Chapter 372 – Shock
Regarding Zhao Hai being a Divergent Mage, Smith had also heard of it from Bell, so he wasn’t very surprised. Smith nodded and said, “Brother, no need to worry, no matter what you are, as long as you join the League of Dark Mages you will always be one of us. After all, not all of our members are Dark Mages. If you have a grudge with the Radiant Church, you’re on our side. Brother, rest a.s.sured, I will go and deliver this information. This intel is very important not only to the League, but also to the Rosen Empire.”
Zhao Hai was confused with what Smith just said, although the Rosen Empire wasn’t very warm towards the Radiant Church, they also didn’t go and actively suppress it. So why was this information very important to the Empire?
Smith looked at Zhao Hai’s appearance and knew what the other party was thinking. After he invited Zhao Hai to sit down, Smith smiled slightly and said, “The most fearful aspect of the Radiant Church is their religious power, then can use this influence to brainwash people and make them completely subject to their whims. They could make people believe the Radiant G.o.d, making them perform sacrifices in the name of their belief, this was a terrifying thing. Imagine an entire country full of these devout believers, what influence would the Church have in that entire nation?”
Zhao Hai nodded, he had also heard of these kinds of things back on Earth. Some religious cults would use methods to brainwash their believers. Moreover, religion was a very sensitive matter in society, it was very hard to be on guard against it. What’s more terrifying was the fact that this type of influence was very hard to eradicate, they would continue to resurge time and time again.
Seeing Zhao Hai nod, Smith continued, “Thus, the Radiant Church is the most disliked organization by the Emperor. Although the Rosen Empire isn’t blatantly attacking the Radiant Church, whenever a person sent by the Radiant Church was tracked down, the Emperor would send his doomed soldiers to kill them secretly. Because of this, we all thought that the Radiant Church didn’t have much influence inside the empire. But it seems that we were wrong, if all of these 10,000 personnel were to secretly preach, they could ama.s.s followers that would number in the thousands. If these followers were to bring in more potential followers, the Radiant Church would become a huge problem in the Empire before long.”
Zhao Hai understood what Smith was talking about, he smiled and said, “My thoughts didn’t reach to that point, what I know is that the Radiant Church is our League of Dark Mages’ enemy, I only wanted to deal them a blow. Rest a.s.sured, that list is completely true, those were all of the people who aided Lionheart in reaching the Eugene Clan’s Domain. Lionheart rode on a small boat to transfer to a large s.h.i.+p further out at sea. The boat held the Ocean Waves Dynasty’s flag as well as having the name of Poseidon. It was a s.h.i.+p with five masts. It was actually very fortunate for me since I badly needed a s.h.i.+p to transport Fire Fishes to Sky Water City. Naturally I would have to be impolite, I couldn’t give this s.h.i.+p to you.”
Smith laughed, “Brother, with this information, not only would I not covet your s.h.i.+p, I would even gift you two more. As long as we get to eliminate these Radiant Church fellows, I am willing to pay any price.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “You don’t need to give me more s.h.i.+ps, but I need to ask you a favor. This time I acquired the Poseidon, I also have the Swordfish that Lionheart used to attack me before, these two s.h.i.+ps were very well made. However, these two s.h.i.+ps are easily recognized, I’ll have to ask you to help me modify them. Otherwise, people would know that it was me on board whenever I travel. What do you think?”
Smith waved his hand to Phil and told him, “Uncle Phil, I’ll have you arrange this matter. Go prepare our best s.h.i.+pyard to help Little Hai modify his s.h.i.+ps.” Phil nodded, but he didn’t leave, this wasn’t something that needed to be done right now. It was already sufficient for him to write it down.
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Good, as long as you help me arrange these s.h.i.+ps, the grains, vegetables, milk wine and rations would be able to reach here faster than inland transportation. Also, I’ll leave you with that list, that’s none of my business, however, don’t disclose that I had a hand in it.”
Smith laughed and said, “Very well. Haha. Brother come and share a drink with me. I’m very happy today.” Upon hearing that, Zhao Hai had no chance to decline. The group headed towards the dining hall.
While Zhao Hai and Smith drank, Phil went and did his own tasks. First was to deal with Lionheart and his son’s heads, then there was the list and lastly Zhao Hai’s s.h.i.+ps. All of these were for him to arrange.
For Great n.o.bles, the position of housekeeper held great power. It was closely equal to being the right-hand man of his lord. In fact, there were a lot of times that a great housekeeper made a family s.h.i.+ne.
