The Journey of the Rainbow Dragon

"My lords, I will send you here. The entry fee for Vitas's Dilong Chariot into the city is too expensive. Please forgive me, old man, I cannot send you to the hotel."

The old coachman led the earth dragon and bowed respectfully to everyone.

This is also the rule that the three parties agreed upon in front of the dragon chariot at the place of employment in the royal capital.

[No large vehicles entering the city] is the default rule of Vitas City.

Because commerce is extremely prosperous, and the space in the city is very limited after excluding a large number of residential areas and commercial areas, the city tax for vehicles and horses in Vitas is set very expensive.

Unlike other places where taxes and fees are calculated based on goods, the entry fee in Vitas is calculated based on body size.

An extended version of the Earth Dragon six-wheeled vehicle like the one Tina hired would cost more than 2 gold coins just to enter the city!

(The Earth Dragon is about 4 meters long, and the total length of the six-wheeled carriage exceeds 12 meters! A normal commercial carriage is generally about three meters long, and the city tax is about 10-20 silver coins)

This is simply an appalling price.

You know, in the Kingdom of Rose, only one gold coin is enough for an ordinary family of three to eat white bread and live for half a year!

In Vitas, this money is not even enough to pay for several ordinary carriage rides into the city. (The city lord of the Molten City next door is almost crying.)

But even if the price is so high, there are still a large number of specially made caravans lining up to enter the city at the city gate of Vitas.

From this we can know how wealthy Vitas' economy is.

If the profits were not high enough, it would be impossible for any chamber of commerce to be willing to pay such expensive taxes and fees to do business in the city.

"Thank you very much for the ride."

"These are the rewards you deserve."

Tina nodded to express her gratitude to the old coachman. At the same time, she took out a bag of heavy gold coins from the sapphire-like storage item on her chest and handed it to him.

"No, no, you're too polite. This is what I should do."

The old coachman excitedly raised his hands over his shoulders, and accepted the bag of coins tremblingly like a pilgrim.

He opened the money bag gently, and the light of gold and silver suddenly illuminated his cloudy eyes.

At this time, seeing those shiny metal round coins, the old coachman felt extremely happy and satisfied.

He thought of his son who lived in Nika District and was addicted to Hearthstone cards.

He has been worried about his son's future. The reason why he still drags his 50-year-old body to work as a groom is because he is forced by this useless life.

(The average life expectancy of people in the Kingdom of Rose is 49 years. In this medieval context, it is an incredible miracle to have such a high average life expectancy.)

But now, with this money, the old coachman can finally let his unsatisfactory son find a widow who is not too ugly to complete the continuation of his life.

After being in a daze for a while.

The old coachman suddenly remembered something.

He quickly locked the mouth of the linen bag, looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, and then quietly stuffed the money bag into his chest and tied it tightly with a fine linen rope.

[A total of 15 Bryan XVII gold coins and 65 silver coins]

Standing on Setsuna's shoulder, Ron just glanced at the bulge and shape of the money bag, and instantly calculated the number of silver coins in the bag in his mind.

If you save a little money, this amount of money is enough for a family of three to live happily for ten years.

But Ron didn't feel distressed or anything like that.

These are the normal prices for hiring high-level mounts and drivers.

Of this money, 90% is the commission charged by the Dilong Carriage Rental Association, and 5% is the tax to be paid.

The last remaining 5% - a total of about 78 silver coins was the old coachman's entire income from this job.

Don't think that this job is easy because you can easily make a huge sum of money close to one gold coin in a journey of less than two months.

You must know that driving is definitely not a safe job.

Fierce monsters, dangerous terrain, crazy thieves and even your employer!

These dangerous factors may kill a driver at any time.

You never know when you embark on a journey you'll never come back from.

"Da da da"

The earth dragon's triangular claws stepped on the gravel road and began to return.

The old coachman turned around and waved goodbye to everyone while driving.

The next journey will be a journey of guardianship for him alone and a bag of coins.

Ron glanced at the dragon cart, and then at the faintly swaying grass in the forest far away.

Scavengers with a keen sense of smell always prey on their prey when it is at its weakest.

This is why Ron and his party never encountered any robbers or robbers from beginning to end.

"whispering sound--"

Ron pouted.

A slightly invisible wind spit out from the rainbow dragon's mouth and slowly drifted in the direction of the earth dragon chariot.

"Ah owe!"

Raya suddenly shuddered and her whole body became excited.

