Chapter 5 Act III-1

There are two checkpoints that must be passed in order to enter Reubenheim.The first floor is set on the main road to surround the big city of Lublinhagen in a large area. The second floor is the checkpoint that enters the city wall. Once a town develops into a city as large as Lüppenhegen, there will be a huge number of people coming and going.Therefore, it is necessary to pass the checkpoint outside the town and obtain a pass before passing the checkpoint located in the city wall.Travelers who obey the rules will definitely follow the regular road, so those who have not obtained a pass will be expelled immediately when they pass through the checkpoints of the city wall.

Such strict regulations are also intended to curb the large amount of smuggling and the inflow of counterfeit currency that tend to occur in big cities. The road that Lawrence and his party came along seems to be rarely used by people. Although the checkpoints set up are not simple, they are simpler than the checkpoints set on the road that Lawrence usually uses. The guards seem to know Nuo son la.As if casting a mysterious spell, Nora made the sheep pass smoothly through the checkpoint where the road was piled up with branches and stones, and the road was deliberately narrowed. Lawrence and the others also passed through the checkpoint after undergoing luggage inspection.

Coming outside the city walls of Lubinhegen, the checkpoints here have become completely different, not only powerful, but also strict. There is no royal power in the vicinity of Liubinhegen. Liubinhegen itself is the real ruler, and it is impossible to break through the city wall here.In the eyes of the world, having a wall and channels for laying branches after digging ditches is a strong city wall to be proud of: However, the city wall of Rubenhagen not only surrounds the entire city with stone walls, but even sets up guard towers at certain intervals.not so much It's a city, but Reubenhagen is more like a castle. Holo couldn't help sighing when she passed the first level and came to the hill with a wide view.

Wide fields surrounded the city walls, and roads radiated from the city through large fields. Farmers chasing their pigs and caravans on the road can be seen.Something moving like a white carpet could be seen in the distance. It should be the flock led by the shepherd who owns the vast territory in this area.Although it is not uncommon for a shepherd to lead a flock of more than a hundred sheep at a time, in Rübinghegen, in order to cope with the meat consumption in the city, such skilled shepherds must be everywhere. In any case, everything about Rüppenhagen is above and beyond. Lawrence and his party descended the hills with such a wide view, advancing between the fields.

Because the city is too huge, I thought it was quite close when I looked from the hills, but after actually walking, I realized that there was a long distance. Because Nora had to be careful not to let the sheep eat the crops in the fields on both sides of the road, it took a long time to advance to the distance where the city wall could be clearly seen. After reaching this distance, Lawrence slowly took out two silver coins and handed them to Nora while walking, "Then, this is the forty treyes we agreed to pay you." Traye is a very poor copper coin.Lawrence thought that the forty copper coins would only make Nora's luggage heavier, and she should be able to get forty-five treyer in exchange for the two silver coins Lawrence gave her.

Lawrence gave Nuoer more money in order to give her some favors.Although he was lucky not to be attacked by wolves during the process of hiring Nora.However, Lawrence was not only amazed by her workmanship, even when Holo was asked for her opinion, Holo also gave her a high evaluation.Nora is bound to make her mark in the shepherd world in the future, and Lawrence is investing for that time. "Huh? But it would be too much to exchange." [This is an investment. " "invest?" "After all, if you become friends with a good shepherd, you may encounter unexpected opportunities to make a fortune when trading wool."

When Lawrence spoke, he intentionally acted like a budget-conscious businessman. Nora smiled happily when she heard this, and accepted the two silver coins as if she had conceded defeat. "We will stay at the foreign firm of the Ron Commercial Guild for a while. If you plan to take the sheep to the grassland, please go to the foreign firm. Maybe I can introduce you to a merchant who wants to find a guard." "OK." "Ah, I'd better ask you first. Is the area where you can be a guard the area we walked all the way?" "Er... I can go to Kasradar and Porosan. Ah, there is Ramtra."

Casrada is a remote town, there is nothing special about it.However, Lawrence was surprised to hear the name of Ramtra's town.That's because Ramtra is not under the control of Rubenhagen, who rules the area as the leader, so it's considered Quite a rare town.Ramtra is located in the north direction of the road that Lawrence and others walked all the way. According to the map, it is not far from Rubenhagen, but the geographical conditions there have a gloomy forest that even knights are afraid of. It was spared from the invasion of Rubenhagen and is the only town in this area that still has a majority of pagans.

