Chapter 181 – Jealousy
Right now, Zhao Hai didn’t plan to handle this matter. He turned his head to look at Green and Meirin, saying, “Grandpa Green, Grandma Meirin, if we really do plan to cooperate with the beastfolk with regards to our food business, then I think we should let Laura come forward as well. If we act now, then sooner or later we’ll be exposing our weaknesses. To be honest, with regards to doing business we truly are inferior to the skills of Miss Laura.”
Green and Meirin looked at each other and the two of them saw a happy light in the other’s eyes. Meirin said, “I agree with Master’s point of view. For this matter, it is really better to allow Laura to act. But Master, if that is the case then I fear that we will be resigned to give up a large portion of our profits to Miss Laura.”
Zhao Hai hadn’t noticed the meaningful glance between the couple and instead replied, “There is no other way as we don’t have any personal connections with them. On the other hand, this might not be true for Laura; after all, she has been doing business within the Purcell Duchy for quite some time now. Saying that she doesn’t have any previous cooperations with the Beastfolk Empire[1] won’t be believable.”
“Miss Laura is beautiful, does Master intend to marry her and have her become the lady of the house?” Meg asked as she stared at Zhao Hai. Hearing him speak about Laura made her heart uncomfortable.
Zhao Hai gawked after hearing what Meg said. He turned to look at Meg who seemed grumpy at him. In Zhao Hai’s head, two characters suddenly appeared: jealousy[2].
Meg really looked like a girl that was in love, yet now her boyfriend was talking about another girl in front of her. This was what her expression conveyed.
Zhao Hai looked at Meg, embarra.s.sed, while Meg’s small face was red all over as she lowered her head. Green and Meirin also looked at Zhao Hai’s expression and they couldn’t help but smile faintly.
Both of them were getting older and were refined people, so it wasn’t that they couldn’t see Meg’s thoughts. They were happy to see how Meg reacted, though if it happened before, they wouldn’t have agreed[3]. But now that Zhao Hai had become so competent, they naturally hoped that he would receive Meg.
There were no laws that specified that people had to be monogamous in this world. It was common to see a man with three wives and four concubines[4]. Even a woman, if you were powerful enough, could keep a few men around and n.o.body would say anything. Strength was everything.
Since the situation of the Buda clan right now was progressing smoothly, Zhao Hai could now be married and have children. That is, of course, after he cures himself from the effects of the Water of Nothingness, which could be solved when his s.p.a.ce reaches level 30[5]. In Green’s opinion, Zhao Hai shouldn’t be married to only one wife and have a child, but to have many wives and many children with them. More children was a sign that the Buda clan will flourish.
Zhao Hai looked at Meg’s charming appearance, which made his heart beat faster. He immediately turned his head. Since the issues they needed to handle now was far too much, this wouldn’t be the right time to talk about love.
Zhao Hai turned to Green and Meirin and said, “Once we’ve solved the issue of the Carrion Swamp, we should immediately go to the beastfolk and have a look around since we are really short on manpower.”
Green nodded. He turned his head and looked at the screen. The screen showed the seven-colored smog that continued to seethe. It almost looked as if this wasn’t even a part of the Ark Continent, but of some other s.p.a.ce and time.
Zhao Hai enlarged the map at the corner of the screen and compared it to the map Buffy had drawn. At present, they hadn’t seen any terrain that was similar to what had been marked on the map, making them feel relieved[6].
However, their hearts felt uneasy. The eagles had followed the map Buffy had drawn when they’d started flying, but they didn’t know how the eagles flew onto a different route. Furthermore, even if they deviated from the original track, it shouldn’t have been by too much. They had been flying for over half a day now and hadn’t seen any terrain similar to what was on the map. This meant that they’d deviated from the route by a great deal. If they had been allowed to fly along on their original route, then they wouldn’t know in what part of the year they would have arrive at Flower City.
Zhao smiled wryly and said, “I never thought that the Carrion Swamp would really be this big. We’ve really underestimated its size.”
Green frowned, his complexion becoming ugly. “It seems that this Carrion Swamp had been left behind by a powerful ancient magician. I heard that ancient magic was really mysterious. Some people could be kept circling around. There is something known as a maze[7], and in my opinion there is a maze here in the Carrion Swamp. Buffy was really lucky last time as he’d even been able to get to Flower City. It seems like that is the center of the maze, and the maze itself protects it.”
Meirin nodded. “Although I do not know of that type of magic, I do have some knowledge. A lot of the magic used on the continent right now is based off remnants of magic from the ancient past and are definitely inferior to that mysterious ancient magic. The Carrion Swamp was certainly an important place from ancient times, otherwise such magic wouldn’t exist there.”
