When Imperial Marshal Tagg got out of the car, he felt incredibly refreshed. He missed this place so much that he even felt he could recognize every blade of grass and tree here.
Yes, he finally returned to the Northern Ridge, the hotown that had haunted his dreams.
When the Great Tang Group left here that year, he never got the chance to return to this land. More than a decade passed in the blink of an eye, and his temples had turned gray. The man in his thirties was now over fifty.
"It seems nothing has changed here." Looking at the familiar streets, he could even rember so of the buildings in Wolf City. The air here was mixed with the sll of coal and iron, or perhaps Tagg had always imagined the air being the familiar aroma he rembered.
"You have a good mory, sir. There’s indeed not much change since those years." The local old noble, accompanying Tagg, had a face full of smiles, seeming to think that a city unchanged for years was a good thing.
But Tagg was different. He truly felt regret. He had seen the brilliance and dominance of Chang’an, the Imperial Capital of the Great Tang Empire, and in his expectations, Wolf City shouldn’t be like this.
The developnt here should have been better, just like when the Great Tang Group governed this place, with new developnts every day and better changes every mont.
Regrettably, Wolf City missed out... it missed a precious opportunity, wasting a whole decade. Now on the Western Continent, every city is changing with each passing day, every piece of land is getting better and better.
But here, the familiar Wolf City, the Wolf City that haunted his dreams, was exactly the sa as when he left.
The saness stabbed him like a bayonet in his chest, sweeping away his earlier excitent. He ignored the "nobles" of Wolf City that gathered around him like flies separated by guards, and walked into the Lord’s Mansion with disdain.
Tagg was quite annoyed as this damned place was the only thing that had changed completely since he left. It was no longer the simple Lord’s Mansion. Over the years, every Lord who had moved in spared no effort in expanding this damned palace.
Under the governance of the Great Tang Group, Wolf City had developed well, or even very well. Thus, even though there had been no developnts for more than a decade, the accumulated heritage here was enough for successive City Lords to squander.
No one knew how they managed to extract wealth, but the old Lord’s Mansion had completely changed in appearance, lavishly decorated and three tis larger in size.
Walking on the central path of the front lawn, the Great Tang Empire Guards stood at attention and saluted their admired Imperial Marshal. Their upright posture contrasted sharply with the half-bowed Suthers nobility.
"This way, please, sir! There weren’t so many famous paintings here before..." The current City Lord leading the way looked servile, making Tagg even more disgusted. When he was here, Northern Ridge didn’t have such people.
Back then, Northern Ridge was thriving, with workers laboring every day, and the hard work brought up one grand building after another.
Back then, the outskirts of Wolf City were full of chimneys, belching thick black smoke every day. Everyone had black dust beneath their noses, but no one thought it looked ugly. When people washed their faces at ho, their fingernails were full of black dirt, but nobody complained... After all, everyone was earning money they never dared dream of before!
Back then, the Wolf City military was the most formidable in Leite Kingdom. They fought for their territory and even wreaked havoc in the southern Suthers Kingdom under Tang Mo’s leadership.
Yes, Tang Mo back then is now His Majesty The Emperor to whom Tagg now pledges loyalty. And at that ti, there was only one noble in Northern Ridge, nad Sir Fisherlo.
As he walked, Tagg stopped, rembering the hallway, now lined with oil paintings, because he had stood there when he heard of Sir Fisherlo’s passing.
Standing with him were many officers, so now famous generals in the Great Tang Empire military, so unremarkably having died on the battlefields...
He still rembered the day he heard of Sir Fisherlo’s death, and how embarrassed he felt at the ti. Even though he was already under Tang Mo’s command, he still held the forr lord, who was unlike other nobles, in high regard.
Under the leadership of that lord, Northern Ridge achieved its prosperity. Back then, the people of Northern Ridge feared nobody, and they were unbeatable!
Unfortunately, that was all in the past, and now the hallway had completely changed. Lavishly adorned, yet utterly uninteresting. Pausing for a few seconds in the place where he once stood, Tagg continued to move forward.
The local nobles behind him exchanged glances, thinking it possible the Marshal, returning to a familiar setting, took a liking to the painting on the wall. At such a ti, it would be wise to quietly note down the Marshal’s interest and find an opportunity to gift the painting later.
Tagg had no idea his unintentional lancholy was completely misunderstood. He walked to the room prepared for him, with guards on both sides pushing the heavy door open.
What a relief to Tagg that his room was indeed not Sir Fisherlo’s original room: that room seed to have been long abandoned due to its small size.
This room certainly couldn’t be the one where His Majesty The Emperor and the Imperial Concubine often t, so Tagg comfortably settled into this new City Lord’s room—in the eyes of others, this Marshal seed overly arrogant and overbearing, as he didn’t demand the finest room, demonstrating his respect for His Majesty The Emperor.
Unfortunately, those in the know understood the old rooms in the old city mansion, now covered in dust, were the most "prosperous" place in Wolf City.
"Alright, I’m tired." Tagg stood at the door, showing no intention of allowing the accompanying Wolf City nobles inside. He waved his hand with the leather glove, and everyone sensibly took a few steps back.
"Old guy." Casting a glance at the Imperial Vice Admiral standing by, Tagg decided to entrust this pleasant task to soone who had also been to Wolf City: "Take so people and clean those rooms, don’t let anyone near them."
He gave the instruction casually, as if the other knew exactly which rooms he referred to. Also hailing from Northern Ridge, Admiral Eric stood at attention, saluting in a standard posture: "Yes, sir!"
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