Actually, Zhao Hai deliberately mentioned Grand Duke Lionheart to Fuin. He wanted to make Fuin think that he's not clueless about everything, making his image in Fuin's mind a bit blurry. It's 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 wouldn't be underestimated.
When he returned to his room, Zhao Hai was met by a frowning Laura, "Brother Hai, although we made the cavalry retreat, it's possible that they wouldn't just let us off lightly. We need to make proper preparations just in case."
Zhao Hai showed a faint smile and said, "Of course they wouldn't just leave it like that. Even if the cavalry is fine with us, the Grand Duke wouldn't, 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 wouldn't just sit still. But as long as he doesn't use official means to deal with us, I'm not afraid of him."
Laura continued to frown, "You also intentionally told Fuin the fact that we're on the same side as the Shelley Family. Even though Lionheart didn't have an initial intention to give us trouble, now he really had to, forcing us to fully side with Shelley Family."
Zhao Hai smiled, "Actually this isn't a bad thing, we didn't need to befriend the Grand Duke anyway. Moreover, the methods he works with were extremely overbearing, I don't 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."
Laura relaxed when she heard Zhao Hai's intentions, but she still couldn't help but worry, "But 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?"
Zhao Hai smiled faintly as he replied, "Right now, we're currently gambling that Shelley Family would win. If they did, our cooperation with them will advance further. And if they lose, it doesn't matter to us, don't forget that we're headed towards Sky Water City. We can rely on our connection with the Calci Family as fellow members of the league. And with Bell's introduction, the Calci Family would certainly act as middlemen in the conflict, I don't think Grand Duke will overreach his bounds just for us."
Laura saw that Zhao Hai had already thought this through, she nodded and said, "What about Ruyen? If the Grand Duke couldn't deal with us, wouldn't he cause trouble for Ruyen?"
Zhao Hai nodded, "It's possible, but no matter what, Ruyen is the Purcell Duchy's princess. Moreover, she came this time to study. I heard that Rosen Empire's institute holds a high standing inside the nation, I think Ruyen will be fine."
Laura nodded. Even though she didn't like Ruyen, she still needs to consider Evan, thus they just can't ignore Ruyen's well-being.
Although Zhao Hai has stated his speculations, Laura was still worried, "What if they cause trouble inside the institute? She's still a young lady unfamiliar with her surroundings and needs help. I'm afraid that she wouldn't be able to find help when she wants to. If something were to happen to her, we wouldn't be able to face Grand Duke Evan."
Zhao Hai sighed, "We really can't 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 Evan's purpose would have failed."
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 there's no difference between having her in Casa City or Carson City.
That night, Zhao Hai's surroundings were very calm. The cavalry didn't find any more trouble with them. But now, every merchant inside Hundred Battles fortress have at least heard of Zhao Hai's name. When they were inside Lifeline Canyon, they already knew that Zhao Hai was a 7th rank Fire element Mage. But they didn't think that Zhao Hai's 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 didn't know that these forces had already began to pay attention to him. He thought that he didn't merit such huge attention. The next morning, the group had their breakfast, and under Fuin's 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 wasn't 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 Empire's territory was very large, and their population isn't small either. Therefore, there was no worry for Zhao Hai's 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 didn't hurry along, instead they moved slowly to better understand Rosen Empire's 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 shouldn't just allow Zhao Hai's group to leave, more so Grand Duke Lionheart who was behind those cavalry.
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Even though Zhao Hai hadn't met with Grand Duke Lionheart, he knew about the overbearing methods the Grand Duke usually used. Such overbearing person couldn't 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 Family's 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 wasn't quite right. The road from Hundred Battles Fortress to Carson City should be very busy at this time, but instead they couldn't 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 didn't think that they would go as far as emptying out the entire road just to deal with him. As long as one wasn't 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. Ruyen's group became very serious, they knew that their strengths fell short compared to Zhao Hai.
Two hours after leaving Hundred Battles fortress, they still didn't receive any attacks. Not only did they not receive any attacks, they also didn't meet a single person. This situation brought great pressure to the group. They were tense since they didn't know when the enemy would attack.
They still aren't 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 weren't 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, Ruyen's 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 didn't see a single person on the monitor. This made Zhao Hai confused, he didn't 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 didn't 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 Hai's 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 weren't any other troops laying in ambush. If there weren't any, he could safely prepare his own counterattack.
The hawk flew at a large circle around their location and didn't spot any other ambush, only these cavalry. It seems like they had extreme confidence that they could kill Zhao Hai, so they didn't prepare any other ambush. This decision helped Zhao Hai since he didn't 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.