Volume 1 Chapter 98

Volume 1 + Chapter 98: Leah Beat Up The Black Dragon

“What did Leah run out to do?”

Eve was a little puzzled. This girl’s social circle was very simple—almost non-existent.

Moreover, she had just smoothly graduated from the Church Academy, so logically, there was no reason for her to go out.

Eve glanced around the room. The whole room had been cleaned spotless by Leah. The clothes that needed washing were all cleaned and neatly hung up, the tableware was organized perfectly.

Even the small potted flowers on the windowsill were fully watered, blooming brilliantly.

Eve knew very well that all of this was done by Leah. After all, although Baby Zhi looked gentle, like the sweet girl-next-door type, she never touched water with her ten fingers and had no household skills.

To be precise, it was a bit of a clumsy charm.

After asking Qianzhi a few questions, Eve roughly understood Leah’s schedule for today: she had done housework at home in the morning and went out in the afternoon, and hadn’t returned yet.

This naturally made Eve a bit more worried. Although Leah was already a graduate of the Church Academy, she was still a child.

It wasn’t proper for a child to casually go out and not return by nightfall.

“I’ll go look for her.”

Eve put down what she was holding and briefly introduced Pipim to Qianzhi.

At this moment, Pipim looked like a cat that had just arrived in a brand-new environment, standing alone in the corner, glancing left and right, eyes full of unfamiliar helplessness.

She was even so startled that when Qianzhi approached to look her over closely, she didn’t notice at all.

When their eyes finally met, Pipim’s reaction was like that of a frightened cat, jumping straight up.

Even the little black cat, Maodou, next to her jumped too.

This sudden reaction startled Qianzhi as well.

“Miss Eve, you’ve picked up another child from the roadside, huh?”

“I guess you could say that.”

Eve patted Pipim’s head. The latter instinctively hid behind Eve, her eyes full of caution as she looked at Qianzhi.

Before coming here, Eve had instructed Pipim not to reveal her true identity.

After all, Qianzhi didn’t know her true identity yet either.

Pipim was very sensible and never asked why. She obediently did whatever Eve told her to do.

As long as she didn’t feel unsafe, she was very well-behaved.

“Alright, can you tell me about your mother?”

“You?”

Pipim was a little afraid of Qianzhi. After all, Qianzhi’s beautiful appearance and the aloof aura in her mannerisms subconsciously reminded her of those terrifying nobles.

They were the ones who had taken her mother away right in front of her.

“Maybe I can help you. I and Miss Eve…”

Qianzhi glanced at Eve, who was anxiously tidying up her things and preparing to go out to look for Leah. Her expression showed a hint of hesitation.

“I am very good friends with Miss Eve.”

Hearing this, Pipim instinctively relaxed a little.

After all, she was still a child, clever but not overly so.

As long as someone was close to Eve, Pipim was willing to interact with them.

“Qianzhi, I’ll leave Pipim with you for now. I have to go find that girl Leah.”

Eve said this and was about to go out. However, before she reached the door, it was opened from the inside.

Leah ran in, sweating profusely. She didn’t even have time to speak and ran to the kitchen to gulp down three large cups of water.

Seeing Leah’s little face dirty and messy, Eve’s heart sank with a bit of frustration. Her precious daughter was fine yesterday, so how could she go bad today?

Running out without a word, coming back all dirty, and now she doesn’t even greet me?

“Leah?”

Eve stood at the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, looking down at Leah with a serious, towering demeanor.

Hearing Eve’s voice, Leah, who was still gasping for breath, trembled slightly.

“What did you go out to do?”

“Mom…”

Seeing Eve’s expression showing displeasure, Leah instinctively stepped back and lowered her head like a child who had done something wrong.

“Coming back so late, where did you go to play? You better give me a proper explanation.”

There was the authority of a mother in Eve’s tone.

Leah realized Eve was really angry and was too scared to even breathe.

“I didn’t go out to play…”

Leah mumbled in explanation.

“What’s that smell on you?”

Eve leaned closer to Leah, gently flaring her nostrils as if she caught an unusual scent.

Familiar, yet strange…

Unsure, she sniffed carefully again. The more she smelled, the more something felt off.

“This is… the smell of a dragon?”

Eve was almost shocked into breaking her voice. The scent on Leah’s body was unmistakably dragon blood.

It’s not easy to get this scent. Dragons themselves are powerful beings. Regardless of whether they are pureblood or hybrid, any human encountering them would normally avoid them.

Even a witch would have to carefully consider the situation before approaching.

Of course, Eve, as a numerical powerhouse, was an exception…

Putting Eve aside, dragons were definitely not something Leah could encounter.