Zhao Hai nodded. “Since that is the case, we really must go to Flower City. I feel a lot more curious now. As long as we can set up a foundation in Flower City, it will become our strongest fortress. No one will ever think of moving against us with that.”
Green, along with several of the others, nodded as they knew that the matter in their hands this time wouldn’t be easy. For so many years, the Carrion Swamp had been a mystery. If this mystery was easy to solve, then that wouldn’t be normal[8].
* * * * *
It was already dark by the time Laura and Nier arrived at their home in Casa City. Laura sent someone to look for Quinn John immediately. Nier, on the other hand, settled down with those several Eagle Virtuous Phantasms.
Before long, Quinn John arrived in the study room. Quinn John gawked upon seeing Laura frowning. “Laura, what happened? What accident has occurred to Mister?” Quinn John asked.
Laura recovered after hearing Quinn John. She shook her head and said, “Mister hasn’t met with any accidents. I’m just worried about Alodia and them.”
After hearing Laura, Quinn John knew that she was worried about the Markey Dell clan. He had spent a longer time working for the clan than Laura had and also understood the young masters to a greater extent than she did. He knew Carlo, and was clear that this time, since he’d sent Alodia, they wouldn’t easily give up even if they failed this time around. For this matter, however, if Zhao Hai really gives them wool, then the consequences couldn’t even be said[9].
Zhao Hai was not a friendly person, this fact was known by Quinn John. If Carlo really went too far, then he feared that they would suffer some losses.
If Carlo suffered losses at the hands of Zhao Hai, then don’t even think about the other young masters, the house’s master himself wouldn’t accept this result.
What person was the master? He was obstinate and overbearing. Whomever dared to offend him, he would return to them a hundredfold. If Zhao Hai really offended Carlo, then that would be a visibly smack in the face of the Markey Dell clan. By then, the master would definitely move to get rid of him.
If the master really moved, then even if the clan wasn’t able to extinguish Zhao Hai, Laura would still be affected. When the time came, their following days would be disastrous.
Laura hadn’t spoken as she watched Quinn John. She knew that he was also thinking of the issue she was currently worried about. Laura said, “Mister told me that as long as Alodia doesn’t move excessively, Mister will give me face and won’t care about them. However, if Alodia goes too far, then Mister wouldn’t be polite. With Mister’s strength, which you also know about, if they fight each other then Fifth Uncle will really suffer a loss. This matter will then become complicated.”
Quinn John nodded. “I’m also worried about this since you know the temperament of the young masters. If they like something, it is impossible to make them let it go. I’m afraid this thing will be a lot more troublesome than the matter some time ago.”
Laura frowned and said, “Yes, the clan members really are like that. Those people don’t even bother looking at what we did to get to where we are now. For them, we’re no threat. They’re people who never forgive—an annoying kind of people.”
Quinn John smiled bitterly as he didn’t know what to say. If they were to describe the Markey Dell clan members in a few words, then it would be greedy, arrogant, black hearted, and stingy. For people like them to have raised a child like Karen was unexpected. If Laura hadn’t been taught by Karen, then what she would have become by now would be really difficult to determine.
Just then, Nier came in from outside. Laura glanced at Nier who had just came in, then said to Quinn John, “Grandpa Quinn John, I have one more thing to tell you. Today, Mister has given us five Eagle Virtuous Phantasms, which came from those Virtuous Phantasm colored eggs we had given to him before. However, the ones he’d given back aren’t the same as the common ones. Do you want to go and take a look?”
Quinn John was surprised and said, “Alright, let me see them.” Quinn John knew that common Virtuous Phantasms lived together with their master and imprinted a symbol onto the body of their master. It then absorbed battle qi or magic power from its master in order to survive[10]. If they were not used in battles, then they were kept invisible. That’s why Quinn John thought that Laura had the Virtuous Phantasms along with her.
Laura smiled. “The Virtuous Phantasms aren’t here. I let Nier arrange a room in order to keep the Virtuous Phantasms. Nier, have you fed the Virtuous Phantasms already?”
Nier nodded and replied, “I already fed them, Young Lady. Those several Virtuous Phantasms really can eat. The meat that was usually given to a hundred wind falcons had been eaten by those five Virtuous Phantasms alone. It seems like raising them will require a larger expenditure.”
Quinn John was actually shocked after hearing what Nier told them and said, “Wait, Nier, did you just said that you fed those Virtuous Phantasms with regular meat? Did they actually eat them?”
Laura smiled and said, “Grandpa Quinn John, this is one of the characteristics of Mister’s Virtuous Phantasms. They don’t need to take in battle qi or magic power from a person, so long as you feed them the way you would feed a normal magic beast. Let’s go and check them out.” She stood up and walked out with Nier while Quinn John followed behind.