Read I Was Reincarnated as a Poor Farmer in a Different World, so I Decided to Make Bricks to Build a Castle

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"Hmm. It's falling apart."

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"It seems that they are reinforcing the broken areas with [wall construction]. You can see the wall there still crumbling."

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　We had left Valeant in early spring and had finally reached the Orient.

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　It had taken longer than expected.

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　It was almost the end of spring and the beginning of the hot season.

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　Perhaps it's the river-like nature of the Kuzuryu Plain, but the air is somewhat humid and hot.

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　With this in mind, I was talking with Elvis while looking at the Orient, which we had arrived at.

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　The Orient, which is also a city-state, is a walled city on top of a small hill, with surrounding farmlands and mines.

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　The city on the hill was in disrepair from the outside.

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　Perhaps the original walls had collapsed under attack.

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　They were forcibly repairing them with walls created by "wall construction.

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　Probably, the people on site used magic to build the wall during the battle.

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　It was clearly different from the architecture designed for a city.

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　I think that many people in the birthplace of Grand, a master craftsman, would want to make such a thing beautiful.

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　However, they may not have the time to fix them up nicely.

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"Well then, we'll go in first. So, we should give this letter to Mr. Banagher, right, Mr. Alphonse?"

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"Yes, please, Kristina. It's a letter from my brother Ars, the king of the sky, and if you show it to him, he will accept you as a mercenary.

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"Okay. I'll take care of it.

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　As we were talking while looking at the exterior of the Orient, Christina came and approached us.

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　It seemed that preparations had been completed.

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　Kristina and the other merchants were to enter the Orient first.

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　We had discussed this several times before coming here, and decided that the merchants would enter first, and the mercenaries would wait outside.

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　We decided to have Banagher give them a letter from Ars and ask them to send someone from among them to accept them.

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　The reason I had brought the merchants here as Barca's merchants was to ask them to do this.

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　I hope that he will testify that he is at least trustworthy, without going berserk about the untrustworthy mercenaries.

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　We decided to continue waiting outside, watching Kristina as she entered the city.

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"Are the merchants supposed to be free citizens?　Didn't Kristina say something about the tolls being proof of this or something, Sura?"

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"That's right. City-states are divided in the status of their inhabitants. The man named Banagher to whom Master Alphonse sent the letter is a first-class citizen, and there are other second-class citizens. On the other hand, those who have access to the city, such as merchants, are given the status of free citizens.

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"It's complicated. What's the difference?

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"To put it simply, the status system defines who is privileged and who is discriminated against. First class citizens have advantages in life, such as inheritance of property and running for parliament. Second class citizens, on the other hand, are restricted in these benefits. Free citizens can enter cities and do business, but they cannot settle down.

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"Then what about us, the Barka Mercenaries?"

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"If you're an ordinary mercenary, well, you'd better be pretty good if you're admitted as a free citizen. "Behold, Master Alphonse. There are people outside the walls, aren't there?　Those are the people who can't even be free citizens."

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　While we wait, I talk with Sura about the basic status system of this city-state.

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　Like in the Orient, many city-states are ruled by a council without a king.

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　However, this does not mean that there is no difference in status.

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　There are differences even within the same group of citizens.

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　And there are those who cannot even become citizens.

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　Sura pointed ahead, and sure enough, there were people there.

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　Outside the walls of the city of Orient, a group of skinny-looking people were sitting as if they were leaning against the wall.

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　Looking further in the direction of the wall, there are people who are living off of rubbles or rags or something, surviving against the wind and rain.

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　They all look weak.

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　But their eyes are glaring at us, as if they are hungry, and you can never be too careful.

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　Maybe they will attack us for food.

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"What are those people?　If they can't even be free citizens, how will they be treated?"

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They will not be treated in any way. They are treated like weeds. They are not recognized as city people at all, and therefore have no security of property, not even of life. A citizen can kill a non-citizen and not be charged with a crime.

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"That's tough. Then, don't you have to become a citizen somehow to lead a normal life?"

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"That's right. And for that they are probably hired by the city as mercenaries. They volunteer to become mercenaries, make a name for themselves as mercenaries, and acquire citizenship. They hope that they may then be able to live in the safety of the city.

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"I see. So the Barka mercenaries who came from the foot of the sacred mountain may also be seen as mercenaries who are treated like weeds.

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"I don't know. I don't know. If Mr. Ars had talked to you in advance, I'm sure he would have told you about your citizenship. ....... If the system does not exist in Ars's country, it is possible that he did not talk about it.

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　I don't know.

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　Well, if they don't treat me too well, I'd be okay with that.

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　I'm willing to work for a while not as a mercenary group, but really as a Barka merchant.

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　I can use Christina's passport in my name, so I can go from place to place, and I think I can do the activity itself.

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　While I was thinking about this and that, the sun was setting.

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　It is already night.

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　Finally, at such a late hour, someone came to call for us.

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