Chapter 23: The magic of another world is too backward (Part 1)
On the evening of the fourth day after traveling through another world, Ainz, the Lich King, disguised as a "Wandering Magician", rode an embarrassing and mysterious cat carriage, as well as a giant cat carriage with some kind of "pretending to be funny". Regret, with the support of a large group of people, finally succeeded in arriving at the human city closest to the main base, the Great Tomb of Nazarick - Li. The border fortress city of the Yestij Kingdom, yeah. Lantier.
inside. A border fortress city owned by the Kingdom of Yestij. Rantel is located close to the border of neighboring Bajas Empire and Silian Theocracy. It is the only transportation hub connecting the three major human powers in the world. It has an extremely important strategic position and is also a must-have for the armies of the three countries. land.
Therefore, this city is heavily protected by three layers of walls, so just like its appearance, it is often regarded as a fortress city.
In the peaceful times before, yeah. Because of its unique geographical location, Lantier once gathered a large population. But with the Bajas Empire and Li. The wars in the Kingdom of Yestije have become increasingly frequent, and the Kingdom has been defeated repeatedly, making the city a frontline between the two countries. It has been ravaged by war, and even encountered the Bahas Empire army a few years ago. A brutal siege. Although the empire failed to break through in the end. Lantel's strong city wall, but due to the looting and looting during the siege, almost everything outside the city wall was destroyed.
The previous village of Kahn was too far away from the city and deviated from the main traffic routes, so it was lucky enough to escape the catastrophe of that round of war.
A few years have passed now, yeah. Lantier's damaged city walls and towers that were destroyed in the offensive and defensive battles have been initially repaired, and the city's own import and export business is still very prosperous. But the destroyed suburban villages could not recover for a while. Outside the tall city walls, there was a large area of desolate wilderness. Occasionally, I see some scattered farmers. Although they are not fully clothed, they are patched up and look skinny. As for their residences, they can only be described as shacks. The living conditions are no different from those in remote forests. Compared with the Kaen Village, there is a huge gap.
And within the protection of the city wall. The urban area of Lantier is divided into three concentric circles by three city walls.
The outermost area was a military base during the war, so it has complete military camps, warehouses and weapons depots. The innermost area is where military and political officials reside and where the rich and powerful live. It is the core urban area protected by heavy troops and the last fortress during the war. To give an inappropriate example, it can probably be compared to the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. , or the keep of a Japanese castle.
As for the largest concentric circle in the middle, it is the living area of ordinary citizens, and several markets for trading are also located here. For most ordinary people, when they talk about this city, this area is basically what comes to mind.
In order to facilitate trade, there are several squares of different sizes scattered in the city, which gather many stalls, forming a special commercial street. From fruits and vegetables, cloth and pottery to medicines and swords, all kinds of goods are available. Get it here. The commercial street is filled with the accents of various foreign businessmen, and the clothes of pedestrians are also strange and full of exotic styles. It is bustling with people coming and going, and it is very lively.
The boss standing in the shop made a powerful hawking sound and tried hard to attract customers; the elderly woman carried a basket and bargained with the merchants, paying penny-pink for a few fruits and vegetables. Farmers, woodcutters, hunters, and craftsmen each set up stalls to sell their own products. While they do not interfere with each other, they quietly compete with each other in the volume of their shouts, making the seemingly simple and backward open-air market not even a trace of dilapidation and oldness. breath.
The tempting aroma constantly emanates from the barbecue stalls on the street, arousing people's appetite. It also makes Lich King Ainz, who is lying upstairs and looking out the window, couldn't help but feel a little stirred in his heart, recalling the juicy meat on the kebabs. The delicious food... Unfortunately, he has lost his human body and turned into a skeleton. Although he still retains a keen sense of smell for some reason, he can no longer enjoy any fine wine and food.
——When he was in Kahn Village before, he had quietly conducted experiments, and then found to his dismay that the food he took into his mouth would fall out of his chin, and the wine he poured into his mouth would spill all over his body. Yes... As for the sense of taste, it is completely non-existent.
Alas, once you become a lich, you will no longer be able to enjoy delicious food. There is really nothing you can do about it - Ainz sighed silently in his heart, then closed the window of the guest room, turned to the table, and continued to concentrate on his work. Research on magical items from other worlds...
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I have to say that Soldier Gazef is very respectable. Lantier, a city under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family, is still somewhat in charge.
