Crossover Anime: Destroying Tokyo by One Person

Chapter 121 This is not a fairy tale at all (4K)

Sunset City.

Sunset City was the largest and most prosperous city in the former Rosk family territory.

The name of a city doesn't mean much.

It's just that when this city was first built, the lord at the time really liked the sunsets here.

Although Sunset City is located by the sea, it does not have the conditions to build a large port; it only has a small-scale port.

Although there were merchant ships coming and going, they were not many.

Well, if there had been a bustling port here, the Duke of Meysfield would never have granted this land to the Rothske family.

After all, the so-called enfeoffment is the act of giving away a portion of one's own territory to others.

Unless it is a nominal title without territory.

However, the viscount title of the Rothske family is a legitimate title with a fiefdom.

Unless there is a major reason, no one would normally share their family's significant interests.

Therefore, although Sunset City was the largest and most prosperous city in the former Rosk family territory, it was nothing more than that. It could not compare with the bustling ports, the constant flow of merchant ships, and the daily revenue from trade taxes that made a fortune.

The main industry here is still fishing.

There are many villages in the vicinity inhabited by fishermen.

People rely on fishing at sea for a living.

They won't starve, but they don't have much money either.

Because of the lack of preservation and transportation technologies in the agricultural era, fishermen had very little bargaining power.

They are often completely controlled by businessmen.

You won't sell because the price is too low?

If we don't sell, we'll be stuck with this stock.

Another factor is competition from peers.

After all, the ocean is rich in fish resources.

This has led to fierce competition among fishermen.

Certainly, they can unite, but this is not something that can be accomplished simply by talking.

Moreover, the merchants could not stand idly by and watch them unite, and behind those merchants often stood nobles or even local lords.

Otherwise, they would not be able to protect their wealth at all.

In short, the living standards of the lower classes in feudal society were just so-so. Even in the so-called prosperous times, most people could barely get enough to eat.

Xu Yuan rode his horse leisurely to the city gate.

I presented my identification documents.

(Obtained by Crow after he took control of the Rosk family)

After paying the city entrance fee and giving the city guards some bribes, they were finally able to enter the city.

But he was stopped by the guards shortly afterward.

They said he was riding a horse in the city, which violated the relevant regulations, and he would be fined.

Xu Yuan was somewhat taken aback.

Because he rode a horse into the city.

The guards at the city gate acted as if they hadn't seen him and did not stop him.

Therefore, he assumed that riding horses was permitted within the city.

And now someone pops up and tells him he can't?!

After paying the fine, Xu Yuan touched his chin.

Hmm—did the guards at the city gate deliberately not warn him?! Was he tricked?!

However, he was not angry.

Firstly, this money doesn't belong to him.

They were all found.

Secondly, the more this is the case, the more it shows that the local officials have made a mess of the place.

Indeed, human energy is finite.

When people are busy fighting and amassing wealth, they naturally have no energy left to govern the local area.

Or perhaps the Baird royal family simply selected people who were good at fighting but not good at governing.

After all, people who are good at both are relatively rare.

Xu Yuan led his horse and strolled along the street.

Most of the buildings that can be seen are two or three stories high, European-style buildings.

The sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze was blowing.

There was an indescribable stench in the air.

It smells like a mixture of fishy and putrid odors, which are released after a long period of fermentation.

Admittedly, there is no industrial waste gas pollution in this era.

However, with such poor sanitation, the air quality is actually far inferior to that of most modern cities.

The street beneath my feet was paved with black stone slabs.

It should have been grayish-white, but because it has not been cleaned for many years, it has turned black.

Looking up, you can see things on both sides of the street ahead that are either excrement or vomit.

The water flowed everywhere.

Xu Yuan scanned the area with his soul power and discovered that there were quite a few similar cases as he continued forward.

As a modern person who showers every day and is somewhat obsessive about cleanliness, I was stunned to see this scene.

So he turned around and walked toward the guards who were following him not far away.

The two guards were probably waiting for him to break the rules.

"How much does it cost to ride a horse in the city?" Xu Yuan asked.

The two guards chuckled: "One gold coin."

Xu Yuan took out a gold coin from his pocket and gave it to them.

After the two confirmed the authenticity of the document, they agreed that it was genuine.

