3 To the Heron Kingdom
~Chapter 3: To the Heron Kingdom
It was a dizzying number of notifications.
Kirin had little time to wake up before the system bombarded him with screens flashing information he barely understood. It took a while before he sobered up and read through everything. "Oh! A different type of quest? That's interesting!" Kirin exclaimed.
It would seem like things were starting to pick up. Everything he had been doing for the past month led to this day; from collecting demon horns to picking up abandoned swords— all those things were about to bear fruit. "Hmm, Heron Kingdom…" Kirin read the quest's detail once more.
What caught his attention the most wasn't the special requirement for the quest, rather, the quest somehow requiring Kirin to move to a different location. 'That means... I'll get to leave this village?' Kirin thought. Besides doing quests near the shores, he had never left the fishing village since he arrived.
It wasn't something the system warned him not to do, it was just; Kirin wasn't confident enough to explore the world outside where he was comfortable with. Besides, the system's quests, so far, were coincidentally limited around the Borena village. There was no point for Kirin to risk his life venturing outside when he had no business doing so.
But now, with the system giving him the go signal, there was no point in staying inside his comfort zone anymore. Perhaps the system knew he was ready to take on the challenge of the outside world. Either that or the quest line triggered because of the daily quest yesterday; as to what it was, Kirin only cared about living a satisfying modest life in a fantasy world; part of that goal was to meet and befriend others, something he wasn't able to do in the past.
…
Kirin immediately prepared for departure.
He doesn't have much to pack, to begin with, so it didn't take long before he was set. Kirin then opened the system inventory and 'drew' out the 'Map of the Belur Continent'. A map which was drawn on a piece of worn-out paper appeared. It then landed on the table in front of Kirin.
From the looks of the map, Kirin was pretty sure it was outdated. It was a quest item required by the system during one of his daily quests. It came from the invasion's refuse, an event which happened fifty-three years ago, meaning the map was outdated for almost six decades.
Luckily, a familiar kingdom name showed as soon as Kirin unfolded the map—
The Heron Kingdom.
It was southwest from the Borena fishing village.
If the dimensions provided by the map was accurate, Kirin estimated that he could reach the closest city in about two weeks, on foot. 'Not too bad,' Kirin thought. 'I packed enough fruits and dried fish to last me for months, two weeks is nothing.' having the luxury of storing items inside the system's inventory, Kirin need not worry about bringing excess baggage.
Kirin then got out of the hut and walked out of the creaky wooden gate. Glancing back at the empty fishing village, Kirin deeply bowed in reverence.
It was a place which sheltered him for a month. He was, at the very least, grateful that nothing bad happened to him while he was there. Kirin left the village with a pleasant feeling in his heart.
---
A busy crowd roamed the streets of Vani, the trade city of the Heron Kingdom.
As the sole producer of Yegneel— a synthetic material used for forging weapons— the city had enjoyed great benefits of having a monopoly for over a decade. Vani City had prospered without limit, gathering wealth not even the capital city could compete against. The government, in return, tried its best to keep things the same way.
For years, the production of Yegneel has remained a state-protected secret. The city grew to become a trade center for those who wanted to have their hands on the synthetic material.
In truth, Yegneel was never a rare material, nor was it any better in quality than naturally existing ores. However, with its cost— being four times cheaper than iron— it easily became the go-to material for cheap or amateur blacksmiths.
The booming industry of a synthetic ore, in a way, brought about the abundance of sub-standard weapons in the market. Low-quality swords slowly became the standard. In this case, the Heron kingdom decided— Having crappy weapons was a lot better than having a piss-poor economy.
It was a risky exchange they were willing to take.
---
"I- it's Lord Jeremiah!" a market vendor exclaimed.
Jeremiah Bretweld, the renowned hero— known as the Shadow Paladin of the Heron Kingdom, walked among the crowd of commoners in the central market of Vani. Everyone flocked around him as soon as he arrived. The market's entrance became crowded and the traffic soon clogged.
'Fucking hell…' Jeremiah inwardly rebuked. Although a hero, he was also someone of nobility. Jeremiah secretly despises being with commoners, albeit he could not express his displeasure openly. Being a hero comes with the responsibility of having an untainted image.
He needs to keep the public's opinion about him positive, no matter what.
Jeremiah squeezed through the crowd, scrunching his nose in a displeased manner. 'This place smells awful… Tsk, if not for that metal, I wouldn't bother coming here'. The crowd cleared in an instant, or rather, they were swept to the side by the oppressive strength and aura of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah looked around the market. The people that blocked him just now weren't bothering him anymore. Besides, it was a bit too extreme of a thing to block off one of the strongest heroes of the kingdom; only an idiot would do something so precarious as a hobby.
'No… nope, not this,'
'Hmmm… not this one,
'Not this one either.'
Jeremiah picked up and returned items from stalls repeatedly, carefully sifting through everything. What was common among the items that he picked up was that they were swords with a silver hue. If it weren't for the fact that the handsome hero already has a greatsword strapped on his back, one would think that he was window shopping for a weapon. "Not a single sword here is made of iron. Not even those that are made from pig iron…" Jeremiah muttered.
He never believed his apprentices when they warned him that the Vani City, the very trade center of the Heron Kingdom, lacked nothing but proper swords. He scoffed at the ridiculous idea back then, but seeing that they were saying the truth, Jeremiah could only shake his head. Looking for a decent iron sword, or even the ingot itself seemed impossible to find in the market of Vani.
"No point in staying here then…" Jeremiah thought. He disappeared just as quick as he arrived, this time, however, no one bothered blocking his way anymore. The shadow paladin's stature was too terrifying for the common folk to mess with. His broad back disappeared in the distance.
