During his ride to Oppen, Edmund noticed that the ride was smoother than usual.
Usually, even when caravans or carriages were driven through paved roads, there would always be bumpy moments.
However, during the entire ride after entering the territory of Heimer, the ride never felt bumpy. Or at least none that were caused by imperfections of the road.
He soon discovered the culprit, the paved roads were smooth. Too smooth in fact.
He was so curious to the point of asking the soldier acting as the coachman for the caravan he was in.
"What are these roads made of?"
The soldier then answered while chuckling.
"Heh, since you're not from Heimer, you might have not known. It's called concrete."
"What's it made out of?"
"Hmm, I actually dom't know. But I've seen people making it. They combined some sort of powder called cement with water and some other materials like sand and small rocks. The mixture will be like watery dough. Then, depending on what they're using it for, they'll shape it accordingly and wait for it to dry."
"So it's not actually stone?"
"Nope."
"By the way, you should prepare to get off, we're here."
Edmund looked beyond the horses pulling the caravan, and what he saw was....
"Woah...."
The capital city of Heimer, Oppen.
Hearing their leader's gasp of awe, Edmund's men also looked outside.
Suffice to say, their jaws dropped slightly.
Towering buildings that looked to thick and too tall to be simple towers were covering the city.
These buildings had many windows, and were shaped differently.
"Wh-what are those buildings?"
Edmund asked cautiously to the soldier coachman, thinking that they might be military-related buildings.
"Ah, those? They're called skyscrapers. They're used for all kinds of things. Homes, government offices, and even places for business."
Edmund was shocked.
'I've heard of the rumours claiming that Heimer had improved its architecture beyond the scope of the entire continent, but I thought it was just a bluff. The roads were impressive, but this is on an entirely different level.'
The city of Oppen currently looked like New York City in the early 1920s, minus the cars.
Moreover, there were currently numerous construction workers installing newly invented power lines throughout the city, making the city look even more modern.
Edmund felt like he was looking at an ancient magical city often told in fairy tales throughout the continent.
The caravan group then stopped at a certain building near the entrance of the city.
"It's time for you all to get off."
The soldier coachman said.
The prisoners followed his words and got out of their caravans.
The total number of caravans were 1,000. And each caravan's total capacity was 20 people.
Because of this, of the 80,000 or so prisoners, only a quarter of them had arrived at Heimer. The rest of them had to wait for the caravans to go back, and this process would generally take a few days until it was complete.
Fortunately, Edmund was part of the first 20,000 to get into Heimer.
Lucius was also at the scene, and he had sent Elizabeth back to the mansion earlier so that he could overseer the identification-making process of the prisoners.
The building they were currently in front of was one of the many government buildings within Oppen tasked to manage the citizens' legal paperwork.
Soon, the prisoners were told by the soldiers to stand in line.
The first person in line was Edmund. This wasn't randomized, nor was it intentional.
Edmund was just the first person to exit his caravan and among the other caravans. And he also happened to be the person in the very front when the soldiers told them to stand in line.
Edmund gulped slightly because he was nervous. Usually, legal paperwork for the dientification of someone was only applied to nobles and royals.
And even if a commoner were to acquire one for themselves, they had to be a sufficiently influential person.
As such, making an official identification was seen as a high status luxury.
And yet, Heimer was making such luxury available to all its citizens, let alone war prisoners from another nation?
It was simply preposterous.
Edmund looked around and saw that Lucius was calmly observing the process.
He wanted to say something to Lucius, but a soldier in front of him said that it was time for the prisoners to enter the building.
And so, they entered the building.
A 50-person group that included him had entered the building, and each prisoner were given a queue number.
The was the absolute maximum capacity for visitors in the building, since it was just a small building.
Edmund was given the first number, since he was the first to enter.
The inside of the building also had the same feeling to it as the outside. Simple, yet stylish.
The men sat down on the waiting chairs of the building, which were made out of plastic and metal.
Edmund wondered just how they were able to make the chairs.
He also wondered what kind of architect had designed this building. And if a lot of buildings were like this in the entire city.
Surely not, he thought.
****
Edmund came out of the building drained.
Although it was only a 5-minute process, he felt that it should've been 30 minutes instead.
This was due to the efficiency and agileness of the civil servant who handled his identification process.
When he came out, the soldiers let another prisoner in to fill the empty queue spot.
'Instead of signing a bunch of legal documents with my hand signature, they made me imprint my fingerprints on them? Isn't it easier to identify if they use a signature? Sigh, now my fingers are colored with black ink. Or maybe they just want to avoid fake signatures? Hmmm, I'm not sure.'
Edmund didn't know that fingerprints were unique to a person.
In fact, none of the people outside of Heimer knew about this information
And it was also a fact that only a portion of Heimer's residents knew.
Though it's only a matter of time until everyone in Heimer receives basic biology education through Lucius' academy.
'And what was that magic device?'
'That small object was flashing lights at me multiple times. They didn't let me close or blink my eyes and even told me to smile at it? What was the purpose of it?'
It was in fact, not a magic device at all.
Lucius hadn't yet invented personal computers for his citizens to use, let alone photocopy machines.
So to compensate for the ability to print photos without digital cameras, he had invented polaroid cameras instead.
These polaroid cameras had many models, each equipped with different film ratios.
The one that was used to photograph Edmund was one that had a very small film ratio of 50 mm x 50 mm. This film ratio was intended to be used for legal portraits such as ID cards.
Since Lucius was not limited by his knowledge in making them, his polaroid camera models were highly advanced, all the while being an easy and cheap product to mass produce.
As such, he sent one of the companies under the Dragon Group to make factories for the camera.
He was sure that anyone would want to take a photo of something at least once in their life.
And since it was an inexpensive product, normal everyday citizens would love to use them.
Anyway, seeing as Edmund's identification process was done at the moment, Lucius decided to take him for a tour of the city.
It would take a few working days in order to get his ID card, so there was nothing to do at the moment.
When Edmund saw that Lucius was approaching him, he quickly lowered his head. He did not want to offend Lucius, so he spoke in a very polite tone.
"W-what brings you here, Your Majesty?"
"Hmm, I just want to take you in for a tour to the city."
"A tour? But what about my housing and expenses? W-was that all a lie?"
"Tsk, you're too impatient. Look behind you, there are still a lot of people in line. It'll take the whole day for them to finish. Your housing and expenses should be handled after all their identifications are processed."
"I see."