From the three southern counties to Fort Afina, this time Claude no longer took the temporary passage through the Picklet Mountains, but along the national highway of the original Principality of Limodra. In fact, if you take the sea route, you may save a few days more time, but several seaport cities in the former Eskiline Principality and the former Limodra Principality have been destroyed and attacked by the anti-Austria Alliance joint fleet, and there is still no such thing. Restore shipping routes.
Although the war has ended, the fleets of the three principalities that originally participated in the anti-Austrian alliance did not surrender with white flags as the Navy Ministry imagined. Some of them still followed the combined fleet, but changed their nationality and joined the Principality of Karrnus. The other part dispersed, and they split into one of the countless pirate gangs in the eastern seas of the mainland. They attacked coastal towns and villages, occupied various islands in the eastern seas, and became independent...
Therefore, Claude, Michael, and the big man can only go home to visit relatives by land. If they encounter pirates at sea and they find out that he is an active-duty official captain of the Kingdom of Orvilas, then there is no way they can survive. . Fortunately, Claude had money around him. He bought three strong horses and two pack horses from the battalion headquarters at a low price, and set out on the way home with the luggage of three people.
If possible, Claude would actually like to take his own mount home, which was the Karrnath warhorse captured by ambushing the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry. It's a pity that the kingdom does not allow war horses to be lost among the people. In addition, Claude's military rank is not qualified to obtain a war horse. If he becomes a school-level officer, Claude can buy a so-called retired war horse. If you become a general, you can even apply for a small team of personal guards on war horses.
The road was full of troops returning from the front line. The soldiers were in high spirits. Folk songs and ditties from various places were heard from time to time. Sometimes some slightly straightforward tavern ditties about the interaction between men and women would also attract a lot of cheers and boos. Basically, what you see most on the road to the Principality of Rimodra is the bright red of the kingdom’s military uniforms.
Claude originally wanted to buy some specialties in the Principality of Rimodra to take home, but he was quickly disappointed. The war has turned all the towns in the Principality of Rimodra into ruins. Anyway, there is not a single intact town along the national highway. There are broken walls and old and weak residents with numb, helpless and poverty-stricken faces everywhere.
Claude couldn't even find a tavern, so he asked McJack how they managed to eat when they went to the royal capital to deliver messages. McJack said they had no choice but to eat the bread they brought with them and fill the kettle with water, or find an army post station. Spend a little money on some hot food. But it was much better when we arrived in the Principality of Sidings. There were basically taverns at the inns along the national highway. As long as you were willing to spend money, it was easy to get good food and sleep comfortably.
Claude, the three men and five horses carrying heavy luggage, were obviously going home to visit relatives during the holidays, so they were envied by many military officers on the march. At noon on the last stretch of the journey to the Principality of Rimodra, Claude used the rest camp of a second-line army to get himself some hot food. Several lieutenant-level officers of this second-line army chatted with Claude and learned that the three of them were indeed going home to visit relatives. A captain officer recommended that Claude must go to Fort Afina, which has formed the largest castle in the kingdom. The black market, where Claude might be able to buy some treasures worth taking home as heirlooms...
The captain officer said that last month he went to Fort Afina on business and found that the square there was full of small stalls, and many of the things sold on the stalls were treasures that you would never expect. He inquired about it, and someone who knew the inside story told him that many things here came from the homes of nobles and wealthy people in the principality. Of course, some of them were stolen and snatched privately by the soldiers of the kingdom, and they were all brought here. Selling stolen goods. He saw with his own eyes an exquisite small silver pot marked with the name of Evanson, a famous master of gold and silverware making two hundred years ago. Unfortunately, he was short of money and could not afford to buy it. He watched helplessly as the small silver pot was sold to a fat nobleman. The lady bought it at a low price of only one-seventh of the value of the small silver pot itself.
Afinasburg was the capital of the original Duchy of Sidings. After the Kingdom's army destroyed the Duchy of Sidings, Afinasburg became the base camp where Prince Hansback commanded the Kingdom's army to attack the Duchy of Rimodra. At the same time, it is also the reserve center for the kingdom's army's logistics supplies. It is the first city in the former Principality of Sidings to regain prosperity. The troops who are now ordered to evacuate need to rest and recuperate in the military camp of Fort Afina to recover from the fatigue of the soldiers from the long march.
