Volume 7 The Inverted Man Chapter 74 Travels
”This small town called Utopia is not fundamentally different from the ones I have traveled to, whether it be the folklore, the race of the people, or the architectural style, it all belongs to Ruen as standard.”
”I have heard of many strange and unusual customs in the southern continent, and I hope to one day experience them for myself, after peace is restored between East and West Byron, of course.”
”Back to Utopia, one of the most peculiar things about this place is that the climate is so changeable and often stormy that most people have umbrellas and raincoats coated with the sap of the Dorningsman tree. The waiter at the hotel told me that as long as one has a certain income and is obliged to go out to work, then one must in any case save money for raincoats, or disease will take more than that.”
”There are no meteorologists here, and I have no way of knowing the cause of this changeable climate, except to guess that it has something to do with the proximity to the sea and its location in the hurricane belt. Yes, Utopia has a deep water port a few kilometers away, but they are understaffed and can’t run it well enough to keep it very small.”
”They also don’t have a local newspaper, after all, it’s a small city of a few thousand people, and the paperboys mainly sell the Tasok, Dixie Mirror, and Sea Breeze ……”
”The second reason I like it here is that many people in Utopia are cheerful and optimistic and have a zest for life.”
”As I write this, a band just happens to be passing outside the hotel.”
”It was not a professional band, but a group of pure amateurs, among whom were government employees, magistrates, solicitors, professional policemen, school teachers, candy factory workers, shopkeepers …… Among them, the ones who had the money and time were in charge of the tuba, violin and other more difficult instruments, and the lower and middle class citizens used simpler items such as the seven-stringed violin and harmonica.”
”On certain days off, they take to the streets, starting from the town square and making a circuit of the city, returning to St. Arianna’s Church near the square, which they call a ‘musical parade’.”
”In the middle of the parade, instead of excluding citizens from joining them, they encourage them to sing or dance along with the group. As far as I could observe, the participants were quite happy and contented, giving vent to their love of life, which gave me a sense of a thriving and exuberant attitude.”
”I have to admit, it is very contagious, I have tried to join the parade and forget my worries and just remember the joy in the music, dancing and singing ……”
”They weren’t parading today, they were going to church to bless a couple.”
”Speaking of weddings, one of the things I can’t understand most about Utopia is that it only has churches for the ‘Goddess of the Night’, knowing that in the vast majority of the kingdom, even in a small town, there will be at least two churches, one belonging to the ‘Goddess of the Night’ ‘ and one believing in the ‘Lord of Storms’.”
”Before today, I couldn’t imagine at all that there would be an ordinary town in the Kingdom that believed in only one deity.”
”However, this doesn’t bother me too much. I was influenced by my family to only believe in the ‘Lord of Storms’ until I was eighteen, but after I graduated from grammar school, I truly came to understand that the Goddess is the Most Loving and Merciful One.”
”Getting back to the wedding itself, I attended a wedding two days ago and realized that there are some special customs that exist in Utopia in this regard.”
”One of the things I appreciated the most was that when the priest pronounced the marriage, the bride and groom would bow to each other, no question of who was higher or lower, just a serious expression of gratitude for spending their lives together.”
”This is perhaps an expression of the equality of men and women in the Goddess’ teachings ……”
”Also, at the celebration after the wedding, there will be some special game sessions, for example, for the bride and groom to tell their love story.”
”It can be quite an awkward thing for them to do, but it’s quite fun for the guests. Yes, that’s what I thought too, but I certainly wouldn’t add a similar segment to my own wedding.”
”I heard one of the best love stories I’ve ever heard in my life so far at that wedding, and if I get the chance, and if my fellow readers of this column enjoy it, I’ll consider retelling it, but of course I’ll change the names of the people and some of the details so that it doesn’t bother the couple …… ”
”That most important reason I like Utopia is that the food is very good, the limited number of restaurants are all of a high caliber, and the best is undoubtedly the restaurant attached to the ‘Iris’ Inn where I stayed.”
”Whether it’s the most basic pan-fried beef steaks, fried pork chops, charcoal grilled meats, sautéed meat and fish, or something a little more complex or challenging, such as braised lamb with peas, creamy bisque, mashed potatoes with butter, and baked potato skins, it’s all definitely at the level of the urban chef, and in addition the chefs here are quite adept at creating quirky dishes and foods, from tart and tart diced meats, to repeatedly slathered with grilled fish with various seasonings ……”
”The chefs of Utopia haven’t given up when it comes to the staple foods that they can’t seem to play around with, and I’ve had all sorts of toast in this city: mashed taro, mashed potatoes, butter, light cream, and studded with chunks of fruit …… You won’t get a duplicate of a variety for a week if you want to. ”
”And the most appreciated of all the delicacies here are their desserts:”
”Creme brulee, fruit pudding, black forest cake, carrot cake, milk cake, muffins, tarts ……”
”As I write this, I feel like I’m hungry again, that’s why I haven’t wanted to leave after a week here, my biggest concern right now isn’t my wallet, it’s my weight, I’m glad the hotel doesn’t come with mechanical scales while complaining that they don’t.”