Phil was a housekeeper that the Calci Family trained, so he had no problem with regards to his loyalty. Moreover, he held strong management ability, this made Smith place a great trust on him, hence why he always called the old housekeeper Uncle Phil.
That night, Zhao Hai drunk a lot of liquor, so he slept early when he returned to Sweet Plum Courtyard. Smith also drank a lot, he was very happy, not only because Lionheart’s matter was resolved, but also because of the list and Zhao Hai.
Zhao Hai’s demonstration of his capabilities made Smith really glad. For such a talent to join the League of Dark Mages was a great boon for the organization. This was definitely a good thing.
The next day, when the people from the Rosen Empire came to know that Lionheart was slain by the Calci family and even had his severed head displayed in public, the ma.s.ses went into an uproar.
The other n.o.bles inside Rosen Empire couldn’t help but get startled. Although they didn’t concern themselves in pursuing Lionheart, this didn’t mean that they didn’t make a move at all.
They also sent people to look for Lionheart’s whereabouts. Although they gave up later on, they were still curious. The strength of these n.o.bles were not weak, but they still couldn’t find Lionheart. And now that the Calci Family killed Lionheart, didn’t this mean that the Calci Family was much stronger than them?
Thinking of this, the n.o.bles were naturally startled. The Calci Family had been acting low-key these past years. Although n.o.body dared underestimate them, there was also n.o.body who thought that Calci Family would be this formidable, they just regarded them as an ancient n.o.ble clan, someone not to provoke.
On the continent, it was sometimes more appealing to offend a Royal Clan than an Ancient n.o.ble Family. This was because there were some Ancient Families that existed longer than Royal Clans.
Since these n.o.bles regarded the Calci Family as an ordinary Ancient Family, they didn’t offend them. They knew that these kinds of families were very protective of their dignity. If these families’ dignity were to be touched, they would without hesitation retaliate, they would even resort to fighting to the death.
This time, the n.o.bles weren’t able to find Lionheart, but this was also the same situation for the Calci and Sh.e.l.ley Family. This made the n.o.bles feel quite good for themselves, they wanted to see how ugly Claci Family’s face would become.
But they didn’t expect that the Calci Family would suddenly put out Lionheart’s head. There was no need to even ask about the fate of the rest of his family, they were truly dead as well.
Lionheart was killed, although the n.o.bles were surprised, they weren’t too surprised. In their opinion, Lionheart would die sooner or later. What made them surprised was the fact that the Calci Family was able to track and kill Grand Duke Lionheart.
The other n.o.bles guessed that Lionheart’s disappearance was certainly due to some people helping him. This was not strange, if n.o.body helped him, then it was impossible for Lionheart to escape the joint forces of the Calci and Sh.e.l.ley Family. In a situation where Lionheart was lent a helping hand, it was extremely surprising for the n.o.bles that the Calci Family was still able to kill the Grand Duke.
Compared to these n.o.bles, the Emperor of Rosen Empire, Louis Rosen, was even more surprised. But it wasn’t because of Lionheart’s death, he didn’t care about that guy’s life. He was even the person who wanted Lionheart to be killed the most.
Louis was clear that the moment he gave up on Lionheart, there would be enmity between the two of them. If Lionheart survives, he would certainly do his best to get his revenge. By that time, Lionheart would be the serpent in the shadows while he would be the elephant in the sun.
The entire Rosen Empire was his. If Lionheart wanted to take his revenge and find trouble with him, it would be too easy. Even if Lionheart couldn’t shake the foundations of the empire, he could still cause them no small amount of annoyance.
Now that Lionheart was dead, Louis was naturally happy. But the fact that the Calci Family was able to slay the Grand Duke didn’t make the Emperor happy. Not only was he unhappy, he also felt his back go cold, the family’s capabilities made him terrified.
…
The Radiant Church had become famous this past few years. Ordinary people liked them because the Church’s Light element Mages would cure their illnesses quite regularly, they also looked very kind, such a person would naturally resonate with the ma.s.ses.
However, to rulers like Louis, they were very afraid of the Radiant Church. They could use religion to take control of the people. Think about a scenario where the Church completely influences the whole nation, what would happen if the Church suddenly stages a rebellion? Even a formidable Empire couldn’t survive a ma.s.sive internal dispute.
This was the reason why even though the Rosen Empire didn’t tear apart the Church’s face, it still paid close attention to the Church’s movements. All the personnel sent by the Radiant Church to the Rosen Empire who wanted to establish a hideout were secretly killed off by the Emperor.
Louis though that he did good in defending the empire against the Radiant Church. But when Calci Family gave him the list, Louis couldn’t help but be shocked.