Watching the dragon car go away, everyone finally woke up from the confusion of getting up early.

"Papa pa pa"

Tina suddenly clapped her hands.

After successfully attracting everyone's attention, she nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the towering city wall in front of her and said loudly:

"Okay, everyone, cheer up, it's time for us to enter the city!"

After saying that, she took the lead and ran to the front, leading the way for everyone.

"Teacher, wait, wait for us!"

Raya and Fran quickly started running after Tina, and Karl, who was wearing a black robe, followed closely behind the two "school girls".

Setsuna, on the other hand, hugged Ron and followed the crowd at the back unhurriedly.

Her steps were obviously very slow, but her speed kept up with everyone, making her feel like she was shrinking from the ground.

This was the inherited combat skill [Elf War Step] that Ron secretly learned from the elf boss lady Tyrande, and taught it to Vivian, Setsuna and others before setting off.

Although Setsuna is not very compatible with this skill, it is more than enough for traveling.

"Crash-"

The endless river flows happily under the city wall.

Vitas is a city built on water, with several wide tributaries flowing even at its gates.

Soon, the group of people arrived at the entrance to Vitas' city gate.

There are many convoys gathered here, and caravans of all sizes are queuing up for inspection to enter the city. You can see many transport monsters unique to the Western Region of the Rose Kingdom.

"Rhino, Dog Monster, Pompeii"

"There are so many monsters that the king has never seen before."

Fran, who had a beautiful pair of black and white ponytails, followed Tina, staring at the small and medium-sized transport monsters that she had only seen in textbooks, and whispered their names excitedly.

"Oh my God, is that a wyvern!?"

Raya suddenly took Fran's hand and pointed to the sky excitedly.

Fran flew in the direction she pointed and saw a dark green bipedal dragon about 4 meters long.

Judging from the size, this should be an infant bipedal flying dragon, and it has already signed a contract with humans.

The woman wearing a white magic robe sitting on the back of its neck is proof of this.

At this time, this juvenile bipedal flying dragon was carrying its master and was being tested by a special magic circle in the sky.

However, they took the fast track and entered the city quickly.

"found it!"

Although she had never been there, Tina quickly discovered the location of the small city gate specifically for pedestrians to pass through.

"Come on, let's go here."

Tina excitedly pointed to the people queuing on the right and said.

This place is separated from the entrance and exit of the carriage team next door by a magic water curtain, which should prevent accidental injuries from being trampled by wild beasts.

Under the city wall, the long crowd was divided into eight columns, each column corresponding to the entrance of a small city gate.

Correspondingly, there are eight exits in the city specifically used to detect people leaving the city.

After this calculation, Vitas City has 16 small gates for pedestrians to pass through, which shows how wide the city wall is!

Even though it's still early in the morning, the people queuing up to get in and out of the city are surprisingly skilled.

Even the queue with the smallest number of people had more than twenty people in line.

Tina and others looked around curiously, like ignorant children.

Most of the people who lined up to enter the city were carrying a large linen bag filled with various goods.

Most of the people leaving the city were empty-handed, or had a big empty bag tied around their waists.

These people are farmers who specialize in city wall freighters.

Tina and the others didn't feel much about this.

Although there is no carriage, everyone is a magician after all, and there is no such thing as carrying heavy luggage.

Even the poorest Laya has a small storage bag less than two square meters to carry some personal belongings.

About twenty minutes later, everyone arrived at the city gate.

"Please stop, we need to conduct a routine inspection of your belongings."

The guard guarding the door looked at the pedestrians who had just passed by, and skillfully raised his right hand without looking back to stop the leader Tina.

Years of experience in defending the city allowed him to feel the sound of the next wave of people arriving with his eyes closed.

But when he turned around and saw the magister badge worn on Tina's chest and the gold badge of the Royal Capital Magic Academy, he quickly realized the unusual identity of the visitor.

The male guard, who was about twenty years old, subconsciously took half a step back, and the serious expression on his face became much gentler.

He straightened his back, put his white-gloved palms on his chest, and saluted respectfully:

"Good morning all beautiful ladies, I am guard Christine, it is my pleasure to serve you."

"Hurry up, hurry up, finish the inspection and let us in."

Tina waved her hands and said impatiently.

Raya and Fran also nodded and looked excitedly into Vitas City.

They can't wait to enter this legendary city and experience the local customs (specialties), local (color) people, beauty (customs) and food (food).

Seeing that everyone seemed to have no interest in him, a dim light flashed in the eyes of this unmarried soldier.

