Chapter 156 Visiting Hoverdam

A large wooden sailboat sails upstream, against the tides of the river. A man wearing a large acorn-gray hemp cloak comes up the stairs to the deck of the ship. He then walks over to the left side, takes out his spyglass, and looks in his general direction. He continues to move around his spyglass until he spots and focuses on the city in the distance.

You see, this man was here on a mission; to evaluate the city of Hoverdam, to see whether the kingdom is as friendly as they said. If it is not to be the case, then they can look somewhere else. But if it is indeed true, then they can be certain that their kingdom would be much safer.

As the sailboat approached the city, the man spotted something odd about it. There seems to be a faint touch of smog, surrounding the entire city. It was rather odd and sparked the curiosity of the hooded fella. A few more minutes pass, and he can see the large chimneys of a lot of strange buildings, puffing out tons of smoke.

The others on the ship, comprised of poor artisans, merchants, and more, noticed the strange aura around the city and started to gather around. Whispers flew threw the air and in o their ears, speculating what was going on.

The ship soon arrives at the port, and the men are allowed to go down the bridge. The first thing that everyone noticed when entering the city, was the smell of the slightly dense air around them. Their noses picked up a sulfurous, smoky smell, while their eyes spots a slight yellow and black gas all around them, making it slightly difficult to breathe.

Regardless, the hooded man starts walking down the city, from the downtown to the outskirts, before returning. In downtown, he first notices the presence of this weird fashion among men. He sometimes took glimpses of men in sleek suits, with straight ties to go along with it. From what he can tell, it was most prominent around wealthy merchants, who had a lot of money.

But that was not all. There were these other men, holding wooden sticks, wearing a black uniform, walking, and looking around. If there were any criminals in the area, they saw these men come in and effortlessly tackle them down. From what he assumes, these men were those civilian law enforcers that he heard.

The second thing was the buildings themselves, especially the windows. Back at home, the windows usually often featured wooden frames with iron bars with no glass. Here, in the city of Hoverdam, the sight of a glass window was much more common, with many buildings featuring glass windows.

To make sure that what he was seeing was, in fact, glass, he walked up to the building window and tapped on it. As his finger touched the transparent object, it was very clear that it was indeed, crystal clear glass.

He started to wonder how these people were able to afford such luxuries. Glassmaking itself was a very expensive and time-consuming business, with only wealthy merchants, knights, and royalty being able to afford them.

As he continued to walk down the road, he soon notices that there were two metal bars built into the main road, connected to other metal bars, making a seamless line of rail that runs throughout the city. Finding this feature rather peculiar, he asks one of the locals for some answers.

"Excuse me, sir, could I ask you a question?" The local turns around and notices the hooded man. Thinking that he wore that because of this hot day, he thought nothing of it.

"Yes, what is it?"

"May I ask you the purpose of these metal bars? I have noticed that they run throughout the city," he questions the local  while pointing his finger at the metal bars.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "That? Those are the tram tracks. It is more the tram to move."

"Tram tracks?"

"Yes. Are you perhaps new around here?" the local  asks.

"Yes. I just came here today, and I was wondering what this is all about." The local  chuckles.

"Ah, don't worry. These are all new additions to this city anyway. Basically, a tram is like this giant carriage that moves on these tracks. It uses something called an 'engine' to move along the lines.

The tram is used by many people around the city to get around quickly because walking would take too long," he said. His explanation bewildered the hooded man. A large carriage? Moving along these metal bars? He found it very hard to believe.

"I see. Say, could you mind pointing me where I can see one of these carriages?" he asks. The local  leans to the side and smiles.

"Well, you appear to be in luck. There is one coming over here right now!" the local pointed out with his finger. The two moved out of the way and observed the tram move effortlessly. The hooded man's jaw dropped upon seeing the red beast moving along the city, carrying passengers along the way.

"It's moving! How is it moving?"

"Like I told you, they use an engine. Do you see that gas coming out of it? That is said to be the exhaust. Those engines are fitted throughout the entire city." he replies. As soon as the tram makes a turn and disappears further into the city, the hooded man turns and asked the local  one more question.

"Where can I board one?"

"You can board one in a station. There is one nearby. Down the road and to the left. It is a building with a large sundial on top." the man replied. The hooded man thanked the local and went on his way.

The hooded man soon approaches the station that the local was talking about. The tram station featured a building nearby, where some people lined up to gather something. It appeared to be some sort of map, where all the tram stations are located, and what tram stations they are in.

There were also areas with benches, given shade from the sun, waiting for the next tram. Next to the benches, was a large map of where all the tram stations are, making it easier for them to know where they are.

The hooded man gets a map and sits on the bench. As he waits, he looks onward at the sundial, waiting for the tram to come. The tram soon arrives after waiting for 30 minutes. Once the previous set of passengers drops off, he enters the tram and takes a seat.

As the tram moves around, all while wobbling a little, the hooded man looks onward, outside the tram. As he moves inside this marvel of engineering, he spots more strange buildings, incorporating weird architectural styles, featuring sleek and bold geometric forms, with a linear appearance, stylized with geometric ornamentation.

He soon gets off the tram and starts walking around the city more. As he was walking around, admiring the city and questioning the locals, he just remembers the mission that he was assigned, to see whether the government was friendly enough.

Just then, as he was walking through the streets, he sees people gathering around a building, with the sounds of someone preaching can be heard. The hooded man immediately walked over and sees a boy with blonde hair, reading the bible off to an audience.

The hooded man looks outside and sees two police officers pass by. The two looks onward at the building, talk to each other, and then just continue walking down the road. From what it looks like, don't seem to mind that he was doing so and let it slide.

The hooded man listened until the speech was over. It was then that the boy asked for donations, to allow him to continue reading the book to his audience. Many of the hundred people came over and filled up the jars with copper coins, before leaving the building. The hooded man, upon seeing this event, smiled. He walks up to the donation jar, drops a few coins, and leaves the building, never to be seen again.