50 What's wrong with this place?

A strange man was standing in front of Brine City.

[So, this is the place.] He thought as he looked around. The camp was in the middle of a large valley, with relatively flat terrain, and chains of mountains could be seen in the horizon, acting as natural protection. He could see the handprint of civilisation on the surroundings, but nature still dominated outside of camp.

[Nice spot.] He commented to himself before confidently walking into the camp. [Now, I've got a job to do.]

He was a little taller and leaner than most of the people around. He had a beaky nose and black hair. It was enough to attract short stares from the people that walked past him but not much more as everyone was very busy.

The first thing that struck him was the camp's lack of built defenses. He could see many groups of soldiers patrolling the camp but that was it. [That's weird. So many people and not a single defense wall.]

The truth was that this was due to a lack of time and workforce. Most of the workers were sent to build the eastern defense wall. If that one could not contain the Kunalls, wooden walls around the city would hardly help at all. All other threats around, like wild beast could be dispatched by the two local defense force lead by Cid and Cat. These particular patrols were Cid's men, making sure the camp was safe.

The second strange thing was the lack of buildings. Most people were coming in and out of large tents. There, thousands of them, lined up as far as the eye could see. While he could probably count the number of buildings on his hands.

[Where should I go?] He wondered. Most of the tent looked the same, if they were buildings he could guess their use by how fancy they looked. For now he decided to just walk around.

He noticed that the closer to the center of camp he got, the more children were running around. [They are probably taught to avoid the edge of camp.] He guessed.

[Hm? What's that?] His attention was grabbed by a group of people chatting happily. They were waiting for their turn to use a strange device from which water poured constantly.

[Where is that water coming from? Is this spawned by magic? Does this mean they have a mage?]

He was about to check it closer when a loud voice started him.

"Hey, you!"

His heart almost jumped out of his chest.

"Y-yes?" He answered hesitantly.

A tall man walked toward him and started asking weird questions.

"Do you like to take long baths? Do you like to relax after a long day of work?"

"S-sure…" Answered the black-haired man, still a little jumpy.

"I knew you were a kindred spirit! Sign this petition to open a mixed open bath!"

The scroll he was handed was titled. 'Mix Bath 4 - A treat for the skin and the eyes!'

[Four? As in, it's the fourth time they are trying to built this thing?] He wasn't sure what was going on, but he still signed, he didn't want to stand out. To his relief, the tall man quickly left left as soon for his next prey.

"Haha." A loud laugh echoed nearby.

[Damnit, what now?] It seemed it was hard to keep a low profile around here.

The laugh came from a man of a short stature. He had a strong body with thick arms.

"You must be new around here." Said the man. "I am Eric. I work at the blacksmith workshop, what about you?"

The black-haired man, still a little stunned answered. "I am Selv, I joined recently so I don't have a job yet.."

"Selv huh? That's not a name from around here. You know, Selv, now that you have signed the petition, miss Mia will come down on you like a ton of bricks, right?" Said Eric.

[Miss Mia? Is that the leader?] Wondered Selv before asking. "S-she'll attack me?"

"Haha no you idiot." Giggled the man as he pointed to the ring on Selv's hand. "She'll tell your wife you have been playing with the king. Who knows what she'll do to you, especially if she has been talking to the other women in the camp."

"K-king?" Stuttered Selv in shock. [That weird guy was the king?!]

"Wow. You really are new!" Exclaimed Eric.

Selv quickly told his story. "Yes, we just joined today. I am not familiar with most people around."

"I see. Well a good rule around here is, if the king is trying to make you sign a petition, then it means Miss Mia probably doesn't want it done." Explained Eric. He said the next bit in a low voice. "The king has incredible ideas, like the mixed bath plan, or topless Wednesdays and naked mud skin care, but we were told that miss Mia is completely in love with the King and doesn't like to share him, so she often disapproves."

"Who told you?" Asked Selv.

"The king did." Answered Eric with a serious face.

"..."

[What's wrong with this place?] Thought Selv incredulously.

"Anyways, you look in pretty good shape. You should probably find work soon. We need people at the blacksmith workshop. Want a tour? If you have any special skills, I can bring you to miss Mia to find something that suits you instead." Offered Eric.

Selv immediately accepted Eric's offer and followed him to the blacksmith shop. He was not ready to meet another bigshot after his first experience with the king.

"Hey! Old man! Got a new pair of hands for you!" Shouted Eric as soon as they reached the workshop.

