Chapter 141: Irreversible Changes
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Anfey, Suzanna and Black Eleven stood side by side with a lush valley in front of them. They watched the camp in the distance and lost themselves in thought. In the past few days, they had not gone back to the wagon route. Instead, they stayed behind to look for the trace of their enemies. It had been five days, but they had not found anything yet.
Time did not allow them to look for enemies anymore. Black Eleven received new information. Maybe it was because the commander of Roaring Dead Legion did not know Yolanthe had not died yet. He acted very cautiously. He was different than those war maniacs. He did not attack the Shansa Empire military. Instead, he led the Roaring Dead Legion in a quiet retreat to the Maho Empire. Even though he tried to keep his moves secret, they were noticed. After this message was spread, Maho Empire was shocked. The upper cla.s.ses in Ellisen Empire and Shansa Empire got into a long and intense disagreement over it.
When things had already gone so far, everyone knew the intention of Baery. Yolanthe had died so Roaring Dead Legion became Baery’s legion. He could use Roaring Dead Legion as a bargaining chip. No matter which prince he would support, he would play an important role. The three princesses of Maho Empire who hid themselves in their own fiefdoms should be counted out. The eldest prince, Webster, only had Miorich on his side. Compared with Granden, who had control over the North Line military, Miorich seemed to be a lot weaker. If Webster could get Baery’s support, he could be on par with Granden. On the other hand, if Granden had Baery’s support, Webster had better choose to give up his power and leave Sacred City, or flee to another county, or hide in remote areas to survive.
The upper cla.s.ses in Ellisen Empire and Shansa Empre were quite happy. They understood Baery’s situation. It was all because Yolanthe died at a wrong time.
Royalty had absolute control over militaries, whether or not Yolanthe had died. If there were anyone who could legally succeed to the throne after Yolanhe in Maho Empire, Baery would not be able to have total control over Roaring Dead Legion. In other words, the upper cla.s.ses in Ellisen Empire and Shansa Empre had predicted they were going to have a perfect opportunity to attack Maho Empire: not only because of the death of Yolanthe, but also because the situation in Maho Empire was turbulent and showed many conflicts inside.
In this situation, Newyoheim and Jerrofick in Ellisen Empire finally became allies. They lead Dark Moon Magic Legion and Storm Legion and launched a fierce attack. They had fought with all kinds of temptation before because they did not know what Roaring Dead Legion would do to them. For exactly the same reason, Yolanthe had been cautious of making moves on Dark Moon Magic Legion. The upper cla.s.s in Ellisen Empire was also careful about Roaring Dead Legion. Maho Empire had played their last card. Therefore, there was nothing to hold them back. They would not wait to attack, in case Maho Empire got stronger.
Shansa Empire stopped worrying and reduced the number of their soldiers at other areas to allow their main force to attack Blackania City. Blackania City had already been in danger. Webster was in charge of the Sacred City military for the time being. When he saw this situation, he had to put aside what was between the brothers and ask Miorich to lead Sacred City Palace bodyguards to the aid of Blackania City.
Maho Empire still had a very strong military power, but the upper cla.s.ses in Ellisen Empire and Shansa Empire both felt relieved. Roaring Dead Legion was the last card that Maho Empire could play. When they had to use Sacred City Palace bodyguards as military, it only proved that Maho Empire had come to a point that they had nothing else left to defend themselves. It also proved Baery’s indecisive att.i.tude. If he had put the country as his priority, he would not just stand and see Webster using Sacred City Palace bodyguards as military.
The eldest prince, Webster used Sacred City Palace bodyguards as a signal to tell other countries that he was ready for the fight more than he was fighting for his country. It was harsh to make this judgement, but the fact was obviously showing though.
The situation was clear to everyone. If Webster wanted to help Blackania City, he had to cut off the supplies from Shansa Empire. First, though, he had to wipe out Griffin Aerial Unit to cut off the supplies from Shansa Empire. Black Eleven was worried. Anfey, Suzanna and Black Eleven decided to stop looking for Evil Mist out of concern for time.
Hengduan Mountain Range appeared straight ahead them. The Hengduan Valley was nestled in the hills. To the left, towards the southeast, was the Town of Moramatch. To the right, towards the southwest, was the Forest of Death. The wagon route had reached this crossing, which led to three different areas.
Anfey understood why Black Eleven looked so weird after he heard the name of Moramatch. Moramatch was not a deserted area. It was said that there were many intelligent beings living there. The reason to call them intelligent beings was there were all kinds of tribes, but no human beings.
