Liliana clung tightly to Viola, stubbornly refusing to admit any wrongdoing. Her little face was flushed bright red, and tears shimmered in her eyes, but she wouldn't say a single word.

  Draven looked at her, helpless. He had no choice but to try a different tactic—bribing her with tasty food.

  "If you help us dig, I promise I'll give you something even better than roasted meat!" he said patiently. "And monkey wine too!"

  Liliana pouted. Her eyes were still red, but she clearly didn't believe anything could taste better than last night's roast. Her stubbornness wasn't new—Draven knew this wasn't going to be easy.

  They were at a stalemate for quite a while. The little girl had transformed into her massive bear form, three to four meters tall. Her thick, powerful paws were more effective than any shovel.

  With those claws, she dug into the ground with astonishing strength, rivaling any mechanical excavator. Soft earth posed no challenge, and even solid rock split apart under her blows as easily as cutting tofu.

  Draven watched this walking excavator sitting idle and felt deeply troubled—what a waste of talent.

  But the little thing was holding a grudge. Not only did she refuse to admit she was wrong, she flat-out refused to help.

  He knew full well that while he had a contract that could technically force her to obey, Liliana wasn't an ordinary magical beast in his eyes. She was more like a person—with her own thoughts and feelings. He couldn't treat her the way one would treat a beast.

  That's why he had called Viola over, hoping her gentle persuasion might work. Viola whispered a few words in Liliana's ear. She didn't say much, but it worked like magic—Liliana's expression softened instantly.

  She leapt up, clasped her hands behind her back, and cheerfully announced, "Okay, deal! As long as there's tasty food, I'll do the work!"

  Draven smiled bitterly and gave Viola a thumbs-up.

  With Liliana and the treants led by Oaknut joining the effort, the original plan was completely overhauled. Draven decided not only to build homes for the children but to solve the housing problem for the slaves as well.

  If they had to defend their home anyway, they might as well make the village better while they were at it.

  Draven handled the overall planning, while Bran and the others used sticks and ropes to mark out building plots on the ground.

  Liliana, in her bear form, crouched down and dug with full focus. She worked at incredible speed—often digging all the way to Bran's feet before he and the others even finished marking the lines.

  The village children were overjoyed, running around and playing with her.

  Now they not only had a giant bear as a playmate, but several towering treants stood guard at the village's edge. The children's eyes sparkled with excitement as they cheered Liliana on, waiting for her to finish digging and play with them again.

  Draven chuckled to himself, wondering what kind of teacher had raised her like this. No one could restrain her spirit. The louder the children cheered, the harder she worked.

  What Draven didn't know was that the path to becoming a true druid was long and arduous.

  Liliana had spent nearly all her young life alone in the wild, surrounded only by birds and beasts. She had never known the joy of having friends, never experienced this kind of lively warmth.

  The digging progressed rapidly. When the slaves heard that space in the new houses was reserved for them as well, they threw themselves into moving soil, working with renewed energy.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The treants, under the direction of Big Bear and other experienced hands, filled the foundations with heavy stones.

  When they came across large or misshapen rocks, Liliana simply split them with a single swipe. If they needed a flat surface, she made it flat. If they needed smaller chunks, she broke them down to the perfect size—fast and efficient.

  Draven spread out animal hides and carefully laid out plans for all the village buildings. In addition to homes, he planned to build a wine cellar, kitchen, and bathhouse to make everyone's life more comfortable.

  Just then, a shadow swept across the sky above Black Flag Territory's head. Draven looked up sharply, heart racing. His first thought was a serpentfolk attack.

  But as the figure came into view, he recognized the face—it was someone familiar.

  It wasn't an enemy—it was Cedric, the harpy and envoy of Lord Selene.

  Cedric, as the city lord's emissary, held a noble rank. But his reputation in Selene City was terrible.

  Rumor had it that Cedric had once challenged his own tribal leader and lost, ending up exiled by his people. While such power struggles were normal in tribal societies, it also revealed his difficult personality and temperament.

  The social structure of the demi-human tribes was brutally simple: each race was large, and every race required a leader to rule.

  When a tribe member believed they were strong enough, they could challenge the leader at any time to claim the position.

  Many had failed such challenges—Cedric was one of them. But unlike the others, legend had it that he was the only one who, after losing, resorted to poisoning his entire tribe.

  Draven was half-skeptical about these rumors; the story sounded far too extreme. What made him dislike Cedric wasn't the rumors themselves, but rather the arrogant air the harpy carried around with him.

  That self-important attitude of his—aside from the lord Selene, Cedric hardly acknowledged anyone else.

  "What on earth is he doing here?" Draven couldn't help but wonder.

  He watched as Cedric descended gracefully from the sky and landed steadily in the center of the village. Draven immediately stepped forward and gave a respectful bow.

  Despite his personal dislike, he dared not show a hint of disrespect to Lord Selene's envoy.

  Cedric merely gave a cold nod, not even bothering with pleasantries. He ignored the bustling workers and lively construction around him and directly asked about the whereabouts of the troll chieftain, Garruk.

  Draven was stunned.

  Garruk? Hadn't they just parted ways? He had left to escort a convoy to the northwestern mining zone. He hadn't returned yet—why was he being asked about?

  Draven, confused, answered honestly: "After completing the escort mission, Garruk left. Said he was headed to the northwest mines to transport minerals. Didn't he go?"

  He hadn't thought much of it at the time. Garruk was strong, and he had a squad of elite troll guards with him. What could possibly go wrong?

  But judging by the look on Cedric's face, Draven realized things weren't that simple. Cedric pressed for more details, and Draven did his best to answer.

  Eventually, he couldn't hold back and asked, "Sir Envoy, has something happened to Garruk?"

  "What's going on with him?"

  When Cedric told him Garruk had gone missing, Draven couldn't believe it. Garruk was one of the smartest, calmest trolls he'd ever met, and a mid-tier chieftain at that.

  That meant most tribal forces wouldn't even be able to lay a hand on him. But then again… there were more dangerous enemies in this world.

  Cedric seemed to sense Draven's hesitation. His eyes suddenly turned sharp, voice tinged with threat:

  "Speak. What do you really know?"

  Draven's mind flashed. He decided to take the risk and voice his suspicions. In truth, it was more like framing someone. The serpentfolk were a terrifying power—if they really had guts, they should confront Lord Selene directly.

  So he started pretending to analyze the situation. He mentioned how the day they parted, Garruk had ridden across the river, headed northwest—a route that would definitely take him through serpentfolk territory.

  Then, Draven exaggerated the serpentfolk's tyranny, claiming they had already forcibly taken over half of Garruk's land.

  Just as Cedric's face twisted with impatience, Draven dropped a key piece of intel: there were at least two high-tier chieftains among the serpentfolk.

  That caught Cedric's full attention. His eyes narrowed sharply. "Are you sure?"

  Draven swore on the spot, insisting the serpentfolk were brutal and had even forced Garruk into their territory. To make his claims more believable, he added more invented details.

  In essence: the serpentfolk were powerful enough to easily make Garruk disappear.

  Whether it was true or not, Draven's plan was clear—he wanted to pin the blame squarely on the serpentfolk.

  As long as Selene's envoy took interest in this matter, the serpentfolk wouldn't dare to act openly against Black Flag Territory again.

  Draven even encouraged Cedric to investigate them personally. Not that Cedric needed much prompting—he already intended to check for himself.

  The intel Draven provided didn't exactly match the records held in Selene's court. According to their files, there were only two serpentfolk chieftains—one mid-tier, one low-tier.