"As long as you come to the Yadian Kingdom, you absolutely won't regret it. Alternatively, when I leave, you can come with us." Parkin's eyes lit up.
He figured that if he could trick this person—who was clearly a high-ranking beastkin—into accompanying him back to the Yadian Kingdom, his journey would undoubtedly be much safer.
"I'll pass for now. I don't have any plans to leave Sedona City yet," Ayesha shook her head.
If she were to go to the Yadian Kingdom, she would go with the Master or the people from the castle. Going with this old man wouldn't be very good; he gave off a weird vibe when he spoke.
"Ahem!" Nancy coughed lightly, her gaze toward Parkin turning somewhat hostile. To think he was actually trying to coax Ayesha into going to the Yadian Kingdom. If Lady Bella found out about this, this old geezer would be buried alive.
Obi was even more direct. With his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, he stared sharply at Parkin's neck, seriously considering whether or not to just chop his head off.
"Uh..." Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Parkin turned his head, caught the unfriendly glares from Nancy and Obi, and hurriedly added, "Of course, you two can also come along to the Yadian Kingdom. In our country, you'll never have to worry about food or drink, and the taxes are the absolute lowest."
"No need," Nancy replied coldly. She had no desire to become a slave to humans. Only slaves never had to worry about food and drink—because once they were dead, they didn't have to worry about anything at all.
"Alright then!" Parkin sheepishly shut his mouth. He felt that tricking people was going to be a long and arduous task. These beastkin were truly vulgar and completely unlovable.
"Pick up the pace! We can rest once we cross the Whispering River," Ayesha called out.
"The Whispering River?" Parkin narrowed his eyes in thought. The Yadian Kingdom also had a branch of the Whispering River, and it was quite a large one at that.
Some speculated that the Whispering River was like the roots of a tree: the main branch flowed out from the Forbidden Mountains, while its tributaries densely covered the entire continent. Of course, these branches were relatively large and connected with local rivers, which is what led to this hypothesis in the first place.
The Yadian Kingdom happened to have a rather large tributary that connected to the major rivers within its borders—this was the layout of the kingdom's waterways. He wondered if he could just take a boat back to the Yadian Kingdom. Since the royal capital was situated right along the riverbank, he could make the trip all the way home in one go, even if it took a bit longer.
Clop, clop, clop...
"Miss Ayesha, does Sedona City have any large ships?" Parkin asked.
He needed a ship—preferably a massive one—so he could sail back to the Yadian Kingdom. He absolutely did not want to spend months traveling in a bumpy carriage just to get home.
"Large ships? We have quite a few," Ayesha nodded.
"Then could you sell one to me?" Parkin asked. He still had a few valuable items in his pack that he could pawn off for coins to buy a ship.
Of course, it would be even better if he could con some noble into giving him a ship for free, saving him hundreds of gold coins.
"I wouldn't know about that. You'll have to ask the Master." Ayesha said with a shrug. She wasn't responsible for internal affairs.
"Then when the time comes, I hope Miss Ayesha can introduce me," Parkin quickly said.
"Sure," Ayesha nodded.
"Speaking of the Whispering River, our Yadian Kingdom has a highly developed shipping industry. At the port of our royal capital, during its busiest times, you can see two to three hundred ships docked there," Parkin said proudly.
"That's pretty impressive," Ayesha replied nonchalantly.
"..." Parkin froze. What was this reaction? Wasn't she supposed to look at him with worshipful awe? And shower him with praise? Why was she so indifferent?
Off to the side, Nancy and Obi shot Parkin a bizarre look. Sedona City's port had at least several hundred ships docked every single day, not to mention the massive super-ships.
"We're here." Ayesha rode her horse up to the edge of the Whispering River, dismounted, and prepared to cross the pontoon bridge.
"How... how is this possible?" Parkin, however, was dumbfounded. There was a bridge over the Whispering River? He wasn't seeing things, was he?
He rubbed his eyes with both hands and looked again. Indeed, there was still a massive bridge spanning the river...
"Heh..." Seeing Parkin's reaction, Nancy couldn't help but recall the exact same expressions she and the others had made the first time they saw this bridge.
"Move the saltpeter across the bridge, but don't overload it all at once to avoid any accidents," Ayesha turned her head and ordered. She remembered the Master explicitly stating that the pontoon bridge had a limited weight capacity.
"Got it," Obi replied. He didn't want any accidents either; the territory still needed to sell this saltpeter for relief funds. Dropping it into the river would be disastrous.
"How was this bridge built?" Parkin asked, his voice hoarse.
"Huh? Does the Yadian Kingdom not have bridges like this?" Ayesha asked curiously.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Parkin choked. Seeing the cow-horned girl's perplexed look, he thought to himself: Does the Yadian Kingdom absolutely have to have a bridge like this?
"Well... we probably do," Parkin bluffed, biting the bullet.
They definitely had small bridges, he was absolutely certain of that. But a massive bridge like this? No way.
"Oh? The Yadian Kingdom has grand bridges like this too?" Nancy asked in astonishment, though her gaze toward Parkin was brimming with suspicion.
"Probably. I'm not entirely sure myself, I've only heard about them," Parkin stammered.
They didn't. As soon as he returned to the Yadian Kingdom, he was going to advise the Archbishop to build a grand bridge exactly like this one. They couldn't let others look down on them—if a remote backwater like this could have such a bridge, they needed one too.
Right now, he was just stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. Since he had already started flexing, he had to commit to the bit. Even if they didn't have it, he had to pretend they did.
"The Yadian Kingdom really is amazing," Ayesha marveled. She had always thought that only the Master was capable of erecting a grand bridge over the Whispering River.
"..." Nancy froze for a second, staring at Ayesha in disbelief. Did she actually believe this old man's nonsense?
This old geezer was rotten to the core; who knew if a single word that came out of his mouth was true.
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200 power stones.
Top 100. All time.