BXBX NOVEL Book 2: 295
Book 2: Chapter 295
Bairak was a prosperous city.
As mentioned before, Rulan Bridge was the only point of entry in the southern region of the Kastkau Empire, and Bairak was one of the closest cities to the Rulan Bridge.
It wasn’t the closest city. Lukas saw several small towns and cities on their way there.
Nevertheless, the reason Bairak flourished the most among the nearby cities was purely because of the existence of the Warp Stone.
Warp Stones were only placed in cities authorised by the state.
There were less than 100 Warp Stones officially deployed throughout Kastkau. While this couldn’t be called a small number, considering the size of the empire, it wasn’t quite enough to be called generous.
This wasn’t because Warp Stones were difficult to make. While it required the power of experts like Alchemists and Wizards skilled in magical engineering, if the Empire wanted, they could make several hundred of them.
Nevertheless, the limited number of Warp Stones was purely because the Imperial Family was controlling the quantity.
Prosperity was guaranteed for the cities that had Warp Stones. Conversely, no matter how prosperous a city was, removing the Warp Stone would inflict serious damage.
Naturally, the City Lords had no choice but to pay great attention to the presence or absence of Warp Stones.
In other words, the Imperial Family kept the Lords who ruled each city in check simply by controlling the number of Warp Stones they issued as well as maintaining control over them.
“Ha. My eyes are spinning. Why is this city so big?”
“Hey. You’re embarrassing me. Stop acting like a country bumpkin.”
“What did you say, you bastard?”
“Enough, find a place to stay first before you start arguing. While you do that, I’ll take care of the wounded.
The most important thing was to treat their wounded. Garp led the injured members to look for a clinic. The rest went straight to an inn.
Since all the costs were being borne by Rina, the mercenaries rented out the entire inn.
Then, without any regard for the fact that it was still the middle of the day, the mercenaries banged their beer mugs together. Of course, they were also eating.
Lukas got up from his seat after eating his meal. Dumbo, who was about to ask him to drink together, looked up in surprise.
“Brother, where are you going?”
“Blacksmith.”
Firstly, he had to get a sword, and if they had decent armour, he would purchase it as well. As soon as they arrived in Bairak, he received the rest of his payment from Rina, so he now had quite a bit of money on his hands.
He couldn’t speak for anything else, but at the very least, he didn’t intend to save when it came to equipment that would keep him alive.
‘After buying a weapon.’
He would look around for any old bookstores.
Not only to look for books on the history of the past 10 years that Lukas didn’t know, but also for books on swordsmanship and physical training.
“Excuse me.”
Rina called out to Lukas, who was about to leave.
When Lukas silently turned to look at her, she let out a soft cough.
“Do you have time to spare?”
“How much?”
“Until lunch ends.”
That wasn’t too long. Lukas nodded, then Rina gestured for him to follow her.
She walked through the streets without any hesitation which displayed just how many times she’d visited Bairak. After a while, they arrived at a large building made entirely of marble. It seemed to have about 7 or 8 floors and was easily the largest building in the area.
Lukas followed Rina into the building. And immediately knew what it was.
It was the City Administration Office.
“Welcome. -Oh, Rina.”
An intelligent looking woman greeted them with a bright smile.
Rina smiled and sat beside her.
“Tia, you girl, your face has become so oily.”
“Huhuhu. Your face has also become thicker, girl.”
“It’s my job, I can’t help it. I guess this job suits you.”
“It’s not just comfortable, it also makes me happy.”
“Right. I knew you were enjoying sucking honey, that’s why I came to give you another job.”
“A job? What is it?”
Rina turned and gestured to Lukas.
The woman named Tia bowed her head to him slightly before turning back to Rina.
“Please give this man a temporary identification card. By tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? That’s hard. At best it would take at least a week.”
“That’s why I said a temporary one.”
“Do you think it’d be different just because it’s temporary. It takes three to four days just to reach the higher ups. It’ll only take a week now because this isn’t a busy period, otherwise, it would probably take two to three weeks.”
“You don’t have to report to the higher ups. Just give me an identification card I can use to register him as an apprentice merchant for the Red Hub.”
This caused Tia’s attitude to soften a bit.
“Apprentice? Ahh. Is this person your junior?”
“…well…”
“Mm. If that’s the case, then it’s fine. Did you say tomorrow? You can come back this afternoon.”
“Then I’ll come back later. Thanks.”
“It’s fine. How about dinner tonight? Rose told me to tell her when you came.”
“Sure.”
Rina nodded, then after sharing some private words, returned to the inn with Lukas.
“It’s difficult to stay and buy things in the empire without some form of identification.”
It was then that Lukas realised that Rina was doing all of that for him.
“I see. Thank you for your help.”
“No problem. I owe you my life. -Ah. And you don’t have to worry about being an apprentice merchant either. You’re not really a part of the organisation, I’m just using it because it is the fastest way. You could say it’s a trick.”
“I see.”
“Did you memorise the way here?”
“Yes. I think I can come back on my own.”
“If you forget, you can just ask me.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Lukas expressed his gratitude once again.
“Ah. And you said you were going to the blacksmith, right? Here’s a map.”
Rina handed him a folded piece of paper. Without opening it, he knew it was the map of Bairak.
“It’s a bit old, but there shouldn’t be any major differences, so it shouldn’t be too hard for you to find your way. As for this, you don’t have to thank me again. I’m just paying back what I owe.”
Lukas let out a bitter laugh.
She really was a merchant.
“Then I’ll use it well.”