It doesn't matter what the lord is.

He yawned and continued:

"Once I leave, Yuxi City will be trapped both internally and externally. They will be on guard against each other, and it will be hard to avoid chaos. The worst result is that Yuxi City will split into several factions, fighting each other, and no one will accept anyone else's orders."

Delis sneered:

"I'll see how this ends when you go back!"

Lid smiled and said:

"I can't stay in Yuxi City forever. Alaiya, do you know what the way to slack off is?"

Alayya shook her head.

Lid cleared his throat and said:

"The way to slack off is to be lazy all the time when you have serious work to do, and do things that are irrelevant but make you happy. But what is serious work? What is irrelevant? If you work every day, then taking a nap is slacking off. But if you sleep every day, maybe working occasionally can also be slacking off. The essence of slacking off is happiness, not being bound by form, and making yourself happy is the most important thing. The key to taking this path is not to be too constrained. If there is too much work, you have to break through the pressure and take a break from your busy schedule. If you are lazy for a long time, you have to do something else according to your interests... Otherwise, wouldn't you really become a pig? Don't look at me as the mayor of Yuxi City. When I want to run away, I have to be able to drop my burden and run out, and come back when I have enough fun. This is also the way to slack off. So Yuxi City, you have to get used to running normally without me."

Delis was confused, but Alayya nodded solemnly:

"Been taught a lesson."

"Wait, wait, wait, don't be taught! What did he teach you? Are you going to learn this too?"

Delis immediately protested, and Alayya said seriously:

"Young Master once said that there are thousands of ways in the world, and everyone is practicing his own way. Young Master is practicing the way of slacking off, so I have to shoulder the responsibility of protecting Young Master, whether in the city or at the ends of the earth. I will work hard together with Young Master."

Delis kept patting her chest, and it took her a long time to let go of the breath she had been holding.

"Crazy, a bunch of crazy people."

Delis cursed a few times, and seeing the two people sticking together again, the atmosphere seemed to have no room for an outsider like her, and the breath she had just taken became chaotic again. She felt that she had never been so angry in her life. When she was in the elven palace, everyone who saw her was respectful. If she raised her eyebrows slightly, the ministers and guards would kneel down in fear.

In her eyes, everything in the world is lowly, because she was born to stand higher than anyone else. What she sees is always the posture of submission, and the posture of others kneeling in front of her and begging for mercy!

Lid suddenly turned around and asked:

"Come to think of it, you usually act so high and mighty, why are you afraid of the demons? Aren't the demons and you both middle six tribes? Logically speaking, they are on the same level, right?"

Delis, who was immersed in self-intoxication, was pulled back to reality. When she heard the word "demon clan", her arrogant aura suddenly diminished a lot. She shrank her neck, looked around carefully, and said:

"You don't know how terrifying the demons are, but I do."

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Lid and Alaiya both stopped. A layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on Delis's face. She didn't want to say anything, but she was afraid that Lid and Alaiya would look down on her. After all, Lid had seen her kneel down and surrender in fear. She thought for a moment and said slowly:

"When I was a child, I read a very scary book. It recorded the elves and demons. The horrific illustrations on it were so lifelike that they could be called... hell."

Reed swallowed.

Delis raised her head, forcibly suppressed the fear in her heart, and said:

"Even the weakest goblins of the demon tribe can inexplicably capture the princesses or knights of the elven tribe easily. Our magic seems to be completely useless against them. Every elven woman has tried to resist, but in the end they had to succumb to the other side and fall into the hell called happiness, without exception."

24. Mutually beneficial and friendly transactions

"Delis."

Reed called her name seriously and asked:

"Are you reading the official history of your country?"

Delis replied:

"No. It's a booklet sold on the black market. I asked my maid to buy it. It is said that the entire elves are popular with this thin little picture book. Father once strictly prohibited it from being circulated among the people, but I also found a copy under his pillow. Doesn't this just prove that father wanted to cover up that period of history? The noble elves were actually killed by those lowly creatures...! Anyway, I don't want to stay in this shabby place of the demon clan for a moment."

Reed rubbed his temple, he didn't know what to say.

Should I tell Delis that the pictures aren't real and are just some shady entertainment?

Or should we keep this secret and let this misunderstanding continue?

