Gate Town

The town bustled with voices, a picture of prosperity. Life seemed fairly good under the academy's administration.

Zhao Si and Helena led their horses through town, noticing that the buildings were all quite large and uniformly Gothic in style. Apparently, the academy had planned the town as a whole. Zhao Si had never expected those "bookworms" to have time for such things. He had assumed they stayed indoors all day, devoting themselves entirely to magic.

In the Lands Between, aside from Goldmask, sorcerers were probably the only people who qualified as "scientists."

Indeed, both the Golden Order and Glintstone Sorcery could be called the "science" of the Lands Between, because they were every bit as real as the laws of physics. There were even "migrant workers" in the mines who specialized in mining with mining spells.

So, reasonably speaking, if these things could be put to proper use, with research into mass production and widespread adoption, they ought to bring enormous changes to the lives of the people of the Lands Between.

Glintstone lamps, glintstone communications, glintstone computers. Hehehe. Oh, right, I could develop a glintstone game console, then make a game and hook those Demigods with too much energy up to the internet. Let them play games. That would be sweet. Zhao Si built an unrealistic fantasy in his head. He did not even know whether glintstone could be used for communication.

It was magic, after all. With a bit of tinkering and experimentation, perhaps it would work.

If people never got out and about, their horizons remained narrow. A little wandering might lead to new discoveries and new opportunities.

Turning his head casually, Zhao Si spotted another freight wagon pulled by a Troll slave, and inspiration struck. "We could make glintstone cars, too."

Glintstone power, right? If you could make cars, you could make ships, and then planes...

Zhao Si slapped his forehead as another wild idea came to him-launching Scarlet Rot into space.

"I wonder whether those Outer Gods could withstand Scarlet Rot." At that thought, Zhao Si let out a sinister chuckle.

Helena simply walked beside him, paying no attention to his muttering.

Suddenly, a hawker's cry reached their ears. "Lobsters! Freshly boiled lobsters! Delicious lobsters at a bargain price!"

Helena turned toward the voice. "What blind people? How do you eat blind people?"

Zhao Si looked over as well and found a boy selling lobster meat. Lobsters were boiling in a large pot before him, and a basin of cooked ones sat on the table in front.

Their shells were bright red and looked very appetizing.

The boy's little face was grimy, and he wore simple clothes of coarse hemp, with a hemp rope tied around his waist. He reminded Zhao Si of someone-Shrimp Guy.

The lobster and crab meat Shrimp Guy sold had been pretty useful.

Could this be a younger Shrimp Guy, before he went astray?

Zhao Si could not help taking another good look at Shrimp-Meat Boy.

Shrimp-Meat Boy apologized awkwardly. "Ah, I'm sorry, miss. I didn't know you were... uh, anyway, I'm sorry. I'm selling lobster meat here. Boiled lobster meat. It's really tasty. Would you like to try some?"

Helena was not about to hold a boy's innocent mistake against him. She waved a hand. "Be more careful next time."

"Give me some lobster meat," Zhao Si said with a smile.

"Coming right up!" Shrimp-Meat Boy deftly took out several lobsters, removed their heads, and peeled off their shells, extracting the intact tails. They looked smooth and springy. He then wrapped the tails in clean waxed paper and handed them to Zhao Si.

Zhao Si paid, opened the packet, and picked up a warm lobster tail, placing it in his mouth and chewing gently. The texture was excellent. Even without seasoning, there was no muddy taste; instead, it was exceptionally delicious. His money had come from Edgar's farewell gift. Edgar had specifically given the four of them a generous sum to thank them for their help at Castle Morne.

"Nice and springy." Zhao Si beamed as he ate, genuinely enjoying the flavor, and did not forget to feed Helena some.

After tasting it, Helena was full of praise as well.

The praise went to Shrimp-Meat Boy's head a little. "Of course it's delicious. This is a family recipe. Even King Godfrey said it was good after trying it! King Radagon loves it, too!"

His claims were growing more outrageous by the moment. Why would Godfrey and Radagon come here to eat lobster?

Judging from Zhao Si's expression, Shrimp-Meat Boy guessed that he did not believe him, and immediately grew a little unhappy.

The boy slapped the table. "It's true! It really is! Back when the first king led his great army to conquer Stormhill, he passed through here and ate our lobster meat."

"That must have been ages ago." Zhao Si was somewhat interested. Seeing how adamant Shrimp-Meat Boy was, he decided to chat a little longer.

"Right. My grandfather was the one selling lobster meat back then." Shrimp-Meat Boy sounded proud. "The first king told my grandfather how good it was. You clearly know quality when you taste it."

"Ah, but the first king never came back after that." Shrimp-Meat Boy grew a little dejected. "Everyone says Radagon is great now, but life feels harder and harder."

Zhao Si bought another packet of lobster meat. "How so?"

"Hmm, it's hard to explain. It just feels like things are getting stranger and stranger." Shrimp-Meat Boy frowned, racking his brains. "Like the world's getting worse, I guess. There are more and more unfair taxes, and more and more bandits and thieves, too. I heard the young people from a nearby village all ran off to a cave to become bandits."

"Bandits? Is making a living as a farmer that hard?" Zhao Si asked curiously.

Shrimp-Meat Boy waved his hands. "Hard? It's almost impossible! Look around-where's the farmland?" He furtively pointed toward Liurnia Lake.

"True, this terrain isn't suited to farming." Zhao Si nodded. They would probably have to alter the terrain before they could grow crops.

"Right? I could tell you knew a thing or two. And the academy maintains an army called the Cuckoo, while those sorcerers don't produce anything themselves. Tell me, where do the money and food to support an army come from?" Shrimp-Meat Boy shared his gossip with an air of profound wisdom.

"I suppose they have to buy them from elsewhere," Zhao Si said.

"Exactly. So someone like me, selling lobsters just like my family always has, is doing fairly well. At least the lake's full of lobsters. More than anyone could ever eat," Shrimp-Meat Boy said.

That was certainly true. Lobsters reproduced at a remarkable rate.

Zhao Si looked around, feeling that this little town outside the academy would need constant trade to sustain itself.

"What about the Carian Royal Family? Don't they look after you?" Zhao Si lowered his voice slightly.

Shrimp-Meat Boy glanced warily at the people nearby before whispering, "The royal family's already in decline. Everything went downhill after Queen Rennala lost her mind. Princess Ranni's struggling to hold it all together now, but it looks like..."

"She hasn't made much headway, has she?" Zhao Si finished for him.

At this point, Ranni's mind was probably full of ways to kill Godwyn and make her own escape. She likely had not spared a thought for the royal family's fortunes. Still, she was a dutiful

daughter who cared about her mother Rennala's safety. Otherwise, Rennala's fate would surely have been worse than mere confinement in the Academy Grand Library.

"I wonder whether Lord Rykard and General Radahn will lend the royal family a hand." Shrimp-Meat Boy sounded worried, but that worry quickly vanished.

"Still, that's not something someone like me should worry about. Let the important people fret over it."

Zhao Si smiled. "Maybe those important people you're talking about haven't thought about it at all."