Zhang Heng contacted the people at the perfume shop according to the method given to him by the priestess. In the end, other than feeling the confidence of the Balance Blade, he did not get anything else. This gave Zhang Heng a bad feeling.
The veiled woman was right. Zhang Heng did not know the true strength of the Balance Blade. However, not long ago, he had just come into contact with Altrus. He knew that a person like Altrus was not easy to deal with. What's more, Altrus had joined forces with the Hounds to kill the Balance Blade.
In Zhang Heng's original expectation, the war between the Balance Blade and the Hounds had lasted for more than two hundred years. This time, it would be difficult to tell who would win or lose. If that was the case, as a candidate for the Balance Blade, he would be able to watch the two sides fight.
But now, it seemed that he had probably overestimated the ability of the Balance Blade's current leader. At the same time, he had also underestimated the Hounds. If Cornu was one of the Hounds, then the Beehive behind him was likely to be a peripheral organization of the Hounds.
This also meant that the Hounds had probably been operating in Rome for quite some time. The assassination in Britannia was probably just a way for the Hounds to divert their attention. The Balance Blade knew nothing about the enemy that was growing under their nose. This made it hard for Zhang Heng to believe that they really had the upper hand in this war.
Once the Balance Blade was defeated, it would be difficult for him to remain unscathed.
Zhang Heng knew that he needed to make some preparations in advance to prevent the situation from deteriorating. According to Dadatis, only four people in the Balance Blade, including himself, knew Zhang Heng's identity. But from this moment on, Zhang Heng also needed to be prepared for his identity to be exposed.
However, he did not intend to give up on his plan to assassinate Altrus. Other than the fact that he needed to enter the Balance Blade's secret library, killing Altrus would also reduce some of the pressure on the Balance Blade.
With Altrus' extremely cautious character, there weren't many opportunities for him to reveal any flaws.
This time, he did not expect that Zhang Heng did not finish the glass of wine, and he could still remain sober when he asked the question. Obviously, he did not expect that someone could glean so much information from his tone, wording, and footsteps. Otherwise, he would never have come to meet Zhang Heng in person.
However, Zhang Heng was afraid that he would have to race against time.
…
"What? Your fief has been carved out in Mesopotamia. Where is that place? " The slave girl was dumbfounded when she heard this. She had been a slave in Rome since she was born and had never left this place. She had heard of the nearby provinces, but she couldn't go any further.
"Well, Mesopotamia is southeast of Rome. It's a few thousand miles away. You'll have to take a carriage first, then a ship, and then a carriage again. It will probably take a few months to get there," Zhang Heng said.
"Is it that far? But you can't leave Rome, can you?" The slave girl was puzzled. "Then how are you going to manage your fief?"
After she finished speaking, she noticed that Zhang Heng was looking at her. The slave girl was stunned at first. After that, she seemed to have thought of something, and her face turned pale. "You … you … what do you mean? Don't tell me you want me to go?"
"Hmm, I might have to trouble you to make a trip."
"But … but you … didn't you say it's thousands of kilometers away?" The slave girl was so scared that she stuttered.
"You don't have to worry too much. I'm not in a hurry anyway. You can take your time and enjoy the scenery along the way. Also, try some delicious food. I will pay for your travel expenses. You've never left Rome before, right? You can go out and broaden your horizons."
"But I don't want to leave … Rome." The slave girl almost blurted out, "I don't want to leave you." Fortunately, at the last moment, she changed the word "you" to "Rome."
"I know. Just do me a favor. I don't have anyone else I can trust now."
"But I've been a slave since I was a child. I don't know how to manage a fief." The slave girl finally came up with a valid reason, and then quickly added, "I'll stay by your side. I'll wash your clothes, cook for you, and take care of your daily life. I'm the best at this."
However, she did not expect someone to be colder than she thought. Zhang Heng said, "It doesn't matter. If you lose money, just write to me and ask for money. If you make money, you can spend it yourself."
"You can do that?" The slave girl was completely stunned by Zhang Heng's open-mindedness. She wanted to say something else, but that was not the point. However, when she came to her senses, Zhang Heng said in an indisputable tone, "Go and pack up. We will leave the day after tomorrow. Be on your way early. Otherwise, it will be winter when you arrive in Mesopotamia."
The slave girl's heart fell to the bottom when she heard what Zhang Heng said. Faced with this order, she could no longer say anything. She lowered her head and ran away.
Zhang Heng knew that the slave girl would cry when she returned to her room.
However, this would not change any of Zhang Heng's decisions. Initially, Commodus wanted to pick a fief near Rome for him, but Zhang Heng took the initiative to place his fief in a remote place. To the public, he claimed that he wanted more land. In fact, he just wanted to find an excuse to send the slave girl on a long-distance trip.
In this day and age, not to mention mobile phones and the Internet, there was not even a telegram. As soon as people left the city, they would lose contact with each other. This way, no matter what happened in Rome, the slave girl would not be affected. And Zhang Heng had also sent the two people closest to him out of the upcoming whirlpool.
As for saying goodbye to her, it was only a matter of time. Even if nothing happened, Zhang Heng would leave the quest after a year. Instead of spending more time with her after a year, he would feel more uncomfortable when they parted ways. It was better to be cruel now. Zhang Heng also gave all the money he earned during this period to the slave girl. After sending her away, he could finally let go of all his worries.
With the help of the Heart of Kreis, Zhang Heng sneaked into the temple where the citizen files were stored at night and found the list of nobles born twenty years ago. However, the result surprised him a little. After spending about a week to investigate and eliminate all the possibilities, Zhang Heng found that Altrus was not among them.
This was a little strange. Either Altrus had taken away his citizen files somehow, or Zhang Heng was looking in the wrong direction. Altrus was really not a noble like the rumors said. However, this could not explain his noble habits. Compared to the nobles, the number of civilians was much higher. It was impossible for Zhang Heng to collect all the files of civilians born twenty years ago and eliminate them one by one.
Zhang Heng felt that he might have missed something.
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