How big the gap is between Parnilla and Ecasta is difficult to explain in a few words. Tian ""Lai Novel"． 』⒉
Even our Luoan girl, who has traveled to many west coast countries and even traveled as far as the southern border and Abu Sera, has never experienced this before. After all, the west coast is basically the same, while in the south they only stayed in a small town, and Abu Serra is vast and uninhabited. The three are far from being "civilized".
The beauty of nature can indeed give people a sense of majestic shock, but it is hazy and out of reach, because the power of nature is completely beyond the reach of human beings - just like the stars hanging high in the sky, people are unable to reach it because of its height. And admire, but because I am too small to fully appreciate everything.
But Parnilla is different.
As a human being, even if we do not possess such profound knowledge, when we see that our own kind can build such a magnificent building brick by stone, the shock that is so profound that our bones tremble is far more powerful than looking up at the mountains and the mountains. The sea is more powerful.
These mortal ants, who are extremely small compared to the mountains and seas, have built glorious achievements that are far greater than themselves.
To this day, the Luoan girl can finally understand to some extent the feelings of Laman scholars in books when they arrogantly declare that their motherland is the "pride of mankind."
After finishing the meal and placing their luggage, the group split into two groups. Ming Na and others with envoy status went to handle affairs related to the country's diplomacy, while Henry, Muna and his party started wandering around, intending to purchase some materials and equipment needed for subsequent local operations.
Perhaps because of her full stomach, Mira became calmer and more focused, and resumed her observation course as a way of learning. But after just paying a little attention to her surroundings, she stopped and couldn't move any further.
What is the difference between the civilization of the ancient empire and the war-torn small kingdoms on the west coast?
It's a question, but it has more than one answer.
The population of Parnilla is extremely large and concentrated in one city, but such a large number of people does not make the streets appear narrow and crowded because they are so wide and smooth. The houses are stacked one after another in a dizzying manner, and this is not a random enclosure like some areas on the West Coast. These houses are carefully planned and accompanied by roads extending in all directions.
Mira noticed that there were some orange-red long strips of bricks half a meter apart in the area near the foundation of the house on the light-colored slate floor. This detail was obviously used to divide roads and housing areas during paving. At the same time, It also plays a decorative role and looks very beautiful as an embellishment on both sides of the neat and standardized road.
--in Apple pie order.
This is the imperial civilization that has accumulated for thousands of years; this is the cultural gap that goes deep into the bones. Although the west coast is barren, some wealthy businessmen can still have considerable wealth. If we only talk about population, if we gather all the people in an area, it can reach the scale of Parnilla.
But those fat businessmen are not rulers after all. They cannot use the funds where they should be used like the Padrosi people. The money is just piled up and locked tightly in the warehouse; while the population Even if the numbers are equal, if you try to make those West Coast farmers and mercenaries who have no education to do whatever they want to follow the rules like the people here in Parnilla, you will only be humiliating yourself.
Due to the limitation of its length, the words and images in the book can express very little, so often the author can only select the key points to describe. And this has caused the vast majority of people who learn about a certain country through books to think that their so-called "da" means being particularly outstanding in a certain aspect, while turning a blind eye to other things.
Only when you actually go there and experience the local people and things first-hand will you understand that the civilizations of Da are not just about having an "invincible army", "extremely rich" or the superiority of a certain engineering technology; everything about them is They are closely linked, and everything from ideological warfare to basic necessities, food, housing and transportation is integrated to form the so-called developed country.
These things are not the cutting-edge technologies recorded in books by the writers, but details as detailed as the plaster used for paving the road, the glaze on the ceramic tiles, and the glass.
It only took the girl a few minutes to figure out how to tell the difference between locals and outsiders.
Not only in their clothes, but also in the way they walk and the expressions on their faces, the locals of Parnira, the largest port city in the Padrosi Empire, are civilians. Compared with outsiders, they all look like the people described in books. noble.
A strong feeling of being out of place lingered in the girl's heart.
It was due to physical discomfort before, and the freshness of just getting off the boat covered up other feelings. At this moment, after eating and drinking, Mira's overly keen observation suddenly put Mira into a state of confusion - she froze on the spot and just looked at the orderly streets and the passers-by. She stared at them, even though many of them had friendly smiles on their faces, even though the sun's rays shone on the earth with almost no blind spots and the golden daisy, the iconic national flower of the Padrosi Empire, swayed slightly in the corner -
The girl, however, didn't know where she was.
It was like there was a thick invisible wall between her and them.
She is a stranger.
She is someone who does not belong here.
Mira felt timid for the first time.
She had never had this thought in the crisis-ridden west coast and southern border; she had never lost or retreated on the vast Abu Sera prairie. Even though she was immature during the battle, she was always able to keep calm. But at this moment, in the peaceful scene, she felt the desire to escape back to the west coast, to Avenella, and to Ecasta for the first time. Plain ideas.
The majestic and arrogant Parnilla is like a towering mountain. You can't see any climbing path when you look left and right.
How many years have I not had this thought?
It must have appeared once when his parents passed away and he was struggling to make a living on his own in the border village of Ecasta.
Although the world is huge, there is no homeland to return to.
Although the world is vast, I am alone.
Without the future, we don’t know where we should go; without the past, we don’t know where we should return.
The only thing I have is now, and I have tried my best just to survive - yes, I am still fragile and powerless. It was the study and adventures during this period that gave me the illusion that I had become stronger. In the final analysis, I was still the weak girl who could only hold her knees and cry alone after losing her parents and tossing and turning in the middle of the night.
Becoming stronger is just an illusion, like a bubble that seems to be able to fly around the world at will.
But in fact it is weak and fragile.
