Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 535 - 4 City of Freedom_1

Chapter 535: Chapter 4 City of Freedom_1

The City of Freedom is a semi-military and semi-commercial city divided by radial streets into twelve main districts, three shopping districts, four military districts, one guild district, one religious district, one entertainment district, and the remaining two are residential areas with multiple functions. Beyond the twelve main districts, on the outskirts of the city, there are also five port districts that are comparable in size to the city districts. In addition to the necessary piers, there are also many warehouses and service facilities that provide necessary services for sailors and passengers arriving in the City of Freedom by ship.

Among the twelve main districts, the Guild District serves as the administrative center of the entire city. The Mercenary Guild doubles as the City Hall, where both governance systems operate simultaneously. Most matters related to the mercenaries are adjudicated by the Mercenary Guild, while all other city affairs are handled by the City Hall. The Religious District is the religious hub of the City of Freedom, where any accepted faith can apply for a space to build a temple and peacefully spread their faith within the city. The City Hall provides a fixed location and protection for the temples and religions, which in turn, help in health care and pacifying the citizens. This mutually beneficial cooperation brings the City Hall and the temples closer. In the four military districts, ten large mercenary groups occupy two districts, while the remaining land is divided among other mid-sized and small mercenary groups. Any mercenary group registered with the Mercenary Guild can, after paying a deposit, obtain a land to establish their headquarters based on the scale of the group and the amount of the deposit. As long as they pay enough rent each year, they can use it for a long term.

The Comprehensive Entertainment District is the most bustling area in the City of Freedom. From casinos, hotels, theaters to coffee shops, small bars, and massage parlors, various entertainment facilities fill the entire entertainment district. Visitors who walk around this area for ten minutes will definitely find an entertainment activity they are interested in and participate in it, of course, provided they have enough gold coins in their pockets. Many people believe that the setup of this entertainment district was learned from the City of Innocence by the chairman and the city lord, who took office decades ago. However, no one is foolish enough to seek the truth of this conjecture.

The remaining basic facilities, such as banks, inns, and restaurants, are built in all areas for the convenience of visitors. However, the area with the most restaurants and inns is still the Entertainment District. Most of the city’s visitors prefer to stay in these bustling entertainment places. The Kate Blue Hotel chosen by Catherine is one such service institution in the Entertainment District.

This is a mercenary city, with nearly half of the inhabitants being mercenaries or former mercenaries. On the streets, you can see groups of mercenaries in the same uniforms shuttling back and forth. Indifferent to life and death, rude and indulging, loving alcohol and lustful, arrogant, their habits are deeply engraved in their souls because they are closer to death than adventurers. Except for a few mercenaries who need to support their families, most of them spend their income, which is exchanged with lives, extravagantly with the belief of enjoying each day as it comes.

However, the Mercenary Guild is actually quite humane. They deeply understand the vices of their fellow soldiers. To prevent these mercenaries accustomed to fighting and killing from becoming indigent after retirement, the Guild strictly stipulates that each Mercenary Group pays only 90% of the mercenary’s salary each month, with the remaining 10% handed over to the Guild as a reserve fund. After several years, when the mercenary retires due to valid reasons or simply due to age, the reserve fund will be returned to him by the Guild in a lump sum. If the mercenary dies midway, the reserve fund will be returned along with the normal consolatory payment to the mercenary’s family. If there are indeed no family members, the reserve fund will be returned to his Mercenary Group after paying the mercenary’s funeral expenses. Since this rule was enacted, these indulgent mercenaries have become even more unrestrained in their squandering, and no one knows if it is good or bad since.

Upon setting foot in the city area of the City of Freedom, one can feel a unique atmosphere of the City of Freedom. In this city of freedom, it is most important to dare to show one’s individuality. Being plain will only get one despised. Therefore, the streets are filled with people in weird costumes, none of them common city residents, and even some of them are mercenaries who should be in uniforms. The majority of these people are young people, appearing and making raucous noises in groups in various entertainment venues. Although it has gotten a bit dark, many street artists still stand on the streets. Whether they are singing, dancing, painting, or reciting poems, most of them are not doing it for a living but only to showcase their talents and individualities to others.

"We need to build a new open-air stage in the city." While traveling through the city, the five members of the adventure team had just approached a small square crammed with people when they heard a loud voice coming from the square: "This is something all the nearby citizens have been looking forward to."

