Badge in Azure

Aini glared at Saleen. His clan was given the rank of nobility only because of their businesses. As such, Aini bore a deep hatred towards bandits.

“I’m just kidding. Hey, I was just thinking this caravan doesn’t seem like they belong to Qin.”

Aini continued glaring at Saleen. As the caravan came closer, he could see the caravan’s guard that was leading the way.

“Sikeqinyan mercenaries? That’s strange!”

“What’s so strange about that?” Saleen was puzzled. Sikeqinyan mercenaries could travel across all the four major empires. A small-scale mercenary usually accompanied a large-scale one and these small-scale mercenaries were usually the ones that moved across the countries. They could handle bandits, but would be no match for the armies of other countries.

The other three major empires did not fear such small-scale mercenaries, besides, they could bring in large amounts of taxes for the empires. Qin was currently preparing for war and would purchase large amounts of resources so it was no surprise to see Sikeqinyan caravans. At the very least, this meant that the Sikeqinya empire was still on friendly terms with Qin.

“It is a grade-8 mercenary, their main forces are there too,” Aini said uneasily.

“What exactly are you worried about? Even if it is the main forces of a grade-8 mercenary group, there is nothing much they can do.”

“Who said so? If they all died in Qin, it would immediately sour the relations between Qin and Sikeqinya.”

Saleen did not ask further. He immediately understood what Aini was trying to say. Looking at the current situation on the mainland, Sikeqinyans were extremely important to Qin. If Sikeqinya formed an alliance with Tanggulasi, the situation at the battlefront would immediately turn in their favor.

In Sikeqinya, only mercenaries of grade-7 and above were given cities. In other words, mercenaries of grade-7 and above were equivalent to half of a conventional Sikeqinyan army.

“Maybe you are being a bit too paranoid…,” Saleen tried to console Aini.

“Perhaps. Why don’t we travel with these mercenaries? They must be heading to Holy Rock City as well. Such a large-scale caravan must be transporting huge amounts of resources.”

“Too slow.” Saleen frowned.

“Not at all. It is good to travel with the caravan. We will be able to reach Holy Rock City before New Year and it is safest for you to be there just before New Year. Even if…”

“Alright.” Saleen did not wish to argue with Aini. He was indeed rather worried about going to Holy Rock City. His Metatrin City was beyond Holy Rock City’s jurisdiction and he did not have a suitable identity either. Unfortunately, he was not Lex’s subordinate. Their relationship was one of partnership so Metatrin City was considered to have set up beyond Qin.

Even though he was considered a Lord now, it was still difficult entering Qin on his own.

Following the caravan was indeed a good way of entering the city undetected. He needed to stabilize his eye of lightning. If he could improve this skill further, his badge would truly become invincible. By using his eye of lightning to paralyze the enemy momentarily before using his badge to release electricity, even a grade-9 opponent would not be able to dodge this attack.

“Just take it as using the extra time for training,” Saleen consoled himself. He did not wish for relations between Sikeqinya and Qin to sour either. Aini’s worry was not without reason. As a death mage, his sensitivity towards bad omens was stronger than an element mage.

The location that Saleen and his company chose to set up camp on was a good one. It was on high ground and a sentry post was set up further down, guarded by five skeletal soldiers. Magic alarms were also set up beyond the sentry post so no bandits would go undetected.

There was a large and open field below that was suitable for setting up camps. The next city was about two-hundred miles away. The sky was already darkening and there was no way the caravan would travel in the dark. Even if they did not run into bandits, beasts were still a possibility. Even low-level beasts would pose a problem to the caravan.

As expected the caravan came closer and more than twenty men rode on their horses towards the spring water.

Saleen’s camp was on high ground and was well-hidden so the knights did not notice it from afar. Aini called a bodyguard over and gave him some instructions. This bodyguard then mounted a skeletal warhorse before riding down without any intentions of hiding himself. The twenty knights noticed him immediately and got into a triangular formation.

Although they were part of a grade-8 mercenary group, they had never left Sikeqinya before and were unfamiliar with the lands of Qin. The sudden appearance of a swordsman on a skeletal warhorse made them nervous.

Aini’s bodyguard came closer. He did not draw any weapons and only shouted from a distance, “I am from the Clyde clan. Which business group are you from?”

The Clyde family’s businesses had reached Sikeqinya and was rather reputable. Nevertheless, the twenty mercenaries did not relax. Only one of them said, “We are from the royal business group.”

The royal business group was well-known in Sikeqinya as well. It was started up by some affiliates of the royal family instead of the Emperor himself.

“My Master has set up camp on top of the hill and will be happy to host your leader for a drink.” The bodyguard’s tone was proud, but the mercenaries were not offended. They replied courteously, “I will convey the message to my leader. Many thanks to your Master.”

