CHAPTER 327: A Talented Person

The nature of the Lancelot Imperial Academy was different from that of the Babylon Academy. The Lancelot Imperial Academy was an academy that trained talented strategists, not magicians, swordsmen, or knights. Similar to all other schools on the Profound Continent, it was always nobles who held the important positions within the Imperial Academy.

There were several reasons why there were so many talented nobles. The first was that the astronomical cost of attending such an academy kept ordinary civilians away. The second reason was that even if a civilian managed to enrol in the Imperial Academy, it would be extremely difficult to find a good teacher who could systematically teach them about military affairs.

However, nothing was ever set in stone. The Imperial Academy would still see the occasional civilian student. Even under such unfavourable conditions, these civilians would still manage to show their talents; they would be so brilliant that they would manage to steal the limelight from the other students of noble descent.

In such an academy, incomparable geniuses would receive a multitude of offers from the greatest teachers, guaranteeing their success, and as long as these talented civilian teenagers appeared docile and clever, there would always be talent-seeking nobles and generals who would try to recruit them.

Of course, there were also a few wild and unruly civilian teenagers who didn't know how to hide their brilliance, and this would annoy their fellow noble students. At worst, they would be killed by their peers out of jealousy, or, if they were lucky, their careers would be hindered and they would lose their chance of joining the military.

Dorcas was just such an unlucky genius. Young Dorcas had once been second to none at the Imperial Academy, but he had become too proud and didn't hide his talent, falling in love with an Court's daughter. This made the girl's father and her fiancé's family very angry.

The result was that Dorcas was falsely accused of crimes. Not only was he expelled from the Imperial Academy, but he was hunted by both families and nearly lost his life. He had been forced to become a fugitive.

This happened about a year ago. The Dark Mantle's records contained details of this incident, and Han Shuo had also read through this information when he'd exercised his rights at the Dark Mantle's headquarters. It had left a deep impression on him, and he hadn't thought that he would be able to meet this civilian military genius here.

Dorcas stood on a wooden raft. His once haughty face was now a little more melancholy due to the bitter experiences he had had. He stood up straight and looked off into the distance. He turned his head and said to the bandit leader, "Captain, those people holding torches must be from Brettel City. Once we have acquired the 50,000 gold coins, we should refrain from appearing near this town. The City Lord named Bryan isn't an easy person to deal with! If we don't leave quickly enough, not only will we have to give up the gold coins, we'll even lose our lives!"

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid enough to stay behind and let the people who killed Redbeard Troda surround me. Hehehe, let Laxi and the others experience the wrath of these people. Ten thousand gold coins will allow us to live comfortably for a long time. This bandit leader was no fool. He cackled and expressed his satisfaction that after a lifetime of small jobs, he was able to share ten thousand gold coins for their efforts.

Han Shuo had seen everything through the Yin Demon's eyes. He looked carefully at the raft Jack and the others were on before turning to Faulke and saying, "Give them the carts with the gold coins, we cannot lose a single merchant.

"Sir Count, are we really going to surrender to them like this? We've already prepared many ways to counter them!" Faulke said anxiously when he heard that Han Shuo intended to hand over the money without a fight, trying and failing to suppress his doubts.

"The genius of the Imperial Academy, Dorcas, is out there. If we were to go through with the original plan we created, we would be at a complete disadvantage. The water is far away, we won't have a chance to act without harming the merchants. We should first give them the gold coins as a ransom for the merchants and the war equipment. We can discuss the matter of destroying the bandits after they are safely in our hands.

Before they arrived, Han Shuo had planned to ambush them with the Earth Elite Zombie. Had they been in the forest, the Wood Elite Zombie would have been able to quickly ensure the merchants' safety. Unfortunately, the cunning Dorcas had chosen the middle of a river as their place of business. Han Shuo had no other choice, as the Water Elite Zombie had not yet finished evolving.

"Alright, I'll go now!" Faulk nodded his head. He didn't have a better idea either. He mounted his horse and rode forward, opening his mouth to shout, "Take the boxes of gold coins to the river, we'll make the deal with the bandits."

Han Shuo had deliberately filled a box with gold coins and not crystal cards. The original plan had been to throw the box of gold coins to the bandits. The suspicions of the allied bandits would surely explode and lead to a fight over the gold coins. As such, the Earth Elite Zombie and the Wood Elite Zombie would be able to ambush them.

Now that Han Shuo and the others were in a passive position, of course, they could not force this scenario. As the clink of gold coins rang out, the bandits on the wooden rafts approached, while those behind them raised their bows to target the knights on the shore. The bandits at the front slowly pushed the merchants and equipment to a shallower spot along the riverbank.

Dorcas was indeed careful enough not to let the rafts wash ashore. The merchants and war chariots all waded to the shore a short distance away, giving Han Shuo's side no chance to act.

After a case of gold coins was hauled aboard a raft by two bandits, a loud cheer went up from the bandits' ranks. The arrogant bandits laughed excitedly, and many of the leaders praised Dorcas of the Imperial Academy, saying that he was very capable indeed.

Ducas, the man in charge of the plan, did not smile. His expression was one of gloomy detachment from start to finish. As the bandits cheered, there was a hint of hesitation in his eyes, as if this seemingly perfect plan was a disgrace.

Amidst the excited shouting, the bandits took advantage of the fact that the raft was slowly drifting away to suddenly extinguish all the torches in their hands when they were 50 metres away from Han Shuo and the others. The bandits stopped their maniacal laughter under the scolding of their leaders. The moonless night was pitch black. Having lost their light and sound, no one could clearly see what path they were taking when they were 50 metres away, the only exception being Han Shuo.

