novelUnsettling Night (1)
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Chapter 925: Unsettling Night (1)
"Miss Emily?"
Rhode revealed an uncharacteristic surprised expression. He had never expected to meet Emily here.
Emily Edward, daughter of the chairman of Edward Trade Association in the southern Munn Kingdom, Fiat.
The most unique and memorable thing about her was that she successfully became a merchant and yet, was determined to become a Travel Merchant instead. Back then when Rhode went to Fiat to eliminate the enemies, he disguised himself as Miranda and interacted with Emily for a period of time, which he eventually triggered the hidden mission. But for the sake of the bigger picture, he had to abandon the mission and it became the first ever mission that was marked with an 'Incomplete' in this world. If Rhode were a perfectionist, he would have felt uncomfortable every time he saw the grayed-out mission. But he didn't take it to heart and initially thought that that was the end to that matter. However, never did he expect to meet her again.
Rhode scanned the young lady curiously. Compared to when he first met her in Fiat, Emily seemed much more mature now. It was apparent from her confident smile that she was satisfied with her life. It seemed like she had sneaked out of her family and fulfilled her dreams. But he didn't know what happened in between though.
Shane was gentlemanly enough to make an excuse and left as soon as 'Miranda' and Emily met each other. Shortly after, they found a relatively empty spot and reminisced about the old times. But before that...
"Miss Miranda, she is..."
Emily gazed curiously at Angelina who had been following quietly behind Rhode. Rhode waved his arm casually.
"She's my servant."
"I see..."
Emily scanned Angelina from head to toe. The latter was resentful because it felt extremely insulting to be looked at by lowly humans as though she was an animal. If it were in the past, Angelina would have let her have a taste of her foolish mistake. But now, she could only lower her head and adopt a humble stance.
"Your servant is really beautiful, Miss Miranda."
Emily looked at Angelina and gave an admirable sigh, totally unaware that she had just escaped death. She recalled when 'Miss Miranda' came to Fiat, she had also brought two servants in the name of Celia and Celestina. Those two servants were absolute beauties and Emily didn't expect to see yet another adorable servant.
Emily was thrilled to see 'Miranda' again and Rhode learned from her about the situation after he left Fiat.
It was after the end of the internal battle.
After the North-South internal battle ended, the Reformist Party was swept into trash cans while the South experienced social and political unrest. Although Fiat wasn't closely related to the Reformist Party, it was still seriously impacted. But Rhode didn't know if they were fortunate or not, because after he crumbled Edward Trade Association's mine, which forced them to stop providing ores to the Reformist Party, it in turn helped them to escape a catastrophe from the clearing of accounts. But he had in fact gone too far, which caused the entire mine to collapse and made it impossible for them to dig up new mines. Besides, their competitors seized the opportunity and snatched many of their businesses which forced them to reconsider other business opportunities.
On the other hand, Emily convinced everyone in the trade association to allow her to travel. Thereafter, she had been traveling in the identity of a Travel Merchant with the experiences that Rhode had given her and thoughts that she mulled over. She performed outstandingly in the Light Mainland over the past two years. However, unlike the Travel Merchants who settled down after earning a fortune, she preferred to roam the continent in search of more precious and rare goods. This story wasn't too different from what Rhode experienced in the game.
It was due to this that after Emily heard about the situation between Highland City and the Void Territory, she came to try her luck for some interesting business opportunities. Of course, she knew that her basic sword skills could only protect her from minimal dangers and besides, as a Travel Merchant, she also carried several expensive items with her. If she didn't have that little bit of brain, she would have been taken advantage of by others a long time ago. Therefore, she studied the situation in Highland City before arriving and paid Shane a visit who was in charge of the Alanic Family in this city. Shane was interested in her identity as a Travel Merchant which led to him mentioning about Miranda who had left him with a deep impression.
Emily didn't expect to hear her name in this city at all and was over the moon. After she became a Travel Merchant, she did look for Miranda and indeed had some relations with the Seren Trade Association. Fortunately for Rhode, Gillian had reorganized the Seren Trade Association and started working on their intelligence network and the members didn't know much about Miranda. In fact, most of them didn't know her whereabouts at all and all they knew was that Miranda seldom returned to the trade association. Although this response left Emily dissatisfied, this also resolved Rhode's crisis from another aspect... At least his identity wouldn't be exposed.
Emily was like a student who learned lots of things with great pains and was eager to find her teacher to prove her progress. Besides, she had indeed benefited from the knowledge that Rhode imparted her in Fiat. It was especially after she became a Travel Merchant when she realized how important the knowledge was. Although it didn't make her an overnight millionaire, it gave her clearer judgment to work in safer environments just like what 'Miss Miranda' said—money can be earned again, but one only has one life. Emily remembered this advice deeply by heart and gave up decisively on decisions which eventually saved her from trouble. If not, no one knew where her dead body would be at right now.
Judging from another angle, Rhode could be considered her 'life savior' and not only once.
"But... You're really fortunate. It hasn't been peaceful recently and it is really dangerous for a merchant to travel alone."
Rhode said with admiration. It was true that it hadn't been peaceful in the Light Mainland. After the internal battle between the north and south, the attack that the Country of Darkness launched on the Light Mainland was also incredibly fierce. It could be said that the area was in turmoil and chaos of war. It was especially so for the Country of Light, where problems arising with the refugees, bandits and thieves also wreaked havoc everywhere. Under such circumstances, it was remarkable that Emily achieved such results while being alone.
