Chapter 339 – Retreating

Zhao Hai stood at the hotel’s lobby quietly. He didn’t expect the Shelley Hotel to be this protective even here. They really didn’t want to compromise the safety of their guests.

Zhao Hai took a deep breath and calmly headed outside. As he arrived at the door, he noticed at least more than a thousand cavalry soldiers outside, 2 meters away from the hotel’s perimeter. They wore fine steel full body armor, carrying a kite shield at their back, and had a sheathed double-handed broadsword on their waists. Additionally, they had knight’s spears inserted on their saddles, with a triangular flag accessory on the spearhead that looked eye catching when blown by the wind.

The horse that they rode in were also extraordinary. Although they were horses, all of them were nearly four meters tall with a pure black body. There were two curved long horns on their head as well as red eyes, they looked very terrifying.

Zhao Hai remembers that he had read about these kinds of magic beasts in the compendium. They were 5th rank horse-type magic beasts with a simple name, Devil Horses! They had the dark attribute, can be as tall as six meters, with high magic talent. They can cast blood magic’s ‘Siphon’, dark element spells ‘Weaken’, ‘Slow’, and ‘Confusion’, they’re very difficult to deal with.

Zhao Hai also noted the saddles the cavalry used, they were specially designed with two stirrups on both sides, allowing for easier mounting.

When the leading knight saw Zhao Hai, he didn’t take note of him. For the knight, Zhao Hai was just merely a tool used to cause trouble with Shelley Hotel. Even if Zhao Hai didn’t come today, they would still find trouble with the hotel.

In his mind, he didn’t have any beef with Zhao Hai, only with the hotel. He needed something or someone as an excuse, as to whoever they used, he didn’t care.

But he didn’t know that he just offended someone he shouldn’t. He thought that the other party as just a pawn that he could use casually and then discard at will. He didn’t expect that this piece he used today would be covered with thorns.

Zhao Hai looked at the knight and said, “I heard that you are looking for me? May I know why?”

The knight turned his head to Zhao Hai and demanded, “Wales, you’re suspected for being a spy, you’ll have to come with us.” The knight understood Shelley Hotel clearly. He knew that the hotel will not let him take their guests easily. As the matter stands, he has no way to trash the hotel, but the resident can be coaxed to leave.

Zhao Hai looked at the knight and smiled faintly, “I am an Aksu Empire noble, what evidence do you have to prove that I am indeed a spy? If you don’t have one, then I’ll assume that the Rosen Empire is insulting my Aksu Empire’s nobles. It will surely develop into a diplomatic dispute.”

The Knight didn’t care about Zhao Hai’s words, he shouted, “Don’t waste your breath, you’re in Rosen Empire so you’ll need to follow the customs of the empire. Obediently follow us, or else it would be messy.”

Just as the hotel attendant was about to say something. Zhao Hai’s face sank, “Sir Knight has such great courage, what a pity that you annoyed someone you shouldn’t annoy”. Upon hearing Zhao Hai’s words, the knight couldn’t help but stare at Zhao Hai. This was because he couldn’t see anything special in him.

At the same time, Zhao Hai waved his staff and one giant golem after another started to appear. In the end, there were more than 20 of them.

When the Knight saw what just happened, his complexion sank. He didn’t’ think that Zhao Hai was a mage, with a high rank at that. Being able to summon this many stone golems without muttering a spell was an amazing feat.

The Knight grabbed his spear and reached for his shield. At the same time he commanded, “Prepare to meet the enemy! Go backwards and prepare the formation.”

The knights behind him were obviously well-trained. They quickly prepared like the head knight and drove their mounts to slowly retreat. They slowly drew back and prepared for a sufficient distance for a charge. For heavy cavalry like them, the might of their charges were quite formidable. At minimum, their charge would be able penetrate at least five layers of infantry.

Zhao Hai waved his staff a second time and with a soft voice he said, “Bind!”. Strands of wind immediately wrapped around the mount’s legs, making them very sluggish. The Cavalry’s movements suddenly slowed considerably.

The head Knight’s face sank even more. He was a veteran soldier who had experienced a lot of battles. He knew that Zhao Hai just used wind element magic, making him a dual-element mage. No matter where they were, this was a type of person that a small knight like him can’t afford to offend.

Unfortunately for him, Zhao Hai’s spectacle hasn’t ended yet. Zhao Hai waved his staff a third time and said, “Engulf!”. The knights, who were slowly retreating, were suddenly surrounded by a huge fiery circle. The fires were roaring, were about a meter high, and seemed to get closer bit by bit, it looked extremely menacing.

Most magic Beasts, with the exception of those with fire attribute, were terrified of fire. When the fires came out, the knights’ mounts immediately felt hesitant. But since they were well trained mounts, they calmed down after a time of coaxing. However, the head knight’s complexion was extremely ugly, he knew that he just offended a tri-element mage.

