Chapter 223: A Knight

"Ahem, what are you two doing?"

Seeing that Lucas and Drake were about to clash,Sora stopped watching from the sidelines. She cleared her throat and walked toward them.

Hearing her voice, Lucas didn’t even turn around. He merely snorted.

"See for yourself!"

Sora glanced at the table and noticed that quite a few wild fruits had been arranged across it.

She looked at them curiously.

"This is..."

As Sora approached, Drake immediately lowered his raised tail. He dropped his gaze and spoke in a gentle voice.

"Leader, these are a small token of appreciation prepared for you by the people of our Tribe. We hope you enjoy your breakfast."

There were quite a few varieties of wild fruit—perhaps seven or eight different kinds at a glance. It was obvious that considerable effort had gone into collecting them.

Unfortunately, Sora wasn’t particularly interested in eating wild fruit for breakfast.

She withdrew her gaze and said calmly, "That was thoughtful of you, but you don’t need to go to this much trouble. If I want to eat something, I can make it myself."

Drake paused.

"Did I do something wrong? Why does the Leader say that?"

Sora pursed her lips, just about to answer. ℴ

Before she could, Lucas gave Drake a cold sidelong glance and spoke sarcastically.

"If you’re trying to curry favor, you should at least ask about the person’s preferences first. Kaelira never eats wild fruit in the morning."

Drake’s expression immediately became nervous, a trace of apology appearing in his eyes.

"I apologize, Leader. We didn’t know that you don’t eat wild fruit. Whatever the Leader wishes to eat, we can prepare it immediately."

Sora quickly waved her hand.

"No need. The Tribe prepares breakfast every morning, and I always go there to eat."

"Exactly. Why bother coming here so early just to show off? It’s not as if she’s missing her hands or legs."

Lucas couldn’t resist another sarcastic remark.

Seeing that Lucas was about to provoke Drake again, Sora quickly changed the subject.

She picked up a cluster of wild berries from the table, took a small bite, and asked, "By the way, have you two eaten breakfast yet?"

Drake immediately answered, "We ate this morning."

Sora nodded.

"That’s good. You don’t need to bring breakfast for me anymore."

To be honest, this kind of attention made Sora feel slightly uncomfortable.

Even Martin, despite being the Chief, was accustomed to getting his own food.

Drake’s body stiffened.

"Leader, is there something we haven’t done well?"

Sora shook her head.

"That’s not what I mean. It has nothing to do with you. I’m simply saying that you don’t need to go to all this trouble. Focus on your own responsibilities instead. I prefer handling my own affairs."

Only after hearing this did Drake nod.

"I understand."

Worried that he might continue dwelling on the matter, Sora took another bite of the fruit and nodded.

"This fruit is actually quite good."

The tension in Drake’s expression visibly eased.

Sora noticed that he was still standing beside her and looked at him curiously.

"Do you have something else to say?"

Drake shook his head.

"Then you can go attend to your own matters."

Drake froze for a moment before answering.

"Alright."

He soon turned and left.

After Drake had gone, Xavier casually picked up one of the wild fruits from the table. He took a bite and nodded thoughtfully.

"This fruit tastes quite good. Those dragons really are capable."

He glanced toward Sora.

"You’re lucky. What are you planning to do with all those dragons?"

"What else can I do?"

Sora sighed.

"Send them back, of course. If they stay here, I’ll feel uncomfortable, and it will be inconvenient for you too."

"Send them back?"

Lukan was startled.

"You’re not planning to take them in?"

The dragons weren’t weak. Aside from the unpleasant rumors surrounding their reputation for being overly devoted to Females, accepting them into the Tribe would actually be beneficial for Sora.

Lucas, however, looked delighted at the thought.

If those dragons left, there would be no need to worry about them anymore.

Xavier was also surprised.

"Why won’t you take them in?"

Sora answered simply.

"I don’t have enough energy."

She had already been struggling to deal with Damien’s affairs lately. Why would she voluntarily bring another troublesome group into her life?

Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly as he listened.

He seemed to want to say something, but hesitated before finally speaking.

"But they probably won’t just leave like that."

They had followed Sora since yesterday.

The attitude of their Priest had been obvious from the beginning.

They clearly weren’t people who would give up easily.

But Ryan didn’t need to say anything more. He believed Sora was smart enough to understand the situation herself.

