Elven cultivators

Green Heights, Azurescale City.

This core city, belonging to the Bilin clan, is located on a promontory on the southeastern coast of the Green Highlands, surrounded by the sea on three sides and facing the land on one side.

The gray-blue city wall is built from whole pieces of sea reef stones. The surface of the stones is covered with countless tiny holes, which are traces left by ancient corals and shellfish. They have long since become smooth and warm under the erosion of time.

The city gates were wide open, with two iron-clad oak doors slamming inward.

The queue to enter the city snaked like a snake, stretching from the city gate to the port hundreds of meters away.

Two officers leaned against the crenellations of the city wall, their eyes sweeping over the procession entering the city below.

"Another caravan from the Iron Hill Kingdom. How many this month?" Jonah asked.

"Who remembers?" Field shrugged. "Anyway, it's much more than before."

Jonah laughed and said, "I heard from the tax office the other day that the city entrance tax in Bilin City has almost doubled this year compared to last year. Those people in the council hall must be laughing in their dreams."

Field smiled too.

Greenscale City is now the busiest port in Green Highlands, bar none.

Goods from the Silvermoon Clan, transported from the Eldron Plains, are gathered here before being distributed to the Thunder River Basin, the Frostridge Plateau, and even further to the Ironhill Kingdom.

Merchants lined up to unload their goods, while dockworkers worked from morning till night, without even a moment to drink water.

As a transit hub for goods distribution, Bilin City collects more tolls and storage fees than it used to collect in a whole year.

All of this is a change that occurred after the Azure Scale Clan became a vassal race of the Silver Moon Clan.

Thinking about all this, Field couldn't help but sigh.

When the city lord defied public opinion and offered the magic stone mine to the Silver Moon Clan, and pledged allegiance to the Silver Moon Clan, many people were dissatisfied and privately said that the city lord was a traitor.

However, as Bilin City has developed better and better over the years, leading to the prosperity of the entire Bilin clan and higher and higher tax revenues year by year, those who used to curse the most have now all shut their mouths.

Today, no one complains anymore; all that remains is flattery of the city lord and gratitude for having joined the Silver Moon Clan.

Especially recently, news of frequent unrest has been coming from various places, while the Green Highlands, under the control of the Silvermoon Clan, remain peaceful and tranquil.

Such a stark contrast made the Bilin clan even more grateful for their initial decision.

As they were talking, Jonah's gaze suddenly froze, and he let out a soft exclamation.

Field followed his gaze and saw a large procession marching from the end of the road toward the city gate.

The group consisted of about seven or eight hundred people, including men, women, and children, with their families in tow and carrying large and small packages, looking as if they had migrated from a very far place.

They were well-proportioned with long limbs and looked similar to humans, except that their forearms and calves were covered with a layer of fine, grayish-brown short hair.

In addition, it has a pair of furry ears on its head, with large auricles that tilt slightly forward, like two radars that are always upright, constantly turning slightly to capture the surrounding movements.

"They are dog-people." Field recognized the origin of this group of demi-human beings.

Jonah was somewhat surprised: "So many dog-people, it seems the entire clan is here. What are they planning to do?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jonah turned around and was about to call his men to stop the group of dog-men.

He couldn't afford to let so many dog-people of unknown origin enter Bilin City if something happened.

Let's stop them and question them first.

But before Jonah could make a move, he was stopped by Field.

"Wait a minute." Field gestured toward the dog-man pack. "Look over there."

Jonah looked closely and then noticed that there were dozens of elven warriors following on the flank of the dog-man army.

They were all dressed in uniform dark blue leather armor.

On his chest, a silver oak emblem stood out prominently in the sunlight.

That's the symbol of the Silvermoon Legion.

Jonah suddenly realized.

With the Silvermoon Legion escorting them, it seems that these dog-men are most likely vassal races who have joined the Silvermoon Clan.

At the same time, as the dog-men approached, a commotion broke out at the city gate.

Many of the caravans that were queuing up cast curious glances at the scene.

But most of the attention fell on the group of elven warriors.

In the Eldron Plains and Green Highlands, elves are arguably the most privileged group.

Not to mention that the soldiers here are from the Silvermoon Legion.

The latter is the infamous Black Iron Legion.

The most powerful military force on this land!

Coming to his senses, a guard at the city gate immediately greeted him with a beaming smile.

"Come on, let's go down too." Field patted Jonah on the shoulder. "It would be good to exchange a few words with an officer of the Silvermoon Legion."

Jonah nodded without hesitation.

Judging from the number of people, this should be a squadron of the Silvermoon Legion.

According to the Silvermoon Legion's organization, an elf who can serve as a squad leader must be at least a Silver-ranking elf, and possibly even a Silver-ranking elf at the peak.

With such strength and status, he would deserve the title of "big shot" anywhere.

Although they were officers of the Bilin clan, they dared not be negligent.

However, before the two could turn around, they suddenly saw a girl rush out from the group of dog-people, charging angrily towards a nearby caravan.