So many soldiers chose to sell their private trophies here. For them, the golden gold coins were more worth taking home. Some officers who had no chance to go to the battlefield came to buy trophies worth taking back to brag about their bravery. Many traders from all over the kingdom came to pick up the bargains, thus forming the largest black market in the kingdom. The reason why it is called the black market is because Fort Afina is now under military control. The vendors who set up stalls only need to pay a small management fee and do not need to pay commercial taxes.
Claude was aroused by the topic spoken by the captain. After participating in this war for more than four years, the spoils he received were not many. Last time, he was given a set of exquisite silver tableware for four people. , but this set of tableware was placed with Sheila. Also, after defeating the coalition of territorial nobles from two principalities in Squirrel Village, I got a very sharp and beautiful dagger, but Sheila also took it away. In addition, most of what Claude received was fine wine. There are still six bottles in his luggage. These can be used as favor gifts when he goes back. The others have been drank...
It seems that I have to take a turn and go to Afena Castle to buy some exquisite utensils and items to take home. I will call them my trophies, so that I can show them off when guests come over in the future. At least there is no need for them. Use ordinary glassware to entertain distinguished guests.
After thanking these lieutenant-level officers, Claude decided to go to Fort Afina to have a look. Last time, Michael Jack and the big man Gemi went to the royal capital to deliver a message. They took another road that led directly to Amys City and did not pass through Fort Afina, because it would take half a day faster. Claude was not in a hurry to go home to visit his relatives this time. First, the vacation was very long, lasting five and a half months. Second, you can go to Afena Castle to see what is sold on the black market, and just ask if Bockal is still here.
After another day and a half of journey, Claude and the other three finally arrived at Fort Afina in the evening. After making inquiries with the soldiers from the security battalion guarding the city gate, Claude took Michael Jack and the big man Germi there. Stayed in a relatively high-end pub in the city. After eating a fairly delicious dinner and taking a hot bath in the bathroom to recover from the fatigue from the next journey, Claude fell asleep early.
Early the next morning, Claude was woken up by the sound of hawking coming from outside the window. When he got up and looked outside, he found that countless small stalls had been set up on both sides of the street that was empty last night. The broad street where horse-drawn carriages ran parallel to each other became four lanes. People were coming and going, and it was very crowded. From time to time, vendors pushing two-wheeled carts joined the ranks of those setting up stalls on both sides of the street...
It was not even eight o'clock yet, but it was already so busy outside. Michael Jack and the big man Gemie had also gotten up, and Claude took the two of them downstairs to have breakfast. I heard from the waiter in the tavern that the streets leading to the central square are like this, and the central square is full of small stalls. Only two roads across the central square are still passable by horse-drawn carriages, and other places require walking. Only then can you see the goods on those small stalls.
After breakfast, I read a few newspapers and drank a cup of honey black tea. Seeing that the time was almost half past eight, Claude decided to go to the logistics headquarters to inquire about Bockaar. Last year, I met Viricero at the Medal Ceremony. Vericro said that he had met Bockar at Fort Afena. I don’t know if he is still here now, after all, Verricro said that it has been nearly two years since he saw him.
Claude and the three of them did not ride horses, but walked. This was the advice of the tavern waiter. He said that there are small stalls on both sides of the street, and it is easy for the mount to damage things if you are not careful. Once, a lieutenant colonel was haggling with a vendor, but his horse nibbled some of the precious flowers and plants on the stall next door, causing the lieutenant colonel to lose a lot of money. He had witnessed this with his own eyes.
Claude followed the good advice and decided to walk. It wasn't too far anyway, and it only took ten minutes to walk to the General Logistics Department in Fort Afina. It's just that after Claude arrived, he asked several officers in the logistics department. No one knew where the Bungiliya City Guard Battalion where Bockal was located had been transferred, or they didn't know the serial number of the Bungiliya Local Guard Battalion at all. How much it was, this made Claude unable to find out even if he wanted to, and in the end he could only return in despair.
After the war broke out, the local garrison battalions deployed by the kingdom from the rear to the front line were all classified as garrison troops, and their original local names were replaced with serial numbers. It is said that this is mainly to prevent secret revenge from the enemy. After all, the role of these local security camps is to suppress the resistance and riots of the indigenous people in the newly occupied areas. Sometimes the suppression methods used are very cruel, and it is easy to form a deadly relationship with the local indigenous people. hatred.
