Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 25 Seizing food from the tiger’s mouth
How could Akakage not remember what his mentor, Sadok, who had once taught him magic, looked like?

It was only after being reminded by the other party that Chi Ying could vaguely discern a resemblance to his former self in that broad figure—but only a resemblance, as the mentor Sadok he remembered was not so broad.

In his memory, the mentor Sardok could at least walk through the door normally, but now, this high-ranking mage was just standing at the door, like a wall that completely sealed off the ranch gate.

The face in my memory has expanded horizontally. Apart from the eyebrows and eyes, which still bear some resemblance to those from back then, the rest of the face is completely unrecognizable.

"So strong!"

The closer he got, the more Chiying could feel the other's vastness.

Especially that huge belly, the fat jiggling around, almost filled his entire field of vision!
This made Akakage gasp.

"Master Sadok, you... you've actually become this strong?"

“Cultivating magic is like rowing against the current; if you don’t get stronger every day, your body will start to get thinner.”

The high-ranking mage, known as the Sardok Mentor, chuckled and even patted Akakage's shoulder with his large hand.

"But you, you're still so thin, even thinner than before, your stomach is as flat as a shadow... Have you been eating less lately?"

"Yes... I've lost my appetite."

Upon hearing what Instructor Sadok said, Akakage immediately gritted his teeth.

This isn't saying he's lost weight; it's clearly saying he's become weaker! Even weaker than he was back then!

And just by looking at his mouth, they could tell he'd been eating less lately... Was they implying he hadn't been training as a mage? Were they questioning his recent whereabouts?

Things are more complicated than expected; it seems his entry into the Holy Mountain has been noticed.

"Eating too little won't do. For us mages, losing our appetite means a danger second only to death."

As he said this, Mentor Sadok simply pulled a leather bag out of his cloak.

"This is honey brought from the city, a treasure that only a king can enjoy. Although it has been diluted, it is just right for your digestion... Here, take it."

"How could I possibly accept such a precious treasure?"

Upon seeing the bag of honey, Akakage's pupils contracted sharply.

This is a treasure that only a king can enjoy, which means it is a gift. But that's the problem. He has neither made any contribution to the newborn dawn nor established any merit on the frozen land in the north. So why is he worthy of this sudden gift?
"What does our king want me to do?"

Akakage asked cautiously.

"Such a generous reward... Instructor Sadok, am I being drafted to the front lines?"

"How could that be? Don't scare yourself."

Mentor Sadok smiled and shook his head.

"The fighting on the front lines has only just subsided a bit, so there's no need to conscript new people right now... After all, the population that needed to be used up this year has already been used up. If we really want to start another war, we'll have to wait until next year."

As he said this, Instructor Sadok suddenly lowered his voice.

"You know what our king has been working on recently, don't you?"

"……Know."

Akakage took a deep breath.

He knew what the Dawn of the Newborn had been doing recently. First, he had the many mages quietly hunt the wild beasts of the Holy Mountain and keep them as livestock in their respective pastures. Then, he released poachers to lure the Serpent God out, and finally, he set a trap to deliver a fatal blow to the Serpent God. He had even participated in this matter himself.

Of course, although he had some strength, it was far from enough to participate in the operation to kill the gods. So at that time, his job was to work with the other magicians to hunt the beasts in the holy mountain quietly.

Instead of hunting them, they lured them to their own ranches. Since the ranches owned by these mages involved in the operation were located around the Holy Mountain, it wasn't a troublesome matter; it was just doing odd jobs on the periphery.

However, now that Professor Sadok has suddenly brought this up...

Red Shadow's heart was pounding wildly.

"Since you know this, you should also be able to see that the king's hunt was unsuccessful."

Mentor Sadok sighed.

"Not only did we fail, but our king was also seriously injured... Therefore, as mages, as members of the Ignivas family, it is our duty to share his burdens." "What... does our king want me to do?"

Chi Ying felt his hands, hidden under his cloak, trembling; he dared not continue the conversation.

The familiar mentor put him under immense pressure; any wrong word or even a slight slip of the tongue could expose the secrets hidden in his heart.

But at that very moment, Mentor Sadok spoke up once again.

"Why are you trembling like this? The king isn't asking you to do anything dangerous... The king just wants your saber-toothed tiger as food, that's all."

"It's just a saber-toothed tiger."

Chi Ying breathed a sigh of relief.

It startled him; he thought it was something serious. But if it was just his saber-toothed tiger, then it didn't matter—it was just some livestock, and he could just take some out and send it to the newborn ray of dawn.

As long as we don't cause him any other trouble, everything is fine.

"How many do our kings want?"

"How many?"

Instructor Sadok paused for a moment, then chuckled.

"You underestimate the appetite of our New Dawn. He is the strongest king in the history of the Ignivas family..."

As he spoke, Mentor Sadok waved his hand and drew a circle directly in the direction of the ranch.

“All of them, our king needs all the saber-toothed tigers.”

"I……"

Chi Ying was immediately dumbfounded.

Even if it's diluted, a bag of honey reserved only for the king is worth more than ten saber-toothed tigers in exchange for it; it would be a fair trade for him.

But he wants to trade all the saber-toothed tigers on his ranch for just a bag of honey that can be drunk in a few sips...

How could that be? How could he possibly agree to something like that?

Putting aside the fact that this is no different from outright robbery, the saber-toothed tigers themselves are definitely not something that can be given away all at once—you have to know that he promised that snake god to offer saber-toothed tigers as sacrifices, and that snake god even personally promised to give him a corresponding reward.

If he can't even produce a saber-toothed tiger by then... what will be the consequences?
This is no longer the kind of thing you can get away with by clever tricks; this is truly deceiving the gods.

As for the consequences of deceiving that serpent god...

Akakage dared not think about it anymore.

"Hey, what kind of talk is this, let's go inside first."

While Crimson Shadow was still hesitating, the burly instructor Sadok had already headed directly towards the ranch.

The ranch gate was actually quite wide, even large enough to allow two saber-toothed tigers to walk out side by side, but Mentor Sardok was much larger, enough to completely block the entrance—it was even difficult to squeeze in sideways, simply because Mentor Sardok had a protruding belly.

However, faced with the impassable gate, Mentor Sadok simply clapped his hands.

A torrent of flames roared out.

The solid wood ranch gate was reduced to ashes in an instant.

"Come on, come in and talk."

Facing the lingering warmth of the embers still drifting in the wind, Instructor Sadok's broad figure casually walked into the pasture.

Judging from his leisurely stroll, he seemed to be the owner of the ranch.

This made Akakage's heart sink completely.

After all, this was practically a direct instruction from his mentor, Sadok.

If he dared to utter even a single word of refusal, this thick wooden door would be his fate.

(End of this chapter)