Lieutenant Colonel Manrich was a little surprised to see Claude come in with a big package: "What are you bringing here? He looks like a refugee..."
Claude smiled bitterly. He didn't expect that. He went back last night and told Aunt Natalie that he would go to the capital for business in the next two or three days. Unexpectedly, Aunt Natalie brought Tashi with her at around ten o'clock in the evening. Old Lak came to the door and asked him to deliver this big package to the royal capital and give it to his third son who worked as a clerk in the trading company. Fortunately, Claude thought that the old couple had not given up, so they packed up their daughter and sent her to his bed at night, but they were happy in vain.
Although the package is large, it is not heavy. It contains spring clothes, pants and bedding. It’s already February and spring is coming soon. The weather will soon get hotter after the rainy season in March, and you will need to change out of the thick winter clothes you are wearing. Lieutenant Colonel Manrich's business trip to the Army Department in the Royal Capital was actually about military uniforms. He needed to obtain the replacement allocation for the spring, summer and autumn military uniforms for the nearly a thousand trainees trained by the military academy.
Although he agreed to help and deliver this big package to the old couple's precious third son, Claude felt a little unhappy in his heart. It's understandable that Aunt Natalie and old man Zasilak love their son very much, but it seems a bit reluctant to ask Claude to help them. Because the royal capital is not a small town, it’s just a matter of stopping by. The capital is a metropolis with a population of one million, the largest city in the kingdom and the eastern part of the continent. It may take Claude half a day to find the small business where the old couple's third son is a clerk...
Lieutenant Colonel Manrich asked his adjutant, Lieutenant Roncodo, to go to the cafeteria to get breakfast for him and Claude, and they ate in the office. As expected by Claude, today's breakfast was a bit simple, consisting of white bread without honey, bacon, a cup of black tea, a small bowl of oatmeal, and a fried egg.
After breakfast, we were ready to set off. Lieutenant Colonel Manrich only brought his adjutant, Claude, and a coachman with him to the Army Department in the Royal Capital this time. The formalities have been completed. Claude and Lieutenant Colonel Manrich were sitting in the carriage, while Lieutenant Colonel Roncodo was sitting in the driver's seat in front, preparing to take turns driving the carriage with the coachman.
After tying the large package to the carriage, Claude spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Manrich and went to the canteen. Not long after, he came back with another large bag and took it directly into the carriage.
"What's so sweet?" Lieutenant Colonel Manrich asked, twitching his nose.
Claude opened the package and found dozens of the same honey egg white bread as last night.
"I'll take it home for you as a gift to my three nieces and nephews." Claude said.
"No, wasn't this served last night?" Lieutenant Colonel Manrich said with a black line on his end: "How did you get it? I wanted to eat this in the morning, but the cafeteria said it was no longer available."
Claude laughed: "Of course not. I went to the canteen last night to find the two chefs, bought all the remaining ingredients for making this bread, and asked them to bake it for me this morning. It's convenient. I'll take it away."
"How much did it cost? This big bag is not cheap..." Hearing that Claude paid for it, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich breathed a sigh of relief, but he asked Claude to spend money to buy so many delicious honey egg white breads. Lieutenant Colonel Manrich felt a little embarrassed again when he was asked to take it home for his three children to eat.
"Didn't I tell you, it's a gift for your three nieces and nephews." Claude shook his head: "It doesn't matter if it's money or not. If there wasn't this in the cafeteria last night, I really can't think of what I should give it to your family. What gifts should you bring for the three children? After thinking about it later, I still think this is more appropriate. I believe your children will be happy with these delicious breads... "
Mentioning his three children, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich also had a smile on his face: "I believe they will be very happy and welcome you, the uncle who brought them so much delicious bread, to our home. Being a guest. Forget it, originally I wanted to taste one, but now I feel as if I, as a father, want to steal the gift given to them, so tie up the mouth of the bag... "
Kalaiben Village is nearly seventy or eighty miles away from the royal capital. It takes twelve to fourteen hours to travel at the speed of a carriage, plus the time to stop to eat, feed the horses and rest. We set off at eight o'clock in the morning. If the journey goes smoothly, we may not arrive until eleven or twelve o'clock in the evening. First go to Lieutenant Colonel Manrich's house. There is a tavern near their house. They can open two rooms in the tavern for Claude and Lieutenant Colonel Longco to stay. The accommodation fee can be reimbursed by the military academy.
