Chapter Fourteen: Hess City
Derinkoort was rendered speechless by Lin Lei's question.
"Lin Lei, let me tell you: if even a small amount of Black Jade dust is mixed into a weapon, that weapon's hardness will increase to an extraordinary level. If a weapon were forged entirely from Black Jade, even a Saint Realm expert wouldn't be able to destroy it no matter how hard they tried."
Derinkoort was truly exasperated.
Lin Lei clearly had no proper understanding of how precious Black Jade was.
"Then, Grandpa Derinko, could I use this Black Jade to forge a 'heavy sword'?" Ever since he'd last heard Derinkoort talk about the advantages of a heavy sword, Lin Lei had been longing for one. He'd originally planned to buy a good heavy sword. But now that he had this Black Jade stone, he naturally wanted to make the most of it.
Lin Lei was far from lacking in money these days.
"Forge a weapon from Black Jade stone? A heavy sword is quite large, so you'd need to combine the Black Jade stone with other ores and materials. Of course, I don't know much about smithing. But I've heard that forging weapons from Black Jade stone is no simple matter. Black Jade stone is simply too hard — melting it is beyond the reach of ordinary master smiths," Derinkoort said with a smile.
Lin Lei nodded to himself.
Black Jade stone was a substance that even God-level experts could barely damage. But since it could be forged into weapons, there had to be some method — it was just that the process was incredibly difficult.
"I understand," Lin Lei said, nodding.
Lin Lei and the Second Prince Shaq and his group continued pushing northward. The further north they traveled, the fewer magical beasts they encountered. Today, they had covered three or four hundred li, and in all that distance, not a single magical beast had appeared. The towns and villages in this area hadn't suffered any deaths either.
Still, many of the towns and villages were sparsely populated. Presumably, a great many people had fled northward out of fear for their safety.
"Haha, luckily, the Kingdom of Hess hasn't fallen," Shaq said with a hearty laugh. "We've been traveling for days — finally we can get some rest."
Shaq looked over at Lin Lei as he spoke.
Sitting astride his fine steed, Lin Lei held his seat as firmly as an ancient tree with deep roots, not swaying in the slightest. His expression was calm and he said nothing, naturally exuding a composed, steady air. Shaq felt a measure of awe toward Lin Lei. Though he was a few years older, he always addressed Lin Lei respectfully as "Lord Lin Lei."
"Lord Lin Lei, look — the military camp is just ahead," Shaq said, riding alongside him.
Lin Lei nodded.
The Church of Light had clearly decided to establish a defensive line at the border of the Kingdom of Hess. One look at the sprawling military encampment stretching endlessly before them made it obvious just how many soldiers were stationed here.
"Two kingdoms, five duchies — that's roughly a third of the Holy Alliance's territory," Lin Lei said with a faint smile. "I'd wager the Church of Light has no intention of retreating any further." When Lin Lei's group reached the checkpoint, they were let through without difficulty.
The checkpoint was there to watch for packs of magical beasts.
Humans, on the other hand, were not stopped at all.
"Your Highness, where shall we stop to rest?" Lin Lei asked, his composure outwardly unchanged.
"Hess City. It's one of the locations my father and I agreed upon. It's still over three hundred li from here — if we push on, we can arrive by evening," Shaq answered without hesitation.
"Hess City!"
Lin Lei committed the name to memory.克莱德, Hess City will be where you die.
They galloped onward, Lin Lei, Shaq, and their group of thirty-plus riders leaving a trail of dust along the road. By the time they caught sight of Hess City, the sun had not yet fully set. The rays of the setting sun bathed the landscape in a deep red glow.
"Hess City — capital of the Kingdom of Hess. Only slightly smaller than Fenn City," Lin Lei remarked, gazing at the enormous silhouette of the city walls. Even he felt a stir of awe at the sight.
How much labor and resources must it have taken to build such a colossal city?
"Hyaaa!"
Lin Lei's group was halted at the gates of Hess City.
"Dismount!" the city guard barked loudly.
"Why should we dismount?" Shaq snapped angrily.
The guard, sensing that Shaq and his group were not ordinary travelers, replied: "His Majesty has decreed that no horseback riding is permitted within Hess City. My lords, the city is already packed to the brim. There simply isn't room for horses — I'd advise you to dismount."
"Dismount," Lin Lei said to Shaq with a smile.
Shaq nodded.
Lin Lei and Shaq could well imagine the situation. Countless refugees from the two kingdoms and five duchies, along with people living near Hess City, had all fled here. The combined population of those two kingdoms and five duchies numbered in the hundreds of millions. Even if ninety-nine percent had perished, that still left several million survivors. Moreover, within a few hundred li of the Kingdom of Hess there were hardly any magical beasts, so most of the residents in that area had survived.
"So many people."
Stepping into Hess City, Lin Lei, Shaq, and their group couldn't help but be stunned. Normally, Hess City could accommodate at most a million residents. But Lin Lei estimated that the current population was at least several million, because the streets were completely jammed. Even in Fenn City, Lin Lei had never encountered anything like this.
"Let's find an inn first and settle in. You — get rooms booked right away," Shaq ordered one of his men.
"Lord Lin Lei, let's go have dinner," Shaq said with a smile. Lin Lei naturally declined to refuse. Shaq led the group into a nearby hotel. The ground floor was entirely full, but there were still private rooms available upstairs.
"Three private rooms," Shaq said with considerable swagger.
But when the group sat down and Shaq saw the price list, he was momentarily dumbfounded. He grabbed the nearest waiter and shouted, "Do you think I'm an idiot? At your prices, this one meal would cost several thousand gold coins! Are you trying to rob me?"
The hotel was indeed upscale, but Shaq was no stranger to high-end establishments.
At a hotel of this caliber, a meal for a hundred gold coins would be perfectly reasonable.