Chapter 832 (1/2)
Chapter 832: An Encounter with the King
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
As the whistle blew in a low-pitched tone, Roland staggered to a stop at the dock. Lorgar noticed the passerby dock all came to a halt and raised their right hands, saluting the towering ship when she stepped onto the trestle. It was probably because the ship was named after the chief.
The soldiers from the First Army on the ship responded to the public with a salute in the same manner.
Lorgar gathered that should be a special form of greeting.
However, unlike any of the greetings she had witnessed, where there was usually a party more superior than the other, the greeting here did not stress such a status difference. The equality between initiators and receivers confused Lorgar. She did not understand why they had to greet each other with such a ceremonious air when they were equal. In her opinion, the whole point of formalities was to pay respects and submit to the receiver, no matter it was kneeling and worshipping, or placing a fist over one’s heart.
Apart from that, she also noticed that even the children playing around the dock saluted in the same way, chest out and shoulders back. During the process, nobody looked reluctant or inferior. Instead, their eyes were all full of joy and energies. The salutation seemed to have built a connection between each other that words had failed.
Ashes broke the silence. “This is a military salutation. I didn’t know why they did that at the beginning and thought it was an etiquette imposed by Roland Wimbledon to his subjects. Later I found it wasn’t what I thought.”
Lorgar raised her brow in surprise. “Does it have nothing to do with the Roland?”
“Correct. They’ll salute voluntarily every time a boat carrying the First Army docks, because the return of the boat means their family members have come back home safe and sound from their expedition.”
“But they don’t look like… families,” Princess Lorgar remarked hesitatively. If they were, the greetings should be more emotional. Plus, practically all the soldiers on board were male, but there were few females at the dock. Could every one of them happen to have a brother?
Andrea shrugged. “All the members of the First Army are from Neverwinter, which means most residents have a family member who has joined the army. There’s also a lot of them from neighboring streets. The First Army is totally different from mercenaries who drift around looking for potential employers, nor do they work the same way as an enlisted militia. They take pride in their jobs. They celebrate the safe return of family members for each other. I believe this is probably what His Majesty refers to as the significance of a ‘people’s army'”.
“So it’s an army… built by all subjects?” Lorgar questioned herself in silence.
The wolf girl followed the witches into Neverwinter, still lost in thoughts.
What the new king’s city of Graycastle first impressed her was its tidiness. Despite streaming pedestrians, both houses and streets in the city were aligned in straight rows, including roadside trees. The compact arrangement gave Lorgar a suffocating feeling. Although the city looked quite magnificent at the first glance, she did not feel as comfortable as in Iron Sand City.
Moreover, to her great disappointment, there was little snow in Neverwinter. Even the solid-surfaced road underneath was dry. She could only spy some remnant of snow at the tips of tree branches and on the roofs.
Her plan to visit a pure white snow city was frustrated.
Of course, there was still something appealing to her.
Lorgar was overwhelmed by the huge boards that overhung some of the houses on the street, on which various signs and logos were printed, such as Old Hunter Leather, Straw House, North Slope Gem House, etc., although some of the boards were blank.
In addition, she was surprised to find that there was a sign at every intersection, clearly showing where each branch head, as well as the name of each street.
For example, the street she was currently pounding was called Glow Boulevard.