Chapter 59 - Mercenaries and Adventurers
Zhao really didn't know there were people in this world that would impersonate black mages. He didn't think that someone in Montenegro would dare to pose as one. It was a strange place.
Green apparently saw Zhao's puzzled look, and he smiled. "There's nothing to be surprised about. Those audacious mercenaries and adventurers in this paradise have nothing that they wouldn't dare to do."
Zhao nodded. "Well, I'll listen to you. Let's go," he said as he summoned his undead.
Green put on the shiny body armor, even though he didn't actually need it for protection. As powerful a warrior as Green was, if he was someone that needed to rely on something to protect his own safety, he would have already lost the battle.
Meg, in her maid outfit, sat quietly on Alien, next to Zhao. She had seen Zhao sit on Alien before, but she had never personally got on herself, so she was curious about what it was like. She soon discovered that sitting on the undead was not very comfortable. Although there were planks covered with blankets to sit on, it still felt hard and there wasn't that much room.
Even though the undead reached a staggering ten meters long, most of it was from its tail, which measured about five meters, half the size of its entire body. Plus with a two meter long head, the main part of its body was a mere three meters. Green wasn't sitting with the two because he was on Alien's skull, and although the skull was a small area, with his skill, Green could stand or sit and even sleep with no problems. Alien naturally couldn't feel anything, so it didn't mind that someone was riding on its head.
The three slowly left the woods and were back in Forgotten Valley. They still didn't see any people yet, but Zhao didn't care as he directed the undead to walk straight towards Montenegro.
It wasn't very far, only taking about half an hour before they saw the distant walls and people by the gates. Zhao commanded the undead to keep going because of what Green told him. If they sat on Alien as they entered Montenegro Fortress, no one would dare to offend them. No one in this Continent wanted to mess with black mages.
While sitting on the undead's back, they swaggered towards Montenegro Fortress, and within five minutes, they ran into a group of mercenaries that was made up of five people. Each person, while carrying a backpack, was surprised as they looked with uncertainty at Zhao. When they saw the huge undead, they immediately stepped aside to the side of the road. It was as Green said. These people wouldn't dare to touch a black mage, especially one that could summon such a powerful undead.
It seemed like Zhao's head didn't move, but his eyes were looking over the mercenaries. They were wearing simple leather armor, each armed with weapons, and carrying a backpack. The guy in front was carrying a bow, a knife on his waist, and he had a body that was very thin, with long hands and feet. He seemed like a very agile guy. The second guy was holding a double-edged axe, and with a single glance you could tell that its weight wasn't light. Underneath his relatively thick leather armor, he looked like a powerful warrior with dark skin wrapping around iron-like muscles.
The third guy was dressed like an orthodox adventurer. He wore a leather helmet and thick boots along with his armor, while a cloak swayed from behind him. Plus he was carrying a large sword. The two people following behind that guy seemed to be brothers, who looked alike, but were not twins. They were very fat. One of them was stuffing his mouth with chicken feet, like he hasn't eaten in the past few days.
Although Zhao was watching them, with the large hat hiding his face, it looked like his head didn't move. Those five people thought that Zhao's eyes were focused straight towards the front, so they didn't notice him looking at them.
There were often people who posed as black mages in Montenegro Fortress, but to see such an undead, nobody suspected that Zhao was a fake. It would be impossible for a fake black mage to summon an undead spirit beast.
Soon Alien left those five people behind, and Zhao turned his eyes back towards the front. To be honest, this was the first time he saw actual mercenaries, so he was very curious. But even if Zhao got a first impression from those five individuals' characteristics, he still couldn't tell how strong they were.
Just then, Green spoke up. "Master, those five people coming out of Montenegro Fortress is part of a famous mercenary group called Kui Snake. The strength of those five are good, with the axe guy and sword guy already at the peak of a sixth level warrior."
Zhao was surprised. He thought that those people were so powerful. Peak of a sixth level warrior? So they were stronger than Blockhead and Rockhead? It seems like there were a lot of experts in this world.
Along the way, the three encountered a lot of adventurers and mercenaries. Some were dressed in leather armor similar to those previous five, while others were more mixed. Some of the adventurers didn't even wear leather armor, and instead just wore plain warrior clothes. A few didn't even have backpacks.
After these mercenaries and adventurers saw Zhao, they invariably got out of the way. Even if their strength was good, they weren't willing to get into a conflict with a black mage.
While sitting on an undead, under the eyes of everybody, Zhao swaggered into Montenegro Fortress. Even the guards that were standing in front of the gates did not dare to intercept them. Although they were supposed to guard the fortress, they weren't that big of a force, so naturally they wouldn't dare to touch a black mage.
According to Green's directions, the three stopped in front of a luxurious hotel. Zhao looked up at the hotel and found a sign that had a Bana symbol.
The three got off the undead. Green picked up the backpack, while Meg picked up her own bags. Zhao had nothing to hold but a magic staff, which he waved around and returned the undead back into his space.
The stewards of the hotel looked outside at the black mage. They didn't want to go out and meet him, but they were also afraid of angering the mage, so one unlucky guy had to bite the bullet and go out. He had a smile on his face as he greeted Zhao. "Welcome, distinguish mage. I'm sure you must have taken a long journey to Montenegro Fortress. In our upscale hotel, we can provide you with hot water twenty four hours a day so you can wash away your fatigue."
Zhao didn't say anything. He just gave a wave, and Green immediately stood in front of the steward. "Two of your best rooms. Have hot water ready, and bring a good meal to our rooms."
They were then escorted into the hotel. It was good that he and Green had discussed it beforehand, for Zhao to not speak as much as possible and to make it look like he was ordering Green do all the talking. Not only would this make Zhao seem mystical, but it would also prevent people from finding out Zhao's age from his voice.
Translator Notes: This chapter was MTLed by Trung and edited by Kinokey. Please leave a comment if you've spotted anything that looks wrong.