Chapter 101: Chapter 100: The Ambitious Dragon Vein Dog-man

"O Jina, god of rebirth and hope~ We revere you, we cherish you~ And pray you lead us to a wondrous kingdom~"

Levi recited the verse in a sing-song voice, as devout as a believer who saw his god as a father.

In reality, Baisitina knew this guy was a complete and utter atheist. As he was fond of saying, believing in the Gods wouldn’t earn him a single Gold Coin.

"Is there something special about that line?"

Baisitina didn’t quite understand. On the surface, it just seemed like a simple phrase of reverence for a god, with absolutely no connection to the Stone Egg.

Still, the Lord’s strange tone was so oddly comical that she couldn’t help but cover her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Afterward, I lit a candle and spent all night poring over the literature, and I discovered something interesting." The Lord pushed up a pair of imaginary glasses, suddenly resembling a knowledgeable court scholar.

"In the ancient tongue of the Mountain Kingdom, the meaning of Jina is..."

"A... high... and... noble... birth." The Lord’s voice was suddenly menacing, like a Demon appearing at a child’s bedside in the dead of night.

"Oh, stop it." Baisitina rolled her eyes and swatted away the Lord’s gesticulating hands.

It seemed that any person—or any sentient being, for that matter—who spent enough time with the Lord of High Cliff Castle was guaranteed to pick up one skill very quickly: the eye roll.

"Haha, just trying to liven things up. Don’t mind me."

Seeing that he had failed to scare the little white-haired girl, Levi privately pursed his lips in disappointment.

"So what’s the connection between the two?"

"Oh, my dear Steward, how have I never realized you could be so adorably dense? ’A high and noble birth’—doesn’t that connect perfectly to this Stone Egg?" Levi gestured a large circle with his hands. "Think about it! Isn’t this Stone Egg in the process of being ’born’? And since it’s connected to the Natural Goddess, it’s not a stretch to call it ’noble,’ right?"

"Ah, I see," Baisitina said, her face lighting up with understanding.

"I always thought you were as sharp as an Undead. Why are you so dense today? Are you running a fever?"

Levi reached out and felt Baisitina’s forehead.

If anyone in High Cliff Castle could match him in intellect, it was his steward.

Otherwise, Levi wouldn’t have felt comfortable entrusting her with so many responsibilities.

’I can’t believe she couldn’t even figure out something so simple.’

"I’m so busy every day. The last thing I want to do when I finally relax is think," Baisitina said, her tone a little resentful.

As one of the few people in High Cliff Castle who was literate and numerate, she was subject to a certain Lord’s philosophy of working his subordinates to the bone. As a result, she was often up late into the night, handling the castle’s affairs with a quill and parchment.

All while he himself was already snoring up a storm.

"Haha, that just proves how capable you are!"

Levi just laughed, trying to brush the matter aside.

To be fair, he wasn’t entirely to blame.

The internal administration of High Cliff Castle was practically nonexistent. Its management of the populace was about as sophisticated as a street gang collecting protection fees—in other words, a complete mess.

His followers—Zat, Hog, Muto, and the rest—were all fierce fighters, but asking them to pick up a quill to count people and livestock or manage logistics and provisions? You could forget about it.

Under these circumstances, Baisitina, the only Heroic Unit with the Logistics Management skill, naturally had to shoulder the entire burden.

Ultimately, the Lord decided to hatch the Stone Egg and see what it was.

After all, wasn’t there a saying? Fortune favors the bold.

However, this matter required careful long-term planning. It was a well-known fact that anything involving Magic was a money pit.

And once money got involved in anything, you could forget about lofty ideals; there was only calculation and a weighing of pros and cons.

This Stone Egg was clearly a gold-devouring Giant Beast with an unknown payoff. The Lord didn’t consider himself a gambler, so he wasn’t about to bet the farm on it.

For now, he planned to have Sam begin incubating it with Magic Power.

As for buying Magic Items directly, Levi wouldn’t do it. Without the right connections, he’d obviously be taken for a ride and get ripped off.

Levi planned to ask Miriel and Liya in Bailiu City to help him keep an eye out.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, its fading light traced everything in gold. The day’s hustle and bustle at High Cliff Castle finally gave way to peace.

"Boss, you’re just letting Jos and a few men escort the supplies? Aren’t you worried something will happen to them?" Zat asked, a little concerned.

"A pair of threes."

"What could happen?" the Lord said dismissively. "I told them to run if things go south. Besides, who dares to tweak the whiskers of the High Cliff Castle tiger right under our noses these days?"

A few hard-fought battles had thoroughly made a name for High Cliff Castle. All the neighbors knew a formidable figure had moved in.

Now, at the mere sight of a High Cliff Castle banner, the once-arrogant Chieftains would break into their most sincere smiles, rushing to serve their finest food and drink to the esteemed guests.

Levi, for his part, was just looking for an excuse to deal with these Wilderness Natives.

Lately, Zat had even been taking the Barbarians to go mooch food and drinks, claiming it was to "lessen the burden on High Cliff Castle." Naturally, the Lord didn’t interfere; in fact, he strongly encouraged it.

"Tch, that’s true."

These days, the Wilderness Natives were more friendly and approachable than anyone, terrified that if they offended High Cliff Castle, they’d wake up to find Beastman Warriors skulking around their Tribe.

"Pair of Kings!"

Zat, who had just played his pair of threes, instantly shot the Lord a resentful glare.

"What are you looking at? Who the hell insisted on being the landlord!" the Lord shot him a sidelong glance.

Nearby, Hog rubbed his head and grinned, thinking he might just be able to save the few hairs he had left on his head this round. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

...

Gorgon sat erect upon the flat, broad back of a magnificent Steel-haired Black Mountain Deer Boar. He was clad in a suit of well-maintained Knight’s Armor with a heavy Greatsword strapped to his back. His posture was ramrod straight, but his eyes were vacant as he stared at the distant horizon where heaven and earth converged.

This Black Mountain Deer Boar was a second-generation descendant from the crossbreeding of a Great Horned Deer and a Black Mountain Boar. Although it lacked the Talent Magic of its two magical creature ancestors, its combat prowess was still formidable.

The Warrior stood over seven feet tall, his arms as thick and gnarled as ancient trees. His breathing seemed to follow a unique rhythm, alternating like light and shadow. Like a boxing Apprentice from the Southern Territory, his hands were wrapped in gray cloth strips. He was, without a doubt, a top-tier Warrior who had Mastered profound Martial Arts.

Gorgon came from a Kobold Tribe. He had been extraordinary since birth, not only having Mastered the Fire Element but also being far more powerfully built than others of his kind.

As he grew older, he learned the truth of his identity: he was a Dragon Vein Dog-man, one who carried the Bloodline of a Giant Dragon. He was a favorite of the heavens, destined for greatness from the moment he was born.