Fire Dragon City, one of the 20 small cities, is located in the outer region of Dragon Territory.
"Hi! Tom!"
A middle-aged man with a full beard was trimming the potted plants in front of his yard when he heard a warm greeting coming from behind him.
Turning around, he saw a wandering merchant driving a horse-drawn carriage. He was dressed neatly, but looked somewhat travel-worn, and was smiling at him.
Tom frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed, a smile spreading across his face: "Benson, it's you! Long time no see!"
He recognized the homeless businessman; the man had stayed at his house a year ago, and he had his wife give him a warm welcome.
"Yes, it's been a year since we last met. How is your wife? It's changed so much here!"
Benson greeted the other man's wife, then looked around at the enormous changes and couldn't help but sigh.
"Of course! Come inside and have a seat. I'll have Alisa prepare a delicious meal for you!"
Tom warmly invited the other man into the room, then asked his wife to prepare lunch. He brought out a bottle of fine wine and sat down at the table with Benson for a lively conversation.
The two inquired about each other's recent lives, and as they talked, Benson remarked on the sights and sounds he had encountered on the road.
"I've traveled to many countries, and this place has changed the most!"
"The original cement road was already quite wide, but now it can accommodate sixteen horse-drawn carriages at the same time!"
"The city has become more prosperous than before, and you can see merchants everywhere!"
Tom laughed proudly, acknowledging that he had contributed to the wide cement road. He had also participated in the lord's free road-building campaign, which included the slogan: "The territory is our home, and road repairs are everyone's responsibility."
He also received a bronze medal, which he proudly showed off to Benson.
"By the way, where is your child?"
Benson remembered seeing Tom's two adorable children a year ago.
When the children were mentioned, Tom complained, "They're doing their homework in their room! Those two idiots only got average grades on their last school exams."
The college has four grades: Excellent, Good, Average, and Hardworking!
It's usually just barely passing.
"They're only six or seven years old, right? Such young children, and they're already starting school?"
Benson was somewhat shocked. He had traveled to many countries and seen many academies, but those academies had an age limit of at least 12 years old for recruiting students. How could someone accept such a young child?
"The Lord advocates for six years of basic cultural education, starting learning from a young age; children should begin learning at six!"
When the topic turned to education and the children's future, Tom became very interested: "After they finish six years of primary school, if they are talented, we'll send them to secondary school. If they are average, we'll send them to a vocational school to learn a trade to support themselves."
"It's really not good to be without culture now. The territory is developing too fast, and we can't keep up with many things. For example, mechanical control. Now we use mechanical oxen and horses to plow the land. It only takes such a small piece of monster crystal core to plow a large area of land."
Speaking of the rapidly developing territory, Tom was initially excited, but soon became somewhat melancholy, jokingly saying, "Sometimes I even wonder if I'm getting old!"
"Tom, we're out of bread!"
Alyssa's voice came from the kitchen, making Tom, who was in the middle of his excitement, complain a little: "Okay, okay!"
He gave an impatient reply, then walked to the window and knocked on the bell hanging there.
Soon, a small figure flew down from the large cloud that had always covered the city.
It landed next to the bell on a small wooden stick held by two thin ribbons.
A mechanical bird, about the size of an adult's fist, is carrying a colorful piece of paper in its beak.
Benson walked over curiously and saw that the paper had drawings of various products with price tags below them.
Then he saw Tom write the number 10 under the white bread pattern with a pen, then write down his home address, and finally drop a copper coin into a piggy bank-like opening on the bird's back.
The bird makes a jingling sound, indicating that it has more than one coin inside its body.
The bird flew away!
Benson was curious when he saw this, but before he could ask, Tom had already begun to explain to him.
"These are delivery birds. Just do what I just did to summon them down from the sky. They have a delivery order in their beaks. Find what you want to buy, write down the quantity, and put in one yuan. The delivery bird will then fly to the market in the city, where there are dedicated staff to handle it. Soon someone will deliver your order. It's very convenient."
After listening to Tom's words, Benson was amazed and thought this was truly a magical place.
"I'd like to live here now."
Benson was half-joking, half-seriously.
"Then you'd better hurry. Joining the Dragon Territory is easy, but obtaining a city residency is extremely difficult. If you have a village or town residency, you're not eligible to buy a house in the city; houses here are in very high demand!"
Tom made the suggestion very seriously.
...
In the Duchy of Roland, the young king, not yet 30, sat on the throne, listening to the reports from his ministers, his face somewhat gloomy.
More than a year ago, the battle with the Dragon Territory depleted most of the Roland Duchy's strength, and it has yet to recover.
Having witnessed the power of the Dragon Territory, the Duchy of Roland was no longer willing to be its enemy, but that dragon had gone too far.
The territory of Dragon Territory expands outward by several meters almost every day, and negotiations by border generals are of no use whatsoever.
Over the course of a year, they have annexed countless territories of the Duchy of Roland and other surrounding countries.
Furthermore, there was a loss of population, with a large influx of laborers into the Dragon Territory, causing heavy losses to the Duchy of Roland.
"That dragon is going too far! If this continues, my Duchy of Roland will be destroyed by him sooner or later!"
A cold voice, laced with murderous intent, was forced out from between the young king's teeth.
"Your Majesty, the Dragon Territory is not easy to deal with!"
Some ministers advised against going to war with the Dragon Territory, believing there was no chance of victory.
The young king's cold gaze fell upon him, filled with disgust, sending a chill down the minister's spine.
It is precisely because there are such timid and hesitant individuals in a country that it cannot achieve proper development.
"The Dragon Territory's actions this year have gone too far, already incurring the wrath of both heaven and man, and the Duchy of Piroshu is also very dissatisfied with them!"
The young king spoke calmly: "There are many other countries, and a powerful mercenary squad from the Chaotic Territory has accepted our offer of service. The Dragon Territory should be destroyed!"
The defeat in Dragon Territory was a disgrace to this ambitious young king, and now he was determined to wash away that disgrace himself.
PS: Second update!
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