These bandits didn't cross the river and disembark, but paddled along with the current. Dorcas shook his head at the bandits, who were silent but wriggled around in all sorts of odd positions to convey their excitement. He sighed inwardly, not knowing if it was right to use these bandits for his revenge, but now that he was considered a fugitive, unless he took the disgraceful action of becoming a traitor to the Empire and seeking asylum in another country, who else could help him satisfy his desire for revenge?

Ai. After all, he was someone who had been born and raised in the Lancelot Empire. No matter what, he couldn't become a lifelong traitor with unforgivable crimes. Being a bandit was much better than being a traitor hated by everyone in the Lancelot Empire, right?

"Faulke, escort them back. We're still some distance from the city, so don't let anything happen to them." Han Shuo's vision was also affected in the inky night. He'd almost lost sight of the wooden rafts slowly drifting away. When the merchants and war weapons had all climbed ashore, Han Shuo hurriedly turned to Faulke and gave his orders.

"Sir Count, are we not going to hunt down and slaughter these rotten bandits?" Faulke asked, looking at him in confusion.

"If you escort the equipment and merchants safely back to the city, I'll forget your previous negligence. Remember, the area outside Brettel City still isn't safe. Make sure you don't miss anything again!" Han Shuo was thinking of the constant threat from the seven grand duchies, as well as the larger bands of bandits that roam between the Duchies and Brettel City. He warned Faulke to be careful.

Faulke's goal this time was to redeem himself through meritorious deeds. Because he was constantly thinking about that, he'd lost his usual cool head during this extraction mission. After hearing Han Shuo's warnings, he immediately came to his senses and realised that he had become too obsessed. He calmly said, "Rest assured, Sir Count, I will definitely ensure their safety and bring them back to the city."

Seeing that Faulke's eyes had regained their calm, Han Shuo relaxed. He knew that Faulke had recovered from his urgent desire to redeem himself. He patted Faulke on the shoulder and said with satisfaction, "Be careful!"

After speaking, he left as swiftly as a breeze. Han Shuo's figure quickly disappeared from sight in the pitch black night. Faulke and the others had no idea what Han Shuo was up to.

"You two, use your war horses to pull the carts. You over there, dismount and give your horses to the merchants. Hurry up, we need to use this darkness to get back to the city. Stay alert. We'll all be on the hook if anything happens..." Faulke began to shout orders after Han Shuo had disappeared. The knights that Faulke had brought with him quickly carried out his orders, organising the merchants and tying up the battle chariots and other materials, and slowly made their way back to Brettel City.

Dorcas stood on a wooden raft, his sombre face flickering between red and white in the light of the torches. He looked at some of the bandits who were busy splitting a chest full of gold coins in the next raft. He asked with terrible timing, "That thing you promised me... when are you going to do it?"

"Relax, Dorcas! As long as you help us with a few more of these 'business transactions' and we earn enough gold coins to become strong with recruits, even hiring soldiers and wiping the duchy off the map won't be a problem!"

A bandit leader among them casually fobbed off Dorcas' question. He turned to another leader beside him and smiled lecherously, "Tuca, we'll soon take our brothers to the Full Spring Garden brothel to gamble. These gold coins are enough for us to play for a while! Hahaha our brothers have always wanted to go there and try it out. Unfortunately, those refugees from Brettel City didn't have much with them... we haven't really earned much in all these years. Now that we finally have some money, we should really enjoy it!"

"I like your suggestion, Laxi. Haha, let's go together!" Bandit leader Tuca laughed and rubbed his chin. He chatted knowingly with them about the smaller bandit groups, the smaller ones consisting of 70-80 bandits, the larger ones around 200. They specialised in raiding the shelters between Brettel City and Seamist City. They had no ambitions or great achievements. Otherwise, they would have raided Brettel City long ago. These people weren't planning on upgrading their subordinates' weapons and armour after earning those gold coins, but instead were thinking about living their lives to the fullest. They didn't seem to care about the promise they had made to Dorcas.

Dorcas, a student at the Imperial Academy, wasn't an outstanding swordsman or knight. He'd spent all his time studying military strategy and tactical skills. Even though he was 1.9 metres tall, he wasn't strong at all. For these rude and uncivilised bandits, this kind of weak strategist who didn't pose a threat to them and was able to plot and plan for them was very handy indeed. They weren't in any hurry to help him take revenge.

"You promised me you would help me take revenge after we got the gold coins!" Dorcas stared at the bandit leaders as they talked uninhibitedly about which girl's breasts were the biggest and which girl's bottom was the plumpest. Dorcas' muffled voice carried over the water.

"The most important thing is to let the brothers rest and have a hell of a time after working so hard for so long. Dorcas, let's talk about this later. I'll help you find a girl you'll really enjoy. She'll definitely be worth a lot more than that little noble girl you like, haha!" Even the leader Dorcas was following laughed heartily and carelessly, completely forgetting his promises to Dorcas.

""Aha, we're here!" If we go ashore and walk a bit, we'll reach the Tulian City of the Narsen Duchy! The girls in the Full Spring Garden are waiting for us!" Laxi laughed excitedly and ordered his subordinates, "Hurry up! Stop the rafts, your boss will take you to have some fun!"

Dorcas wore an unpleasant expression. He resented these untrustworthy bandits, but he knew his own strength was limited. He was angry to the point of outburst, but he had no choice. He could only stare at the bandits as they left the rafts one by one and walked happily towards the Full Spring Garden in Tulian Town.

"My friends who so graciously took my fifty thousand gold coins, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Suddenly, the silence of the night was broken by the sound of a young man laughing. Under the flickering light of the bandits' torches, the silhouette of an extremely tall person gradually appeared, blocking their path.