Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
All of the people around Allen laughed wildly, while Duke Tembor stepped on the letter that his master had written in his own hand. They all held their bellies and jeered at Allen.
Allen was furious. As he unsheathed his long sword, a white light flashed across Duke Tembor’s body. The marble floor was instantly split like tofu, a crack over ten meters in length opening on the ground.
The scene suddenly became silent, as Duke Tembor felt a chill creep upon him. He fell to the ground, unable to stand up for a long time. Several people immediately shouted in unison, “Protect the Duke!”
At that moment, a large number of soldiers rushed in and surrounded Allen. As they did so, Allen sheathed his sword inside its scabbard and exclaimed, “I am a Holy Knight of the Holy Seville Empire. As such, I represent not only the emperor, but also the gods! His highness obtains his powers from the gods. If you dare insult the authority of my king, you will be smited by the gods.”
Allen looked at the soldiers around him, then demanded, “What do you want to do? Do you want to fight the Holy Seville Empire? Hundreds of thousands of our troops are currently stationed in the northern border…”
At this time, Emperor Zolman II stood up and said, “Let it go.”
Duke Tembor stood up, stared at Allen, then finally said, “Return!”
Allen turned around and walked down the steps of the palace, surrounded by the elite knights. Later that same evening, Allen immediately took his elite guards and fled the city before the gate closed.
——————
Dark days followed, as the capital was barraged with wet weather. It drizzled for several days. Amid the deluge, a merchant caravan with a rose insignia approached the city.
The caravan was quite large, and upon entering the city, it went directly to a dilapidated old castle in the south district. This castle was originally the ancestral home of an old noble family.
The home had been sold to the merchants after the family had fallen on hard times, and had thus become their main base ever since. There were many elderly and women taking care of it, while the men conducted business outside.
A large number of armed young men immediately unloaded the caravan’s goods and entered the castle. The entire caravan held nearly 100 people in it. As it was such a large envoy, men and women of all ages came to watch.
“Be careful to not let it get wet, you little daredevils! These goods are worth more than ten of your lives!”
“Hey you! Be careful!”
Among the shouts of the caravan’s workers, Lu Zhiyu found the leader of the merchants. He was a large man, who looked somewhat shifty.
His image did not fit the impression given off by the team’s rose insignia. However, when Lu Zhiyu handed him a letter and a few gold coins, he smiled and agreed to let them accompany the caravan.
Lu Zhiyu’s goal was to travel to the desert empire Batko, while observing the local customs along the way. He also wanted to let Eva gain actual experience beyond the textbook knowledge in her head.
Lu Zhiyu thought that this would be more conducive for the development of Eva’s wisdom and education. Currently, although she was quite intelligent, Eva had a tendency to do some very stupid things because of her lack of common sense.
“You must travel around and gain more life experience to become wiser! That’s what I did with Verthandi, and she became the emperor of the Holy Seville Empire!” Lu Zhiyu said to Eva.
The leader of the merchants, after agreeing to allow the pair to join them, said with a wide grin, “We will leave in three days. Come over before dawn, and I will arrange a carriage for you, with two meals per day.”
The leader of merchants looked Lu Zhiyu up and down, then commented, “You look like a nobleman or scholar. Why are you going to the Batko Empire? I can tell you this will be a hard and dangerous journey, and it is definitely no place for someone delicate to fool around.”
Lu Zhiyu laughed. “I am a scholar. I want to go to the Batko Empire to learn about the culture and customs of its people, then bring what I learn back to share with everyone. Also, since I am an awakened Blood Knight, I think I’ll be able to help you.”
The owner’s face brightened immediately upon hearing this. He then said, “That’s even better! You are welcome to join our Rosa Bianca Caravan. Our merchants are very powerful, as our team belongs to the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro. As such, we can definitely give you a great experience!”
Lu Zhiyu took a closer look at the logo on the carriage, seeing the insignia of the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro. But, after looking around, all he saw were elderly and weak people, as well as a few guards who had undergone only basic training. Although there were many merchants, there was not a single person that had awakened bloodline abilities. Many thoughts began to run through his mind at that moment…
How could such an insignificant merchant team be related to the Rosa d’Oro royal family?
The leader of the Rosa Bianca merchants did not tell me the full truth, but it doesn’t seem to be a complete scam either…
Apparently, their merchants had no direct relations with the royal family of the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro. Instead, it was a small team that was operating under the umbrella of the actual Rosa d’Oro royal caravan that had gotten affiliated to the actual team after paying a lump of money. As such, it was not weak, but it was also worlds away from being the actual Rosa d’Oro caravan!
Although their use of the Rosa d’Oro royal flag was a flagrant violation of the rules, the insignia was really useful. In many places, no one dared to offend the royal family of the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro, so it saved them a lot of money and also protected them from many dangers.
Lu Zhiyu had trouble wrapping his mind around the thought that this unreliable looking caravan wanted to challenge the Gold Route, even though the leader of the caravan had apparently once led other merchants through the Sea of Death. Now, he was mustering up his courage to lead his own little team to brave the road to gold and fortune!
Despite his past experience, Lu Zhiyu knew that the man had drastically underestimated the dangers of the Gold Route. After all, just being familiar with the route was not enough, as the dangers and the sandstorms in the Sea of Death were things with which small caravans could not cope.
Lu Zhiyu had not imagined that the team that he had just found would be inexperienced, this being their first time braving the route. It was for this reason that he was almost certain that, once the team set out, they would be destined for complete annihilation in the Sea of Death…
Lu Zhiyu looked at the large number of the old and weak, who were now living in the dilapidated castle, then turned to look at the sly but well-intentioned big man in front of him. Despite his many misgivings, he agreed to travel with them anyway.
“Do not worry, we will protect you and your little girl. Our merchants are the best in the industry!” The leader confidently patted Lu Zhiyu’s shoulder.
Lu Zhiyu couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, I believe you.”
As he was leaving, Lu Zhiyu suddenly remembered something and said, “If you trust my words, then you should try to return the elderly and the very young in this castle back to the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro.”
“Why?” The leader asked, puzzled.
Lu Zhiyu replied, “A war between the orcs and the humans is likely to erupt soon!”
The man immediately frowned. “Even if there was a war, it would not spread here. After all, this is the imperial capital of the Crete Empire, its most impregnable city!”
Lu Zhiyu said no more, only nodded. He then turned around and left, Eva following close behind him.
The brow of the merchant furrowed, as he contemplated Lu Zhiyu’s words for a long time. For some reason, Lu Zhiyu was very convincing and had gained his trust easily. Due to the recent state of affairs in the city, as well as some bad news that he had received, the merchant leader began to also have some doubts…