The middle-aged man left, and Vico seemed to snap awake from a trance. He smiled. "You're right. The Corn Laws have indeed reduced the income of many landowning nobles."
Hobart sighed inwardly. This is what makes Spectators so terrifying. That middle-aged man clearly already knew all the intelligence, yet Vico did not notice anything at all.
If Christine hadn't given me the Psychological Spoon this morning, I probably would've fallen for it too.
Hobart chatted absentmindedly with Vico as they waited for the approaching convoy.
After roughly two or three minutes, hoofbeats came from the road. The horses were obviously well trained, with barely any neighing.
Hobart occasionally glanced toward the road through his peripheral vision. It was a squad of knights clad in heavy armor.
They were tall and imposing, and the metal masks over their faces made them look expressionless, like zombies.
No matter how imposing that cavalry unit on the road was, Vico, less than ten meters away, seemed not to see them at all. He continued watching the mountain while chatting with Hobart.
Two or three minutes after that unit passed, another cavalry unit arrived.
Compared with the previous unit, Hobart could clearly sense the pressure emanating from this one. There were evidently quite a few Beyonders among them.
Surrounded by the cavalry were two luxurious carriages moving forward at an unhurried pace.
Both carriages bore the Royal Family's emblem and the symbol of a crown. With such an arrangement, the passengers were either the king or the Crown Prince.
This was the grandest spectacle Hobart had seen since transmigrating here.
The absurd thing was that despite so many cavalrymen and carriages passing by, Vico remained completely oblivious.
Hobart felt that he and Vico were like two monkeys, being toyed with by these elegantly dressed people.