In the middle of the North Continent, where the Hornacis Mountain Range began, lay a dry plateau. Most of it belonged to the Feynapotter Kingdom, its western reaches to the Intis Republic, and its eastern edge to the Loen Kingdom. The native highlanders were lean, fierce, and formidable fighters. For a long time, they had been a headache for all three countries. But as firearms improved and warfare changed, they finally faced reality and submitted completely.
Lynn City stood where the eastern plains met the plateau. Named for the nearby Lynn Volcano, it was a city built on natural resources and tourism.
Those natural resources were sulfur ore and fertile soil formed by deposits of volcanic ash. The former was an important raw material in the industrial age, while the latter made Lynn's cash crops famous far and wide.
As for tourism, that depended on the hot spring pools scattered throughout the mountains.
Even the name Lynn had originally been given by the highlanders to the Pool Water Goddess they worshipped...
Of course, a place with so much to offer had long since been thoroughly occupied by the Loen people. At least, after Abner and the others stepped off the train, they saw few true highland natives—lean, wiry people with darker skin and eyes set much deeper than those of ordinary kingdom citizens.
"Abner, can we stay at a Hot Spring Inn tonight?" Fors had spent the whole day writing her novel on the train. Now she seemed to have finally come back to life, and she asked the question eagerly.
Abner held an umbrella, ostensibly to shelter them. In fact, he was using it as cover while keeping the rain off the ladies beside him with Water Control. He had seemed distracted ever since they got off the train,