Ruyen frowned and murmured, "Dark magic, Wales, Prairie, what do these three have to do with each other?"
Jill's heart jumped, he looked at Ruyen and said, "Your highness, there's a relation! It's possible that they have a connection with each other, Zhao Hai!"
Ruyen froze, she was startled, she turned to Jill and said, "You're talking about Zhao Hai of Stony Mountain? I heard that he's a Dark Mage, and he likes to turn people into undead."
Jill nodded, "Correct. Think about it, your highness, Wales knows Dark element magic, and he wasn't well known before he came from the prairie. Initially, I heard that when Zhao Hai and Laura withdrew, they bought a lot of things that beastmen may need, so they must have went to the prairie to do business. Moreover, after our conflict, the Grand Duke welcomed them inside the mansion as well as gave them a title. This explains that the Grand Duke already knew him from before. So wouldn't it be likely that Wales is actually Zhao Hai?"
When Ruyen heard Jill's words, her complexion immediately paled. Zhao Hai's reputation was quite infamous inside Purcell Duchy. Since she also resides inside the Duchy, Ruyen knew that Zhao Hai had killed no less than a thousand people and also turned them into undead. She couldn't help but get afraid.
Ruyen suddenly thought about the fairly tall woman on Zhao Hai's side who always gave her a familiar feeling. Adding on to the fact that Zhao Hai treated the women on his side quite differently than what other aristocrats would do, Ruyen was almost certain that the tall maid was Laura.
Ruyen stood up and murmured while walking around, "So it turns out to be them. No wonder, no wonder they weren't afraid of the 5,000 heavy cavalry. This Zhao Hai is too tyrannical, why would father want me to travel together with him?
Jill looked at Ruyen and said, "Your highness, I think that the Grand Duke knew that Zhao hai wanted to Rosen Empire for business to he asked him to take care of us along the way. Your highness wouldn't need to worry."
Jill and Ruyen were quite different in their view of Zhao Hai. Unlike Ruyen, Jill wasn't afraid of him, this was because he heard that Zhao Hai wouldn't just kill anyone indiscriminately. The people he killed were only those who wanted to kill him. And when the Purcell Duchy experienced food shortage, the provided them with help. Such person was unlikely to be a bad human being.
He also knew why Ruyen was afraid, Ruyen previously caused Zhao Hai no small amount of trouble and was afraid that the other party would retaliate against her. Jill wasn't worried, Zhao Hai honored Grand Duke Evans face, so nothing would happen. But if Ruyen offends him again, it would be difficult to say. Dark Mages were notoriously moody, which explains Ruyen's current fear of offending Zhao Hai.
Ruyen stopped her footsteps and said, "Seems like father really wanted me to travel with this devil, what was he thinking. We need to arrive at Carson City as soon as possible, I don't want to become an undead. You go rest, tomorrow we need to hurry along." Jill and Gonza complied, then turned around to leave.
Ruyen was just lying down without sleep until morning came. To be honest, she was absolutely terrified of Zhao Hai. Although she didn't believe all the rumors inside Purcell Duchy, she knew that it was possible that the family once wanted to deal with Zhao Hai. At that time, it was her grandfather who still held power, and she was clear about Zhao Hai's matters. She knew that whoever crosses Zhao Hai wouldn't come back alive. She knew how Zhao Hai deals with his enemies.
Just like what Jill thought, Ruyen was afraid of Zhao Hai's retaliation. She knew that she caused quite the trouble for Zhao Hai before.
Originally, Ruyen wanted to wait until she arrived at Carson City to deal with Zhao Hai. She wasn't stupid, she knew that it was her first time outside, so she decided to just cooperate with Zhao Hai. But now it was different, now that she knew who this Mister Wales really was, she immediately decided to head out.
Ruyen didn't think of exposing Zhao Hai's identity. It may have been useful inside Aksu Empire, because she knew that Zhao Hai retreated because he had offended Southern King. But they were currently inside Rosen Empire, even though Southern King had a good grip inside Aksu Empire, he wouldn't be able to make his moves inside Rosen Empire. If she exposes Zhao Hai's identity now, not only would it be useless, it would also prompt Zhao Hai to deal with her.
Zhao Hai didn't feel anything about what happened today. Although they had eliminated 5,000 armored cavalry, such scenes were already quite familiar to him. It may lead to Lionheart's family wanting to take revenge, but they were not afraid of Lionheart. After all, after the 5,000 cavalry were eliminated, there were no bodies left behind. Zhao Hai believed that the other party couldn't use official means to deal with them. Thus, Zhao Hai wasn't worrying.