In addition, the regular road leading to Ramtra has to take a long detour. It is impossible for Nora to say that she can serve as a guard on such a long road, so she must be confident that she can cross that eerie road. Forest it. If so, there should be many merchants wanting to go to Ramtra. "Ramtra. If you can go there, you may find a customer." Nora's eyes sparkled, and she bowed deeply and said, "Please." She acted like someone who had been in the poorhouse. "Then, we're going to enter through the southeast gate, let's break up here." "Okay, goodbye."

After Nora finished speaking, she shook the bell. Lawrence nodded to her, and then turned the carriage to the left. The area of ​​Rübinghagen is very large, and there are seventeen large entrances and exits alone.There are also entrances and exits for people who bring a large number of sheep or livestock in and out, and Nuoerli must pass through this entrance and exit. In addition, the street design of Lubinhagen has a strange and complex structure that is common in big cities. If you know the location of your destination, try to enter the city from the nearest city gate-this is common sense.This shows how big the city is.

Lawrence looked back with some concern.He found Nora still watching them.Lawrence looked back as soon as Nora caught sight of it. He waved at him with a reluctant look. Lawrence should of course wave back to Nora, but he was afraid of being laughed at by Holo again, so he took a peek at Holo who was beside him.Holo looked at Lawrence as if she knew Lawrence would peep at her and said, "Do you think we are such bad-tempered people?" Lawrence smiled wryly. After waving his hand in response to Nora, he turned back to the front. "Well—I don't know what the taste of peaches pickled in honey will be, I'm really looking forward to it." "Hmm...do you still remember?" Lawrence was thinking about the armaments on the delivery platform, and how much toll tax would be imposed on the next checkpoint, when he heard such annoying speech. "Shouldn't you say no to buying it?" Holo tilted her head slightly and smiled, but it gave people a very scary feeling.Lawrence looked away and murmured as if praying, "If you don't sell it, you can't buy it if you want to." "Of course." Holo sounded as if she was sure there must be a sale. "Ah, and maybe I don't need to remind you too much, but later on you have to pretend to be more like a nun than at the inspection just now. As long as you pretend to be a nun, the inspection won't be so strict..." "Yeah. We're not stupid enough to want to cause a commotion in such a big town, just to look like a nun?" "You shouldn't have to worry about that." It was only after Lawrence spoke his mind honestly that he regretted it.Holo had mentioned the church had put her through a lot of trouble.To say that she looked like a nun might offend her. "Yes. Hehe, it looks like it." However, Holo seemed happy. "...Aren't you angry?" "Huh? Why are you angry?" "No, I think the church should be regarded as your enemy." "Not necessarily. Just like you exist, the nuns are basically gentle. And, even if we look at it from the perspective of wolves, many of the nuns are also beautiful. Is it beautiful or ugly? By race." I see.Lawrence thought so, and was relieved that Holo wasn't angry. It is true that many nuns are beautiful.Perhaps this is due to their belief in obedience, purity, and poverty.But in fact, many illegitimate children of nobles will be taken in by the church. Many women use their beauty as a weapon.Wants to be the concubine of a nobleman.There are also many men who use martial arts or poetry as weapons to conquer the hearts of noble girls. Children born between these people and nobles tend to grow healthier than children born between formal couples.It must be because men or women who want to win the hearts of nobles are stronger. Of course, the children born to these people will often become the cause of the continuous battle for inheritance rights in the world, so most of the children will be taken in by the church.Because of this, there are more handsome men and beautiful women in the monastery, "However, we can't survive the life of constantly starving and breaking our bodies." After hearing this, Lawrence smiled innocently. The two walked along the road of the city wall, and while chatting like this, a lively crowd appeared in front of them. That's the southeast entrance and exit into the city. The magnificent city gate opened towards the outside of the city, and a continuous stream of people entered the city gate, and at the same time left the city gate to embark on a journey. Luggage checks and asset checks are carried out at the place passing through the city wall. Because there are quite a lot of people in charge of the checks, even though there are so many passers-by coming in and out, there is almost no need to wait in line for checks. However, unlike Porosun, no one here is willing to line up, and no one asks everyone to line up. If you don't know how to accept the inspection, you won't be able to enter the city no matter how long you stay here.Lawrence, who knew how to accept the inspection, was