---
It had been two days since Jacob left the fishing village, or so he thinks.
He was pretty sure that the sun rose and set twice during his travel. According to the map, it takes around a week, at the very least, for him to reach the closest city of the Heron Kingdom— that is if he were to travel by foot. 'That… doesn't make sense?' Jacob wondered as he dumbfoundedly stared at the walled city in front of him, a rather short distance away from where he standing.
He was pretty sure that he walked at a moderate pace during his travel and that he wasn't in the slightest bit of a hurry. Now... How was it possible for him to reach the Heron Kingdom, a place that should take a week's worth of travel, in merely two days!?
"Perhaps because this map is outdated?" Jacob muttered. It could be a possibility, knowing that he acquired the map during a sudden mission from the refuse of the war, it made sense that the map was likely too old and therefore was now highly inaccurate. A city or two might be missing in it.
"Either that or this place isn't even part of the Heron Kingdom," Jacob pondered as he made his way to the gates of what he could only assume as a city that belongs to the Heron Kingdom. If it wasn't, the system would simply notify him when he enters.
…
The wall and city gates of the Vani City were towering, it was as if the city housed giants instead of people. If the sun were ever to rise from the west, it would be obscurely covered by the heaven-defying walls. Outside such refuge; numerous people were lining up to enter.
The long queue of people spanned from the eastern wall up to the mouth of the eastern forest.
It was a line that might take up an entire afternoon just to shorten. Fortunately, the gate inspection doesn't take too long and it allowed people to enter the city faster than the line could get longer.
However, Jacob still queued for (almost) the entire morning. The line was simply too long. Although he did not mind waiting, he still felt that time was wasted.
'Oh well… it's not like I can do anything about it.' he dismissed.
After asking some people around, Kirin finally got a much-needed confirmation, 'Vani City, huh… If it's part of the Heron Kingdom, then selling the swords here would count towards the quest.'.
The line gradually grew shorter.
The gate inspection was fast and efficient enough that the bulk of the line disappeared before noon. Some renowned merchants and businessmen had prior permission to enter the city; this made the inspection much smoother and faster.
What remained of the line were tourists, travelers, and fawning merchants.
New merchants had to be thoroughly inspected and charged with necessary taxes before allowing them and their goods to enter the city. For tourists and travelers, they only needed to confirm their identity.
"State your name and business." a guard asked.
Kirin introduced himself and stated what he wanted to do inside the trade city. Of course, as a peddler, he had to show his goods for inspection and taxing. Prior to queuing up the line, Kirin prepared the iron swords beforehand and had placed them in a huge sack.
"Swords?... You're seriously trying to sell swords in Vani City?" the guard exclaimed.
Although it was an unwarranted question, the city guard could not help but ask in sheer wonder. Is this young man seriously trying to sell swords in a city known for producing a cheap alternative for sword crafting? Trying his luck was one thing, but being straight up foolish is another.
Kirin was confused as to what the guard meant and only nodded in reply. 'Is selling weapons illegal inside?' he wondered for a moment. Another guard suddenly arrived. A short, bearded man, barely around four feet in height, walked towards the inspection point and approached Kirin.
As per usual— New merchants would be taxed prior entering, and as such. An inspector, someone adept at checking myriad products and assigned them with monetary value, would come in and evaluate the taxable items.
"A sack full of… common swords?" the diminutive man queried while caressing his beard. He alternately glanced at the sack full of swords and the documents in his hand. 'These things are basically worthless. Tsk, this young man is an obvious business rookie.' he thought.
If he were to tax him, what would this young man have left?
For a benevolent dwarven, it was simply too harsh, but as an inspector, he really had no choice but to do his job without prejudice. If anything were to be sold, then they needed to be taxed, it was as simple as that. "...Then it would be a gold coin for the entire sack." the short man added.
After scribbling a few notes on a separate piece of paper, the short man handed the Kirin a receipt. Kirin received the note and casually paid a gold coin. Of course, the coin came from the system. He withdrew a few spare coins beforehand.
Although the system was handy, it would be troublesome if he casually uses it in front of others.
He was unsure whether it was something unique to him or what not, or if others could see it the same way he does, but nothing beats playing it safe rather than sorry later on. He withdrew the iron swords back then for the very same reason. He did not want to attract unnecessary attention, especially when it was his first time interacting with people in this world after a month of isolation.
The dwarven inspector received the coin with a shocked expression on his face.
'He immediately forked out payment without even questioning?!' the dwarven inwardly exclaimed.
Weapons' taxation within Vani City had been in a decline due to the existence of Yegneel. Selling weapons inside the city had been harder, that was why the local government took the initiative of lowering the tax to somehow stabilize the market. But, selling common swords wouldn't just cut it, especially when these weapons were far worse than those made from Yegneel.
If the inspector were to be truly honest, the taxation should even be, at max, a hundred silvers, but the Heron government was stubborn enough to keep the taxation relatively high— at 1 gold coin.
The young man's naivety shocked the inspector to no end. Perhaps, he was desperate to sell those swords out? That he was willing to pay a hefty amount just to get rid of them? If it was not the case, then, it was impossible for him to think that he was doing it for the sake of turning in a profit.
Now that would be truly impossible. The dwarven inspector pocketed the coin with an awkward smile on his face, 'I wish you well in the future young man. I hope you grow out of that 'naive' shell of yours soon… before you lose any more money from bad decisions.'
Oblivious to what the inspector was thinking, Kirin could only smile back as he entered the gates of Vani. Carrying along with the sack full of swords, a wide grin appeared on the young man's face.
He had arrived.
