The next morning Rhea woke up peacefully to the chirping of birds and insects.
Perhaps it was too late for a traveling merchant who always got up early, but it was just right for a lazy witch.
Gloria had already collected the clothes and dishes she had dried yesterday, and was sitting on the edge of the bed, resting.
After washing her face and brushing her teeth, then yawning, Rhea was led by Gloria to the carriage, not forgetting to drop two silver coins into the donation box by the well before passing by the church well.
Every time someone used the well, the ministers of the church checked the donation box.
Although the well is theoretically a free charity facility for the church, if the donation box turns out to be empty, the monks of the church say unhappy things to upset those who use it.
For the magi, who were constantly traveling, the ominous statements might not have mattered, but Gloria traveled with her, and so that Gloria would not get upset, Rhea broke the rules and donated to the church anyway.
However, the coins that Rhea put in the donation box were the least valuable coins in her purse-black and heavily worn silver coins that cost only three copper coins.
And most of the merchants said that the mint would close soon and that it was dead money that would not be spent at all.
Listening to the very reluctant compliments that the monks sent to Leia, who threw two battered silver coins, Gloria was thoughtful.
"Are all the people in the Church so merciful?".
"In the Southern Country they are."
"Where we are, the monks of the Church are grandlords, and it is almost unheard of to give such a blessing to a merchant who has left the Church."
"After all, there are not enough supplies in the North, and a large number of commoners depend on the psychological comfort that the church provides; but in the South it's different, everyone can live a good life, even if they don't believe in any gods or monsters."
Rhea continued to pass by the monks guarding the gates of the church without paying attention.
"Earning money does not lead to sin, just as staying in poverty does not lead to a high moral character. For a good life, it is not necessary to go to heaven after death, it can be created with your own hands in this world. Times have changed, and maybe your hometown has changed too."
"Changed ...?"
On rare occasions, Rhea lowered her eyes, as if she was thinking about home.
"It's good that everything has changed, it's good that everything has changed! Places that remain unchanged only die, people change, and so do cities that gather from people."
"Then there will be no way back...".
"Listen carefully, Gloria, your hometown is a place to look at, a distant place."
Although she was still young, Rhea believed that she had already passed through a few fine years.
It was precisely because she had traveled all over the world, met all kinds of people and gained all kinds of experiences that Rhea had the right to say such things to Gloria.
As long as people are away from home, even those who left it in anger, it is quite natural that they will appreciate their homeland. The only people you can rely on for peace of mind in another country are your compatriots.
But what if a person is so weak that he allows homesickness to take over? If you are so inseparable from your hometown, then don't leave it in the first place!
That's what Rhea said when she met a man who hadn't returned to his hometown for years.
If Fente had been in his place, he might have enlightened the girl abducted from her homeland, but Rhea was not a kind and honest merchant, but a witch with a will.
The dry roads still turned out to be a little dirtier than expected, and late in the evening they arrived in the city of Tristral, located thirty kilometers from Karafrog.
Not far from Tristral, upstream, there is a wheat-producing region, and even higher there is a railway line connecting Karafrog with the rest of the country.
The Uno River, which flows through the entire southern border of Aardvark, naturally flows through Tristral, and since it is a source of water transport in the south, you can see wood clippings floating along the river in Tristral all year round.
Boats ply up and down the river, transporting crops such as wheat or corn, depending on the change of seasons.
In autumn, when all sorts of harvests rise along the canal, and freed sailors tend to dive into taverns to get a rare rest and land, this is the busiest time of the year in Tristral.
The city of Tristral does not belong to any lord, the local chamber of commerce is organized jointly with the Grand Duke of the South - the current head of the House of Floria, Sirlit? The city turned into a transport city controlled by rich and influential merchants after the local Chamber of Commerce bought its autonomy from the Grand Duke of Southland, the current head of the Floria family, the Duchess of Floria.
When entering Tristral, these two men did not have their identity checked, were not asked to show a pass, exit permit, they also did not pay taxes for entry or exit.
By the way, there are no "customs duties" in this world, but there are "taxes on the sale of goods".
It is not uncommon for merchants to transport goods through the territories of several lords, and if they were charged a duty for each territory crossed, the tax would be so great that the merchant would simply go bankrupt.
In this case, there would be no such profession.
Thus, the system in the Aarvgard was that at the conclusion of the transaction, 10% of the price paid by the buyer was charged as a sales tax.
Among the crowd of people meeting them, two men crashed their wagon to find an inn and book a room for two days.
Rhea then gave Gloria five gold coins and told Gloria to stay here for two days for now.
Then Rhea had to go to Karafrog alone.
All cities with the word "Kara" in their names are extremely important cities of the kingdom of Aarvgard and are under the direct jurisdiction of the envoys of the kingdom.
Therefore, in addition to high taxes, the procedures for entering and leaving the country are a million times stricter than in other territories.
Gloria and Rhea are technically black, so they can't pass the check.
This place was going to turn back into a Fente.
Rhea rummaged in the toilet under the gaze of a drunken sailor, then turned into a Fante again and, to the sailor's amazement, got into the driver's seat of the carriage and drove away from Tristral.
Finally, when the night swallowed up the last sunset, Fente arrived in Karafrog.
Unlike the usual city guards or militia regiments that do such work, the royal knights lined up in front of the Karafrog barrier were enough to make anyone shudder and yearn.
Through the cracks in the knights' watch, you can vaguely see the interior of the Karafrog.
Marble main street, clean five-storey buildings along the street, paraffin lamps with an interval of five meters.
Lords, merchants, knights and magi strolling through the fabulous city made young people feel like a part of it just by looking at it.
This is a place where all the dreams of young people of the South come true, where all the glitter and glamour are gathered.
Compared to Tristral, which is a city of rituals, Karafrog is refined, pure and looks at every young man who steps here and tries to follow his dream with a high degree of arrogance - do you have what it takes to stay here?