A night passed without words, and the next morning, the delegation resumed its journey as usual.
The army dispatched by General Bertram escorted them away from the previous city, accompanying them for a full thirty kilometers before turning back.
Ahead lay the true border of the Human United Kingdom.
Crossing the border, the delegation would enter a kingdom called Criv, one of the border vassal states of the Human United Kingdom, with a territory of approximately several hundred thousand square kilometers.
The shape of the land of the Criv Kingdom was quite interesting, long from north to south and extremely narrow in the southeast. It looked like a long cucumber on the map. As this region primarily relied on exporting various fruits and vegetables, it was humorously referred to by neighboring countries as the “Yam Kingdom.”
The yam here was similar to the cucumber on Earth, just with some differences in taste and details. Violet had tried it a few times before—it was a bit like a banana with the flavor of roasted sweet potatoes, not exactly unpleasant.
As an affiliated state of the Human United Kingdom, the royal family here had already received notice from the delegation about their upcoming passage. They had sent a military force in advance to guard and guide them, stationed at the entrance of the border.
To be honest, even without Lilya’s personal selection, the elite guards of the delegation were considered quite shabby when compared to the regular forces of the Human United Kingdom. Just within the approximately ten thousand people escorting the delegation, Violet saw at least three or four different types of armor and insignias. The state of their weapons varied greatly, with many resembling the kind used by village guards in the Human United Kingdom, appearing quite pitiful in Violet’s eyes.
In terms of military bearing and presence, there was no need to mention them further.
While on the surface, the other side was escorting them, Violet couldn’t help but feel that if the two sides were to really engage in a fight, the delegation’s three-thousand-strong force, with a few charging groups, could scatter and rout the over ten thousand people on the other side.
It’s worth noting that to ensure marching speed and efficiency, as well as to showcase the might of a great nation, Lilya arranged this elite force, all of whom were cavalry with a level of at least lv10.
If lv5 equated to a robust but minimally combat-trained adult human male, then lv10 represented individuals who had undergone multiple life-and-death battles and could at least become squad leaders in a regular army.
In a life-or-death battle under similar conditions, the latter could replace the former three or more times without a problem.
This should be enough to illustrate the disparity in strength between the two sides.
No wonder the Criv Kingdom needed to seek refuge by attaching itself to the Human United Kingdom.
The handover-related tasks were handled by the delegation leader, Miss Felina. Violet stayed in the carriage, only glancing out of the window a few times, losing interest in the troops of the Criv Kingdom.
A bit boring...
Miss Priestess leaned on a soft reclining chair, across from her was the dragon girl, who was holding a deck of playing cards and thinking hard with a furrowed brow. Naturally, on either side were the sisters Leila and Rene.
They were playing the classic game from Earth, Four Players Landlord.
However, this was not an invention of Violet. Within the nobility of the Human United Kingdom, there seemed to have been similar games in circulation long before, even though the rules and specific details had subtle differences. This undoubtedly left traces of a certain transmigrator who had once visited this world.
The deck of cards was a gift from Guardian Edith during a casual conversation with Violet. Unfortunately, even she didn’t know who first invented “Three Players Fight the Tiger.” She only knew that this game had started to appear about three hundred years ago.
However classic the game, playing through it all the way from the Courage City could make one feel bored, especially considering Violet had played it countless times back on Earth. Though the dragon girl and the Winged girls still seemed enthusiastic...
“I, I can’t play!”
After hesitating for a long time, Miss Dragon finally uttered this sentence, which she had repeated many times today. Sitting at the head of the table under the morning light, Rene shook her head in resignation.
“I can’t play either.”
“Well, bomb, I win.”
Throwing the last four cards in her hand in one go, the black-haired girl leaned back, yawning out of boredom.
“Ah! Darn it, I lost again! One more round, one more round!”
“Ugh... Lady Violet is too strong, winning no matter where she sits...”
The dragon girl angrily slammed the handful of cards, which she had barely played, on the table. Leila sighed, gently putting down her cards, and her sister Rene agreed with continuous nods.
“Well... um, nothing, as long as you’re happy.”
It’s not that Violet had excellent card skills, it’s just that these three opponents were too inexperienced. After playing for almost a month, Miss Dragon still occasionally used bombs to blast her own teammate, or the two winged sisters would play individual cards from a straight. Also, for some reason, Violet always had good luck with cards. After playing hundreds of rounds, she rarely got stuck, so these results were quite normal.
“So, Lady Violet, do you want to continue?”
Miss Priestess immediately waved her hand as if unable to bear it.
“I’ll go out for some fresh air. Let Edwina come in and play with you.”
“Okay...”
“Huh? Master, aren’t you playing anymore? Let’s play again. I’ll definitely win this time!”
Violet couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“I’ve heard you say that at least ten times, and I haven’t seen you win once... I think you’re getting dizzy from playing. Just go outside and take a stroll. You’re turning into a homebody dragon.”
Having been close for so long, Leila and Rene naturally knew what Xiao Guang’s true form was. Violet also didn’t hide her intentions from the two of them. This kind of thing can’t be concealed when you’re always together, so if they know, they know. What can be done about it?
Since Violet said so, the dragon girl could only nod reluctantly and stand up.
“Okay, I’ll listen to Master.”
Violet and her pet got off the carriage one after another, and the two winged sisters, having nothing else to do, naturally followed.
The convoy was temporarily halted, and the handover and identity verification were being carried out by Felina and the commander of the Criv Kingdom’s army. It would probably take some time.
Stretching lazily, breathing in the fresh field air coming from afar, which had been cultivated with a large number of fruits and vegetables due to the long absence of war, Violet greeted Miss Holy Knight who was driving the unicorn beast, and then strolled forward along the convoy.
Because their carriage was in the center of the queue, not far from the front, Violet soon saw Felina, the leader of the envoy, in knight armor, chatting with several Criv Kingdom generals.
Wait a moment...
Looking at the situation, it doesn’t seem like a normal exchange. Instead, it appears to be more of an argument, or Felina unilaterally reprimanding those big and tall generals?
What happened?
Out of curiosity, Miss Priestess, along with the three girls who had already caught up from behind and even the Holy Knight, who for some reason was also mingling among them, quietly approached.
“So we’ve said it all. We represent the national prestige of the Human United Kingdom, an official envoy visiting other countries. How could we possibly deviate from the planned route due to groundless risks!?”
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Miss Felina’s powerful scolding echoed from afar.
And those generals, scolded by a woman, dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction. Only the leader among them was explaining with a considerable degree of helplessness.
“We’re sorry, we’re really sorry, Miss Envoy. Our country didn’t expect the 【Southern Calamity】 to awaken early this year. The originally planned route is now too dangerous. In case of any mishap, we really can’t afford the consequences...”