Chapter 20: Golden Wheat Town

"Whew... finally, we're out."

After spending more than a week in the forest, seeing houses and crowds again gave Li Rui a sudden sense of having lived through an entire lifetime. No, it wasn't just a sense; it really was a different lifetime.

Looking at the low wooden houses before him and the people dressed in outdated clothing, he found himself longing once again for the distant world of Earth and the convenient life he had once known.

He and Paul's squad had emerged from the forest at a large logging camp. Most monsters in a low-level monster forest—aside from the Wind Wolves that rarely left the core area and the timid Ice Demon Rabbits that were too cowardly to use their ice spikes—were weaklings that an adult man could easily overpower in a one-on-one fight.

For this reason, the northern border of Golden Wheat Town, which hugged the forest, was lined with medium to large logging camps. The lumberjacks were all brawny, stout men, and with guards specifically hired by the camps to protect them, groups of monsters below the rank of a hundred goblins were nothing more than fodder to them.

When the lumberjacks and mercenaries saw Li Rui and his group, they didn't find it strange, nor did they crowd around to interrogate them. Logging camps were scattered throughout the outskirts of the forest, and as the camps constantly expanded deeper into the woods, it was common for adventurers to take a wrong turn and stumble upon one.

But this time, it was different.

The people at the logging camp didn't come over to ask questions; instead, Paul took the initiative and led his group toward them.

"Hey! Who's in charge here?"

Hearing Paul’s shout, the tallest man among the lumberjacks stepped forward. "I am. What do you want?"

The man was drenched in sweat, having been swinging an axe at a large tree just moments before Paul called out. His clothes were dirty, and a heavy, acrid smell of sweat hung about him. It seemed the owner of this logging camp must be quite poor, otherwise, even the person in charge wouldn't look so destitute.

"We are the 'Claws of the Earth' adventurer party. We received an investigation mission a few days ago..."

Paul briefly introduced his squad and informed the logging camp foreman of the investigation mission. As he spoke, the lumberjacks gradually gathered around.

"It has now been confirmed that the white city, which appeared in the forest due to a [Territorial Anomaly], houses extremely dangerous monsters. There is a high probability that they will eventually rule the entire forest."

Upon hearing this, the lumberjacks were in an uproar. Once a monster forest was ruled by a specific species of monster, the danger level of that forest would skyrocket. In time, the forest and the surrounding area would become a forbidden zone for commoners like them.

To enter meant certain death! In other words... they were going to lose their jobs.

After breaking the news, Paul didn't concern himself with the reaction of the lumberjacks and immediately led his squad away. He was merely a low-ranking spellcaster, the captain of a small adventurer squad; he was powerless to change the impact the pure white city would have on the commoners of Golden Wheat Town. All he could do now was report the matter to the Adventurers' Guild in Golden Wheat Town as quickly as possible.

Once they left the logging camp, a vast stretch of wasteland came into view. The land was overgrown with weeds and dotted with tree stumps—the remnants left behind as the monster forest was slowly devoured by the logging industry.

If a monster forest failed to produce a monster race capable of ruling the entire woods, it would inevitably be logged out of existence. The monsters within, finding their living space constantly shrinking, would eventually trigger a "Monster Tide," launching a desperate, all-or-nothing war against human settlements.

Naturally, the final result was usually the total extermination of the monsters, and the center of the forest—where magical energy was most concentrated—would be transformed into a towering Wizard’s Tower. Once a Wizard’s Tower was established, the space within a radius of thousands of kilometers would be anchored, ensuring that no more [Territorial Anomalies] could occur.

However, places like Golden Wheat Town were practically on the edge of civilization; there wasn't a single Wizard’s Tower within reach to protect them. Were it not for the necessities of life, few people would willingly choose to live here.

The wilderness between Golden Wheat Town and the monster forest was vast. After leaving the logging camp, they walked for another four or five kilometers before the walls of Golden Wheat Town came into view.

Most parts of the Endi world were unsafe. Aside from towns on the outskirts of major cities that were protected by Wizard’s Towers and had no need to fear monster raids, every other town was fortified with walls. Moreover, due to the existence of extraordinary power, the walls in this world were built exceptionally high.

Although Golden Wheat Town was merely a small town on the fringe of civilization, it possessed granite walls a full eight meters high. The top was wide enough for three horse-drawn carriages to travel side-by-side, and the northern face of the wall was lined with ten catapults and twenty-two ballistae.

Because it was not currently a time of war, these defensive siege engines were covered in waterproof tarps, making it impossible to see their true form.

Li Rui’s knowledge of Golden Wheat Town came entirely from "Jay’s Memory of Common Language," but this consisted only of linguistic and textual knowledge, not images, sounds, or scents. As he looked at Golden Wheat Town, it felt like seeing a town he had only read about in books—somewhat familiar, yet strange.

Walking to the town gate and paying a copper coin as an entrance tax after lining up behind a group of lumberjacks, he finally saw the interior of this medieval town with his own eyes.

Beyond the gate was a main street wide enough for eight or nine carriages to drive abreast. The street was paved with large wooden planks and crushed stone; it looked quite clean, lacking the filth and refuse one might expect of a medieval town on Earth.

Golden Wheat Town had four gates—North, South, East, and West—and the entire town was divided into four large sections by the main roads extending from these gates. The northeast and northwest sections, near the northern monster forest, were the gathering areas for adventurers and lumberjacks; the Adventurers' Guild, the temple, and the best taverns were all located there.

In this world, temples were generally in short supply, limited by the number of qualified professional clerics (those who were sufficiently pious, efficient, eloquent, and held a high enough clerical rank). However, a key town like Golden Wheat, which stood guard at the edge of the monster forest, would naturally not lack a temple.

Just as he walked through the gate into Golden Wheat Town, Li Rui saw the temple on the right and the Adventurers' Guild on the left.

The temple here belonged to Tymora, the Goddess of Luck. The entire structure was built of snow-white marble and stood three stories high. Between each floor, golden and pale green runes acted like chains, dividing the outer walls into three sections.

At the top of the Temple of Luck was a pyramid-shaped dome, and at the very apex sat a massive gold coin, one meter in diameter, which rotated slowly day and night. That was the holy symbol of the Goddess Tymora: one side was blank, while the other was engraved with the smiling profile and long hair of the goddess, surrounded by numerous four-leaf clovers representing good fortune.

The Temple of Luck was the tallest building in all of Golden Wheat Town, and the massive, rotating gold coin atop it could be seen even from outside the town walls.

Everyone in Golden Wheat Town had a habit: whenever they faced a decision requiring luck, they would look up at the lucky gold coin, using whichever side was facing them to decide whether or not to proceed. Everyone believed that if they saw the Goddess of Luck’s smile after making a decision, it meant they had received her favor, and good fortune would follow in their next endeavor.