Chapter 196: Successful Escape

After toiling through the night, Yang Ling yawned and prepared to rest for a little while. During his battle with Santiago, even though he had succeeded in launching his surprise attack, he had exhausted a considerable amount of mental energy. Recalling the other party’s lightning-like Wind Step and powerful tempest, Yang Ling could still feel his skin crawl.

As a Sword Saint, Santiago’s close-combat abilities had been exceptional. If he had not made the assumption that Yang Ling was only a Summoner who was unskilled in close combat, and thus underestimated him, Yang Ling would never have been able to finish him off in one strike!

The negotiations with the merchants also sapped a good deal of his energy. The atmosphere seemed jovial on the surface, but every promise, every sentence he uttered had to be deliberated deeply.

Yang Ling had just sat down when Orlando knocked on his door, announcing that Harribell was there to visit him. It seemed that she had something urgent to tell him. He walked out quickly to have a look, and he saw Harribell pacing nervously, her expression filled with worry.

Could there have been some changes in the opinion of the Emperor?

Yang Ling creased his brows. All that time, he had never seen the brilliant Harribell so anxious. She seemed able to maintain her composure no matter how dire the situation.

Noticing Yang Ling’s approach, Harribell said in a fluster, “You need to leave immediately. Leave Montson before daybreak. I have prepared the carriage.”

Leave Montson immediately? Could the situation already have reached an unsalvageable stage?

Yang Ling’s face fell, and he looked anxiously into Harribell’s face. But her explanation quickly brought him up to speed.

As it turned out, after the Emperor had made clear his opinion during the banquet, Harribell had instinctively felt a sense of threat as she saw the foreign affairs minister Grichie and his group leave the area in a fury. They dared to assassinate Croix of the Nicholas family to achieve their goals. Yang Ling was severely lacking in guards, making it harder for him to ward off their evil schemes.

Out of caution, she had sent her men to tail Grichie in secret. The results of her investigation shocked her.

After making his way around the city, Grichie had met with a large group of black-robed men in a dilapidated villa on the west side of the city, negotiating with them for a full four hours. According to her men who had barely escaped death, everyone in the villa was an experienced killer, amongst them several terrifying Heaven-ranked Assassins. Harribell had sent three Great Swordsmen, but only one had managed to escape and return, and he was gravely wounded.

“After having failed to stop the support of the Livenza Alliance for the Magical Beast Territory, faced with pressures from all sides, the Banto Empire would not be able to send out an army to attack the Magical Beast Territory. If that is the case, then in order for Grichie to continue achieving his goals, all that he can do is try to assassinate you. As long as he ambushed and killed you, the Magical Beast Territory would no longer have a leader, and to them, the problem would have been solved at the root.”

After taking a breath, looking at Yang Ling, who was deep in thought, Harribell went straight to the point. “Yang Ling, leave immediately. Leave Montson, leave the Livenza Alliance before they take action. I’ll go with you and lead the warriors from my family to escort you back to Wissen Town!”

Looking at Harribell, visibly more haggard after toiling for many days, and her large bloodshot eyes, Yang Ling was moved. Back then at the Terras Forest, he had given her the half-bottle of Water of the Spring of Life because of the crystal coins as well as the value he could obtain by using her. He had not thought that he would obtain an entire forest, obtaining Harribell’s utmost help in every way he needed.

“No, Harribell, I won’t leave. I’ll accompany you in Montson!” Yang Ling smiled and poured Harribell a glass of rum.

Since the other party was prepared to deal with him, then it might be too late to leave already. He could forgo the crystal coins and antiques that the merchants had gifted him, but for the development of his territory, he had to bring back the experienced craftsmen. Even though he could absorb them into the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda and ensure that no one was hurt that way, he was unwilling to expose too much of his own secrets unless he absolutely had to.

Since that was the case, rather than act rashly and leave Montson in a hurry, it was better to act after they came up with a plan and discovered the other party’s weakness.

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Harribell looked from the rum in Yang Ling’s outstretched hand to his friendly gaze, and felt a sour tinge in her nose, thinking that she would be willing to help Yang Ling no matter how tired or bitter she became. But she came to her senses and got angry. She did not expect Yang Ling to joke at such a critical time. She did not reach to take the rum from Yang Ling.

“Harribell, if your intelligence is accurate, then it’s probably too late to leave even if we could walk out of town right this instant!” He tried to reason with her. He knew well that concern could make one flustered, and Harribell was no exception to that.

