Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Master Linley, look. That’s a military camp up ahead.” Shaq and Linley were riding side by side.

  Linley nodded.

  The Radiant Church had clearly decided to set up a line of defense here at the borders of the Kingdom of Hess. Seeing those countless military camps lining the border, one could tell how many soldiers had been deployed here.

  “Two kingdoms and five duchies lost. That’s about a third of the territory of the Holy Union. I expect the Radiant Church isn’t willing to retreat any further.” Linley chuckled. Linley and the knights made their way through the guarded pass, and were quickly allowed in.

  This guarded pass was to defend against magical beasts.

  Naturally, no humans would be denied entry.

  “Second Prince, shall we rest here?” Linley seemed very tranquil.

  “The city of Hess is one of the agreed upon places that my royal father and I settled upon. We still have around three hundred kilometers before arriving at Hess City. If we hurry, we should be able to reach there by nightfall today.” Shaq said unguardedly.

  “Hess City!”

  Linley memorized this name. “Clayde. Hess City shall be where you die.”

  ……

  They continued their journey. Linley, Shaq, and the thirty mounted knights kicked up a trail of dust in their wake. By the time Linley and Shaq saw the city of Hess, the sun was just setting, casting its red glow upon the earth.

  “Hess City, the capital of the Kingdom of Hess. It’s only slightly smaller than Fenlai City.” Seeing the silhouettes of the enormous city walls, Linley couldn’t help but be awed.

  How much manpower had it taken to erect such giant walls?

  Arriving at the gate to Hess City, Linley and his squad found their way barred.

  “Dismount!” A gate guard of Hess City ordered in a loud voice.

  “Why should we dismount?” Shaq shouted back angrily.

  The gate guard saw that Shaq’s group was definitely an extraordinary one, and thus answered the question. “His Highness has ordered that no horses may be ridden within the boundaries of Hess City. Everyone, right now Hess City is overflowing with people. There’s simply not enough space to ride horses. It’s best if you all dismount.”

  “Let’s dismount.” Linley smiled at Shaq.

  Shaq nodded.

  Linley and Shaq could both imagine that many people had fled here from the two ruined kingdoms and the six destroyed duchies. Most likely many of the people living near Hess City had fled here as well. Those two kingdoms and six duchies possessed a combined population of hundreds of millions.

  Even if 90% had died, millions would have survived. And of course, there had been no magical beast sightings within hundreds of kilometers of the Kingdom of Hess, so virtually all of the people who lived in that area had survived.

  “So many people.”

  Stepping into Hess City, Linley and Shaq and the knights were all shocked. Hess City normally could only accommodate at most a million people. But by Linley’s calculations, right now there were at least several million people within the city, because every single street was clogged. Even in the city of Fenlai, Linley had never seen anything like this.

  “Go find a hotel first, then come back here to pick me up.” Shaq immediately ordered his men to go reserve a hotel suite.

  “Lord Linley, let’s go eat dinner first.” Shaq said with a laugh, and of course Linley wouldn’t refuse. Shaq immediately led Linley and the others to a nearby restaurant. The bottom floor of this restaurant was full, but there were still dining rooms available in the upper levels.

  “Three rooms.” Shaq said magnanimously.

  But when they sat down and Shaq saw the prices on the menu, he was somewhat flabbergasted. Shaq grabbed the nearest waiter and shouted angrily, “Do you take me for an idiot? With prices like this, a table of dishes would cost several thousand gold coins. You are trying to cheat me!”

  Although this restaurant was a high class one, Shaq, as a prince, had naturally been to many high class restaurants.

  For a restaurant of this class, a hundred gold coins a table was generally more than enough.

  “Milord, if you don’t wish to eat, you can leave.” The waiter seemed very confident. “Right now, Hess City is filled to the brim with people, including countless nobles who fled here with their valuables. All of them demand high quality service and are willing to pay for it.”

  Shaq was instantly stunned by these words.

