Chapter 55 - Black Mage
When Zhao returned to the castle, he told Meg to make the nessecery preparation. In two days, they were going to go to the Purcell Duchy with everybody.
In fact, this preparation was very simple. They could just put everything they needed into the space. The slaves had already been in the space before, so they were ready and willing to go in when they were informed .
Two days later, everyone went into the space. However, Zhao didn't go in. He was staying outside with Green.
Green, if he was traveling by himself, could go really fast. But since Zhao was going with him this time, they would naturally move more slowly.
Fortunately, Zhao took out one of the undead from the space, and now he and Green were on their way, riding on Alien. Although Green was fast, he would still become tired, while an undead could keep on going like a perpetual motion machine.
It should be said that the Black Waste was really huge. Their speed was not slow, and they have been moving day and night, but it would take them three more days before they could see the outer perimeter of the Black Waste.
Fortunately, Alien was large enough for Zhao to simply cover its back with planks of wood to make a bed, like turning the undead into a car.
Right now they were going down a road paved with slabs of stone, and although it had become weathered, it was still flat, which showed off the dwarves superb craftsmanship. This road was used by the dwarves to move a large number of iron ore, along with a wide variety of iron products, to be sold to the whole Continent. But since all the iron ore were mined, and no more adventurers had tried to conquer the carrion swamp, no one uses this road anymore. If not for the fact that grass didn't grow here, there would simply be no road at all.
Three days later, Zhao finally saw the outer perimeter of the Black Waste. In the distance, he could see something green, which made his spirit rise.
Green was also relieved. To be honest, he would like a change of scenery. Seeing the endless black soil was a kind of a torture. Throughout their journey, he and Zhao had been talking less and less, especially in the last half day, when they didn't even say a word to each other. The two just sat there, looking at the endless black soil, like their souls had been sucked out.
Then imagine what would happen when their eyes suddenly spotted something green. Even if it was just a little bit, it had a huge impact.
Zhao shouted, like he wanted to run off. Green chuckled. "Master, this is the outer perimeter. Over there is the Purcell Duchy. If we go any further, we will be leaving the Buda clan's territory."
From what Green said, Zhao nodded and turned around to look at all that black land. The land was his, but it didn't bring him a happy mood. Seeing the endless land that couldn't be planted made it look like his ideas weren't feasible.
Slowly, they saw more and more patches of green. Zhao then spotted mountains that were bigger, and with a lot more trees, than the iron mountain near his castle. He was shocked when he saw these steep mountains, which made the iron mountain look gentle.
Green noted the look on Zhao's face, and smiled. "I guess Master didn't expect that the mountains here would be so high and steep?"
Zhao nodded, then Green continued. "In fact, this is not surprising. Even if it's not the highest place, it is definitely not the shortest. Comparatively speaking, they are higher than the one near our castle."
They then saw a valley, hundreds of meters wide, in the distance. It was the only way out of the Black Waste. As long as they go through there, they would enter the territory of the Purcell Duchy.
Green pointed to the valley. "That place was once called the Iron Stream Valley. All the iron flows out through there. But ever since there was no more iron coming out, people slowly forgot about the name of this place, and it eventually became known as the Forgotten Valley. In the Forgotten Valley, there's a fortress called Montenegro. It was designed to prevent any massive outbreaks of spirit beasts from going through the Forgotten Valley and into the Purcell Duchy. Strange to say, those spirit beasts had never come out of the Black Waste. So the fortress slowly turned into a paradise for adventurers. They were risk takers, and although the carrion swamp was too risky, they could still hunt spirit beasts around here."
Zhao nodded. "Then how do we get past it without getting found out?"
Green smiled slightly. "Master doesn't need to worry. Later, we will go straight into the mountains of Forgotten Valley, and then I will go into Montenegro and buy some clothing for you. Since you can use these undead, you'll have to dress like a black mage."
Black mages were actually general terms for those who learned dark magic, poison magic, blood magic, and other attributes that were related to darkness. But even if this world was repulsed by black mages, it still respected power. As long as you had strength, regardless of what abilities, you will be accepted.
The black mages were people that no one wanted to provoke, probably because they might have learned that type of magic for a very dark reason, and their characters were somewhat gloomy. If you mess with them, they might not attack you on the spot, but they will definitely make you pay one day.
If you were asked who had the highest position in this world, some might answer that it was the nobles or the royalty, but it was undeniable that the status of mages was certainly not low. A powerful mage will find courtesy in any empire.
There might have no longer been a Buda clan if they didn't have a powerful mage such as Meirin.
However, even if no one wished to offend a black mage, no one wanted to welcome them. Most people did not wish to get into contact with a black mage. Green wanted to make Zhao look like a black mage as an added protection, since they would stop people from finding out Zhao's identity.
Zhao's understanding of this world was too small, so he didn't argue with Green, and just nodded his head. "You arrange it, Grandpa Green. I've rarely walked outside, so I don't know what to do. I'll listen to you."
Green nodded. What they were doing was related to the survival of the Buda clan. No one could find out their identity while they were selling the radishes, otherwise the Buda clan would be in big trouble.
The Buda clan was hated by the Aksu Empire, who would deliver a merciless blow if they found out about this transaction. It was precisely because of this that Green had to be more careful. Even if he didn't know that Adam was replaced by Zhao, he would do everything he can to not let Zhao be killed.
Since Zhao was going to rule the entire Buda clan, Green wanted him to better understand the world. Green was actually paving the way for Zhao. He knew that his Master was young, but he still hoped that he would grow up. The day that Zhao would become a person that could support the Buda clan, he will be able to feel at ease.
Translator Notes: Road trip!
Translator Notes #2: Kinokey was hospitalized for a dislocated foot. Please wish him well and thank him for continuing to edit like a machine!
Translator Notes #3: This chapter was MTLed by Trung and edited by Kinokey. Please leave a comment if you've spotted anything that looks wrong.