In the blink of an eye, the group led by Vicente arrived in the vicinity of the Metal City, passing by the peaks near that place and following the flat terrain of that area.
Since they were only 2 kilometers away from that place at that moment, the nobles who had come from Saltstar City with Vicente could already see the outlines of the tiny Metal City there.
The place had no large buildings. The tallest of them was only four stories high, while most of the residential buildings were two to three stories high.
From a distance, you couldn't tell they were made of metal. But practically all of the structures around this built-up area were made of metal.
The streets were lined with a special type of sheet metal with reliefs that helped increase the road's grip, while the sidewalks had similar patterns but were painted different colors.
If you touched one of these surfaces with your hand, you would notice that almost everything there was made of metal. But if you didn't pay attention, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that place and an ordinary city just by looking at it.
There was a difference in terms of organization because this place was planned from the ground up, it was well signposted, and everything that was made of metal was well painted.
You wouldn't find that in ordinary cities in the province. But apart from being very well organized, maintained, and designed, the place didn't look as strange as one would expect from a city made of metal.
Vicente looked at the place in silence as his group's carriages entered one after the other. He was delighted with his men's progress in this area.
But as he looked at the area with a smile, the nobles and rich men in the 15 carriages that had come with his group couldn't help but look at the train that was arriving in the city at that very moment.
"So this is the magnificent train I've been hearing about..." The Duke of the Province watched as the vehicle slowed to a stop at the large station in the Metal City.
Vicente expected this place to grow very soon, so he had ordered his men to build a station capable of receiving up to 6 trains simultaneously. In addition, the station had two special areas that his group would convert to be used exclusively for passenger transportation.
Of the six spaces for trains to park in the station, three were currently occupied.
Vicente's trains had mainly gone to this place, so the vehicles from Millfall, Martell Village, and this place were all there at the moment, two of them unloading resources and the last one arriving with passengers who had left from Millfall.
Another train was ready to go. Vicente had already produced a five-car train that would soon be traveling between Millfall and Ironcrest.
In short, these nobles and rich men were amazed by Vicente's trains, and practically all of them were eager for these vehicles to arrive in their cities.
According to Vicente, the line connecting the rail network to Ironcrest would be in operation in a few weeks, and Saltstar City would be connected to the rail network in no more than five months.
Anyway, while many in the group were thinking about how they could experience the train after finishing their business in this place, their carriages stopped in front of the central square of this place.
The Metal City was under construction, so they saw many men working on the construction of new streets and buildings. The sound of metal hitting metal was constant in this place, but the noise didn't detract from the charm of this city.
Although it was built quickly and had a defensive purpose, the city was beautiful. Its buildings had different designs and very bright colors.
Vicente didn't bother to explain why he hadn't stopped building to welcome these people and soon began to lead them to the local government building.
When he arrived at the front of the building, Casey was waiting for him with the group of leaders of the workers behind the construction.
He greeted the men and asked them with a smile on his face. "How is my city?"
"Very well, I'd say. Everything's working, and we're growing according to plan," said the builders' leader. "But I admit we have housing problems. The rate at which new homes are being built isn't keeping pace with the arrival of new residents in the city."
Vicente looked at the group of nobles standing there and said. "Let's try to fix this."
He looked at Casey and asked. "Have you had any problems here?"
"No, the place is quite quiet. Except for a few travelers who pass through from time to time, we haven't met anyone, not even beasts, in the last few weeks." Said this tanned man.
"Good, but watch out for magical creatures and monsters coming from the north. Try to work with the beasts on the outskirts of our land to prevent any groups of monsters from building settlements nearby."
After he said this, Vicente saw the groups of nobles and wealthy men from the province who had arrived in the Metal City before his group gathered in front of the administration building, along with the people who had just arrived on the train.
He had been a day late for Eve's invitations, so as soon as he noticed all the nobles were in front of the building, he began his introduction immediately.
"Well, you're all here to get to know my Metal City and understand how it differs from others. To begin with, I invite you to stay here for a day or two to test our infrastructure.
My city functions better than any other in the kingdom in terms of the functioning of the sewage system, the water system, the drainage system, the lighting system, etc. There are few opportunities here, but that's because of the city's size.
When this place has more than 60,000 inhabitants, we could even compete with Saltstar City regarding quality of services, among other things.
So let's clarify that anyone who comes here won't be deterred by the fact that it's a newly built place."
He presented the basics first.
One of the nobles who had been there for two days commented. "My group has already experienced your city, and I can see that what you've just said is true. I believe this will be a good place when it gets bigger. However, I want to know exactly how this place will be able to offer us more protection than other cities in the province during the crisis after The Purification."
Vicente smiled and began to float in the air, taking the bodies of all the men and women with him.
"This is what I will show you now." He said as he made his pentagrams appear, startling some of those individuals who had never seen his pentagram configuration before.
