Chapter 193: Chapter 176 – Enjoying the Sights

"Trade and agriculture generally remain the main ways cities and nations manage to support themselves, with those lacking in one generally focusing on the other. It is usually larger, more prosperous nations that have both running equally well instead of relying more on one or the other." - Garth Wainwrought, Professor of Socioeconomics at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning.

The four-day long trip the party took to finally leave Cerilan was uneventful. The general was kind enough to give them a letter of marque that allowed them to pass through checkpoints undisturbed and unquestioned. By the time they entered Caracan territory, everyone noticed the difference immediately.

 

Caracan remained one of the smallest nation-provinces that made up the Caliphate, its territory basically only spanned a single city from which it derived its name and its vicinity, and no more. Not even small villages around it.

 

As for the city itself, it was built around the Bay of Caracan, the largest bay in northern Ur-Teros, with the city proper enveloping the bay on three sides, and massive piers and harbors lining the length of the bay itself.

 

Its strategic position and its excellent harbors meant that Caracan more often than not served as the main stop for trade ships that came from Alcidea, and that alone was plenty to keep the city prosperous and wealthy beyond its neighbors.

 

Caracan's status as the premier port in the north of the continent showed. Even the guards that were stationed at the city gates wore finely crafted plate mail over their gambesons. An expenditure that would have made most rulers straight up balk at the idea.

 

Similarly, even the guards patrolling the streets were well-equipped, expensive plate armor on their bodies and finely crafted weapons in their hands. The city itself showed its wealth and opulence openly, albeit in a nonchalant way.

 

Cal brought the girls and Dan over to look for an Inn, while Kino separated from them, citing that she had some personal business to take care of, though they agreed to meet again at dinnertime at an eatery she named by the piers.

 

The inn they found was a luxurious one - despite the fact that it was only considered a middle grade inn in Caracan itself - with lavish but tasteful decorations of woods and ivory. The price they paid for their stay was notably more than what inns in other provinces cost, but also understandable considering the difference in quality, Cal thought.

 

Cal paid for their stay in full ahead of time, with two of them in a room - Dan would be on his own this time - and then she brought the girls out to see the sights the city has to offer.

 

She found quite some interest in the arrays of woven beads commonly seen on sale in the city. The beads, usually of made of cheaper wood or stones polished until they shined, were linked together by threads and used to form patterns in clothes or accessories, or even things like mats.

 

Some more expensive variants used pearls or expensive woods for the beads instead, and those artworks containing these beads cost prices that would make even nobles would think first before purchasing one.

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After the markets, Cal led the girls towards the bay itself. First they went to a higher area of the city, which had a viewing area that oversaw the entirety of the bay itself. To witness the sights of so many ships packed together in the harbors and piers was a somewhat humbling sight to most, and it was so for the girls, who rarely saw ships.

 

For Cal it was more a nostalgic sight. By its nature as an archipelago the Al-Shan Empire was naturally a naval power as well. They usually had more harbors in each island instead of concentrating the shipborne traffic into a grand harbor like here in Caracan, but in quantity, Cal had seen as much as the ships gathered here before.

 

Now she understood why the Sultan of Caracan was willing to put out an exorbitant bounty especially for the Bounty Hunter's perusal for the sake of a distant cousin's honor. The man clearly had the money to spare for such endeavors to begin with, and likely hadn't bat an eye over such sums.

 

It was evening by the time Cal brought the girls down to the piers and harbors. They found the eatery Kino had named easily enough after some asking, the place a bustling and crowded one, one of the largest in the area. They had just secured a large table for themselves when Kino arrived and greeted them.

 

She ordered the house specialty for them all, and soon large wooden mugs of strong ale were placed on their table by the smiling waiter. Cal discreetly asked Kino on how her "personal business" went and she smiled in return and said that her client paid as promised.

 

Apparently Kino had visited the sultan rather stealthily in her Bounty Hunter guise, as there were no rumors whatsoever of the Bounty Hunter's appearance in town going around. Cal forgot just how stealthy Kino could be when she felt like it, given that she usually hunted very openly.

 

The same smiling waiter from before soon returned to their table, and placed napkins before each person, then a dug out concave trencher atop each napkin. After that, he carefully ladled a thick, boiling hot soup with plenty of fish and vegetables into each trencher, carefully filling each exactly to the brim, before he bowed and left their table.

 

Like everyone else, Cal scooped up some of the thick soup with a wooden spoon - she noticed now that the dug out parts of the trencher of bread was mixed into the soup to thicken it - and gave it a try. The soup itself had a rich, savory flavor, paired tender flakes of fish meat and vegetables stewed until tender and completely saturated with the stock.

 

After they ate the soup, Cal also bit on the trencher of bread since she noticed most people on the eatery doing so. The hard, chewy exterior of the trencher gave texture to the now soft insides, which had soaked up the soup as they ate, which gave another dimension to enjoy the meal on.

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