You call this the god of etiquette?

Chapter 83 City Wall and the True Stone

Skimmed the stretch of the team and looked north.

Martha's eyes stared uncontrollably at the huge monster in the distance.

It is a huge fortress whose majesty can be seen at a glance!
The city wall made of large blocks of black rock towers into the sky.

Martha believes that anyone who sees the majestic appearance of the city wall will feel that they are facing an insurmountable moat.

There are multi-layer sentry towers built on the top of the city wall, and people can be faintly seen walking on it.

There is a wide moat in front of the city wall, and the lowered suspension bridge is the only way to enter the city.

Martha now understands why the convoys of the merchants are stuck two or three hundred meters away.

It's just that the heart is filled with unreality.

This is the "Tariek" in my memory?
She looks up.

The sky was still that incomparably blue sky.

From time to time, the annoying six-eyed crow flew by.

Everything is awakening her past memories.

But she still couldn't believe it.

When others told her that "Talek" had become as grand as a city, she was a little bit unconvinced.

As a result, "Talek" has directly changed into such an appearance that it is not inferior to any big city in the kingdom.

It was really far from her memory.

To be on the safe side, she drew her head back and opened the window panel at the front of the carriage:
"Mr. Allen, are we in Tarek?"

The coachman heard the voice from behind, and his upright sitting posture remained unchanged. He just turned around and answered Martha in the rear compartment with some doubts:
"Yes, Ms. Martha."

"I remember you are from "Tariek"? "

Martha nodded in embarrassment.

Unexpectedly, this native "Talek" person, in the end, was the one who was least familiar with the town.

Jovik heard Martha's movement and opened his eyes:
"What's the matter, dear?"

"It's okay, Vic, I just can't believe how much the town has changed."

After hearing Martha's words, Jovik also became interested.

It's just a small town, no matter how much it changes, can it be unrecognizable?
He poked his head out the other side of the window.

Subsequently.

She backed away with a more exaggerated surprised expression than Martha, and repeatedly pointed out the window with her fingers:

"Wait, is this 'Tariek'? "

Martha has an expression of "you ask me who I ask":

"Yeah, we've only been away for four years, why did the town suddenly become like this?"

"It's so majestic, isn't it?" Allen couldn't help interjecting, and then said apologetically to Martha behind him, "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you, Ms. Martha."

Martha didn't mind the coachman's interruption at all, because the other party had already proved her quality as a "first-class coachman" of the "Belstad" coachmen's guild through her performance along the way.

On the contrary, she was a little curious about what Allen wanted to say:

"Mr. Allen, please continue if you can."

"I think you may understand the changes in the town better than me, a Talek who has been away from home for too long. "

Allen didn't hesitate when he heard the words, and shook out all the news he knew like pouring beans from a bamboo tube:

"More than two years ago, the reputation of the "Tariek" fur business in the Northland suddenly became louder. "

"After all, I heard that the ice field further to the east of "Tifter" can't get any skins. "

"But the fur production of "Talek" is getting higher and higher every month. "

"The guild opened an extra route to run "Talek", asking us to take this road of prosperity. "

As Allen said, he pointed to the ground with his right index finger, and then he caught a glimpse of the carriage in front of him moving again from the corner of his eye, and moved the reins slightly with his left hand:

"I can be regarded as the first batch of professional coachmen to "Tariek". "

"I was still thinking about it when I hadn't been here. This town is at the very edge of the kingdom, facing the Snow Mountain."

"It must be the kind of small town that is everywhere in the Northland, except that the air is better than the big cities, and there is nothing else."

"As a result, I was taught a solid lesson as soon as I came here."

"Not only is the outside of the town built like a big fortress, but even the inside of the town is in perfect order."

"Amazing."

After listening to Allen's narration, Martha keenly found a key point:

"You mean, more than two years ago, "Talek" became like this? "

Allen nodded first, then shook his head:
"When I first came, the city walls were not that high, and the moat had just been dug."

"But maybe not half a year after that."

"It's pretty much what you see now."

The dreamlike unreliability in Martha's heart subsided, and she happily said to her husband:
"Vic, it seems that you might really be able to take a good vacation this time."

If possible, she certainly hopes that her husband can also enjoy the time in "Tariek".