"Eh heh heh."
Emily stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.
"Actually... I've been traveling with someone. Just like what you said, Miss Miranda, it hasn't really been peaceful. I think that life is more important than everything else since money can be earned again. Ah, by the way, allow me to introduce to you Miss Miranda."
Emily quickly scanned the surroundings and spotted her target. She ran up and dragged her out of the crowd.
"She is Miss Stefania. I've been traveling with her all this while, Miss Miranda. She's just like you, a Travel Merchant."
"Oh?"
Rhode revealed a curious expression but in fact, he was shocked and had even prepared himself for a fight. On the other hand, Angelina instinctively took a step back and stared at the young lady. Both of them discovered that before Emily pulled that young lady out from the crowd, they didn't detect her presence at all!
This was an absolutely strange phenomenon. Rhode was the dragon soul heir while Angelina was a royal vampire. It went to show how unimaginably powerful she was to be able to conceal her presence before them!
"Greetings, I'm Miranda Seren."
Rhode showed an elegant smile and extended his hand. The young lady smiled and held his hand in response.
"Greetings, Miss Miranda... I'm Stefania Yulia. Glad to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Emily... And it seems like you're truly as interesting as she said."
The young lady revealed a gentle smile while Rhode cautiously scanned her from head to toe.
She had fair complexion, a pair of pitch-black eyes, and pitch-black long hair that reached her waist. She could be considered a beautiful young lady who left a deep impression. But unlike Emily's outfit, she was wrapped in a large black cloak. What was strange was that her weird outfit didn't capture any attention among the luxuriously-dressed guests. Other than Rhode and Angelina, it seemed as though no one noticed her presence, not even Shane who was currently chatting with the two fat merchants nearby.
She was in the Peak Legendary Stage at the very least.
Rhode knitted his brows. The moment he held her hand, he instantly detected the massive amount of strength inside her. Not only that, but he also sensed an indistinct demon aura exuding from her. Given the reaction which Angelina had toward her, there was only one answer.
A half-demon? That's rare...
But why would a half-demon be here?
Not only that, but Rhode also realized the undoubted glint of shock in Stefania's eyes. It was apparent that she had seen through his true identity.
Could she be an unexpected trouble?
A half-demon in the Peak Legendary Stage who he didn't recognize. Now that he was in Highland City, this definitely wasn't any good news.
He had no intention of investigating her immediately. On the contrary, he chatted casually with her, found an opening to greet other guests, and headed off. Although Emily was unwilling to part with him yet, she knew that this sort of relationship between merchants was necessary.
"Sigh... I finally got the chance to meet Miss Miranda and was hoping to speak to her a little more... Miss Stefania, what do you... Huh?"
As Emily turned around helplessly to seek her companion's opinion, she discovered that Stefania was nowhere to be seen.
"Really..."
Emily didn't seem that surprised by her disappearance. After all, she was just a peculiar person and Emily was used to it already. Emily shifted her attention to the sumptuous food since she hadn't eaten after arriving at this city.
At the same moment in the quiet corner, Rhode gazed silently at the young lady standing before him.
"Hey, Miss Stefania, is anything the matter?"
Without Emily around, Rhode displayed a calm and rather cold expression. He lowered his right hand, ever ready to summon his card spirits. On the other hand, Angelina stood behind him and stared sharply at the young lady.
"Don't be so nervous, Your Majesty Rhode Alander. I have no intention of being hostile to the ruler of this territory."
Stefania didn't show any sign of fear to his ice-cold gaze. Instead, she revealed his true identity with a smile.
"Instead, I just want to make a small deal with you."
"Deal?"
Rhode twitched his brows.
"That's right. After all, one doesn't get the chance to meet the dragon soul heir anywhere, isn't it? Don't worry. I come with no ill intention. I'm only curious to know if you're interested in my small little deal..."
Stefania reached out for a pendant from her pocket. It had a weird pattern made from three interconnected circles. Rhode's eyes glinted at the sight of the pattern.
"You are a plane merchant?"
"Wow, you're aware of that? I thought I'd need to spend some time explaining everything to you..."
Stefania revealed a look of astonishment. Upon hearing her answer, Rhode's heart was crashing in huge waves. He didn't expect that he would be this fortunate to meet a plane merchant!
The so-called plane merchant, also known as the plane-of-existence merchant, was one who traveled between planes of existence for business transactions. In the game, plane merchants were extremely rare to find and their spawn positions and locations were never fixed. It could be said that players had to rely solely on luck in order to meet one. Not only that, but the items that the plane merchants sold also weren't ordinary. Although the items weren't exceedingly powerful, they were incredibly strange and mysterious and most of them didn't belong to this world. There was once a player who purchased from a plane merchant an enormous biped robot!
Rhode recalled how bewildered the other players were when they witnessed that player riding the robot onto the plaza for the first time. It was ever since then that the legend about the plane merchant was proven. Players tried to search for plane merchants but the plane merchants were too secretive and didn't leave any traces of their existence. But the items that they sold weren't invincible. For instance, the player who purchased the biped robot brought it into a dungeon. After a BOSS fight, the robot suffered damage that was beyond repair and self-destructed...
Rhode was full of surprise at the sight of this young lady. He didn't meet a plane merchant in the game but was presented with a chance now.
I've struck gold.
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