  Right. The people who had managed to flee from the two kingdoms and the three duchies most likely all belonged to powerful clans or were powerful combatants themselves. Those powerful clans naturally wouldn’t penny-pinch.

  “Hmph.”

  Shaq snorted, but still placed his orders in the end. After Shaq and Linley had finished eating their meals…

  “Your Highness, Second Prince.” The people who had gone looking for a hotel came back.

  “And? Have you found a place?” Shaq asked.

  That guard shook his head. “All of the rooms in the major hotels have been booked. Although we only went to five large hotels, we could already tell this wouldn’t work. There were too many people trying to make reservations. Your Highness, we arrived at Hess City too late. The members of the clans belonging to the five duchies and the Kingdom of Hanmu arrived much faster than us.”

  Shaq nodded.

  “Sit and eat first.” Shaq turned to look at another guard, one with short jade hair. “Are you full yet? If you are, help me find a manor and buy it. I expect the prices here within Hess City will be quite high, but no matter how pricy it is, buy it. Remember, though; don’t buy something which is too gaudy and too large. This manor will only be a temporary lodging place for myself and my royal father.”

  “Yes, your Highness.” The guard acknowledged, and then left to find a manor.

  Linley quietly drank his wine, watching everything.

  “A manor? I wonder which manor it will be. When Clayde comes, most likely he will head to that manor as well.” By finding out the place where Clayde was going to stay, all he would need to do was lie in wait. When the opportunity came, he would send Clayde to his death.

  ……

  Hess City. A very ordinary manor on Keyan Road.

  Under normal conditions, a manor in Hess City like this which was not located in the city center would generally be worth two or three hundred thousand gold coins. But Prince Shaq had to pay a million gold coins just to buy it. A large number of nobles and magnates had entered Hess City, causing inflation to skyrocket.

  That night.

  Linley also stayed in this manor for now.

  “That Clayde, after he comes, should be residing in one of these two or three rooms.” Linley was walking in the middle of the manor, carefully inspecting its internal layout. He was making preparations for killing Clayde in the future.

  The night wind was cool and refreshing, but Linley ignored it, only paying attention to the location and layout of every part of this manor.

  “Lord Linley, why haven’t you rested yet?” That enchanting consort said to Linley in a soft voice, standing in the doorway to her room.

  “Found being in my room to be too stuffy. Thought I’d get some fresh air.” Linley replied casually.

  “I also feel it’s rather stuffy.” That consort walked out of her room towards Linley. Her coquettish gaze only made Linley feel apprehensive, and he immediately said, “Then Royal Consort, you should get some air. I’ll go back to my room and get some rest now.” After he spoke, Linley immediately left.

  Watching Linley leave, the consort couldn’t help but let out a little hmph of displeasure.

  ….

  The next morning.

  “Second Prince, Royal Consort, Princess. I have some things to take care of, so I’ll leave now.” Linley bid his farewells.

  “Lord Linley, why are you in such a rush to leave? Wait for my royal father to come back first, then decide.” Shaq immediately tried to
convince him to stay.

  Linley laughed coldly inside. “Wait for your royal father? If Clayde saw that I was living here, I probably would have to openly attack and kill him. The chance of killing him openly is lower than assassinating him.” Linley had already had enough setbacks.

  This time, Linley wanted to be absolutely certain of success.

  “This time, I’ll have to endure and be patient. I’ll wait for the moment when Clayde and Kaiser aren’t together. When Clayde is alone, I’ll kill him. That will definitely be successful.” Linley knew that so long as Kaiser was there, he wouldn’t be able to kill Clayde quickly.

  But as long as Kaiser was not present, he definitely would succeed.

  “Then where are you going, Lord Linley?” Shaq asked.

  “I plan to leave Hess City and continue north. As for where exactly, I’m not yet sure.” Linley replied. “Alright. Second Prince, Royal Consort, Princess. I bid you farewell.”

