piratefiction Chapter 66 Dawn City
Chapter 66 Dawn City
Count Arlin took out several Holy Kingdom silver shields from his pocket, had them broken down by his accompanying servant, Nunns, and exchanged for some Nunns silver shields and copper coins, which he then placed in the boy's hand.
The boy looked down at the silver shields and copper coins, large silver currencies he had never seen before, so new they gleamed.
"Take this to your mother's doctor's appointment, and also buy some food."
The boy clutched the silver shield and copper coins tightly in his hands, his knuckles turning white.
This time he couldn't hold back; tears welled up in his eyes, he sobbed, and stuffed the silver coins into his cotton-padded coat pocket.
He glanced at Yarlin.
The hatred in his eyes had dissipated, replaced by a sense of bewilderment and helplessness.
After this little incident, Earl Arlin and his entourage decided to return to their inn in the Holy Kingdom of the Elves to rest.
Baron Ivanov and Secretary Alexei repeatedly apologized to them and escorted them to the inn.
"Lord Yarlin, I am sorry that this has happened. Since you have requested that those troublemakers not be punished, we will follow your advice. I just received a message from my servant that His Excellency the Duke will return to meet with you tomorrow."
"Okay, I look forward to this meeting."
……
Slo admired this Earl, the top messenger of the Church of the God of War, from the bottom of his heart.
I had assumed the priests of the Church of the God of War were all short-tempered, but I never expected Lord Arlin to be able to tolerate the insults from those Narns children in public.
Lord Yarlin even exchanged some of the Holy Kingdom's currency for the currency of the Nains Empire on the spot, and gave the boy several Nains silver shields so that he could use them to treat his seriously ill mother.
Of course, Sloan understood that this might be intentional on the part of Narns's people; they were "teaching" these children to say such things.
"Pointy-eared bastards," "human thieves"... Nunns is definitely creating hatred so that those humans hate them so much that even attacking them seems "justified."
The Nunns wanted Count Arlin to cause an accident.
If all else fails, they will deliberately try to embarrass the Holy Kingdom and achieve a despicable diplomatic victory.
Slo felt a surge of resentment. As a victorious nation, the Holy Kingdom's actions seemed like a concession, which displeased many radicals.
Although he himself is not a radical, there are some things he believes must be fought back against in order to uphold the face of the Holy Kingdom.
The Narns Empire is truly wicked, Slo thought, inciting hatred and refusing to alleviate the people's poverty.
They're subtly exploiting innocent civilians to do this; many people on that street don't look like they'll survive the winter.
"Your Excellency Arlin, you are so kind. I sincerely praise your kindness. Those poor Nunns are so lucky to have your help..." Paul praised Earl Arlin as usual.
"It's nothing, I just did what I believed was right. Slo, Frantin, have you discovered anything?" Earl Arlin said.
"Lord Yarlin, I haven't found any traces of unusual spiritual activity in the old town," Slo shook his head.
"Lord Arlin, I haven't found anything either." Frantin also found nothing.
"It's alright, investigate slowly. We need to gather as much intelligence as possible in the next few days, even if it's just to rule out some hypotheses..."
"Get ready, you're going to have a serious talk with this Duke of Nunns tomorrow."
……
Dawn City is colder at night than during the day.
Slo stood at the window of his hotel room and looked out. The windows of the buildings across the street were all dark, and the snow on the street was already piled up in a thick layer. The light from the streetlights spread out in a small circle of dim yellow on the snow.
He silently recited prayers, praying to the god of death. He was a devout believer, and morning and evening prayers were absolutely essential to him.
After finishing his prayers, he took off his priest's robe and draped it over the back of a chair. He sat down by the bed and took out a thin booklet titled "A Brief Account of the Narns Empire," which had been issued by the Holy Kingdom's Foreign Affairs Committee before his departure.
I flipped through a few pages; it was all basic stuff: population, area, major cities, products.
The section on spiritual materials is brief and vague, only stating that the purification techniques for spiritual materials in the Nunns Empire have "made significant progress in recent years."
Slo closed the booklet, stood up, walked to the door and opened it. He wanted to get some fresh air outside; the room was stuffy, even with the windows open.
To be honest, Slo felt he somewhat liked the winters of the Nauns Empire.