Zhao Hai coldly looked at the Knight and in a deep voice he said, “Stop, if you dare move, I won’t be polite.”

The head knight knew that Zhao Hai was serious. If Zhao Hai really wanted to deal with them, he wouldn’t trap them here. He could just have the stone golems directly attack.

The Knight stopped and bowed to Zhao Hai, “We have offended mister, please forgive me. This time it was a misunderstanding, a false report might have been given. Please forgive us.”

Zhao Hai looked at the head knight, “Good, since you said so I wouldn’t hold you for much longer. I just don’t want to be disturbed again. You can go.” Then he waved his hand as the stone golems, binding spell, and the fiery circle vanished.

Seeing Zhao Hai retrieve his spells, the head knight could help but release a sigh of relief. He bowed to Zhao Hai and said, “I thank mister, myself and the others will now excuse ourselves.” He said as he gave a signal for the others to retreat.

Zhao Hai didn’t want to give these knights a heavy punishment. He was clear that he was currently inside Rosen Empire, and their status was that of Aksu Empire citizens. If they had a deep conflict with the knights, he feared that the Rosen Empire wouldn’t let him off lightly.

He also knew that the other party only came to cause trouble for the hotel and not to him. Naturally, the other party also wouldn’t want to offend a formidable Mage.

Looking at the retreating cavalry, the hotel manager immediately went to Zhao Hai and bowed, “Thanks a lot mister. It was our mistake to disturb mister’s rest, please let the payment for mister’s room be our apology.”

Zhao Hai showed a faint smile and said, “Manager doesn’t need to be too polite, me and your Shelley hotel could be said to have a little friendship. I had some dealings with Manager Illin from Sarte City, so we could say that I have some connections to the hotel.”

Hearing Zhao Hai, the manager couldn’t help but stare as though he remembered something. He immediately expressed his happiness and said, “So you were that Mister Wales, I had been very rude to mister, please forgive me.” Then he invited Zhao Hai back to the hotel.

After Zhao Hai had his meal, he was invited to the manager’s office and sat down. Upon sitting down, the manager immediately said, “Mister Wales, let me introduce myself. My name is Fuin, the manager for Hundred Battles Fortress’ Shelley Hotel. A few days ago, I had actually received a message from Illin saying that we had a cooperation with mister Wales. But since there were a lot of things currently going on in my branch, I didn’t manage to pay mister any attention, I ask mister to forgive me.”

Zhao Hai showed a faint smiled and said, “Manager Fuin shouldn’t’ be too polite. I only intend to pass through here, it’s no big deal, Manager doesn’t need to worry about it.”

Fuin smiled as he replied, “No matter what, we had been rude. Along with Illin’s message, he asked us to pay special attention to mister, he said that mister doesn’t need to pay as long as he stays at our hotels. I had been very busy lately so I didn’t notice mister’s arrival. In a sense, I had to thank those knights, or else I wouldn’t know that mister has arrived. Hehe. If I didn’t know, Illin would never forgive me for asking for mister’s money. He certainly wouldn’t let me off.”

Zhao Hai smiled, “Manager is too kind. We’re immediately heading to Carson City tomorrow, no need to trouble yourself.”

Fuin wore an apologetic face as he talked to Zhao Hai, “Mister Wales, I’m afraid that your travels this time would be a bit troublesome. A strong power inside the empire had been looking for trouble with us. This time, mister offended those knights, so they might retaliate. The person who wanted to get rid of us has a very high standing inside Rosen Empire. I fear that he wouldn’t just let mister off lightly, so he might bother mister quite often. I ask mister to forgive us.”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly, “You’re talking about Grand Duke Lionheart right? Be relieved, we’ve already mentally prepared ourselves. Nothing bad will happen to us, manager Fuin doesn’t need to worry too much. Right, manager, I have to go back and rest. We still need to leave tomorrow.” Then he stood up and left after assuring Fuin to not worry.

Fuin didn’t think that Zhao Hai would know that the person giving the hotel its troubles was Grand Duke Lionheart. Fuin felt the depth of Zhao Hai’s capabilities.

Fuin had known that Zhao Hai hadn’t visited Rosen Empire before. He just arrived at Hundred Battles Fortress for less than a day and immediately knew that Grand Duke Lionheart was the hotel’s rival? Did he have his own information agency inside Rosen Empire?

Fuin thought that the family needed to be informed about this. Their previous information regarding Wales was quite lacking. Zhao Hai’s origin was a mystery, but they were sure that him and Purcell Family had some sort of connection. But now it seemed that it wasn’t entirely like what it was. At the very least, Purcell Duchy’s arms shouldn’t be able to reach Rosen Empire.

Note: LoL. no information is safe when it comes to stealth assassins like Shun and Shue.

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