According to the information Xu Yi had obtained, Bateru City's former City Lord, Old Count Longley, had openly supported Prince Eric's succession to the throne, just like Count Will, the City Lord of Laimart City. Yet unlike Laimart City, which had flatly refused the Xinfei Merchant Guild's convoy entry, the convoy had encountered no obstacles as it traveled through Bateru City's territory.
Xu Yi had been worrying about whether they should travel through the night to avoid sleeping in the wilderness if they were turned away again. Now that Bateru City showed no sign of taking any special measures against them, he relaxed.
Perhaps, just as he had suspected, Young Count Longley, who had inherited both the title and the position of City Lord, held somewhat different political views from his father, Old Count Longley.
As dusk approached, the convoy finally reached Bateru City.
Looking at the low, dilapidated walls ahead and the battered, rust-covered gates that swayed in the wind with an unpleasant creaking sound, Xu Yi could scarcely believe his eyes.
He had been in this world for over six years and had seen quite a few cities in the Lampari Kingdom. He had thought Bunta City was the smallest, oldest, and most backward among them, but Bateru City before him had completely redefined his idea of how bad things could get.
This place looked far more dilapidated than Bunta City had when Xu Yi first saw it three years ago. It was so small that it could hardly be called a city at all, and ought to count as nothing more than a castle. This was Bateru City?
Xu Yi could not help shaking his head.
Ever since they had entered Bateru City's territory, everything they had seen along the way had made its poverty abundantly clear.