paying attention not to let the carriage hit other people, and at the same time let the carriage snake forward, passing those people who were at a loss when they came here for the first time one by one, and finally passed through Arched ramparts into the city.If there is a war, this will become a defensive point, so only the walls here are particularly thick. Lawrence looked up, and saw a lattice-shaped hanging door made of thick wood. Although Lawrence always wondered whether the hanging door would fall down with fear, he never heard it. Said that such an accident happened.A large hole was cut in the ceiling a little in front of the hanging door, so that when the enemy attacked the gate, hot oil could be poured from above.The reason why the color around the hole is slightly different is probably because it has been used several times. After passing through the city wall, Lawrence saw a checkpoint to check passers-by ahead: a little further ahead, he could see the street scene of Rübinghagen. Not only Rüppenhagen, but as long as the large towns are often surrounded by strong walls, it is difficult to expand the land of the town, and the buildings can only be continuously developed into high-rise buildings.The high-rise buildings in Lubinhagen are particularly serious. After passing through the city wall, the street view that greets the eye is like a cabin full of cargo, and buildings can be seen everywhere like cargo that is about to be full.Looking further ahead, you can see the towering roof of the Rüppenhagen Cathedral built in the center of the city. "Hey, merchant over there." Following the sound, Lawrence turned his gaze back, and he found that the guard in the thin leather bell armor was pointing at him. "Looking at the street view is too fascinating, but it will cause accidents." "terribly sorry." Holo sneered from the sidelines. [Then, the next one is the businessman who was scolded just now! ] Because the people waiting for the inspection did not line up, the people who were inspected were also quite random.Although Lawrence felt ashamed to be named so, he could only obediently drive the carriage to approach the inspector, and bowed to him. "Pass." The other party said briefly with a busy look. "it's here." "Well, it's from Poroson. Where's the product?" "Twenty armies." Since merchants are strictly prohibited from doing business outside the city walls, the number of goods must match the number of passes. However, the inspector blinked a few times after hearing this.He looked surprised. "Military equipment? Brought from Poroson?" "Yes, yes. I bought it from Ladoperon Trading Company. Is there something wrong?" Because Rubenhagen is a town formed by the knights who used to crusade against the pagans and built a fort here.So even now, it is still an important supply base for the knights who went to the north.Because of this, all the surrounding towns will send military equipment here, and military equipment is also very sought-after. Lawrence was puzzled by the inspector's reaction, so he asked the inspector back. The inspector immediately shook his head in denial and looked at the cargo counter. On the cargo platform are a set of military equipment made of leather and iron chains, helmets, iron gauntlets, bell armor, and leg guards, which are tied with ropes. There are twenty sets in total.Although it is not a commodity, the wine that would be taxed heavily if brought into the city has already been drunk. There was nothing suspicious on the cargo bay, and the inspector seemed to think so.He climbed onto the cargo bay, and after checking all the armaments for gold or precious stones with high tariffs, he immediately jumped off the cargo bay.Although the inspection was sloppy, it seemed impossible for the inspector to smuggle things in from the place where the inspector nonchalantly did not forget to glance at the pile of straw used for lighting the fire. "It seems that it is indeed a military equipment from Porosun. Then, should the tax be paid in cash, or in stock?" If the tariff of 10% is used to calculate the total amount of military equipment of one hundred Lumiones, the tariff amount will be ten Lumiones. Ten Lumiones are equal to more than three hundred Trinian silver coins. No merchant would carry such a large amount of money with him, and it would be very troublesome for the prosecutor to count so many silver coins. If the payment of military equipment is used instead of taxes, many troubles can be solved at once. So when Lawrence replied "deliver the stock", the prosecutor's sigh of relief was heard, and at the same time he heard the answer of "smart judgment". "Please go there and hand in two sets of armaments." As the inspector spoke, he wrote on the paper with a quill and handed it to Lawrence. Among the 20 groups of soldiers, two groups of soldiers were paid as tariffs, which meant that 10% of the tariffs were imposed. Because these amounts were considered appropriate, Lawrence nodded frankly and accepted the paper. In addition, because Holo was well-behaved and quiet like a nun, the prosecutor didn't question Holo at all.Rubenhagen is a church city, if there is suspicion