To acquire the scent of dragon blood, one would at least have to injure a dragon. Judging by the strong dragon blood scent on Leah, it seemed she must have inflicted serious damage.

“Sorry, Mom, I got my clothes dirty. But I’ll wash them properly and won’t trouble you.”

“Also…”

Leah excitedly dug out two shiny gold coins from her small personal cloth bag and presented them to Eve with great solemnity.

“These are the coins I earned from work today. The sister who arranged my job said I did very well and gave me two coins at once.”

“All for you, Mom! You work so hard managing the household, I want to help you a little.”

Leah’s dirty little face bore a satisfied smile. Seeing the two gold coins in her hands and smelling the unmistakable scent of dragon blood on her, Eve felt a mix of emotions.

It was obvious that Leah must have gone to the Mira of the Imperial Merchant Guild, whom she met at the graduation ceremony.

“You went to do the job protecting the Imperial trade routes, didn’t you?”

“Mm… because I could earn a lot of money.”

Leah’s expression fell slightly when Eve didn’t immediately take the coins from her hands.

“Then tell me, what did you do this afternoon?”

Eve patiently asked Leah.

At this, Leah’s beautiful eyes lit up immediately.

Like a box being opened, she started talking non-stop: “Actually, I didn’t do much today. I just helped the adventurer brothers and sisters drive away a big lizard.”

“That big lizard was huge, as tall as a small hill. It had a pair of wings that blocked the sky, but it wasn’t very strong.”

“I don’t understand why those adventurer brothers and sisters were so afraid. Hmph, if that big lizard hadn’t had wings to fly, I would have tamed it and brought it home for Mom to see.”

Listening to Leah, Eve felt completely bewildered.

Leah meant… she casually dealt with the dragon that had troubled the Imperial trade convoy for years, almost killing it in the process…

Eve knew that black dragon. Back when she was still a cardinal at the Church, that black dragon had been a headache for the Empire and neighboring countries.

It liked to harass caravans and steal supplies, especially gold coins, taking them no matter the amount.

This had been a nightmare for the Empire, and despite many attempts, they couldn’t solve it.

Eve had even tried negotiating with that black dragon. But it was obstinate, even threatening to reveal Eve’s identity as a great witch if she interfered.

At that time, Eve also had other matters to attend to, so she let it go, as she couldn’t manage it.

A few negotiations barely reached a compromise that both sides could accept.

After all, that black dragon was a rogue.

But now, the black dragon, which the entire Empire couldn’t deal with, was easily defeated by Leah.

The most outrageous part… for such a huge accomplishment, they only rewarded Leah with two gold coins?

Is this treating a child like a fool?

“Sweetie, let me see quickly. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Eve’s face showed obvious concern.

“No, that dragon was really stupid. It couldn’t even hurt me, and I completely toyed with it. It even ended up crying.”

Leah proudly puffed out her slightly developing chest, looking as if she was waiting for Eve to praise her.

“Mom, here are the gold coins. From now on, I’ll work hard to earn more. I’ll make sure you have a good life.”

“Before, Mom protected me. Now it’s my turn to protect Mom.”

Leah placed the gold coins solemnly in Eve’s hand.

Although Eve was still immersed in shock over Leah beating up the big black dragon, Leah’s action of placing the coins so seriously in her hand moved Eve deeply.

This could be said to be the first pot of gold Leah had truly earned through her own efforts.

Though it wasn’t much for Eve now, it was extremely significant for Leah.

She was willing to give it all to Eve without reservation—not only a sign of trust, but also absolute acknowledgment.

“Are you going to do this kind of work tomorrow too?”

Eve looked at Leah with visible concern. Honestly, with Leah’s strength, if she truly wanted to do such work, Eve wouldn’t be able to stop her.

“Two gold coins a day. Of course, I’ll continue! At this rate, I’ll save up quickly.”

Leah spoke joyfully, her words almost like singing.

“What does Leah want to save money for?”

Eve still didn’t understand. Such a young child, already anxious about savings?

“Secret for now. Anyway, Mom doesn’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. The sister at the Imperial Merchant Guild also said I don’t need to handle anything else. I just need to keep an eye on that big lizard. Every time she comes back, I drive her away.”

Hearing Leah’s words, Eve was momentarily speechless.

Honestly, with Leah’s strength, Eve felt rather reassured about her.

Maybe smooth talk could fool naive Leah, but in terms of magical strength, even a dragon would have to think twice.

Some kind of inverted Tian Gang…

Eve was more worried about that black dragon. If it got driven away, there would be a lot of trouble.