One of them took out a small wooden tag, hung it around the horse's neck, and said with a smile, "That's fine, please take care."

As guards, they knew how to treat people differently based on their status.

Xu Yuansheng was tall and fair-skinned with bright eyes. He spoke, acted, and walked with neither arrogance nor servility.

The guards thought he must be someone important.

It's okay to trick him within the rules, but I wouldn't dare to kill him or rob him.

These people are greedy and cowardly.

Although their actions resembled those of robbers, they were not true robbers who killed and stole.

After spending one gold coin, Xu Yuan mounted his horse.

The stench in the air still lingered.

But at least you don't have to worry about stepping on the excrement and vomit that are everywhere on the street.

Xu Yuan inquired about the location of the market and then rode his horse in that direction.

Everyone I met along the way seemed to be in a hurry, with blank expressions.

Perhaps because Claymore is a work with relatively realistic background details, coupled with a dark and cruel story style, the world it creates is not as leisurely and beautiful as many other isekai anime.

This place is not a fairy tale at all.

It is not so much that it is unbearable to look at because it is real.

When we arrived at the market, the stench in the air was even stronger and more complicated and indescribable.

There weren't many stalls along the roadside.

There weren't many customers coming and going.

Occasionally, someone would stop in front of the stall and exchange a few words.

Xu Yuan did not find anything extraordinary.

Well, that was expected.

There are still too few traces of the extraordinary on this war-torn continent.

He came here mainly to see how the city is doing.

The result is that it's quite in line with the times.

Backward and dirty.

It's similar to Dawn Island.

Just then, shouts reached his ears.

Xu Yuan walked a little further and saw an open space.

Wooden cages were placed in the open space.

The cage contains goods and people.

Men and women.

There are also children.

Like chickens and ducks in a market, they were stuffed into those cages.

Some are dressed up and placed in separate cages.

Those were all attractive women.

They were kept in cages, with many parts of their bodies exposed, like pets displayed in a flower and bird market.

Those who selected slaves stood outside the cages, consulting and negotiating prices with the merchants.

"Oh, young sir, is there anything I can do to help you?"

The slave traders saw Xu Yuan riding a horse.

They immediately walked over to him after noticing the small wooden sign on the horse's neck.

After all, someone who is willing to spend a gold coin to ride a horse in the city is definitely not short of money.

These slave traders were dressed in clean and tidy clothes, with gentle smiles on their faces. They even bowed to Xu Yuan when they spoke to him, and their behavior was very proper.

They may even have received specialized training.

This is completely different from the unscrupulous merchant image commonly seen in anime.

Sure enough, you can't tell the difference between garbage and trash.

Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze, did not speak to them, and pulled on the reins to leave.

He can't help everyone, but if he sees something and doesn't help, that's a different matter.

However, he doesn't intend to pay.

After leaving the market, Xu Yuan wandered around other parts of the city.

They even found a restaurant and ordered some food.

The ingredients were processed very roughly, the cooking method was too simple, and the taste was very monotonous.

Overall, the taste was rather bad.

After taking two bites, Xu Yuan gave the rest to the beggar at the door.

He wandered around the city for a while, but found nothing of value, and then left Sunset City.

After walking a few miles, Xu Yuan suddenly stopped and turned around to look behind him.

A dozen or so people on horseback appeared in sight.

They were masked and carried knives; their eyes lit up when they saw him.

A few minutes later, having obtained the information, Xu Yuan dealt with the last few people and then burned their bodies.

After finding a secluded spot to tie up his horse, he revealed the [Ghost Cloak], activating its ability to reduce his presence, and returned to Sunset City.

Soon, the city's largest gang vanished without a trace.

Along with him, the guard who had passed on his information to them also vanished without a trace.

He truly vanished from the face of the earth.

The kind where even the body can't be found.

This commotion threw Sunset City into chaos.

The slave traders, who had originally planned to stay for a few days, sensed danger, packed their things, and left the city overnight, disappearing into the vast wilderness. No one ever saw them again.

"No, Lead went out for a stroll and came back with so many slaves?!" Theresa exclaimed in astonishment.

It's not that I'm against it, I just find it very surprising.

"I didn't buy it, I found it," Xu Yuan said.

"Found it?!"

Theresa's expression turned strange upon hearing this.

She had heard of people picking up money and bread, but this was the first time she had ever heard of picking up slaves.

