November 5, 1868.
First Town.
On the banks of the Little Rhine River northwest of First Town, this had originally been land belonging to Second Town. But as the East African colony rose in status, First Town's status rose with the tide as well. As the seat of the East African Colonial Government and capital of the Central District, it naturally had to expand. Thus, Second Town, right beside First Town, was annexed.
More than a month earlier, the residents of what had once been Second Town had, after a long absence, seen a group of strangers arrive. For residents who had not seen a new face in nearly half a year, this was truly a rare sight.
Since East Africa's territory had expanded, every region needed immigrants. To fill the newly occupied lands, many eastern regions had been developed relatively early and had comparatively larger populations, so they rarely received any new immigrants. Second Town was among them.
Across the plains near the coast, apart from East Africa's few port cities and the urban area of First Town, where the East African Colonial Government was based, virtually no new immigrants were brought in. Most new immigrants were directed toward inland regions.
If they had merely been ordinary immigrants, the residents of Second Town naturally would not have been curious. But at a glance, they could tell that these people were different from ordinary immigrants. After all, the residents of Second Town had themselves come here as immigrants.
Thus, they knew very well what immigrants looked like upon arriving in East Africa. When they had first come to East Africa, they had been bedraggled beyond measure, and many had not even possessed a single decent garment.
It had been the uniforms issued uniformly by the East African colony when they