On the last day of the Night Moon, the whole world is immersed in the joy of the upcoming New Year. However, this joy is cut into two halves, belonging to different groups of people.
King Fernando of August was sitting in the main hall at this time, and envoys from various principalities were smiling as they introduced their tribute items. Anthony, the blessed knight beside him, seemed to be uninterested.
The first envoy from the Principality was naturally from the Principality of Knight, but after Fernando peeled off the paint, his face gradually fell.
"Happy New Year, I have no money!" the one-eyed fox Caruso wrote.
Fernando thought to himself that his younger brother was really a bachelor, and he didn’t know how he became a prince and ended up in such poverty.
The other principalities seemed very normal, either sending a lot of treasures, or simply putting boxes of gold coins into wooden boxes.
The palace was filled with joy, at least on the surface, everyone was smiling. Even the queen and Medea put on brand new dresses and quietly waited for the summons.
The nobles in Aogu City are even more busy like bees. Today this family bought a wooden carved table from the elves, and tomorrow that family will definitely buy a diamond necklace from the dark elves.
The noble masters held their canes and sat in their own gorgeous carriages, looking out the window with proud faces. A group of servants followed beside them, and their flattery sounds never stopped.
They appear in underground auction houses, in secret bazaars, and in any place where they can spend money. This is the last purchase before the New Year, and it is also a competition with other nobles.
The gold coins seem to have turned into pieces of scrap metal, and the things you buy are not the important thing. The key is whether you have face, or whether you can be envied by other nobles.
Under the influence of this distorted view of consumption, a certain baron bought out the entire butcher shop with a wave of his hand. He stood beside him triumphantly, with an extremely proud look on his face.
The only two servants had a sad face, thinking that their master was really good at showing off. He had the wallet to go to the shop, but he was reluctant to hire a few more servants.
But just as he was enjoying himself, a burst of exclamation broke out not far away. As for the initiator, it was an Imperial Viscount.
I saw this young man in a brocade robe. After glancing at the growing crowd around him, he slowly nodded to the servants.
The servant held a heavier bag of gold coins and loudly bought all the ale in a certain tavern. He even gave a small part of it to those who shouted loudest on the spot.
The baron, who was still arrogant at first, smiled and nodded to the other party. But his hands shrunk in his sleeves were trembling slightly with anger.
But there was no displeasure on his face. This was not because of how big he was, but because the other party's status was one level higher than his own.
Compared with these unstaged farces, the Earl and the Marquis are much more reserved. But the competition is also more cruel, even reaching the level of spending money like water.
In the arcane bazaar, all the major foreign shops were wiped out. The countess bought out all the gems of the dark elves, and the marquis paid the price of the elven perfume on the spot.
Carriages carrying valuable items lined up in a long queue, and the servants of each family were looking at the others around them. As for the noble children, they were holding their own gold cards and showing off to each other.
On the other hand, mercenaries and most poor people seem to be much more normal. Although they are all shopping, they will not spend any unnecessary money.
Vegetables, fresh meat, eggs, cheese. The adults held the little hands of their children, the lovers stood side by side intimately, and the mercenaries took off their chainmails.
They poured into the market area from all directions in Aogu City. As time passed, the bamboo baskets and linen bags in their hands gradually bulged.
After working hard for a whole year, as long as there are some silver coins in the pocket, they will choose a "luxury" one. Although these things are extremely ordinary in the eyes of many people.
One pound of beef, two pots of ale, and three dried fish. The poor man, carrying his son on his back, was quietly calculating with his wife. The wife's eyes kept glancing at the low-quality fragrant powder.
Their eyes met, their fingers clasped together, and six silver coins were handed to the old tailor. The man stared at his newlywed lover tenderly, while the woman was already blushing.
A family of seven, with nine walks of life and eight industries, the nagging of the elders is endless, and the children running around make things difficult for the parents. The criminal's hand stretches out and then withdraws, and the person who lost his money bag has his eyes red from crying.
The vendors are screaming and trying to sell out their goods as quickly as possible, because they also have relatives at home waiting for them to return.
Today's Aogu City may be the most chaotic day of the year. And with the red light of the setting sun, all the shops closed their doors, and all the pedestrians turned back.
Until this moment, those poor people living at the lowest level had not walked out of their homes. They were seen entering the market area and picking up the remaining vegetable leaves under the disdainful eyes of the city guards.
However, the city guards did not say anything to drive them away today. Compared with those arrogant nobles, they actually sympathized with these poor people.
They snatched some offal from the dog's mouth and dug out countless tail fins from under the fishmonger's stall. They carefully collected the broken eggs, and even some children had already licked the cheese stall with their tongues.
Occasionally, people passing by saw this and threw out a few copper coins. Although the money was not much, it could always help them survive one more day.
Their New Year's Eve was spent with these garbage, and the whole year came to an end in the scramble and plunder.
For them, the New Year is a disaster, a day of destruction when all hope is lost. Because during these days, the market area will be temporarily closed.
The closure of the market area also indicates that the only source of food has been cut off. So tonight will be the last chance to either find enough food to get through.
Either freeze to death in the cold moon and completely escape this miserable fate. This is a question that has only two options and cannot be given up. Those who answer correctly will stay in the world and suffer, while those who answer wrong will go to the Hall of Valor. But everyone has long been accustomed to this situation. No one will waste time cursing the injustice of the gods, and no one will shed tears for them.
As for the foreigners who saw this scene for the first time, they were looking at it curiously and talking constantly.
"How did this King Ogu become a king? There are so many poor people in the royal city." The dwarf shouted loudly while drinking ale.
"It's just survival of the fittest. It's good for these people to be alive. If we were in Wudun City, they would have been caught and fed to dogs." The orc curled his lips, his eyes full of disdain.
"That's right, why are you living like this? I think it's better to just die." The dark elf said through the interface.
"A bunch of cold-blooded guys, don't you have any compassion?" The pure-blood elf frowned and replied angrily.
"Hey, it's really a pity. If there were witch doctors here, these people would be refined into human head voodoo." The troll said sadly.
"Okay, these are human affairs, it's none of our business." After saying this, the goblin turned around and returned to the shop, continuing to count the goods.