Suzanna had foreseen that Christian would lose a lot of money on the deal. She predicted that they would not be able to collect more than one hundred gold coins in taxes. The reality was Suzanna was even too optimistic about it. They would not even collect one gold coin. The intelligent beings did not want to follow human beings’ lead. The Band of Brothers mercenary groups had sent mercenaries to put down the uprising several times, but the dwarves and gnomes had allied and worked together, overcoming their race problem. They dug underground tunnels in Moramatch. There were many connected tunnels, which looked like a spider web. When mercenaries came, they would hide in the underground tunnels and looked for opportunity to attack human beings in surprise. When mercenaries left, they would come out from the underground tunnel to enjoy their peaceful life. They simply played guerrilla.
Of course, human beings were still dominant on Pan Continent. The reason those intelligent lives were safe in Moramatch was they were useless. If they were protecting a treasure left by a gigantic dragon, the mercenaries would rush to Moramatch and crush them like bugs. Even if they could dig ten or a hundred times more underground tunnels, they could not escape from human beings’ hunting.
If Chuang Tzu were here, he would brag about his philosophy and stress the universal truth about "the use of useless".
"Anfey, are we going to the Hengduan Mountain Range or Town of Moramatch?" Black Eleven asked in a low voice.
"Let’s go to Moramatch first. We will decide after your people bring us more updates," Anfey said.
"Ok." Black Eleven nodded. "But we’d better get ready for battles, since it was not that easy to enter the town of Moramatch."
"It gives me a headache." Anfey heaved a slight sigh. "It’s better not have any blood in any battle."
"No blood? It does not sound like you." Black Eleven smiled.
"If there is any way we could have them gather in the town to welcome us, I do not mind even using a Flash Series Scroll." Anfey gave a weak smile. "I am just concerned they would cause trouble for us after any b.l.o.o.d.y fight."
"Flash Series Scroll is very precious." Black Eleven smiled bitterly. He found he had lived like a kid compared with Anfey. "Don’t waste it. Are the scrolls you have collected by Master Saul? You are so…"
"Do we have any other ways to avoid the b.l.o.o.d.y fights?" Anfey asked slowly. "They could not feed themselves, could they? They need to purchase many of life’s necessities outside of Moramatch. Can we do any business with them?" Anfey asked.
"They are hostile towards human beings, so they are very cautious when they deal with humans. They were slaves or entertainment for humans before. They risked their lives to flee here." Black Eleven shook his head. "They only do business with certain merchant caravans and merchants."
"We can give them a lower price. It should be attempting to them," Anfey said.
"It was not tempting enough." Black Eleven smiled. "If they rob us, they would not need to pay even a bronze coin."
"F*ck!" Anfey could not help cursing. "Do they dare?"
"They have done it many times to others," Black Eleven answered.
"What if we use Earthquake Magic? Could we destruct their underground tunnels?" Anfey started to look for alternatives to fight these intellectual beings.
"No, the tunnels dwarves dug were several miles or even more than ten miles deep underground. Unless it was Earth Series Magic, others would not be too helpful," Black Eleven said.
"What if we use Water Series Magic? If we flood their tunnel, would they drown?" Anfey asked.
"Underground tunnels are like cities for dwarves and gnomes. They connect the tunnels with the rivers. It is not possible to drown them. In addition, we do not have enough mages to gather that many water elements."
"Never mind then. We will know when the time comes." Anfey shook his head. "I will give them an olive branch and have them choose their own fate."
"What is an olive branch?" Suzanna asked in low pitch.
"It’s a symbol for peace." Anfey smiled. "Ok. Let’s go."
In the camp, Christian was instructing others how to build tents. Seeing Anfey finally show up, he looked happy. Everyone else seemed to feel relieved as well. They knew they were being stalked. Christian did not try to hide it from them. Seeing Anfey, Suzanna and Black Eleven back, it meant the enemies were taken care of.
Girls were stilling chatting and singing. Some were fooling around, some were helping with ch.o.r.es. The saying "ignorance is bliss" made some sense. Even if the sky had fallen, the bigger and stronger men had to hold it for others. The girls had been care free.
"Christian, you must have been really busy when I was not here," Anfey looked around the camp as he commented.
Christian was shocked for a second before he heaved a long sigh. "Come on, Anfey, You never took care of these things even when you were in the camp. I have been doing it no matter whether you are here or not. There is no difference with or without you."
"You are too honest." Anfey gave Christian a smile. It was generally hard for people to notice any changes in themselves, and Anfey was no different. He did not realize he was getting more outgoing.
"You are so boring." Christian rolled his eyes at Anfey and then he looked concerned. "Did you get hurt? Is everything ok?"
"Yes, Anfey killed a senior swordsman by himself." Suzanna was bragging about Anfey’s success. She looked happier than if she could kill a senior swordsman herself.
"Really?" Christian was startled.