Swish...
The sky was overcast, and a light rain fell on the sea.
The main body of Jeweler Island is an extrely prosperous large island, surrounded by several satellite islands and shallow beaches rich in minerals, forming a giant chain of islands.
It is close to the non-human sea area, and the island’s inhabitants are not just humans; many non-human races also appear here.
Of course, Jeweler Island is not famous for this reason.
As the na suggests, due to the abundance and cheapness of raw materials, countless artisans and blacksmiths converge here to enhance their forging skills.
Legend has it that an exceptionally renowned artisan—Reidwiss—was born here.
Reidwiss was a wild boar non-human who could craft magically-driven steamships with his nimble and exquisite craftsmanship, fearless of storms and tsunamis.
However, he has long since passed away, leaving only his legend behind, and the magical ships remain a myth.
At this mont, the Gelin has arrived at the dock of Jeweler Island and docked.
As they were preparing to disembark, Rogel stood by the railing, sowhat surprised, talking to himself.
"A steamship?"
From afar, he saw the ship beside the dock, spewing white steam.
To see more clearly, he deliberately entered True Perspective, and sure enough, it seed to be a large steam-powered ship.
However, this steamship didn’t look technologically advanced as it still had sails, perhaps just an experintal creation.
It seems that Jeweler Island is not just a gathering of blacksmiths hamring iron; they are likely conducting technological research as well.
Perhaps it won’t be long before a technological revolution erupts here?
After thinking for a mont, Rogel snapped out of his thoughts.
The main purpose of his trip was to find a way to quickly improve his blacksmithing skill level; of course, if there were other practical skills, he wouldn’t mind learning them as well.
After paying and disembarking, Rogel hired a guard and also left the Bone Spirit on the ship.
They disembarked from the Gelin and walked from the dock into the heart of Jeweler Island City.
As for the Little Elf, it remained nestled in the small wooden cabin, sound asleep.
The prosperity of Jeweler Island seed to exceed everyone’s expectations.
There seed to be many people living here, with few single-story houses and more multi-story buildings, and the architectural style differed from that of other regions.
How to describe it... Anvil style?
Clang... Clang... Clang...
Before entering the city, Rogel and his companions could already hear the faint sounds of hamring.
Indeed, he hadn’t guessed wrong - the scene was exactly as he imagined.
It made one feel as if imagination overlapped with reality.
Rogel also saw the figures of non-humans in the people coming and going from the dock.
For instance, the horned non-human who was transporting goods.
His form was not much different from an ordinary person, except for the two horns on his head and the noticeable cowhide skin color that differed from humans.
In fact, the features of horned non-humans were quite obvious.
While so non-humans’ traits were not that noticeable.
For instance, the beast-eared gentleman wearing a hat, with two beast ears peeking out and a fluffy tail...
Rogel’s expression froze, and he quickly looked away.
In reality, non-human races are generally not well regarded in human society.
After all, in human society, those who look ugly are often coldly treated, let alone non-humans with humanoid forms but obvious distinguishing traits?
But there are exceptions.
Due to its location at the border of the non-human sea area and the Royal City sea area, there are quite a number of non-humans and humans here, and since this place is rich in minerals and weaponry, business is thriving with a high demand for labor.
So, the status of so non-humans isn’t so low, and so races have inherent physical advantages making them more favored.
Of course, this applies to so only.
But Rogel would not naively believe that non-humans and humans could harmoniously coexist here.
"Is that... a non-human slave?"
Lina looked at a certain spot, a bit puzzled.
By the dock, a human dressed in luxurious clothes was rcilessly whipping two ugly non-humans, scolding them harshly.
"Didn’t the Kingdom promise to stop slave trading with non-human races?"
The Thousand Islands Kingdom had once signed an agreent with the leaders of the non-human sea area, promising to cease slave trading.
"So technically speaking, they are employers and employees."
Mira responded.
"But even if it’s an employnt relationship, do the other non-humans have no reaction seeing their kind treated like this?"
Rogel was also puzzled and asked Mira.
Mira thought for a while and explained: "That involves the racial relations among non-humans."
"They are not of the sa race but divided into factions by species, and so races harbor mutual resentnt and oppression."
"They only united once, a hundred years ago, to jointly resist the slave trade, and that was when non-human slavery ended."
The term "non-human" is just a collective term; they don’t see themselves as the sa race, and hostility and animosity are common among them.
As long as the oppressed are not their fellow kin, they tend not to care.
Seeing an enemy non-human being bullied might even make them cheer.
If it weren’t for the huge losses all races suffered during the existence of the slave trade, they might never have united.
"I see..."
Upon hearing this, Rogel understood.
Mira recalled and spoke again.
"The living conditions in the non-human sea areas aren’t good, forcing many non-humans to leave their holands to seek a better life."
"Jeweler Island is their best choice because it at least provides jobs, whereas other sea areas... it’s hard to find any, and people have low acceptance of non-humans."
"There are many non-humans in need of work, but job opportunities on Jeweler Island are limited, which is why employers act so brazenly."
Mira had read many books, including one that detailed the conditions surrounding Jeweler Island.
Upon truly arriving, she found the book’s contents to be true.
"At least getting whipped ans work, losing a job might an starving..."
After saying this, Mira pointed to a nearby alley, where ragged, soaked, starving non-humans huddled, their eyes hollowed.
With Mira’s explanation, Rogel roughly understood the plight of non-humans on Jeweler Island.
Many non-humans endure exploitation from employers for wages and survival.
The only difference from slavery is the receipt of wages.
And another group can’t even beco slaves.
Especially those non-human races who are weak and unsuited for heavy labor.
After all, no employer would pay soone who can’t even move goods.
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