Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Even though it's said that Prince Horace is here to guide the Undead Tribe, in reality, all it took was for his entourage to hoist his Crown Prince Regent's banner on the first ship.

The prince and those noble offspring could still sit in the scenic cabin dozens of meters high on the Elven Magic Ship, chatting and laughing with the elves while admiring the beautiful and tranquil scenery of the Eastern Bay.

Prince Horace felt the speed of these behemoths; a journey that usually took a day was now accomplished by such a grand fleet in just an hour, arriving at the small town of Yilinbuqi outside Rolins Forest.

Accompanying the Undead Tribe to the deck, the prince looked up towards the distant forest... that faraway country was Giant Valley.

If they failed to reclaim control over Rolins Forest and the Giant's Ridge mountain range this time, the powerful mages from Giant Valley would certainly intervene.

Especially some liches, who long refused to continue retaining that small portion of Rolins Forest allocated to the weaker Yinbutu.

This is Yinbutu's last chance... As long as the Undead Tribe establishes the Magic Great Wall on the half of Rolins Forest belonging to Yinbutu, there's nothing the liches can do despite their unwillingness.

They lack the courage to invade Yinbutu directly, protected by Dragon Liches and Giant Dragons, and can only hope that the weakened Yinbutu will abandon this portion of territory.

Unfortunately, they will never wait for that to happen.

Prince Holmes smiled as he led the way... The beautiful goddess that Yinbutu encountered this time was not Benshasha but Tymora.

Neither the Undead Tribe nor Hill truly understood the situation in between... Even William, familiar with the Ferun continent, wouldn't remember any changes to the boundaries of Yinbutu.

Anyway, the current Giant's Ridge mountain range and the small section of forest at its foot belong to Yinbutu on any map of Ferun.

For the Undead Tribe, it's better to directly head into the forest than to linger in this small remote town of Yilinbuqi, left empty by the Yinbutu Royal Family.

Even though the Yinbutu people tidied up this town to welcome these elves, even a dulled sense of smell reveals what this place was like before to the Undead Tribe.

They didn't want to guess what the greasy black stuff under the thick grass mats of the port was; they just wanted to leave this dreadful place quickly.

After comparing the Magic Ship with the small town's buildings, Prince Holmes suspected that the well-rested Teraxil Elves wouldn't want to enter those rough wooden huts, so he didn't insist much.

Although he felt a chill... he always felt hostility towards him... but he quickly stopped making inquiries about 'Snow Cloud Peak,' so he stayed out of trouble.

Seeing the Yinbutu Crown Prince finally give up on inviting them to stay in the town, 'Snow Cloud Peak' silently breathed a sigh of relief... Although Yinbutu laid burlap over all roads to show welcome to the elves, the stench accumulated over centuries, even millennia, was hard to eliminate completely.

No Undead would want to enter... It's quite different from entering a monster's lair.

Stepping into dog poop would make one curse, but stepping into something made by humans can be utterly maddening.

He definitely didn't want the first thing the Undead Tribe did upon arriving in Yinbutu to be setting fire to a town.

The movement of the Undead Tribe collecting the Magic Ship startled the onlooking Yinbutu people... They tidied up Yilinbuqi town and even relocated those lumberjacks elsewhere, thinking the Undead Tribe would need a lot of people to guard the ships.

They dared not let those coarse workers stay with a group of elves, fearing that any problem arising would cause the proud elves to blame the humans indiscriminately, whether they were nobles or commoners... In times of need, the nobles are always thorough in their considerations.

Though the Undead Tribe generally doesn't engage in indiscriminate blame, severing communication with the Yinbutu people won't hurt.

In Ferun's eastern continent, due to years of decay, countries from top to bottom have a wrecking ball mentality, and nothing they do is surprising... Just like in Hill's previous life, a poisoning and murder case would cause a national uproar, with civilians engaging in days of debates over whether human nature is inherently evil or society is corrupt.

But in a great country, not even the death of dozens qualifies for an exclamation mark.

After all, people who don't respect others' lives and don't care for their own can do anything.

Speaking of luck, Yinbutu indeed has it in abundance.

The Undead Tribe might choose to leave when they detect strange smells, but if it were truly the Toril Elves who came... with their sharper sense of smell than the Undead... even completing a U-turn to sail back home directly would be considered graceful behavior by these elves.

So it's difficult for Elves to live in Human cities, and it has nothing to do with them looking down on Humans. Otherwise, Silvermoon City and Deepwater City wouldn't have streets populated with Elves.

