The Arriving Warhorses

Blackwater City had just emerged from a not particularly fierce war and welcomed a brief period of peace and tranquility.

To everyone's delight, through the efforts of the Interim Management Committee founded by Victor, the city had gradually begun to regain its former prosperity.

That morning, sunlight spilled across the entrance to the Governor's Mansion. Dressed in hunting attire, Victor led several elite Cavalry guards out through the mansion gates.

He intended to make a trip outside Blackwater City. The streets were packed with carriages and people, with bustling crowds weaving through them as cries of vendors and laughter rose and fell.

The streets and alleys were filled with the rich atmosphere of everyday life, as though the war had never affected anything.

Although the Governor's Mansion was only a little over a kilometer from the city gates, the roads were horribly congested. A journey that should have taken only a few minutes now felt exceptionally long.

Several times, the Cavalry guards could barely restrain themselves from shouting Victor's true identity, hoping to disperse the surging, densely packed crowd before them.

Yet every time they were about to speak, Victor sternly and decisively stopped them.

Victor waved a grave hand. "Shut up!

Blackwater City's trade has only just begun showing the slightest signs of recovery. Don't let me disrupt all of that. That would be more trouble than it's worth!

I'm hoping to collect a little more tax revenue over the next few months!"

After leaving the city gates, the group galloped hard toward the west.

Before long, a broad, open stretch of land appeared before them, not far from Blackwater City's docks.

This place had once been a bustling open-air market, crowded with people and noise.

Back then, enormous merchant caravans from the Grand Duchy and neighboring regions gathered