Chapter 348 – River Law City
It was in the afternoon when Zhao Hai’s convoy reached River Law City. Not only was River Law City right beside Law river, the water used for its moat was directly sourced from the river itself. They artificially redirected a small portion of water from the river effectively making a branch route for the water to pa.s.s through. Because of this, aside from the ordinary city gates, there were also two water gates allowing mid and small sized s.h.i.+ps to approach the city.
River Law City was very big, it was a city large enough to support a million residents. In an era where high rise buildings were uncommon, you can imagine how huge such a city was.
Zhao Hai’s group entered the city through its west gate. Once they entered, Zhao Hai could feel the peculiarities of this city. First, there were a lot of people walking around, more numerous than other large sized cities back in Aksu Empire. The cities streets were extremely dense with people. If these people didn’t wear different clothes, Zhao Hai would have thought that he had returned back to China.
Fortunately there were so many escorts to open the way for them. The pedestrians immediately made way upon seeing their carriages.
Before long, the group arrived at the front door of River Law City’s Sh.e.l.ley Hotel. This branch was quite different from other branches. The hotel was very high, Zhao Hai could count more than a dozen floors in the building. Without concrete, it was very difficult to build a structure that high.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel, the attendants inside immediately welcomed them. The attendants knew Might, so they immediately took charge in taking care of the mounts towards the back courtyards.
The same was with Zhao Hai’s carriage. Zhao Hai didn’t need to worry about it since there was someone who came and took care of their carriage. When the group entered the hotel, the hotel’s manager came to greet them. The manager was called Amare, he had a very tall and big stature. If he didn’t wear silk made business clothing, Zhao Hai might have mistook him for a warrior.
The manager didn’t say any nonsense to Zhao Hai and immediately arranged for their accommodations. The manager gave them the best suites in the hotel and let Zhao Hai and the others rest.
What surprised Zhao Hai was that there was an elevator inside the hotel that looked like it ran on electricity. But upon closer inspection, it was in fact powered by magic. Zhao Hai wasn’t the only one surprised, Laura was also quite shocked.
One must know that the energy used by such an elevator wasn’t free. One could imagine the upkeep costs of such a contraption. Aside from Sh.e.l.ley hotel, no other place would dare install such a thing.
The biggest difference between River Law City’s Sh.e.l.ley hotel and other places was that there were so many guests here, so business was extremely booming. Here, well-dressed n.o.bility who wore silk clothing wasn’t uncommon. Merchants who wore the same level of quality clothes were also present, further showing the exquisiteness of the hotel.
When the other guest saw Zhao Hai, they didn’t care too much. Zhao Hai was walking together with Might so they just thought that he was someone from the Sh.e.l.ley Family.
After settling in the hotel, Zhao Hai immediately released a blood hawk to send a letter to Evan. The reason that he didn’t send a hawk before was that he didn’t know whether they would be able to stay at a single place for a long time. But now that they were inside River Law City, he was now able to send his letter, telling Evan to fetch Ruyen.
Zhao Hai didn’t make Shun ride the hawk. The last time was only used to test the hawk’s capabilities. This time, such method was unnecessary, moreover, it was currently winter so with the hawk’s speed and lat.i.tude, the rider would be frozen cold.
Evan’s reply came in quick that very night. Evan didn’t have Ruyen stay inside River Law City, but he requested Zhao Hai to take her to Sky Water City where he would send a s.h.i.+p to go pick Ruyen up.
This made Zhao Hai surprised, but when it came to mind that Ruyen wasn’t a good companion to travel with, Zhao Hai immediately felt a headache.
Ruyen had previously given him trouble back at Iksa Domain. Now that she was behaved, she was extremely behaved, making Zhao Hai doubt deep inside.
The next morning, when Zhao Hai and the others had their breakfast he told Ruyen about Evan’s plan for her. Then Zhao Hai asked Might to help them arrange a s.h.i.+p to ride on. Such matter was extremely easy to do for someone like Might. But even then, they couldn’t leave today, it has to be the next day.
Zhao Hai didn’t mind. Although there were vessels headed for Sky Water City, they couldn’t just board one. There were s.h.i.+ps which were very attractive for pirates, so just picking any s.h.i.+p wasn’t a wise thing to do.
Although Zhao Hai wasn’t afraid of them, Might couldn’t just allow that to happen. Zhao Hai requested him to prepare a s.h.i.+p for them, so if their s.h.i.+p were to get attacked by pirates, it would be ugly for his reputation.
Since they were going to stay inside River Law City for another day, Zhao Hai didn’t just hide inside his hotel room. He went for a stroll around the city while at the same time buying a lot of things, majority of them were some items people from the prairie would need.
What do people in the prairie need the most? First was grain. Second was salt. And third was iron!
