Early in the morning, around eight o'clock, the streets were bustling with people.
"Get your papers! Get your papers! Good news for the New Year, good news!" Ale shouted, holding a stack of newspapers. His face was beaming; he had been very happy and fulfilled these past few days.
He sold newspapers in the morning and at noon, and in the evening, he went to Old Mr. Max's night school to learn how to read. He could already write his own name, eat his fill, and wear warm clothes. His next step was to save money to buy a house.
"Get your papers! Good news for the New Year! The city lord has written a blessing for everyone!" Ale yelled, waving a newspaper.
"Paperboy, give me a paper," Bryan called out, holding two steel coins—the change he got from buying steamed buns.
Nowadays in Sedona City, any slightly well-off family would buy a newspaper in the morning. For the rest of the day, they would discuss the news in the paper with others. If you didn't buy a paper, it was hard to join in on conversations.
"Right away, sir. Here's your paper," Ale said, immediately handing one over.
Bryan took the paper and spread it open to read. The politics section wished everyone a Happy New Year and described some New Year etiquette, such as giving red envelopes to the younger and elder members of the family on the first day of the new year, along with the meaning of the red envelopes and suggested amounts.
"Huh? This is interesting, giving red envelopes to the younger generation. So when I go to Mr. Joe's house tonight, should I give Dale a red envelope? Ten copper coins should be about right, right? Just treat it as pocket money," Bryan chuckled.
Bryan started walking towards the address for the door couplet seller listed in the paper, reading as he went. He continued to the next item. There were many political news articles, but the last one made his eyes go wide with astonishment. "A grand bridge is being built over the Whispering River, and it's almost finished? This has to be a joke, right?"
He had heard about building a bridge over the Whispering River before. He'd heard construction started a month or two ago, but he hadn't paid it any mind, assuming it was just something the city lord said for show.
"'After the New Year, the Whispering Pontoon Bridge will officially open. The land on the other side of the river is fertile. Citizens are asked to prepare for land reclamation. For the first year of reclamation, only a 10% grain tax will be collected. The second year, it will be 20%, and only from the third year will the tax be 30%.'" Bryan muttered to himself, amazed by the policy The city lord had issued. It was just too good for the common people.
He began to wonder if he should hire commoners to clear land and plant wheat. After all, it was a way to make money. But the next piece of political news made him drop the idea.
"The City Lord is hiring. A large number of workers are needed for land reclamation. The monthly salary is eighty copper coins. Please sign up in three days."
Now Bryan understood. The city lord was making another big move. Was he planning to recruit people to grow his own grain? "Huh? This shop actually took this ad space. I heard it costs a silver coin a day now. They're really willing to spend."
"..."
Lucy and Jones stood by the side of the road, watching the muttering fat man walk away. They couldn't help but be curious about that thing called a "newspaper."
"Jones, should we buy one and have a look?" Lucy asked curiously. After last night's event, the two had slept very soundly and had come out for an early morning stroll.
"Buy one," Jones said, walking directly towards the shouting boy. She handed over two steel coins to the timid-looking boy and took a newspaper.
Ale pursed his lips, clutched the steel coins, and ran off. That woman was so cold, even colder than Miss Mina who was always by the city lord's side.
"Jones, you scared him," Lucy chided, her eyes full of amusement as she watched the boy run away. She took the newspaper her leopard-eared companion handed her.
"..." Jones was speechless. That was just her personality. If he got scared by that, it just meant he was timid.
"So this is a newspaper? It's incredible," Lucy's eyes trembled, her mouth agape as she looked at the text. Just a quick glance was enough to tell her that this newspaper was definitely not handwritten.
Because a handwritten document could never be completely free of typos. More importantly, the font, spacing, and everything else was perfectly neat and tidy.
Jones just glanced at the paper and lost interest. She had no interest in writing or words. The aroma of meat wafting through the air, however, was very interesting to her.
"If it's not handwritten, then how were these words made?" Lucy frowned in thought. She coveted this technology. After all, the novels she published were all copied by hand, and those copies were full of typos.
Lucy thought, if her novels could be produced with this technology, a thousand books at a time, how wonderful would that be? Everyone would be able to read the stories she wrote.
This must be something that the city lord created. Should she go ask him about it? Lucy thought for a moment, then shook her head, putting the idea aside for now.
"Recruitment? What is this?" Lucy frowned and read the paper carefully. She didn't quite understand the word. She read on, "Requirements: must know how to swim, be comfortable in water, strong body, age fifteen to thirty-five. Monthly salary of one hundred copper coins."
"Should be guards for the fleet," Jones said flatly.
"Jones, look at this article. 'Constructing a grand bridge over the Whispering River, and it's almost finished.' Isn't that a joke?" Lucy said with a small laugh, pointing to the last political news item.
"Fantastical thinking," Jones said after a moment's pause, then added coolly, "Impossible."
How wide was the Whispering River? Anyone would know it was impossible to build a bridge over it. This was clearly just a publicity stunt.
"Right? I think it's impossible too," Lucy said, smiling and shaking her head as she continued to read.
Half an hour later, Lucy stood by the side of the road, having finished the entire newspaper. She couldn't help but marvel, "This newspaper is a remarkable invention. With this paper, you can easily learn about all the major and minor events happening in a city."
"Should we go find Elisa?" Jones asked indifferently.
"Not yet. Let's explore the city first," Lucy said, rolling up the newspaper. She was now extremely interested in this city, especially the newspaper office and the library.
.
.
.
.
You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
pat reon.com/GreenBlue17
300 Power Stones for 1 extra chapter.
5 New reviews for 1 extra chapter.