But he quickly suppressed it.

"Okay, Sly, come over here and check it out for all the adults."

Christine, whose dream of being kept by a rich woman was shattered, did not show the slightest expression of disappointment on her face. Instead, she called a female guard next to her like a gentleman to check on Tina and others, while he himself checked on Karl, who was standing at the back.

As a profession mixed between civilians and nobles, every soldier who joins the army is actually very good.

They know very well who should be provoked and who should not be provoked.

Showing kindness to Tina and others is a way for him to try to rise in class, and it is normal for him to be ignored.

As for Ron?

He had already cast the magic of disappearing, and silently flew in the sky to observe this city that once belonged to the elves.

Soon, everyone passed the inspection.

Before they entered the city, guard Christine said in a flattering manner:

"Master mages, you can directly report my name when you enter or leave the city gate next time, and other guards will not embarrass you."

Hmm. This is basically a fart. Normal guards don’t have the guts to embarrass a team led by a magician~~

After passing through the city gate illuminated by rows of torches, Tina and her group finally entered the famous [Three Waters Capital].

"Wow" X3

As soon as they entered, Tina, Raya, Master and Disciple Fran excitedly looked at everything in front of them.

When you step into the city gate of Vitas, the first thing you see is a wide canal, which is the main transportation artery of the city.

The river here is crystal clear, and there are colorful boats cruising on the river. Some are for tourists, while others are the main means of transportation for residents.

The boat is decorated with colorful sails and sails nimbly through the river like a ballet dancer on the water.

"It's so beautiful. It's like a city built on water!"

Tina said in amazement.

After declining the self-recommendations from the whistles gathered at the city gate,

With excitement shining in their eyes, the group walked along both sides of the canal and slowly followed the flow of people towards the center of the city.

Along the way are rows of architecturally elegant floating residences and streets paved with white marble.

The house stands on wooden stilts and stone foundations, as if dwelling in the water.

Compared with the solemnity and uniformity of the royal capital, each residence here has its own unique style and decoration. Some are based on the traditional architecture of the Vanas people (an ancient human being), and some are integrated with Elfen. (elf) element of elegance.

Many people have flower curtains hanging on their windows, and flower pots are placed on their balconies, with all kinds of flowers blooming.

People in the city bathe in the sunshine, bathe in the gentle sound of water waves, and enjoy the intimate contact with the water.

The atmosphere of Vitas City makes you feel like you are in a fairy tale world, full of mystery and charm.

Tina and her group spent a long time playing and shopping, and finally arrived at their destination: a bustling commercial district [Emerald Street].

The streets are crowded with people, and various shops and stalls are filled with various goods and items. Prosperity and vitality are everywhere.

"Take a look, take a look, there is only the last one of the authentic Vitas subspecies lake fish left today, first come, first served."

"You just picked a fresh bouquet. You only need three copper coins to buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers for your loved one."

"The snow rabbit meat shipped from the Frost Kingdom is extremely plump. It only costs one silver coin to make you want to eat it."

The voices of the vendors seem to form a tacit symphony, allowing you to truly feel how prosperous this commercial city is.

On both sides of [Emerald Street], there are many large and small taverns (hotels), which receive many guests from afar to rest here.

"Let's find a hotel to stay in first. How about we go out for a walk in the evening?!"

Tina suggested excitedly.

"Good" X3

Raya, Fran, and Setsuna, who were a little tired after walking around for a long time, nodded repeatedly. For the first time, they felt that the instructor (Tina)'s suggestion was so reliable.

Bill, on the other hand, still had the same Sima face, following everyone wherever they went.

"Ron, what do you think?"

Tina turned around excitedly, searching for a suitable tavern, and at the same time asked a certain rainbow dragon for his opinion.

Generally speaking

Ron always responded to Tina's suggestions by choosing one of the three answers: "It's up to you, whatever."

But today, Ron didn't reply as usual.

"Ron?"

Tina raised her head in confusion and looked in Ron's direction.

At this time, Ron in the air seemed to be stunned.

He opened his eyes wide and looked in a certain direction, opened his mouth slightly, and even stopped waving his wings.

"What's going on? What are you looking at?"

Tina followed Ron's line of sight suspiciously, and finally stopped at the door of a semi-old pub.

Standing there was a girl with short yellow hair and a sweet smile, dressed like a tavern maid, waving to attract customers.

"Leah?"

Ron looked at the familiar figure and lost his voice. (End of chapter)