The caravan manager is right. There have been heavy rains in this area recently. Sometimes it lasts for a short time and stops in less than 5 minutes. Sometimes it lasts for a long time, like now.
Brutus has been stuck in place for a day and night due to the heavy rain. Fortunately, he prepared food for ten days, so he will not starve to death. But in such weather, there is no way to light a fire to cook.
I couldn't find anything else to do while drying my body, so I had to lie in the hammock and write about what I had seen along the way.
"The nearly 120 kilometers of road from Laksius Village to Tatto Town is in the forest, and it is probably the same for the next 30 kilometers. There are lush plants and mosquitoes along the way... I did not find any in the dense forest.
Any threatening beast. The largest animal here is about the size of a No. 5 football. I don’t know its name or what it tastes like. It looks quite cute, like a large rabbit without ears. It eats herbivores...
..”
"I originally wanted to catch one to have a taste, but then I thought about whether it would go crazy in a group after being attacked, and whether its meat was poisonous, so I gave up the idea."
"If there's not enough food, I might consider it. After all, this kind of animal usually doesn't move very fast, and its reactions don't look very alert. I'm pretty sure it can be killed with one hit from the javelin."
Brutus wrote a lot until the rain stopped.
"Ah, great, the rain has stopped." He got down from the hammock, packed his luggage like a storm, and continued on his way.
If it hadn't been for this rain, he would have arrived at the town of Tateto yesterday, then found a hotel to take a good bath, and then have a good sleep in bed, but it was a pity that the weather was not kind.
The closer to the town of Tateto, the wider and better the roads in the forest become. The middle of the road slopes slightly to both sides to facilitate drainage of rainwater into the ditches on both sides, so Brutus does not need to worry about the road being too muddy.
.
At five o'clock, Brutus arrived at a place five kilometers away from the town of Tatto. He saw that the trees here had been cut down and there were tree stumps left everywhere. At this point, he was out of the village of Laxius.
to the continuous forest between the towns of Tateto.
The next few kilometers of road passed through acres of farmland, which was overgrown with weeds. I don't know if it has been taken care of, or maybe it was newly opened.
In the evening, he finally saw the city wall of Tateto Town. It was different from what the village chief Lorenzo said. It was a five-meter-high wooden wall.
According to the introduction of the village chief Lorenzo, Tateto Town is a town with a population of 8,000 people. But in fact, this is the data from last summer. After the Kingdom of Loma issued a new immigration order, Tateto Town became the town of this area.
The central towns in the region naturally attracted the largest population, and the population quickly soared to 16,000 people, and it is still growing.
Of course, as a first-time visitor to Tatto Town, Brutus would not know this data, but he could clearly see from the long queue at the city gate that there seemed to be a lot of people coming here.
The queue moved forward very slowly, and it was Brutus' turn half an hour later.
There is no one on the wall, and the city gate is guarded by four guards, one of whom is responsible for checking documents and conducting interrogations, and the other three are responsible for maintaining order.
"Are you a Grisian?" the guard asked Brutus, looking at the content on the identity document.
"Yes, what's the problem?"
"No, no. But you need to take care of your luggage when you live in the city. The security is not very good recently. If conditions permit, it is best to live in the inner city." Compared to other people, the guard said to Brutus
After giving him some more warning, he was put into the city.
When there are more people, there will naturally be a mixture of good and bad... Brutus saw a stone city wall, which may be the inner city that the guards said.
"Sir, do you need a guide?" A group of children came over, "As long as 2 copper latts, I can take you anywhere in the city."
"Sir, I only want 1 copper lat."
"I just need a piece of pumpernickel bread."
...Hearing a bunch of people opening books, Brutus had a headache. This kind of vicious bidding has no benefit except making his labor gains less and less, but as a consumer, of course he
It's a practical benefit - now you only need half a piece of pumpernickel to hire a guide.
Brutus looked down and looked around, and finally focused on a little girl on the outermost edge who couldn't squeeze into the crowd and looked very thin. She was the only girl in the circle around him.
"Okay, everyone, I've decided on her." Brutus pointed at the girl, "Thank you very much for your bids, okay, let's all go."
"Why is it that thief?" "Yes, yes, why." A group of children complained "quietly" while walking towards other people who had just entered the city, but they were generally not as enthusiastic as those surrounding Brutus.
so tall.
After all, not everyone wears finely made clothes when entering the city, and leads a packhorse loaded with luggage, with spears and shields hanging on the packhorse... The poor would rather spend a day by themselves and slow down.
If you take your time to find the way, you won’t pay a penny to the guide.
The little girl was silent to the other children's words, and she had no intention of explaining to Brutus. She just came over and took the reins held by Brutus: "Sir, please let me lead the horse for you.
"
Brutus did not refuse, although he felt that the little girl might not be able to hold a horse: "Take me to the White Horse Chamber of Commerce first."
"Then I can only take you to the inner city because I can't afford the city tax. Of course, it's free." The little girl said the "free" in the second half of the sentence very lightly and hesitantly.
"It's okay, I paid the city tax for you, so you don't need to leave the city tax, right? By the way, how much is the city tax?" Brutus rarely wanted to be taken advantage of.
As we all know, when this kind of special character appears in a special place, it often means there is a story - it's a very cliché plot, but it doesn't hurt to give it a try. What if you get lucky?
"Two copper lats per person, no city tax required." The girl replied timidly.
"Then let's go."
To Brutus's expectation, the little girl didn't know how to use it. She just gently touched the packhorse's neck and easily led it to follow her footsteps.
He felt more and more that he might have triggered some special plot - although this is not a game world, it does not prevent such evaluation, but there is nothing wrong with it...
"By the way, I don't know what your name is yet."
"Juno, sir."
"Okay, Juno." Brutus nodded, "Speaking of this town tax, is it a tax?"
"Huh? Sorry, sir, I don't quite understand what you mean."
"You should be a citizen of the kingdom, right? I think your parents have always paid taxes and served in the military." Brutus smiled at Juno, "And even free people have to pay taxes."
Even the children in Laxius Village know about taxation, let alone the poll tax. Don't say that city dwellers like you don't know...