It was just noon when they left Natalie's mother-in-law's tailor shop. Since they had prepared Mia's lunch before leaving, Shade didn't have to rush back.
He still had a lot to do here, but considering that he was not particularly familiar with the entire area, Shad returned to the Green Lake Hotel to have lunch, then got on a carriage and planned to take a look at the southern city of Michaela Blast Furnace.
Although the two cities are located in different countries, due to the special times, it is actually quite easy to cross the border. After getting on the carriage, Xia De chatted with the coachman who was wearing a straw hat to block the sun's rays about the local customs and habits, and then learned from him that generally speaking, there is no need for inspection when traveling between the two places.
It was only after the two countries decided to hold negotiations in the Green Lake area that a checkpoint was set up in the border area for inspection. But it is not difficult for locals to avoid it. This is a plain area. There is no barbed wire or isolation wall between Delarion and Carsenrick. There are only checkpoints on the main roads. If you don't mind the trouble, you can even take a boat to travel back and forth through Green Lake.
After leaving the city, the carriage drove on the country roads. Because the two cities communicated frequently, the country roads were well maintained, almost the same level as those outside Tobesk.
Xia De knew that the two cities were close, but he didn't expect them to be so close. In fact, less than five minutes after leaving the urban area of Green Lake City, he could actually see from the carriage window the distant southern horizon, tall chimneys standing in a row, spewing black smoke into the sky. Clusters of buildings were piled up on the horizon, and just by looking at the distant view of the city, he could feel the prosperity there.
"Sir, you see the air in Green Lake is so bad, but we don't have that many steam factories here. Can you guess why?"
In the bumpy carriage, the driver also noticed that Xia De was looking into the distance, so he asked him in a chatty tone.
Xia De said confidently:
"Green Lake City's industry is not well developed, so is it the pollution from Michaela Blast Furnace City that has affected Green Lake City?"
"Yes, the Green Lake area has southerly winds all year round, and the black smoke from the chimneys of the glass factories in the Glass City eventually drifts to our area. So even though Green Lake City doesn't have many factories, it is foggy all year round, just like the Glass City. I heard that Tobesk City is also foggy all year round, I wonder if it's the same as here."
The driver's voice came from the wind. Xia De continued to squint his eyes and look at the city in the south:
"Don't the locals have any objections to this? I heard that it's easy to get lung disease if you live in such fog."
"Of course there are objections. Many people even want the Glass City to compensate us for the air pollution. The newspapers have talked about this many times, so even a driver like me can say a few words. But this kind of thing is so complicated, who can say for sure? The Pantanal region has valuable trade routes that are worth the kingdom negotiating with, but what do we have here?"
The driver said, Xia De nodded, and was about to say something else, but the driver reminded him:
"Sir, I can only take you to the border checkpoint in a moment, and then you have to take a carriage on the other side to enter the city."
"The Kingdom checkpoint won't allow you to cross the border?"
"Of course not, but across the border is the territory of Mikaela Blast Furnace City. How could the local drivers allow us northerners to make money on their land?"
The driver said with a smile, swinging the reins to make the horses run faster.
The so-called border checkpoint is run by the Delarion Army, and is similar to the "Red Water Camp" that Shad saw on Mount Sikar. Passengers passing through the checkpoint need to have their luggage checked and register the reason for crossing the border.
If it was a horse-drawn carriage carrying goods, one would have to wait for a long time, but for pedestrians like Xia De who didn't even have any luggage, they just had to queue up and register.
The driver took Shad to the entrance of the checkpoint and told him many ways to deal with the soldiers' difficulties. When Shad paid the fare, he also gave him an extra shilling, and the driver took off his hat to thank Shad.
Xia De planned to spend the whole afternoon in the Glass City, and even thought about buying some glass artworks to take home as gifts for his friends. So he did not observe the camp carefully, but went directly to the camp post, which was a little muddy due to the rain a few days ago, and quickly found the place to queue up for registration.
Most of the people waiting in line to cross the border were nearby villagers, old women carrying baskets, peasant women with children, traveling merchants with backpacks, and even young travelers traveling together. Fortunately, although there were many people in line, the registration process was very fast, so Xia De didn't have to worry about wasting too much time.
However, less than two minutes after he started queuing, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure at the edge of his vision. Xia De was stunned for a moment:
"Did you see that correctly?"
is your friend.