All five of them paused and then shared a bitter smile. This is the Citizens’ Consultative Conference, a most characteristic activity of the City of Freedom. In this large city with a population of 600,000, every citizen can initiate a proposal. As long as they can collect more than 5,000 signatures, they can submit the proposal to the City Hall. The City Hall, upon receiving a proposal, has to organize a Citizens’ Consultative Conference within ten days at a public place if they refuse to accept it, where representatives from both the proponent and the opposition debate publicly. After the debate, those who previously signed on the proposal will vote again. If less than two-thirds of the signatories still support the proposal after the debate, the proposal will be scrapped. If the supporters exceed two-thirds, then theoretically, the City Hall should accept the proposal. But if the City Hall still rejects the proposal after the voting due to sufficient reasons, both parties need to apply for arbitration from the Arbitration Tribunal, which governs the city’s law. Although most of the professional proposals made by citizens are generally dismissed at the Citizens’ Consultative Conference, over the past more than one hundred years, a number of creative citizen proposals have been approved and achieved good effects.

The group of people shook their heads and quickly left the small square. The citizens of the City of Freedom are extraordinarily passionate about this kind of activity, but tourists from other cities may not understand their mindset. Whenever they encounter such an event, they can only sigh: indeed, this is the City of Freedom.

After leaving the small square and crossing several streets, the five individuals passed through a residential area, slowly approaching the entertainment district. Along the way, they met quite a few pedestrians, exposing them to another feature of the City of Freedom: the populace is unusually tough. In just over half an hour, they encountered eight disputes. Four turned into small-scale fights, one developed into a medium-scale melee. Before the other three fights could evolve, the group had already gone too far to witness the outcome. The surrounding crowd seemed accustomed to this behavior. Instead of attempting to mediate or leaving the scene, they watched with amusement, some even placing bets on the outcome. Incredibly, among the bettors were a few patrolling city guards, a sight that was difficult to comprehend.

Among these fights, there were skirmishes between mercenaries, brawls amongst civilians, and even conflicts between mercenaries and civilians. Despite this being a city of mercenaries, the ordinary citizens weren’t afraid to fight them. They showed no restraint during these fights, regardless of whether their opponent was an Iron Rank professional. Their strength in numbers gave them confidence that they wouldn’t necessarily be defeated.

"This phenomenon is entirely caused by the law of the City of Freedom," Pannis explained softly to her puzzled companions. "You see, the citizens here are not afraid of mercenaries because the law sees them as equals. In the City of Freedom, a mercenary’s identifier as a civilian comes before their status as a mercenary. Unless it can be proven that a mercenary was performing a city-related task during a fight, any dispute is handled by the Arbitration Tribunal of the City Hall. Fights that don’t cause serious injuries are generally ignored, and no one usually seeks recourse from the Tribunal, to avoid being looked down upon by those around them. This is why everyone is accustomed to these fights, even the guards just watch the spectacle."

"I’m aware of this, but it’s still hard to comprehend," Freya shook her head. "In the Holy City, many laws are more favorable to adventurers and mages, as those are the headquarters of both guilds."

"You have a significant misunderstanding," Pannis stated. "The laws of the City of Knowledge do not favor adventurers and mages but the Upper Rank professionals. This is the same as in any other country. The reason for the misconception is that the Upper Ranks of adventurers and mages are more numerous. It’s the same here; it’s just that the Lower Rank professionals and civilians are more common among the mercenaries."

"Hmm, maybe it is as you say," Freya pondered and then nodded. "I’ve had fewer opportunities to interact with Lower Rank professionals. Catherine, you must have had more exposure in the past, have you felt this way?"

"No, when my father was alive, he maintained a good relationship with the city guard and some public institutions, so we were always treated well. Thus, I couldn’t perceive it," Catherine replied. "However, I think Pannis makes a good point. I only noticed that unfamiliar people suddenly started to treat me with exceptional respect after I was promoted to the Silver Rank."

"Ugh," Lina suddenly closed her book and rolled her eyes at them. "This is common sense, you two. You’re discussing it so seriously, it’s really irritating. Let’s go already, I’m starving."

With bitter smiles, Catherine and Freya conceded to Lina’s remark and hurried to catch up with her.

"Eh, what brings you all here?" As they turned the corner, they were greeted by a youthful, surprised exclamation from a young girl. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we encourage you to support it by voting at qidian.com. Your support is our greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)