Constan County, located in the southernmost part of the Moen Kingdom, is not under the jurisdiction of the Grand Duke of Baylan, but rather a direct vassal of the royal family, holding a status equal to that of the Grand Dukes.
This remote region boasts a resounding title—"Moen's Granary."
This county, covering less than 400,000 square kilometers, possesses the kingdom's most fertile black soil. Its grain production alone accounts for fifty percent of the kingdom's annual output.
Siegfried was quite shocked when he first heard this—such a small area supporting half the nation's population.
What kind of soil is it? How many harvests a year? But considering this is a different world, it's reasonable; it's likely the priests of the Harvest Church are working overtime, constantly accelerating the growth to achieve such yields.
Siegfried's party drove into Constan City, the main city of Constan County, known as the "Wheat Fragrance Metropolis." The underground auction would be held here tonight.
A pretty face poked out of the carriage window, peering curiously at the scenery outside.
Krinhild was very excited. As a princess, she rarely left the palace, and for the past six months, she had been on the run, never having had the chance to travel for leisure like this.
"Your Highness, please don't! Even with the illusion magic robe, we can't guarantee there won't be accidents," Roland said worriedly, like a mother hen, as he drove the carriage.
"It's alright. Didn't you all see the wanted posters at the city gate? Even without this robe, it should be fine."
Essentially, wanted posters of the princess's party were posted on bulletin boards in all major cities of the kingdom—essentially, arrest warrants. However, the portraits were the pinnacle of abstract art; even Picasso would cry.
Siegfried rode unsteadily on horseback. You heard correctly; despite having a carriage, he was riding a horse. The man was being silly again.
He had always wanted to ride a horse but never had the time. Now that he finally had the chance, he had to indulge himself. He added a saddle to the horse pulling the carriage, with Roland driving from behind and him riding in front.
Inside the carriage were the expressionless Yang Jing and the excited princess; Roland was driving, Siegfried was riding his horse in front, and Bobo the dwarf was perched on the carriage roof.
They were being incredibly ostentatious and conspicuous, as if afraid that people wouldn't notice them.
Roland strongly opposed this, but Siegfried retorted with one sentence: "If you were pursuers, would you expect the targets on the wanted posters to swagger into the city?"
The major shareholder was right; Roland could only shut up.
The auction invitation only allowed three people to enter: Roland, Krinhild, and Siegfried. Yang Jing was there to guide them and to check the location of the dead merchant's vault—yes, Siegfried still hadn't forgotten about that money.
Bobo was dragged along by Siegfried, under the pretext of preventing the informant from running away while he was gone. Bobo was extremely reluctant but had to submit to the major shareholder's authority.
Constan City wasn't large, but it was the most prosperous city within a hundred miles, with vendors everywhere in the streets.
Some were merchants from other places, others were adventurers who had just completed guild quests, loudly hawking their spoils from monsters. This scene finally gave Siegfried a sense of the sword-and-magic world.
Until now, what had he been doing?
Either farming or interrogating informants, occasionally risking his life to boast to a group of humanoid mechs, making them think he was powerful.
Under Yang Jing's guidance, the group passed through the bustling market area and arrived at the residential area, where there was an inn for them to stay.
The houses in the city were indeed different from the countryside of Fengtao Village. Here, there were exquisite two-story buildings, made of stone bricks and red pine wood, combining aesthetics and comfort.
Washed clothes were drying on balconies extending from the second floor, and occasionally a resident would bow to Siegfried's party as they passed by.
These were the wealthy residents of the city.
Roland didn't change into civilian clothes; at Siegfried's request, he still wore his knight's armor bearing the Peidin family crest. The residents were bowing to Roland, the noble knight.
The group didn't encounter any difficulties from the greedy city guards at the gate, thanks to this.
Siegfried looked around and saw a familiar sight.
Several emaciated beggars with numb expressions wandered through this wealthy residential area. They had come from the slums on the outskirts of the city, seeking food in this affluent area. These people, unsurprisingly, constituted the majority of this "Wheat Fragrance Metropolis."
He winked at Roland behind him: "It seems that even the most fertile land hasn't made them prosperous."
Roland's expression was grave, and he didn't answer Siegfried. He had seen worse scenes in the past six months.
Siegfried and Yang Jing had a strong resistance to such scenes. It wasn't that they were heartless, but as outsiders, they found it difficult to treat this different world as reality.
When Yang Jing first became a wanderer two years ago, she would have been saddened by such sights, but after traveling through various worlds, she had developed immunity.
As for Siegfried, let's just say he was a loyal player of Paradox Interactive games.
The group soon arrived at the inn Yang Jing mentioned.
A wooden sign with exquisite carvings hung on the inn's door, with a flamboyant font spelling out a string of letters.
"Public Horse Banner… Didn't they just copy this name?"
Siegfried looked at Yang Jing, who had jumped off the carriage, with a strange expression. He suspected that Yang Jing chose this inn because of the name, which was over 90% similar.
Pushing open the door, a strong aroma of ale filled the air, followed by the shouts of adventurers, the singing of bards, and the clinking of glasses—it was as lively as a market.
The somewhat overweight proprietress, upon seeing Siegfried's party, or rather, upon seeing Yang Jing among them, enthusiastically greeted them.
"Little Mei, are these your companions?
My, there's even a knight! Come in, come in!"
Yang Jing, rarely, smiled and said familiarly to the proprietress:
"Auntie, please give us two rooms. We'll stay for the night."
"Alright, I've kept a room for you. I'll have the kitchen send you a table of food."
She was so enthusiastic, one wouldn't know unless they knew that Yang Jing was like a daughter to her.
Siegfried leaned close to Yang Jing's ear and whispered, "Did something happen between you two before?"
"Nothing much. I just rescued her son, who was wrongly convicted of murder, from prison."
She calmly recounted another story that could be expanded into five thousand words.
Siegfried was speechless.
"Wow, your life in this different world is amazing. Compared to you, I'm nothing."
Yang Jing glanced at him disdainfully.
Her Royal Highness, the princess, had never been to such a place before, and she looked around curiously. She went to applaud a bard, then approached a group of adventurers to watch them play Gwent.
By the time Roland realized that his princess had gone missing, Krinhild, using her innate affability, had successfully infiltrated the adventurers' group and was about to sit down and play cards with them.
Roland rushed over and pulled Krinhild out of the crowd.
"Meow~"
"Your Highness, please be careful! We're not here to play. Look at Merlin, he's so steady…"
However, before he could finish, a man's boisterous laughter came from behind.
"Hahahaha, that's nothing. I've even beaten up a great knight!"
"Really? Don't lie to me; I'm not educated."
"Why would I lie to you? I not only beat her up, I also groped her boobs!"
"Wow! Brother, may I ask your name?"
"I am Siegfried!"