The two caravan guards instinctively reached out to stop her, but before they could grab the dog-woman's arms, she knocked them to the ground with a single punch each.

Jonah and Field were slightly taken aback.

These days, those who can serve as caravan guards are at least of mid-to-upper-level silver-ranked, and would be considered quite capable even among the city guards of ordinary towns.

This dog-woman girl looked to be no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, and her body had not yet fully developed, yet she was able to defeat two adult guards in a single exchange. Her strength was already quite remarkable.

"Stop her! You damned beast!"

A middle-aged man who looked like the leader of a caravan had a livid face and shouted at the top of his lungs.

The caravan guards drew their weapons and rushed towards the dog-woman girl.

However, many young and strong men from the dog-men tribe also rushed forward.

The two sides instantly engaged in a chaotic battle.

The surrounding caravans were so frightened that they retreated in all directions. The carriages were pushed to the side of the road, and the cargo boxes were overturned. Chaos broke out at the city gate.

Jonah and Field's expressions changed, and they immediately walked down from the city wall.

"What are you standing there for? Stop them!"

Seeing the soldiers standing there dumbfounded, Jonah started cursing in annoyance.

The soldiers snapped out of their daze and charged forward with shouts, lowering their spears and raising their shields to separate the two sides in the conflict.

"stop!"

"Everyone, step back!"

"Don't blame us for being impolite if you don't stop!"

Under the stern shouts and the intimidation of the city guards' weapons, the dog-people and the caravan guards finally separated.

The dog-woman who was the first to rush towards the caravan had a wound on her forehead, and blood was flowing down her cheek, staining half of her face red.

But she ignored her completely, still baring her teeth and glaring fiercely at the caravan members.

Field's gaze swept over both of them, his brow furrowed, and he asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

The middle-aged man from the caravan bowed to Field and frowned, saying, "Lord Field, this is really not our fault. Those dogmen went crazy and suddenly charged at us. We were just defending ourselves."

Field glanced at the still furious dog-men, ignored them, and looked directly at the elven captain in the lead.

The latter is the real person in charge of this team.

The elf captain frowned, looking at the dog-man chieftain with displeasure, and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

Their duty was to escort the dog-people into the Green Highlands and hand them over to the people who would meet them.

As long as their safety is guaranteed, they are not to be used as a backer for the dog-people to do evil.

Without a reasonable explanation, don't blame him for not protecting them.

The chieftain of the dog-people tribe was a burly man. Just as he was about to explain, the dog-people girl, her face covered in blood, spoke first: "These guys are slave traders. They captured our people not long ago. I can smell it now! The captured people are on their carts!"

slave traders?

Jonah and Field both frowned and turned their gazes toward the caravan.

They hadn't noticed it before, but upon closer inspection, they indeed discovered something amiss.

This caravan indeed had far more guards than ordinary caravans, and each of them was strong and sturdy, with short swords or hand axes hanging at their waists, and some even carrying powerful crossbows.

The convoy consisted of more than a dozen large trucks, most of which were covered with thick black tarpaulins, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Most suspiciously, the wheels of the last few trucks in the convoy left much deeper ruts in the mud than those of the other vehicles.

Field had been an officer for over a decade; what hadn't he seen?

He could tell at a glance that the depth of those ruts was not something that could be made by ordinary cargo.

unless……

His gaze sharpened as he stared at the middle-aged man, his tone turning colder: "Are you a slave hunting team?"

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, and his eyes flickered for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal.

He didn't deny it, but simply shrugged and said, "Sir, shouldn't the slave trade be allowed in Bilin City? We haven't violated any rules."

Field narrowed his eyes but remained silent.

The city of Bilin does not prohibit the slave trade.

No town, big or small, in Green Heights would prohibit it.

The dog-woman girl became even more enraged upon hearing this: "You captured our people, and you still have the nerve to say such things!"

The other dog-riders also glared angrily at the caravan.

"Release our people at once!"

"Shameless slave traders!"

"Hand them over!"

Jonah and Field exchanged a glance, both looking troubled.

Although the slave hunters were despised, as the middle-aged man said, they had not violated any of the laws of Azurescale City.

Forcing them to release the person would be breaking the rules.

In any commercially developed town, rules and regulations are paramount.

Once a ruler actively breaks the rules and loses the trust of caravans, fewer and fewer caravans will visit the town in the future.

In this vicious cycle, the town will soon decline.

There are many similar examples.

But if they just let the slave hunters go, they wouldn't be able to explain it to the other side.

If it were just a dog-man, the Azurescale Clan wouldn't even consider it a threat.

However, the Silver Moon Clan's status as a vassal race was something the Azure Scale Clan could not afford to ignore.

Especially noteworthy is the presence of the Silvermoon Legion's elves.

To allow their vassal race to be humiliated by the slave-hunting team right in front of them—if this gets back to the Silvermoon Clan, the Azurescale Clan will likely have a hard time explaining themselves.

If the Silvermoon Clan develops a negative view of the Azurescale Clan as a result, then it would be a great loss.

Jonah and Field were caught in a dilemma, their expressions shifting between anger and uncertainty.