  Bowing slightly, Linley led Bebe away from the manor.

  ……

  That very night, Linley moved into a small courtyard on the same street as Shaq’s manor. The manor which Shaq had bought took up a large amount of space, enough to very comfortably fit thirty people. But the house which Linley bought was very small, only enough for three or four people.

  This little courtyard had still cost Linley 50,000 gold coins. In normal times, a few thousand coins would have been enough.

  “Ah Da, Ah Er, have you seen anyone new enter the manor?” Linley was seated at his dinner table as he asked these two men.

  “No.”

  Linley had casually picked these two men up from the streets for his employ. Right now, in Hess City, there were many commoners as well as nobles. After fleeing here, those commoners had no food to eat and place to live. All they could do was beg or do manual labor. Thus, it was easy for Linley to find people to work for him. A salary of two gold coins each day, with food and board included, was an opportunity which any of these impoverished refugees would have fought for.

  Linley saw that these two men seemed the reliable sort, and so had chosen them.

  “At night, you can sleep, but by day, keep a close watch. As long as any strangers enter the manor, especially in large numbers, you have to inform me. Pay special attention to a man who has only one hand.” Linley repeated his instructions.

  There was no need to keep a watch at night, because the gates to Hess City were barred shut at night.

  And Linley was confident that with two people watching during the day, as long as Clayde’s men arrived, he would definitely find out. Shaq and his people believed that Linley had really left the city, but in reality, Linley continued his watch from a courtyard very near them.

  “Clayde, I’ll just keep waiting here for as long as it takes. Let’s see how long it takes you to get here.” Linley’s gaze was cold.

  Seeing the look on Linley’s face, those two brothers shuddered.

  “Go.” Linley ordered.

  “Yes, milord.”

  Book 7, Heaven and Earth Turned Upside Down – Chapter 15, The Clan of the Violetflame Warriors

  A sky-blue magus robe and a magistaff in hand.

  This was how Linley was dressed now as he walked on the streets.

  On this outing, Bebe had stayed behind in the little courtyard on Keyan Road. Linley’s instructions were for Bebe to instantly tell him once Clayde appeared. Given the soul link between Linley and Bebe, no matter how far apart they were, they would be able to sense each other’s thoughts.

  Today, Linley had made this outing for the sake of his ‘heavy sword’.

  “Hrm?” Linley noticed a weapons shop nearby and immediately went inside.

  The weapons shop’s business was quite average. There were only two customers inside inspecting the various weapons. Linley went straight to the counter and asked calmly, “In Hess City, who is the best weaponsmith around?”

  The store clerk glanced at Linley. Realizing he was a magus, the shopkeeper immediately said courteously, “Milord magus, the master blacksmith of our shop possesses very high skills. There’s no weapon that he cannot forge.”

  “My question was, in Hess City, who is the best blacksmith around?” Linley’s face turned cold. “If your so-called master blacksmith is unable to produce the weapon I need, don’t blame me when I wreck your shop.”

  The store clerk was frightened by Linley’s words. Previously, he had wanted to try and win a customer, but now he no longer dared to make any rash claims. “Milord magus, the number one blacksmith of Hess City resides in West Hess City. His name is Master Corby [Ke’er’bi], and his weapons shop is quite close to the Radiant Temple.”

  “Corby?” Linley memorized this name. He immediately left.

  “But milord magus.” That store clerk said in a quiet voice.

  “Hrm?” Linley turned his head to look at the clerk, curious what he had to say.

  The store clerk said respectfully, “Milord magus, if you want a good magistaff, you should go to a magic weapons store. These weapons are all meant for warriors to choose from.” In the eyes of this store clerk, it was very strange indeed for a magus to not only want a weapon, but to want one made by a master blacksmith.

  The weapon of a magus was his magistaff.

  And in order to produce a magistaff, one needed high skills in alchemy.

  Linley’s lips curved upwards in a smile, and he left the weapons store.

