Modesti half-lidded her eyes as the little creatures nervously scurried around before her. The goblins and kobolds brought her fresh prey—elk and wild boars from the forest. They placed the animals beside Modesti's mouth before retreating far away, as if afraid the dragon would swallow them along with the food. But Modesti had little appetite. Every so often, she would open her eyes and scare the little creatures into scattering, taking pleasure in it.
She was indeed waiting for someone, but it was neither Malthus nor some soulless dwarf. It was Guko—the servant of Gwendolyn. Not long after Brando and the others left, Guko arrived with a group of harpies, descending from the sky and causing a commotion in the camp. Modesti narrowed her eyes at the little creature. Guko was a rare harpy with emerald-green feathers, but she looked extremely disheveled at the moment. Several parts of her wings were scorched, and quite a few of the long feathers on her head were missing.
"Looks like you ran into a little trouble." The black dragon's tone held a hint of schadenfreude.
"Just a few bugs sneaked into Greystone Town. Useless lackey." Guko replied in the sharp voice unique to harpies. She was furious, and her words referred not only to Brando and the others who had infiltrated Greystone Town, but also to Malthus. Her scorched feathers were his doing, and it had infuriated her. As Gwendolyn's servant, she was not worried about a verbal insult. In her eyes, Malthus was nothing special and far inferior to her master.
Of course, if she had to face Malthus alone, she would never have dared speak that way.
The corners of Modesti's mouth lifted. She did not care about the little creature's retort. It had nothing to do with her anyway. With