The convoy, traveling through the forest, was guided by the combat patrol and eventually stopped in front of a makeshift sentry post.
Alfonso jumped off the carriage and shouted to the people inside, "Get out! Beyond this checkpoint lies a dense forest, accessible only on foot or horseback."
The arrival of Carol and Aldenan caused the atmosphere to momentarily freeze.
The nearly one hundred barbarian soldiers in the outpost, seeing the orcs as strong as hills and the ferocious werewolves, unconsciously picked up their weapons, formed a semi-circular battle formation, and cautiously surrounded them.
However, Barbara, who came on stage next, completely turned the tense atmosphere around.
Barbara, dressed in a long, wine-red gown, had a pale blue glow flowing across her skin. Her exquisitely beautiful features, oval face, and slightly trembling pointed ears caused the barbarian warriors to widen their eyes, open their mouths, and slowly lower their weapons.
Noticing the way people were looking at Barbara, Aldenan nudged Carol with his elbow and said helplessly, "See? No matter where you go, beauty is the best passport."
Carol shrugged: "If you want to blame yourself for being ugly, just say so. Nobody will blame you."
Aldenan rolled his eyes, utterly dejected.
The leader of the battle group patrol walked into the crowd of sentries and said something loudly.
Soon, the barbarian warriors parted to make way for the guests.
Walking on the simple dirt road, with a sun hat covering her ears, Barbara glanced back at the barbarians who had re-entered a state of alert and whispered, "These people look very tense, like they're ready for a war at any moment."
Aldenan glanced out of the corner of his eye at the dense forest on both sides of the road, where one or two agile figures occasionally flashed by. He gestured for everyone to move closer together.
The patrol leader, who was at the forefront, led his team forward for about half an hour.
The road beneath our feet is getting wider and wider, and there are more and more pedestrians coming and going.
Unlike the previous sentries, the pedestrians were no longer just dressed as soldiers. Blacksmiths, merchants, farmers, apprentices... people of different ages and professions looked at this group of strange guests and whispered among themselves.
Following the patrol captain through the crowded streets, Aldenan looked at the massive fortress ahead and breathed a sigh of relief: "Froststone City is finally here."
Randall glanced at the werewolf, smiled, and said nothing.
Looking at the wooden city walls stretching for kilometers in the distance, and the soldiers constantly moving to and fro on the walls, Carol said in a low voice, "This city is bigger than I thought."
Upon entering the city gate, everyone was immediately taken aback by the prosperity before them.
Looking around, there are rows of small stone buildings, sawmills, blacksmith shops, ore processing plants, taverns, markets, longhouses and other buildings.
In the small square in the center of the fortress, hundreds of soldiers from the battle group knelt beneath the huge sculpture of the black dragon, listening quietly to the shaman's prayers.
The patrol captain didn't stop, only bowed to the preaching shaman, and then led his team hurriedly across the square, following the city's roads to the other side of the city.
The warriors and civilians in the city looked at the knights in black armor with awe; but when faced with the werewolves and orcs behind them, they had no scruples at all and crowded forward to watch.
As Carroll walked, he parted the crowd of onlookers with his hands, exclaiming helplessly, "How can there be so many people in the city? Don't they have jobs?"
Seeing that more and more people were gathering, Aldenan shouted, "We have to hurry! I see more people coming over there! My God! There are thousands of them!"
Randall, protecting Barbara, followed closely behind Alfonso, using the mounted guards as cover, and they broke through unscathed.
The patrol captain led this peculiar group northwards, taking nearly an hour to traverse the entire fortified village before leaving through the north gate.
Looking at the city gate receding into the distance behind them, a bewildered Aldenan muttered to himself, "Why are we leaving? Wasn't that city Froststone City?"
Randall turned around and explained, "Froststone City has four branch cities built in the east, west, south, and north respectively. The fortress we just passed is the smallest of the four branch cities."
Aldenan was taken aback: "A branch city? You mean, what we just saw was a branch city?"
Barbara was also taken aback by Randall's words: "That branch city was the smallest?! Are you sure?! There were so many people on the streets!"
“That’s right. The purpose of doing this is, on the one hand, to make the defense of Froststone City more convenient, and on the other hand, to reduce the population pressure brought by the city.” Randall shrugged and continued, “The main task of the Southern Branch City is to be responsible for the mining of resources such as timber and ore. Because it is close to the Falling Star Mountains and near Twilight City, the city defense is relatively simple, with the fewest stationed troops and the fewest permanent residents.”
"Beifen City was mainly built to deal with the invasion of the two major hostile countries in the north, so its defenses are the most complete and it has the largest number of troops stationed there."
"Eastern City is located in a hilly area with a high elevation and good sunlight. It is the planting base for tobacco, a specialty of Froststone City, and also a sacred place for shamans to meditate, take office, and practice asceticism."
"The western city is located near the coastline and serves as Froststone's military and trading port, as well as a cargo and warehousing center. It is the largest, most populous, and most prosperous of the four cities."
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