Raging Undercurrents

Uppsala, a medium-sized city in the north of the Source Continent, located east of Atlan in the Iceland Kingdom.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Even though the rest of the continent had already entered the final month of spring, this land seemed to remain trapped in winter. Cold winds whipped the eaves and the lingering snow atop the trees, cutting painfully against people's faces.

"Stop! Stop! I've already paid my three shares of window tax and hearth tax—to the king, the church, and the lord! You can't take away my treasured porcelain too!"

An old man wrapped in a shabby sheepskin coat wailed miserably to heaven and earth, but he was utterly unable to stop those wolfish soldiers, or the gaunt tax collector leading them, who carried a faint smell of sulfur.

The neighbors along the street cautiously poked their heads out, all unable to bear the sight. Yet even the few young people burning with indignation did not dare take action.

Because none of them could avoid suffering the same fate as the old man!

The Atlan Kingdom had a harsh natural environment. Roughly thirty percent of its northern territory lay within the Arctic Circle, while most of the remaining lands were bitterly cold year-round. Agriculture and animal husbandry were both underdeveloped.

Not to mention that they had completely missed the tailwind of the Steam Industry. The distinctive striped cloth produced by their handicraft workshops had also suffered a severe blow from Tulip industrial goods.

Though it had once been a maritime power that closely followed the Sirius Empire in launching overseas exploration, it had declined badly over the years for all sorts of reasons.

Especially after the older generation of Kingdom Guardians passed away one after another, Atlan's national fortune had already run out.

The peak military strength that had