The bodyguard nodded before returning back to the camp. The two sides communicated in the Common Language but clearly, the mercenaries were still suspicious of the bodyguard. Amongst the twenty of them, one of them said, “That is a high-level swordsman right?”

“No, at most a middle-level swordsman wearing magic armor.”

“Magic armor?!”

“No need to be so shocked. The number of mages in Qin is hundreds of times more than ours, so the price of magic armor is much cheaper there.”

“That’s still very incredible. If only I could get myself a suit of magic armor too.”

“Stop spouting nonsense. What did I tell you before we set off? Go and check the source of the water and see if there are any problems with it. I will go back and report this to the leader.” The knight that was taking the lead turned his horse back towards the caravan.

On the high ground, eighty death wolves strolled in front of the campsite while over forty skeletons stood around nonchalantly. Alchemy crossbows were set up at the four corners of the campsite as the soldiers in the camp were warming themselves up or cooking. In front of the barrack two soldiers were standing guard.

Within the barrack were three grand mages and one silver grand swordmaster. It was rather ironic that the two soldiers standing guard outside were supposed to protect the three of them.

On the road, the mercenaries made sure all the wagons had arrived before choosing a location to set up camp. The mercenaries were very professional in their choice in that it should close to a source of water. More than a hundred mercenaries brought their water bags over to the spring to fill them up while the coolies in the caravan began to set up tentages. The trees around the campsite were chopped down and formed a pile of wood. Saleen even saw some low-level puppets.

There were more than three-hundred big wagons and five-thousand mercenaries. This was a huge company. Saleen believed that even though the caravan was huge, five-thousand mercenaries for protection still seemed unnecessary. Even if this caravan would need to pass through the side of Luolan, they should not be attacked as long as Tanggulasi empire had not declared war with Sikeqinya.

The conditions of the central parts of the Tanggulasi empire were poorer than Qin, so their need for goods was hundreds of times more than Qin. If the Tanggulasi empire offended Sikeqinya, they were basically on their own.

When the campsite was almost complete one-hundred mercenaries escorted a few men towards the hill. Within a few moments they had already reached the sentry post.

The caravan’s leader led the way. He was a middle-aged man that looked just over forty years old. He wore a long brocade robe of the Cloudflow empire and there was a small bag on his waist that was decorated with gemstones. It was not any kind of equipment for magic though. There was also a long sword on his waist and it seemed that he should be a decent fighter. While riding the horse, he did not have to bring along any reins or lean on the saddle. His posture was straight and upright yet had a good grasp of balance.

Upon seeing the sentry post formed by five skeletons, the leader was stunned for a moment. “They have grand death mages? Low-level death mages are not be able to keep their skeletons moving for a sustained period of time.”

He was only stunned for a second before recovering himself. He led his men up from the side and eventually came before a moderate-sized camp. Tens of death wolves laid in front of the entrance. These death wolves were clearly of a very high level. Once they sensed the mercenaries approaching, only two of the wolves jumped up and looked ready to attack.

A soldier walked out and shushed at the two death wolves. Only then did the wolves lie back down and began to doze off again.

Upon seeing the eighty death wolves, the caravan’s leader knew immediately that they were in no position to be arrogant or prideful. The other party had at least one grade-5 grand death mage.

“My Master welcomes you.” The soldier was courteous. The leader dismounted from his horse and smiled, “Please lead the way.”

His two followers and the other mercenaries followed his lead and dismounted. Immediately, all the death wolves stood up together. The soldier smiled and said, “You have too many people with you. Our camp will not be able to take all of you.”

The leader picked ten mercenaries randomly along with his two followers. Without a word, they followed the soldier into the campsite. They saw skeleton soldiers that just stood rooted to a spot and more than ten soldiers cooking their meals.

When they arrived before the barrack entrance, a young voice from inside said, “Invite them in. Bring the mercenaries to their meals and make sure they are well-treated.”

The caravan leader could only wave his hand and allowed the ten mercenaries to go and have their meals. The soldier that had led them there was warm and hospitable as he led the mercenaries away so there was nothing the leader could say either.

From the outside, the barrack looked to be of a decent size, but upon entering the leader realized that it was actually quite small. The barrack was layered so that there was some form of protection against attacks from heavy weapons.

The leader was originally unhappy with the Clyde family. He felt that it was rude to summon them over like this. Once he saw the few people sitting in front of him, his anger dissipated immediately.

In front of him sat three mages and two of them wore gray robes. These were grand mages!

“Cuisi, please provide seats for our three guests,” Saleen said.

“Yes, my Lord.” Cuisi took out three small stools before setting up a long and narrow table in front of the three of them.

The caravan leader was confused. He had thought that Cuisi was merely a female servant, but Cuisi could make objects appear out of thin air and that was a skill that only grand mages possessed. This woman was also the subordinate of a white-robed mage.

The caravan leader bowed cautiously before sitting down and asked nervously, “Your Excellency has summoned me. May I know if you have any instructions?”