After a period of transition, Jonavili called for Medusa and had her lead Mofana away for a proper tour.
As for Qiao, he chose to stay outside the city for a good sleep.
...
Night soon fell.
Inside the card room, a fierce battle was in full swing.
"Pair of Queens!"
"Beating you! Any takers?"
"No, pass..."
The little boy looked at himself, having only one card left in his hand, and suddenly let out a silly grin.
Finally... after fighting for several days, he was finally going to claim victory!
In his excitement, a silly grin very similar to Jonavili's uncontrollably appeared on his face.
However, compared to Jonavili's tongue-poking habit, the little boy Gris had his eyes drift apart and his mouth split wide, letting out a low chuckle as if suppressing the joy of imminent victory.
"Hehe hehe hehe hehe hehe hehe~~"
While Gris was immersed in his own world and losing himself, a white-scaled goblin across from him hesitated for a moment before tremblingly pulling out a pair of cards and gently placing them on the table.
"Pair of 2s."
Hearing this, Gris's expression froze as he looked at the table in disbelief, where a pair of 2s sat quietly, suppressing his pair of Kings.
"How is that possible!"
Gris slammed the table in a lapse of composure, causing the surrounding monsters to tremble.
"Lord... Lord Gris, are... are you alright?"
The white-scaled goblin spoke tremblingly.
Gris felt like he had eaten a pile of dragon dung, but he still forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and sat back in his seat.
He had no choice; he didn't dare to actually do anything.
In the beginning, when he was about to lose, he could still threaten these subordinates, but somehow, word of it reached his older sister's ears.
Immediately, Jonavili gave him a sound thrashing and established a rule.
"You must have the spirit of accepting your losses and refuse any deadbeat behavior. No matter who the opponent is, you must follow the rules, otherwise I will personally take action."
From then on, aside from winning a few rounds against newcomers, Gris's number of victories was pitifully low.
Seeing Gris like this, the white-scaled goblin also felt a bit bad.
After all, this third-in-command of White Crystal City had been playing here for several days and hadn't won a single time—not once!
Thinking of this, he drew a card and placed it on the table.
"5."
This card was small enough, and it would be Gris's turn after the next round.
The card player next to him understood the hint and immediately played his smallest card.
"7."
Next was Gris.
His small face was tense, and his brows were tightly furrowed.
The monsters didn't dare to rush him.
After a moment, Gris slammed a card onto the table and turned his face away.
"Pass."
The others looked at each other.
"This..."
"Why are you looking at me? Keep going."
The three monsters played their smallest cards in turn, but Gris never took the lead, leaving them at a loss for what to do.
The agonizing time passed slowly until the game ended, with Gris keeping his eyes closed the entire time.
A dragon-blooded gnoll nearby hesitated before asking.
"Lord Gris, what was that..."
Gris snorted coldly and immediately stood up, turning to leave in a huff.
The monsters, ranging from 1.7 to over 2 meters tall, made way for the little shrimp Gris.
Once he was far away, the dragon-blooded gnoll finally couldn't help but flip over the card Gris had been holding down.
A single "3" was printed quietly on it.
Seeing this, the corners of the monsters' mouths twitched.
Big brother, who on earth keeps a three for their last card?
...
Gris walked out of the card room, intending to get some fresh air and fill his stomach before returning for another round of battle.
But just as he was about to leave, he suddenly caught sight of a strange figure.
Gris turned to look and discovered a human scratching his red hair while looking around.
The moment he saw him, Gris felt as if he were facing a great enemy and instantly switched to his dragonkin form.
His intuition told him that this "human" was definitely not as simple as he looked on the surface—he was very strong!
Qiao did not hide his aura, but he didn't spread his perception either.
After all, he heard from the subordinates that everyone in White Crystal City had their own privacy.
Spreading perception randomly was disrespectful and might lead to being arrested and questioned by the White Crystal knights for the crime of "peeping into others' privacy."
Qiao figured that since he was on someone else's territory, it was better to be law-abiding.
However, what he didn't expect was that he was actually directionally challenged—and severely so.
Since he didn't use his perception, he couldn't find his way at all.
Additionally, White Crystal City had a flight ban at night, so Qiao didn't use flight magic and instead just wandered around aimlessly.
His mindset was quite good, though, as he kept comforting himself.
"It's fine, it's fine. Just think of it as a tour. Maybe I'll get familiar with the place as I walk around."
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly froze.
His intuition told him that someone was watching him warily.
Qiao looked around and soon saw Gris in his dragonkin form, which caused him to narrow his eyes.
"A black dragon? Does White Crystal City have another expert?"
Having experienced the battle with Jonavili, he subconsciously imagined Gris to be at the same level of combat power as Furiel and the others.
Right then, a warning filled with vigilance came.
"Hey, who are you? Why is your aura so unfamiliar?"
...
"Let me introduce everyone. This is my new friend, Qiao."
Gris smiled as he approached a card table, pushing aside the crowd of monsters.
The monsters weren't annoyed; they curiously sized up this 1.8-meter-tall red-haired human.
"Hello."
"Nice to meet you. It's a pleasure."
Soon, the monsters accepted Qiao.
With Gris as his introducer, no one dared to disrespect him.
Gris smiled and pulled Qiao, who was still looking around, to the table.
After making a monster vacate a seat, he asked with a smile.
"Qiao, do you know how to play cards?"
Qiao asked with a face full of confusion.
"Cards? What's that? Why would I hit them?"
The three questions in a row made the corners of Gris's mouth widen even further.
He wanted exactly this kind of pure novice so that he could finally win!
He then acted like a good friend and said patiently.
"It's fine. I'll teach you."
...
Gris stared blankly at Qiao's empty hands and then at the few cards remaining in his own hand, his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he looked at Qiao very seriously.
"You really don't know how to play?"
Qiao shrugged with an innocent expression.
"What do you think?"
His expression was clear, and his skills and techniques were entirely those of a beginner, but that was exactly why Gris felt even more like breaking down.
His face turned beet red.
Seeing this, Qiao blinked.
"Are you okay?"
Gris held it in for a long time.
Just as Qiao was wondering if he would suffocate, Gris finally stammered.
"I'm... I'm fine. You... you... you're incredible."
Rate on N.U.