"Nice! Take care of him." Shouted Aiden from the other side of the workshop.

"That's my stupid old man." Said Eric. "Anyways, you can't officially start working here until you register with miss Mia's office. But you can look around with the other trainees to see what it is that we do here and if interests you. You said you joined yesterday right? So you have two more days to decide. After that you'll need to work, if you want to eat."

"Thank you." Replied Selv as he started to look around.

The workshop looked pretty much like a standard blacksmith workshop. The tools were still basic and unrefined. There was clearly not enough space for the number of workers in the shop which made it even noisier and busier than what you would normally expect.

The carpenter workshop across the street looked just as busy, so he assumed this was the norm around here. After all new expansions were in the work for both workshops, so the owners were clearly thinking of ramping up their operations.

Selv spent the whole morning carefully walking around in the very busy workshop. Always making sure not to bother the workers but still checking out the different kind of things they were crafting.

Many of these crafts looked familiar, even to his untrained eyes, like nails, tools, cooking utensils and weapons. But many more looked foreign, some looked just useless like the small iron stars all the apprentices were religiously crafting again and again. And others looked like pieces of something bigger but he could not guess what.

Noon soon arrived and Selv was at a loss of what to do. [This is not good, I still haven't found out what I…]

"Oy! Selv...right? Time to eat! Let's go!" Luckily Eric called out to him and guided him to the cantina.

They both sat at the same table, with their own serving. Eric opted for a big bowl of fish soup, a piece a bread and a piece of jerky. While Selv went for a vegetable soup, a salad and some fruits.

"So what do you think?" Asked Eric with a big smile. "Want to work at the workshop?"

"I haven't decided yet." Answered Selv noncommittally. His objective was not to find work after all. But to get as much information as he could. "Tell me, what were these things the apprentices were crafting?"

"Haha, they look weird huh? They are simply training materials for the newbies. We used to reforge everything they made, but now we just send them to the army since it doesn't matter if they are not perfect, it's simple traps we use against the Kunalls."

Selv's eyes twinkled when he heard this. [Finally, a natural segue to the army!]

"The army huh? I noticed you were making a lot of weapons." He said as nonchalantly as he could.

But Eric looked at him weirdly as he was dunking the hard bread in his bowl of soup. "You don't know? Ah… You are new. I almost forgot."

"I am not sure if I should tell you as it might scare you away." Said Eric with a semi-serious look. "But we are about to go to war."

"War?" Said Selv. "Aren't we fighting the Kunalls every week already?"

"Nah. I'm not talking about the Kunall scouts we ambush regularly. We are going to raze their main camp in a little more than a week!" Said Eric in a loud and proud voice to which loud cheers erupted around.

"That's why we are so busy." Added Eric with a grin. "Orders from the king and all. It's really a great time to join."

"How so?" Inquired Selv.

"Well… Miners just received a ton of tools to boost productions we need a lot of ore… For everything. Workshops are working full time to craft weapons, armors and traps. Hunters, fishermen and gatherers are also working with butchers to prepare for winter. Food is being dried, pickled, smoked, fermented and even canned." Eric quickly added after that last word. "Ah that's a new technique to preserve food our King created. Farmers are preparing winter crops, scouts are hunting wild livestock for our herdsmen. What was it the King said?" Eric thought back to a couple of days ago. "We have to… Consolidate our industries."

"Well, all of that to say that it doesn't matter where you want to work, they'll take you."

[The king… It was that guy right?] He was currently remembering the tall man in a white and gold outfit that first approached him when he entered Brine City. [Smart decisions, new ideas and even popular... That man?]

"I am telling you, this is a famous ceremonial garment from my world!"

[Hm?] Selv was lost in thoughts when he heard a voice that seemed familiar. He almost spat his vegetable soup as he turned his head to check out a newly arrived group in the cantina.

"Enjoy your meal my Lord, miss Mia!" Shouted Eric. "The fish soup is excellent today."

"Thanks!" Shouted Chris back.

[It really is him…] Thought Selv, any doubt now dispelled.

"So as I was saying." He heard Chris continue his passionate speech. "This is called a 'nurse outfit' in my world. It's traditionally used to ease people's worries. I could make you one if you want."

Mia looked at the scroll on the table as they sat, her eyes full of doubt. "Why is it pink colored?"

"It's to better relax people."

"And why is it so short around the legs?"

"It's to better show your care."

… ...

This continued for the whole meal.

[I really don't get it.] Thought an exhausted Selv.