"Xiushui Street number 13..."
The wandering child lowered his head to look at the introduction letter in his hand and confirmed the location again, "Indeed, this is the place."
"...Gerald’s Dental Clinic?"
Delicious Goose frowned slightly, his expression somewhat unpleasant, "Honestly, I’d rather not enter such a place... It brings back some rather unpleasant memories..."
"Come on, Uncle, it’s fine."
Lin Yiyi, standing beside him, persuaded, "Otherwise, why don’t I go up with the child and you wait at the entrance?"
"...That might be better, given my size tends to put people on alert."
Delicious Goose said solemnly.
This tall man, with his curly brown hair and muscles sturdy and powerful, looked at the word "dentist" and felt an evident sense of dread.
"I’ll wait downstairs and keep a watch for you."
The strong, battle-ready card game streamer quickly added, "After you go inside, keep an eye on the forum and open our private thread for the three of us. If I encounter an enemy and take them down, I’ll post 11111, and you need to be aware; if I encounter an enemy too tough and need your help, I’ll post 22222, and you’ll have to come down quickly to assist. If I post 3333, don’t hesitate, just jump out the window and escape or take some back alley, but don’t come back this way. Got it?"
Lin Yiyi nodded her head, formally and earnestly replying.
The wandering child also nodded cautiously, "I’ll take good care of Ah Gang... You be careful too."
"It’s not Ah Gang, it’s Eleven..."
The three of them, known for their combat prowess among the players, had regrouped at Roth Fort.
The task that Annan initially assigned to them—to infiltrate Roth Fort successfully—had already been effortlessly completed by them.
But to be honest, this task wasn’t that simple. If those less intellectually agile players were to attempt it, they might easily give themselves away.
Because, unlike Frostwater Harbor, Roth Fort is an actual fortress city. It has not only thick walls but also watchtowers, immense black crossbows mounted on the city walls, and towering arrow towers with strange designs.
Moreover, there’s even an army stationed here!
This also smoothly addressed the question the players had previously—why, as a border city, did Frostwater Harbor seemingly have no garrison?
It wasn’t that Frostwater Harbor lacked a garrison, but rather that the entire Beihai territory’s border defense army was stationed within Roth Fort... while Frostwater Harbor was left entirely exposed, outside the protection zone.
Or rather, Frostwater Harbor was merely a "stepchild."
The players had also gathered some information within Roth Fort... At least a hundred years ago, Frostwater Harbor was part of the Winter Principality’s lands.
Even until now... the Grand Duke of Winter hadn’t issued any documents to officially cede these lands, merely pretending not to see. And in the previous wars, when the Kingdom of Noah occupied Frostwater Harbor, it had no reason to return it gratuitously. And so, the two nations tacitly acknowledged the peculiar existence of Frostwater Harbor.
Players also received a piece of intelligence that was somewhat beyond their comprehension:
The cessation of the war between the two countries was not due to a balance of interests reached...
but rather because the Winter Principality experienced a "barrier shrinkage."
Players learned that in this world, outside the territory of each country, there was a massive, invisible barrier that prevented a materialized curse, known among the common folk as "Mist."
Long ago, the barriers of Noah Kingdom and the Winter Principality overlapped each other. This had a rather adverse effect on the barriers of both countries—but the center of the barrier could not be changed, and the barrier itself generally presented a hemispheric shape. Once the barrier was actively shrunk, it meant that a vast amount of territory was lost permanently.
Therefore, neither side was willing to give in, each hoping the other would relent. Frostwater Harbor was once the bridgehead of the Winter Principality.
The war between the two countries ended forty-eight years ago.
To be precise, it was in 1455.
The reason for the war’s end was that the barrier of the Winter Principality suffered from unidentified problems and experienced a small-scale collapse. To mend the barrier, the Winter Principality was forced to reduce its territory, abandoning the southeast part, Frostwater Harbor, along with most of the Black Sea and several small cities in the southwest. They were left exposed outside the barrier.
Frostwater Harbor was somewhat fortunate.
As it was originally under the protection of both barriers. After the Winter Principality voluntarily withdrew, it naturally fell within Noah Kingdom’s territory.
In other words, a scapegoat had been found.
The cities to the southeast fared much worse because the southeastern part of the Winter Principality did not border any other country directly.
Of course, the residents were not fools. They either packed up and moved north back within the barrier, rebuilding their homes, or they crossed the sea to the United Kingdom to the south of the Winter Principality. The United Kingdom also opened up immigration channels immediately and even sent several ships to pick up people.
A few months later, the cities to the southeast of the Winter Principality were devoid of inhabitants, transforming directly into silent dead cities.
On the other side, Frostwater Harbor became even more prosperous.
With the absence of border friction conflicts between the principality and the kingdom, relations between the two countries improved rapidly.
Noah Kingdom dispatched troops and immigrants directly to Frostwater Harbor, opened several trade routes to the inland, and dismantled the defensive installations and walls built by the Winter Principality, only retaining the former military harbor—after all, the blade of the dagger was pointed inward, not outward.
At the same time, the connection between the Principality and Frostwater Harbor was not severed. The Winter Principality seemed to pay no mind to Frostwater Harbor falling under the kingdom’s territory, continuing to send goods incessantly, using Frostwater Harbor as a transit station to trade with Noah Kingdom.
As a result, Frostwater Harbor found itself in a very delicate situation. With the trade support from the Winter Principality, its economy took off and rapidly developed into a fairly prosperous port city. However, many in the kingdom saw Frostwater Harbor, which fell within their territory, as unsettling, like a girlfriend who shows up on their doorstep out of the blue yet still keeps in contact with her long-distance ex-boyfriend...
Perhaps the discord between Frostwater Harbor and Roth Fort had already arisen at that time. But in any case, it couldn’t have started only after "Tan Juan Geraint" had arrived in the Northern Sea territory.
Players had to prioritize their own survival, so after two days of conservative investigation, they still hadn’t found a reason why the Viscount might be the enemy of Tan Juan. Most of Roth Fort’s citizens didn’t even know their new lord had arrived at Frostwater Harbor...
The lad, whom players casually referred to as "the kid" or "little brat," might have drawn the attention due to his harmless baby face, or perhaps it was his own tremendous luck, but he unexpectedly received a task from the slums that suddenly made him vigilant.
——Deliver a letter to a "hidden heretic."
Through the sunlight and the black paper tube, the kid could vaguely make out that this letter came from Mister "Justin Knecht."
Information publicly shared by players on the forums revealed... that this man was indeed the butler of the Viscount of Roth Fort.