Ch. 157 Regarding the strange misunderstanding caused by the sword in the stone

The city was named Lancaster.

The name of this city came from a combination of Celtic and Latin, meaning castle by the river.

Unlike Bangor, Lancaster was already a sizable settlement when the Romans still ruled Britain.

It had towering rock and concrete walls and towers of the same material.

The Romans liked white and red; white was the color of marble, and red represented Rome.

Therefore, the cities they built were mostly white and red—white walls and red tiles.

Even without marble, the Romans would brush the walls of houses with white lime.

The Britons inherited the legacy left by the Romans. This island had been ruled by the Romans for three hundred years. Although the Romans also treated this place as Roman land, what was different from the Anglo-Saxons was…

They brought more than just conquest.

In the era when polytheism was still prevalent, the Romans worshipped the gods of Britain, the Romans turned the villages of the Britons into cities, and the Romans built the Great Wall to resist the northern Picts.

And on the two-sided gold coins, one side was the Roman Emperor, and the other side was the Goddess of Britain.

In Wales and Cornwall, people considered themselves the guardians of the Roman legacy.

Egde’s messenger had long ago notified the King of their arrival here.

The soldiers opened the city gate, and Egde led his people into the city.

The King’s envoy rode a horse, waiting for Egde’s arrival behind the gate.

“Please follow me, Sir Egde. His Majesty has read your letter.”

“His Majesty’s magnanimity makes me feel overwhelmed with gratitude,” Egde lowered his head and said humbly.

This was not a victory.

The people walking into the city, staring at the gazes of the city’s residents—whether villagers or soldiers—none of them held their heads high.

The people inside Lancaster were whispering among themselves.

They were worried that these ‘refugees’ would squeeze their living space; everything in the city was supposed to be planned.

The cities built by the Romans were like chessboards. The Britons who inherited this legacy had no intention of breaking this fine tradition. When to build which houses in this city, who should live where, and what each area was used for were all carefully planned.

And with so many refugees flooding in all at once, it would definitely break the original daily routines of the residents.

How to settle these people would be a major problem for the King.

The official led these three hundred-plus people, winding through the orderly streets.

This city was much larger than Bangor, with a population of perhaps nearly ten thousand.

Moreover, in terms of sensory experience, the large amount of brick and concrete buildings made people feel the existence of civilization more than the earth-and-wood buildings of Bangor.

Wilden closed his eyes and took a breath of the city air.

“This reminds me of Leyndell.”

“Is Leyndell like this?” Mia asked curiously.

If the royal capital of the Erdtree was merely like this, it would clearly be lacking in grandeur.

Wilden shook his head. “Just seeing a corner like this, there are some similarities, that’s all.”

“Ah, I see,” Mia nodded.

The concrete streets covering the entire city gave her a sense of déjà vu, like a pedestrian street from her previous life.

The streets were very clean, without the stereotypical filth and open sewage one would expect from a medieval city.

The Anglo-Saxons had not yet destroyed the heritage of this island.

But if history followed its original trajectory, it was bound to happen.

Britain was not like The Lands Between; in The Lands Between, almost everything had been destroyed. But here, even though it was in decline, civilization had not yet been demolished.

Aside from the war, everything here was orderly, peaceful, and prosperous.

Inexplicably, a sense of pity welled up in Mia’s heart.

What if the civilization on this island could be preserved? What if these beautiful buildings weren’t destroyed?

“Now this is what you call a city,” Merlin said, his eyes darting around restlessly.

Anyone who knew Merlin even slightly would know exactly what he was thinking right now.

There was a fifty percent chance he was thinking about young girls, and the other fifty percent chance he was thinking about women.

In short, given his usual philandering nature, the moment he dropped Artoria off, he would likely rush into the gentle embrace of the big city’s pleasures.

Mia also liked cities. Although she wasn’t very fond of active socializing, even just watching the people coming and going in a city was much better than the endless wilderness.

The place designated for the villagers was an oval arena.

Britons did not have the custom of watching gladiatorial combat, so this oval building, filled with decorative columns, was used as a tournament ground for knights.

But now was not the time for a tournament. The King had ordered his Soldier to clear the open space in the arena to house the refugees from the village.

“There are no ready-made dwellings in the city, so I must ask you and your people to settle here for the time being.”

Sir Egde quickly thanked him sincerely.

The environment here had already far exceeded his expectations. Egde understood that refugees were rarely welcomed anywhere.

He had thought the King would just assign them a random patch of empty ground under the city walls, but he hadn’t expected them to be placed directly inside the arena.

“I must go and report the news of your arrival. His Majesty wishes to see you as soon as possible.”

The official finished speaking and left.

Egde gave a short speech to the villagers, announcing that the hardest times were over and that under the King’s leadership, they would surely reclaim their homes.

The effect of the speech was somewhat weak.

The villagers had carried their loads and driven their livestock, traveling day and night for three days to reach this city. Most people’s only wish was to get a good night’s sleep, whether they had a bed or not.

The people yearned for rest.

Egde summoned his officer and instructed him to have men guard the arena’s entrance, preferably not letting anyone out.

If someone wanted to go out to buy supplies or something else, they had to submit an application to the officer, who would then select a representative to make the purchases on their behalf.

Under no circumstances could these villagers be allowed to disrupt the order of the city.

Egde was well aware that they were guests.

Before heading to the palace, Egde found Artoria.

“Lord Egde,” Artoria quickly stood up and gave a polite nod. “We will be leaving here soon.”

She still remembered her original agreement with Egde.

Once they reached the city, they were to stay away from the war.

“No,” Egde shook his head. “I’m not here to drive you away. On the contrary, I think I owe you an apology.”

“I judged you by your appearance back then.”

The knight said.

When Kay and Artoria first met Egde, he had looked down on them with a sense of superiority belonging to an elder.

But in the subsequent battles, both Kay and Artoria had demonstrated strength that was not inferior to that of a mature warrior.

The two wanted to say something polite, but Egde didn’t want his apology to seem insignificant.

He immediately followed up, “I think you can come with me to see the King.”

“But the King doesn’t seem to have summoned us?” Kay said.

“Indeed he hasn’t, but I feel that if I can introduce you to my Majesty, it will also be my honor.”

Naturally, there was also Mia.