Chapter 35 - An Attack
Although Meirin was unhappy with the Aksu Empire, she still hoped that one day Zhao would be able to get back into the good graces of the king. This would represent that the Buda clan had been recognized as strong.
But what Meirin didn't know was that Zhao didn't intend to go back to the royal family, nor did he care about getting recognition from the old nobility. Those nobles had nothing to do with him. All that matters was that they had strength.
This was different for Meirin because she grew up in the Ark Continent. Here, even the emerging nobles put in great efforts to gain respect from the old nobility, otherwise they would just be called upstarts.
But in Zhao's past life, there weren't any nobles or kings. As long as you had money, you had the strength to do what you wanted. He didn't mind if the nobility gave him recognition or not.
Still, he had to carefully study to better understand this world. All that matters was that he developed the Buda clan as soon as possible.
Back in the study, he wasn't in a hurry to read the miscellaneous book. He carefully looked around and found the books on magic and martial arts. But when he looked inside, he found that his understanding of what was written was a little iffy. Without a teacher, he couldn't just learn by reading it. Plus, since he drank the Water of Nothingness, he couldn't learn magic or martial arts anyway. So he didn't really care.
Finally, Zhao decided to refocus on the miscellaneous book. But when he went to go grab it, he caught sight of another book. This one was about calligraphy.
The calligraphy book introduced several types of writing utensils, which made Zhoa realize that each of them had their own uses.
The brush was used by people who were particularly fond of calligraphy. But they were also used by great mages who made magic scrolls that were relatively large.
Quills, on the other hand, were mainly used to make smaller strokes on small and medium sized magic scrolls.
And then there was the pen, which was usually just used for writing and recording down notes. Because the inside of the pen's capsule could hold ink, you would be able to write a lot of words, which was very convenient. But the pen wasn't used to make magic scrolls because the metal tip was a poor conductor of magic. Mages generally didn't use metal things. Of course, there were special metals out there that could be used with magic, but those were very expensive. No one would be willing to make a pen out of them.
Zhao read about their uses, and how each were different. He even read about how nobles would use a brush to sign important documents with their signature.
All of this surprised Zhao for a moment. In his past life, he had always wanted to learn calligraphy. Unfortunately, at that time he had no money or teacher. So his desire amounted to nothing. He didn't expect that in this world, he might be able to achieve his aspirations.
But for now, Zhao could only remember the usage of these types of writing utensils. With everything happening in the Black Waste, it was unrealistic to expect that he would have the time to study calligraphy.
Zhao spent the afternoon in the study, until a knock suddenly came. "Who?" he asked.
Rockhead's voice came out. "Master, we've gathered quite a few stones and now need your help to transport them."
Zhao put down the book and went to open the door. "Come on," he said. He left with Rockhead.
While walking out, Zhao asked, "Is the mining going well?"
Rockhead nodded. "Yes, Master. Ann found several mines that we could easily exploit. No iron ore, but we should be able to get the right stones to make a mill stone."
"Pay attention to safety," Zhao said. "Altogether, the Buda clan has so little people. Even the lost of one person would weaken us. Make sure that they don't do anything reckless."
Rockhead understood what Zhao meant. Although the slaves had been encouraged to work with enthusiasm, they shouldn't do things too quickly out of impatience. He should pay attention to that.
They talked while they passed by the women who were still weaving the mats, but they didn't see Daisy or Meg.
Zhao didn't go greet them, and instead walked to the hill, followed by Rockhead. He saw something that looked like a makeshift shed. Pointing at the shed, Zhao asked, "Is that shed for housing our sentry?"
Rockhead nodded. "Yes. Grandma Meirin helped us. In the small shed are two look outs. They would be switched out every two hours."
Zhao was impressed. Meirin was more than worthy for the Buda clan, finding the right place to put a sentry and setting up a schedule for them.
Just then, a figure suddenly came flying down the hill, shouting loudly. Although Zhao couldn't hear what that man was shouting, he could feel his heart sinking, so he immediately turned to Rockhead. "Rockhead, go to the mines and tell the slaves to come back to the castle. Then get Blockhead and his people to come back to the castle too. I'll go look for Meg."
"Master, I'll do what you say, but you should immediately return to the castle. The Buda clan can't go on without you."
"Less nonsense, I am the lord of the Buda clan. At such a time, how can I chicken out and hide. You go do what I tell you."
He was about to walk away, but then Rockhead clung to Zhao's leg. "Master, you have to quickly go back to the castle. The Buda clan can't exist without you. If you're not here, then it would be over for all of us."
Zhao looked at Rockhead, who was being stubborn. The last time he didn't listen to Zhao was when he and his brother held their swords to their necks.
Zhao sighed. "Fine, I'll return to the castle. But you should remember to get everyone back safely."
Rockhead, after hearing what he said, stood up.
By now the figure had reached them, then he knelt down in front of Zhao. "Master, there's a lot of undead spirit beasts climbing up the hill!"
"Are there any people in the shed?" Zhao asked.
"There is one," the man immediately replied. "Someone always has to be on the look out on a regular basis."
Zhao was furious. "Fool! How come he's not down? Rockhead, call the guy to go down the hill."
Rockhead started running.
Zhao turned towards the kneeling slave. "What is your name?"
"Back then, the owner told me it was Lin."
"Lin, go back to the castle and find Grandma Meirin. If she isn't there, then tell everyone who is weaving weeds to go inside the castle. This is my command, so go fast."
Lin obeyed. He jumped up and ran to the castle. Zhao knew his own body. He couldn't run very fast, so he got someone else to pass on the message.
Zhao also started running, but even a few steps made him tired and gasping for breath.
Eventually, Zhao returned to the castle. He found the slaves who were working on the weeds inside. Everyone looked uneasy. Looking around, Zhao saw Meirin standing there.
Meirin also saw Zhao, and she immediately went up to him. "Master, what should we do now?"
Zhao took a few deep breaths, then said, "Grandma Meirin, count the number of people here. And make sure everyone made it back to the castle before shutting the gate."
Meirin quickly said, "Okay, Master. But you should stay here and do the count. I'll go to the gate." She walked out and left, giving Zhao no chance to oppose her.
Zhao looked at Meirin's departing back. She was taking care of him again, always putting him in the safest place. He wanted to argue, but Zhao knew that people who couldn't protect themselves would only be in the way.
He turned around and looked inside the castle, where stood more than thirty women, the only ones to make it here so far. "Stand in line," Zhao said.
The slaves immediately stood in line, their speed greatly beyond Zhao's expectations.
Translator Notes: Okay, I'm pretty sure that my translation of "undead spirit beasts" is wrong. But I don't care. Why? Because I think what the author meant was that there are a lot of living things, such as spirit beasts and people, who go into the carrion swamp and become undead. So even though undead people aren't the same as undead spirit beasts, I'm just going to group them together as "undead spirit beasts" to make it easier on myself.
Translator Notes #2: This chapter was edited from an MTL. Please leave a comment if you've spotted anything that looks wrong.