After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

"Are we really okay to just run away like this? I feel like your brother... uh, the Duke is like a completely different person. He's terrifying, even more ferocious than a demon."

It was time for Sister Jane to explain the teachings of Goddess to the public again. The square was packed with people, and two little girls sat on the skeleton of the giant python, chatting quietly.

"Don't worry, Lady Elene is here."

Luna swung her legs, squinting as she enjoyed the cool June breeze of the northern frontier, completely oblivious to what had just happened.

She turned her head and gave Lisa a confident and sharp smile, saying smugly, "Besides, when my brother was about to beat me up, I wouldn't even have time to react, let alone take you away."

"hehe."

Lisa rolled her eyes at her, realizing that her best friend was planning to abandon her.

"However, everyone I met on my way from Starfall City said the Duke was a good man. I thought he had just learned the hypocrisy of nobles, at least to appear kind and approachable on the surface. But alas!"

"Then you haven't seen anything like this before." Luna began to boast about her extensive knowledge, even though most of it was hearsay.

"Do you know what others say about my brother? From afar, everything seems peaceful and prosperous, but up close, it's a scene of torrential rain and fierce winds. Earl Rondo was arrogant enough before, but later he still obediently knelt before his brother's sickbed. If it weren't for Red's pleading, he wouldn't have had the chance to continue leading troops."

"The way you describe the Duke is really sophisticated..." Lisa couldn't help but ponder when Rondo was mentioned.

After Count Rondo voluntarily surrendered his territory, many other nobles followed suit. As a trusted confidante of the Duke's mansion, Lisa discussed the matter with her father, Camaro, but he told her not to worry about it and just maintain the status quo.

As for the reason, her father did not explain, but Lisa was very worried that Rondo would replace her father in the Duke's heart.

That old guy, once he changes his attitude, he can really show loyalty...

As they listened to Jenny explain the rationale behind the divinely granted equality of all beings, the two whispered among themselves about what fun things to steal from the alchemist next.

However, as if on cue, an alchemist dressed in a strange robe squeezed through the crowd and stealthily approached Luna.

He rubbed his hands together, revealing a set of gold teeth, and said to Luna in a fawning manner, "Miss, I heard you have some giant python bones here, um..."

Upon seeing the golden light emanating from his mouth, Luna instantly became greedy, pursing her lips and saying, "These magical materials were brought back by my brother after he risked his life. How can I bear to give them away? I'll have to pay extra."

Even an alchemist felt a pang of pain after estimating the value of the bones.

"Um, I can't come up with that many all at once..."

"I have no money. Why are you telling me so much if you have no money?" Luna crossed her arms. Actually, she didn't know how much the bone was worth. According to tradition, she just needed to wait for the other party to make a price, and then pretend to haggle.

"Although I have no money, I can give Miss a piece of information worth a fortune." The alchemist looked around, then quietly moved closer, gesturing for Luna to lower her head.

Luna leaned down, eager to hear what valuable information this old man was hiding.

"The alchemists in the Central District have been experiencing frequent failures in their experiments lately. They've discovered that the rivers in the Central District are suffering from unknown pollution, with the magic element content in the water exceeding safe levels."

"Pollution? Why don't they make this public?" Luna asked in surprise. Magic essence is not a mineral. Once it accumulates in the human body, the consequences are not as simple as just growing a kidney stone.

The alchemist rolled his cloudy eyes and said quietly, "Who dares to disclose the drinking water supply for tens of millions of people? Who can solve this problem? It could easily trigger widespread panic!"

Given the depravity of those noble dogs in the kingdom, in short, whoever discovers it will be dealt with.

To quell public panic, they would probably claim it was an alchemist's conspiracy and then behead a bunch of alchemists to appease the public.

"But what does this have to do with me? No, what does this have to do with money?"

"Miss, you could buy herbs at a low price, then sell them at a high price after the people in the central district get sick. That would be a huge profit."

After thinking for a moment, and with Luna's sudden realization, the alchemist hurriedly reminded her, "But Miss, you have to hurry. It seems the Duke has also received the news and has already secretly stockpiled a lot of herbs."

Well, you don't even include me in your business dealings.

Luna stood up abruptly, quickly jumped off the skeleton, and squeezed through the crowd while keeping her promise.

"Lisa, take him to retrieve the python's rib. I need to go back right away!"

……

Outside the city gates of Ice City, bags of treasure and supplies were secretly transported into the city by horse-drawn carriages.

Upon hearing the news, Red rushed to the scene. As soon as he left the city, he saw the main road packed with people. On the backs of cavalrymen, on stretchers of militiamen, and along both sides of the road, there were refugees who had suffered injuries of varying degrees.

"What's going on? Where has another disaster struck? Why aren't the wounded allowed into the city!" Red immediately became anxious and grabbed the cavalry adjutant to question him.