In fact, only Eve really understood certain things. From the Imperial Merchant Guild’s perspective, that troublesome black dragon was unbeatable in battle, unavoidable, and caused them significant losses.

But in reality, that black dragon’s existence had a very important purpose.

That black dragon, like the current Leah, was straightforward and naive.

The saying “one mountain cannot hold two tigers” also applies to dragons. Because of the black dragon’s presence, the Imperial Merchant Guild only loses some supplies or gold coins—nothing more.

But if the black dragon were driven away and replaced by a difficult dragon, it wouldn’t just be minor losses.

It could cause a major incident…

Eve had to put in a lot of effort, using reason and emotion to persuade the black dragon to only steal things to survive without harming anyone.

After all, people aren’t as tasty as baked bread.

In other words, the items being stolen were essentially the Empire’s “protection fee” paid to the dragons.

Avoiding this so-called protection fee would be simple—just erase the dragons from the world…

But after weighing it, paying the protection fee was much easier and safer.

“What did that big lizard do when it faced you?”

Eve asked cautiously.

“Mm… it just cried.”

“…”

Hearing Leah, Eve completely lost her composure.

“Mom, I protected the Imperial caravan and earned money. Even those adventurer brothers and sisters praised me. Didn’t I do well?”

“Yes… of course, you did well.”

Eve felt slightly embarrassed but, seeing Leah’s innocent eyes, couldn’t bear to discourage her.

Her precious daughter couldn’t have bad intentions. She was just doing what she thought was right: working hard to earn money and taking care of her mom.

Of course, if this continued, the next time, those adventurer brothers and sisters might not even have a chance to praise her.

Looks like I’ll have to personally handle things next time…

“No matter what, let’s eat first.”

Eve patted Leah’s head, her heart filled with complex emotions.

She feared that if she didn’t confront the big black dragon tonight, it wouldn’t be long before the dragon came looking for her.

Moreover, Eve needed to resolve Leah’s work issue. This job was still dangerous. Besides dragons, the Imperial caravans often encountered various magical beasts and wild animals.

Eve felt it was necessary to negotiate with them a bit, to keep things calm until she found Leah a safer job.

…………

By the time Eve coaxed Leah to sleep, it was already late at night.

The little girl was indeed exhausted. After all, she had fought a dragon and won, accumulating a lot of fatigue.

She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, sleeping enviably well.

Meanwhile, Qianzhi and Pipim had become very familiar with each other. Both loved cats and seemed to have endless things to talk about whenever cats were mentioned.

Qianzhi’s home didn’t allow her to have a cat, but Pipim happened to have a small, cute black cat, Maodou.

Because of the cat, the two girls became close within the time of a single dinner.

Qianzhi even offered to help Pipim investigate her mother’s situation. Eve didn’t oppose it. If anything could be discovered, it would be helpful, as Eve still didn’t know who Pipim’s mother really was.

With Qianzhi’s promise, the two girls had become close enough to hug the cat and sleep together on one sofa.

Eve carried them to their rooms, tucked them in, and even covered Maodou with a blanket.

After ensuring the children were asleep, Eve quietly left the apartment.

The night in the Empire was deep. Except for the Imperial Palace, there were almost no lights.

People from this world didn’t have nighttime entertainment, they mostly went to bed when it got dark, so the streets were very quiet.

Eve’s footsteps were light, her slender red-soled heels seemingly stepping on invisible stairs, climbing upward.

She had originally considered teleportation, but it consumed too much magic. It wasn’t that she feared running out of magic—this thought was unnecessary for her.

She worried that using such magic would create a large magical disturbance, possibly attracting attention, and most importantly, disturbing the children’s sleep.

Since there was nothing else to do at night, Eve decided to walk around a bit.

Passing the Imperial Palace, her gaze casually fell on Alice’s chamber, which seemed to still have lights on.

Out of curiosity, Eve paid extra attention.

After all, Alice had promised to study hard. Staying up this late probably meant she was working diligently by candlelight.

But Eve immediately regretted looking…

Alice was indeed working by candlelight, but not studying. She was hugging a treasured portrait of Eve and performing some very simple repetitive actions.

Eve should have known better—she shouldn’t have looked at all.

Alice would always be Alice. No matter how smart she became, she would still be Alice.

Eve withdrew her gaze, but she noticed that the Empress’s chamber also seemed to have lights on.

The Empress, graceful and gentle, must be staying up late worrying about state affairs.

Eve didn’t dare peek. Their statuses were too different.

Moreover, she had no interest in watching. She could smell the dragon blood scent in the air growing stronger. The big black dragon was not far from here.

Thinking of this, Eve quickened her pace. Her graceful silhouette soon vanished into the thick night.