable height.
Moreover, dragon blood can be used to convert Dragonblood Warriors and Dragonblood Sorcerers, improving overall strength.
But most importantly, if one tames a female dragon, one can be a Dragon Rider by day and a Dragon Rider by night—this Is something well-known among the nobles.
Dragons are also the most precious family heirlooms, so Hatchling Dragons and Young Dragons are the easiest to tame.
If you can capture a dragon alive, the wealth you obtain will be more than you can spend in three lifetimes.
Art couldn't help but let his thoughts wander, looking like a total miser.
After the caravan entered the City-state, they began selling some of the goods they had brought.
After all, on the surface, they were still in a trading relationship. However, Art keenly noticed that the number of monsters here had increased significantly, much more than when he came last year.
Most were at the Silver Rank, but this didn't make him afraid; he even felt somewhat fortunate to have brought a Gold Rank elite mage.
One must know that every realm Is a mountain apart; the only races capable of fighting across ranks are powerful top-tier races like the Dragon Species, Wyvern Species, Hydras, and Unicorns. Of course, they have a more majestic name: Mythical Creature.
So, this means... "I can definitely make a fortune this time!"
Art was in no hurry to act but began observing the movements of these monsters. To his surprise, the monsters didn't seem as enthusiastic as in previous years; only some young cubs showed intense curiosity.
But as the saying goes, the spectator sees clearly while the player Is confused; Art simply thought that something bad had happened here recently and didn't think much more of it, his eyes already blinded by gold coins.
However, the Adventurers and Mercenaries who came were attracted by the currently popular "happy fight nobles" game in White Crystal City, and they soon fell into it, unable to pull themselves out.
As the weather gradually dimmed, night soon arrived.
After nearly a day of observation, the highest realm of the monsters in the city was only Silver Rank, and the lowest was Black Iron Rank. This made Art unable to hold back any longer, preparing to strike tonight.
The monsters of White Crystal City also noticed that the scale of the caravan this time was several times larger than the last, which made them believe Jona Velli's words even more.
They lay on their beds, slowly closing their eyes, but their perception quietly spread out.
Jona Velli and Friel, who had transformed into human forms, stood outside the Dragons Lair, watching White Crystal City as the lights gradually went out and the dark shadows moved, unable to help but curl their lips.
"Hahaha~ The world says we dragons are greedy, but I see that humans are equally insatiable.
"But compared to us dragons, the emotions of the human heart are more complex. A heart only the size of a fist contains kindness, justice, joy, greed, evil, anger, jealousy, cunning, and so many other emotions. It's truly miraculous."
Friel remained noncommittal regarding Jona Velli's lament.
The dark shadows quietly slipped into the rooms of the Frost Kobolds and White-Scaled Goblin; they had been listed as priority targets to be dealt with.
Meanwhile, other dark shadows slipped into the rooms of other ordinary monsters, ready to act at any moment.
Seeing that these Mercenaries and Adventurers were almost ready, Art spoke respectfully to the human mage beside him.
"Mr. Is, please signal them to attack."
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