He had returned to the shore.
He arrived at a small fishing village of about a hundred people.
Located on a flat plane at the foot of the mountains along the Bay Shore, these houses were all brick and stone structures with red-tiled spires and vertical wooden planks on the external walls. All the houses shared a uniform style; even though the village was not large, it was quite a pleasant environnt.
There was no concept of a dock here.
Instead, the beach was lined with wooden stakes wrapped with hemp ropes, where fishern’s small boats were moored—scattered around twenty or thirty of them, so of which were quite dilapidated.
The na of this small town was too long, Liszt heard it once and lost any interest in rembering it.
Although this place was within Aran’s territory, not every area was economically developed, otherwise the Emperor would have been deified directly. Here, there was no concept of tourism, nor were there any local specialties to speak of, as even the roads weren’t well developed.
It was one of the countless underdeveloped towns in Aran.
"The seafood here isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between your teeth, co to my house, let’s slaughter a sheep, and have a feast."
Galen led the adventure group mbers and Liszt on the dirt path that led into the town.
The group’s eyes lit up at the ntion of slaughtering a sheep; such feasts were rare for them, and Galen was really splurging to entertain Liszt.
Liszt initially wanted to refuse, eager to get on the road, but he was quite hungry—you couldn’t expect a remote town like this to have taverns or restaurants, and he was amazed, not by the slaughtering of the sheep, but by the fact that Galen actually had a ho and was a local?
After so thought, he realized it was his own misunderstanding; Galen was clean, not associating with despicable people like himself.
To avoid attention, Liszt also used a tattered cloth to make a simple mask to cover his head, which was taller by half a head than Galen, who was over 1.9 ters tall, making him particularly conspicuous in the crowd.
After entering the small town, Liszt noticed sothing odd about the place.
"Why are there only old people in the town? It’s one thing to have no young won, but there are no young n either."
Liszt was sowhat puzzled.
Galen was candid; to them, Liszt was a legendary figure, almost like a demigod, looked at with a blind fervor.
"Just last year, there were quite a few young, able-bodied people staying in town, but after the start of the year, they said they were going abroad to build railways, with a monthly salary of twenty-five silver coins, including food and accommodation, they all rushed to go,"
Galen laughed. As for the won, no need to ntion them, they all went out. Not only to the Magic Energy Industry, but over the last few years, there’s been all kinds of major news, these remote towns haven’t had a single benefit. The influence of the Holy Spirit Church is growing weaker dostically, and the Emperor, in order to counterbalance the Eternal Sect, has caused too much chaos with religious proliferation; it’s like there are gods everywhere, and thus as if there are no gods at all.
Galen, in his thirties, was considered old. Since the Emperor’s ascension, young people born in New Aran, those in their teens and twenties, hardly followed any religion. Won didn’t value chastity and couldn’t be fooled, so they went to work night shifts in the big cities.
"Why don’t you go?"
Liszt was speechless. Being a diocre adventuring silver rank adventurer, Galen’s adventure group was better off working on the railways. For adventurers, below gold rank, it was all about fooling each other.
Galen remained silent; admitting this was quite embarrassing.
The deputy leader supplented for him, "The town is full of old people, and occasionally so rogues from outside co to rob and steal. The location is remote, and the Constitutional Soldiers can’t manage it. The local security office is guarded by two useless people, don’t expect those related appointees to arrest anyone."
"Enough said..."
Galen was sowhat embarrassed. "We’re almost at my house."
Liszt pondered, Constitutional Soldiers... Zahak, that damned dog, was already dead. He wondered if there were any family or sothing behind him; his master was also a Sword King.
That’s a serious problem if Aran Sword King sought revenge for his disciple.
Moreover, this Galen really was sothing, fighting for those who couldn’t fight. Liszt rarely encountered such people, or rather, in places he often stayed, such people were rare.
Galen’s ho was a simple two-story house, and the furnishings in the living room were quite modest, showing so hardship. Aran people liked to cover various pieces of furniture with cloths; the wooden furniture was simple in craftsmanship and sowhat aged.
After entering the room.
Liszt was stunned again, and so were Galen and his mother.
An old woman knitting a sweater sat there, quite aged, with a face full of wrinkles; her hands, calloused like giant pancakes, were marked with scratches and fine lines. Her eyes were also sowhat cloudy. She wore a mud-stained apron and floral sleeve protectors.
"I’m back."
Galen casually greeted the old woman.
"You all stay here, you and you, co with to slaughter the sheep. We must take good care of Mr. Li."
Saying this, Galen was ready to take people to the sheep pen behind the house to select one.
The old woman, knowing that Galen was mingling with a dubious crowd and pretending to be an adventurer, didn’t care much initially. But upon hearing about slaughtering a sheep, she looked up at Liszt.
She didn’t know what to say; it wasn’t that she didn’t want to entertain guests, but they really didn’t have much money left. Her cloudy eyes carried a lancholic longing. She did so weaving herself. Previously, rchants would co to the town to buy knitted goods in bulk, but in recent years, that had beco increasingly rare, and this year, not a single rchant had co. She couldn’t understand what had changed in the world.
Galen’s actions were stunning Liszt; he was quite the character.
Dinner was turning into an awkward affair.
Galen had to accompany him to Chenxi Port; it might involve risks to their lives. Better disburse the settling-in funds first.
"Old lady, I am a rchant traveling here, planning to do business in Chenxi Port. I would like to hire your son as a guide, offering generous paynt."
Liszt placed down five Gold Dragons, not knowing the market price in Aran. Last year in Beima Duchy, it was about ten silver coins per head. This money should cover your expenses for a long ti.
At that mont, Galen had only one thought.
Following Liszt was definitely the right move.
An hour later.
After finishing the al, Liszt didn’t expect to find lamb soup with spicy sauce in Aran. The cooking thod seed universally similar—it’s just that the mutton slaughtered at Galen’s house had a bit of a gay sll, not as good as in restaurants, but it was passable.
"Co back early."
The old woman admonished Galen at the door.
"Stop nagging, I’ll be back before the New Year."
Galen honestly thought it might be hard to return this ti. He wasn’t an only child; he had a sister and a brother to take care of their mother, while he could just earn money.
The old woman insisted on seeing the group out of the town, following them for over a hundred ters before Galen, after much persuasion, convinced her to turn back, or else she seed ready to walk all the way to the mountain pass.
Once out of the mountain pass and walking another dozen or so miles on the beaten path, they would reach the Aran Highway, find a coach station, and take a carriage to Chenxi Port, which should take about two days.
From the advantage point of the mountain pass, Galen gazed at the small town, knowing if he didn’t venture out, his life would rot away.
Liszt understood what he was thinking.
"One can never easily gain things they don’t have by nature; there’s always a price to be paid."
Liszt, hand on his shoulder, just wanted to make it to Chenxi Port quickly. Black Sail needed his news, and he also needed to find Sharon. She was the type who shared good news but kept her sorrows to herself, a remarkably strong person, but she had been struggling to cope.
Galen was still lost in sorrow.
"If we don’t leave now, I’ll start chopping people."
Liszt objected.
Without delay, Galen and others led Liszt toward Mika’s old ho, heading for Chenxi Port.
Reviews
All reviews (0)