With a click, the watch cover sprang open, and the hour hand pointed to twelve.
In his previous life, this hour would still have been early—the night life of the stay-up-all-night crowd was only just beginning.
But in Faerûn, most people were already deep in their dreams. Going to bed early and rising early was not merely a habit; it was also to make better use of the daylight to support their families.
Anser beat his butterfly wings and flew into the wilderness. From the air, he raised the telescope "Long-Distance Vision," carefully observing the Amn camp several kilometers away.
There was no cover in the wilderness, and the target camp was positioned on high ground. Under the telescope's view, everything lay fully exposed.
'This thing is really useful.'
The Amn camp was laid out rigorously, with lights burning everywhere and squads of warriors patrolling back and forth.
Its ground defenses were solid, but it was clearly lacking in precautions against the air. There was no helping it—after all, those who possessed the ability to fly were few, already beyond the scope that ordinary soldiers could handle.
'Begin the operation.'
He spread his wings and flew toward the camp, continuously climbing higher at the same time. By the time he approached the airspace above the camp, his flight altitude had already exceeded a thousand meters—caution was the priority.
Throughout this process, "Long-Distance Vision" never left his right eye. His left eye watched near, his right eye watched far, switching back and forth.
After confirming that no one had noticed him, he grabbed several silver coins from the Treasure Coin Pouch, suspended them in midair, loosened his grip, and let them fall freely.
In the darkness, they were hard to track. The silver coins quickly disappeared from his sight, but through their trajectories he roughly judged the landing point, as well as changes in wind direction and wind strength.
After readjusting his position slightly, he opened the Avaricious Dragonhide Pouch. A void-like black hole appeared, and then a large quantity of coins gushed out like a fountain—mostly copper and silver coins, though there were also quite a few gold coins.
Mixed in from time to time were several low-quality gemstones, pieces of artwork, and Common and Uncommon magic items.
Anser poured them out as he flew, trying his best to let the treasure cover the entire camp.
After hastily emptying it, he cast Fly and swiftly departed.
Under the enhancement of the Elemental Sphere, his flying speed was astonishing. At full speed, he was almost comparable to a wyvern, and he quickly vanished into the night.
At this moment, the dragonhide pouch was already more than half emptied, leaving behind only three magic items, a pile of platinum coins, and several gemstones of decent quality.
Anser did not know exactly how much money he had thrown out. There had to be tens of thousands of coins—worth several thousand or even over ten thousand gold coins—along with dozens of various items.
A bit reluctant, yes—but he was even more reluctant to part with his own blood, or green dragon blood. Besides, out with the old and in with the new: every day the Avaricious Dragonhide Pouch produced a little more— a small pile of coins, a few gemstones, a magic item, or something like a piece of art.
If he didn't deal with it soon, the pouch was going to be stuffed to bursting.
After flying farther away, Anser hovered in midair, raised the telescope, and quietly observed the Amn people's reaction.
That camp looked like it had been blown apart—lights and moving figures everywhere. Most people were bending down all over the ground to pick up money.
But that chaos only lasted a very short time. Under their officers' lead, squads of warriors searched in every direction. After making a fuss for more than half an hour, they failed to find any trace of an enemy.
During that time, two figures really did fly up into the sky—probably using some kind of flying item—and they also came up empty.
So, they went back to picking up money.
This time it was more orderly, and all the loot that got picked up had to be put into several large sacks, to be counted by designated personnel.
Seeing this, Anser wasn't worried in the slightest, because nearly everyone would pocket something—only the amount differed. Human nature was the same everywhere.
Amn's soldiers were basically like mercenaries. Their equipment was good, entirely propped up by money. They might have a bit of fighting spirit, but something like conviction almost didn't exist.
As long as you held it, you got cursed!
And a dragon's hoard curse was extremely "stubborn," incredibly difficult to break.
Most crucially, the Weave was in turmoil right now. Identifying items had become less convenient, and curses were hard to identify.
Besides, would anyone really waste time and money to identify an ordinary coin?
Anser had never touched those coins. He didn't know how they differed from normal coins, but at the very least, their appearance was completely identical.
If those coins ended up mixed together with normal coins…
'Wouldn't they get cursed and never even know where the curse came from? That would be… hilarious.'
He let out a low chuckle, turned around, and flew toward Fort Jacqueline.
There were many kinds of hoard curses, but none of them were immediately lethal. Some even required specific circumstances to take effect—such as vulnerability, nightmares, wounds that couldn't heal after injury, souls being imprisoned after death, and so on.
Even something as common as the exhausted condition might not necessarily draw attention right away. Many people would think they were just tired and that sleeping would fix it.
Because it was hidden, it was terrifying—let the curse ferment for a while.
When he returned to Fort Jacqueline, the guards had even left the gate open for him.
Entering the main keep, the lighting was dim. It seemed the way of life here wasn't extravagant. Some nobles were fairly ostentatious—clearly there weren't many people, yet they insisted on keeping the whole castle brightly lit all night.
The moment he stepped onto the corridor, a slender figure came into view.
She stood beneath the wall lamp, draped in a half-transparent purple gauze that only covered her down to her fair thighs, barefoot. Under the lamplight, her pale body was faintly visible, stirring the imagination.
'This is way too revealing. Doesn't she know I have darkvision?'
Anser forcibly shifted his gaze away. If he kept looking, something was bound to happen.
"Where did you go?" Iris stepped away from the wall. The light fell behind her, fully outlining the curves of her body, as if she were wearing nothing at all.
"Mm, went to the forest to cool off. Today… it was a bit hot." Anser hadn't quite figured out how to explain it.
"Oh." The corner of Iris's lips curved upward. "The Amn camp was a bit lively just now. Do you know what happened?"
"You mean that? I did it." Anser had no intention of hiding it, mainly because he was afraid Iris might randomly take something from the Amn people. "I had a batch of treasure carrying dragon curses. Since the Amn people came from afar as guests, I shared a little with them."
"Haha…" Iris froze for a moment, then laughed so hard she bent forward and backward. Only after quite a while did she stop, panting. "You're quite imaginative."
"Try not to touch the Amn people's things. This kind of curse is rather troublesome," Anser said seriously.
"I understand." Iris smiled. "If Amn withdraws its troops, you'll be Durlag's savior."
"That wouldn't be accurate. I also have some grievances with Amn." Anser waved his hand, looking indifferent. "I'm going to meditate."
"Mm." Iris parted her lips as if to speak, but said nothing more.
Anser quickly returned to his room, shut the door properly, and let out a heavy breath.
'Does she normally dress like that, or is she deliberately trying to seduce me?' He couldn't quite grasp Iris's intentions.
He wasn't some foolish Sorcerer who thought with his lower half. There was no way he would lose his composure just because someone crooked a finger at him.
'Maybe it's just a test.'
He didn't object to simple romance, but if too many other factors were mixed in, or if someone tried to "bind" him through it, that would be unacceptable.
Not to boast, but with his Charisma, what woman couldn't he have?
'Maybe tomorrow I should recruit some people… and hire two maids…'
After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Anser washed up briefly. As usual, he tossed the Avaricious Dragonhide Pouch into the corner, then lay down on the soft bed and closed his eyes to meditate.
The world was in such turmoil, and who knew what the future would hold. It was better to level up properly—only magic would never betray him.
That night, he unusually had a dream, and the scenes within it made one's blood surge.
In the dream, he spent the entire night in passion with a woman of graceful figure and perfect proportions. Their bodies entwined, in zero-distance contact, their desire fiercer than flames.
The fiery softness of her touch and that warm, moist sensation felt so real that he grew somewhat delirious, unable to control himself.
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