The stranger showed a look of joy on his face. He took the initiative to leave the team, waved his hand and shouted to the figure in the distance:
"Captain Rades!"
The middle-aged officer who was checking the handover of the night patrol with his subordinates turned around and was also stunned when he saw Xia De waving, but he immediately recognized Xia De who was disguised with witch eye shadow:
"Hami...Mr. Watson?!"
He said in surprise, then walked over quickly with a smile and shook hands with Shade tightly. "Captain Eight Guns" Rades, on this ordinary early spring afternoon, once again unexpectedly met Shade in a distant foreign land.
Relying on the border checkpoint and military camp, there are hotels and pubs in the "Crossroads Village" outside the camp, and it is very lively. The two who met their good friends in this strange land temporarily left the camp and came to the country pub.
Pushing the door and entering the tavern, people automatically made way for Captain Rades after seeing his attire. After they sat down, Shade asked:
"Captain Rades, I didn't expect to meet you here. This is the first time we've met since you left Tobesk in January after receiving the 'Gold Star Medal'. Oh, aren't you stationed in the Pantanal region as the camp commander?"
Xia De asked curiously, being quite happy to meet friends in a foreign land.
The fat woman wearing an apron and a headscarf came through the noisy crowd and brought them beer in wooden glasses. Perhaps because of Captain Rades' uniform, she was quite polite to the two.
"Thank you. Just put it here. Oh, Mr. Watson, both Delarion and Carsonrick are gathering troops to the border now. We, the troops deployed in advance, need to be rotated so that the elite troops can enter the camp, so I was transferred here."
Captain Rades was quite worried when talking about this matter:
"I served as the battalion commander in the Pantanal region for two months. Two weeks ago, I was transferred to Green Lake to be responsible for border registration. Although I have more things to manage and more people under me, I have become the deputy battalion commander of the camp."
"Negotiations between the two countries are a big deal. Maybe you can achieve great success like you did at Mount Xikar, and then go a step further."
Shade consoled.
"I think it's possible in the explosive Pantanal, where ..."
The captain sighed.
"Be careful with your words."
Xia De reminded him. The captain looked around cautiously, nodded, picked up the glass and took a sip:
"But there are also advantages here. The Great Swamp is too humid, and there are too many bugs in the camp. I have never seen so many bugs in my life. Although the air quality in the Green Lake area is not good, at least the camp is clean, and there is a tavern next to the camp. In the Great Swamp, if you want to have a drink, you have to greet the quartermaster in advance."
There were quite a lot of guests in the tavern. The captain looked around again and lowered his voice slightly:
"In my opinion, this negotiation is definitely not simple. I also have connections in the military, and many people believe that there must be at least a small-scale contact war before the negotiations can have any results. However, it is unlikely that we will have a fight here, and the most likely one will be in the Pantanal."
This reminded Shade of the topic of negotiation and war that he had discussed with Lecia:
"If we can avoid war, it's better to have peace."
"Yeah, I don't want to fight either, but it's hard to tell what the bigwigs up there are thinking. We care about our own pay and lives, but they may care about 'greater interests'."
The captain shook his head. It wasn't that he was eager for war or was pessimistic about the world. He just felt based on his experience that the possibility of a war was greater.
Of course, while reminiscing about the past, Shade did not forget to talk about the purpose of coming to the Green Lake area. Captain Rades vaguely knew that Shade was not an ordinary person, so he did not ask Shade how he came.
"I was commissioned to come here to investigate an ancient family. It is the Edwards family that once existed on the island in the middle of Green Lake."
"I know that."
The captain pointed out the window in the direction of Green Lake:
"After I was transferred here, my superiors told me a lot of things to note. One of them is that you are not allowed to land on the central island of Green Lake under any circumstances. This sounds strange, as it is obviously a good water port and is recognized as the territory of Delarion."
Thinking of the horrible things that appeared in the battle of Mount Sikar, the captain withdrew his gaze from the window and carefully asked his friend across the table:
"So, on that island..."
“I haven’t investigated yet, but it’s certainly not safe.”
Captain Rades nodded slowly:
"Now that you put it that way, I understand. It seems that this world is more dangerous than I thought. Oh, were you queuing up to cross the border just now? I will give you a special pass later. You don't have to queue up for inspection when you cross the border in the future. Just show the pass."