of priests or nuns, things will definitely become very troublesome. In any case, Lawrence was relieved to be able to pass the level smoothly.Because the crowd ahead was crowded, it was dangerous to drive a carriage, so Lawrence got off the seat and led the horse while walking forward. When they arrived at the tax office, the languages ​​intertwined in the air were different from the clothes people wore, and the chaos was as loud as war.Here you can also hear the sounds of haggling and pleading that you can hear whenever you are in a place where taxes are collected. Of course, Lawrence didn't intend to make stupid negotiations such as asking for a tax reduction. He obediently handed over two groups of troops to the tax collector like a docile lamb. However, when Lawrence handed over the paper and military equipment he had received from the inspector, the tax collector frowned. Lawrence thought nervously: Could there be something wrong?But the tax collector didn't ask any more questions afterwards. Although this made Lawrence feel a little uneasy, after passing the checkpoint and entering the city, he still jumped into the carriage. Although the inspector's reaction when they were informed that the goods were military equipment was confusing, since they passed the inspection smoothly, there was no need to worry too much. Although Lawrence said this to himself in his heart, he still felt a little uneasy. "You." Holo's voice came without warning, making Lawrence momentarily think that it would be bad news, and couldn't help becoming nervous. "What's up?" Lawrence asked with a nervous expression.At this moment, Holo said slowly, "Well, we're hungry." "..." Lawrence turned back to the front, and he put Holo's appeal and the uneasiness in his mind behind him. After entering Lüppenhagen, no matter where in the city, he could see a huge church ·The streets of this city expand outwards from this cathedral. The area closer to the cathedral and surrounded by the old city wall is called the old street, and the area around the old street is the general urban area. The shape of the territory of Lubinhagen is almost circular, and there is the largest city gate on the south side. After entering the city through this big city gate that even a siege weapon can easily pass through, what you see is that even the kings of other countries The enviable large square and the large fountain built with the latest technology in the south.And there is a permanent market on the square. Large commercial firms with substantial power and wealth in the city, or foreign firms from powerful areas lined up around the square.Going around to the back of these commercial firms, you can also see small commercial firms, as well as the residences and workplaces of craftsmen from all walks of life. There are five such squares in Rübinghegen.The location is centered on the cathedral respectively.And take the south gate as the apex.Form a pentagon shape. Each of the five squares has its own unique character.Another small city was formed in the city. The city gate that Lawrence and Holo passed through is located in the southeast of Lubbinhagen. Although the square seen by entering this city gate is not as large as the South Gate Square, it is still quite a large square. Here, with the square as the center, there are knights who performed outstandingly in the pagan crusade in the past, as well as bronze statues of godfathers or saints who made great contributions to missionary work. There are many vendors on the square, and among them are merchants who spread straw mats and start business on the spot. However, there are no vendors around the bronze statue. Instead, there are orchestras playing musical instruments, bards who sing and play interactively with only a simple flute, and clowns who perform famous comedies in weird costumes.Among these people, you can see the figure of a pilgrim clergyman wearing rags and holding a heavy Bible to preach, and a wandering student wearing even more rags, listening to the sermon intently. Enjoying performances while eating snacks bought from street vendors, and listening to sermons after enjoying the fun seems to be a regular itinerary for people in this city. After Lawrence and Holo found the hotel and left the carriage, they had to go to the foreign company to go through the necessary transaction procedures. They were attracted by the smell of food wafting from the vendors and the pleasant sounds from the square. Jue walked to the square. What the two hold in their hands is fried hagfish, which is the cheapest and most common snack.Although the hagfish has a bit of an earthy taste, the deep-fried aroma overwhelms the earthy taste, so it tastes quite smooth.It is human nature to want to have a drink after eating a delicious snack.Wait When Lawrence found out, he and Holo were already standing in front of the drink vendor, drinking beer while watching the clown perform a comedy. "Well—it's delicious." Holo drank the beer in one gulp, and the corners of her mouth were covered with foam. She immediately ordered another glass of beer. The stall owner saw the wealthy customers, and poured them full