And there are so many.

If I count them roughly, there must be dozens, right?

"What about the cows and horses?"

"I found it too."

"Oh." Theresa nodded.

I feel like I understand what's going on now.

Slave traders all became officials, so they must have picked them up, right?

Xu Yuan reached out and beckoned to the people he had rescued from the cellar a few days earlier.

Those people immediately came over: "Sir..."

As they spoke, they couldn't help but glance at the people he had brought back.

Most of them were dressed in rags, while a small number were beautiful women who had dressed up specially.

They didn't quite fit together.

Yet it felt strangely harmonious.

Because they all looked numb and submissive.

They had marks on their necks from wearing collars for a long time, and their wrists showed signs of binding.

Even though they were wearing collars and ropes, it was still easy to tell that they were slaves.

"Leaders, go and settle them in. They are no longer slaves; from now on, they will attend classes with the leaders."

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, go ahead and get busy."

Ideological reform cannot be effective in just one or two days.

In fact, all the people Xu Yuan rescued from the cellar regarded him as both a benefactor and a master.

However, ideological reform was not Xu Yuan's job.

He saved these people, including the original slaves, but he wasn't firm on their ideology.

We're going to hand them over to Wen Anguo and the others.

"What about that Sunset City?" Theresa asked.

"That's how it was, backward, ignorant, dirty and chaotic."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan took a miniature camera off his person and tossed it to her: "If you're interested, take a look for yourself."

This was also one of the purposes of his trip to Sunset City.

Bo Jing, as a modern person, Xu Yuan knows all too well the importance of publicity.

I went to take a look this time, and also took some footage.

Perhaps we'll need it in the future.

"Where are Avina and the others?" Xu Yuan asked.

"Studying."

"What to study?"

What does lead say?

"All right."

Xu Yuan shrugged.

The people most interested in Wen Anguo's lectures were not the people he had rescued from the cellar, but Avina and her group.

The three siblings are extremely enthusiastic about learning.

Especially the part about political ideology.

Xu Yuan even had some doubts that one day they might suddenly blurt out the phrase "serve the people."

As they were talking, Little Crow returned.

"Master, shall we take a look at the Rosk family's treasury?"

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "Okay."

After saying that, he waved to Theresa and went out again.

The Rosk family has defensive array plates.

It's similar to the one in the organization's base.

But if that thing isn't turned on, it's no different from scrap metal.

A few days ago, the crow in its raven form swaggered in and then took control of important figures, including the patriarch and the greatsword warrior.

After that, Xu Yuan simply had it take control of the officials sent by the royal family as well.

The former Rosk family territory has now secretly fallen into Xu Yuan's hands.

He even felt that this model could be replicated.

Those guards, including earls, marquises, and dukes, were certainly aware of the situation, but at the very least, lower-ranking nobles like viscounts and barons were not difficult to control.

If such a group of nobles and officials can be controlled, the work behind enemy lines will be much simpler.

When the attack comes, these people can coordinate from within and without.

In addition, they are bound to owe some good things.

After arriving at the city of the Rosk family with Little Crow, Xu Yuan quickly reached the location of the treasure vault.

Meanwhile, Viscount Chester Rothke, the current patriarch of the Rothke family—a middle-aged man with a somewhat cold and strange expression—was already waiting outside the treasury.

Upon seeing the crow, he immediately knelt on one knee and said, "Welcome back, Master."

Little Crow nodded to him, then introduced Xu Yuan to him: "This is my master. Lead should show him more respect than he shows me."

Upon hearing this, Chester Rosk knelt down, prostrated himself on the ground, and exclaimed, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Xu Yuan said calmly, "Get up."

This time, he also said that he could simply be called "sir".

Because Chester Rosk isn't a good person; he's just currently being controlled by Raven.

"Open the treasure vault."

"Yes."

Viscount Roscoe pressed something on the wall.

Then something resembling a keypad popped up.

Xu Yuan watched with a calm expression.

This kind of thing can only protect ordinary people; it can't stop people with super-bright eyes at all. At worst, they can just break through the wall and get in.

Viscount Roscoe grasped the snap, turned it left and right, fiddled with it for a while, and then carefully took out the key from his inner pocket and inserted it into the keyhole.

Turn the key, and the door opens.