  Half an hour later, Linley arrived near the Radiant Temple in the west part of the city. Based on Linley’s investigations, the Holy Emperor of the Radiant Church and the other Saint-level combatants hadn’t arrived in Hess City yet. Supposedly, only a single Cardinal had arrived here, but to better assist the ruler of the Kingdom of Hess, he had taken residence along with the soldiers at the border.

  As for where that group of Saint-level combatants of the Radiant Church had gone, no one knew.

  “I really hope that ‘King’ of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts killed a few of those Saint-levels.” Linley secretly said to himself. The Holy Emperor Heidens had used the Divine Baptism against Linley. Although Linley didn’t know what exactly it had been meant to do, he knew that the divine power of it had tried to merge into his very soul.

  His soul.

  This was the most important core of a person. Linley was certain that Heidens had been up to no good.

  “This is the weapons store of the so-called number one blacksmith in Hess City?” Linley glanced at the weapons store. The store was tens of meters long, and on each side of the door there were two powerfully built warriors in beautifully wrought armor standing guard, weapons in hand.

  This weapons store did indeed seem quite impressive. Clearly, it was much better than the store which Linley had gone into just a while earlier.

  Entering the weapons store, Linley saw that the attendant was a beautiful young woman. The woman’s eyes lit up when she saw how Linley was dressed, and she courteously said, “Milord magus, what sort of weapon do you desire? Come with me. We have all sorts of beautiful court rapiers.”

  Linley chuckled with resignation.

  It seemed this woman thought that he was nothing more than a magus who wanted a weapon to play around with.

  “I heard your Master Corby is here?” Linley said directly to the woman.

  The attendant nodded. “Right. Master Corby is the head blacksmith here, and he is definitely the number one blacksmith within the city of Hess. I’ve never heard of Master Corby being unable to forge a weapon of any sort.”

  “Oh? Have Master Corby come out. I wish for him to make me a weapon.” Linley said immediately.

  “Have…have Master Corby come out?” The attendant laughed awkwardly. “Milord magus, Master Corby never comes out to meet with customers. If you wish to meet with Master Corby, you’ll have to go find him yourself. And…if you want to meet Master Corby, you need to spend some money, as otherwise, he won’t meet with you.”

  Linley had to admit
that this man really did know how to put on airs.

  “Fine. How much money for me to go meet him?” Linley asked directly.

  “Not much. Fifty gold coins.” The attendant said.

  Fifty gold coins was nothing to those members of rich clans, but this price was enough for a commoner to survive off of for a year or two.

  “Fifty?” Linley withdrew a sack of gold from his clothes. This sack contained a hundred pieces of gold. Linley poured out fifty, then instructed, “Lead the way.” Linley usually only carried a hundred gold coins on him. He had magicrystal cards on him, after all. If he needed any more, he could go withdraw it.

  “Yes, milord magus.” The attendant was extremely happy.

  ….

  Five minutes later, guided by the attendant, Linley arrived at a very plain-looking residence. The guard to the residence clearly was familiar with the attendant, and let them in immediately.

  When Linley saw Master Corby, the man was reclining on a chair while sipping a cup of tea. This Corby’s hair was totally white, but the powerful muscles bulging from his body showed that he was still a powerful warrior.

  Most weaponsmiths were extremely powerful warriors.

  “Master Corby, this lord magus wishes to meet with you.” The attendant said respectfully.

  Corby glanced at Linley and laughed. “Youngster, my fees are quite high. If you want me to forge a weapon for you, at the very least it will cost you ten thousand gold coins.”

  Linley could sense this Master Corby’s approximate level of power.

  If he wasn’t a warrior of the seventh rank, then he was one of the eighth.

  “Fine.” Linley nodded. “But this weapon will use special materials. Right. Can the other people here leave?”

  “Of course.” Master Corby nodded at his servants, who immediately left.

  Master Corby looked at Linley curiously. “Youngster, what special materials do you bring?”