In this way, they will be able to go to "Talek" as regularly as they visited "Tien Boto" in the future.

On the contrary, Jovik's expression was serious:
"I don't understand that "Talek" is obviously just a small town with a small population, so why waste energy to build such a high city wall. "

"Even dug a moat."

"Do they think someone is going to attack them?"

"I heard that the town has a new mayor now, so it's probably because of him."

""Talek" develops under such a mayor who has no self-knowledge, I think sooner or later there will be problems. "

"When the time comes, don't say it's a vacation, maybe even the basic stability can't be maintained."

When Martha heard this, she gave Jovik a dissatisfied look, forcing the latter to shut up and smile sarcastically.

Apparently, her own husband also failed to accept the drastic changes in the small town that he thought could not stand on the stage.

So I want to make up for what I said.

People from big cities have this problem more or less.

If it weren't for the fact that "Talek" was considered a small and well-known town, Jorvik's words would probably be a little more mean.

Martha knew that it wasn't that Jorvik himself was bitter.

It was his pride as a native of "Belstad" that made him instinctively unwilling to accept the rapid development of "Tariek".

However, Martha couldn't understand why the town took so much effort to build the city wall.

Although my father used to tell me and my sister to go to bed obediently with the words "If you don't sleep well, the troll will come and take you away".

But she had never seen a troll, nor heard of any troll actually appearing outside of town.

As for other threats, Martha couldn't even imagine.

Maybe it has something to do with the "evil invasion" rumored to have happened in the town before?

Later, Martha also asked members of the "Belstad" investigation team who went to the town to investigate the disappearance of the clerk.

It is said that a group of monsters sneaked in from the wild in the afternoon, causing the clerk to "accidentally die".

The understatement made Martha guess that there was nothing going on in the town, at best the two clerks were not very lucky.

After thinking about it, the more I thought about it, the more chaotic I became.

Martha didn't intend to entangle any more.

After all, if you enter the town, or the city, you can ask your family and you will know.

The carriage has reached the drawbridge.

The water in the moat was far clearer than Martha had imagined, and schools of fish could still be seen swimming in it.

What is even more eye-catching are the two extremely tall, exquisitely carved ink-colored cubic stone pillars erected on both sides of the city gate.

It's just that the carvings on the side of the stone pillar facing Martha confuse her a little.

One was carved with an eagle, she could recognize it.

Lifelike and imposing.

The other one with its teeth and claws is a flying lizard?
It shone coldly in the sun, as if it was about to explode and hurt people at any time.

And on the other side of the suspension bridge, stood a group of soldiers holding spears and wearing silver armor.

"Finally there is something I am familiar with."

Martha didn't know why, but she was relieved to see the rude and domineering town guards in her impression.

I saw that this team of guards was inspecting a carriage loaded with fruit, but they all stopped and stood upright.

The man who looked like the captain of the guard was trotting to meet a man in black robe who was walking towards them.

The flattery is beyond words.

The man was of medium height and tall and straight.

The solid and powerful arms are full of muscle lines, as if they can release amazing power at any time.

He has a bronze face, revealing the tenacity and tenacity endowed by the sun, wind and rain.

A pair of sharp eyes are hidden under the thick and slender eyebrows.

Burnt black hair was neatly tied back.

The man in black robe waved to the captain of the guard, and the latter returned to his post.

He led his subordinates to inspect the vehicles, horses and people entering the city with astonishing vigor.

Obviously the inspection was more careful, but the speed became faster instead.

Not long after, it was Martha's turn.

"Welcome to "Talek". Passengers in the compartment, please get off first. We need to get on the train for a quick inspection. "

"Please rest assured, we will not move your luggage without authorization."

A muffled male voice came from outside the carriage.

Martha and Jovik looked at each other, and they didn't expect the guards to speak so politely.

There are no complicated family crests on their carriages, which clearly show that they are not nobles.

"It is estimated that the guards happened to meet the superiors to check, so let's put on a pose."

Martha felt that she had found the reason behind it, and got out of the car with the help of Jovik who was one step ahead.

After confirming that there was no one in the carriage, two guards climbed into the carriage with a shimmering orange-yellow stone.

