Xiao Chen and his party, who had obtained a lot of information about the Saint, hurried to the Saint City. Because they could leave the supply convoy behind, their speed was even faster. They arrived at the foot of the Saint City one day earlier than originally planned.
Eselite had already said his leave, and having learned of General Montanio's death, he had long wanted to rush back to deal with his affairs.
Even though Xiao Chen and the others had seen far less than the people in this world, when they were standing on a hillside and looking out at the goddess from afar, they were still moved by the beauty of this city. The Western Continent had long been a unified country, and there was a Saint ruling it. Although there were political changes, there were rarely large-scale wars, so most cities did not have towering walls like those in the Eastern Continent.
The same is true for the Holy Maiden City. It is very large, with a river running through the middle, dividing the city into two halves, east and west.
In the center of the city, there is a white giant tower nearly 100 meters high. The tower looks simple and historic. There are many huge windows on each floor, and the light should be able to shine into the tower in large quantities. This is the ruling center of the entire republic: the White Tower.
In ancient times, the White Tower was where the Saint lived and ruled the entire country, but now that the specific government affairs have been handed over to the Sages, the Saint lives in a palace not far from the White Tower. The White Tower itself has become the place where the Sages work and hold meetings, and is the administrative center of the Republic.
The White Pagoda is built on a hillside on the west bank of the river, and the surrounding buildings are arranged in order from top to bottom.
"The tall house by the water on the west bank of the river is the saint's palace," said Brudes.
Xiao Chen looked over there and saw that the palace was a complex consisting of a square main building and three or four subsidiary buildings of varying heights.
The houses in the palace are all white. It should be said that most of the houses in the entire Saint City inherited the color of the White Tower, which is either dark or light grayish white, and the green of the trees growing in it constitutes the main color of the entire Saint City. According to Bruders, this is to pay tribute to the saint who always maintains purity.
"There is no city that looks purer than the Holy Maiden City. Although it only looks that way, it is a political capital after all." Although Brudes said this, his tone was still full of pride.
They arrived here at around ten in the morning. There were many vehicles heading to the heart of the continent from all the roads. They even saw a train spewing smoke and heading to a train station in the east of the city.
There were also many steamboats passing through the river and anchored at the docks on the east or west banks of the river.
There are two bridges on the river. One bridge looks very simple and is a stone arch bridge with a large span. The stone bridge has five bridge holes on the river. The three largest bridge holes in the middle can allow steam ships to pass easily. Such a bridge can only be realized in the magic world. Xiao Chen is sure that it must have used some supernatural power to become what it is now.
The other bridge is a steel bridge built on a stone bridge tower. It is very similar to the bridges on Earth and is full of the style of the Industrial Revolution.
Feeling Xiao Chen's gaze, Bruders said, "The East City of Saint Maiden City is the old city. Thousands of years ago, when the Saint Maiden made this the capital, she started to build this city from the West City. Later, due to the need for development, many houses were built on the west bank of the river. Although the West City is a new city, it also has a history of more than a thousand years." Bruders introduced, "The stone bridge was built by the Saint Maiden more than two thousand years ago to facilitate the residents of the East and West City to travel, so it is naturally called the Saint Maiden Bridge."
"How was that bridge built?" Xiao Chen asked.
"The bridge piers were naturally built by manpower, but when the bridge deck was laid, everyone thought it was impossible to succeed because the span between the piers was too large. Later, I don't know what method the saint used, but she built the foundation of the bridge overnight."
"It feels like magic." Xiao Chen said.
"We also think it's magic. But even if it's magic, as long as it's done by the saint, it's her divine power." Yolanda said. After the interrogation, her magical power was still sealed and she was brought all the way here.
Bruders decided not to get involved in this topic. He changed the subject and said, "As for the steel bridge, it was completed less than eight years ago. The workers built it brick by brick and steel by steel. Since the advent of steam and electricity, the world has changed so fast that it is hard to understand."
He added: "However, any new things will still be placed in the West City. For example, the train station you see was built on the outskirts of the West City nearly ten years ago. There are also many factories in the west. In just over ten years, the West City District has more than doubled in size."
Yolanda said, "Look at those chimneys emitting black smoke. There shouldn't be such things in the Saint's City. If we can use magic openly and utilize those magic circles, there is no need to make the city so smoky."
Xiao Chen asked, "Is this the focus of the conflict between you executor magicians and the big families that control the Sages' Council?"
Yolanda said, "Magic is something that is not to be seen at the moment, so there is no contradiction. It is just our private thoughts. But there is a more efficient method, there is no reason not to use it, right? In the East Continent, magic must also be used for production, right?"
"You are wrong. Most of the royal families and nobles over there only regard magic as a form of military guarantee to maintain their rule." Luo Ling said.
"What a waste," Yolanda and Bruders said in unison.
Xiao Chen realized from the reactions of the two people that the dispute between magic and industry in the Western Continent was not a dispute between two types of productive forces themselves, but a struggle for power between two groups of people representing two forces.
The official mission of the Tribunal is to deal with wizards who use magic. However, after the rise of industrial power, the magic of those half-baked wizards seems very powerless in front of the roaring machines. How many people will really take the risk to use such power? If the Tribunal does nothing, this era will become their last glory.
After discussion, everyone decided that Brutus would lead them into the West City first to visit the sage Asimiro whom Brutus served, and then Asimiro would arrange for them to visit the saint.