Chapter 1123 Conspiracy
In the middle of the night, a few drunks were lying around the camp. Ren Xiaosu pretended to be asleep as he leaned against the wheels of a carriage.
No one was moving around anymore. Ren Xiaosu opened his eyes slightly and observed everyone before mentally noting those who were drunk.
If it were as he had deduced, that this trade caravan was likely made up of many soldiers from the Berkeley family, it would absolutely be impossible they would get drunk while on duty.
Therefore, the drunks could be ruled out first.
But after a round of observation, Ren Xiaosu was surprised to discover there were probably even fewer uninvolved people in the trade caravan than he had imagined.
Ren Xiaosu was a little surprised. Could it be that the Li and the Liu clans urging Melgor to set off quickly was also part of the conspiracy?
Then Melgor, that sweet idiot, did not think too much and directly agreed to their request?
Ren Xiaosu made Old Xu quietly circle the outside perimeter of the trade caravan. In the end, he was even more sure of his judgment. Seeing that the revelry had just ended, there were still people on duty next to the carriages loaded with wine barrels.
One of York County’s main industries was winemaking. And the main goods the Chamber of Commerce was transporting to Ghent City this time were wine.
The entire caravan consisted of several hundred oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages, with a quarter of them loaded with wooden barrels filled with wine.
An oxcart could carry six barrels of wine, the limit of what it could hold. Ren Xiaosu had strong suspicions there were other items in the oak barrels. Otherwise, why would people still be guarding them so warily in the middle of the night?
However, Ren Xiaosu contemplated it. Was Qian Weining the one leading this trade caravan, or could it be someone else?
The next morning, the trade caravan set off again. Qian Weining said they would arrive at the first relay station of the journey in the afternoon, Vaduz County.
ully.
Along the way, Ren Xiaosu asked Melgor, “Is Vaduz County under the Berkeley family’s control?”
Melgor nodded and said, “Yes, and it can be considered one of the important cities of the House of Berkeley in the south. Half of the Knights of the Inferno are stationed there. If you go farther north, that’s the territory of the House of Winston.”
“What’s the relationship between the Winston family and the Berkeley family?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“There aren’t any true archmages in the Winston family, so they behave more like a subject of the Berkeley family,” Melgor answered. “In the past, when the Berkeley family’s young’uns went to Ghent City to seek knowledge, everything the youth of the House of Winston did revolved around them. If the members of the House of Berkeley got into fights with the other clans, the Winston family’s young’uns would immediately band together with them.”
“Anything else?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“Oh, yes, someone said the Winston family has secretly pledged allegiance to the Berkeley family, but it’s just a rumor,” Melgor replied.
“I’m afraid not.” Ren Xiaosu suddenly said, “Remember, you must not trust anyone other than me on this journey, not even the two sheeple, and especially not the knights that the Li clan sent to protect you, like Mox.”
Melgor was puzzled. “Why?”
“I won’t tell you for now. You’re so dumb that it’s easy for others to get information out of you,” Ren Xiaosu said.
Melgor was speechless.
In the evening, when the trade caravan arrived outside Vaduz County, Ren Xiaosu frowned. “There weren’t any city walls in Yorktown, so why does Vaduz have them?”.
“These were built decades ago to prevent wild animals from endangering the residents,” Melgor said nonchalantly.
However, Ren Xiaosu did not think that such strong walls were built to defend against wild animals.
The city walls of the Kingdom of Sorcerers looked quite different from those in the Central Plains. The main structure was more like a castle with many watchtowers and turrets erected around it. Its architecture resembled spears pointing into the sky.
The walls were laid entirely with gray brick. On top of the walls stood tough-looking soldiers who each held the House of Berkeley’s heraldry, which bore the emblem of a lion on them, in one hand and rested the other on the hilt of a broadsword at their waist.
“What does the Kingdom of Sorcerers’ flag look like?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
Melgor spent a long time trying to remember it but could not recall anything. It was only a few minutes later that he finally answered, “It’s a picture of two crossed swords with an Eye of True Sight above it.”
“Didn’t your family used to live in Ghent City? Why didn’t you describe it more quickly?” Ren Xiaosu wondered.
“The kingdom’s flags in Ghent City were removed long ago. At first, the House of Norman replaced the flags in Ghent City with their own clan’s flag of a shield. Later, the House of Tudor wanted to replace the flags on top of the walls with their flag of a falcon,” Melgor replied with a shrug. “In the end, they decided neither clans’ flags could be put up, leaving it totally bare.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. He thought to himself, ‘Has the infighting in the Kingdom of Sorcerers already reached such an intense state?
It was obvious the Norman family and the Tudor family were not on good terms. This was very good news for him.
When the trade caravan tried to enter the city gate, the soldiers on duty stopped them. The commander, wearing steel armor, ordered his soldiers, “Check their carriages!” Qian Weining rode forward and said loudly, “I’m Qian Weining, the vice president of the York County Chamber of Commerce. All the customs documents have already been prepared. The venerable Lord Melgor is also traveling at the back of the group. Do you all want to delay his journey?”
The soldier at the entrance looked at the rear of the caravan. Qian Weining pointed out Melgor’s carriage to the commander of the guard and said, “That carriage has the symbol of the Eye of True Sight on it. You can go over and pay your respects to Lord Melgor.”
After that, the commander of the guard walked towards Melgor’s carriage. As he walked, his armor rattled noisily.
He came to Melgor’s carriage and knelt on one knee. “Your Excellency Lord Melgor.”
Melgor lifted the window curtain and said, “You may rise. I’m only passing through Vaduz County this time. I have to continue heading north towards Ghent City tomorrow.”
“Understood.” The commander of the guard got up and waved to his soldiers at the gate. “Let them through! We don’t want to delay Lord Melgor.”
The trade caravan started moving again slowly. They were going to reorganize at the relay station north of the city. There were accommodations there, as well as horse feed and hay prepared for the livestock.
Ren Xiaosu watched all of this quietly from the sidelines. He suddenly understood why this group of people had urged Melgor to set off.
The bottom rung of society of the Kingdom of Sorcerers had a peculiar adoration and faith in the sorcerers. Regardless of how many customs documents a trade caravan prepared, it would not be as useful as having a sorcerer traveling with them.
With a sorcerer traveling with the caravan, it could even save the time required for carrying out goods inspection when passing through many of the cities. Even if the guards of some cities insisted on doing an inspection, they would not be too thorough.
So the sweet idiot, Melgor, was just being used as a pass.
Meanwhile, Melgor said proudly to Ren Xiaosu in a low voice, “So, what do you think? Now that you’ve seen the respect I command from the people, does it make you want to become a sorcerer even more? Don’t worry, I’ll definitely help you get an Eye of True Sight this time.”
Ren Xiaosu rolled his eyes. If he had not come with Melgor on this trip to help him enhance his fate as the “protagonist,” Melgor would probably have ended up dead without even knowing why.