After the rebel army's large ship docked, the people of the City of Silver, all wearing crew-neck shirts, brown jackets, wide-leg pants, and dark peaked caps, followed the divine emissary Lord Danitz off the ship, ready to pass through the docks and enter the "Generous City" Beyam—these clothes had been prepared in advance.
"It feels so awkward wearing this, not really suitable for combat..." Leiavar said, moving his limbs and lowering his voice to Elder Derrick.
Derrick nodded slightly:
"But this helps us hide ourselves and not be too conspicuous, becoming the focus of others' attention."
Derrick's analysis was perfectly correct; after all, they were outsiders, only twenty-one people, and if they could avoid drawing attention, that would be best. But he seemed to have forgotten a key detail.
"But, but, they're all looking at us..." Candice quickly glanced around and said softly.
The workers on the dock, some in ragged clothes or bare-chested, and the travelers dressed in various styles, all turned their gazes toward them.
"So tall..." a Beyam resident with bronzed skin and slightly curly hair couldn't help remarking.
He was only about 160 centimeters tall, which was the average height of male commoners in the colonies of that era. And the City of Silver people, except for Derrick who was just over two meters, averaged above 2.3 meters, with the tallest exceeding 2.5 meters.
Such "half-giants" walking on the dock, walking among the crowd, no matter how they dressed, were equally conspicuous.
"Feysac people?" a Loen man in a top hat, formal suit, and cane said to his companion. "Has the slave trade started again?"
He thought the City of Silver group was a batch of Feysac prisoners of war bought by the Roth government from the Loen Kingdom. After all, in this world, he could only think of those Feysac barbarians who called themselves descendants of giants when seeing such height in more than one or two people.
His companion shook his head and frowned:
"Doesn't seem like it. Most Feysac have light blue eyes, and even among Feysac, those over two meters are extremely rare. Unless, unless these are nobles or officer prisoners..."
In Feysac, although there was no written rule, in all walks of life, especially the military, there existed a phenomenon of determining status by height. Of course, this wasn't the only condition; it also factored in family background, titles, Sequence, and so on.
Based on this "custom," the descendants of Feysac nobles and the upper echelons of the military generally had heights over two meters.
This was actually a superficial phenomenon; in essence, it was the effect of Beyonder characteristics.
Those who could become high-ranking Feysac military were either of noble birth or had at least reached Sequence 5. Under the repeated influence of potions from the "Warrior" pathway, i.e., the "Giant" pathway, the latter were guaranteed to "meet the standard" in height—those who chose the "Red Priest" path also saw some height increase, but early on it wasn't as noticeable as the "Giant" path, totaling only a few centimeters. A qualitative change only came with becoming a demigod.
As for noble descendants, their ancestors were more or less "giants" or had intermarried with "giants." Whether they inherited Beyonder characteristics or not, the corresponding genes accumulated over generations would certainly ensure their normal height exceeded two meters.
Among them, families that still held partial "Giant" pathway potion formulas and had some legacy—their descendants even exhibited the same situation as the City of Silver.
—The royal family, holding the "Red Priest" pathway, maintained their descendants' height through intermarriage.
The City of Silver people, examined by countless gazes, grew more and more uneasy, as if they had returned to that cursed land, walking in deep darkness, watched by monster after monster.
Derrick, however, was very calm and composed. He looked around and said to the members of the exploration team:
"They mean no harm."
After confirming that Mr. Hanged Man was in this city and knew of his arrival, Derrick no longer felt isolated and helpless.
This wasn't because he didn't trust the messenger appointed by Mr. Fool, but because he believed that trivial daily matters should not trouble the gods; what could be solved by themselves should be solved by themselves.
And when it came to solving things themselves, Derrick wasn't very familiar with the outside world and lacked confidence. At a time like this, an experienced, wise, meticulous, and trustworthy "local" would be the best help.
Of course, Derrick also knew that Mr. Hanged Man probably wouldn't contact him openly, because he belonged to a different faction and was not a believer of the Sea God. If he showed too much eagerness in matters concerning the City of Silver, he would definitely be suspected.
But there would always be a legitimate reason and suitable opportunity to meet... Derrick thought with anticipation.
Amid these thoughts, he and the members of the City of Silver exploration team followed Danitz out of the dock and onto the street.
Their field of vision suddenly expanded; they saw more people than before and heard all kinds of sounds.
For the City of Silver people, this was livelier than the grandest "Harvest Festival" in their homeland: countless people in distinctive but equally strange clothing, some hurrying, some strolling, some holding large fruits and sucking the liquid inside through a straw, some holding food that seemed to be the delicious pie from the ship, taking bites now and then.
Besides these, horse-like animals pulling carriages, metal objects that made jingling sounds and moved very fast, and the various aromas of spices drifting through the streets, all made the City of Silver people feel as if they had come to another world.
For them, this truly was another world.