"Wait, hold on. You said it's been 6 days. A week's worth of ration was prepared for this trip. How could it be finished already?" Leon suddenly asked, after he adapted to the changes and began healing his body.
"We still have a day's worth of ration left, Your Highness," Zorbek answered impassively, despite the contradiction to his prior statement.
"You still have one day's worth of ration? Why did you say that all the ration was finished?" Leon raised an eyebrow in questioning.
"Ahem… What I mean is your share of ration had been finished, but we still have our one day's worth of ration, Your Highness." Zorbek explained.
"What?" Leon became dumbfounded, before he said, "You guys got guts. Dare to eat my ration while I was in secluded cultivation?"
When the palace guards heard this accusation, they all put on wronged faces. Although they don't undergo the same rigorous disciplinary training like the military, their loyalty was unquestionable. They wouldn't dare eat their master's food.
Considering their present situation, even if the prince was just a commoner, they still wouldn't touch Leon's food. Leon's abilities were crucial to their survival. So long as there were ants to kill, they would not have to worry about not having clean food to eat and water to drink with his ice and fire abilities.
While the prince had been in seclusion, they had continued their search for more ruins of the ancient civilization. They managed to excavate a huge cave that connected to several ancient buildings seeping with cold energy.
Nevertheless, they celebrated their findings over a meal and drinks. However, an idiot decided to talk about ghost stories after being inspired by the ancient site and that's when things began to go south. The prince's disappearing ration had become an unsolved mystery since then.
"You are falsely accusing us, Your Highness. The food just—"
The words got stuck in his throats. He wanted to explain, but he couldn't. How was he supposed to fricking explain that they didn't touch his food, but it disappeared on its own? Even they don't dare to believe it. How could they expect the prince to believe it?
Crunch… Crunch…
Suddenly, Zorbek's gaze was attracted by the subtle crunching noise of crackers and the sight made his blood boil, while the rest of the palace guards gaped. The culprit was found, but they did not understand how the culprit was able to steal the prince's food from right under their noses.
"Aren't those my crackers?" Leon shifted his gaze and asked bewilderedly.
Lilith made a peace sign and smiled innocently.
"You have your own share of ration, why did you eat mine too?" Leon asked with a weird look.
"You ask some strange things, Leon. How could that little bag of ration be enough for me? My kind has a much stronger appetite than you humans." Lilith said nonchalantly without a shred of guilt.
Even if the rations ran out, the group still had plenty of ant organs to live on. She had seen how the taste of ant organs had galvanized the group, despite its revolting appearance. It was already concluded that the ant organs were truly safe to eat. It just wasn't something she herself was willing to eat.
"Your Highness! Just give the word, and I will execute this animal!" Zorbek shouted. However, Leon swept him a cold chilling gaze, startling Zorbek and forced him to back down submissively.
The prince already stated that Lilith saved his life. Killing the prince's savior was out of the question. Besides, the food wasn't that big of a deal. There were plenty of ants to eating and they have constructed their own earthen thrones to defecate in. They even went as far as creating toilet paper out of the earth, but the only problem they had was using these 'bricks' was like wiping their rears with sandpaper.
Soon, a large plate of fresh ant organs was presented in front of Leon by Damir. While roasting the food with his flame, Leon casually inquired about the events of the past 6 days with a nonchalant look.
Even if there were nothing to eat, Leon would still be fine. With the existence of the Worldspace and a plethora of herbs in his arsenal, it wasn't a problem to refine himself some Fasting Pills to satiate his hunger. Thus, hunger was never a concern.
Furthermore, he could also refine more medicinal pills to strengthen his digestive system and prevent another episode of explosive diarrhea. Instead, he would drop a big turd. But even then, it wouldn't stop the spicy properties from burning his asshole.
He was caught off guard the first time. Had he known; he could have used this method. However, he hadn't expected his skills to be used in such a way.
After listening to Zorbek recount the events of the past 6 days over a great meal, Leon popped a medicinal pill into his mouth and dropped a big turd on his personal throne. He spent the next two hours stabilizing his cultivation and recuperating with pills.
In the meantime, the palace guards have packed their belongings and prepared themselves for a big exploration under his orders.
From what Zorbek recounted to him, the group was immediately attacked by another few dozen ants after they uncovered a path that led further downwards to a larger underground cave. Inside, there were many building ruins and even aircraft wreckages. They could not see the ends of the cave.
Due to the uncertainty of the deep unknown, the palace guards did not search the area blindly, but waited for him to finish his secluded cultivation. They did not know if they would alarm another army of ants. Thus, they couldn't move without the prince.
Shortly after Leon recovered, he gave the order and the group set out for the remnants of the floating city.
Zorbek led the group, while Leon followed behind alongside Lilith. Along the way, Leon turned to Lilith and thanked her again. "Seems like I owe you one."
Although they should have been square after saving each other once, Leon still felt like he owes her due to the importance he placed on his own life.
"Oh, this matter again? It was nothing—" Lilith waved it off nonchalantly, but they she froze for a moment, before her lips rose into a sly smile. "Since you owe me, how do you want to thank me?"
"You ate my crackers. Isn't that enough?" Leon joked. In fact, she ate all his ration and even slapped his face but saying this would only make him seem petty instead.
Lilith's smile froze, before she pouted, "Since you're not planning to repay me, why say you owe me?"
"I'm just joking." Leon laughed lightly, before adding seriously, "I've noticed that you still have problems adjusting your balance brought by your single wing. How about I—"
"You're not cutting it off! That's not how you repay someone!" Lilith cut him off with a shriek and retreated.
"…give you a method to retract your wing into your body…" Leon finished with a dry laugh, while scratching his head. It seems she still hadn't forgotten that.
"Huh?" Lilith became startled when she heard this and drew closer to Leon, forgetting all of her previous wariness. "You had such an amazing method? Why didn't mention this before? No, never mind that. Quickly teach me!" Lilith said excitedly.
If she can really learn such a method, she would be able to blend in with human society and not be discriminated against! She can also…
Aiya!
Just as she was beginning to delve deeper into her darker list of possibilities, it was interrupted by a hard poke on her forehead as Leon transmitted the first part of the [Hundred Beast Transformation Art].
She stared daggers at Leon, but then she was surprised by the string of information flowing into her mind.
"Don't ask how and just study it as we go." Leon ignored her surprise and stated.
He wasn't sure if it was the right choice to make to bestow something that could be used against humanity, but he didn't want to be tied down by this debt of gratitude. As long as his conscience was clear, he would be able to move forward.
Looking at Leon's back view, Lilith suddenly found him to be full of mystery. She decided that she would hug onto Leon's thighs tightly in the future and make him spill all his secrets…willingly of course. After all, she hadn't forgotten that she was under Leon's protection, while she was stranded in the middle of human territory and that could change depending on her actions.
"Your Highness, this is the place." Zorbek said as the group reached the end of the cave and found the opening to a much larger one.
Leon strolled forward and used his [Spirit Eyes] to peer into the darkness. Just as Zorbek mentioned, he could see remnants of the floating city.
Suddenly, Leon was struck with a thought. Since the ancient civilization got wiped out after the floating city dropped out of the sky, the devastation on the land would not be small. Was the steep mountain range surrounding the Human Domain formed after the event?
No, something didn't seem quite right. Even if the underground path was leading them towards the center of the Human Domain, they should still be quite far from it. If the mountain range was formed by the drop of the floating city, the floating city remnants should have been found near the center of the Human Domain, not here.
"Hm?"
"Did you notice something, your Highness?" Zorbek quickly asked.
"Oh, it's nothing.. I thought that these leaning buildings are positioned quite strangely."