Mia felt drowsy after her meal. In this moment, she was curled up on a rock and was already snoring faintly.

However, Mia only took up a quarter of the rock's space and slept in the corner.

She left a large portion of the space unused for Max's own use.

While sitting atop of the rock, Max began to observe his mother, Agatha.

Agatha had been sleeping since yesterday and she was still holding a pile of treasures in her arms.

As for the huge commotion that had transpired in the desert, Agatha did not rush over to support her children, and instead, she had left them to fend for themselves.

However, Max did not blame her.

After all, it was not like he could expect her to raise her children by the standards of a human.

As a dragon, Agatha was already a very responsible mother.

Many dragons liked to taste their children for fun when they had nothing else to do.

'Sigh, why even bother mulling over such a useless point? I should sleep and find something to eat tomorrow. Regardless, this is my new life now...'

Max circled the rock twice, curled up around her sister, and fell into a deep sleep.

'Perhaps when I wake up tomorrow, I'll become stronger again, or perhaps I'll finally receive the rewards from the Battle of Existence,'

...

A guard yawned.

The job of standing guard was really boring.

However, upon recalling that he was guarding the current king of the Pande Kingdom...

The guard immediately became spirited again.

The fact that he was assigned to watch over the most influential figure in the kingdom had meant that the king had placed great trust in him!

'As long as I'm Here!'

'No one shall be allowed to pass through this door!'

Just as the guard had finished making the oath in his heart, he heard a young female voice resounding throughout the corridor.

"Daddy! Play ball with me!"

'It's the little princess!'

'The little princess is here again!'

He saw the little princess carrying a silk embroidered ball and running over excitedly. The maid behind her could not hold her back at all!

Bang!

The little princess pushed open the iron door.

The guard did not dare to stop the little princess. He hurriedly sheathed his halberd behind his back, as he worried that he would injure the little princess by accident, Then, he stretched out his arm as a show of respect.

After all, the little princess was the child that the old king had doted on the most.

If any of the other royalty were to push open the door while the king was working, they would be immediately locked up.

'Who would have thought?'

The old king had emphasized it many times during his first public speech.

"All nobles should restrain their actions! Should they break the law, they would be as guilty as the commoners."

Even the princes and princesses could not enjoy such privileges within the palace.

They could not allow their personal feelings to interfere with the king's work!

However, before the painting of said speech had even dried...

The little princess was born.

From then on, there would be no more peace in the palace, as the little princess alone had turned the entire palace upside down.

She was greatly pampered by the king.

The king turned around with an angry grimace. His eyes were terrifyingly sharp, like a lion in a duel.

However, the moment he noticed that it was the little princess, his eyes immediately became as docile as a house kitten.

"Hehe, my little darling Tess, why are you here?"

The king lifted Tess up and spun her around twice.

It was only after Tess giggling loudly that the king put her back down.

"Let's play ball! Daddy, please play ball with me!"

"Okay, okay, let's go. Daddy will play with you..."

...

The king put down his work and played with Tess until the sun went down. Tess was so tired that she fell asleep in the arms of the maid, and the game ended.

"Sigh..."

All of this was seen by the guard who was watching over the king.

Once the maid had carried Tess away.

The old king finally showed the fatigue that he should have at his age. He let out a long sigh, and the sadness that could not be hidden was written all over his face.

"Tahir is dead."

"The whereabouts of Carvella and Rafik who were accompanying him are also unknown."

"How can three Diamond Rank heroes disappear just like that?"

The old king muttered to himself. He lowered his head, crawled into the iron door, and lit the candle to continue working.

The guard did not dare to respond to the old king's muttering.

After all, the best sentry was one that acted like an emotionless puppet, one that was fully alert of their surroundings.

News of Tahir's death had already reached the palace in the morning. Even a lowly guard like him had learned of Tahir's death from the conversations of the nobles around him.

The same had applied to the two Diamond Rank adventurers who had accompanied Tahir, Carvella and Rafik.

The whereabouts of those two people were also unknown, and they had never sent a letter to the courier station.

This small party of three Diamond Rank heroes was the strongest ever party that had ever been formed within the kingdom. To deal with the three of them, one would need at least a thousand soldiers, and even then, there was no guarantee of success.

As a guard, he was fortunate enough to meet Tahir a few times.

In his impression, Tahir had always been a slightly crazed old man, but his magic was superb.

During some festivals, in order to add to the fun, Tahir would turn all the guards into sheep, and he would turn all the sheep into human.

With such terrifying strength, many people felt that it was too dangerous to retain Tahir as the court mage.

However, later on, everyone soon understood that it was more terrifying to have Tahir as the enemy than as their ally. 

As for Rafik.

The guard recalled that he and Rafik were rather close with one another.

Rafik was over two meters tall and could easily lift a statue with one arm. He could also hold his liquor well. In the army, he was like a star.

In order to reward Rafik for his bravery, the kingdom even bestowed the 'Red Dragon Slayer' to Rafik.

The guard still had a deep impression of that greatsword.

After all, anyone who saw the large ruby that was embedded within it would instantly be mesmerized.

From that day onwards, the guard gradually began to understand why Red Dragons adored rubies that much. They were truly a beautiful gemstone,

There was also that legendary Ranger, Carvella.

Speaking of which, the guard remembered that he was once the subordinate of Carvella's subordinates.

He was once lucky enough to lay eyes on Carvella's beautiful visage.

Moreover, on the battlefield, Carvella was capable of weaving a rain of arrows by herself! Her rain of arrows was capable of killing a hundred enemy infantrymen in a single strike!

As such, the title of "Slayer of a Hundred Men" and the Dragon-vanquishing Ballista had been bestowed upon Carvella.

As such, the guard could not help but wonder, just how powerful was their enemy, if they were capable of putting such powerful figures into such a disadvantageous situation.

'Perhaps the enemy's main force have already reached the northern borders of the Pande Kingdom?'