Just as the northern battlefield outside the City of Thousand Sails officially entered its fever pitch, the Sword Coast blockade stretching from Water-Drawing City to the Whalebones Archipelago remained tranquil.
Aboard a Water-Drawing City flagship thirty nautical miles off its coast, Bestna, the frost giant lady whom Li Wei had asked to support the Sword Coast naval battlefield, lay on the warm deck sunbathing in utter boredom.
Her once-fair skin had turned a healthy wheat color after half a month of relentless sun, yet despite her enormous body, her breathing was remarkably gentle when she slept.
Nothing like Aili, who was practically the complete opposite—a tiny little thing whose snoring shook the heavens like a giant dragon's.
Meanwhile, Kaierben and Xia Lan Veloss sat side by side on the deck by the rail, fishing before the azure sea.
Xia Lan Veloss had never been fond of this sort of thing, nor did she usually have the time to indulge herself. As a steel dragon—especially one about to enter adulthood—aside from handling the complicated affairs of business, Xia Lan Veloss devoted most of her time to beauty sleep.
Ever since accompanying Li Wei to Calimshan, Xia Lan Veloss had fallen in love with this outdoor pastime that soothed the heart and emptied the mind.
Even though she often reeled in all sorts of strange things, such as narwhals that bit the hook, treasure chests from sunken ships, or mermaids doing rubbing exercises to relieve stress.
At the same time, under the subtle influence of Li Wei, the Northlands' renowned hands-off shopkeeper and sleepy dragon, the helmswoman of the Xia Lan Chamber of Commerce had come to deeply realize the folly of her past ways.
Just as Li Wei had said:
'Money can never all be earned, so while we are still