Grain, needless to say, was what the prairie lacked the most, followed by salt. As much as the beastmen liked consuming salt, their appet.i.te for iron was just the same. One must know that there was absolutely no way to procure iron from the gra.s.slands, so all the ironworks inside the prairie were most likely brought in from human territory.
But among humans, these three were not that urgently needed. And since Zhao Hai already produces food and grain by himself every single day, he only bought salt and iron as well as other miscellaneous living commodities.
Since he stayed inside the prairie for quite some time, he already knew what people from that place needed the most. And with Laura’s help, Zhao Hai didn’t worry that he might buy something that was useless.
Regarding Zhao Hai’s actions, Might didn’t say anything. This was what a businessman would most likely do anyway. If a merchant only thinks of fighting and not make any money, then what kind of merchant would that be?
The next day, Zhao Hai and the others ate their breakfast and prepared to leave. Right outside the city’s docks, there was a s.h.i.+p headed towards Sky Water city that the Sh.e.l.ley Family knew quite well. So the group boarded that s.h.i.+p.
When they arrived at the docks, Zhao Hai was shocked. He really underestimated the city’s pier. There were no fewer than a thousand large to small sized vessels docked. The largest of them looks like it could carry a thousand jin worth of cargo, and this was not a small number.
It was fortunate that Law river’s surface was very wide, while its depth was also very adequate. Otherwise it wouldn’t be able to accommodate such a number of s.h.i.+ps. Zhao Hai and the others boarded the largest vessel on the dock. The s.h.i.+p was very large, it could carry a thousand jin of cargo quite easily. The s.h.i.+p had three masts and besides loading cargo, it also accepts pa.s.sengers...o...b..ard.
Might had already arranged rooms not only for Zhao Hai’s group, but also for their magic beasts.
This was Zhao Hai’s first time riding a boat after he arrived at Ark Continent. He had ridden a boat back on Earth, but that s.h.i.+p was already made of steel, he had not been inside a wooden s.h.i.+p before.
After boarding the s.h.i.+p, Might also introduced Zhao Hai to the s.h.i.+p’s captain. The captain was called Stack. He grew a full beard on his face, with a tall and big stature, and due to being aboard the s.h.i.+p for years, he had quite a tanned skin that appeared very robust, he also wore a cold expression. But he was extremely amiable when meeting Zhao Hai, it looks like he already knew Might for a long time.
However, his appearance wasn’t what attracted Zhao Hai’s attention. Upon observing the main, Zhao Hai noticed that he was actually a 7th rank Warrior.
Zhao Hai also paid attention to the crew on board. Their bodies weren’t weak, and while they wore weapons, they also operated the several ballistas mounted on the s.h.i.+p.
Zhao Hai actually forgot that these s.h.i.+ps needed to be able to protect themselves when they go travelling, so it was very natural for them to be equipped with weapons.
Such was a s.h.i.+p arranged by Might, he couldn’t just get a s.h.i.+p that he wasn’t confident with. So Zhao Hai also trusted the s.h.i.+p. After obtaining Stack’s consent, Zhao Hai explored around the vessel.
Apart from Zhao Hai, the s.h.i.+p probably had more than a hundred pa.s.sengers. Some were merchants, while some were civilians that wanted to visit Sky Water City. And the living quarters were clearly divided where the lower decks were the cheaper ones.
After asking around, Zhao Hai found out that the travel from River Law City to Sky Water City will take about 5 days by s.h.i.+p, but if they were to travel in land, it may take about half a month or so.
Law river’s surface was wide so there wasn’t much swaying of the s.h.i.+p, but nevertheless, Meg developed seasickness. Zhao Hai had no other choice but to have her return to their room and had her sent to the s.p.a.ce.
Laura was well traveled so it was natural that she didn’t get seasick. Instead, she was extremely spirited and followed Zhao Hai in exploring the entire s.h.i.+p along with Nier. Ruyen was as usual, being behaved and stayed inside her room and didn’t come out.
If it wasn’t for Ruyen’s previous actions, Zhao Hai might have thought that she had gone crazy. When Zhao Hai was just starting out with their travels, he could see Ruyen almost every day, But now, Ruyen eats all three meals of the day inside her room. When they were inside the carriage, he wouldn’t be able to see her. Even when they stay inside their tents back when they were travelling, Ruyen would still stay inside. She seems to be hiding from Zhao Hai.
These days Zhao Hai had already gotten used to her. But he was still somewhat worried, he’s afraid that Ruyen had developed some sort of sickness. It this was so, he wouldn’t know how to explain himself to Evan.
Evan’s initial purpose was to let Ruyen get in contact with Zhao Hai as much as possible. Although Zhao Hai already had Laura and Meg, having more than one wife was quite normal in the continent. After seeing Zhao Hai’s transformation, Evan made his plans. But it seems like his thoughts were wasted, Ruyen didn’t get in contact with Zhao Hai often, so how could they discuss getting betrothed with each other?