In the outskirts of the Kingsbridge region, a peddler woke up early from his bed and started his morning routine. He picked up his large rucksack and went out of the house to travel through the harsh terrain of the mountain ranges until he finally reached the Queens region.
He greeted his neighbors and picked up some Reborn soap and shampoo to resell in the other cities. The demand for this product has continued to skyrocket in the Queens region, giving him a steady line of work.
He usually went straight for the road northwards, going directly to the mountain rangers. But this time, the peddler took a detour and went towards the South of the City to look for precious herbs and vegetation in the forest.
But just as he stepped out of the City walls, the peddler realized that the ground he stood on was far too smooth to walk on. Usually, he would feel the rocks and mud on the soles of his feet, but this time, he felt as if he was walking on marble.
It was very early in the morning, with the sun still hiding on the horizon, so the peddler couldn’t see the road properly.
But as the minutes passed, the sun soon lightened up the forest to reveal a large road in front of him, as smooth as silk, and as white as marble.
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“A flat road?! Why have I never seen this before?” he said to himself.
He looked further down the forest and saw the road stretching to the ends of the horizon, with virtually no end in sight.
This made the peddler even more confused. Such a large construction like this would have taken months if not years to complete. He would have definitely heard about a project this massive.
As a peddler, he prided himself in his connections with other people. Surely, the construction of this road would have been talked about by his friends and acquaintances, especially since the road here looked even smoother than a maiden’s face!
He marveled at the flatness of the road, with virtually no bumps or craters that would impede a horse carriage from running at full speed.
The peddler immediately turned around back into the city walls and asked his peddler friends if they had known about this road.
“A road down south? There’s no such thing,” they said. “That place leads to nowhere but the Parched Lands. There’s no way that they would waste money on such a fruitless project. Your lie would have been more believable if you told me there was a road connecting the Kings region from the Queens region!”
“It extends down further down to the horizon, you say? If there was such a thing, then we would have known about it by now.”
“My brother-in-law works in construction. He would have told me about it if there was any work here.”
“And it’s even smoother than the roads here? You must be kidding, my good sir. There is simply no such thing. You must be seeing things since it is so early in the day.”
Seeing the disbelieving eyes of his fellow peddlers, the man had no choice but to bet his pride on the line.
“I’ll strip naked and run around the walls if my words are untrue,” the peddler vowed.
The other peddlers took on his words and all merrily strolled towards the Southern edge of Kingsbridge City.
They were ready to make fun of their friend, but when they reached the end of the walls, they saw that a crowd had gathered near the gates.
“Oh my! Was there always a road here?”
“I live just a few blocks away from here and I’ve never seen such a road before,” they gossiped.
The peddlers all pushed through the curious citizens and saw the beautiful white concrete road for themselves.
They gasped as they felt the solidness of the ground.
“It’s true…” they muttered to themselves
Soon enough, as more and more people discovered this road, the news of this mysterious new pavement spread all around Kingsbridge City.
Everyone went out of their way to visit the Southern edge of the walls just to see this strange new road. Usually, nobody visited this place because it only led to the Parched Lands, which was a desolate desert with nothing valuable inside it.
People started walking on the roads, trying to find where it led, but they quickly found out that the road extended far beyond what they could walk with their own feet.
So, horse carriages were brought into play. The peddlers all brought their own rides to find the ends of this mysterious road.
As they rode down this path, they noticed the complete contrast between this road and all the roads they had ever set foot on before. This road was so stable to ride through that they could even pour water in a cup without spilling!
This only increased their curiosity as to who and how they created this road.
After about a day’s worth of travel, they caught themselves in a split in the road.
To the right was a path that led deeper towards the Parched Lands, while the other one led towards the boundary between the Kings and Queens region, where the harsh mountain ranges and the infamous Dwarven Kingdom were located.
The peddlers, feeling as if they were on the verge of discovering something amazing, sped up their horses and followed the road.
They continued to ride until they finally saw, on the horizon, where the road led towards.
And it was none other than the Dwarven Kingdom.
Immediately, all sorts of ideas flashed through their heads.
Could the Dwarves have constructed this road? After all, only they had the craftsmanship to create a road so smooth. However, this didn’t make sense once they thought of the dwarves’ reputation to close themselves off from humans.
They wouldn’t have built a road that connected the two territories if they wanted to keep themselves isolated.
They continued towards the Dwarven Kingdom in search of an answer, until finally, a group of dwarven guards approached their group.
“You humans do not bear the symbol for the Reborn company. You are not permitted to enter our territory.”
