Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 828 - 93: The Wisdom of Nobility

Chapter 828: Chapter 93: The Wisdom of Nobility

Mountain Watching Fortress, also known as Pandora Fortress, is a strategic outpost in the northern part of the Falar Empire. back in the early days of the Fourth Epoch, when the Yarran Continent was still plagued by war, the Falar Empire did not yet exist. At that time, the southern part of the Pandora Mountains was ruled by several small kingdoms that frequently waged war against each other, with their territories changing hands almost yearly. However, no matter who occupied the lands at the foot of the Pandora Mountains, they all shared a genuine fear of their mysterious and powerful neighbor. To defend against the hypothetical threat of Butte mages descending from the Pandora Mountains to invade their lands, these small kingdoms set aside their animosities and jointly constructed a fortress on the only pass down from the Butte Plateau, naming it the Mountain Watching Fortress.

The fortress was built to be incredibly strong and massive, covering an area of eighty square kilometers and completely surrounded by towering, thick walls. The houses within were also made of stone, giving them an exceptionally solid appearance. As per the initial agreement, each of the small kingdoms would station a troop within the fortress, and regardless of the state of warfare among them, these troops could not be moved, their sole purpose being to guard against the Butte people. But then, two very interesting things happened: Firstly, it took forty years to build the fortress, and during those four decades, the small kingdoms, through extended collaboration, discovered that the other nations were not so detestable after all. After several instances of mutual support, deep friendships formed between the royal families, leading to the cessation of wars, peaceful coexistence, and even intermarriage among royalty. After three to four hundred years, the bloodlines of the royal families were so intermingled that it was impossible to distinguish one from another, and eventually, they merged into a medium-sized kingdom called Falar, the precursor to the modern Falar Empire. From this, one could say that without the Mountain Watching Fortress, there would be no Falar Empire today.

As for the other interesting thing, it concerns the value of the Mountain Watching Fortress itself. Since its construction, it has never seen a day of war. The Tower mages of Butte simply didn’t care about what their neighbors were up to. Their interests lay only in magic and research. Whether their neighbors built or dismantled fortresses was of no concern to them. They didn’t even bother to give it a glance, let alone harbor any thoughts of invading the Falar Kingdom. Consequently, as time went on, the fortress’s defenses grew lax, and more and more civilians, including merchants, farmers, medics, and technicians, stealthily moved into Mountain Watching Fortress, seeking opportunities to make money in cooperation with the garrison, causing the fortress to become livelier by the day. Several hundred years later, the Kingdom of Falar had transformed into the Falar Empire, which had greatly expanded its territory. By then, the Emperor of the Empire had realized that the Butte mages had no intention of invading, and so he simply ordered that the functions of Mountain Watching Fortress be transformed from a military fort into a civilian city, and the descendants of the garrison and civilians who had moved into the fortress to earn gold coins became the first residents of Mountain View City.

So, many years later, when this ancient fortress with a thousand years of history appeared before the adventure team, the girls could see in the buildings both the solemnity of military use and the flexibility of civilian use. The two completely opposite feelings were fused together in all the buildings, yet they did not strike one as discordant or odd.

Gazing at Mountain Watching Fortress from afar in the dim light, all that could be seen were the high walls that reached into the clouds. The twenty-plus-meter-high stone walls, made up of huge stones, had turned gray-black from the white-green of years past under the weathering of time. The walls were not straight-lined; each side of the fortress had orderly inward indentations, making the fortress appear not as a regular square but rather like a multi-pointed star shape. Dense watchtowers were built at each tip and along each side of the star-shaped walls. It was easy to imagine that, a thousand years ago, generations of soldiers had been stationed there, always on guard against enemy attacks—efforts that, of course, were ultimately pointless. The watchtowers and parapets were still there, but the northern wall and watchtowers had been overtaken by lush green vines, which happily grew along the surface, hiding the fortress’s original sternness and solemnity, and covering it with a mantle of vitality and energy.

Night had fallen, and no pedestrians remained outside the fortress. Only at the gates of the fortress were a few soldiers in standard leather armor bustling about inside and out, preparing to close the city gates for the night. Through the open gates, one could vaguely make out the lights within the fortress and the occasional passersby beneath them.

