"The conditions are rather crude. I'm sorry to have inconvenienced the two of you..."
Lieutenant McKarl rubbed his hands awkwardly as he arranged for the two noble priestly lords to sit down at the town's hotel.
Normally, if they were discussing official matters, they should have met in a proper setting, such as an administrative hall or a lord's manor. Unfortunately, Roka Gold Town had none of those things...
Roka Gold Town was a frontier town. Although it served as a transportation hub, with many merchant houses passing through and trade flourishing, and its tax revenue was considerable, it was also the first place to bear the brunt of any external invasion. To make matters worse, the neighboring nation of Kazdaner was a powerful, predatory equestrian empire that was half grassland and half city-state. It had launched no shortage of invasions against their country, so even the lord of this region rarely came here in person...
Things had improved somewhat after the Borton Faction began accepting the frontier towns. Even so, the lord of this region still rarely dared to linger here, and the manor he had built was behind Chengjian's many troops in Green City.
Thus, although Roka Gold Town nominally had a noble lord, in reality it only had a handful of administrators. It did not even have a proper administrative office. After taking over, McKarl had not gone to much trouble to build one either. He had simply rented a two-story residence and made do with it. The conditions could hardly have been more shabby.
Of course, as a soldier born in the Abyss, what harsh conditions had he not seen? He did not care much, either, since making do would save trouble. Besides, as a promising officer, he would not be stationed here for long. At