Serena sat in a large, high, and hard chair. The addition of a cushion forced her feet off the ground. She sat upright, seemingly to display the bearing of a count, but in reality, she simply couldn't stand the hardness of the chair back and didn't want to lean against it.

Before her sat a large, old solid wood table. Just moments before, the head of the Pas family, Locke, Knight Luke, Newrent, and Ellie had sat on the left side of the table, while Heath, Arthas, and Lorraine sat on the other. But now they were gathered in small groups, discussing, arguing, and debating.

It was all so boring. Serena closed her eyes, wondering, "Is this what my future life will be like?"

But she had already spent a thousand gold coins to live like this. However, the person most connected to those thousand gold coins was not here.

“Oh, right, he’s an Aruru, isn’t he?” Serena looked at Ellie.

Ellie stood beside her and nodded upon hearing this. It was an open secret that Yun Zhe was an Aluru. Although everyone secretly looked down on Aluru, they surprisingly dared not underestimate Yun Zhe. Especially after learning that Yun Zhe had single-handedly used the environment and the sound of the wind to scare away the remaining Nightfire mercenaries without bloodshed that night, their attitude shifted from daring not to underestimate him to cautiously respecting him.

To borrow the words of the head of the Paz family, "In that situation, if I wanted to scare away the mercenaries without bloodshed, I would need at least a hundred fully armed and skilled men."

A skilled soldier is one who excels in one or more aspects of combat ability.

"Can you find him?" Serena asked softly.

Serena actually regretted it a little. If she had known that night that the arrogant man in front of her had scared away those Nightfire mercenaries all by himself, she would have kept him by her side, regardless of whether he was human or even an orc.

Nyrent's comment, "This Aruru, if he were to return to the country he founded, he'd probably be quite a formidable figure," further solidified her resolve. Whether or not he could return was secondary; at the very least, there was no such thing as earning a thousand gold coins just from a few words.

Ellie frowned. "I can try to look, but I might not be able to find it." If she didn't know what Serena was thinking at that moment, Ellie would have instinctively refused.

Serena was overjoyed upon hearing this. "That's wonderful! Let's set off tomorrow. There's still a month before we send out our troops. Do you think we can find it before we do?"

Ellie placed her hand on her chest and said respectfully, "Whether I find them or not, I will return before the troops are dispatched."

Serena didn't actually like the answer, but considering that only Ellie had time to look for Yun Zhe at the moment, she suppressed her displeasure.

“I hope it’s good news,” Serena smiled, then turned her head away.

Ellie scoffed inwardly, "If you weren't the Earl, I wouldn't even bother going." Her thoughts drifted to Balin, thinking that whether he was traveling with the Aruru or not, he would inevitably pass through Balin. Thinking of this, she wished she could be on the walls of Balin right now…

Thinking of this, Ellie was startled and forcibly suppressed her emotions.

"Hmph, I'm just worried that he won't be able to handle the Sunshine Ring, not that I miss him."

Yun Zhe felt his mood instantly brighten after getting rid of those Aruru people. Schemes and plots are the most detestable things. Who would do such things unless absolutely necessary? But clearly, some Aruru people didn't see it that way.

"Why not use this energy to think about how to improve yourself? It's true that bad people come from poor and remote places." Yun Zhe complained and cursed many times. In the end, he realized a problem: he actually still cared about those Aruru people.

If they didn't care, why would they feel so sorry for their misfortune and angry at their lack of resistance?

Moreover, he couldn't let go of that poet. He was truly a ray of light among the Aruru people; to leave him in those people's hands would either mean his demise or that he would become like them.

"Damn it, and he still says he's not a pushover!" Yun Zhe cursed himself angrily, then turned back to find the Aruru people.

Thus, the group of Aruru people spent twelve perfect days, free from human disturbance and wild beast attacks. They naturally sensed the help of a benefactor, but although their thoughts differed, they all remarkably remained silent. They traveled by night and rested by day, finally arriving outside Bahrain, the capital of the Salzburg province, on the morning of the tenth day.

Outside Bahrain City, dense forests and rolling hills still stretched out. Bahrain City itself was built on a rare plain nestled among these forests and mountains. Provinces were territories directly under the Empire, belonging to the royal family. Yun Zhe's country had been reorganized into an imperial system decades ago. Aside from the fiefdoms of the three dukes and two marquises, the rest of the land was divided into seven provinces, distributed around the capital. The province of Saldeburg lay directly north of the capital, and to its west were the territories of Count Donic and Count Lunlang, both vassals of Duke Saldeburg. However, it was clear that these two dukes' only vassals were not planning to spend the summer peacefully.

As Yun Zhe sorted through this information, he followed the group of Aruru people as they meandered through the forest. Finally, they rounded a low hill and saw a clearing in the valley filled with colorful tents—hundreds of them in total.

Yun Zhe sighed, wondering if this was their "country".

The area is surrounded by mountains and high slopes, offering no cover whatsoever. If an enemy were to attack, not to mention fire attacks, a single charge by cavalry would wipe them all out.

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