938: Converging at Nocta
After Izario refused her request for a mock battle, Fran took a stroll through town to heal her broken heart. She decided to binge eat at the cafe where we met Sophie.
On our way there, we suddenly heard a commotion. Something was going on at the north gate.
I thought it might be an antidemon attack, but the atmosphere proved otherwise. It sounded more like cheers than screams.
Curious, we went to the gate and discovered the reason for the cheering. Apparently, some sort of famous army had arrived.
People running past Fran were excitedly chatting about how they were looking forward to seeing who came here this time.
Nocta was a transit point that many pa.s.sed through, so it’s probably frequented by famous adventuring parties, knights, mercenaries, and the like. It seems the townspeople found a sort of entertainment in watching these celebrities.
After walking for a while, we saw a group of people marching in our direction along the main street. They were surrounded by onlookers, so they must be the center of the commotion.
After stopping to watch, we got a good view of the group as they pa.s.sed us by.
Everyone at the front of the parade was dressed in matching armor, indicating that they were an order of knights. Including the knights and all their attendants, the group must have had about 300 members in total.
Hold on, I feel like I’ve seen the knights’ silver armor somewhere before.
（Holy knights?）
『Yeah, that’s right. These guys are knights from Silard.』
Silver armor glittering in the sun, marked with an emblem of crossed swords and a horse. We saw the same thing just a little while ago, so there’s no mistaking it. These were the holy knights from the Holy Nation of Silard.
Maybe one of them be the Divine Sword Knight? The center of the group was obscured by the guys waving around their flags, so I couldn’t get a good look. I wasn’t able to sense any presences in particular either.
Wait, isn’t this pretty bad? What if the holy knights escaping Sendia made up some false report to give to the main army?
In that case, they might have Fran marked as down as an enemy. If the rest of them were like those a.s.sholes, there’s no way they’d listen to our side of the story.
『Fran, let’s get out of here for now.』
（Nn.）
Just as Fran was about to blend into the onlookers and leave, there was a commotion at the gate again. It seemed that another well-known group had arrived.
Avoiding the holy knights, we headed toward the gate instead. There, we found a group of people in matching uniforms, giving off a strange aura.
They must have over 1,000 members in total. This time, it seemed more like a battalion of soldiers rather than knights. Moreover, all of them were elderly men.
The battalion consisted entirely of these old veteran spearmen in plain black light armor. Everyone walking through the gate had that appearance.
In addition, we saw a carriage in the center of the group. In contrast to the modest equipment of the old men, this was a very luxurious white carriage. Pulling the carriage was an eight-legged horse.
That’s a Sleipnir, a Rank C magic beast. That alone was conspicuous enough, but we sensed a mysterious mana leaking from inside.
There must be a powerful sorcerer or something in there. Maybe their commander was also in that carriage? They flung a banner displaying a black sword crossed with a large white flower on a red background. It strangely felt both n.o.ble and ominous, so I bet I would have remembered it if I ever saw it before.
「That flag, it’s the flag of the Militant Nation of Hagane.」
「Hagane, from the north? Silard and Hagane were mortal enemies, right?」
「Whoa, really? They won’t start squabbling here in Nocta, will they?」
Fran and I listened carefully to the conversations of the citizens. This group of soldiers seems to belong to the Militant Nation of Hagane. That should be one of the great powers dominating the northern continent, the other one being the Holy Nation of Silard.
But to us, they were the holders of the divine sword, Berserk.
So both of these northern superpowers have arrived at Nocta.
（Where is their divine sword?）
『Hmm, maybe it’s in the carriage? It’s a bit hard to tell unless it’s in plain sight.』
（Too bad.）
Fran would have liked to have a glimpse of Berserk.
『We can head to the Adventurers Guild later. Maybe they can give us some more info.』
（Nn.）
We headed for the cafe, which was our original goal. On the way there, we ran into some familiar faces.
「Huh? It’s Fran!」
「Wonderful, you have returned!」
「Jayne, Orfalve.」
There they were, the queen duo who had saved us at Castel. Jayne Dovey, the queen of the demonkin, and Orfalve Falnis, the queen of the dwarves.
As usual, they seemed to be getting along well. The two were walking together, each with five guards in tow.
「It’s been a while!」
「You look to be in good health.」
「Nn. Thanks for staying behind.」
「We promised, so it’s only natural!」
「We can stick around until the antidemon season is over or she wakes up, whichever comes first.」
It seems they still remained in the city, partially in order to protect Nadia. They really were a dependable bunch.
「Anyway, have you gotten a little stronger again? It’s like you have a whole different aura!」
「Indeed. The battle in Sendia appears to have been a fierce one. If you do not mind, can you share the details with us?」
「Okay.」
「Yay! Then I have a place in mind. Let’s go there.」
「There shall be a private room where we can talk.」
They took us to a relatively hidden restaurant located in a back alley. However, once inside, we found it to be quite s.p.a.cious, so even the two’s escorts would be able to have their meals as well.
There was even a private room in the back. In fact, this seemed to be a rather high-cla.s.s restaurant. The prices were rather expensive too, though none of us really minded.
They ordered some dishes along with the most expensive drinks, before sitting down at the table.
「Cheers to our reunion with a friend!」
「Indeed!」
「Nn!」
And so began our meal. They all chatted lightly about what had happened while they were apart.
Fran gave them a bunch of surprises, but they told us something that surprised us as well.
Jayne said she was familiar with Divine Beast Form. Well, she didn’t know much, of course.
「I think one of the demon lords a long time ago summoned an undead beastman with the Divine Beast Form skill. They were apparently friends, and the beastman said they wanted their body to be put to good use after death.」
「Do you know how to learn Divine Beast Form?」
「Umm, well the legends didn’t have much info on it. Oh, but they did say the beastman was a “white wolf recognized by the G.o.ds”.」
「Recognized by the G.o.ds……」
In other words, Fran needs to do something big enough to make the G.o.ds recognize her? At the very least, just training your stats doesn’t seem to be enough.