Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 370: Church of Light, Good People
Undeniably, Duke Ryan's wealth was considerable. Zhao Hai calculated that its total value might be several million gold coins. However, this seemed insufficient for the Church of Light to send so many people to assist him. If those sent to aid Duke Ryan were discovered, the Church of Light's operations in the Roson Empire over the years would be ruined.
But upon reflection, Zhao Hai understood why the Church of Light took such action. They were aiming to win the hearts of people! Within the Church of Light's Knights of the Round Table, many knights were prominent figures from various countries. Although these individuals held prestigious positions, few ranked higher than Duke Ryan.
Now that Duke Ryan was in trouble, if the Church of Light did not intervene, how would the other members of the Knights of the Round Table react? Would they still wholeheartedly support the Church of Light? To maintain their goodwill, rescuing Duke Ryan was essential.
It was with this consideration in mind that the Church of Light mobilized nearly all their personnel in the Roson Empire to rescue Duke Ryan, even dispatching six eighth-level mages. Such a lineup was impressive; they even contemplated sending a ninth-level expert for the rescue, fearing only the detection of a ninth-level expert from the Roson Empire.
Zhao Hai did not rush to engage with the Church of Light's people. He knew they planned to extract Duke Ryan's family from the Roson Empire, and the best route was by land and sea. The land routes were too long, and the intersections with the other two countries were gorges, making them easy to be discovered.
The Roson Empire's coastline was long and had many uninhabited areas. As long as they calculated the navy's patrol schedules accurately, traveling there would be like walking into a void, ensuring safety.
Thus, Zhao Hai followed them, clarifying the identities of all those coming to rescue Duke Ryan. He planned to compile a list of these individuals and present it to Karlqi after dealing with Duke Ryan.
Zhao Hai also understood that Karlqi did not want him involved in this matter merely to showcase the strength of the Karlqi family. Zhao Hai, of course, wanted to demonstrate his own capabilities to Karlqi, showing that his strength was not to be underestimated.
In addition to following Duke Ryan, he also did another thing: he collected valuables from Duke Ryan's manor that he couldn't take with him. In fact, the fire in the manor was set by him; Duke Ryan and his family had long since left, leaving behind an empty manor for the Karlqi and Shelley families. However, due to the sudden incident, many valuables could not be taken, such as furniture. They only intended to leave behind an empty mansion as a mockery of the Karlqi family, never thinking to set the place on fire.
When Zhao Hai saw so many valuables still remaining in the manor, he couldn't let them go to waste. He stored those old items in his Spatial Ring and set the manor ablaze when Karlqi and the others arrived.
Duke Ryan had a prepared Spatial Ring in his possession, where he stored all his valuable belongings before leaving. The one aiding them was a minor noble; many such minor nobles existed in the Roson Empire. They conducted business daily to ensure the survival of their families, belonging to the least noticed groups within the empire.
Thus, Duke Ryan and his party smoothly escaped from his territory, consistently assisted along the way, heading towards a minor noble's territory by the sea. This minor noble's territory was not suitable for establishing a port; although they had managed to build a small one, it could not accommodate large ships. Therefore, the minor noble could only sell a bit of salt, remaining largely forgotten in the Roson Empire.
Along the way, Duke Ryan's party was extremely cautious, traveling at a merchant's normal pace, staying in regular inns, and maintaining a normal itinerary, ensuring nothing appeared out of the ordinary.