"This is Mountain Watching Fortress." Catherine’s expression was complicated. Her family had once been one of the Falar Empire’s ancient noble houses, owning vast lands in the northern part of the Empire, including an area adjacent to Mountain Watching Fortress. Even though her family had long since fallen from grace due to political strife, such that the knightly girl had never set foot on the Empire’s northern territories, the memories engraved deep within her bloodline made her feel a sincere affection and deep nostalgia upon seeing the fortress. Catherine let out a quiet sigh and said, "It’s said that my great-great-grandfather loved playing here as a child. Back then, caravans ready to head to Butte or just returning from the plateau converged here daily, and one could always find many novel toys here that were particularly attractive to children. However, by my great-grandfather’s time, they stopped coming here, and that continued up to the present."

"Pat, pat," Pannis silently patted Catherine’s shoulder in consolation, then shifted the topic, "I remember this place used to be bustling even at night, as long as the city gates were still open. Sometimes, even after the gates had closed, some caravans or travelers who didn’t make it back in time would just spend the night outside, waiting to enter the city the next morning. But today is really strange; there’s not a single caravan or traveler in sight outside the city. Has something happened?"

"From the way those soldiers are behaving, it doesn’t seem like anything’s amiss." Catherine shook her head, "Anyway, we must enter the city. After we check into an inn, we can just ask the owner what’s going on."

"Can’t we just ask the soldiers directly?" Lina said in confusion, "Why go through the trouble you mentioned, big sis?"

"You don’t understand, the Falar Empire isn’t the same as Neville," Catherine shook her head, "This country prides itself as the nation of knights, established on its military might. Hence, the troops—whether they are the royal forces or local units—abide by strict military regulations. Aside from mechanically verifying identities, they won’t engage in any kind of conversation with those coming and going. They are extremely rigid."

Just as Catherine had described, the group soon arrived at the city gates. Before even reaching the entrance, they could see two new recruits sweeping outside the gate, and eight fully armed soldiers standing in two lines on either side, both inside and outside the gate. Each soldier stood ramrod straight, not moving an inch, their uniforms and helmets neat and tidy. Even their expressions were almost identical: stone-faced and devoid of any emotion. If each of them were draped with a pale blue cloak, most people would probably mistake them for statues.

"I am Catherine of the Nellie adventure team." Catherine took out an emblem representing the adventure team and handed it to the two squad captains responsible for entry checks, startling her companions with her sudden change. It wasn’t just that Catherine’s demeanor suddenly became bizarre, filled with the rigid and aloof nature unique to the ancient nobility of the Falar Empire. It wasn’t even because her tone of voice suddenly adopted a noble and haughty air. What truly surprised everyone was the fact that once she started speaking, it was in a string of Common Tongue with a heavy northern Falar accent, making it hard to imagine that the young girl in front of them had never been to the northern parts of the Empire, or had scarcely set foot in Falar territory at all.

Even though the soldiers didn’t often encounter such a demeanor, tone, or accent, they had all been warned by their superiors. Therefore, the guards stood even straighter, and the two leading squad captains became more respectful. As the origins of the Falar Empire were in the north, it was universally acknowledged that the northern nobility was more orthodox and ancient than that of the south. Thus, a person who spoke with a perfect northern noble accent was treated cautiously by Imperial soldiers, regardless of their apparent status. After all, no one wanted to offend the ancient, arrogant, and rigid northern nobles of medieval times, and that included even the female members of the nobility. Hence, the two captains, who initially appeared indifferent, quickly became respectful. The thought of giving the newcomers a hard time was instantly buried deep in their hearts. After a cursory verification of the authenticity of the adventurers’ emblem, they bowed slightly and allowed all seven members of the group to enter the city—giving the Elf, Muir, just a few extra glances without asking any questions.

"Hah, big sis, I never thought you would do that," Lina said with a chuckle, covering her mouth, after they entered the city, "Is this what’s called ’the wisdom of the nobility’?"

"Hmm, not really," Catherine replied nonchalantly, her voice returning to its usual accent and tone, "Those two squad captains probably thought we were just some kids and looked like they were in the mood to make things difficult for us. I figured their best method of giving us a hard time would be to claim that the gate was closing for the night and deny us entry into the city. Instead of waiting for them to become problematic and then having to use our status as Legendary professionals and an Upper Rank adventure team to pressure them, it’s better to employ some cunning from the outset to squash their intentions to cause trouble. This approach ensures that both sides have ample room to maneuver without anyone feeling embarrassed. Actually, this is just the most basic way of interacting. From a young age, Falar nobility are taught to master these skills as part of their education. So when I acted that way, it was more instinct than wisdom."

"Indeed, real nobility is nothing like what most people imagine," Lina said, patting the novel in her arms. Suddenly, she raised her eyebrows and looked ahead with caution. In fact, everyone’s gaze, except for Vivian, who had her head down and was lost in her own world, converged on the same spot. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)