Chapter 15: Weilincheng in Quike's Eyes

Walking on the main road leading to the moat with Hawk, looking at the endless stream of people on the brown stone slab road that was wide enough for five carriages to travel side by side, as well as various goods or food pulled by various animals, the scale of Weilincheng's trade was staggering.

Perhaps seeing Sakavi's shock, Quike explained that don't look at the large amount of goods; in fact, their value is very low. They are all raw materials. The Grand Duke's territory has limited output, and most of the grain, iron ingots, and silk threads need to be imported from outside; even herbs and timber cannot meet the demand.

Following the crowd for about ten minutes, they arrived at a square full of goods. Quike said that all merchants' goods must be inspected here to prevent some evil objects from mixing in, but knives, swords, and other weapons are not prohibited.

Walking across the tall bridge connecting the two banks of the moat, they finally saw the city walls of Weilincheng. Looking at the two huge stone statues in front of the city gate, with their rough lines and blurry facial features, it was hard to believe that this was what the Grand Duke's residence should have.

"My lord, you see those two giant stone statues, right! The Gnoll on the left holding a meteor hammer and riding a hyena is the founder of our security team, Loka Riverclaw, and also one of the builders of Weilincheng.

The one on the right holding a big hammer is the Minotaur Maya Rivenhoof. She was the first Judicial Officer of the Grand Duke's territory and also the writer of the laws of this land. It is said that she was not only impartial and divine in judging cases, but also knowledgeable. Besides speaking the Common Tongue, she also knew ancient Elvish and Dwarvish.

Half of the books in the Great Library were put in by her, and even the textbooks for the schools of various races were compiled by her. Because of her existence, Minotaurs and Harpies are called the 'Three Horse Carriages' of the security world along with Gnolls. It is a pity that she was not a transcendent and passed away peacefully 120 years ago at the age of 215."

Looking at the towering city walls and the watchtowers every twenty steps, Sakavi finally understood why the Outer District couldn't infiltrate inside. Walking left along the road in front of the city wall for about half an hour, they finally arrived at the gate of the Industrial District. It was significantly quieter here compared to the Trade District.

Harpies and Dwarves were carved in front of the city gate here; needless to say, these were also the first-generation followers of the Manticore Grand Duke. After walking in, what rushed into view were neat streets, with shops on both sides arranged uniformly; it seemed to have been planned.

Passing through the streets and following Hawk into a small alley on the side, it was significantly livelier. Kobold street vendors were lined up here. Everything from old armor and second-hand staves to rusty steel knives with notches was available; it seemed they had arrived at the second-hand market.

Perhaps seeing that there were many of them, or perhaps fearing Quike, the people picking out goods scrambled to make way for them. Even the Kobolds who usually pushed their goods to everyone they saw pretended not to see them.

Walking out of this alley, under Quike's leadership, they took many turns and arrived at a market selling old furniture. This really opened Sakavi's eyes. Everything from stools with missing legs and cracked pottery jars to iron pots that had been used for who knows how long.

"My lord must be surprised that these pieces of junk should be thrown away, so why are people still selling them? In fact, the vast majority of people can only use these broken things—not because they are broken, but because they have never been able to afford new ones.

Rusty steel knives and tattered armor are what ordinary adventurers or mercenaries can afford. Equipment in big shops that costs hundreds of gold coins at every turn is only something young masters can afford to play with."

"Indeed, my eyes have been opened. The life of ordinary people is actually quite interesting."

"If my lord doesn't mind, I also know a small tavern where we can go in and have a drink."

Looking at the turbid fruit wine in front of him, Sakavi regretted coming to this bar called "Beauty and Spirits". It wasn't that he minded the dirt, but Elna was also there. The room was full of foul language, mixed with the turbid air of sweat and alcohol, thick phlegm all over the floor, and tables covered in grime.

And then there were those gazes that had never left, those wanton, appraising stares. For a noble, this was undoubtedly a form of torture. Perhaps it was because he had many people with him, but the drunks only dared to paw at the bar's prostitutes; not a single one dared to step forward to harass Verna.

However, Sakavi clearly underestimated this Drow. She was quietly eating the steak that was hard to swallow and drinking the wine brewed from unknown fruits, seemingly not caring about all this.

As a local, Quike the Gnoll had no rejection of the food here and directly ordered a bowl of thick soup and a piece of rye bread, eating it in big mouthfuls. After finishing the black bread that could kill a person if thrown, Sakavi expressed that he wanted to go to the blacksmith's workshop to take a look.

Normally, ordinary people are not allowed to enter blacksmithing places, but Quike is not an ordinary person. The blacksmith's workshop was not what Sakavi had expected; it was full of steam pipes and exposed gears produced by Gnomes. The Dwarves, known for being stubborn, actually used semi-automated equipment, which surprised Sakavi very much.

After finishing the Industrial District, Sakavi and his party arrived at the Handicraft District. The atmosphere here was clearly very unfriendly. Many shops saw that Sakavi was a Dragonman and directly stated that they would not serve him! Even Captain Quike's intervention didn't work. In the end, it was Elna who stepped forward, and they reluctantly sold a few items.

