Ball of Nothing

Chapter 567: The Messiah

While the werebeasts are not religious, they also know to fear the powerful as part of their culture. Truen had the right idea when he proposed the role of a messiah.

"Imagine if someone appeared during their time of need. Surely they would respect and listen to this mysterious saviour if they can prove their might, right? Religion is not the issue because they don't believe in Gods as much as the giants do. However, according to the legend, they worship the hero who was strong, compassionate and likeable. As long as you meet all three criteria, even King Gaon would lower his head before you."

Donkey Sharo raised a brow judgingly. The werebeasts might be simple people, but did they think this cheap trick was going to work? These people were crazy if they thought showy magic and a charismatic speech could win these barbarians over.

Bob agreed with the plan. This way, they need not try to sneak anyone in. Descending from the skies sounded a little too cliche, but Bob couldn't think of anything better.

"How about I pretend to wound the messiah?" the Eternal Dragon spoke. That way, Master doesn't have to battle against the weather and low-life sea thugs alone. Instead, he can offer 'words of wisdom' to coordinate them in battle and earn their good graces."

Truen liked that idea, and Zero blinked. "How will you do that? We're bound by a magical contract. You cannot harm me. Even if we weren't bound by a magical contract, you still can't hurt me."

Bob grinned. "I'm an Eternal Dragon. I can use flashy magic that looks powerful but does little damage. The distraction will allow you to 'get injured' as I flee. Other than Jermine and maybe Monoman, nobody else would recognise me in my lizard form. They wouldn't be able to connect the dragon to such a harmless creature."

Truen thought about it and looked at King Sharo. The idea Bob proposed sounded good. While Zero and Bob were busy acting it out, they would also serve as a very good distraction to slip into the city while everyone was in chaos.

"Where should we meet up after the commotion?" Truen asked, and Bob leaned over to look at the map.

If he and Zero were going to create commotion near the sea close to the half-destroyed capital, Lycantopia would redeploy some guards near the southern gates as reinforcements.

"Can this donkey climb walls?" he asked seriously. "Lesser guards will station at the gates during an attack, but it wouldn't be unguarded. Those on patrol will most likely get called back as reinforcements. It's a good chance to flip over the walls unnoticed. While everyone is occupied in the capital, Monoman can take Jermine and her family out of the city. It's the perfect opportunity."

After listening to the plan, the elven king had to admit that it wasn't a completely terrible idea. Even if they couldn't convince the werebeasts, the distraction was a good move to give the mole beastfolks enough time to escape the locked-down city.

As they finalised details for Zero's new identity as the messiah, Donkey Sharo yawned. It would take them a while to get everything together so he might as well take a short nap. It wasn't as if he could escape with the enchanted saddle on his back. If they wanted him to climb a wall, they had to throw him over. There was no way he was going to attempt the stunt willingly. If they were caught by some passing guards on patrol, it would be even better for him.

Bob looked at the sky and noticed that so much time passed while they schemed. Zero looked very mysterious with his hooded cloak, and Truen checked his shared inventory with the doctor. The small stash of transformation potions reserved for Donkey Sharo gleamed, and the archer smirked. The lazy ass slept the whole afternoon and didn't listen to a single word about their plan. Fortunately, he didn't have a significant role to play, and Truen can manage whatever King Sharo threw at him with the help of an enchanted saddle.

"We start at midnight?" Zero confirmed again, and Bob nodded.

"Master, can I stay for dinner before I send the word back to Monoman and Jermine? Also, would it be better if we built the carriages for them so they can depart immediately?"

Zero considered it and looked around. There wasn't much in the area they could use to make wagons or carriages. He failed to realise it earlier and frowned.

"I guess not," Bob shrugged when he looked at his master's distressed expression. Truen noticed it too and comforted Zero.

"It's alright, we can still place an order. You can let Zoe know so that she can contact Schaf to send a few carriages and mounts."

That's right! There was still Half Moon Trading with many contacts and outposts. How did he forget about it?

"Let's do that then," Zero agreed. Truen wasted no time and contacted the relevant party without needing to be told twice.

Bob was strangely nervous about what he wanted to ask. Zero looked through his inventory to decide what to eat for dinner before the attack, contemplating between nutritional value and taste when the dragon spoke up.

"C-Can I stay for dinner?"

Stunned by Bob's need to ask such an obvious question, Zero blinked. "Of course! What would you like to eat? You had lamb earlier, and it's a little too heaty, so I wondered if a pheasant would be a better option. However, you ate a lot, so I don't know if it would be enough..."

Hearing that his master was considering it so seriously, Bob blushed. He thought he couldn't stay for dinner because of how urgently they had to return to inform the mole family about their plans. It was shameful to admit, but after eating gourmet food for so long, his taste buds couldn't get accustomed to the awful meals prepared by Jermine's family. He had enough of trying worm and mud cookies. Monoman might be a champion among men for not hesitating to eat whatever anyone gives him, but Bob wasn't as tough. He was a dragon superior to the carnivores of Lycantopia. If the werecats could have turkey and fish daily, Bob shouldn't be eating worms and mud.

Puzzled about Bob's teary expression, the doctor decided to overlook the nutritional value of his dragon's diet for one day. It was only a week or so since they parted. What happened during that time to make Bob teary at the sight of food?