of beer without hesitation. Holo, who ate fried eel and drank beer in broad daylight, of course didn't dress up as a nun. Although the nun's attire was useful when entering the city, it would be a hindrance when traveling with Lawrence, who was immediately recognizable as a traveling merchant.That's because few people look more snobbish than a clergyman walking down the street with a merchant. So Holo now put on a rabbit-skin cloak instead of a robe, and folded the upper part of the robe and tied it around her waist, so that it could be used as a skirt to cover her tail.As for the troublesome wolf ears, they are covered with the triangular turban that the proprietress of the street vendor would wear on her head. In this way, Holo transformed into a city girl.You can see young girls leaving their work and running to the square to play everywhere, so don't worry about being suspected.When people saw Holo ordering a beer and looking like she didn't care about the blood in her pocket, they would at most think that Holo was blackmailing the young traveling merchant. In fact, when Lawrence paid for the beer, the stall owner said nonchalantly that he had got a girl who could spend money. Because Lawrence was too lazy to explain, he could only smile wryly.But thinking that what the boss said was not necessarily wrong, Lawrence couldn't help shaking his head. [This city is not only delicious but also lively, very nice.Yes? ] "Because this town is very lively, you can't take it lightly. You must not conflict with knights or mercenaries, otherwise things will be very troublesome." "Leave it on us." Really?Lawrence sighed to replace the question in his mind. "Then, it's time to go." When Lawrence finished his second glass of beer, Holo had just finished his fourth glass of beer, so Lawrence decided to stop at the right time. If it went on like this, he felt that he would drink until the night and couldn't stop. "Huh? Are we leaving so soon? We haven't had enough of our drinks yet." "Is it enough to drink at night? Let's go." Holo looked at the beer mug, then at Lawrence, and resignedly left the vendor.When Holo walked up to Lawrence, the boss said "Thank you for your patronage" at the same time, but the voice disappeared in the noise. "Where are we going?" "Go to a foreign company... Hey, can you wipe the corners of your mouth?" Holo finally noticed that the corner of her mouth was covered with beer foam, and planned to wipe it with the corner of her clothes. But she suddenly changed her mind and reached out and grabbed Lawrence's sleeve and wiped her mouth. "F." "We've already been beaten." Although Holo put her hand on her head while glaring at Lawrence and said, her other hand still held Lawrence's hand tightly, as if fearing that she might get lost.The anger that was pushed to the head seemed to dissipate all of a sudden. "But, you." "Yep?" "What are we going to that foreign firm to do? We want to stay in the square and drink beer." "It's too dangerous to leave you alone." Although Lawrence said this in a warning tone, Holo showed a surprised expression first, and then smiled shyly as if he might have misunderstood it and said, "Well. Who told us to look so cute, stay It's too dangerous for us alone." The way Holo let her flaxen hair sway in the wind, which was rarely exposed while walking, really attracted people's attention.Some people also looked enviously at Lawrence, who was walking hand in hand with Holo. While it would be deceiving to say that leading Holo on a walk without complacency was a lie, leaving Holo alone did raise concerns that she might cause a commotion. Although the square is indeed a very happy place, the happier the place, the easier it is to conflict with people.If Holo's true identity was discovered by accident, it would be a great tragedy. "No matter how cute you are, you can't use cuteness to deal with church soldiers and templars. If you get drunk and show your ears and tail, Things got out of hand.” "It's nothing like that. You'll have to fight it out when the time comes. At most, you'll escape outside the city with you in your mouth. Are you afraid you won't be able to jump over a city wall of that height? We remember an old story about a knight and a princess that seems to be like this. .” "Are you talking about the story of the knight running away with the imprisoned princess in his arms?" "Yes, yes, this is it." Although Holo said this happily, Lawrence imagined the scene of Holo returning to her original form and running away with him in her mouth, and found that there was no chance for him to show it. He even shuddered at the imagining of being sucked into Holo's huge mouth. "Please don't do that." "En. Considering that the person imprisoned is you, we don't want to save anyone." Lawrence looked at Holo with a bitter expression, but Holo returned a mischievous smile. After that, the two walked north through the crowded square, from the area densely lined with a wide variety of shops, to the alleys with relatively simple storefronts.There are not only commercial firms lined up on both sides of the road, but also foreign firms established here in various places, and