Passing through the Handicraft District, they arrived at the Residential District. There were shops for daily necessities and agencies everywhere on both sides of the street. What surprised Sakavi was that there were actually a few bookstores.

After going in to take a look, he was greatly disappointed. Besides some books related to pornography, what was sold inside were knight legends and stories of adventurers. It seems that people in every world have the same hobbies.

"My lord, do you know why the workers in the Blacksmith District have to run so far to go to work?"

"I really don't know that."

"It is said that someone suggested to the Grand Duke that the people in the Blacksmith District have weapons in their hands and there are many of them. Dwarves are famous for their bad tempers. If one day they refuse to be managed, it would be difficult to handle, so they were forced to live here."

Finally, they arrived at the Trade District, which was clearly much livelier. The things sold were also strange and weird, with everything available. What interested Sakavi the most was that there were actually people selling Dragon-kin eggs. Dragon-kin are various strange-looking creatures produced by the mating of dragons and other creatures.

According to this merchant, hatching what you get depends entirely on a blind box, and he is not responsible if something goes wrong. Alright! There are too many types of Dragon-kin, and their strength levels are also different. High ones are like Dragonmen, and low ones are like Earth Dragons that look like turtles.

After finishing shopping, the drunk Quike introduced the glorious deeds of his youth.

"I'm not bragging to you, when I was three years old, one of my good buddies was beaten by a visiting Giant merchant. How could I endure this bad temper? I directly called over a dozen good brothers and beat that guy so hard his own mother wouldn't recognize him. In this street area in front of us, mentioning Quike in the past meant everyone had to call him 'Grandpa'."

"Are you sure it wasn't you calling others 'Grandpa'?"

"Hahaha! Even if I dared to call them that, they would have to dare to answer."

After chatting, Sakavi returned to the inn located in the high-level area. This Gnoll today always made people feel strange, but he couldn't say what was wrong.

"My lord, this Quike has already been polluted by demons, you must be careful."

"Elna, how can you be so sure?"

"His every move shows that he comes from the Outer District. In the Elf jewelry store, he never dared to go in. There is only one kind of Outer District person who has this performance, and that is a cultist. Polluted as they are, they dare not touch blessed Elf jewelry."

"You seem to know the Outer District very well."

"I lived there for a period of time."

"What business did you do in Weilincheng?"

"Silk! My lord, don't forget, the weaving technology of the Spider Queen's believers is no worse than that of Corellon's kin."

"And my lord, this place hides a restless aura, which is also the reason I left. The power of cultists has infiltrated too severely, but Grand Duke Laste is completely unaware. The crisis is approaching. If you want to take action, you must prepare quickly."

"How much do you know about Laste?"

"He is like a Goblin wearing a tuxedo. From a distance, he looks like the real deal, but observing him up close, you will find that not only is he vulgar and unbearable, but he is also short-sighted. Compared to other beasts, he is quite knowledgeable, but his thinking cannot be compared to normal intelligent races."

"How did he become this Grand Duke?"

"It is said that he was captured by Orcs to be a mount when he just reached adulthood. Later, his rider became the Emperor, and his status rose with the tide. Perhaps it was because he received a powerful magical disturbance on the battlefield that he broke through to Legendary while fighting in the Abyss.

Later, the Emperor fell on the battlefield, and he, who was not valued, had to choose to retire. After returning to his hometown, he gathered various sub-races and beast forces to establish his own territory. At that time, the Emperor saw that he had great military exploits, so he enfeoffed him as a Grand Duke and sent the Church of War to assist him in governing the fief."

"Then it seems that this invitation is the intention of the upper echelons of the Luo Sen Empire. Tomorrow, I will go to see this mouthpiece Grand Duke and see what he can say."

Sakavi found that he had underestimated the woman in front of him. After failing in the competition in the Underdark, she could still lead her family to retreat unscathed. She had lived in the Outer District in Weilincheng, knew Laste, could open a textile workshop in a place where Elves gathered, and switched from a priest to an assassin.

Each item was not something an ordinary person could do. No wonder she could see Hawk's problem at a glance. Such talent is likely something every force would be happy to receive. Being able to end up as a mercenary for him, I'm afraid the reason behind it is not that simple.

In the past, he always heard others say that once status reaches a certain height, you can't stop even if you don't want to move forward. Now Sakavi finally experienced it. With strength, people with various purposes will come to you on their own, and you can't avoid them. One carelessness and you fall into a trap.

"You go back! Be careful at night, tonight is likely not to be too peaceful."

If his expectations were correct, Elna had offended the upper echelons of the Luo Sen Empire or people from the Church of War. As for which one, tonight would reveal the answer.

At midnight, sure enough, a person dressed as a maid knocked on Elna's door. The two talked for about half an hour before the maid left quietly.

However, it seemed the conversation was not pleasant, because Elna seemed to have punched the wall. As for what they talked about, Sakavi didn't know. ===== CHAPTER 16 =====