Vol 3. Chapter 1: Thinking about the main fleet
East Gate City was constructed as a trading hub for exchanges with the Forest Kingdom of Levresta.
The city collected taxes from the merchant caravans passing through, including entry taxes and exit taxes for individuals, cart taxes for carriages, and horse taxes for mounts. However, the lord governing the city was relatively fair-minded and demonstrated a reasonable sense of economic management, keeping the tax rates low.
To ensure proper tax collection, the entire city was surrounded by walls, and camping outside the city limits was generally prohibited. This restriction made sense, as it compelled people to pass through the gates and pay their dues.
That said, enforcement wasn’t particularly strict, and lightly-equipped travelers were often overlooked.
All in all, the city appeared to be running quite competently.
“If they can manage this kind of setup, it means the local economy is functioning decently, right?”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. There seems to be a reasonable level of activity here. We’ll need to observe directly to confirm, but it appears they’ve established a trade route with Wheat Hill City. It seems they also recently opened a direct route, bypassing Fratara City entirely.”
“Hmm...”
Traveling through Fratara City had indeed been a bit of a detour.
Originally, Fratara had been a major logistical hub, connecting trade routes to West Gate City and Telek Port City. For merchants, it had been an essential stop.
However, in recent years, Fratara had lost much of its influence as a trading hub, forcing traders to seek alternate routes.
“Commerce really is complicated. Still, it’s good news that East Gate City and the Forest Kingdom of Levresta are maintaining trade relations. I hope we can open talks with them.”