No matter how corrupt those cities might be, with the Elves' temperament, as long as Humans don't provoke them directly, they wouldn't care about the hardships their neighbors face on the same street.

They just can't stay... Elves have high status, but very few have the qualifications to reside in areas designated for the Great Nobility.

On the Ferun Great Land, the living conditions of many small Nobles are not considered clean, and might even be inferior to those of a merchant wealthy enough to afford a Mage.

The only consolation is that the Great Nobility are still living well, after all, those without money or power have long since perished.

Accompanying the Yinbutu Crown Prince, I got on my carriage, following at the end of the procession, while leaving some Knights to protect those Noble youths... The Yinbutu Nobles still have wealth; each young Noble possesses a ride token.

Although those Puppet Horses are not high Level, such Magical Curios generally start selling at 5000 Gold Coins, and those slightly better fetch tens of thousands of Gold Coins.

'Snow Cloud Peak' was bent over a tablet sending out marching orders to each group, occasionally listening in on 'Lu Huayu' and Prince Holmes chatting... There was no choice, 'Rainfall' was sent out to command the vanguard, and others weren't suitable to converse with a bona fide political animal. Instead, Lu Tai, despite having questionable character, would certainly not divulge anything.

After spending a lot of time with the NPCs in this game, Snow Old Dog is now always careful and methodical, knowing that these seemingly friendly NPCs will not hesitate to backstab you given the chance.

Especially upon arriving in Toril.

Were it not for the fact that they simply don't die, who knows how many by now would be lying on the experiment tables of Sorcerer Toril.

As for why the Undead Tribe doesn't visit Luskan... it's because Mages often cannot resist the urge to target Undead, especially those with a White Dragon accompanying them.

Even when caught in the act, Laila won't defend these Mages, instead letting the Undead pass judgment on them as they see fit... No matter the ulterior motives, when an entire city is under Hill's surveillance, Luskan officials aren't inclined to risk their lives.

Yet, guest Mages they've invited to Luskan struggle to understand a city having no blind spots, or people they can't control with Spells, always believing they can hide everything in the shadows.

By the time they figure it out, most have already dealt fatal blows to the Undead... naturally, it's too late by then, as not one of the Undead will forgo the joy of avenging their enemies.

But who wants to live in a place constantly fraught with danger!

Only now do they realize just how strong Hill is... Agleya has almost never had any problems, even while Hidden Town occasionally suffers attacks from Magical creatures; however, regardless of many passing fleets, there's never been a chance to stir up trouble.

It's only because Hill is indifferent, leaving Luskan's management rights entirely to someone else, that it continuously faces issues... Actually, if the city wasn't busy absorbing new folk, Luskan would also be fairly safe.

Unless they see it with their own eyes, Toril people simply don't believe a city like Luskan could exist, which is why Luskan frequently experiences criminal cases.

But even the Undead Tribe feels that Laila is constantly somewhat wary of them, and wherever they go, there's always a subtle attention, so they decisively choose to leave Luskan.

'Snow Cloud Peak' with eyes downcast organizes the entry of various families into Rolins Forest, a cold smile at the corner of his mouth... If Laila truly believes Hill would give complete control of Luskan to her, she's dreaming.

Hill always acts with foresight, taking one step while considering three ahead. Currently, Laila merely hopes to gain enough management rights over Luskan without intending to betray Hill, so she hasn't yet stepped on Hill's toes.

Thus Hill still has the patience to watch the developments in Luskan, but if troubles there persist, he seriously doubts Hill's next move will be to bring the Silvermoon Church and the Dawn Church into Luskan.

He's long since understood the Lord's Decree related to Luskan issued by Hill: the Temple District is Agleya's trump card, a space only for temples permitted by Hill to settle.

Indeed, elsewhere in Luskan Hill has given Laila absolute freedom, but as for which Temple may enter the Temple District, Laila has no say.

That Agleya Lord, perpetually sequestered within his Floating Castle, in reality firmly controls all the power he holds... If he doesn't want it, nobody can seize it from his grasp.

'Snow Cloud Peak's' mouth twitches slightly, as Lu Tai always relishes extracting information, leaving even NPCs no exception... thus, they finally come to understand the current situation of the Yinbutu Royal Family.

Prince Holmes felt a little down after he misspoke, but quickly shrugged it off... Lu Tai, in order to dig up more insiders, unhesitatingly presented Saral—the lineage of the Cortez Royal Family to console him.

Then indeed, Prince Holmes found considerable solace... Even if his father is somewhat naively foolish, at least he hasn't swapped him with the mistress's son yet, has he?