Don't Mess with That Dragon-Chapter 770 - 011: First Encounter

Crunch, crunch...

The wheels of the dilapidated cart ground along the road, the scrawny donkey at the front dragging it listlessly forward.

Two children in tattered clothes sat atop a pile of straw, their eyes timidly scanning the surroundings.

Old Sean walked beside them, occasionally waving a whip to urge the donkey on.

His face, like the bark of an old locust tree, was covered in wrinkles. His eyes gazed at the still smoke-billowing Royal City ahead, and even with decades of life experience, he found it difficult to make a decision.

Not far ahead,

was Buer City, the Royal City of the Duchy of Kaoof. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

More than ten days ago, the Red Dragon Empire launched an invasion against the Duchy of Kaoof. Tens of thousands of monster troops from the border, like a collapsing flood, swept across everything in their path.

The north fell.

A huge number of civilians fled south, becoming large groups of refugees.

There was no other choice,

If it were an enemy of another country, during the outbreak of war, they generally wouldn’t harm the farmers in the occupied areas, as the vast farmlands still needed the labor of the peasants.

To a certain extent, even if war erupted, the victorious nation typically offered some consolation to civilians in occupied territories, restricting the army from causing destruction to the basic production levels.

However, this time, it was the Red Dragon Empire that attacked.

The main force consisted of the monster troops under the King of Calamity.

Monsters,

are inherently bloodthirsty and chaotic.

As the army moved south, they left behind ruins everywhere they went. At the same time, war ignited the bloodthirsty urges within the monsters. Tens of thousands of troops were inherently difficult to manage, let alone an army predominantly made up of monsters.

As a result, countless civilians were massacred by the monster troops.

Farmlands and estates were set aflame.

Deprived of the supplies and environments they relied on to survive, they faced the terrifying monster troops.

The remaining survivors had no choice but to become refugees, fleeing southward.

Old Sean and his two grandchildren were among the refugees fleeing south from the war.

However, compared to those fleeing south in disarray, Old Sean’s family was from a remote village fifty kilometers outside the Royal City, so they hadn’t encountered those monster troops from the north. After hearing the news from the southbound refugees, they prepared to relocate from their village, planning to seek refuge in the Royal City.

There was no other way,

With hundreds of thousands of monster troops, besides the main powerful forces, many were large goblin races, goblin-like monster groups.

A vast army nearly filled the hills and valleys.

Trying to find a remote mountain village to escape this war disaster was almost impossible.

Compared to certain death hiding in the countryside, the defense of the Royal City was many times stronger.

Thus, after learning more information from the fleeing refugees, and knowing that the Red Dragon Empire’s monster troops from the north were swiftly moving south and would soon affect this nearby area, Old Sean hurriedly packed up, taking his grandchildren and using the old donkey from home to pull the cart toward the Royal City.

However,

Just as they were about to reach the Royal City of the Kaoof Kingdom, when the tall walls of the Royal Capital were already in sight, Old Sean felt a bit of regret.

Because he saw plumes of black smoke rising from within the Royal City.

War, rebellion!

It was very likely that a rebellion had occurred within the Royal City!

"This is troublesome, hopefully, it’s not as bad as it seems."

Old Sean frowned deeply,

and sighed heavily in his heart.

If the rebellion within the Royal City hadn’t been quelled, then a chaotic city might not be safer than the countryside.

But,

what could be done?

Old Sean glanced at his grandchildren on the worn cart,

Their parents had died in a monster attack shortly after the children were born. Fortunately, before Old Sean came to this remote border area to cultivate land, he was a hunter.

He picked up the old acquaintances he had stored away, relying on rich knowledge and a low-level breathing technique, Old Sean barely managed to raise the two children.

But,

as the years went by, Old Sean aged. Each time he went into the mountains, it became more difficult.

Moreover, amidst the chaos, with the Red Dragon Empire’s monster troops invading from the north, in this crisis of national destruction, what could an old man like him do?

Sigh!

A long sigh,

lost in thought.

"Grandpa, why don’t you come up and rest? We’ll handle the journey."

A tender voice came from the cart behind,

Turning his head, his grandchildren looked at him with pure eyes.

Showing concern.

"Haha, you little ones, Grandpa isn’t so old that he can’t walk yet!"

Old Sean laughed heartily, placing his hand on the heads of the two children, giving them a gentle pat.

His face full of wrinkles almost cracked open with a smile.

No matter what,

as long as he could still move, Old Sean would protect them!

The gate of the Royal City was now in sight,

People were pouring into the Royal City continuously. Old Sean was about to pull a few copper coins out of his pocket, ready to endure the harassment and extortion of soldiers at the city gate.

However,

The soldiers standing tall at the city gate,

weren’t stopping people to charge an entry fee. They seemed to be there merely to hold the line.

Meanwhile,

Signs of a battle were visible within the Royal City, but overall, things were orderly. On the streets being rebuilt after the chaos, there were no sightings of hooligans taking advantage of the situation.

In the midst of chaos,

it seemed to be in perfect order.

"Did the rebellion get suppressed... Strange, what’s going on?"

Only now did Old Sean suddenly remember that as they entered the city, it seemed those guards hadn’t stopped the tired and hungry refugees, letting them enter without hindrance.

What’s the situation?

Not to mention the Royal City, even ordinary towns don’t usually allow too many refugees in, to prevent possible disturbances to law and order.

Strange, strange!

As he was pondering these things, a slightly unusual group hurriedly approached him from the front. They guided different people from the crowd into the square, and from the far end of the square came the inviting aroma of food in the air.

Old Sean sensed something was off, so he inquired with the person next to him.

It turned out that last night when the rebels were about to break into the Royal City, reinforcements from the Blue Dragon Kingdom entered the city, easily suppressing the rebellion and taking control of the Royal City’s defenses.

It wasn’t until now, as a country dweller who rarely entered the city, did Old Sean find out that the Duchy of Kaoof had already declared surrender to the Blue Dragon Kingdom not long ago!

The Duchy of Kaoof no longer existed, and they were now subjects of a country called the Blue Dragon Kingdom!

This left Old Sean a bit dumbfounded.

Because it was the first time he’d heard of the name Blue Dragon Kingdom,

But for now, he didn’t have much time to learn about the Blue Dragon Kingdom because in the square, after suppressing the nobles’ rebellion, the Dragon’s Nest army had taken out large amounts of seized grain for free food distribution.

Everyone was busy collecting free food, and few were willing to engage an old man in conversation about such topics.