Imperial Capital Vellefrost
I woke up very tired the next morning, and so I took a light breakfast and then rested in the wagon. Trickster? No, it could not be helped. It"s not my fault. They shouldn"t have been there in the forest.
I had barely even slept when I was woken up. I would have liked to sleep longer…
According to Daniela, the line had started to move with the rise of the sun. We had now been waiting for about two hours. That was a lot if you added how long we had waited yesterday. But well, at least we wouldn"t sleep two nights in a row.
"…Huh…actually, that"s not for certain…"
For a moment I had a.s.sumed we were a.s.sured an inn to stay at.
"So, why did you wake me up?"
"We"re about to be inspected."
"I see."
I thought we would be allowed through with a lot less ha.s.sle, but this was the capital. Perhaps they needed tighter security.
I took out the status cards from the hollow bag and looked up at the sky and waited until guards came walking towards us.
"We"ll take your status cards in advance."
"Please put them in this basket."
Huh. I guess they had them scanned first. It was nice and efficient.
"Excuse me."
"Uh, yes!"
The pair of guards that stopped in front of us looked so young that one might mistake them for children. I put the four status cards into the basket that one of the boys was holding. Mister and Moosh had status cards as well. It was apparently necessary for the trade, even if you weren"t Adventurers.
"Here you go."
"Thank you!"
"So, which of you are representing the others?"
"Uh…"
I glanced over to Mister. We were guarding him, so he clearly represented us.
"I am. You can call me Mister."
"Alright, Mister. Very good. We will get back to you after the inspection."
"Much obliged."
The two boys bowed politely and returned to the guardhouse.
So even kids worked as guards here. How old had I been during my first job…
"I guess it"s more waiting then."
"I"m quite bored of this wagon…"
Mister laughed with amus.e.m.e.nt. The three others seemed to be used to long carriage rides. But my a.s.s was killing me… I could see why someone would want to modify carriages after coming to another world. But it was too much work for me. I would rather run. Well, that was dumb too…
The pair of boys were walking towards us again. From what I heard them say to the carriage in front of ours, we had been given permission to go through.
"Mister and company!"
"You have been granted entry into the city. Please move forward!"
"Thank you."
They seemed to be staring at me with dazzled eyes. No, I must have been seeing things.
"Uh, um!"
"Huh?"
But then they called to me.
"Uh, are you really the Great Silvergreen?"
"Oh… No need to add the "great" part… I don"t care for that."
"I-I"m sorry! I"m a big fan of yours, Mister Silvergreen!"
"Hehe. Thanks."
So they were fans. I was reminded of Lauria… I wished she would clean my clothes again.
"Are you going to fight in the Imperial Sword Tournament?"
"I intend to, yes."
"I"ll be rooting for you then!"
"Me too!"
They raised their fists in support. I often thought about the bad rumors that spread about us, but hearing voices like these helped motivate me.
"Thank you. I"ll do what I can to win."
"We"re going to watch you fight!"
"Please do your best!"
They waved at me excited before returning to their work. I waved back until they reached the next carriage.
"I see you are quite popular."
"Don"t laugh. That was embarra.s.sing…"
I tried to fan myself to cool off.
"I would not mind being admired by such adorable children."
"Haha. I"m sure you have lots of girls looking up to you."
"Yes, for some reason…"
Daniela sighed and shook her head. It could not be helped. No matter where she went, she was the cool one that girls admired. No matter what world you were in, there was always yuri to be found. Next time I wouldn"t mind being reincarnated as a girl.
"But would that be yuri…? Well, perhaps that is a different genre."
"Wha the h.e.l.l are you talking about?"
"…Absolutely nothing."
I sighed deeply and looked out of the tarp like Daniela was doing. We were just going through the gate.
The history of the Imperial Capital of Vellefrost was long. The Empire of Flugelnia had once dominated the world. And this city was made by the first Emperor. As it was an Empire that had swallowed up many countries, the buildings in the city were diverse in architecture. Thankfully, the initial planning of the city had been done well, and the streets were not too complicated. Of course, that was mostly just true for the center of the capital. It was where the n.o.bles lived. And it was in the very heart of the capital that the Iron Castle, Revance Reve, stood proudly. Eight streets spread out from the Imperial Castle, and each was named after figures who had supported the country.
These were people who had helped the country once the empire"s domination of the world had ended. The first Emperor of Vellefrost had the world in his hands, but the stress of accomplishing such a feat had sent him to an early grave. His son and successor avoided the same fate by cutting the kingdom into pieces. And eight n.o.bles helped him in this task.
This was the story I was being told by the old man in front of me.
"And so these eight people…"
"Asagi, we have to go…"
"Uh…um…old man. We have to get going…"
"Hmm? Oh, has that much time pa.s.sed? I"m so sorry to keep you. Do enjoy your stay in the city!"
"Thank you…"
I courageously interrupted the old man and succeeded in ending his impromptu history lesson. Then I sighed for the hundredth time that day.
"d.a.m.n it. Why did I have to do it…"
"I am under a curse where my lifespan shortens when I talk to strangers."
"That"s the dumbest thing I"ve ever heard."
"Uh, Mister Asagi. We have to go to the guild…"
"Oh, right. Well, let"s go then!"
d.a.m.n it. I had only wanted to find out the location of the guild, but ended up being lectured about the city"s history… And that took a lot of time. d.a.m.n it…
But the location he told me at the start of his history lesson was correct. And he told us of a route that had less traffic, which made it even worse that we had wasted so much time.
There was a great sign that read, "Grand Guild." It was the main headquarters of Vellefrost"s Adventurer"s Guild. I had never been to any headquarters before. When we anxiously stepped inside, I immediately noticed how big it was. Of course, I should have known it, because it was huge from the outside. There were five of each counter and yet it was still crowded.
So, what would the quality of Adventurers be like? As there where Adventurers from all over the place now, it would probably be a varied lineup. You had your dangerous-looking old man, the younger guy with a troublesome att.i.tude, the lady who licked her knife threateningly, the girl who looked cute but carried a giant battleaxe… But seriously, don"t lick your knives. You"ll cut yourself.
Mister accompanied us to the rewards counter. As we were also making a report on the quest, it should be the right place to go.
"Another line… I"m sick of it."
"Well, well. At least it is the last one."
"Speaking of last, this is the end of our journey, Mister… I"m sorry that it wasn"t as peaceful as you might have wanted."
"Preposterous! I enjoyed myself very much. I had been anxious about having to travel with some ruffian Adventurers, and so you two were a great relief. It was a very pleasant journey."
"I"m glad to hear it."
It was time to say goodbye. In spite of the Grendel and the blood apes, and the fact that it was a rather dangerous journey, I was happy to hear that he had a good time.
"You"re next."
"Ah, we"re being called."
"Let"s go."
And so we went to the counter and made a report of the quest. For some reason, we were given two pieces of gold instead of eighty silvers, but perhaps it was Mister"s generosity. It was touching… It was the first time we had traveled with a stranger, and it wasn"t a bad experience. Perhaps it would be nice to travel in a party one day.
That being said, I wanted our next trip to be just us two. But before that, there was the Imperial Sword Tournament.
And before that, we had to find an inn.