More than a hundred years ago, there was a place where a series of murders shocked the kingdom. More than a dozen families were wiped out. The final investigation revealed that these exterminated families were retired officers and soldiers from the local security camp. They had participated in the kingdom's expansion war twenty years ago and brutally suppressed the riots in an indigenous town in the newly occupied territory. During the operation, it is said that many people died that time, and there were only ten survivors, mostly the elderly and children.
As a result, more than 20 years later, those surviving children grew up. They still remembered the name of the local security camp, so they used various methods to move to that place to make a living, and paid attention to those former students who participated in the suppression of the riot. The retired police battalion officers and soldiers made friends with them. Then on the twenty-fifth anniversary of that riot, a bloody act of revenge was launched, killing more than a dozen households with officers and soldiers from the former guard camp.
After the case was discovered, it shocked the entire kingdom. A total of seven murderers were captured, all of whom were children who survived the crime. They said that they had witnessed their relatives being beaten to death in front of their young selves. This nightmare had lasted for more than 20 years, and it also made them remember the name of this local security camp. After growing up, they tried their best to come to this place to make a living, just to take revenge on the murderers of their relatives. Now, finally everyone is relieved...
From then on, when the kingdom mobilized the local security battalions from the rear to go to the front line to stabilize the order of the newly occupied territories and suppress local riots in foreign wars, these local security battalions would be given new serial numbers as soon as possible to replace the original local names. For example, Captain Durrioro's local security battalion was originally named Leicester Local Security Battalion, but now it has been changed to the garrison force sequence 0378 Cross-Mountain Road Local Security Battalion...
Claude didn't know that the Bungiliya local security battalion was changed to a serial number after it arrived at the front line. Without this number, he would not be able to find the movements of the Bungiliya local security battalion at the logistics headquarters. Because what is registered here at the Logistics Headquarters are all the garrison serial numbers of these local guard battalions. For example, when the 0125 local guard battalion is dispatched from a certain place to a certain place, how much military supplies need to be supplemented, etc...
He didn't get any useful information for most of the day, and Claude could only wish good luck to the Bunjilia local security camp where Bockal was located. Then he took Michael Jack and the big guy Gimi to visit the small stall market in the central square.
In the evening, when Claude and the three of them were eating in the tavern, they met several officers of the second-line army who also came to the black market of Fort Afina to buy some souvenirs and trophies. They heard these officers who had been to the black market several times complain that they seemed to During this period, the sales price of goods on the black market increased by one-third. This is probably because the large-scale withdrawal of the Kingdom's army affected the black market. Vendors are taking advantage of this period of withdrawal from officers and soldiers who want to buy souvenirs and trophies. The more money you earn, the higher the price will be.
The worst thing is that more and more counterfeit treasures have appeared on the market. Many precious items that are said to be passed down from a famous noble family are actually fakes. Vendors go to great lengths to invent touching stories one after another for these counterfeit treasures, so that customers who want to buy this treasure believe that the thing in front of them is the real thing.
An officer said that he found more than fifty obsidian pipes in the market that the Archduke Sidings, who was exiled in the northern part of the mainland, never left his hands. Every vendor selling pipes said that his pipe was an authentic Sitting pipe. The one held by the Grand Duke. He listened to seven legendary experiences in the afternoon about how this obsidian pipe came from the hands of Archduke Siddings to the stall in front of him. The most amazing thing is that these seven legendary experiences are all different and very unique. It makes sense…
Claude also remembered that he seemed to have been sold this pipe in the afternoon, but he was not interested in it. If his father, Mr. Morsan, was still alive, maybe Claude would think of buying him a pipe. Unfortunately, his father was gone, and Claude could only buy some gifts for his mother, sister, and brother.
In the black market of Fort Afennes, Claude spent two days visiting the market and bought a lot of things, spending about five hundred gold crowns. Finally, he ended his shopping at the reminder of Michael Jack. Procurement Actions. Because there were too many things, I had to buy another carriage, stuffed all the purchased goods in the carriage, and then set off again and embarked on the way home.