To be honest, Xike County is very different from the medieval town that Xu Milu imagined, or rather, it is very different from the medieval town that has been romanticized in movies and TV dramas.
The entire Xike County is said to be the territory of an earl, but in reality, the area of the city is only equivalent to that of a large town in China. It would only take a day to walk around the city by carriage.
The adventure trio was right. Due to this foolish tax policy, the people walking around the city were clearly locals. Not to mention adventurers, even the presence of merchants had been greatly reduced. At least from the city gate to here, Xu Milu had not seen a single shop selling goods.
"Look... are those adventurers?"
"Her clothes were quite luxurious, suggesting she might be of noble birth..."
"She also carries a bird-like magical beast with her. Only carefree young ladies from noble families would waste food to raise such a useless thing..."
"Her hair color is a rare fiery red. Is she an adventurer from the capital? I've seen quite a few unfamiliar faces entering the city these past few days..."
"That's great! Finally, someone's willing to come and clear out the monsters in the surrounding forests. My father wrote that those damned goblins and slimes have taken over the most fertile soil in our yard. Now everyone will have to tighten their belts this winter. Damn it!"
Xu Milu has excellent hearing; she can hear the whispers in the crowd clearly, but she can only pretend not to hear them.
The mercenary outfit she was wearing was the one she had prepared during her adventure in the Food World; it was truly the simplest-looking outfit in her wardrobe.
Xu Milu's eyes swept across the street, but she couldn't find her destination for the night. In the past, when she went on adventures, she always stayed at the Mountain and Sea Restaurant. Today, she wanted to experience the life of an adventurer, drink some rough and cheap rye wine, eat some roasted venison steak, and finally sleep in a family-run inn. Maybe it would be an unforgettable memory.
Heading east from the city gate, you'll see exotic wooden buildings everywhere along the road. The porches, roofs, and even the signs hanging at the entrances are all decorated with intricate patterns, some of which are animal motifs, such as horned rabbits, vine snakes, and porcupines. Most of them are monsters commonly found in the forest.
Further into the city, the buildings become noticeably more refined, and small shops with signs for taverns and inns gradually appear. Some buildings are more than ten stories high, and their structure is not visible from the outside, but Xu Milu speculates that these tall buildings are related to magic.
The windows of the upstairs residents were wide open, with clothes and sheets fluttering outside. Pots of brightly colored flowers, whose names Xu Milu couldn't recall, were placed by the windows. As people walked by, they could smell a faint scent of soapberry if they looked up slightly.
—That's a flavor full of life.
Occasionally there might be one or two shops that specialize in selling food, but they are either deserted or the food displayed outside is covered with black flies, making it impossible to muster any desire to buy anything.
A woman in a long linen dress sat outside the door mending her husband's clothes. Several children, around seven or eight years old, played the role of adventurers, brandishing wooden swords and laughing incessantly. Two or three wooden carts were sparsely parked along the street, and two vendors stood by the roadside, talking with worried expressions.
"...Sigh, life is tough these days... If this continues, I'll have no choice but to send my daughter to Mrs. Laura's tailor shop as an apprentice... There are seven mouths to feed in the family, it's really..."
“By the God of Light… your youngest daughter is only six years old… sigh, who can argue with that? Now the lord is levying some kind of ‘wood-cutting tax’ and ‘hunting tax,’ and 70% of all the harvest brought back from the great forest has to be handed over! Sigh… Juan, life is tough these days… and we still have to pay atonement fees at the church…”
One of the vendors, seeing Xu Milu approaching, immediately abandoned his companion and forced a smile onto his face:
"Beautiful lady, would you like to take a look at my little trinkets? I have a magic mirror from the capital that, when opened, reveals a scene of blooming Ulan flowers; a magical hair comb meticulously crafted by dwarven artisans that will make your hair incredibly smooth with just one stroke; and some trinkets popular among noblewomen—"
Xu Milu stopped upon hearing this, her gaze falling on the small cart. Its owner had decorated it beautifully; every inch of wood was coated with oil and polished with cloth. The stall mostly displayed daily necessities.
The neatly bundled iron needles varied in thickness, the brightly colored buttons made from polished seashells, the embroidered ladies' hats with two white silk ribbons hanging down, the slightly rough-made rings placed on embroidered linen, and even some scattered small beads—gold, red, white, green, and a few black ones—while the goods recommended by the vendor to Xu Milu were clearly "high-end" items displayed on another deerskin.
Although she knew that the "dwarf craftsman" and "magic mirror" were just gimmicks used by the vendors to attract customers, Xu Milu didn't expose them. She casually picked up a flower-shaped pocket watch and asked the price:
How much is this?
"Miss, you have excellent taste! This wisteria-patterned pocket watch is only fifteen silver coins!"
The vendor made an exaggerated expression, so forcefully that the muscles in his face were shaking:
"This is a family heirloom pocket watch. Legend has it that it carries the blessings of the three Fates. When you open the watch case, the number of wisteria blossoms indicates the current hour. This is definitely a very precious item..."
(One hour = two hours)
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