Marseille Port lay west of New Dunkirk, less than a hundred li from Norman Fortress.
It was a deeply tragic port. Its prosperity and splendor came from Norman Fortress—all the supplies, weapons, and military matériel needed by Norman Fortress were shipped from the nations across the continent through Marseille Port, then loaded onto transport carts and continuously hauled to Norman Fortress.
But its decline and desolation also came from Norman Fortress—whenever the foreign races of the Five Great Linked Islands and the Odin Icefield launched an attack on Norman Fortress, Marseille Port was inevitably a place they would plunder along the way. With no natural defenses to rely on, Marseille Port became the hunting grounds of those foreign races. Every time their armies invaded, three to five major battles would erupt here, smashing the port and its buildings to pieces.
After being tossed about like this year after year, Marseille Port had grown quite large, scarcely smaller than New Dunkirk. Yet its facilities were exceptionally crude. Even the pulley cranes, magic-energy furnace machinery, and the like near the harbor were the worst, nearly obsolete junk—the kind that could be casually abandoned without the slightest heartache the moment the enemy attacked.
Marseille Port had fewer than a hundred thousand permanent residents. The overwhelming majority were workers, sailors, and garrison troops. Of the rest, some were bold desperadoes, while others worked in various special trades—barmaids, for instance. In short, those delicate, high-born lords would never choose to live in Marseille Port.
This was why, after Lin Qi and the others disembarked at Marseille Port and found the best hotel in the harbor district for a temporary stay, Alda declared that even a pigsty had far better conditions than this place did—at least a pigsty did not pen pigs and people together.
"Mm,