When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#636 - Leonardo: Hi, hi, here I come.

"Achoo!"

Leonardo sneezed loudly. He rubbed his nose, pulled a blanket from another student, and draped it over his shoulders.

"Who is cursing me?" Wiping his nose with a handkerchief, Leonardo looked up at the clear blue sky and the solitary warm sun, muttering under his breath.

"After all, we're in the mountains, and it's windy on the lake. It's like this," the guide sent by the Holy Machine Court's city hall said with a smile to Leonardo, standing at the bow of the ferry.

Silvanik, on the other hand, wrapped his blanket tighter with disdain: "That's why they call it a barbaric mountain region."

"Keep it down," Dean Senior surreptitiously kicked Silvanik's ankle, silencing the complaining scholar.

The guide, whether he genuinely didn't hear or was pretending not to, simply held onto the ship's railing, looking towards the approaching port in the distance.

Since receiving the letter from the young lady of the Larkin family, they had traveled all the way from Dawn Island, through Celestial Stone Field, taking two months to reach the Holy Machine Court.

It wasn't that they were dawdling, but the large number of luggage handlers forced them to stop and go, spending a month to arrive at Flystream Fort, now known as Greencity, the capital of the Thousand River Valley Principality, in September.

Subsequently, several people contracted illnesses due to travel fatigue and acclimatization issues, forcing them into quarantine, ultimately delaying their journey until October.

The Holy Machine Court was quite welcoming, dispatching a guide to meet them in Jeanne Fort. Due to the large amount of luggage, they were put on a ferry instead of entering through the crowded New Life Bridge.

As winter approached, more refugees and merchants poured in from all directions. The New Life Bridge was filled with people of all ages, driving carts and riding donkeys and mules, with curses, shoves, and screams echoing continuously.

At the bridgehead was a dedicated checkpoint, a semi-circular plaza consisting of log barricades, iron chains, and three or five concrete houses.

Those driving vehicles entered the dock town from the left, while the disheveled refugees were collectively guided to the right.

"What are they doing over there?" Leonardo asked, pointing to the large area of wooden houses and tents, clearly fenced off, in front of the New Life Bridge.

"Oh, that's the purification camp for the baptism ceremony," the guide explained, seeing Leonardo's puzzled expression. "Refugees entering the island must first be re-baptized with hot water and potions, have their beards and hair trimmed short, and reside in the camp for seven days to signify rebirth."

"Is it to forcibly convert them to the Holy Path Sect?" Silvanik asked from inside the cabin.

The guide immediately shook his head: "It's not conversion, just a way to eliminate lice. The Holy Machine Court is a clean city, and we don't want to see bedbugs spreading."

Silvanik grunted, clearly not entirely convinced by the guide's words.

The guide then smiled and explained to Leonardo: "Besides this, they also conduct population registration. If anyone has special skills, specialists will introduce them to jobs."

Leonardo looked at the refugees and beastmen, young and old, walking into the purification camp, and then at the approaching dock in the distance, a sense of anticipation rising in his heart.

The day after voting to go to the Holy Machine Court, Leonardo felt some regret.

You see, upon hearing that the Holy Machine Court had created a machine similar to a perpetual motion machine, he couldn't wait to fly there.

But once the enthusiasm faded, reason returned to his brain.

He had been tricked into painting using the excuse of a perpetual motion machine more than once or twice.

Especially since this was a remote small town, besides being close to Black Serpent Bay and having abundant alchemical resources, he couldn't think of any other advantages that would allow them to research a perpetual motion machine.

However, after some internal struggle, he still followed the large group to the Holy Machine Court.

What if? That young lady of the Larkin family wasn't one to make things up.

Soon, as they chatted with the guide, the approaching Landing Dock came closer and closer, accompanied by the constant flapping of canvas, the neighing of livestock, the sharp negotiations of merchants, the rough shouts of foremen directing laborers...

Many scholars and students who had been sitting idly in the cabin went up on deck, holding onto the railings and looking towards the shore.

Initially, it was just a silhouette of masts and flags, and the air carried the scent of wood, damp ropes mixed with goods (such as spices, dried fish, and wine).

Water birds and crows circled in the sky, and shrikes began to land on the ship's railings. At this distance, they could see mountains of goods piled up at the dock.

Beastmen and human laborers, wearing dirt-resistant and durable coarse short coats, continuously carried wooden boxes, sacks, and buckets from the ship to warehouses or commodity exchanges.

After docking at a pier, the moment Leonardo stepped onto the brick ground of the dock, he felt that the scene before him was far from the desolation he had imagined.

Underfoot was either black stone or mortar ground, and on both sides of the wide road, which could accommodate four carriages side by side, were rows of neat insula buildings.

Perpendicular to this avenue were two rows of four- or five-meter-high wooden warehouses on the left and right.

Although Leonardo wasn't from an architectural background, he was quite familiar with ancient Elvish roads.

In front of each house was a drainage ditch covered with cedar planks, with a transplanted roadside tree every four or five meters.

Although this dock was a bit deserted compared to the busy and chaotic ports of Rapidstream City and Jeanne Fort, Leonardo had never seen such orderly planning.

The architectural prosperity might not be as great as Jeanne Fort and Rapidstream City, but this unique design with symmetry and a unified texture made several art students fall silent.

This unique sense of order and the coordinated feeling of unity from top to bottom was the first time they had seen it in a town.

What impressed Leonardo the most was the cleanliness of the dock area, not just the absence of feces and urine on the ground, but also the common hooligans, rascals, and beggars.

Leonardo turned around and gave the guide a slight salute: "May I venture to ask a small question?"

"Of course, please speak."

"Why can't I see those rats on the street?"

"Rats? Maybe because we raise a lot of cats."

"No, no, no," Leonardo quickly explained, "I mean those idle people who make a living by extortion."

"Oh, you mean that," the guide immediately explained, "I was just about to remind everyone that the laws of the Holy Machine Court are quite strict. On average, there are one or two law enforcers for every hundred people, that is, the Cheka, the Night Watch, and the Military Police.

In the Holy Machine Court, extortion is severely punished, and they will be forcibly sent to the Holy Trinity Education Corps.

Some rogue hooligans, if found to have not paid taxes or worked within three months after fighting and causing trouble, will be forcibly assigned work unless they have an illness or disability.

If they refuse, they will also be forcibly entered into the Holy Trinity Education Corps and sent to cultivate fields in the wild.

As a result, although these rats exist, there are not many, and they dare not be too arrogant."

"Too harsh," Silvanik muttered.

Leonardo suddenly understood: "I see."

At this moment, looking around, he couldn't see even a single rogue, rascal, or beggar in the entire port, not even a drunken sailor awake.

You know, this group is one of the most likely to cause trouble.

"Could there be a prohibition?" Thinking of the Holy Path Sect's retro ways, Leonardo couldn't help but ask.

As a Frenchman, he would die without drinking.

"No, the law stipulates that drinking is not allowed in public places. You can drink in taverns, restaurants, or at home, and no one will bother you," the guide quickly explained to him.

"Public places, that's a new term, it should have evolved from the ancient Elvish 'public areas'," Dean Senior asked with a smile.

"Yes," the guide grinned and said, "We will give you a dictionary of new terms, which contains all these new words. After all, the Holy Machine Court is a brand new city, there are too many new things, we have to invent some words to describe them."

"Hahahaha, that couldn't be better," Senior said, following the guide towards the carriage and horse shop.