With Yang Ling’s explanation, Harribell calmed and critically analyzed the situation. She explored their options from many angles, from where the other party was to their abilities, from the opportunities for an assassination to possible spots of ambush, from when Yang Ling could return to the Magical Beast Territory to the specific route he could take.

Harribell’s analysis was impeccable. Her haggard yet alluring face, her thin lashes, her fair neck… Yang Ling could not help but steal a few more glances.

“Harribell, do you think it is possible to convince the Emperor to assign a few of his guards to accompany me home?” Yang Ling asked after a while.

“Impossible. In order to avoid agitating the Banto Empire, the alliance would never show you obvious support.” Harribell shook her head in frustration and continued. “The Emperor had been prepared to maintain a neutral attitude, but he leaned toward supporting you only a fraction, after Diana’s help and your actions at the banquet. It’s impossible for him to support you blatantly any further just yet.”

Harribell understood the political dynamic better than Yang Ling did. Though the Emperor had shown some support to Yang Ling, he and the Magical Beast Territory could not expect additional material assistance for the time being. Perhaps Grichie had realized this and that had led to his brazen, crazy actions.

After gaining a further understanding of the delicate situation with Harribell’s explanation, Yang Ling leaned back in his chair and thought. There were no eternal friends, nor were there eternal enemies between a country and a territory. All there was were the interests of both parties. It seemed that that was the case even in a different reality.

Thinking back, rather than attribute the Emperor’s minute change in stance to Diana’s efforts or his Crystal Diamond, it was more accurate to pin it to his display of ability when he killed Santiago, furthering the misconception that there was a mysterious, powerful family backing him.

An independent, powerful Magical Beast Territory could keep the Banto Empire in check. This was a good thing for the Livenza Alliance, caught between the Banto and Rossi Empire as it was. Yang Ling knew that if he wanted to obtain further support from the alliance, he had to show them his abilities and further solidify the Emperor’s stance.

Since the target of Grichie and his group is myself, then is it possible to split up, with me staying here to attract their attention while I get Orlando to send the craftsmen and servants back to the territory first?

Yang Ling looked from the mountain of gifts piled up on the villa floor, to the craftsmen and servants he’d either bought or been given. He started to formulate a plan.

As long as he pretended to be ignorant and continued staying in Montson, he would be able to act as a cover for Orlando and the rest while they escaped. There would then be enough time for him to send a secret message to Casey at the Aila Mountain Pass to receive them.

Orlando and the rest would be much safer as soon as they reached the Wilderness of Siberia. Then, with nothing holding him back, he could return to the Magical Beast Territory. With the Unicorn’s speed and his own abilities, there would be a way for him to escape no matter how fine a net the other party had cast to catch him!

Yang Ling slowly voiced his idea. Harribell felt that it was a risky plan, but she had to admit that this was pretty brilliant. Disregarding everything else, Yang Ling was confident that he would be able to shake the assassins pursuing him with the speed of the Unicorn alone.

Yang Ling and Harribell split up and got started. Yang Ling’s mission was simple. All he had to do was feign ignorance and visit various places in Montson with Yuna and Orlando, just like he had done over the past few days. He would walk around the slave market, head to the arena, and visit the large merchant associations like the Aragon Merchant Team. He was to give Grichie and his group a sense of security.

Compared to Yang Ling, Harribell’s mission was more complicated. In order to avoid any mistakes, she had to send people to spy on Grichie and his group. She had to arrange for a team of merchants to leave Montson as soon as possible so that Orlando and the rest of the people could mix into the merchant team and leave the area without tipping Grichie off.

According to the plan, Harribell’s merchant team would provide cover for Orlando and the rest until they reached the border of the alliance, before heading north into the Rossi Empire. The Wilderness of Siberia awaited them after they made it past the alliance border. Then, it all came down to Orlando’s ability if they could escape Grichie’s ambushes and return to the Magical Beast Territory safely.

Orlando was intelligent, and his abilities were exceptional within the younger generation of Dogmen in his tribe, but it was still a difficult task for him to lead the craftsmen and servants back to the Magical Beast Territory alone. But Yang Ling had a way of dealing with this. In terms of setting up formations, and of leadership abilities when it came to an army, Ashnamov, who was more or less recovered after resting in the space of the Wizard’s Pagoda, was an excellent choice.