BXBX NOVEL Chapter 344 - Zeal Dominion
The scarred bandit followed closely behind Dodoro, trembling a little.
They didn’t walk for very long yet. But to him, it was like walking on hot iron.
He already thought about all possible fates he might meet later, all of which didn’t end in happiness. All the scenarios suggested that he would die under a wizard’s rage and become a common corpse hidden within the wilderness.
It was only several minutes, and he had thought of many different ways of dying.
He got such strong imagination that he suddenly lost it and began to cry on the spot before Angor could think of the right questions to ask.
Confused, Angor spent some effort to learn what the bandit was thinking about.
He felt it funny that this thug would act like a coward, but he decided to play along since the bandit’s fear would make his job easier.
“I can spare your life, on the condition that you complete my orders... Or else-”
“Yes, YES! Anything I can do, I’ll try my best!”
As a merciless bandit, the fat man never expected Angor to show mercy. To him, what Angor meant was “letting him live just for now”.
And this meant there was still hope.
“Now get up, I have some questions.” Angor preferred not to see a greasy fat man weeping like a kid on the dirt with his eyes and nose running.
He waited for the bandit to wipe his face clean before he asked, “What’s your name?”
The bandit lowered his head carefully. “Baal Faak, sir. Please just call me Baal.”
Angor turned away and kept walking. “I need to learn everything about this city, this nation, and the nations around.”
Baal was taken aback a little. However, he didn’t dare to question Angor’s question, so he carefully tried to remember everything that he learned before.
“This is Boya Bay, sir. Boya Sea is the biggest inland sea in Zeal Dominion. There’s a canal connecting it and the Heaven Sea, which is nearly a thousand kilometers away.”
An inland sea?
Angor tried and failed to remember anything called “Heaven Sea” around Fey Continent. He only knew about Devil’s Water, which he passed through when he was traveling to Fey Continent from Old Earth.
I’m not at Fey Continent?
“The city ahead is a vital economic base for foreign traders in Zeal Dominion. It’s called Water Grasse, meaning ‘pearl lodged in the middle of the bay’. The Griffin Clan, one of the nine major supporters of the court, is now in charge of the city. The clan master is Count Leonrick, and he’s also the father of that woman.”
Baal noticed that Angor did not change his expression, and he felt relieved. It looked like this young gentleman didn’t come from the Griffin Clan.
“Water Grasse is a trading city that is home to merchants from all over the world, but it is also an exporter of raw materials...”
Baal observed Angor carefully while he explained. Using his experience at reading people, he noticed that Angor was more interested in geographical information, so he began to choose his words carefully.
Angor stopped Baal when they almost reached the city gate of Water Grasse.
As Angor expected, Baal had good knowledge about this city and its surrounding areas. He was pretty surprised to notice that this bandit was even well-informed of the situations between different nations as well. He even learned some fishy business deals that common citizens shouldn’t know.
Angor took a moment to arrange what he had heard.
So, the nation was called Zeal Dominion, a place still in its initial and prosperous stage. It was only 900 years since the very first court was established, and they remained relatively neutral and peaceful since then. The city in front of them was the second-largest city and the commercial center of Zeal Dominion—Water Grasse.
Zeal Dominion was bordered by two other countries by land and another island country by sea. However, Angor had never heard of any of the names before, and Baal couldn’t tell him anything about Fey Continent.
Angor couldn’t determine his current location yet. For one, Fey Continent was HUGE, and he never took the effort to memorize the map of it.
It seemed that he had to have a little chat with that “Magician”.
According to Baal, the entire Water Grasse was occupied by mortals who had never witnessed any supernatural-related concepts in their lives. As the leader of the bandits, who lurked around in the city, Baal only heard some small rumors and never actually met one before. Magician was the only one he had ever encountered. He knew nothing about Magician’s origin. Magician came to him because of a plot in which they had to kidnap Leonrick’s daughter, Margot.
Baal didn’t know why Magician wanted Margot though. The mysterious figure only gave him the Ring of Illusion to assist his mission.
Judging from Baal’s description, Magician usually wore a silver half-mask, and Baal couldn’t tell Magician’s age. Also, Magician had a really bad and easy-to-trigger temper. That man would start slaughtering whenever he felt discontent in any way. Many of Baal’s lackeys became victims.
Also, Baal’s men died of “a common blade wielded by hand”. To Angor, this meant “Magician” was only a low-leveled apprentice. Real wizards would never slash people in such an old-fashioned way.
This also meant Angor didn’t need to worry too much. He could always escape from an apprentice if both he and Toby failed in a fight. He also had two parasites in his Nightmare Domain, which could affect unwary wizards. He had no reason to fear a mere apprentice.
Angor planned to go and meet this “Magician” figure. Maybe he could learn something more useful.
...
Unlike the simple gate of Midnight Sovereign, which only served as the city’s protection, the city gate of Water Grasse was established as a toll station.
They had such “gates” on the seaways too. The station was responsible for issuing temporary passes to visitors, which only cost some coins. Anyone who wished to stay in the city longer would have to ask for a residence permit from the government hall.
With the help of a local mafia, Angor had no trouble getting a pass. He then lowered his top hat and activated Infinite Reticence to blend into the crowd.
Water Grasse was more prosperous than he had imagined. Compared to the rough-natured Subterrians in Midnight Sovereign, the citizens here were a lot more friendly. Apart from peaceful passers-by, he would occasionally see stray cats with obviously full stomachs enjoying the sunlight. The streets were clean and tidy. This meant the people in the city quite enjoyed their lives, and the government of Water Grasse was pretty decent.
Following Baal, Angor came to a port-like public boat station.
“I have a house in Bay District. You can stay there, sir, if you don’t mind.”
When he mentioned “Bay District”, Baal looked pretty proud. Every city had different places for rich people and poverty-stricken ones. Bay District was the “rich area” for Water Grasse.
The area sat on top of the Boya Sea.
Previously, Angor saw a city called “Venice” in a movie, and the Bay District of Water Grasse reminded him of it.
Despite its location, Bay District looked more thriving than the land. Countless beautiful skyscrapers scattered about the place, while all types of shops and canals ran between.
Riding on a small boat looked fun and comfy. Angor chose a boat shaped like a crescent moon. He then slowly headed for Bay District while he enjoyed the salty sea breeze.
...
In the central area of Water Grasse, there was a building decorated by a number of white clinical flags.
A middle-aged male wearing a blue and white striped robe walked into a room.
“Count Leonrick, sir!” a silver-haired elder in gentleman suit addressed the visitor.
This was the carriage driver that Angor met earlier, while the “Count” was the man in charge of Water Grasse, Leonrick.
“Margot was assaulted by Lone-Eye Brotherhood? How dare them! I guess Baal has lived long enough!” Count Leonrick bellowed. He then quickly put up a worried look and asked, “Is Margot alright?”
“The lady’s fine. She only has a scratch from falling down the vehicle. But...”
Leonrick saw his daughter sitting in the hospital hall instead of lying in bed. The girl seemed to be thinking about something.
When Leonrick approached her, Margot noticed her father and instantly broke into tears.
Leonrick patted her on the back to comfort her, but he soon noticed something strange.
Margot was crying badly, but she couldn’t speak a word!
“What’s wrong, Margot? Oh, please don’t scare your father. Talk to me!”
Margot only shook her head non-stop.
“You said she only had a scratch, Thuru! Why can’t she talk?!” Leonrick gazed at the old man in a rage.
Thuru sighed. “It wasn’t the Brotherhood who did it. It was... a strange young man.”
“A strange young man?”
“I have reasons to believe, sir, that he is... a wizard, as mentioned in the legends.”