Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 343: Mercenaries
Ryan noticed that Zhao Hai had been more distant from her these past few days. Although she didn't know why, she felt quite pleased. To be honest, she really didn't want to get involved with Zhao Hai; it was too terrifying.
On the other hand, Zhao Hai was somewhat surprised. It had been seven days since the last ambush outside the Battle Fortress, and during this time, they hadn’t encountered any attacks. This was beyond his expectations.
What he didn’t know was that the city lord of the Battle Fortress had committed suicide due to his issue, and the power dynamics there were facing a chance for a reshuffle. All capable individuals in the Roson Empire were closely watching the situation, leaving no time to deal with him.
The city lord of the Battle Fortress didn’t actually possess much power. Although there were some civilians living there, it was primarily a military stronghold, so the number of civilians was limited. The city lord only had the authority to mobilize troops during wartime and had little power during peacetime.
That being said, the Battle Fortress was still considered a lucrative position. As a key fortress of the Roson Empire, it had merchants passing through daily, generating substantial tax revenue. Adding in tributes from bandits and other miscellaneous income, it was considerable. Therefore, even though the city lord’s position was changed every five years, the first transition always attracted a frenzy among the nobility.
However, this situation couldn’t last long. The Battle Fortress was crucial for the empire’s defense, so a new city lord had already taken office.
The previous city lord’s suicide was an unexpected event; otherwise, it would have been impossible for the position to remain vacant for such a long time.
Now that some repercussions had arisen, Duke Ryan naturally held a grudge against Zhao Hai. The last city lord of the Battle Fortress, while not directly under Duke Ryan’s command, had a good relationship with him. Yet, he was forced to his death by Zhao Hai. Duke Ryan not only gained nothing but also suffered significant losses, and now he had a handle on him from the Shelley family. How could he accept this? He was already thinking of ways to deal with Zhao Hai.
Although Zhao Hai was unaware that Duke Ryan was preparing to deal with him, he didn’t let his guard down. He clearly understood what kind of consequences one would face for offending a legitimate duke in the Roson Empire. While it wasn’t as severe as offending the Southern King in the Aksu Empire, it was still serious.
The reason Zhao Hai was traveling so slowly these days was to gather information about Duke Ryan. To his surprise, he managed to learn quite a bit—Duke Ryan was indeed very influential in the Roson Empire.
Although he had been granted the title of duke, he had long been away from his duchy, working in Karsen City because he was a close confidant of the current king of the Roson Empire, serving as the Minister of Finance. This positioned him well to stand up against the Shelley family.
Upon learning this, Zhao Hai became even more cautious. He knew that provoking such a figure would make his future difficult.
On the eighth day, they arrived at a small town named Light to rest. Zhao Hai tried to avoid larger cities for the past few days because he knew people associated with Duke Ryan would undoubtedly have their hands in those places. Staying in a small town was safer; even if something happened, they could escape without causing a significant stir.
Naturally, a small town like this wouldn’t have the Shelley Hotel, so Zhao Hai and his group found a hotel named Xili to stay for the night.
This hotel was only considered average in this town, not the biggest, but the service was decent and looked fairly clean, so Zhao Hai chose this place.
In Laura and the others' eyes, this hotel was rather low-end. Although Zhao Hai had booked the best several rooms in the hotel, they still couldn’t compare to the rooms at the Shelley Hotel; at most, they were clean. The facilities were far inferior.