Blue Sword

Cars drive on huge intercity viaducts.

"Uh huh huh~" Nora hummed along with the classical music in the car, smiling as she watched Mia and Mi'er running around in the car.

"Sister Nora, why is your car so big?" Mia shouted in surprise.

"Because there are many of us." Nora touched her head, "So we need a bigger car."

"But this car is too big." Mi'er said, "It actually has a bedroom and a dining room."

"Look, Mi'er!" Mia opened the refrigerator door and found that it was filled with all kinds of food and drinks.

"Isn't this good..." Before Mi'er could stop her, Mia had already taken out a can and pried it open with her hands and feet.

"It's fish roe!" she shouted happily, "Sister Nora, can I eat it?"

"Okay." Nora smiled.

You asked after you had already opened it... Mi'er was speechless to this friend. She turned to Nora and asked, "How much does this can cost?"

"I don't remember this?" Nora thought for a moment and asked the driver, "Martin, what's the price of canned golden sturgeon roe in the refrigerator?"

"Miss, I remember it was about 30 silver marks," the driver said.

Girls:………………

So expensive! It was actually priced in silver marks!

"Is it so cheap?" Nora said awkwardly, "It's not a very good brand. How about changing to another one..."

"No, no, no!" Mi'er quickly stopped and said, "Mia likes it very much, right Mia?"

"Huh?" Mia just took a spoonful and put it into her mouth and said vaguely.

"What is that?" Eleanor, who was sitting on the side, looked out the window and asked suddenly.

Everyone looked outside following her gaze and saw the edge of the deserted building in the distance. A certain armed helicopter was hovering in the air outside. The aviation machine gun roared like thunder. The huge gunshots could even be heard from the viaduct here. .

Accompanied by the violent bombardment of bullets, the edges of the ruined building were shattered and fell like collapsed building blocks.

"They were cleaning up the gangs in the abandoned building," the driver replied.

"Abandoned building? Gang?" Eleanor asked with a frown.

"Ellie, you should know about the empire crisis in the early Fourth Age, right?" Seeing that her best friend was a little confused, Nora, as the host, explained, "At that time, a huge economic crisis broke out within the empire, especially the real estate bubble, which was the most serious. In Solomon City, countless families were wiped out overnight.”

"In the outer urban areas, there are a large number of real estate projects under development that were unfinished due to a sudden break in the capital chain. These real estate projects are mainly concentrated in the northern part of Solomon City, so there are left a large number of half-built projects that have not yet been completed, or have been completed. It’s an abandoned building that has not been renovated.”

"After that, there will be foreign invasions." Although the Solomons used to call it "barbarian invasions," considering the feelings of Eleanor and Sydrifa, Nora also used the neutral term "foreigners" instead. , "Political turmoil, economic stagnation, and the evil tide happened again, so a large number of foreign national armies invaded Italy."

"After the Holy See of Solomon was established and gradually took control of the order in the city, it drove the remaining population of these foreign nations into abandoned buildings in the outer city, and did not provide them with any water, electricity, materials or public services, so there was no order there. It’s very chaotic and gangs are everywhere.”

"Why doesn't the Holy See care?" Eleanor asked puzzledly, "I mean, why did the Holy See expel them to the outer city? Can't they be accepted as Solomonic citizens? Just because their blood does not belong to the Latin nation? "

"That's not true." Nora explained, "Well, employment here requires relatively high educational quality. A bachelor's degree is the lowest employment threshold."

"There are 16 years in total of primary school, junior high school, high school, and bachelor's degree. Tuition plus normal rent and living expenses cost about 300-500 silver marks. Many native families of foreign ethnic groups do not value education and are unwilling or unable to afford this amount. Money leads to a rapid decline in the educational status of future generations. The poorer you are, the less able your children are to receive a good education. If you cannot find a job, you will become poorer, and this vicious cycle continues from generation to generation."

Eleanor was stunned for a moment after hearing this, with a confused expression on her face.

In the Holy Solomon Empire that she was familiar with, civilian employment basically relied on the apprenticeship system, and there was a strong emphasis on family inheritance. For example, in the blacksmith industry, old blacksmiths usually pass on their skills to their sons, and they also recruit young apprentices as helpers.

Apprentices are provided with food and accommodation, but no wages. They must treat their masters as filial piety to their fathers in exchange for the master blacksmith giving them guidance in the trade. This process usually takes a long time and depends on when the master plans to retire before handing over all his skills to the apprentices and allowing them to start their own businesses.

However, as Nora said, the cost of learning alone is 300-500 silver marks, so the entry threshold is too exaggerated. You know, a blacksmith shop can never make that much money in a lifetime!

"So they... can't find a job? How do they live?" Eleanor asked.

"If you can't even pay the rent, you can only sleep on the street." Nora replied, her tone was a little low, "But the central city... is the inner city of the ancient city of seven hills. Homelessness is not allowed. Those who stay.”

"So they are driven to the outer urban areas, where there is no one to control them, and crime and violence are everywhere. Many gangs rise every month. After some gangs occupy small areas and their strength expands, they will attack the main urban areas. Watch out, trying to sneak in and make money by smuggling or stealing.”

"Then the municipal chief who receives the report from the victim company will hire a security company to go to the outer city and destroy the gangs' outposts... just like what you just saw."

"Miss, we are about to enter the underground tunnel." The driver suddenly said.

"okay."

The light outside the car suddenly dimmed, and the car had already driven down into the tunnel highway.

Eleanor held her chin up and looked out the window thoughtfully, the tunnel lights casting flickering shadows on her blue pupils. Asker knew what she was thinking at a glance and asked Nora:

"Most of the gangs who live in abandoned buildings are not good people, right?"

"Well, generally those who live in abandoned buildings are basically violent criminal gangs. Because the lighting and ventilation environment in the upper floors of abandoned buildings are better, and ordinary poor people basically cannot compete with gang members." Nora said frankly, "I will not participate Innocent people belonging to gangs usually live in airtight slums made of simple building materials on the streets between abandoned buildings."

Eleanor rolled her eyes at Aske angrily, which meant, "Am I not aware of this? Do I need you to remind me?"

As for Nora, she keenly noticed the eye interaction between her and Ask, and couldn't help but be startled.

I always feel that Ellie’s attitude towards Asker today is a bit affectionate, right? Is it my imagination?

Thanks to Under the Deep Sky and Master Ivan for the 2000 coins, and thanks to Xingluo Xingshuang for the 100 coins~