Chapter 1701: Checkpoint

In just the blink of an eye, stories of the northern six provinces rebelling under the banner of Princess Constance turned from a whispered rumor to open news. All over town, between wells, that was the topic on everyone’s mouth. People anxiously discussed the situation at hand as they tried to get the latest information from one unverified source to another. They discussed the motives of the princess, the motives of the six northern provinces, the changes on the front line, and what His Majesty would do. However, the battle near Copulus River and the village that was destroyed in the fighting was more worrying. It worried everyone since that place was not considered far away.

Based on slightly newer information, it was an unexpected skirmish. Some Knights of the Broken Blade and their squires who were heading north to answer the princess’ clarion call were discovered by the Knights of the Ebon Blade as they were making their way across. Both sides then fell upon each other in a chaotic battle, and while the Knights of the Broken Blade were outnumbered ten to one, they fought almost evenly against their foes. The battle was pretty much inconclusive because both sides withdrew after massive casualties. The battle itself was without a winner, but ultimately, the commander of the Ebon Blades would not sit still because the Broken Blades had disappeared after the battle. No one knew if they had already reached the north or were still roaming the lands…

That directly resulted in every town tightening inspections at the gates.

Leaving a town was easy, but entering another one was now difficult. A checkpoint, which had been hastily set up now blocked the path to Greenway. A large number of fully armed imperial soldiers was inspecting every person going north to prevent the Broken Blades or any other rebels forces loyal to the princess from masquerading as commoners. The Ebon Blades could be seen in front of the checkpoints in their signature black armor and full-faced dragon helmets. The chainswords hanging by their waist hummed as they looked on cautiously at every passing member alongside their master.

Hao Ren pulled his curtain aside and saw another caravan in front of his being inspected. His sight then stopped on one of the Ebon Blades before he turned back. “Looks like this inspection is serious business.”

“Things have progressed a lot faster than expected.” Charlemagne frowned. “News of the rebellion in the north should not have spread so fast. It usually isn’t until the imperial soldiers and the local officials are ready before such news are released to the masses, after much planning and curating. ”

“So the ones spreading the news are not necessarily loyal to the emperor.” Vivian was not all that surprised. “Seems like even the Dragon Empire isn’t a united entity as you two have said. At least six of the northern provinces have immediately responded to the call for rebellion, and there is also instability in the south as well.”

“Our understanding of dragons is somewhat limited.” Awenna was serene as ever without any signs of awkwardness. “Even the most stable of countries have elements of instability in it. His Imperial Majesty Berentine has ruled this land for thousands of years. He is never going to command absolute loyalty from every single person, not when his equally famous daughter is going out and about.”

Lily gnashed her teeth. “This is a typical example of a daughter screwing over her pops. That emperor must be green in the stomach now.”

“…What?” Charlemagne and Awenna were confused.

“Ignore her.” Hao Ren waved it off. “She just ate something wrong and is babbling randomly.”

As they spoke, it became time for their caravan to be inspected. A few imperial soldiers stopped the carriage and requested to inspect the vehicle.

Charlemagne reflexively grabbed his arming sword by his waist as he put his hand into his chest pocket. That was the royal mark of the Kingdom of Izzo. If things really went out of control, that mark would be their last gambit.

However, as his eyes scanned across Hao Ren and the other three at the back of the carriage, he was surprised to find the four of them totally calm while they sat around. They even started joking, and that confused him.

Had these people, after being separated so long from the world in the Basilica of the World Tree, lost the most basic sense of danger?

The imperial soldiers were now before the carriage, and Charlemagne took a deep breath as his expression turned humble and tense. He pushed the carriage window open and slide the screen aside while he peered out. A moment later, his voice rang. “We are a merchant caravan heading toward Greenway. This is our pass and item checklist. We are carrying artisan goods and cloth.”

Shortly after, the imperial soldier yelled back, “The pass says your destination is Graymountain? Why are you changing it to Greenway?”

“Graymountain is too dangerous now!” Charlemagne replied hurriedly, really sounding like a terrified little merchant. “There are rebels in that town, and the Broken Blades are a bunch of unblinking, cold-blooded killers! By the emperor, we will not want to even get close to them. There are imperial forces in Greenway. It is much safer there.”

