[Welcome to Vismont Village (Lv2)! Please pay a visitor's fee of 10 copper within 5 minutes of entering.
[To become a temporary citizen please pay 10 silver (valid for 1 month), and 15 gold for permanent residency.]
Ansel and the twins looked at each other as they entered. The twins looked a bit impressed. "Quite affordable. At least half of the previous one. I wonder how they tax…"
Ansel raised an eyebrow. "My previous one's about the same. They should have a default value or something they adjust."
"What??" The twins looked at each other, indignant "Our previous territory ripped us off then." Luke mumbled, gritting his teeth.
After all, they were focused on looking for their mother during the 24 hours pre-migration. How much money could they take?
Leo sighed, also remembering their poverty, "Well, the lord's dead now. He has no one to blame but himself. Just a pity for the innocent."
The trio was silent after that, going further inside the threshold to realize it was all forests. There wasn't even an actual pathway.
Luke couldn't help but double take and look back, confirming there really was a gate.
Fortunately, there was still a rough trekking path that they could follow to wherever they ought to be heading.
"This territory should have just been upgraded." Ansel said as they walked forward, sharp eyes studying his surroundings.
He remembered back in Bright, he saw additional walls getting erected far from where the old one was. And a few hours later? A Beast Tide arrived.
While Luke continued to look around as he walked, Leo nodded. "Then they should have just experienced a beast tide."
Luke was startled. "Really? So sure?"
"Ansel told us before that his previous territory was upgraded right before the beast tide. You were too busy eating at the time."
"Didn't you see the trees felled outside the walls?"
"Oh I thought people were gathering resources or something." Luke shrugged and continued on his way.
Ansel was amused, "It seems that all the brain went to you and the brawn went to him."
Leo coughed and chuckled. "Well, in our current situation, he'd likely survive better."
The trio continued walking, following the makeshift pathway they found. After a couple of minutes, they eventually saw a change of scenery.
They encountered more and more people. They were setting camps in the forests, some were using the tree canopies as roots, while some were completely cutting them off.
However, considering the density of the forest, although many of the trees were cut, there was still a lot to cover the remaining scenery.
It was just that judging by the noise of chatter and the horrid smell that reached their brains, they could estimate that the people in this area would at least be in the several hundreds, if not thousands.
Soon, the group arrived to see the crowd and saw the people and their living conditions.
Most of them were living in makeshift sheds supported by the forests, covered with blood, and very listless.
It seemed that the beast tide really did a number on this place, Ansel thought, and he looked around the people to see who he could approach.
Soon, they walked to a harmless-looking group and Ansel took out a few bales of edible fruit. "Hello there, can you tell me more about this territory? What happened?"
The people looked hungrily at the food in his hand but they didn't take it immediately. "It's edible, I promise." And he sent out his signature playboy smile. The women on the team blushed immediately.
The women were the first to be won over. How could such a handsome lad lower himself to give them poison? "The territory just got attacked by a beast tide."
Another girl took a few pieces. "A lot of people died. Even the wall almost fell."
"Who'd have thought? We were so happy when another wall—a taller one—appeared but there were monsters everywhere, and many places were left unguarded."
Then a middle-aged woman added, with a hint of wistfulness. "But we have a very good lord." She said, "During the time of crisis he was fighting with us…"
Everyone seemed to agree with this, admiration consistent in their expressions. "He had held us together at that time, he asked everyone to gather resources to reinforce the walls, and now we survived.
"The loss was heavy, but some of us had been to other territories… This was nothing at all.
"The lord said, if we lived well and protected the territory, the sacrifices of those people were not in vain."
Ansel and the other two were a bit interested in this lord, so admired by his people.
Leo and Ansel, in particular, were intrigued. How many days had it been? Someone already bought so much of his people's hearts?
They continued chatting with the women who happily accommodated them and they, at some point, formed a little gossip circle.
After a while though, the little gossip circle would be bothered by the sound of a little commotion from the other side of the slums.
"What's that?" Luke asked, chewing on some fruit
"It's them again." The person next to him (straight male, joined at some point) complained, frowning bitterly.
"The Tiger Gang." He said, "They often come here to get protection fees."
"Oh? Your Lord doesn't protect you?"
The man gave him a bad look, offended. "What do you know! It's just that everyone else is weak here."
"These guys were the main defense after most of the others died. It wasn't that the Lord didn't want to kick them out, he had no choice!"
Ansel raised his hands in surrender, blinking in surprise. "Yes, yes, you're absolutely right."
It was here that a menacing group of bulky men finally reached their area. They were giving intimidating stares at each person and waiting for them to give a copper.
Leo looked at the dozens of gangsters with raised eyebrows. He tilted his body a little to Ansel, whispering. "So many of them survived?"
"I heard it was a bunch of gangs put together after the Migration."
Ansel watched in interest, adopting the attitude of a detached bystander.
However, it didn't stay that way as the gangsters eventually reached their circle. They looked menacing and slimy, a different type of disgusting altogether,
The men paused at the sight of them, grinned, and began looking at the three of them up and down. "Handsome young men?"
Ansel's eyes twitched, having the feeling that trouble was about to come.
Couldn't he just look for his sister in peace??