At that moment, Isha was at a certain station in An Zhu’s countryside.
Although An Zhu’s transportation was far less convenient than Cape’s, with infrastructure and roads being very backward, and with yellow dirt roads and gravel paths seen everywhere in these rural areas, it was still not as bad as Isha had imagined. At least Alberto had built quite a few relaying stations for information, and the roads connecting these stations were relatively smooth.
However, An Zhu still centered around noble politics, especially after Alberto’s departure. These stations gradually came under the control of local nobles, who even dared to set up toll booths at the stations and maintained the operation of the stations as a cover to evade the officials dispatched by the Empire for investigation.
Whether in An Zhu or the current Empire, there was no concept of road tolls. The only time one needed to pay at a station was when resting or eating, but at these rural stations, tolls were just the beginning. If one wanted meals or lodging, they would need to pay extra.
For those rural nobles, not only were there no tolls charged, but food and accommodations were also free. These nobles could even squeeze out space for those who genuinely needed shelter. Even the official messengers using the stations lived worse than those nobles.
Isha was dressed in ordinary attire, sitting in the station and carefully observing the group of nobles who were reveling inside.
Originally, Isha intended to disguise herself as a village girl, but who had ever seen a village girl with such a commanding presence, accompanied by two attendants? Although it could be explained as companions from the same village, Isha looked nothing like a typical village girl. Even though her two attendants performed well, it only highlighted how out of place Isha seemed.
So in the end, Isha went with the flow and disguised herself as a merchant’s daughter. Coupled with the forged identity provided by Lind, she faced little suspicion along the way.
Besides Isha, the station was filled with noble offspring. Though they were a group of rural nobles, the station did not dare to neglect them. It was evident that the meals provided to those noble offspring were much better than what an ordinary traveler like Isha received, and they did not even have to pay for it. The station was well maintained to serve these nobles, who treated it like a tavern, lively and noisy.
Watching the ordinary people at the station unable to enjoy the delicacies on the table, and the fine wines clearly not meant for average travelers at the counter, Isha understood why the costs at An Zhu’s stations had increased year after year, yet they were still at a loss.
Even if the station’s revenue increased several times, it could not withstand the extravagant spending of these nobles. A large empty space in the station’s hall was filled with song and dance from the nobles, while Isha and others who only paid tolls had to shrink into the corners.
At this moment, a rather blind noble offspring approached Isha, seemingly inviting her to dance. However, Isha slapped away the hand that extended towards her. To her surprise, the noble became even more excited, saying, “Good, you have some guts! I like this kind of resistance!”
Isha, as if not hearing the noble’s vulgar words, retorted, “Is this how you catch people at the station?”
The noble tried to step forward, but was stopped by Isha’s two attendants beside her. Hearing Isha’s words, other nobles also stopped, looking over with curious eyes.
“So what?” the noble said disdainfully. “There are countless people who seek me just to spend a night in a warm guest room.”
Other nobles laughed as well, but Isha said, “Neither the laws of the Empire nor those of An Zhu permit stations to collect tolls arbitrarily.”
Seeing those nobles go quiet, Isha continued, “But this station not only charges passing guests tolls, but also does not charge you for food and accommodations, correct? You noble families do not just take public resources for yourselves; you have even turned them into tools for your exploitation.”
Just as Isha was preparing to speak further, an old woman from the noble area stood up and said, “Miss, your words are heavy. We are merely travelers, with a bit of privilege. After all, without these privileges, how would the world perceive the glory of our nobles?”
The noblewoman glanced at the freshly baked bread on her table and added, “And it doesn’t cost much.”
At the same time, the guards around this noblewoman quietly gripped their weapons.
Seeing the atmosphere grow unusually chilly, a serving girl kindly tugged at Isha’s garment and whispered, “This is the local Randolf Family, miss. Just admit your mistake.”
But Isha paid no heed, asking, “There are recently dispatched officials from the Empire nearby, right?”
“Hmph!”
Upon hearing this, the noblewoman thought Isha was placing her hopes on those officials and coldly snorted, saying, “I don’t know what Imperial officials are, but Bunir, our Randolf Family hasn’t treated you poorly, right?”
A noble dressed in half-battle armor stood up from amidst the nobles.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Bezi, we should be old allies.”
A light noble also came to the old woman’s side and said, “For the ancient alliance.”
“Jason, the armor you wore into battle was funded by us.”
A burly figure, who looked nothing like a noble warrior, also approached the noblewoman.
“At your service.”
As the names continued to be called, more than half of the nobles at the station stood up, gathering near the old woman.
The old woman raised her head and said, “Young people, if you want to mix in, have power and background, don’t just seek momentary gratification.”
In this information-closed place, the Randolf Family was the de facto king.
But after the old woman finished speaking, she found Isha was noting something down.
“What are you writing?”
The old woman, somewhat puzzled, had never seen anyone remain composed in such a situation.
“Of course, those noble families you just mentioned.”
Isha closed her notebook and said, “I believe the upcoming officials will be very interested in this record.”
After saying that, Isha stood up, preparing to leave.
The old woman was about to take action when she noticed that the others in the station were also getting up.
These travelers, who had been slouching before, suddenly stood tall and aligned in their movements.
The nobles surrounding the elderly woman, upon hearing the clicking sounds of bullets being chambered among the travelers, also realized what was happening.
“By the way.”
Isha turned her head and reached out to the serving girl who reminded her, “You should come along too, as a witness.”
In the blink of an eye, the lively station was left only with this group of nobles who had just been celebrating.
The noble offspring who had been singing and dancing moments before were now frozen in place. Those enlightened nobles seemed to understand something and wanted to flee to inform their families, but their legs trembled uncontrollably, refusing to obey.
“Grandma? What’s wrong with you all? Hurry and stop that woman!”
The nobleman who had just invited Isha to dance was still whining, “A woman so beautiful, if she leaves, we won’t find another!”
The old woman looked at her grandson, still whining in front of her, wanting to say something, but the words stuck in her throat.
She might not know what the sound of a firearm being chambered was, but when the group left just now, she had seen the woman’s attendant hiding a priest’s robe under the traveler’s cloak. The patterns and colors of that robe were something the old woman had only seen once when she accompanied her husband to the royal capital, a class that the Randolf Family could never curry favor with.
What kind of person could make a priest of the War God Church serve as an attendant?
This was not just hitting a steel plate; it was stepping into magma.