”Utopia’s reds are also quite excellent, the only problem is that they all lack vintage sedimentation, which, it seems, has not been realized on the estates around this town.”
”Here, I would like to solemnly recommend a drink, Utopia Sparkling Iced Tea, which is very special and has an even more marvelous experience beyond sweetness and bubbles ……”
”Every evening, I go for a walk in the Town Square, which is also a favorite recreational spot for the citizens of Utopia, who have an overriding love for those white doves.”
”I met a painter in the town square, his name is Anderson, handsome, excellent painting skills, but, unfortunately, a mute ……”
”I additionally made the acquaintance of a writer, whose name is Alessu, rather a strange name, and who, he said, was working on a long novel, and asked me to taste the beginning.”
”I won’t comment on his novel, I was just surprised that several familiar names appeared right at the beginning of the novel.”
”This includes Anderson, Wendy, well, this is my favorite owner of that bakery ……”
”I brought this up, and Allsoux told me, quite seriously, that when a writer can’t think of a character’s name, it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do to take a reference from someone you know around you.”
”I couldn’t agree more.”
”……”
”Due to space constraints, that’s the end of this sharing, love, Charlotte.”
Monica put down her pen and carefully read the manuscript twice, correcting word and grammatical errors.
She was a writer, not exactly famous, and had to make a living writing third-rate romance novels – her father had almost cut her off after she converted to the Goddess of the Night.
But after Miss Forsyth Vole, who wrote “Stormy Weather”, started a travel column, which gained considerable popularity in the post-war years, Monica began to write travelogues for a number of Birkeland newspapers, a perfect fit for her hobby, which gave her articles a unique life and helped her become a travel writer of some renown.
Charlotte was her pen name.
When the handwriting had completely dried, Monica made another special transcription, slipped it into an envelope, and affixed a stamp.
After confirming that the address was correct, the dark-haired, wavy, Dixie Bay-style lady grabbed her handbag and headed out of the hotel to the Utopia Post Office.
The post office was next door to the telegraph office, and Monica always felt wasted whenever she passed the latter.
It seemed to her that Utopia rarely had anything that required a telegram, and it was too much of a luxury to have a telegraph office dedicated to it.
After posting her correspondence, Monica looked at the sky and strolled toward the town square.
When she came to the door of St. Arianna’s Church, she met Byers.
He was a policeman who had come to the Iris Hotel to question Monica about the witnesses in the Tracy murder case.
Unfortunately, Monica didn’t know Mr. Wendell.
After nodding and greeting each other, Monica entered the church, found a seat, and quietly listened to the sermon of the pastor named Townshend.
This is the most clergyman she met after she converted to the “Goddess of the Night”, his hair is half-white, his speech speed is soothing, his temperament is peaceful, his voice is low, and he always makes people calm down without realizing it.
Monica then closed her eyes and listened intently to the scriptures.
……
East Chester County, inside a forest belonging to the Hall family.
Alfred, Hebert and Audrey led their respective foxhounds with varying numbers of servants around the edge of the forest, chasing after their prey.
This was the first time in their adult lives that the three siblings had hunted together.
In front of their sister, both Alfred and Hebert were having fun, at least on the surface.
For Alfred, the biggest problem was how to control himself, not to show too much unusual places, otherwise, if a “punishment knight” participated in the hunt, others did not have a chance.
He knew that his sister was an extraordinary person, but he also knew that the “audience” path of Sequence 7 would not be able to have any substantial frontal combat ability.
During the chase, they broke out of the forest and saw a wheat field.
”Where is this?” Audrey, who was dressed in hunting clothes, casually asked.
It was her first time hunting in this forest, and she wasn’t sure what each of the surrounding areas led to.
Hebert, likewise less familiar, turned his head sideways to his squire:
”Find someone to ask.”
As they waited, the three siblings laughed and discussed the haul they had just made, while Susie, the big golden-haired dog, gave a look at the foxhounds that were trying to get closer to her, making them consciously pull away.
After a while, Hebert’s squire returned and reported:
”Lord, there is a nearby village called Hedlak …….”
Hedlak …… The village with the custom of dragon worship? I came here from another direction? Audrey was stunned for a moment as she listened.