Of course, Sora already knew they wouldn’t be easy to dismiss.

Otherwise, they would have left when she had told them to go while harvesting the rice yesterday.

Instead, they had followed her all the way back to the Wolf Tribe.

Forget it.

She would deal with the situation one step at a time.

These people were incredibly stubborn.

They were following her simply because she had saved their lives.

Yet she hadn’t been the only person who had helped them that day.

After breakfast, Sora headed toward the Plaza. She intended to discuss the matter with Martin and ask him to step forward and convince the newcomers to leave.

As she approached, however, she looked up and saw numerous houses standing neatly outside the Tribe.

They had been built on what had originally been an empty area belonging to the Wolf Tribe.

These people were unbelievably fast.

They had built all those houses in a single night.

Surprisingly, the members of the Wolf Tribe hadn’t caused any trouble for them either.

Sora had to admit that this Priest was capable.

While she was deep in thought, Drake walked over.

"Leader, have you encountered some difficulty? If there is anything you need us to do, please feel free to instruct us."

Sora was about to shake her head.

But before she could respond, Drake** continued.

"Does the Leader not trust us? If that is the case, we can establish a covenant contract with you under the witness of the Sky God."

"Covenant?"

Sora was momentarily stunned.

What was that?

Drake calmly explained.

"After establishing a covenant contract with the Leader, if we betray you and the Leader activates the Heart-Devouring instect, we will suffer the backlash of the Heart-Devouring insect."

So it was essentially a magical form of poison control.

Sora hadn’t actually intended to go that far.

She had merely been curious, which was why she had asked.

However, another thought suddenly occurred to her.

Since it was inconvenient for her to personally visit her Black Bear Foster Mother, perhaps she could entrust the matter to Drake.

That would be much more discreet.

Most importantly, Damien might not notice.

Seeing Sora fall silent, Drake raised one hand and made a gesture resembling an oath.

A faint, icy-blue light suddenly appeared before Sora.

Drake waved the light toward her before directing it toward himself.

Sora didn’t even have time to react.

Drake’s cold voice echoed through the air.

"I, Drake, swear before the Sky God that I willingly become the Guardian of Leader kaelira. No matter what happens, I will never betray her. Should I violate this oath, I shall die when the Heart-Devouring insect consumes my heart."

The moment his words fell, an icy-blue lotus mark appeared on Drake’s forehead.

Sora was completely stunned.

"You..."

Drake looked at her calmly.

"The oath is complete. The Leader can rest assured and entrust the matter to me."

Wait.

What?

This person had moved far too quickly!

She hadn’t even agreed yet!

"Can this oath be removed?"

Sora looked at him helplessly.

"I... you really didn’t need to go this far for me."

"Leader, once a Sky Oath has been sworn, it cannot be revoked."

So that was it.

There was no turning back.

Sora felt an even greater headache coming on.

Things had somehow developed in a direction she hadn’t expected at all.

Drake half-knelt before her, placing one hand across his chest.

"Leader, whatever matter you have, please instruct me."

Sora continued hesitating.

Then the System’s voice suddenly sounded in her mind.

"Host, this is an excellent helper. Someone who has sworn a Sky Oath absolutely cannot betray you. You can entrust the matter of the Black Bear Foster Mother to him! Your life is important, Host!"

Yes.

Her life was important.

If Damien managed to hold her hostage, her conquest mission could be ruined.

Sora looked steadily at the man standing before her.

Then she asked, "Is there anything you need my help with?"

Drake shook his head.

"It is enough if the Leader is willing to acknowledge us."

Sora nodded.

For once, she made a solemn promise.

"I will make sure the Tribe thrives."

After speaking, she walked closer to Drake and quietly whispered several words into his ear.

After hearing what she said, Drake nodded.

A moment later, his figure vanished from before her.

Sora glanced toward Martin’s house in the distance.

She had been about to walk in that direction, but instead withdrew her foot and turned toward the dragons living outside the Tribe.

Since she had already decided to become their leader, she needed to ensure they could live a good life.

But after only a few steps, a voice suddenly descended from above.

"You actually established a covenant with Drake?"

Sora looked up.

A dark, gloomy face appeared above her.

The man’s eyes were filled with anger.

It was Damien.

His gaze was fixed on her as though she had committed some unforgivable offense.

"Do you know that the covenant of the dragons Beast is different from that of ordinary Beastmen?"