Actually, Zhao Hai deliberately mentioned Grand Duke Lionheart to Fuin. He wanted to make Fuin think that heâs not clueless about everything, making his image in Fuinâs mind a bit blurry. Itâs a simple trick.
Sometimes people speak a little, but sometimes speaking more can achieve the same result. Just like what Zhao Hai had done, just by mentioning that he knew about Grand Duke Lionheart, he made Fuin wonder even more about his origins. This was done so that the next time he and Shelley Hotel does business, he wouldnât be underestimated.
When he returned to his room, Zhao Hai was met by a frowning Laura, âBrother Hai, although we made the cavalry retreat, itâs possible that they wouldnât just let us off lightly. We need to make proper preparations just in case.â
Zhao Hai showed a faint smile and said, âOf course they wouldnât just leave it like that. Even if the cavalry is fine with us, the Grand Duke wouldnât, be especially when a lot of people heard the conversation between me and Fuin about my business with Shelley Family. When he hears about this, the Grand Duke surely wouldnât just sit still. But as long as he doesnât use official means to deal with us, Iâm not afraid of him.â
Laura continued to frown, âYou also intentionally told Fuin the fact that weâre on the same side as the Shelley Family. Even though Lionheart didnât have an initial intention to give us trouble, now he really had to, forcing us to fully side with Shelley Family.â
Zhao Hai smiled, âActually this isnât a bad thing, we didnât need to befriend the Grand Duke anyway. Moreover, the methods he works with were extremely overbearing, I donât want to work with him. Although the Shelley Family is a bit calculating, relatively speaking, their way of doing business is quite modest. We will not suffer losses working with them. I intentionally revealed our connection with the family so that when the Grand Duke decides to deal with us, the family would feel restless. With this, our relationship with them might get even closer.â
Laura relaxed when she heard Zhao Haiâs intentions, but she still couldnât help but worry, âBut is it really good to offend Lionheart just as we entered Rosen Empire? What would happen if Shelley Family loses the fight against the Grand Duke?â
Zhao Hai smiled faintly as he replied, âRight now, weâre currently gambling that Shelley Family would win. If they did, our cooperation with them will advance further. And if they lose, it doesnât matter to us, donât forget that weâre headed towards Sky Water City. We can rely on our connection with the Calci Family as fellow members of the league. And with Bellâs introduction, the Calci Family would certainly act as middlemen in the conflict, I donât think Grand Duke will overreach his bounds just for us.â
Laura saw that Zhao Hai had already thought this through, she nodded and said, âWhat about Ruyen? If the Grand Duke couldnât deal with us, wouldnât he cause trouble for Ruyen?â
Zhao Hai nodded, âItâs possible, but no matter what, Ruyen is the Purcell Duchyâs princess. Moreover, she came this time to study. I heard that Rosen Empireâs institute holds a high standing inside the nation, I think Ruyen will be fine.â
Laura nodded. Even though she didnât like Ruyen, she still needs to consider Evan, thus they just canât ignore Ruyenâs well-being.
Although Zhao Hai has stated his speculations, Laura was still worried, âWhat if they cause trouble inside the institute? Sheâs still a young lady unfamiliar with her surroundings and needs help. Iâm afraid that she wouldnât be able to find help when she wants to. If something were to happen to her, we wouldnât be able to face Grand Duke Evan.â
Zhao Hai sighed, âWe really canât help her. Actually, Uncle Evan had her travel far away because he wanted to develop her sense of independence. If everyone was going to help her, Uncle Evanâs purpose would have failed.â
Laura stared for a moment, she actually forgot about this. She nodded in agreement, the Grand Duke indeed intends to have Ruyen exercise relying only on herself. If they go and help her in her every need, then thereâs no difference between having her in Casa City or Carson City.
That night, Zhao Haiâs surroundings were very calm. The cavalry didnât find any more trouble with them. But now, every merchant inside Hundred Battles fortress have at least heard of Zhao Haiâs name. When they were inside Lifeline Canyon, they already knew that Zhao Hai was a 7th rank Fire element Mage. But they didnât think that Zhao Haiâs true strength was much more than that.
These merchants became more and more curious of Zhao Hai. He had strength as well as intelligence. All of these buzz made Zhao Hai akin to a firefly in the dark, but more dazzling than that.
The other large forces also began to pay attention to these people who they had never heard before. These large forces knew that they had no chance of pulling Zhao Hai over to their side, but they still wanted to know about him. So that if by chance they manage to get in conflict with him in the future, they may have some ideas on how to deal with him.
