"When you come back, buy some mutton at the market. Anzan has passed the pier pilot test and will be taking up his post at the pier tomorrow. Buy some mutton to celebrate," Myss said loudly to her husband Karatz, who had changed into a falconer's attire and was about to go out for work.
"Okay, got it," Karatz responded loudly.
Actually, he didn't need his wife's reminder; he would buy some mutton when he returned anyway, so his wife could make a hometown dish. He would also go to the blacksmith's shop to pick up the longsword specially forged to celebrate his son becoming a pier pilot.
Karatz's residence was on the western slope of Miracle Port, where all the houses were built along the slope. Some were brick houses, some were wooden, and they had styles from different regions. Compared to the neat and uniform houses and streets in the urban area of Miracle Port, this area had a more exotic feel.
Almost all the people living here were slaves from the continent of Essos, or more accurately, former slaves.
A year ago, they were transported in large numbers of ships from Slaver's Bay to Miracle Port. At that time, they all thought they would work in some mine in this foreign land until they died. But what they didn't expect was that after disembarking, their slave collars were removed from their necks, they were declared free, and they were required to repay the money used to purchase them with their monthly wages.
Afterward, all freed slaves were assigned to different places and given different jobs according to their abilities.
Karatz's wife, Myss, was skilled in cooking and had worked as a cook for a slave owner in Meereen. She was assigned to the navy camp as a cook, specifically preparing food for the naval soldiers.
Karatz was a famous falconer from Meereen. He was assigned to Raven's Nest on the hillside outside Miracle Port, where he and other falconers from different places trained carrier falcons for communication.
Compared to his wife, Karatz's salary was very high. He saved all of his wages, only spending his wife's salary each month. Although they lived frugally, not even daring to buy his favorite chewing tobacco, it was all worth it, because after saving five months' worth of his salary, he had already paid off all their family's debts.
He still remembered how excited their family was after repaying their debts. Even now, whenever he recalls that moment, he can feel his blood boiling with excitement. Becoming a free person was something their family had never dared to imagine before.
Therefore, he was also immensely grateful to the Earl of Summerhall, the Chosen of the Seven Linde Terra, who had given him all of this, feeling that he should repay Lynd's kindness with his entire life.
Not only did he think this way, but all the slaves who gained freedom because of Lynd thought the same.
Just two months ago, when Lord Linde came to Miracle Port to inspect the urban construction and the operation of the port's city hall, they saw Lord Linde from afar, riding on a magnificent giant horse, accompanied by a giant beast with black and white fur, and followed by four Bronze Giant guards stationed in Miracle Sanctuary, as well as a fully armored guard cavalry. Everyone spontaneously praised him, and eventually, all the praises turned into the title of Godsworn.
Karatz recalled the scene of that day in his mind as he passed through Miracle Port's Pisces Arch and entered the urban area.
Miracle Port had no city walls, because during construction, the Earl stated that the city would continuously expand outwards, and building walls would be troublesome and wasteful. As for security issues, the Earl did not seem particularly concerned. According to him, if the enemies had already reached the city's edge, having walls or not wouldn't matter.
Although Karatz was from Meereen, he was not a Meereenese himself. His father was a sea merchant, and their family became slaves because of a large debt. When he was young, he was sold to different masters with his father and had visited many cities on the continent of Essos.
And now, this Miracle City was the most organized city he had ever seen. All main roads were built to the width of six carriages abreast and were divided into left and right lanes, with a row of isolation belts called 'green belts' in the middle.
All roads were perfectly straight and perpendicular. Standing on any road, one could clearly see the end of the road's extension. The entire urban area was divided into square regions by these straight and perpendicular roads, and at the center of each road intersection, a stone platform was set up. Every day, four people called 'traffic guides' would take turns on the stone platform to direct carriages and people walking on the roads, correcting traffic jams caused by incorrect driving.
Karatz's youngest son wanted to become a traffic guide when he grew up because traffic guides had immense authority. Even city hall officials who violated regulations while driving would be stopped and penalized by them.