Within a few minutes, the guard who went in first came down again and gestured to the captain, which should be a sign of safety.

Jorvik recognized the stone.

That is the "Stone of Authenticity", and it is also the main product of the "Authentic Church" in the small city "Cantel City" in the middle of the kingdom.

It is said that it is a derivative made of a holy object bestowed by the God of Truth believed in by the True Church.

Generally, people refer to such derivatives and other things that have extraordinary abilities but are not directly rewarded by the gods as "wonderful things".

It means that although it is not worthy of the great power of the gods, the role it can play is also considered miraculous for mortals.

The "Stone of Truth" is such a well-known strange object.

It is said that the True Church has cooperated with the Tianping Church to sell the "Stone of True Trueness" not only in the "Kingdom of Spruit", but also in the "Holy Federation of Stefanik" and the islands to the west of the mainland.

He made a lot of money by doing this, and also maintained a close relationship with the Tianping Church.

Therefore, even though the clergymen of the True Church do not have divine spells that can be used in battle, their control over "Cantel" is still relatively stable.

The "Stone of Authenticity" is selling so well, so the effect is of course not bad.

It "reveals" all objects within its illuminated range that have been affected by divine powers, including divine spells.

Even if the item itself is hidden among mortal objects, it will still be tracked by the Stone of Authenticity.

The pale yellow light on the surface of the stone will suddenly explode, and penetrate the barrier of all things and directly point to the target item.

Because of this, at the checkpoints of every major city in the "Kingdom of Spruit", the guards are basically equipped with authentic stones.

Jovik was shocked today for an unknown number of times.

Although the True Stone is not a strange item that can be used directly in battle, it is definitely the most valuable batch of strange items.

It is an indispensable thing for both the city guard and high-level adventurers.

The practicality is strong, and the value is naturally high.

Jovik vaguely remembered that two or three years ago, the "Belstad" city guards bought six authentic stones and spent a total of nearly twenty fanik gold.

It's not that ordinary towns will definitely not be able to afford this money, but that it is absolutely impossible for ordinary towns to be willing to spend gold coins on city entry inspections.

Besides, the power of the True Stone is not endless, and it needs to be replaced after four or five years of use.

It is even more impossible for those small towns to spend such a "wasted money".

At least from this point of view, Jorvik thinks that "Talek" has the appearance of a big city.

Know what to save and what not to save.

After his subordinates completed the inspection of the compartment, the captain of the guard took the Stone of Authenticity and swept over the bodies of Martha and Allen himself.

As a result, when the stone hit Jorvik, the light suddenly became stronger.

Is there a situation? !

The captain of the guard immediately felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy, and the other guard soldiers behind him quickly surrounded him.

Before Jovik could explain, the black-robed man who was standing not far behind the guard came over:
"It's all right, Woodrow, this is a priest."

"Yes!" Hearing the man's order, the captain of the guard called Woodrow led his subordinates to put down the spear, but he couldn't help muttering in his heart.

Why have there been so many priests of "Talek" in the past two years.

Whenever he remembered the faces of visiting clergymen, there was always a new face popping up out of nowhere.

Jovik was not surprised that the other party could see his identity.

In fact, even ordinary people can sometimes perceive the identity of the clergy, let alone the clergy.

He was the first to speak:
"Thank you for your explanation, sir. I am Jorvik Longfellow, Reverend of the Golden Mother."

"Behind me is my wife, Martha Longfellow."

The man in black robe looked back and saw a well-dressed young woman bent slightly and saluted him.

He knew in his heart that he was the one who had been waiting.

But out of insurance, I still opened my mouth to confirm:
"Hello, guests from afar, my name is Boyce Dillion, and I am the chief of the guard."

"May I ask what you came to Talek for? "

Jorvik glanced at Martha, and the latter stated his purpose without concealment:

"My husband is accompanying me to visit my family."

"Oh? If it's convenient, can you tell me their last name and where they live?"

"Drake, their last name is Drake."

"Live at 16 Leighton Street."

　Thanks to Shanbian Yezhai, book friend 20220317163212665, Ruizi, and then ham, Yuexia Huge, reading de Matutu, book friend 20220508212611275 for the monthly pass!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)