Zhao Hai didnât know that these forces had already began to pay attention to him. He thought that he didnât merit such huge attention. The next morning, the group had their breakfast, and under Fuinâs farewells, left Hundred Battles Fortress and advanced towards the direction of Carson City.
Ruyen still kept her low profile while on the road. Now, Zhao Hai wasnât worrying about what she would do. Anyway, as long as they manage to escort her to Carson City, their task would have been finished.
Rosen Empireâs territory was very large, and their population isnât small either. Therefore, there was no worry for Zhao Haiâs group in finding places to stay the night. Shue had spent time in the empire before, so Zhao Hai had him lead the way. They didnât hurry along, instead they moved slowly to better understand Rosen Empireâs situation.
At the same time, Zhao Hai was also very vigilant from the time they left Hundred Battles Fortress. They managed to offend those cavalries, so they shouldnât just allow Zhao Haiâs group to leave, more so Grand Duke Lionheart who was behind those cavalry.
Even though Zhao Hai hadnât met with Grand Duke Lionheart, he knew about the overbearing methods the Grand Duke usually used. Such overbearing person couldnât even tolerate disobedient subordinates, not to say Zhao Hai who slapped his face.
Furthermore, with Fuin and Zhao Hai showing their amicable relations, looking like long time friends. Lionheart would surely assume Zhao Hai to be Shelley Familyâs friend, exclusively helping Shelley Hotel. Looking at these facts, it was a definite fact that the Grand Duke will certainly find ways to deal with them.
After leaving Hundred Battles Fortress, Zhao Hai felt that the atmosphere wasnât quite right. The road from Hundred Battles Fortress to Carson City should be very busy at this time, but instead they couldnât see a single person, the scene closely resembled the Black Wastelands.
Zhao Hai knew that there were people who wanted to confront them. He just didnât think that they would go as far as emptying out the entire road just to deal with him. As long as one wasnât a complete idiot, it would be very clear as to why those people would do this.
Zhao Hai looked at the situation and immediately had Laura and the others enter the Space. At the same time he had Blockhead go on standby, he also had someone inform Ruyen of the situation. Ruyenâs group became very serious, they knew that their strengths fell short compared to Zhao Hai.
Two hours after leaving Hundred Battles fortress, they still didnât receive any attacks. Not only did they not receive any attacks, they also didnât meet a single person. This situation brought great pressure to the group. They were tense since they didnât know when the enemy would attack.
They still arenât that far from Kolan Mountain Range, so the area was still very hilly. Oftentimes, there would be two hills on both sides of the road. Although the hills werenât that high, the everpresent trees on the hills were tall and lush, which was a sufficient area to wait for an ambush.
Of the group, Ruyenâs guards were the most tensed while Zhao Hai fared better, he sat down inside his carriage gazing at the monitor. If there was to be an ambush nearby, he should be able to detect it.
After another two hours, he still didnât see a single person on the monitor. This made Zhao Hai confused, he didnât expect the other party to have this much patience. After more than two hours, they still managed to keep their hands.
But at this time, the monitor suddenly showed green spots. The green spots were very dense and seem to contain thousands of people. They were placed on the hills on both sides of the road.
Zhao Hai stared for a moment before he pulled the monitor closer. He saw that the other party was a Magic Beast Heavy Cavalry unit. They wore full body armor, carried a shield on their backs, had their greatswords on their sheaths as well as their spears. They were positioned on the slopes on the sides of the hills. It seemed that they were waiting at a distance for their exhausted prey to arrive.
The knights on the hillside didnât bother to hide themselves. They just stood there with their shining armors that Zhao Hai could see them easily. It seemed like they want to attack Zhao Haiâs group in a straightforward manner.
Seeing the situation, Zhao Hai immediately gave his ghost staff to a blood hawk and had it fly to the sky. He wanted to make sure that there werenât any other troops laying in ambush. If there werenât any, he could safely prepare his own counterattack.
The hawk flew at a large circle around their location and didnât spot any other ambush, only these cavalry. It seems like they had extreme confidence that they could kill Zhao Hai, so they didnât prepare any other ambush. This decision helped Zhao Hai since he didnât need to make any other complicated plans, he wanted to have his own Fighting Bull undead cavalry appear. With the upgrades they received, they could be considered as the most elite type of Magic Beast cavalry in the entire continent.