Chapter 77: LXXVII. Real Man
Beima Duchy, western part.
The Great Wall and its chasm.
Here lies a spectacular view, not of natural mountains but of a historical relic from the Ancient Era, a manmade massive wall with evident signs of construction.
Its origin is untraceable, remaining an inscrutable enigma.
The wall stretches horizontally for several dozen miles, rising hundreds of meters high and several hundred meters wide.
It blocks the only access between steep mountain passes on both sides, the obligatory route for those wanting to reach Beima Duchy from the inland; otherwise, one would have to traverse snow mountains with elevations of tens of thousands of meters. These mountains are extremely cold, with the lowest elevations reaching four to five thousand meters, and are home to various dangerous magic beasts, effectively a no-go zone for humans.
Such treacherous geography allowed Beima Duchy to remain independent and not be divided into a province by the Emperor.
Although the Emperor once asked the puppet king of Beima, controlled by Beima, to cede the wall to Aran,
despite being foolish, he decisively refused—anyone capable of basic math could see the folly in giving away one’s armor, for wouldn’t they just be hung out to dry?
The Emperor hadn’t anticipated that his puppet would dare defy him, but mounting another military campaign was a horrifyingly expensive proposition. With the rising status and budget demands of the empire’s internal security and constitutional forces, even dominating this place would require years of administration to break even. Weighing this, he decided to let it be for the moment.
After all, the coinage rights had already been plundered, he still needed to collect his taxes.