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"I'm just running a small business! Why do I have to pay taxes on that? Are they crazy?" Caelan was still fuming after they teleported out of the checkpoint.
He had gotten carried away with his pop-up shop in the waiting hall and attracted the attention of the patrolmen. They insisted that conducting business without a permit was illegal and forcefully "fined" him one gold crown.
Considering his total profit from the waiting hall was only about three gold crowns, Caelan was understandably furious.
"Alright, don't be angry anymore. That guy was clearly just trying to squeeze some coin out of us foreigners," Cassius said, patting him on the shoulder. "This kind of graft happens everywhere. It's the cost of doing business."
"Yeah. Later tonight, I'll take you to a fun place to cool off," Victor added with a grin that could only be described as... lewd.
As they headed toward the next teleportation point, Caelan glanced back at the city they had just arrived in. His jaw dropped.
"Holy crap. The walls of Earthforge City..."
The obsidian walls towering before him were at least two hundred meters high. Crimson Port was a super-city in its own right, but its walls were less than a hundred meters tall—not even half the height of this monstrosity.
Cassius and Victor, however, were unfazed.
"It is an ancient capital of an empire that has stood for tens of thousands of years," Cassius explained. "Our newer nations can't compare in terms of sheer scale. Moreover, the Dragonspire Empire produces the most Earth Element experts in the world. Raising walls is their specialty. Wait until you see Imperial Dragonspire; you'll realize Earthforge City is nothing special."
"This is just the Old City," Victor added, wrinkling his nose. "Don't let the grand walls fool you—practically everyone living here is poor. After the First Emperor and the Elven Druids improved crop yields, the continent's population exploded. The Old City couldn't handle the influx. The drainage system is ancient and terrible, so the streets reek. Anyone with money moved to the New City ages ago."
Well, this is a magical world, after all. Some problems are universal.
The trio arrived at the connecting teleportation station only to receive bad news: the queue was full for the day. They would have to wait until tomorrow morning.
They had been mentally prepared for delays. Now, the only question was where to stay.
"What's there to think about?" Victor scoffed, picking his nose in a very un-noble manner. "We're definitely staying in the New City. Maybe the local auction house has spatial items, so we don't have to go all the way to the capital. Besides, I refuse to sleep in a place that smells like piss and shit."
Cassius and Caelan grimaced in agreement.
However, to reach the New City, they had to traverse the main thoroughfare of the Old City. Since they hadn't rented a carriage or a beast mount, they walked.
The main street was relatively clean, kept clear for commerce, but the faint, intermittent stench drifting from the alleys made the two nobles quicken their pace.
The shops lining the main road sold Dragonspire specialties—ores, dragon byproducts, and hearty food. But just beyond the main drag, the poverty was stark. The buildings in the side streets were dilapidated, their once-grand facades now crumbling and mottled.
Balconies that might have once hosted noble tea parties were now draped with tattered laundry. It reminded Caelan vividly of the slums in India from his previous life.
"According to statistics, the New City has expanded to be ten times the size of this place, yet the population here remains roughly the same. You can imagine the crowding," Cassius sighed, looking at the squalor.
Caelan wasn't surprised. In his previous life, his dorm room had been fourteen square meters—luxury for a single man. But he had friends in Shanghai who squeezed a family of four into ten square meters.
He glanced at Cassius. It was odd to hear a wealthy noble recite population statistics with such empathy. Even in the Moonwatch Empire, where nobility carried less weight, Cassius was still a "Great Noble."
Sensing Caelan's gaze, Cassius shrugged. "This is my second time here. I came when I was eleven with my aunt. She told me all of this."
"Huh? When was that?" Victor looked astonished. "Auntie took you and not me?!"
Cassius shot him a look of disdain. "You were caught red-handed by my uncle stealing a maid's underwear that week. Auntie was disgusted, so she left you behind."
Victor: "..."
Eleven years old? Which specific incident was that? There were too many to keep track of...
After briskly walking for an hour, the air finally cleared. They had arrived at the New City.
They found a large, decent-looking inn and booked three single rooms for fifty silver marks a night. Caelan's frugal instincts almost made him look for a cheaper option, but he checked himself. He had assets now. There was no need to live like a pauper.
It was not yet nine in the evening. They gathered in Cassius's room to plan dinner.
Victor was the first to speak. "Cassius, you're practically a local. You must know where the happy taverns are, right? Let's go have some fun tonight."
Cassius looked like he wanted to punch him. "I told you I was eleven when I came here! Eleven! Who pays attention to brothels at age eleven?"
Victor grinned. "Me! I knew the location of every high-end establishment in Crimson Port when I was eleven."
Cassius: "Get lost."
Caelan's curiosity got the better of him. "How many are there now?"
Victor adopted the solemn expression of a life mentor. "On the surface? Over a dozen. In reality? Forty-seven dedicated taverns. But if you count the... unofficial establishments... heh. At least eight hundred. Maybe a thousand."
"Including the back-alley spots?"
"Of course not!" Victor looked offended. "What kind of person do you think I am? I only patronize legitimate, high-class establishments. The quality is simply superior."
Caelan instantly felt a profound, albeit reluctant, admiration for Victor's dedication to his craft.
As the two chatted animatedly about the "nightlife economics" of Crimson Port, Cassius sat silently on the bed. Though he pretended to ignore them, Caelan noticed his ears were pricked up, absorbing every word.
PLZ THROW POWERSTONES.