Raising an Army

"Irena is my employer."

"She is my most trusted partner. We are no longer just in a simple employer-employee relationship."

"We’ve faced life and death together, crossed dangerous territories, and survived landslides blocking our path."

"We’ve forced our way across raging rivers when bridges collapsed."

"We’ve even been ambushed by assassins sent by dark forces, narrowly escaping death."

Ye Chuan spoke slowly, his eyes carrying a mix of nostalgia, sorrow, and stubbornness.

"How could I take you there if I suspected you were a danger?"

"So?" Kaiaolen wasn’t sure what Ye Chuan was getting at.

"You’ll have to add more gold coins." Ye Chuan raised his head.

Kaiaolen: "…"

"You… I… you… sigh." Kaiaolen raised a finger, struggling to find words before finally exhaling in resignation.

"Fine. I’ll pay."

"As a lord, you wouldn’t be stingy, right?" Ye Chuan added.

"You!"

After receiving a hefty bag of coins, Ye Chuan weighed it in his hand with satisfaction—probably around a thousand or so?

"Ten thousand succubus summons. Not bad."

"Succubus?" Kaiaolen looked at Ye Chuan in confusion.

"Never mind."

Kaiaolen felt a surge of frustration in his chest. Truthfully, as a lord, he kept taxes low to ensure his people could live in peace, so he wasn’t particularly wealthy.

Seeing Ye Chuan’s money-grubbing attitude only made him angrier.

He barely had any personal funds left—most of the treasury went into developing the territory.

"Then, after you, Dragonborn." Now that he had the money, Ye Chuan upgraded Kaiaolen’s title from "little dragonborn" to "Dragonborn."

With that, he summoned a portal and placed it on the ground with a soft click.

"A door? Teleportation magic?" Kaiaolen’s eyes widened in realization. "Is this how the princess was taken?"

"You could say that."

The portal was quite handy—if not for the fact that recharging its uses required gold, Ye Chuan wouldn’t have to be so frugal with it.

Ye Chuan pulled the door open, revealing a dark forest on the other side, faintly illuminated by moonlight.

Kaiaolen was astonished. Despite living for centuries, he had never seen such a seamless method of spatial travel. He’d encountered spatial magic before, but nothing this effortless, requiring no incantations at all.

Stepping through, he found himself in a mountain range outside the city of Milar. He could even see his own city in the distance—without even feeling the usual spatial distortion.

"Your rank may not be high, but your spatial magic is extraordinary. More impressive than any archmage I’ve met." Kaiaolen couldn’t help but praise.

"Thanks. Oh, by the way, this teleportation service is also chargeable."

Kaiaolen: "…"

He immediately regretted his compliment. "Young man, you’re pushing it."

"Just kidding. You already paid earlier." Ye Chuan grinned at Kaiaolen’s unamused expression.

"Why aren’t you laughing?"

Kaiaolen remained stone-faced.

He wasn’t just not laughing—he wanted to punch Ye Chuan and remind him of the might of a dragonborn’s fangs.

Kaiaolen glanced around and noticed a flicker of firelight uphill, so he strode toward it.

…

Meanwhile, on the other side, Irena sat on a rock, lost in thought. Since the armored figure beside her didn’t speak, she had no choice but to wait in silence.

The night was dark, and the forest felt eerie, with occasional growls from beasts or monsters lurking nearby.

When Ye Chuan left, a few monsters had indeed appeared, but Della crushed them all with a single swing of her hammer.

"I appreciate your protection, but it’d be nice if you could clean up the corpses too." Irena forced a smile as she eyed the massive monster carcasses nearby.

The stench of dead monsters would only attract more.

More corpses meant more monsters. If not for her worry that Ye Chuan wouldn’t find her, Irena would’ve left already.

Della remained silent, clutching her hammer.

She had no soul—her power resided in the armor, and Ye Chuan’s orders were simply to protect Irena.

Just then, a rustling sound caught Irena’s attention.

"Miss Della, someone’s coming," Irena whispered urgently.

But Della seemed to sense something and vanished in a streak of black light.

"Miss Della?!" Irena froze. "D-Did the summoning time run out?"

The footsteps grew closer, sending chills down her spine. She stumbled back, raising her hands to cast a spell.

As a first-tier nature mage, her abilities leaned more toward support—combat was not her strength.

A shadow emerged from the bushes.

Irena’s arms faltered mid-motion. "Lord Kaiaolen?"

Her face paled. Had she been found?

Then she noticed Ye Chuan standing beside him.

"Sir Ye? Why are you two together?"

"Oh, he paid me, so I brought him to you." Ye Chuan smirked.

Irena was stunned. Had she been sold out for money?

Just as she was about to spiral into panic, Kaiaolen spoke. "Princess, it’s been years. You’ve grown so much."

Hearing his tone, Irena blinked in surprise before her expression brightened.

"Lord Kaiaolen… you believe I’m not a monster now?"

"He always believed you," Ye Chuan cut in. "He just had monsters around him, so he had to play along."

"Really?!" Irena’s tension dissolved instantly. "Thank goodness…"

Seeing her relief, Kaiaolen seemed remorseful. "Your Highness, tell me everything you know first."

Irena recounted everything—how she witnessed her father consuming people, how the royal family had turned into monsters.

"This is worse than I imagined." Kaiaolen’s frown deepened.

An entire empire’s king and most of the royal family, all parasitized by monsters—with no way to identify them.

Kaiaolen felt a headache coming on.

"Lord Kaiaolen, what should we do?"

Kaiaolen studied Irena’s worried face, reminded of how she used to cling to his cloak as a child. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"There’s only one solution."

"What is it?"

"Raise an army. March on the capital."