In the beginning, pretty much everyone loved the idea of moving without having to use their legs. The carriages were that useful. However, they couldn't wait to leave the damn place after a couple of days. It shook too much, and it was too for their butts, even with cushions. Fortunately, during those four days, they stopped at two other villages and used the military posts that had enough beds for them.
On the morning of the fifth day, they finally reached their destination. It wasn't a town… it was a city that was at least two kilometers large and wide, and every single spot had walls made of concrete. Billy recognized that, but the others thought it was just another type of material.
"If they can create walls like these, they certainly could have created a bridge… I suppose they didn't want to spend too many resources on a place that they knew nothing of," Billy thought.
Edward was furrowing his eyebrows as if he was thinking along the same lines. Still, he soon got rid of it when he left the carriage. Even the entrance of the city was bustling with people. Many people were coming and leaving and following the many roads around. Things looked pretty medieval instead of stone-age, like Billy had lived in his first village or the copper age in that town.
"This is Vergena city," Pierre said. "Our city that is closest to the border of our neighbor, the state of Toles."
During the trip, Pierre told them that their state was the Hiloh state, and there were many others around and across the continent. However, he didn't mention any, probably because he would end up telling that they are at war against their neighbor. Even if that was the case, it was evident while looking at the faces of the travelers. They looked pretty uneasy but not afraid. Considering that was the case, states losing wars and being annexed to others probably was something common.
"Maybe the first people who crossed the river and headed west ran away from this kind of situation," Billy thought. "Still, that doesn't explain how come the tribes are so different from one another."
When they crossed the gates of the city, they saw a city completely overtaken by people coming and going. The commerce there truly was quite intense. All the stalls and shops had several customers lined up and ready to spend their coins.
"Maybe I can sell one or two rings here and get a lot of money, even if the merchants can't tell how powerful they are, they should feel by wearing it," Billy thought.
The only downside was the fact that Billy would look suspicious since his rings were way above the gear of the ordinary shoulders. In any case, Billy looked at the weapon shops and the armor being exposed in the blacksmiths and confirmed that they granted at least the same extra bonus as his spear… but they didn't have extra effects.
"To have so many people in a single place and to have such an intense commercial district…" Edward said. "How many people actually live in this state?"
"I think that the last time we counted our numbers, we should have one hundred and twenty thousand," Pierre said.
That was a shockingly high number, considering that Edward's town had just a few thousand. In the end, confrontation would be suicide. The answer truly would be to create an amicable relationship. After crossing the city for a few minutes, they managed to find a building that really looked out of place in the center of the town. It was a fortress… a building that was rough looking and rectangular, but it also seemed pretty reliable. A few guards were guarding the entrance of the place, but they didn't do anything because they saw Pierre.
"Usually, soldiers have to leave their weapons behind, but I will let you carry them inside," Pierre said. "That being said, don't do any suspicious movements like grabbing them."
"Understood," Drew said.
Drew looked at everyone else, and then they nodded in agreement. He made sure to look at Billy's group for a long time just in case. Regardless, they entered the building, and they didn't find many guards, much to their surprise. Instead of that, they just saw some kids between the age of ten and fifteen carrying boxes of equipment or arrows.
After a while, they arrived at the command center of the fortress, and the door was open. In there, they found a man who seemed to be in his fifties reading a map. A lot of his head's hair had fallen, and only some near the ears were left, and even those had turned white already. The man didn't have the body of a soldier either. In fact, he was quite round, the sign of a very comfortable life that he had lived. Still, the annoyed look in his brown eyes made those who look at him feel a bit Uncomfortable and slightly nervous.
"Sir, Pierre reporting," Pierre said. "I have brought lord Edward and his guards."
"Ah… the leader of the wildlings that we didn't know that existed until recently," the man said. "My name is Jean, I can't say that your group appeared at the best of the times, so I won't have much time to spare with you."
"Is that so… My name is Edward," Edward said. "Before talking about the motives of this visit, I would like to ask about this title… wildlings. you said that You didn't know about us, and yet you already had a title ready to use."
"That is because there are many groups like yours out there," Jean said. "Usually, they live in mountains and they don't interact with the people in the nearby towns and cities. I heard that you just recently United your tribes, so you aren't exactly like the others, huh."
"That is interesting… Anyway, if you don't mind, I would like to talk about how we can help each other now," Edward said.. "Now that you know about our existence, others soon will learn as well, and I would feel bothered if I weren't to help our neighbor in times of need."