Unlike the winters in the Holy Kingdom's capital, which are only slightly colder than other seasons, he didn't experience the biting chill of winter described in literary works.
Moreover, the cold does not make this extraordinary person sick; it only makes his mind more agile.
The corridor was quiet. This was a property of the Holy Kingdom, and it was decorated quite perfectly. The exquisite and thick carpet made no sound when you stepped on it.
He noticed light shining through the crack in the door of Count Arlin's room, which was not far away.
It's so late, Your Excellency, are you still not resting?
Although the messenger no longer needs much sleep, sleep helps him maintain a better state of being.
Sloe moved closer; he didn't intend to knock and disturb the Earl, but the door opened from the inside.
Count Arlin stood at the door, now dressed in dark casual clothes, his half-white hair loose, and he didn't look as serious as he had during the day.
"Slo? Come in."
"No, I'm sorry, Your Excellency, I apologize for disturbing you. I was just passing by and was looking for some fresh air."
"It's nothing, haha. I just couldn't sleep anyway, talk to me."
Sloan entered the room and found that it contained only a few common pieces of furniture.
Count Arlin sat down in the chair: "Sit."
Sloan sat down on a chair nearby, keeping his back straight and trying to occupy only half of the chair.
"Slo, do you have anything to say about what happened today?"
"Hmm..." Slo thought for a moment:
"Your Excellency, may I ask you about what happened today... those children in the old town?"
Earl Arlin leaned back in his chair and casually remarked:
"You think I shouldn't pay?"
"No, I think... Nunns did it on purpose."
"I know." Yarlin picked up the teacup on the table.
"Then why are you still...?"
"Still putting up with it? Still paying?" Count Arlin pushed the tea aside:
"Slo, think about it, if I had intervened back then, even if it was just pushing that child away, what would have happened?"
Sloan didn't say anything.
"The Duke of Dawn Province will be back to see us tomorrow. If he finds out that I hit a poor child from his territory, how can we negotiate?"
What will the newspapers in Nunns write? "Emissaries of the Elven Holy Kingdom beat Nunns children"—this will spread throughout the entire empire, and the entire Holy Kingdom will know.
Sloan lowered his head.
"I gave that child money, and he took it back to pay for his mother's medical treatment. That was real money."
As for what Nunes wants to make of this, they can't do it.
Moreover, I truly feel sorrow for what these little ones have gone through.
"Your Excellency, I understand."
"You don't understand," Earl Arlin looked at him, "Are you still wondering why we should back down?"
Slow did not deny it.
Yarlin stood up and walked to the window:
"Slo, you surely know that many things can't be solved with fists."
"We're not here just to investigate the smuggling of spiritual materials, nor just to discuss employment issues; we're also here to gather information."
Count Arlin continued, "The Narns Empire has been increasing its troop presence on the border in recent years, and its spiritual material purification technology has advanced by leaps and bounds."
"Are they colluding with the demons? Is the anomaly during the Sacred Tree's Featherfall period related to them?"
He walked back to the table, picked up a few sheets of draft paper, and handed them to Sloan.
"Take a look at this."
Sloan took the paper; it was covered in handwritten notes, densely packed, with some parts erased and rewritten.
"A map showing the garrison distribution in Dawn City?" Sloe looked up.
"It's not a complete one; it's a rough mark I made today using my spiritual senses in the square near the administrative building."
The circles to the east are in the old city area, with very weak spiritual fluctuations, which can basically be ignored. The circles to the west of the square are military camps, with strong spiritual fluctuations, all of which are normal spiritual energy and nothing unusual. The one to the north—"
He paused.
"This area to the north is the warehouse district of Dawn Harbor."
Slo stared at the large circle.
"You mean, some spiritual materials might still be in a warehouse somewhere in a port?"
"The intensity of the spiritual fluctuations in that area is not normal."
Sloe thought for a moment: "Could it be that Narns has set up a concealment spell?"
"It's possible, but even with Frantin's and my level of spiritual vision, we couldn't see through it, which means that the person who set up this spell was at least at the third level."
The room was quiet for a while.
"After I see the Duke tomorrow, I'll try to make a trip to the port." Arlin folded the papers and put them in his pocket.
"Your Excellency, I will accompany you."
"No need. Too many people will only draw attention. You and Frantin stay at the hotel and keep an eye on these people. Paul... just tell him to stay in his room and not come out."
