"So it’s only this direction, far from major cities, without a port; not even fishing boats pass by, food can’t be self-sufficient, it needs outside supplies."
"Then why not the north?"
Lorenzo was still a bit unsure.
Mrs. Van Rudd gave Lorenzo a side-glance and then said,
"Such children of the new era, truly haven’t tasted hardship. Ingwig’s north is covered by ice and snow all year round. Before new steam engines appeared, the permafrost there couldn’t be developed at all, let alone establish towns. And with the recent expansion of Reindona’s port, the north holds no development value." Find the newest release on novel~fire~net
Listening to Mrs. Van Rudd, Lorenzo nodded, focusing on the west of Ingwig. There, the triangular symbols were not dense. As Mrs. Van Rudd said, Ingwig hadn’t developed much to the west; the symbols scattered and disappeared as they moved westward.
Suddenly, a symbol caught Lorenzo’s eye, a symbol appearing outside the land, a small town established in the seawaters.
"Madam, do you know what this is?"
Clearly represented by a triangular symbol for a town, yet it’s at sea. This is a military map; Lorenzo didn’t believe it was just a mistake made by the cartographer.
"Hmm... probably some town swallowed by seawater. It’s quite common; sometimes the water level rises along the coast, submerging low-lying lands, but at low tide, it reveals again, that’s probably why the symbol is there."
It was a strange feeling; Lorenzo couldn’t confirm Ende Town’s location before, but after hearing everything from Mrs. Van Rudd, he was certain that’s the place.
Suddenly remembered what Bola initially said to him.
The Holy Coffin was luring him forward, pulling his intuition to pursue it.
"Are you planning to travel?" Mrs. Van Rudd asked curiously, glancing at Lorenzo. The west could be considered a no man’s land.
"Hmm... Then I recommend you take this line."
Mrs. Van Rudd said while pointing to a dotted line running through the west, a railway line.
"It’s a military route. At first, everyone thought they couldn’t win the Radiant War, so the top planned to retreat to the west to continue resisting after losing the southern coastal area. But as you know, we drove the enemy out of Old Dunling and won the war, so the construction of this railway stopped.
In recent years, someone developed some western tourism project and restarted this route; I think you could use it."
Mrs. Van Rudd finished speaking and sat back on the sofa, continuing to read the newspaper. After a moment, she added,
"Lorenzo, there are quite a few weapons in the basement. If they’re not damaged by moisture, you should take them to use; they’re military-grade, definitely better quality than those sold by the shady merchants in the Lower City District."
Lorenzo had just prepared to head upstairs when he staggered hearing these words.
"What are you saying?"
"Hmm? You thought I would believe your nonsense?"
Mrs. Van Rudd lifted her head to look at Lorenzo; those murky eyes seemed to penetrate right through one’s soul.
"Travel? You would go traveling? Who would believe that! It was Bola who introduced you here to stay; rather than traveling, you’re off to kill someone, aren’t you!"
Lorenzo always thought he hid this well from Mrs. Van Rudd; who would have thought this astute old lady had seen through it long ago.
"No... but... military goods?"
Lorenzo was somewhat bewildered, realizing he had been living atop an armory for six years without knowing.
The situation was a bit awkward, with Mrs. Van Rudd cursing under her breath.
"What’s wrong? I have enough medals to cover a whole wall, yet my pension each month is only a little; what’s wrong with taking a few boxes of military supplies to sell?"
This old lady was beyond just audacious... Lorenzo had seen people exploiting state resources but hadn’t seen one do it so blatantly.
"Thought I could make a lot of money, but upon hearing they’re military goods, those swaggering characters in the Lower City District wouldn’t dare touch them. So they’ve just been kept till now."
Her eyes shifted, and Mrs. Van Rudd finally said,
"By the way, Lorenzo, let me be clear. If you die out there, I’ll sell those things in your room to cover the rent."
Lorenzo’s face turned dark; this damned old lady...