[Vol. 7] Chapter 69: The Coastal Metropolis, Layla City
Layla City, the Coastal Metropolis.
As the most prosperous port city along the Austre Empire’s coastline, Layla City serves as a crucial hub connecting the nation’s economy to the vast open seas. It boasts the largest port in the world, with a daily influx of over 100,000 people and hundreds of ships of all sizes coming and going.
During certain peak periods, these numbers can multiply several times over.
Because of its high volume of trade and constant movement of people, Layla City has become a melting pot of individuals from the empire’s inland regions, overseas territories, and even distant corners of the world. Despite the Austre Empire’s immense power, it is impossible to fully control everything happening in this bustling city.
As a result, the local authorities follow a governance strategy based on "alliances and control." On one hand, they maintain good relations with several powerful organizations that operate within the city but are not directly affiliated with the empire.
On the other hand, they strictly regulate foreign influences, especially those from the Sea, ensuring that external forces do not gain too much ground. This balance between economic freedom and security shapes the current state of Layla City.
More than a week had passed since [Noah’s Ark] docked in Layla City. With the full support of the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild, Violet and her companions had gradually adjusted to the local culture and climate. Now, it was time to find something else to focus on.
Hēn hadn’t given Violet any clear instructions on what to do next, and she wasn’t the type to rigidly follow a pre-planned course of action. Going with the flow was always more important.
As she had mentioned before, she didn’t want to be too deeply tied to the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild, nor did she intend to stay in this port city forever. Over the past few days, she had already mapped out a travel route, planning to head northwest while exploring along the way, just like she had done before.
Her destination? The region where Xiao Guang’s true body was located.
Even though Xiao Guang’s Divinity had unexpectedly returned to her in a juvenile form, that didn’t mean her original body was unimportant. This sudden evolution was far too abrupt to be a natural occurrence. There had to be some unknown external force at play.
Because of the limitations of Divinity development, the young Xiao Guang was still unable to sync memories with her true body. That was why Violet felt it was necessary to personally check things out.
Of course, this wasn’t an urgent matter, just a general plan. Before setting off, she still had to wrap up her current affairs and make the necessary preparations for the journey.
Matters related to the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild could all be handled by Ming Lan, but the same couldn’t be said for Le Qiaoqiao and Hongyan. These two girls weren’t part of the association, they had simply followed Violet into this new nation.
Violet had no intention of keeping them by her side forever, but she also couldn’t just abandon them. Hongyan had come to the Origin Realm in search of an ‘older brother’, while Le Qiaoqiao, though she hadn’t mentioned anything specific, clearly hadn’t just rushed here on a whim.
Unlike Violet’s own plans, the two girls intended to travel westward together, crossing the vast territories of the Austre Empire to reach the Holy Empire at the heart of the continent. Along the way, they planned to train, explore, and pursue their own goals.
Violet had no reason to interfere with their choices. Every journey must come to an end, and she believed she had already protected and guided them plenty throughout their travels. However, if they truly wanted to become strong and accomplish their goals, they would have to overcome obstacles on their own.
Still, before they parted ways, she could offer them a little more help, which happened to align with something she needed to do herself.
"Oh! So this is the legendary Adventurers' Guild? It’s way livelier than I imagined! Boss, can you really get a full meal here every day just by working?!"
Violet glanced at the excited rogue girl, who had just stepped into the guild hall and was already poking and prodding at everything out of curiosity. Meanwhile, she herself was holding the hand of a little blond-haired girl, shaking her head helplessly.
"That’s not really ‘working’ in the usual sense. You take on missions here, complete them, and then come back to collect rewards. So, um… actually, now that I think about it, I guess it is kind of like a job?"
After clearing her throat, Violet got back to the point.
"Anyway, given your situation, if you need spending money without straying too far from your travel plans, registering as adventurers is the best option. This organization has an extensive reach, with branches all over the world. This is just one of many."
"Once you’re registered, no matter where you go, as long as you’re in a decent-sized city, you should be able to make money this way. But remember to be careful, many of these missions can be dangerous, and it’s not uncommon for adventurers to die while completing them."
"Ehh…?"
Le Qiaoqiao turned around, looking a little curious.
"You sound like you really know your stuff... Wait, does that mean you're an adventurer too, Boss? Someone as strong as you actually works for this guild?"
Violet lightly knocked on the overly energetic girl’s head, half amused, half exasperated.
"What do you mean ‘working’? I already told you, adventurers and the Adventurers’ Guild just have a mutually beneficial relationship. Ever heard of ‘mutual collaboration’?"
Shaking her head, she took out her pre-prepared adventurer badge and led the two girls to an open reception desk.
"Hello, could you verify the identity information on this badge? I'd like to vouch for them to register as Mithril-ranked adventurers."
The staff member at the desk was a well-groomed young man wearing the official Adventurers’ Guild uniform. He had an air of refinement, clearly someone who had received a proper education and graduated from an academy.
In the Austre Empire, where the literacy rate was only around 30%, educated individuals like him were relatively rare.
By the way, he was human, and judging by his appearance, he didn’t seem to have mixed blood. Even if he did, it probably wasn’t much.
The royal family of the Austre Empire was technically of mixed human lineage. As a highly centralized empire, its attitude toward non-human races was somewhere between that of the Holy Empire and the Human United Kingdom. Not as inclusive as the Holy Empire, but also not as xenophobic as the Human United Kingdom.
Overall, humans and mixed-blood humans made up about 60% of the empire’s population. The remaining 40% consisted of a wide variety of races, including tree spirit people, sea folk, dragonkin, and many others, more than a dozen major groups in total.
The biggest difference between the Austre Empire and the Holy Empire was that in Austre Empire, different races didn’t mix much. Except for special regions like Coastal City Layla, most areas were overwhelmingly dominated by a single race.
This was mainly due to the empire's history. Unlike the Holy Empire, which was a large, unified nation from the start, the land that now made up the Austre Empire was once a patchwork of over a dozen different small and mid-sized nations, each belonging to different races.
However, one of these nations unexpectedly rose to power due to certain circumstances. Through rapid and aggressive expansion, it systematically conquered its neighboring countries one by one. In just a hundred years, it unified the entire region and transformed into one of the five great powers of the world.
That nation became the Austre Empire, the youngest of the Five Great Powers, a country that fought its way to the top.