I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 184 - 118: Royal Capital, Merlin’s Instructions and Compensation

Chapter 184: Chapter 118: Royal Capital, Merlin’s Instructions and Compensation

Gu Shanhai hurriedly took the Holy Knights back to the Royal Capital to trade for something, only to discover a terrifying fact: he seemed to have nowhere to make the exchange.

The Priests were far at the frontline, asking Gu Shanhai to join them, which he had no desire to do. It meant going into battle, and although his strong senses made him unafraid of stray arrows, a battlefield entailed more than just that: it could be a rain of arrows... oh, that was unlikely, with five hundred Knights counting as a large army. Gu Shanhai thought it over carefully, figuring it couldn’t be that different from a village brawl.

Since they were already at the gates of the Royal Capital, they had to take it slow.

"Trade with Merlin?"

"No, that would cause trouble. But speaking of which, it’s odd that I’m not wanted. What’s the situation there?"

Gu Shanhai muttered to himself, then boldly entered the Royal Capital. This time he wasn’t here to blow up a church or steal the Stone of Destiny, but to reap the fruits of victory and pass the days.

"Wait, will the church even take in this bunch of nearly spent Holy Knights?" Gu Shanhai suddenly recalled something. With the Priests out of commission, the Holy Knights were naturally crippled too, so whether the church would accept them was another matter. Thinking of the people sedated with a heavy dose of anesthetics lying in his portable laboratory warehouse, his heart tightened in fear of under-selling them.

"Forget it, let’s head to the Imperial Palace first. With Atilis not around, I don’t know if I can cash in on my status as a Royal Scholar." Gu Shanhai planned to find Morico first, a friend after all. Then he realized he had no idea where to find him, so he decided to head to the Imperial Palace, since the office was located there.

"It’s been a long time, Mr. Shanhai." An elderly voice sounded from behind, silently slipping past Gu Shanhai’s perception.

This startled Gu Shanhai into nearly instinctively retaliating, but he managed to suppress the impulse.

"Merlin Wizard, don’t you make a sound when you walk?" Gu Shanhai said irritably, not afraid of Merlin attacking him. This was Kalome’s Royal Capital; Merlin dared not act. Then he added, "Indeed, it’s been a long time. The last meeting was two years ago, I believe."

Gu Shanhai had spent over a year with Amute Green Forest, and with the time spent wandering, it had been almost two years since their last encounter.

"Yes, back then, you were still arguing with me about whether His Majesty should become the Druid King or the Knight King," Merlin said with a light chuckle, proceeding, "Please, Mr. Shanhai, His Majesty has been waiting two years for your scholar status."

Gu Shanhai went quiet for a moment, then spoke, "I don’t think our relationship is that good."

He was puzzled; he didn’t detect any malice, only goodwill, which left him completely baffled as to whether the other party was trying to trick him.

"I never intended to kill you when I commissioned the Esoeron family and Rahan Family; it was an accident. I will give you an explanation for that," Merlin explained.

At this point, Gu Shanhai understood that Merlin had come to make amends. As for the explanation, he was curious about what it would be, but he still kept his guard up, wondering if he was being set up.

The two entered the Imperial Palace and went straight to a certain palace, where Minister of State Kay and Morico were dealing with official business. They were momentarily taken aback to see Merlin with Gu Shanhai but quickly recovered their composure. Compared to Morico, Kay didn’t recognize Gu Shanhai at first glance.

"Shanhai? Where have you been these years? Even Merlin couldn’t find you with his Divination Skill," Morico said, pleasantly surprised to see one of their own.

"I went overseas and found an Ancient Druid. I studied with him for over a year. Oh, and I brought him back with me." Gu Shanhai said, showing the fifteen Fish Leaning Wood Seedlings, then briefly mentioned the Green Knight and the Ocean Druid.

On one of the Fish Leaning Wood Seedlings, an old man’s face appeared, indicating Amute had also arrived, and the conversation grew animated.

Merlin listened for a while before hesitantly raising a question, "Mr. Shanhai, did you sever fate by some means?"

His question caused the lively atmosphere to stall.

"Not me, you’re wrong. How could I possibly do that?" Gu Shanhai denied it instantly. Posturing could be fun, but fate was the unborn Lord, and Merlin was a church Wizard, devoted to the Lord. If he found out, it could lead to a confrontation and a fight.

He wasn’t afraid, but there was no need for that.

"I saw it," Merlin stated. In that instant, Gu Shanhai tensed, ready to fight for his life, but Merlin continued, "Thank you for that, I have freed myself from my fate and will no longer die because of love."

"..." Gu Shanhai was dumbfounded. What about his planned revenge? He was supposed to trick Merlin into taking the lake sword, "Excalibur," only to fall into a tormented love affair with the Fairy of the Lake and die.

With Merlin’s current situation, it seemed unlikely that he would fall victim to a love-struck folly... it seemed he may have gone too far.

"I won’t just thank you verbally; combined with the earlier explanation I promised, I’ll send them to you together," Merlin said.

His tone was sincere, but it gave Gu Shanhai the impression that a grand gift was being prepared for him.