The next morning, Zhao Hai's convoy began moving along after they had breakfast. Today was very different than yesterday, the road wasn't empty like before, they could actually see other people as they pass by. This made them feel relieved.
While Zhao Hai's group was calm, Hundred Battles Fortress wasn't. Although Hundred Battles Fortress wasn't under Lionheart's control. With his status as a noble with huge potential, people inside the fortress would be more than willing to lend him a hand and deal with the people inside Shelley Hotel. Moreover, Grand Duke Lionheart wasn't stingy with those who helped him. For the garrison troops inside Hundred Battles Fortress, helping the Grand Duke was the same as having him owing them a favor. With such a situation, the garrison would find various reasons to mess with Shelley Hotel.
However, they didn't expect to annoy a 7th rank tri-element mage this time. This was not any small matter.
But later on, they heard that Zhao Hai seemed to be very familiar with Shelley Hotel's staff, which made the garrison furious. Just like what Zhao Hai hypothesized, the garrison troops thought that Zhao Hai was specially invited by the hotel to slap their faces. After further inquiry, they found out that Zhao Hai was leaving Hundred Battles Fortress tomorrow and will head towards Carson City. So the troops decided to attack Zhao Hai midway.
However, evening had already passed and the cavalry still didn't return. When they sent some scouts to investigate, they saw that even though they could see some tracks, the cavalry seemed to suddenly vanish.
Five thousand heavy cavalry wasn't a small number. Even the garrison lord of Hundred Battles Fortress didn't have the authority to move 5,000 cavalry during wartime. But this time a unit actually disappeared, it was a disaster.
The garrison troops inside the fortress panicked. It would be possible for 5,000 troops for any other place to get transferred, but what was this place? This was Hundred Battles Fortress, the empire's forefront against Aksu Empire. Rosen Empire already commanded that If someone dared transfer even ten troops outside this fortress, they would be beheaded!
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If you were beheaded when you transfer ten troops, then what would happen if you managed to make 5,000 cavalry disappear? How would you manage it? The garrison lord of Hundred Battles Fortress could already see his tragic ending.
The matter of 5,000 soldiers suddenly disappearing couldn't be hidden. Even if some people were to conceal the truth, there were still people with methods of finding out. The first to do so was Shelley Family.
This matter will certainly be used by Shelley Family against Grand Duke Lionheart. Since the garrison lord knew that it wouldn't be possible for him to survive, he wrote a letter to Grand Duke Lionheart so that he could better prepare, he also requested the Grand Duke to help him take care of his family.
Hundred Battles Fortress' garrison lord was currently alone, so after completing the letter, he had it sent away to the capital, then he committed suicide inside the Lord's Mansion.
The family members of the garrison lord were currently residing inside Carson City. It was a rule made by the empire that every garrison lord of Hundred Battles Fortress must leave his family inside Carson City. This was so that the garrison lords wouldn't even think about revolt and allying with Aksu Empire.
Shelley Family naturally didn't let go of this opportunity, after Fuin heard about the matter, he immediately wrote a letter informing the family, but they were already a step too late. Because of the garrison lord's letter claiming all of the faults, as well as Grand Duke Lionheart's influence inside Rosen Empire, the matter didn't nudge the Grand Duke's power.
Still, Shelley Family was very grateful to Zhao Hai. They knew that the missing 5,000 cavalry was related to him. Although they didn't believe that Zhao Hai could deal with 5,000 calvary, they knew where the 5,000 was headed, which was towards Zhao Hai. So Shelley Family began preparing to send people to protect him.
Zhao Hai didn't know about any of these. The convoy was still moving slowly on the road and stopped to rest during the evenings, there wasn't any point of peculiarity.
However, Zhao Hai noticed an issue with Ruyen's convoy. Although the two departed at the same time, the other party seemed to put a lot more distance between the two of them. Zhao Hai was very confused as to what Ruyen was doing.
During the evening, Ruyen appeared very solemn. And she surprisingly chose not to eat at the dining hall but instead she had the hotel deliver her meals to her suite. She looked like she was hiding from Zhao Hai.
After Zhao Hai and his group had eaten their meals, he looked at Laura and asked, "If you say that Ruyen was still angry, then why did she seem to be running away from us?"
Laura coldly snorted, "Maybe it's because she didn't want to be implicated. After all, people wanted to deal with us because of our connection with Shelley Family. She might be afraid being associated with us, so she just hid."
Zhao Hai said, "Will it? Grand Duke Lionheart surely knows that she traveled with us. Wouldn't her efforts to hide be futile?"
Laura sneered, "Who knows, maybe the young lady thinks like that."