The city of Parnilla.
The majestic scenery of the East Coast shatters this illusion. The same feeling of powerlessness as before held her in place. Mira was stunned, her eyes staring at the surrounding scenery but out of focus.
"What are you doing?"
But that calm voice brought her back to reality.
Henry held the girl's hand very naturally, and a familiar warmth spread over her. The sage's big hands were a little rough but always very warm. He didn't say anything more, he just looked down at her and tilted his head: "Let's go, Muna said he wanted to go to the weapons store to take a look."
he said.
It was not a loud and powerful declaration, but it stabilized the girl's shaken heart in an instant.
"Hmm...Yeah!" Mira was stunned for a moment, then tried hard to get rid of those previous thoughts, nodded vigorously as if she was trying to convince herself with a strong action, and then moved forward with Henry. Go.
So what if it's still weak.
"Hey, you two, hurry up~" Muna, who had already run dozens of meters ahead because of her excitement, turned around and waved vigorously to the two of them.
So what if it is very small compared to this city and this vast world.
she thought.
I am no longer alone.
"It's coming."
The daisies on the street corner were swinging gently. Under the bright sunshine, a girl with clean short hair could not help but smile.
————
Like many other port cities, Parnira's commercial market is also quite large.
It should be mentioned that the market here is divided into two categories. One is the centralized streets that are also very common in other areas. Many large and small shops opened by individual craftsmen are lined up in rows. Buyers can distinguish and select according to their own abilities and buy the right products. .
The other category is for wholesale merchants, a wholesale market that is almost as lively as a vegetable market, focusing on quantity.
The former is more professional and targeted. Weapon shops, armor shops, jewelry shops, Chinese clothing shops and many other relatively high-end shops are located there. The wholesale market occupies a large share of portable products such as woven baskets and cloth bags, ordinary clothing, and light handicraft products such as pots and pans that are easier to make, have higher sales volume, and have higher output.
Due to geographical factors and many other reasons, local people distinguish the two as "Shangjie" and "Xiajie".
The two markets are connected to each other. From this point, we can also see the shrewdness of the Padrosi people in planning the city. The roads around the market are broad and lively in all directions. On the outside are the lower streets that are cheap and plentiful. The further you go in, the higher the quality of the goods and the more complete the decoration of the shops. Obviously, civilians who buy cheap clothes and even The poor do not have much time to wander around and choose, so they mostly gather in the easily accessible lower streets to bargain noisily, and then return to their original lives with the goods they like.
For those who have money and leisure, the quieter streets not only provide high-quality products in line with their status, but the surrounding dessert shops and teahouses can also make shopping a leisurely enjoyment. .
It not only concentrates the consumer groups in one place, but also saves urban space. The fusion of the two seems inseparable, which invisibly eliminates class isolation, and at the same time separates the two consumers with an invisible wall, making them distinct.
This kind of behavior is not strictly stopped by high walls or guards, but is achieved through urban area planning. A peek at the leopard also shows the true horror of this empire with a history of thousands of years.
Henry and the others did not go directly to the street, although they came here intending to visit the local weapons and equipment store. But before that, following the direction indicated on the wooden sign at the entrance of the street, the group of people walked towards the clothing stores located further back in the lower street, which were not Chinese clothing stores, but not the cheap clothing stores in the wholesale market. .
One of the idioms of the Lamanites is "do as the Romans do", which is different from the mercenaries who came from overseas to find work and then left after fighting. Since they plan to stay here for a long time, it is best for Henry, Mira, Muna and others to change their clothes to local styles.
Human beings always like to judge people by their appearance. Even ignorant children will instinctively reject those around them who are too different from themselves. It is common for people to be isolated or even bullied just because of their color or other differences. Therefore, in order to make their next actions more convenient and low-key, they should also change their clothes.
This is one of the reasons, and the other reason - which may also be another explanation for "do as the Romans do" - is that Mira turned her head and looked at the sunny sky, and then looked at her feet. Short leather boots.
Despite its similar latitude, Parnilla is much hotter than Ecasta. People here rarely wear boots, and civilians mainly wear leather sandals for daily activities. Even those engaged in the combat industry mostly use low-top leather shoes as a substitute.
After all, they are people who have lived here for thousands of years, and the local clothing that has been improved from generation to generation is the most comfortable in this climate.
This is true even for those in the fighting business. Girls who have been to hot grasslands like Abu Serra wearing thick cotton armor and plate armor have a deep understanding of this - the thick lining originally invented by northerners is indeed effective in absorbing impact, but that kind of The stuffy feeling can still make people who wear it all year round still feel very uncomfortable.
However, between life and comfort, normal people will obviously choose the former.
The girl looked back and forth at the bustling pedestrians on the street. Perhaps it was due to professionalism. Including them, the attire of combat professionals was what she felt most unaccustomed to.
In Parnilla, no one wears armor while shopping.
This is a port city, and there are many people wearing mercenary badges on the street. In addition, there are also some people who look like swordsmen or nobles. They are equipped with weapons, usually a sword and a dagger for close combat, but otherwise have only light and breathable civilian clothes.
This is unimaginable on the West Coast.
Mercenaries only need armor when they go to the battlefield. For people on the West Coast, streets and alleys are places that may become battlefields at any time, so unless they are resting and sleeping under the guard of their companions, they wear armor as much as possible.
Not so here.
The entire city, the entire Parnilla, is a place where mercenaries can safely take off their armor and only carry their sidearms.
Safe haven.
"It's so peaceful..." The copper bell of Munaling's clothing store rang "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ling, ling", as Munaling opened the door first. Before walking in, the white Luoan girl sighed in a low voice.