——After Gazef and his men revealed their identities, they guarded the fortress city. The guards at Lantier City Gate let Ainz and other "mavericks" in a cat carriage into the city without any questioning or verification.
Next, thanks to the introduction of Warrior Captain Gazef, when I learned that Mr. Ainz, the "powerful and wealthy" great magician, was interested in buying a mansion to live in this city, I even hesitated. The mayor of Lantier was alarmed. Not only did he take time out of his busy schedule to meet with Mr. Ainz, but he also instructed the clerks at the city hall to help introduce him. Due to the frequent wars in recent years, many people originally lived in Ye. The nobles and wealthy merchants in Lantier City lacked confidence in the kingdom's army, so they sold their properties and moved away. Therefore, there are currently many aristocratic mansions idle for sale in the city...
For such trivial matters of negotiation, Lich King Ainz, a serious gamer, is obviously not good at it. Fortunately, he is not a loner now, so he delegates all the matters of buying a house based on the location to the draconian butler Sebas, and then he With a few female subordinates and a large group of cats, I moved into the fortress city. The most upscale hotel in Lantier City, the "Golden Shining Pavilion", retreated into the room and never came out.
As you can imagine, the cost of accommodation in the "Golden Shining Pavilion" is very expensive, and the cost of purchasing a mansion in the city is even more huge - even though the house price has dropped by several percent due to the impact of the war. The few small purses stolen by the "cat thieves" before were obviously not enough to spend. The coins recovered from the prisoners of the Slian Theocracy's "Sunshine Codex" special forces were also pitiful: they were thugs who sneaked into the enemy's territory to cause damage, not to do business. They just went to get whatever supplies they needed. It's robbery, so naturally you won't carry too much property.
Fortunately, the Lich King Ainz, who owned a guild base in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, was not a poor man with nothing to gain, but a super wealthy man who was truly wealthy. The "YGGDRASIL" game gold coins accumulated in the Great Tomb of Nazarick alone amount to hundreds of millions...
However, Ainz does not intend to use the game gold coins of "YGGDRASIL" in this world. First of all, this is because it may expose his identity and lead to unpredictable dangers. By fighting with the "Sunshine Codex" special forces of the Silian Theocracy, And in the fortress city. Observing in Lantier City, he has discovered that humans in this other world are also commonly using the magic in the "YGGDRASIL" game, so it is possible that other "YGGDRASIL" game players have also come to this world and taught it to this person. Something indigenous to the world.
Since the torture of the captives is still in progress and the information obtained is not sufficient, it is currently impossible to determine whether other "YGGDRASIL" game players are still in this world, let alone whether other players who may exist in this world will. Become an enemy of Ainz and the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Therefore, for the sake of safety, Ainz does not intend to reveal his identity yet.
Secondly, the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the guild base, is itself a big money-maker. Whether it is maintaining the daily operation of the Great Tomb, summoning troops, or producing magic equipment, it requires a large amount of game gold coins. Although there are still a lot of savings hoarded now, no matter how much money is spent, it will never be spent. There will always be a day when it is all spent. Therefore, Ainz was not only reluctant to spend game gold coins, he even had to find a way to obtain game gold coins from another world, so as to maintain the long-term existence and operation of the guild base, the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Of course, despite this, various expenses in the fortress city still have to be solved. Ainz's fundraising strategy was to sell some of the materials in the Great Tomb of Nazarick: as a guild base with a forging workshop and many high-level players, the Great Tomb of Nazarick naturally stocked a lot of various materials. After the other players left, all the materials were left to Ainz.
Lich King Ainz simply sold what he thought was only a small amount of mithril and fine steel to a weapons store through the relationship with Warrior Captain Gazef, and obtained a full two thousand coins issued by this kingdom. of gold coins. Enough to keep him occupied in the city for a long time.
At this moment, he was sitting next to the small round table in the room, studying a large number of books that he had just purchased from the store in the city, together with Qiu, the tabby cat, and a cat player who had used a cheat device to click on a max-level alchemist. Time and space magic potion - According to the settings of the "YGGDRASIL" game, various magic potions should be mainly red. But what makes Ainz feel very strange is that although this world uses the magic of the "YGGDRASIL" game, the magic potions sold in stores are almost exclusively blue liquid. Ainz was puzzled by this, so he bought a few bottles of magic potions and took them to the hotel room for analysis.