Chapter 317 – Mask and Status
Divergent Ability? So it’s surprisingly a Divergent Ability! No wonder.” Evan looked at Zhao Hai with a complex expression. “Good, a Divergent Ability is good. With this ability, I won’t need to be worried about you. Right, Little Hai, where are you living right now? Why do you have so much grain?”
Zhao Hai was embarra.s.sed, “This, I must apologize to Uncle. I cannot tell you this.”
Evan stared at Zhao Hai, then he sighed, “Alright, you don’t need to tell me, I won’t ask anymore. But your current disguise isn’t enough, there would be some people who could recognize you. Right, you wait here first, I’ll come back in a bit.” Evan said as he left the study.
Zhao Hai and Laura looked at each other, then they sighed, Zhao Hai shook his head, “It looks like we overestimated our disguise, to think that we would be recognized this early.”
Laura just forced a smile, “I didn’t think that Uncle Evan would have such sharp eyes. Brother Hai, why did you think Uncle Evan had us wait here?”
Zhao Hai just shook his head “Forget it, let’s just see what Uncle Evan is up to, I don’t think he would harm us. Let’s just wait and see what he wants to do.”
Laura nodded, at this time, the study’s door opened as Evan entered. In his hands were boxes as well as a stack of papers.
Evan went towards Zhao Hai and said, “Little Hai, before, Uncle didn’t have the ability to help you. But now I do, but since I cannot just aid you in front of the clan, Uncle just had these things prepared for you. In these boxes are three magical Elven masks, when used, you won’t need to worry about your disguise being discovered. And written on these papers are ent.i.tlement rights. Although it only gave the status of a Viscount, it’s already enough to travel outside with. I already prepared this for a loyal servant of mine, so I just slightly changed the name and age so when you use this later on, you won’t need to be extra careful.”
After finished speaking, he placed the items on the table. The boxes were opened, inside were three thin silk masks, each one had mystical symbols in them.
The papers were used to prove a Viscount’s ident.i.ty, there was also an ill.u.s.tration on the paper, which was naturally the Viscount’s family insignia.
Evan was Purcell Duchy’s Grand Duke. According to the empire’s law, he has the authority to bestow t.i.tles. But he cannot bestow the t.i.tle of a count, he could only bestow the status of Viscounts or Barons, t.i.tles for Lords.
Zhao Hai didn’t expect that Evan would provide them with these things, especially the mask, which they needed the most.
The Elven mask, as the name suggests, was a mask made by the Elven race. The way these masks were made are unknown and had to do with the Elves’ secret methods. When worn on a person’s face, it would meld together with their skin. The person wearing it won’t need to remove the mask when he wants to wash his face or do other things. The mask had the ability to change its form. It can turn into five different faces and did not need any magic to activate. It only needed to be worn on your face to work.
Of course, this item isn’t readily available. In the continent, only great families would have them, but the quant.i.ty wouldn’t be that many. Only through a fortuitous encounter did the Purcell Clan manage to obtain these three masks.
Additionally, the Viscount t.i.tle is as equally important to Zhao Hai. Now that Zhao Hai’s Buda Clan status, and Laura’s Markey family status cannot be used, they could only use Zhao Hai’s status as a Mage. Because this ident.i.ty didn’t have any official status, there were little things that they could do while moving around.
But having this Viscount t.i.tle would change everything. Although a Viscount is only a low level status among the aristocracy, it would allow Zhao Hai to move around without attracting suspicion. Some merchants from other countries would find ways to obtain a low aristocratic status like a Viscount or Baron to be able to move around in the continent. Although these ranks were low, they were still recognized all throughout the continent. Having these t.i.tles makes it more convenient to move around.
From what Evan sees, Zhao Hai would travel the continent with the status of a merchant. So he gave Zhao Hai this t.i.tle of Viscount, and as he said, he already had this status prepared for a loyal servant, so as long as he changed the age, it would be fine.
This matter is very common in the continent, all n.o.ble families would select a loyal servant and bestow them a t.i.tle. Then they would have the servant help in managing the matters of the house, not only could this increase the strength of the family, it would also attract some people over.
Evan prepares these kinds of papers every year. The papers that he took out were already prepared a long time ago, he just changed the name and age. Zhao Hai can immediately take these to use, his name would be Wales who was 20 years old.