There are thousands of refugees, clearly indicating a massive disaster, yet Ice City hasn't received a single word! These damned bastards dare to hide it; if the Duke finds out, the Northern Territory will be in serious trouble…

"Commander, these aren't from our Northern Territory; they're from the Western Territory." The adjutant lowered his head, avoiding Red's gaze.

"What?! You!" Reid instantly flew into a rage, grabbing his adjutant by the collar and whispering, "Do you know that the mission you're carrying out is shady?!"

The adjutant had anticipated this outcome; tears streamed down his ashen face, forming two deep lines. "A city, gone in minutes, Commander. What will happen to them if we abandon them…?"

Red froze, looked up and around. Some of the refugees were missing limbs and had only received simple bandages, while others had burn scars all over their faces, making them look blurry and disgusting.

Red looked at them, and they looked at Red. In an eerie silence, Red's fingers went limp and loosened his grip on his adjutant's collar.

"Wait, let His Highness the Duke handle this."

The adjutant was in a daze and didn't even know how he entered the city or how he ended up in front of the Duke.

He knelt down with a thud, head bowed, without offering any explanation.

Oswald didn't even notice him, because the ducal mansion was already in operation.

"First, settle the men into the barracks. Red, prepare clean tents. Also, inform the army cooks to have breakfast early today."

"Notify Jenny to immediately mobilize all doctors and teachers in the city to treat the refugees."

"Alini, please coordinate the work and prepare all the necessary supplies for them. If supplies are insufficient, please remember to purchase them in a timely manner."

"Luna is here, perfect timing. You go with her to the military camp and quickly identify the nobles, soldiers, and other individuals with special status among the refugees."

Luna?

Wait a minute, what happened? Why is everyone here?

Before she could even figure out what was going on, Eleanor grabbed her by the back of the neck and dragged her out.

As the group left one after another, Oswald was just about to catch his breath when he saw his adjutant kneeling on the ground.

"You've fought alongside me before, how come a dragon scares you like this?" Oswald waved to his adjutant, "Come on, let me see your operation report."

The adjutant stood up, stepped forward to hand over the report, and then turned back to kneel down again.

His half-dead appearance gave Oswald a headache.

Do they really think I'm that cold and unapproachable?

With a helpless sigh, Oswald opened the report in his hand, which contained a crooked and messy account of the entire attack on Huangtucheng.

After struggling to read it, Oswald could only conclude that the West was in trouble this time.

One claw shatters half a city, demonic fire explodes and engulfs the entire city... Oswald could understand these iconic abilities of the dragon race, and the human side was not without means to defeat them.

But can someone explain what this ability of the Bone Dragon to suddenly disappear and reappear is?

Could it be that the bone dragon has the ability to become invisible or teleport?

"This is troublesome." Oswald slammed the report shut, a rare sense of anxiety washing over him.

The tricky part for humans when facing dragons is that dragons can fly at high speeds in the sky. Even if mages can use flight magic, in Oswald's eyes, it's nothing more than chasing fighter jets with hot air balloons.

It wasn't until three hundred years ago, when two great mages from the Mage Guild joined forces to create spatial sealing magic, that humanity truly gained the means to counter the dragons.

Ideally, the safest way to slay dragons is for mages to seal off space, forcing the dragons to fight humans on the ground, and then having hero-level units take action.

Baird the Dragon Slayer thus made immortal contributions.

But the situation is completely different now. If the bone dragon is able to break through the spatial blockade, its danger level will skyrocket!

Setting aside this troublesome matter for the moment, Oswald turned his attention back to his adjutant.

The most troublesome thing in the world is the inability to distinguish right from wrong.

The adjutant did indeed disobey military orders, putting the plan to plunder the Northern Territory at risk of being leaked. But who can blame him?

Saving lives is a matter of course, a basic principle that every person with a conscience would abide by. When is saving lives wrong?

Even Buddhist teachings say that saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda...

But this adjutant was clearly a stubborn man; he saw himself as a hero who would take responsibility for his actions and firmly believed that Oswald would punish him for his mistakes.

Now he's the hero, leaving Oswald wondering how to back down.

After a moment's hesitation, Oswald said sternly, "Since you understand the consequences of disobeying military orders, I won't say anything more."

"Yes, I understand." The adjutant kowtowed heavily, appearing ready to accept punishment.

"However, merit is merit, and must be rewarded! Mistakes are mistakes, and must be punished!" Oswald stood up, hands behind his back, and reprimanded, "From today onwards, you, and your cavalry, are all out of the Northern Command's army!"

A thunderous roar filled his ears, and the adjutant looked up sharply, incredulous. "Your Grace, they..."

Oswald reached out to stop him from continuing, his expression already calm.

"In addition to the reward you deserve this time, I also want to reward you for saving lives. Go and become Luna's personal guards. Remember, from now on you will be Luna's private soldiers, and everything you do must be for her sake."