Ibeiya had rings around her eyes. She had not slept well last night. Of course, it was not easy for anyone to sleep well in such uncertain circumstances.
However, Ibeiya obviously had her own information network. When Xiao Lin entered, Ibeiya immediately made some tea for him before sitting next to Xiao Lin. She looked at him with a cute gaze, asking, “Undead troops are not like the rebels. Even if the low-ranked undead don’t have intelligence and move slowly, and are even compromised at night, if the rebels have enough necromancers, it would be a disaster.”
News of the undead army attacking the city was not spread, and even the announcements did not mention it. The guards were not allowed out of the city gates as well; the king had issued the order to maintain stability inside the city.
Xiao Lin did not know where Ibeiya got the information from, and gaped for a moment as he drank the tea. The tea had a subtle fragrance, and looking down, he noticed a few purple petals in the tea leaves. It was roses grown in the Rosa Kingdom, and had a unique taste when paired with tea.
“Big Brother, is it good?” Ibeiya smiled, her face obviously asking for praise.
When Xiao Lin fulfilled her wish, Ibeiya said proudly, “Roses actually don’t blend completely well with your tea leaves, and a certain ratio is needed for their tastes to match properly. The ratio is something I researched myself.”
“It really is nice, and refreshes the mind as well. It’s better than regular tea or coffee. How did you get it this way?”
“If you want to know,” Ibeiya fluttered her eyes, “then can you answer a few questions first?”
Xiao Lin smiled bitterly and nodded. The girl had probably been waiting for it.
“You will leave, right?” Ibeiya said with a determined tone before adding. “Will you give up in this city?”
Xiao Lin let out a smile. He knew what Ibeiya was worried about. He could not help but reach out to pat Ibeiya’s head, smiling softly, “Don’t worry, we won’t leave. We will help you defend this city.”
Ibeiya was not a normal little girl who could be persuaded with just a few words. She said suspiciously, “Is that true? I know you’ve lost your resurrection tower, and you have very few people who are specialized in combat in the city. What can you do with just those diplomats and merchants?”
Xiao Lin suddenly turned serious, pausing for a moment before saying, “That’s why I came to look for you. In truth, Ambassador Liang has the exact same headache. Just like what you said, relying on just us without a resurrection tower would not be of much help. That is why I hope to get help from you.”
“Me?” Ibeiya was surprised, and responded intelligently. “You want to rely on the dark clans?”
Xiao Lin nodded. “You might already know this; there are only a few thousand soldiers left in the royal city. The other troops have unfortunately already been turned into the undead outside of the city. The commoners and merchants in the city have never undergone any training. Compared to that, your clans are all naturally stronger than Normese humans, so I hope they can help defend the city.”
Ibeiya smiled bitterly. “Big Brother, are you planning on giving the order through the St. Claude clan? You killed Valen Argos in the last tournament, earning the St. Claude clan much honor. Uncle even said that he got a lot of visitors in the last two days, something unthinkable before that... However, you should know our relationship with humans right?”
“The history classes talked about it, and I’ve read books in the library too,” Xiao Lin answered. The dark races used to rule the planet during ancient times, but the humans had replaced them as the rulers while the dark races went into hiding, even hunting them down.
Even in the Rosa Kingdom that allowed the dark races to stay in, the clans only had a mutual partnership with the royalty. The deals involved were complicated, and Xiao Lin was not interested in knowing. Basically, they would never be friends with the native humans.
“Are they waiting for the rebels to enter before working together with the enemy?”
Ibeiya fell into an awkward silence. Xiao Lin understood her expression. The undead troops outside of the city proved there was a necromancer. Necromancers were part of the dark races. As the same species, they would definitely be more trustworthy.
Was Asabanor a trustworthy person?
Absolutely not!
The undying priest was obsessed with his revenge against Earth, and would only drag everyone into his vengeance. If the dark races in the royal city participated in that, Dawn Academy would definitely not let them off when it came time to pay back those debts.
Of course, Xiao Lin was not concerned with those clans, but Ibeiya’s St. Claude clan was part of them, and even an old prestigious one. Xiao Lin did not wish for Ibeiya to be dragged into it when the time came.
...
The peace during the day gave the royal city enough time to prepare, such as bringing out more weapons from the storage and repairing everything that was damaged last night. The undead archers might not be very accurate, but the occasional hit still caused some damage.
In the embassy, since they decided to help defend the city, Liang Taibai decisively went to the palace to meet the king. Xiao Lin was surprised when Liang Taibai brought him along yet again, instead of the other diplomats. Xiao Lin did not know what use he could be.
The king did not express any happiness or excitement at the embassy’s participation, instead rudely asking, “What do you want from me now?”
Xiao Lin could not help but roll his eyes; the old man was actually not thankful for receiving some coal in the winter. It was no surprise that Dawn Academy started to dislike the king.
Liang Taibai was used to it, maintaining his smile as he reiterated the stance of himself and Dawn Academy. Without a doubt, they were allies with decades of close ties, and had to help each other in times of need. It was all basically a normal diplomatic speech from Earth.
The king looked puzzled, and Xiao Lin could understand and even emphasize. China’s diplomatic speeches were a deep branch of study, and it was not easy for the natives here to understand.
However, seeing as Liang Taibai did not voice any demands, the king hesitated before nodding in agreement. He had no other choice but to hand over command of the city’s defense to Liang Taibai.
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