Sloan nodded and stood up.
"Get some rest," said Earl Arlin.
"Thank you, and good night."
Sloan walked to the door, thought for a moment, then turned back:
"Sir, that boy today...does his mother really intend to use that money for medical treatment?"
Yarlin paused for a moment:
"I don't know, but I gave it my all."
Slo pushed open the door and returned to the room.
The entire building fell silent.
The snow stopped the next morning.
The sky was still gray, but it was a bit brighter than yesterday.
Ivanov led Count Yarlin and his entourage to the administrative building.
The snow in front of the administrative building had been swept away, and the stone pavement was wet and reflected the light.
Secretary Alexei stood in the lobby waiting, his face still bearing that perfectly appropriate smile:
"Your Excellencies, His Majesty the Duke is already in the drawing room. Please follow me."
The reception room was on the third floor; the room wasn't large, but it was tastefully decorated.
A long table was placed in the center of the room. A middle-aged man, in his forties, sat at the head of the table. His dark brown hair was neatly combed, and his facial features were strong. A gold eagle brooch was pinned to his collar.
Duke of Dawn Province, Nikolai Alexander
He saw Yarlin come in and stood up.
"Count Arlin, I've heard so much about you." His voice was deep, and the common language of the Western Continent carried the distinctive accent of the Narns Empire.
"Your Grace, I've heard so much about you." Arlin bowed slightly.
The two shook hands and sat down.
"I've already heard about yesterday's incident," the Duke spoke first, his tone calm:
"Those children in the old town are ignorant and have offended everyone. I have already sent people to investigate, and if anyone is found to be instigating them, they will be severely punished."
"Your Grace, you are too kind," Earl Arlin shook his head.
"It's just a child, there's no need to pursue it."
The Duke nodded and didn't bring it up again.
"Then let's get straight to the point," the Duke said, opening the document in front of him. "Regarding the issue of employees, the Empire has a few requirements."
"Speaking."
"First, the working hours of employees of Narns within the Holy Kingdom shall not exceed ten hours per day."
Slo did the math in his head and realized that this time was shorter than that of the Holy Kingdom's own laborers.
"Second, the minimum wage standard for employees will be raised to be the same as that for local workers in the Holy Land;
Third, the educational rights of the children of employed workers should be equal to those of the children of local residents of the Holy Land.
After reading the three points, the Duke put down the document and looked at Arlin.
Count Arlin did not answer immediately. He picked up his water glass rather impolitely, took a sip, and slowly put it down.
"Your Grace, let's put the first and second points aside for now."
Article 3—
He paused for a moment:
"The Holy Kingdom is already working on the educational rights of employees' children."
Last year, the eastern region's Lorraine district opened a school for children of the poor, enrolling many of the students as children of Nunns employees.
The Duke's expression remained unchanged.
"But what I must say is that the right to education cannot be achieved overnight. The Holy Kingdom's educational resources are limited, and there are simply not enough places in its grammar schools."
If all the children of domestic workers are crammed into the program at once, what will happen to the local children of the Holy Land?
"Then build more schools," the Duke said firmly.
"Where's the money?" Earl Arlin stared into his eyes.
"Building a school requires money, hiring teachers requires money, and buying textbooks requires money. Who will pay for all of this?"
"The Empire can contribute a portion."
……
Today's meeting ended in discord.
Slo sat alone in his hotel room, finding the situation increasingly absurd.
The three demands that the Duke made at the meeting all sounded grand and noble, as if the Nunns Empire were so considerate of its people.
But those words, when placed against the reality of Dawn City's old town, sound like a joke.
The boy's mother was dying, and no one cared for her.
The lame man had broken his leg, and no one asked about it. The children walked barefoot in the snow, unable to even afford black bread.
Sloan shook his head.
These people care nothing for their own people, yet they turn around and make demands of the Holy Kingdom, making them with an air of self-righteousness.
It seems that those nice-looking clauses are not fighting for the rights of employees, but rather giving away an opportunity to be a "good person" in the Holy Kingdom.
Sloe didn't know if the duke was genuinely blind to this point, or if he simply didn't care that such things were impossible to agree to and only knew how to spout this nonsense to report the results to their empire's emperor.
He found it utterly absurd.
The Holy Kingdom is still too weak.