Looking at the items in the table, Zhao Hai cannot help but feel a deep grat.i.tude towards Evan. Just like Evan said, even though he could help Zhao Hai now, these items were the extent that he could do so. Evan was the Purcell Family’s head, he held great power, but he needed to consider the clan if he wanted to help Zhao Hai. Evan must make his decisions in accordance to the current situation, after all, he held the entire family on his back.
Zhao Hai was moved by Evan’s actions, “I have to thank Uncle Evan for these items. These are very important to me. I’ll have you know that with my present situation, I cannot just show myself inside Aksu Empire, thus I want to head to Rosen Empire and take a look if there are good things there.”
Evan thought for a moment then said, “Good, Rosen Empire is good, Although the situation in the Rosen Empire is complicated, there are big opportunities waiting there. Moreover, compared to Aksu Empire, trade is very lucrative there. Whatever you sell won’t attract suspicions. Unfortunately, I have no friends in Carson City, thus I cannot help you in that regard.”
Zhao Hai smiled, “Uncle has already helped me a lot. Uncle, I have something to give you.” After he said that, he flashed his hand as a s.p.a.ce bag appeared. He gave the s.p.a.ce bag to Evan and said, “Uncle Evan, this is a s.p.a.ce bag, it has ten cubic meters of s.p.a.ce in it. I’ll gift this to you.”
Evan was stunned, he knew that the Buda clan didn’t have any s.p.a.ce items. And now that Zhao Hai gave him a s.p.a.ce item, if he didn’t confirm that the one sitting in front of him was Adam, he thought that he would have made a mistake.
However, Evan didn’t become polite. He nodded and received the s.p.a.ce bag and said, “Are you really headed to Iksa Territory? What are you doing there?”
Zhao Hai smiled and replied, “When I was conducting business in the prairie, I met Bell and discussed business with him. This time I want to discuss the cooperation with him.”
Evan frowned, “Bell? Why would you cooperate with that person? This guy is not a good partner, Laura, what’s going on? Adam, no, Little Hai, is it because you didn’t know what kind of person this Bell is?”
Laura smiled, “Be relieved, Uncle Evan, I know exactly what kind of person Bell is. But our cooperation is just selling him things and nothing else. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
Evan nodded, “I just want you to be careful of Bell. Right, this time, Shue’s ident.i.ty was exposed, won’t this bring trouble? How are you going to deal with this?”
Zhao Hai told Evan his solution. Evan agreed, “Good, let’s do it according to your plans. Tomorrow, I’ll release information that you are a magician who was conducting business in the prairie. When Shue was injured, he went towards the prairie and was saved by you. You came to the mansion this time to ask a t.i.tle from me. What do you think?”
Zhao Hai thought for a moment and said, “Won’t this make people suspect my ident.i.ty? After all, Dark Mage Zhao Hai had worked with you in the past. If at this time, I suddenly worked with you, won’t the people be suspicious?”
Evan smiled and replied, “They won’t, don’t worry, every year there would be people I would make deals with, no one would suspect this time. Right, this time you’re heading to Rosen Empire’s Carson City, Ruyen was also coincidentally heading there. Let her follow you along the way, help me take care of her.” There was a sly smile on Evan’s face as he said that.
Zhao Hai and Laura were stunned. Zhao Hai worriedly scratched his head, “Uncle Evan, I have to remind you that I am engaged now. I have two fiancees, one is Laura and the other is Meg. Moreover, I already renounced my engagement with Ruyen.”
Evan just smiled bitterly and replied, “I know that you don’t want to marry Ruyen, she simply isn’t a match for you. But Little Hai, me having Ruyen follow you is also good. She could be a cover for your ident.i.ty, many people would think that I gave you your t.i.tle because of your connection with Ruyen. This way, your t.i.tle would have some sort of justification.”
Evan was aware as to what kind of person Ruyen is, the entire Duchy knows. Laura had stayed in the Duchy for a long time so it’s impossible for her to not be aware. And now, with Zhao Hai’s capability, as well as having fiancee like Laura by his side, what qualifications did Ruyen have to marry him?
Thinking about these made Evan sigh. Before, Zhao Hai was a spoiled brat, but with his present appearance, he had changed completely and became a talented person who could take care of important matters. But now that Ruyen turned into her current image, Evan couldn’t help but feel sad.
Seeing that Evan wanted to insist, Zhao Hai felt it wouldn’t be good to decline. He just nodded and said, “Alright, but since we’ll wear the mask tomorrow, wouldn’t Ruyen not recognize me?”
Evan smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell Ruyen.”