It was late autumn, and the north had already been covered with ice and snow. Even in the warm south, there was already a significant chill in the air. Most of the pedestrians on the street wore thick clothes, and even the civilians with lower incomes tried to wrap themselves with two more layers.
Although many of them had patches on their clothes, they were generally dressed neatly and warmly enough to resist the cold wind and maintain basic decency.
Such a situation was not easy to see even in the capital of the Duchy of Thunder. Out of the upper city where the nobles lived and the inner city where the rich lived, it was common to see workers in shabby clothes in the middle city, although the local residents were well-dressed. As for the outer city and the lower city … every morning, the patrol had an important job, which was to clean up the tramps who froze to death.
Every winter, even in the capital of the Duchy of Thunder, hundreds of tramps would freeze to death to give snacks to the beasts outside the city.
But not in this city. Of course, people would die in winter here, but they would never die of cold or hunger.
Since more than 20 years ago, the previous lord, Baron Krieg Keane, and after the management of two generations of barons, the current city of Keane had become the richest place in the entire Duchy of Thunder. Unlike the general lords, the Keane family pursued the policy of "hiding wealth in the people" and paid great attention to the interests of the people. Every winter, the lord would arrange a lot of big and small jobs so that the poor could get a stable income, and most of the time, there would be a free lunch.
This naturally cost a lot of money, and it had been ridiculed by the other lords around it. But it was undeniable that after more than 20 years of operation, the living conditions of the people in the territory of Keane were indeed quite good. According to the saying on the earth, they had broken away from the basic need of "food and clothing" and were on the road to a well-off society.
Although, perhaps it was just the beginning.
Sui Xiong sat at the table on the second floor of the "White Beard" tavern facing the street, ordered some ordinary food and ordinary rice wine, and ate and drank while watching the street below.
He looked for a long time and finally showed a satisfied smile.
"These years … Anna and the others have done a good job …"
At the moment, he was neither in the appearance of Krieg Keane nor the green flying jellyfish, but in the appearance of the earthling Sui Xiong.
Black hair, black eyes, yellow skin. He was of average height, slightly short, well-proportioned, and slightly thin. He wore very ordinary black-rimmed glasses, and his face was filled with a scholarly air.
Such people could be seen everywhere on Earth, but they were relatively rare in this world. Even in recent decades, the Church of the God of Knowledge had been working hard to promote the popularization of education, but the results were not great. "Literacy" was still something that most people could only dream of. Even in Void City, which had the highest level of education, most of the residents could only read and write their own names and understand a hundred or so common words.
Keane Region also attached great importance to education, but there were not many people like Sui Xiong who were bookish. The waiter of the tavern was a perceptive person. He could tell at a glance that he had some background, so he was very polite to him and paid attention to him. When she saw him smiling at the passersby, she couldn't help but come over.
"Sir, did you see something interesting? Is there anything I can do for you? " The waiter, who was slightly older than Sui Xiong, asked softly with a smile on his face.
"I'm just a little emotional," Sui Xiong said. "I'm a traveler, and I've been to many places …"
He noticed a flash of doubt in the eyes of the waiter and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. "Sui Xiong" definitely didn't look like a traveler, because he didn't have calluses on his hands from holding crutches for a long time, and his face didn't have the accumulated wind and frost of long-term travel. Especially the smooth corners of his eyes, it was obvious that he hadn't been exposed to much wind. A person like him also called himself a "traveler"? No wonder the rather knowledgeable waiter agreed on the surface, but in his heart, he didn't believe it at all.
But he really wasn't lying. He had been to most of the countries in the main plane. Although he usually maintained his invisible state and slowly floated through the sky, at the very least, he could be called a traveler in terms of "traveling extensively" and "being knowledgeable".
"I've been to many places and seen many cities. Among them, there are many that are more prosperous than Keane City, but there are very few places where the poor have a higher standard of living than here. " Sui Xiong wisely ignored the waiter's doubts and said to himself, "It's not difficult for a city to be prosperous and strong, but it's very difficult for the poor to live a stable and dignified life. From this point of view, Keane City is indeed a good place that is called the 'Thunder Pearl'! "
"Among the cities I've been to, probably only a few cities in the Republic of Northwest are similar to it," Sui Xiong said. "I once heard that Baron Krieg Keane, who presided over the politics of Keane City, was the Holy Spirit of His Majesty, the Void Mask, who founded the Republic of Northwest. I've always had some doubts, but now it seems that this rumor may be true."
The waiter nodded again and again, and the smile on his face became a little more sincere.
"I'm not sure whether the rumor is true or not. After all, the things of gods are too far away for us mortals," he said happily. He said happily, "But what you said before was absolutely right. Our Keane City is indeed a great place! Although I don't travel as much as you do, I've been to several nearby cities, and they can't be compared with us at all! "
"As you said, here, even the poor can live a safe and stable life, and don't have to worry about not being able to get on with their lives. And as long as you're willing to put in the effort, as long as you put in the effort, it's not difficult to make some money. " The more he said, the happier he was. "My parents fled here after the flood more than 20 years ago. Originally, people like us would mostly live at the bottom of society. No matter how hard we struggled, it would be of no use. Maybe it wouldn't be long before our whole family would freeze to death or starve to death. But we only relied on our own hard work to get out of the predicament, and slowly accumulated the family property — do you know? Not long ago, my sister was examined and found to have certain qualifications. She has already received a stipend and is studying to be a doctor! "
Looking at his smile, Sui Xiong also smiled. He picked up a glass of wine, poured a glass of wine, and handed it to him. "Cheers to good days!"
The waiter did not refuse. He took the glass and drank it in one gulp, then left with a smile.
Looking at the waiter's departing figure, Sui Xiong smiled and continued to drink by himself.
"Such a good place, of course it's worth guarding. Although it's not suitable for Crick and the Void Mask to show up, even so, will I sit back and watch others come to make trouble for it? "
He smiled and shook his head. "Well, let me see who is so greedy that they actually dare to stretch their claws over here?"
"Also, I have to think of an interesting idea to teach those guys a lesson, and also to let other people with ulterior motives learn a lesson, so that they won't do such irritating things again."
As he spoke, he poured himself another glass.
However, at this moment, his eyes were filled with a sharp, cold glint.
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