The next day, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich would take Lieutenant Longcodo to the Army Department to handle matters, and Claude would be free to move around. He needs to hand over the large package entrusted by Aunt Natalie to her third son first, and then visit Lady Maria at her baronial residence. If you still have time, go to the bookstore in the capital and buy some books to bring back. If Lieutenant Colonel Manrich's official business goes smoothly, he can return to the military academy on the third day, otherwise they may stay in the royal capital for another day.
At noon, the three of them had a casual lunch at a tavern and inn next to the national highway, then changed to two strong horses for pulling the cart, and set off again to the royal capital. Because there were very few cars and horses on the road, the journey was shortened by about an hour. At around seven o'clock in the evening, Claude had already seen the brightly lit royal capital in the distance from the carriage window.
"We have only reached the outermost area of the royal capital." Lieutenant Colonel Manrich said: "Back then, the founding king Sterling I decided to build the royal city here. At first, only Black Swan Castle and Rose Palace were built, but Within ten years, it was discovered that the city was expanding rapidly, so a city wall was built along the extension of the residential area. This is where the Royal Court is now.
As a result, more residential and commercial areas gathered outside the city wall, and even the workshops that the royal family planned to set up could only be arranged outside the city wall. There was no other way, so Stirling I ordered the construction of a second city wall. This is the origin of the inner city. But more than ten years later, the inner city also became overcrowded, and the outside of the second city wall once again became an endless residential, commercial and workshop area. Sterling I invited a dozen of the most famous architects in the mainland to discuss the expansion and re-planning of the entire royal city.
So the Royal City once again built the third city wall, which was the outer city wall, and planned the layout of the thirty-six districts of the outer city, and built complete sewer pipes and water supply channels, so that the Royal City had the basic needs for developing into a big city. By the time of Sterling III, the royal city had doubled in size again. At that time, some ministers proposed to build another city wall, but Sterling III rejected it.
Sterling III said that what guards the royal city is not a city wall, but the kingdom's invincible and heroic army. He would rather spend the cost of building the city wall on the army than rely on a city wall to resist the enemies who invade the kingdom. Starting from Stirling III, the kingdom's army has embarked on the road of regularization. Since then, the kingdom's external wars no longer rely on the private soldiers of the territorial nobles to fight, and the kingdom's army has become the protagonist on the battlefield. .
By Sterling IX, the royal city already had a permanent population of nearly one million, and its name was changed to the royal capital. So much so that the original official name of Black Swan Castle was forgotten, and even the address on the official documents issued by the royal court only contained the name of the royal capital.
After Sterling IX ascended the throne, he once again carried out major renovations in the royal capital, moving residents out of the central area of the royal capital and rebuilding traffic roads. Nowadays, the layout of the royal capital is divided into several ring areas, instead of the original inner city and outer city. "
Lieutenant Colonel Manrich, as a native of the Royal Capital, gave Claude a very detailed introduction to history and geography, so that Claude would not make a joke if he was new to the city and could not understand the situation in the Royal Capital.
"For example, the area within the city wall where Black Swan Castle and Rose Palace are located is now called the Royal Court, which is the symbol of the highest power of the kingdom. The royal family holds court there. The original inner city has now been divided into It is divided into two halves. The front half area has become the offices of various power agencies in the kingdom. The Kingdom’s Army Department that I am going to this time is also here. The back half area has become the garrison and storage area of the Royal Guards, which is prohibited. Others entered. The entire inner city is now called the first ring area.
The original thirty-sixth district of the outer city is now completely different from the original residential and commercial areas. The first and third districts are basically the locations of the subordinate agencies of various departments in the first ring area. The second, fourth, and fifth areas are reserve areas and the locations of various types of warehouses. The kingdom's arsenal and the largest granary are located here. The sixth district is the patrol district, which has jurisdiction over the entire royal capital. The patrol headquarters and other security-related departments are located there. The seventh to tenth areas are the security areas, serving as the garrison areas for various garrison forces in the royal capital.
Districts 11 to 22, these twelve areas are the residences and residential areas of the royal capital's dignitaries, such as the Norman Baron House you are going to visit. District 23 to District 25, these three districts are the areas where the various academies and military schools in the royal capital are located, and are also collectively referred to as the academy districts. There, if you mention the name of the college or military academy, the coachman will deliver you faster, but if you mention the district, they will not be able to figure it out...
Districts 26 to 36 are collectively referred to as the business district. It is said that there are more than 400 businesses in the entire business district. New businesses open every day, and some old businesses close down due to improper management. Among them, District 32 is also called the dock area. It is the starting terminal of the canal leading to Lake Burano Pace. District 33 next to it is the largest water transportation storage area. If you want to buy something, go to the business district and look for it. I believe you will get something and you won't be disappointed.