Hearing the commotion outside the carriage, Hao Ren was stunned. Who would have thought that the paranoid prince actually had such good acting skills? Was he actually a performer?

However, even his good acting was not able to affect the soldier’s methodical inspection process as he heard the soldier speak again, “Everyone going north is saying that! Open up the carriage. We are checking everything and everyone!”

Charlemagne could not refuse the request, or else everyone would be detained. So, he could only pull all of the screens open.

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A few soldiers went over to look at two other carriages of goods while an Ebon Blade knight accompanied by another soldier in light armor stepped into their modified carriage.

The moment the fully armored Ebon Blade knight stepped on the carriage, it sunk a little.

The iron tin can of a knight swept his gaze across the entire carriage, his expression behind the helmet not visible. Even the two eye slits on his mask revealed nothing but darkness.

Hao Ren was intrigued by the famous knight and tried to take note of his every special detail as well as feature. The first impression Hao Ren got was that the latter lacked a certain liveliness to him, yet he was not an undead creature.

The Ebon Blade knight was clearly a living person but also not in some ways.

The accompanying soldier bowed before the knight. “Sir, this carriage is a little weird. The magical device lets out very little noise while it operates, and the axle has been changed before as well…”

The Ebon Blade knight nodded and stepped forward, instinctively meeting Rheia’s gaze.

Rheia looked up from her homework and stared at the black metal tin can before her. “We are a merchant caravan heading toward Greenway. All our documents are in place. May we go now?”

The knight nodded, and a raspy voice rang from beneath his helmet. “You are a merchant caravan heading toward Greenway. All your documents are in place, you may go now.”

The imperial soldier was stunned, but at that checkpoint, the orders of an Ebon Blade knight were absolute, and he quickly nodded as he leaped out of the carriage, yelling at the rest of the soldiers, “Let them pass! Let them pass! There’s no problem here!”

After having the Greenway authorization stamped on their pass and leaving the checkpoint, Charlemagne and Awenna fully calmed down at last. They then looked oddly at Rheia, who seemed to be spacing out at the back of the carriage.

…Rheia spaced out most of the time, leading the two siblings to think that she was autistic.

“What’s wrong?” Rheia disconnected from her studies as she noticed their gaze and asked curiously.

“What did you do earlier?” Awenna was shocked. “The Ebon Blade knight would not have let us off so easily. He already suspected us!”

Charlemagne nodded. In that split second, he felt his suspicion soon turning into outright killing intent, and he was even ready to draw his sword. He never thought that once the “little lass” spoke, the unusual aura surrounding the knight would vanish altogether.

“Nothing. I was just telling the truth,” Rheia answered with a serious look, but she left something out. She had also turned truth into reality.

While she was only a material projection and could only use a very minuscule amount of her powers due to her lack of mastery in projection usage, her power as a true god was still transmitted through the projection. It was beyond anything a mortal like the Ebon Blade knight could defend against.

She had spoken the words of a god, thus that was reality.

Of course, due to the instability of the projection and most of her mental faculties being focused on studying, Rheia’s ability was not omnipotent. If it had been an army instead of a sole knight, her words would have meant nothing.

Charlemagne and Awenna, of course, did not know these details. They truly thought that there was some sort of mental interference magic and that it was a secret spell from the Basilica of the World Tree, leading them to be even more astounded. Awenna twirled a strand of her hair as she said, “…I have never heard of an Ebon Blade falling for a mental interference spell. They are almost immune to magic against the mind…”

While the two parties were not exactly chatty, Hao Ren was still intrigued by what Awenna had said. “Immune to mind magic?”

“Yes, the mind of an Ebon Blade knight is very strong, and it is usually immune to most soul and mind magic. The knights even have an ability called the Dragon’s Mark. Once activated, they will have resistance to all kinds of magic just like the dragons in the legends, and their individual capabilities, too, will increase. While they are no match for those ridiculous Broken Blades, they are still the strongest soldiers without question. I never thought that all of you could just pretty much scurry about under their noses…”

Hao Ren nodded but did not add anything further. His thoughts were filled with the unnatural feeling he got when he faced the Ebon Blade knight…