—sreccccc
The sound of a large carcass being dragged through the sand echoed as a group of mounted lizardmen hauled a giant turtle monster with ropes.
Leading the group was a female lizardman with pitch-black scales, exhaustion painted on her face alongside the greenish blood of the creature she had just killed.
The lack of funds to host the humans had left her no choice—she had to hunt the most vile creatures in the region for their Cores. Her original plan had been to eliminate them over a long period, making the region safer while boosting her reputation.
However, now she had no option but to go on a hunting spree just to accumulate enough cores for the human envoys gifts.
It was extremely exhausting.
"We are home," the head guard sighed, looking at Zysera with guilt written all over his face .
Even after hunting six grade-3 beasts in six days, they had only been able to kill three. Of those three, only two beast cores remained, and one was cracked, diminishing its value.
This was demoralizing. They had lost so many comrades to achieve even this much and this was the result? This was all his fault.
If only he had reported Malvorrak's entry to Zysera instead of Qarc, things wouldn't have gone this way. He felt like burying his head in the ground in shame sometimes because of this.
"Yeah," Zysera sighed as her gaze fell on the village entrance. From this distance, she could see the young ones running around, the traders going about their daily business, and as she entered, more became visible.
The old seamstress who no longer sought to make money, just to sew; the town beggar, who seemed to make more than those with solid jobs; old and young alike, all coming together—the village was such a place.
It brought so many good and well meaning people together, it was important to her and She couldn't let it and it's people down, even if it meant her death.
"Hm?" Just as she passed a few buildings, a set of figures appeared at the corner of her eye, causing her to frown deeply.
Humans.
"Ahhh, Village Chief, so you're finally here?"
A group of humans, wrapped in thick, furry hides with savagery in their eyes, stood looking up at Zysera calmly from the corner of a building.
They had arrived a few hours earlier, and to their surprise, the village chief and all the lizardmen guards were gone. It was unusual and raised concerns.
Had the village been abandoned? Or had something happened? Either way, it didn't matter to them—they were here for gold.
Unfortunately, even after searching, they had found no trace of gold in the village vault.
"Yes..." Zysera nodded, annoyance and confusion creeping into her expression. "Why are you here so early?" she asked.
They weren't supposed to arrive for at least five more days. That would have given her enough time to arrange the gifts and even decorate. Their unannounced appearance wasn't just rude—it was a serious inconvenience.
"Ehn? Well, we were on our way from a meeting, and the Yolan village was along the route, so we decided to kill two birds with one stone," a fairly aged man with wrinkled skin and a frail build said, looking Zysera straight in the eye.
Zysera might be the strongest individual in the village, but her power didn't concern him. His team currently had at least two people equivalent to her in strength.
He did not fear her even in the slightest.
"I see. Then you must wait. I will get back to you in a few minutes," Zysera said, gripping the reins tightly. She then proceeded to ride away slowly in the direction of the town hall. She had to maintain a position of dominance no matter what, if not the humans would trample on them without mercy.
"This way," one of the lizardmen said.
About seven lizardmen from her entourage dismounted and directed the humans to a meeting place in the village square to await Zysera's return.
"Hmm," the wrinkled old man smiled slyly, already sensing that something was terribly wrong from the looks of worry on the faces of the villagers.
Now, seeing Zysera act so out of place? There was definitely something he didn't know yet, but he had a feeling he would soon find out.
About 30 minutes later, Zysera approached a canopy in the village center and took a seat facing the human envoys.
She now wore ceremonial attire befitting a lady of the lizardman tribe. Unlike the barbaric humans, the lizardmen had advanced significantly in etiquette and decorum.
They knew how to present themselves for meetings like this.
However, despite her ceremonial attire, Zysera was still armed with her sword. When dealing with barbarians, one had to be prepared for anything—even if it meant appearing like one.
"Bring forth the entertainment," Zysera called to her assistant after taking her seat, summoning Demi-human dancers to set the tone.
It was well-known that humans had a fetish for Demi-humans for some absurd reason. They were the only species of higher beings that saw interspecies relations as enjoyable.
In an instant, several beautifully adorned Demi-human females emerged from nearby buildings and began an elegant ribbon dance.
Their waists twisted and turned as they moved gracefully, intentionally intoxicating the human envoys, who watched lustfully.
They could hardly control themselves—at least, most of them couldn't.
The wrinkled old man, however, focused entirely on Zysera, his senile gaze piercing through her.
He wanted to know exactly what had gone wrong and was eager to find out.
The fall of the Yolan village depended on how bad the situation truly was.