After thinking about it, Lid patted her shoulder and said righteously:

"Yes, that's right! The demons are so scary. The demons called goblins are the natural enemies of you elves! But you don't have to worry. We humans have guys who specialize in killing goblins. When you return to the elves, you can secretly place an order with me. One goblin's head costs 10 gold coins. As long as you have money, we can kill all the goblins for you, and we guarantee that your elf girls will never be in danger again. Don't ask me why I am so brave. It is a fine tradition of us humans to help others when we see injustice."

Alayya turned her head away, a smile forming on her lips, but she tried not to laugh out loud.

She knew that Delis was terribly afraid of the demon, the goblin, which was now being raised by her young master as livestock, and a large amount of materials were obtained from them every month. But if you counted it, a goblin was not even worth a silver coin, which was far from the price the young master quoted.

But Delis didn't know, she just frowned and said:

"Can you humans really kill goblins? Even us elves are helpless when we see those guys."

Lidd said:

"Of course. We... well, we have our own way. Goblins are really scary creatures, but they also have weaknesses. Although we humans are not as good as you elves, we still have some experience in this area. Of course, the cost is also high, and hunting them is quite troublesome. It may not be easy without ten gold coins."

Delis snorted:

"I don't know how you humans calculate your currency, but if it's gold, we elves have plenty. Giving you a few gold mines is no big deal. The foundation of the elves is beyond the imagination of you inferior races."

Lid rubbed his hands and was unusually friendly:

"Yes, yes, yes. How can I compare with you? So let's make a deal then?"

Delis stretched out her hand to block it and said:

"Wait a minute."

The smile on Reed's face froze.

Delis stared at Lid for a while, sneered, and said:

"...I always feel like you, a shameless human, are lying to me."

Reed scratched his head. He didn't expect that this girl was not so stupid and could react.

The smile on Delis's face disappeared, and she said:

"Are you planning to make an agreement with me today and then go back on your word tomorrow? Goblins are so scary, I don't believe you humans dare to send people to die. Words are not enough, you have to sign a written agreement with me! Whoever goes back on his word will have his soul burned in flames forever, and he will never be able to—"

"puff."

Alaia and Lid laughed at the same time.

Delis immediately asked:

"What are you laughing laughing?!"

Alayya turned her head with a cold expression, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.

Lidd explained:

"She thought it was funny. Who would have time to bring a pen and paper in this remote place? If we want to sign a document, we can only do it after we return to Yuxi City, right?"

Delis asked Lid again:

"Then why are you laughing?"

Lid replied with a stern face:

"I am laughing at why I didn't meet you earlier. If I had known that your elf girls were in such a dire situation, I would have struck hard and severely taught a lesson to the evil forces headed by the goblins, supplemented by orcs, dwarves, and carnivorous plants. I wish I could sign an agreement with you right now and uphold justice. It is my duty!"

Delis nodded and said:

"Then we can sign it after we return to Yuxi City. Anyway, I am not afraid that you will go back on your word. Since you humans have a way to kill goblins, I will offer 20 or 30 gold coins. There will definitely be a lot of people willing to work for me."

Alayya wanted to laugh again.

But this time she restrained herself well.

At least it looked serious.

Delis asked:

"Can we go back to Yuxi City now?"

Lid immediately shook his head and said:

"No. Business is business. We will not return to Yuxi City until the demons retreat. This is what Alaiya and I decided a long time ago. You can see that as long as Alaiya and I are outside, the demons will continue to send troops to encircle and suppress us. The longer it takes, the more the demons cannot ignore us. If Yuxi City can win a few battles at this time and create some trouble for the demons, their generals will naturally take another path, which is to encircle and suppress me with all their strength and use me in exchange for Yuxi City's surrender."

Delis stomped her feet heavily:

"I really don't understand—"

After Lid finished speaking, he threw the bag on his back to Delis and said:

"Okay. I'll leave this bag to you for safekeeping."

Delis hurriedly got it and hugged it tightly to her chest.

Then he realized that he still had to do the hard labor, so he immediately put on a disdainful expression.

The group continued to walk westward, and Lid even had a feeling for a moment that if he continued walking like this, he would sooner or later be able to write a new Journey to the West with deep understanding. Alayya is the eldest brother with great martial arts skills, and you can just call her when you are in doubt; he is the monk who always argues; Delis is the honest third brother. It's a pity that the little slime was not brought, otherwise the second brother would also be arranged.

The forest was very quiet, with only the sound of the wind. No demons were seen in this area.

Lid touched his chin and said to Alayya:

"Speaking of which, Alaiya, do you feel that something is wrong with the demons?"