buildings of commercial guilds.Among these buildings, some are economic alliances jointly established by merchants in most towns, and some are A professional guild established by woolen merchants regardless of region. If there is a crisis or accident in a businessman's business, no one in this world will take the initiative to lend a helping hand.Just as knights wear armor to protect their bodies, merchants use human connections to protect themselves.Moreover, if it is the largest economic alliance, it may even have equal strength against the worst enemy of businessmen - the state that abuses power. There is a well-known story in the world: Once there was a business association composed of 18 regions and 23 industries, which can be said to be the strongest economic alliance in the world, and it fought head-on with a country with 14,000 soldiers. ; As a result, in the blink of an eye, the economic alliance won a comprehensive victory.This example proves that businessmen from different countries unite in order to make money, which can breed amazing unity. Also for this reason, the buildings where such alliances or guilds are located are neatly arranged, and the people are also courteous. That's because if people behaved rudely, if there was a conflict between the long-standing competitors, the Meat Merchants Guild and the Fish Merchants Guild, it might cause a big commotion involving the entire town. Of course, people behaved politely almost in order not to smash the sign of the organization they belonged to.But for businessmen, it is more important to be polite, because the most important thing in doing business is credit and evaluation. "Then, I'll go in and do something, you wait here." When Lawrence came to the foreign firm he belonged to, he still felt nostalgic when he saw the buildings full of local flavor.However, thinking that Holo's journey back to her hometown is still far away, she can't express her nostalgia too much. Lauren thought so, so he tried to keep his expression unmoved, when Holo looked up at him and said, "What, you didn't want to take us in to show off to the people from the same town?" Lawrence found himself on the way here, feeling a little smug that Holo had seen through him, but this level of teasing wasn't enough to sway him. "In principle, bringing a girl in means that marriage is a prerequisite. People in our hometown are very rude when congratulating newcomers. Do you want to go in?" No matter where you go, the customs are the same, and Holo, who knows the human world, seems to understand this fact. She immediately shook her head with a disgusted expression. "It'll be fine in a while. Just stay here obediently, and I'll buy you sweet bread." "Don't treat us like children." "Do not want?" "want." Seeing Holo's serious expression when she answered, Lawrence couldn't help laughing.Leaving Holo alone, he climbed the stone steps and knocked on the door of the foreign firm.There is no doorbell on the door, which means that only family members can knock on this door, which is also a sign of exclusive consciousness. However, after waiting for a long time, there is no response. Lawrence thought that everyone should go to the market at this time, so he opened the door without authorization. A slice of tranquility.The first floor is a spacious lobby. In order to provide a relaxing environment for everyone, the lobby is usually arranged like a bar.But now, the chairs are put away on the round table, and the mop is still on the wall, which seems to be half-cleaned. Back after a year, nothing has changed here.If there was a change, it would be that the forehead of the owner of the foreign firm sitting at the bar facing the door was getting balder.His already big belly might have gotten bigger too, but unfortunately it seemed difficult for him to stand up from the chair, so it was impossible to confirm. The owner of the foreign firm, Shigao, was originally looking at his hand, and while showing a gentle smile, he said viciously, "Hey, isn't this the businessman who doesn't make progress? He comes to the foreign firm at this time to mess around, and it seems that he doesn't want to make money seriously at all. I think you might as well put on a thief's clothes and go to a bar to grab money." "Really great businessmen make money even if their shoes are spotless, at most they get dirty because of ink on their fingertips. Just running around the market all day is the sign of a third-rate businessman, isn't it?" Every time we met, I would hear these words from the owner of the foreign firm. When Lawrence was just a teacher and apprentice and was still young, he would always get angry because he felt looked down upon.Even I forgot when it started, so I was able to reply with a smile in such a calm manner. Lawrence responded calmly, then straightened his back and walked towards the bar with his heels together. The handsome man sitting at the bar saw Lawrence coming, patted himself on the forehead and laughed. "Yo, your mouth is getting worse. My son, come back well." "Stop calling me son.] "What are you talking about, everyone in the Ron Business Guild is my son and daughter."