Inspecting the Territory (Conclusion)

Victor did not stay with Zarack for long. According to the plan, he was to rest for the night at the settlement of the former Fourth Military Station, then reach Blue Lake the next day.

When Victor arrived at the Fourth Military Station, he found that the changes here were even greater. The settlement was clearly larger than those at the previous three military stations.

Using the original military station directly as the inner city, construction had spread outward in a radial pattern. New buildings dotted the area around the inner city. The straight-line distance between the inner and outer walls exceeded a kilometer, with large stretches of open land in between that had clearly been reserved for future urban development.

A rammed-earth wall had been built along the outermost edge of the outer city. The wooden formwork outside it had not yet been removed, making it obvious that the wall had only just been completed.

Victor did not linger in the outer city and went straight into the inner city. The garrison had long since prepared lodging and food for him and his accompanying troops.

In order to depart as early as possible the next day, Victor merely asked the garrison commander about recent developments before going to rest.

"Phew! Not much has changed here!"

Victor passed through the same place again: the grasslands where he had captured the argali last year. However, the herds he had seen then had long vanished. Perhaps the sharp increase in human activity had made them too afraid to approach.

Victor was grateful for that large argali he had captured last year. Without it, his original strength likely would not have been enough to deal with the Grand Mentor of the Silver Maple Secret Guard, and the outcome of the civil war