For example, Weiss Rowan, the manager of Miracle Port, was penalized more than once for riding his horse against traffic. Since Weiss Rowan, the top figure in Miracle Port, was penalized, other city officials naturally dared not raise objections.
Karatz could feel Lord Linde's incredibly strong obsession with rules and cleanliness. He not only formulated detailed rules for how to walk on the roads, such as vehicles must follow the left and right lanes, pedestrians must walk along the edge of the road on small paths, and only at road intersections can they cross the road, and so on.
Moreover, he also specifically dug two sewers on both sides of the roads to deal with accumulated water and specially established the position of health worker, responsible for cleaning the roads and the city's garbage and feces. All garbage and feces would be uniformly sent to a place called a garbage treatment plant for sorting. Feces would be transformed into fermented fertilizer needed for farmland, while other garbage would be uniformly sent to a forging facility deep in the Red Mountains for incineration.
The people working at the garbage treatment plant were not ordinary people. They were beggars wandering the streets, criminals who violated regulations, vagrants without a skill, and refugees who had just arrived at Miracle Port and couldn't find work, all of whom would be sent there to work. Except for criminals, others working there could receive ten copper coins daily, which was enough to eat their fill.
Although countless people complained about the strict regulations set by the Earl, and even city hall officials grumbled about the large amount of work these regulations brought them, they also enjoyed the benefits brought by the regulations while complaining. After all, no one wanted to live in a chaotic environment where they could step on garbage and feces at any time.
"Hey! Karatz, I knew waiting here at this time would be right!" As Karatz passed the intersection of Saint Emblem Road and Wheel Road, a richly dressed fat man suddenly ran out of a small tavern by the roadside, grabbed Karatz's sleeve, and greeted him warmly.
Seeing this person, Karatz frowned, pulled his sleeve out of the other's hand, and said sternly, "Mr. Merella, I told you, all letters are opened by designated personnel. I am just a messenger. Please stop bothering me. Instead of trying to get information from someone like me who knows nothing, you might as well wait in the trading hall at the pier. You might get the information you want there."
After speaking, he hurried across the road, no longer paying attention to the fat man.
Watching Karatz leave as if fleeing for his life, the fat man's face turned extremely grim, and a hint of fierceness appeared in his eyes, as if he wanted to solve this matter through other means.
However, before he could figure out how to deal with Karatz, a team of guards wearing blood-red leather armor arrived at the small tavern and took him and his companions away. The entire process was swift and efficient; he didn't even have time to reveal his identity before his mouth was covered, and everyone else in the small tavern hid far away, no one wanting to be associated with them.
At the same time, Karatz was unaware of what happened in the small tavern. The man's harassment earlier had made him realize that this was not something he could handle himself. If it continued, he might be dragged into a bottomless abyss by this guy.
So he decided that once he reached Raven's Nest, he would tell his superior about this matter and have his superior contact the Blood Armor to resolve this trouble, no matter how much he disliked dealing with an intelligence department like the Blood Armor, it was better than having his current peaceful life disrupted by someone.
He passed through Glory Plaza, entered the Avenue of the Seven, walked straight to the end of the road, did not continue up the steps to worship at Miracle Sanctuary, but instead turned into the forest path to the northeast.
There was a guard post at the entrance of this path. When Karatz walked past, although the sentry recognized him, he still carefully checked his identification, registered his name on the entry and exit list, and only let him in after he signed.
Although the trees and grass on both sides of this path were not fenced off, no one dared to approach without permission, because this was where the navy camp and city guard barracks were located. Anyone attempting to trespass would be considered an enemy and directly killed.
Not long ago, a drunken noble trespassed into this area and was shot dead by more than a dozen crossbow bolts before he could even offer an explanation. With such a bloody example, virtually no one approached this area.
After passing through the forest path, Karatz arrived at a fork in the road. The road divided into three, leading respectively to the city guard barracks, the navy camp, and Raven's Nest Hill.