The entire thirty-sixth district of the outer city is now called the second ring area. The area outside the second ring, that is, the third ring area outside the third outer city wall, is now divided into seventy-two districts. Twenty-eight of them are workshop areas in the royal capital, and the rest are residential areas. . My home is at No. 122 Short-eared Dog Street in the 41st District of the Third Ring Road. I was assigned to live there after my home in the outer city was demolished. "
It turns out that there are demolition projects in this world, but it seems that Lieutenant Colonel Manrich doesn't care much about the demolition. It seems that the compensation provided by the kingdom should satisfy him.
"The area we just passed through is the Fourth Ring Road. Most of them are manors and villas set up by the nobles of the kingdom on the outskirts of the royal capital. The rest are basically small farms and orchards. They provide fresh vegetables and fruits to the royal capital. The royal capital Residents say this is the Fourth Ring Road area, which feels better. They don't feel that the Third Ring Road area is the outermost part of the capital.
The most popular investment in the capital last year was greenhouse cultivation technology, which allows farms to provide fresh vegetables and fruits in winter. The black strawberries you ate yesterday were made using greenhouse cultivation technology, but the price is more expensive than in season. Three times as much..."
Lieutenant Colonel Manrich looked out the car window: "Now we have entered the third-ring residential area. It should take about ten minutes to get to my home from here. Speaking of which, I stayed in the military academy for about twenty days. I wonder if my children will be very surprised to see me back... By the way, Claude, thank you again for the gifts you brought them."
Claude smiled and waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite.
It was almost nine o'clock in the evening when we arrived at Lieutenant Colonel Manrich's home. The three children were very happy for their father to come home. Of course, they were even happier that their father came back this time and brought them a big bag of goodies. Eat honey egg white bread. Claude was introduced to his family by Lieutenant Colonel Manrich. The lieutenant colonel's wife was a very virtuous housewife. She expressed her gratitude to Claude for the gifts he brought to the children. At the urging of their father, the three children came forward one by one to express their gratitude to Claude. The youngest, a five-year-old girl, perhaps kissed Claude on the face for the sake of the delicious food...
Because he came back too late, he didn't see Lieutenant Colonel Manrich's parents and father-in-law and four elderly people this time. The lieutenant colonel's wife said that the four elderly people had gone to bed early, so Claude was not going to disturb them. At this time, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich had already put down the document bag he was carrying, and was preparing to take Claude, his adjutant and the coachman to a tavern not far away to have a good dinner and arrange accommodation for everyone. .
The name of this tavern located in a residential area is a little weird, called Boiling Steak Tavern. Manrich said that their signature thing is the big steak. After frying it, a spoonful of hot braised meat sauce is poured on it. It looks like it is boiling in the pot.
Even with official food and accommodation allowance and reimbursement, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich did not eat and drink in the tavern. He only ordered a signature steak for each person, and then some bread, soup, grilled sausages and mashed potatoes. Even the drinks were only two large glasses of rye for each person.
He explained to Claude with a wry smile that it wasn't that he didn't want everyone to eat and drink well, it was mainly that the food and lodging allowance for official business trips stipulated by the military academy was only enough for everyone to eat, but not enough for everyone to eat well. If you go on a business trip, you only need to spend two-thirds or half of the food and accommodation subsidy, and you can eat well. But spending money here in the royal capital is good if it can fill your stomach.
After eating, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich opened three rooms in the tavern, two guest rooms for Claude and Lieutenant Longcodo. There is also a barn for the coachman. He will stay with the carriage in the barn in the yard behind the tavern...
After completing the accommodation procedures, Lieutenant Colonel Manrich went home. He has not been home for more than 20 days, and now he just wants to fall into his wife's arms and have a good sleep.
Claude felt very tired after riding in the carriage for a day. After washing casually, he wanted to lie down on the bed and rest. Unfortunately, someone knocks on his door from time to time. When asked who it was, the answers were all women. They just wanted to ask Claude if he needed company. In the end, Claude had no choice but to search around the room, and finally found a note saying "Do Not Disturb" on the bedside table. After hanging it on the door handle outside, no one knocked on the door again.
However, Lieutenant Longkodo, who was next door, seemed to be in high spirits after driving a carriage all day, and soon the sounds of men having sex and women making love came from the room next door. The walls were not well insulated and the sound was very noisy. Claude had no choice but to cast a silence spell, and then he fell asleep peacefully...