Alayya shook her head slightly and asked:

"What happened, Master?"

Lid glanced to the east, frowned and thought for a while, then said:

"We have been in the Demon Tribe for a while. It shows that we encountered the Demon Tribe's vanguard army just west of Yuxi City, and then we continued to move north. When we were blocked, we also moved west. But generally speaking, the route we took was similar to the previous time we came to the Demon Tribe to take advantage of the situation. Logically speaking, Zhaochen's territory is now just east of us."

Alayya nodded.

Lid narrowed his eyes and said:

"That's where something is wrong. Both Gobrown and Lizardman Ji are essentially responsible for the war in Yuxi City. If they are the commanders, it would be normal to declare war on Yuxi City. But the scale of the demon army this time is obviously beyond our expectations. In this case, why do they still want to attack Yuxi City? Why don't they go north to attack Zhaochen and enter the human heartland from Zhaochen? Since we went north, we have not encountered any demon army on the eastward expedition, which means that they have no plan to invade Zhaochen at all. It is obvious that they are coming for Yuxi City. Although it can be explained by the tactic of concentrated breakthrough, I always feel that something is wrong."

25. Stealth skill max

Reed thought for a while and finally understood why he felt uncomfortable.

In fact, it is very simple. According to normal thinking, the demons think that Yuxi City is relatively weak and intend to break through from Yuxi City. This is a very normal thing. Twenty-one years ago, the demons invaded the human territory and also took Yuxi City. According to inertial thinking, they might think that it is a familiar thing to attack Yuxi City again. After all, the demons who are responsible for tactical decision-making there are most likely the same group of guys as the demons who invaded humans twenty-one years ago. The demons are very long-lived and there is no retirement age. They have always been highly intensively deceiving each other in their respective positions.

But this tactic actually has a problem, that is, Yuxi City is not big enough. With the front battlefield being very narrow, so many demons simply cannot spread out. Even if there are tens of thousands of demons, the number that can fight human soldiers on the battlefield is estimated to be capped at more than a thousand. The rest can either besiege the city or wait for the demon soldiers in front to die and then continue to replenish them.

This is a typical waste for such a large army.

Moreover, with the Yuxi City equipped with magic turrets like Fileta, the demon clan's all-in attack style seemed even more strange. Lid didn't think the demon clan would have any commander comparable to Fang Shisan, but at least they should have a clear understanding of their own army, right? Could it be that they only knew how to use human wave tactics?

With so many demons, they should besiege Yuxi City in the south and start a war with Zhaochen in the north. After that, they can either march straight in or surround and attack the reinforcements. There are many tactics that can be used. Why must they concentrate the attack on one point and waste such a large army here?

Reed rubbed his temples, and he suddenly had a feeling that maybe the demons didn't want to go to war with humans at all, and they just came to Yuxi City to cause trouble for him.

But this doesn't make sense. He thought that he had taken over Yuxi City for less than a year, and at most he often took people to the demons to get some materials. Was he targeted like this? Or was it because the little slime's story was exposed? It was impossible. The little slime was still very weak, and the talent that attracted the hatred of the demons could not spread far. The demons a few kilometers away could not detect its breath.

Otherwise, those demon bosses should have strangled it to death long ago, why did they take so long?

Reed couldn't quite figure it out, so he just gave up thinking about it.

……

"Master, there is a demonic presence nearby again."

Alayya put her hand on the hilt of the sword and mentioned it.

"Is it strong?"

Reed asked.

"No, it's very weak. And it doesn't have a clear target, so it's probably not coming for us."

Alaiya closed her eyes, sensed the surrounding atmosphere, and said to Lid:

“There are a lot of them, and most of them are quite scattered.”

Lid gestured to Delis behind him to "follow up" and said to Alayya:

"It's probably the demons living in this land. It seems that the orders of the demon army have not been transmitted here, or this place has reached the area where Amifars cannot command. There are many mountains in the demon tribe, so it is not surprising if this is true. Don't disturb these demons, just go quietly."

Alayya nodded, and began to sense the aura of the surrounding demons while trying to move forward in places where there were few demons. Her current strength was not low, and she could not be found by the demons if she restrained her aura. As for Lid and Delis, they did not have the aura of a strong man at all, and looked like two weaklings. In the eyes of the demons, they were no more than two small bugs, and eating them would not improve her much.

The group slowly sneaked through the demon clan's territory.

A demon that looked like an antelope suddenly raised its head and looked around vigilantly.