Volume 4 Chapter 106

Volume 4 + Chapter 106: Too Hard—Way Too Hard!

So strong, so strong—this is really… Too strong~!

The cheerful little silver dragon princess hummed a tune as she skipped along through the Dragon Clan’s imperial palace.

Thinking it over carefully, wasn’t she actually amazing?

She had gone to the Far North Lands, and without bringing any army at all, not only suppressed a rebellion, but even resolved the internal governance problems, purging the parasites that had been corroding things from within!

Yet after doing so much, her original resolve had not changed.

Xia Yi still remembered that she possessed the pure and unyielding soul of a Sword Saint. She had to defeat Xia Lulu, wash away her humiliation, cross the threshold of that defeat, continue to grow stronger, and ascend to the pinnacle of the world.

“I actually didn’t fall even a little!” Xia Yi couldn’t help but exclaim. “My will really is incredibly firm!”

If it were anyone else, ending up in the same situation as her, they might have long since given up and started indulging themselves.

But she hadn’t. Faced with the sugar-coated corruption of the Dragon Clan, she had rejected it all without exception.

“You agree, right? Gram!”

Xia Yi looked at the back of her hand.

After everything she had been through, she could still summon the holy sword—this alone proved that the holy sword acknowledged her soul as its wielder.

That was ironclad evidence.

But after waiting for quite a while, the holy sword’s mark still did not appear, and Gram showed no sign of responding.

“Old friend?” Xia Yi tilted her head. “Say something, will you?”

She waited again for some time, but the holy sword remained silent.

Xia Yi frowned, feeling puzzled. Why… could it be that Gram thought she had already—

“No, no, no, that makes no sense. This must be—ah, I get it!”

Xia Yi clapped her hands together.

“Oh, so that’s it. Gram is showing tacit approval! After all, what I said is an indisputable fact—there’s no need to appear and explicitly acknowledge it. Silent consent is more than enough.”

After this internal monologue, Xia Yi felt her fighting spirit surge higher and higher. Today, she was going to properly clash head-on with Xia Lulu!

“Thanks for the encouragement, Gram! This time, I’ll absolutely crush Xia Lulu!”

…

“Xia Lulu, you’re here, right!”

Xia Yi found Xia Lulu.

At this moment, the Silver Dragon Queen was in the palace’s rear garden, seemingly resting. She wore a very casual little dress and a pair of glasses, with a book resting atop her slender legs as she enjoyed a leisurely afternoon—just like a literary girl.

A chubby cat lay sprawled beside her, lazily yawning.

“Oh, my daughter, you’re back~” Xia Lulu raised a hand in greeting.

At that instant, Xia Yi felt a harmless, endearingly pitiful aura well up from the dragon loli before her.

No—no way!

This is my mortal enemy, the ferocious and brutal Silver Dragon Queen. Don’t think you can make me lower my guard with an outfit like that!

I won’t fall for it!

“Mm, I’m back~”

The little silver dragon princess lifted her skirt and politely bowed to her mother.

“You must have completed the mission, right? You worked hard, my daughter.” Xia Lulu stood up, walked over to Xia Yi, and reached out her hand.

Pat, pat on the head~

A smile bloomed across Xia Yi’s face, her cheeks flushing slightly. She was thoroughly enjoying this feeling, a sense of ease and warmth spreading through her heart…

Mm—wait?

I’m a resolute and unyielding Sword Saint. How could I give in so easily?!

“Hmph!! Don’t underestimate me! A mission like that was child’s play!”

Xia Yi hurriedly pulled back, avoiding Xia Lulu’s gaze, arms crossed over her chest.

Who would have thought that she’d get hit by a full combo right from the opening move, nearly taken out in one go?

How terrifying—the Silver Dragon Queen really does try to corrupt my soul at every possible moment.

But fortunately, my will is as unbreakable as steel. Hard—way too hard!

At this point, I have to take the initiative and attack.

“Xia Lulu, it seems you’re not very clear about what happened in the Far North Lands, are you?” Xia Yi grinned. “There was a rebellion there, you know.”

“Something like that happened?”

Xia Lulu suddenly put on an extremely shocked expression, her tone even sounding a bit exaggerated.

“I didn’t know about it at all!”

“Hmph. Not only did a massive rebellion break out in the Far North Lands, but the Taylor family, who had long served as administrators, were lining their own pockets, deceiving their superiors and subordinates alike, siphoning off enormous profits from the northern mines! The entire Far North Lands was practically a ticking time bomb within the Dragon Kingdom. And you didn’t notice a thing—really not good enough, Xia Lulu. If the situation there had been allowed to ferment further, everything would have been too late.”

Xia Yi was brimming with smug satisfaction.

“But all of this—under my schemes and with Elly cooperation—was completely resolved without even mobilizing an army. Not only did we defuse the Dragon Royal Family’s crisis, but we also let the glory of the Dragon Royal Family shine once more upon every corner of the Far North Lands!”

“You’re becoming more and more outstanding, my daughter.”

“Of course!”

Hearing Xia Lulu’s praise, Xia Yi was so happy she could hardly contain herself—her big tail behind her even started swaying.

“My good daughter, to keep the Dragon Royal Family’s responsibilities firmly in your heart… even without my orders, you took the initiative to make a judgment and acted to safeguard the royal glory. That truly reassures me,” Xia Lulu said with a smile. “Surely, you’ve already begun—both body and soul—to accept your identity as a dragon princess, haven’t you?”

“W-what…? I—I…!”

Those words from Xia Lulu were like a critical hit dealing true damage, leaving Xia Yi flustered and tongue-tied, her gaze drifting away.

“No! That’s not it at all—you’re mistaken, Xia Lulu! I don’t care about the Dragon Royal Family one bit. What I did was… an action with ulterior motives!!”

“Ulterior motives?”

Xia Lulu leaned in curiously, moving close to her daughter’s reddened face.

“You probably don’t know this, but my actions in the Far North Lands were because… because…”

Xia Yi’s brain spun at top speed, and at last she figured out how to counterattack.

“That’s it! All the armed forces in the Far North Lands have been reorganized by me and turned into the Far North Imperial Guard. That’s a military force under my direct command! My true goal was to take control of this armed power so I could oppose you in the future! It had nothing to do with the Dragon Royal Family’s prestige at all! To outsiders, it may look like that was the result—but in reality, this was my real plan!”

“Oh? Is that really so?”

“Of course it is! Now you’re scared, aren’t you, Xia Lulu? The power under my command is growing larger and larger, already forming a force that can’t be ignored. You calculated everything, yet you never accounted for this, did you? Heh heh heh! From here on out, you should feel fear and start properly acknowledging the relationship between us. Don’t forget—between you and me, we’re mortal enemies!” Xia Yi stared straight at Xia Lulu. “Be afraid of me! Let’s see if you still dare treat me like a child who only knows how to laze around and act spoiled!”

“……”

Xia Lulu fell silent.

Her daughter’s stubbornness had reached a truly absurd level—she could even forcibly patch things up with reasoning like this?

She smiled faintly.

But then again… no matter how hard a mouth might be, it can always be softened eventually.