As Karatz was about to take the path to Raven's Nest Hill, a team of valiant female cavalry, dressed in uniform armor, came from the path to the city guard barracks.
In Miracle Port, the city guard was divided into male and female camps. These female cavalry were the unique female city guard.
Although some people were extremely disdainful of the female city guard, even speaking ill of them, they had to admit that the strength of these female cavalry was no less than that of men, especially Daisy Mormont, the commander of the female camp, and Obara Sand, the deputy commander. Both of them were incredibly powerful.
Not long ago, a mercenary team of twenty people suddenly attacked a warehouse storing goods and tried to seize a ship docked at the pier while they were patrolling the pier. As a result, the two of them, working together, swiftly dealt with them as if chopping melons and dicing vegetables.
"Tilan!" As the team of female cavalry passed by, Karatz suddenly raised his hand and waved to one of the female cavalry, shouting her name.
The female cavalry did not turn her head, but squinted at Karatz, seemingly blaming him for greeting her out of place. She did not turn her head to look at Karatz again until the team had passed.
Tilan was Karatz's younger sister, a gladiator in the Meereen arena. Originally, she belonged to another slave trader, but after the merchant from Pentos bought their family, he also bought Tilan at his request.
After arriving at Miracle Port, Tilan immediately joined the guard. Relying on her combat skills gained from fighting in the arena, she quickly gained importance and is now a squad leader in the guard, considered the most successful person in the family.
"Anzan passed the pier pilot test. Myss is preparing a celebration tonight and will make her specialty mutton soup. Remember to come home for dinner tonight!" Karatz shouted loudly to the passing cavalry team.
Tilan did not respond verbally, only raising her hand to indicate that she knew.
Being able to meet his sister on the road, without needing to apply for extra permission to notify her at the barracks, Karatz felt that his luck was quite good today, and his steps were much lighter. He soon arrived at Raven's Nest at the top of the hill.
The entire Raven's Nest was carved out of a huge rock, and each falcon's nest was connected by a sturdy wooden ladder. There were a total of more than forty carrier falcons kept here, cared for by thirteen falconers.
Although in terms of quantity, it couldn't compare to the Raven's Nest on the other side of the city, in terms of importance, the ravens in the Raven's Nest were far inferior to the carrier falcons.
These carrier falcons were mainly used to transmit information between each fleet, and also to transmit some extremely important documents and intelligence within the territory.
Upon arriving at Raven's Nest, Karatz immediately reported what he had encountered on the way to his superior. His superior listened carefully, recorded the content of his narration, then sealed it and had an attendant send it to the Blood Armor's headquarters, the Black House.
Seeing that the matter had been reported, Karatz breathed a slight sigh of relief. He then went to the falcon nests he was responsible for and looked after the carrier falcons with his falcon attendants.
When it was afternoon, as he was about to hand over his work to another falconer, the manager of Raven's Nest hurried to the nest he was responsible for and directly asked, "How is Red Falcon? Can it deliver a message immediately?"
Karatz was stunned when he heard this. Red Falcon was the fastest flying carrier falcon in Raven's Nest, only responsible for transmitting messages to Summerhall Castle. Only extremely important messages would use Red Falcon.
"It can fly at any time," Karatz replied quickly without thinking much.
The manager of Raven's Nest immediately took out a wax-sealed copper tube, handed it to Karatz, and had Karatz select a Red Falcon, tie the copper tube to Red Falcon's claw, and watched him release it before turning to leave.
"What do you think happened?" another falconer who witnessed all this asked curiously.
"I'm not sure," Karatz shook his head slightly and said, "It might be related to the naval fleet. The copper tube had a naval fleet mark on it just now."
The falconer asked in confusion, "Naval fleet? Is it another message about occupying some small island?"
"The Dorne Sea is already an inland sea. Where are there any islands to occupy? It must be because of something else," Karatz shook his head, responding to his colleague's words, but his mind had already flown home.
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