Chapter 36: Infiltrating the Royal Capital?
When we first arrived in the city, we were preoccupied with settling into our new living environment. It was only when we sold our nearly untouched prey that we felt a bit of relief. At that time, I might have gotten a little carried away, feeling like a small-time wealthy person.
“What’s that big city beyond the west gate?”
“Huh? Oh, you’re leaving this city? If you head straight west for about ten days, you’ll reach the Royal Capital.”
We arrived at the west gate, but it seemed there was no commotion yet. I spoke to the gatekeeper, who didn’t seem particularly wary of us.
“I see.”
“Yeah. There are about three rest stops along the way, so you won’t need to camp out until then.”
“By the way, what’s at the south gate?”
“The south leads to the grain-producing region, and beyond that is Labyrinth City Inbrand. If you go even further south, you’ll reach the neighboring Commercial Nation Aresgute.”
Wow, there’s a Labyrinth City? I wonder if there are dungeons there.
“That sounds interesting too.”
“Yeah, there are many adventurers aiming for a fortune in the dungeons. If I were a bit younger, I would have challenged them myself.”
“Haha.”
“Well, whatever happens, be careful.”
“Thank you very much.”
After lightly bowing to the gatekeeper, I stepped outside the city alone. I wasn’t sure how useful my little tricks would be, but it wouldn’t hurt to prepare for anything I could easily execute.
After distancing myself from the city for a while, I sensed Rio’s presence at the edge of the road. I pushed through the bushes and veered off the path to walk toward her.
“Hey, looks like we both made it out of the city safely.”
“Shuu!”
Seeing me, Rio rushed over with enthusiasm. As I hugged her tightly in return, I could feel her sigh of relief.
Rio had entered an alleyway and flown over the city walls to get outside. Since it was daytime, there was a chance she could have been noticed, but I thought it would be safer to prepare for an attack from flying monsters outside the city rather than inside.
“Were you okay, Rio?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“That’s good to hear. Well, it might be that there was no way for anyone to follow us into the sky anyway.”
“…Now that you mention it, that might be true.”
“Well, there’s no point in worrying about what we don’t know. Let’s fly straight to the Royal Capital.”
“Okay!”
With that, we took to the skies, heading at full speed toward the Royal Capital. Of course, we bypassed all the rest stops along the way.
“It was closer than I thought.”
We only stopped to camp once, and without any troubles, we arrived at the Royal Capital in about two days. However, as expected of the Royal Capital, the line to enter was long.
“But it seems like it’s going to take a while before we can get inside.”
“Yeah.”
However, it seemed they were prepared for the crowd, as the line moved faster than expected, and soon it was our turn. Upon closer inspection, there were many gatekeepers, capable of checking eight groups at once.
“Identification, please.”
This call was familiar whenever entering a city.
“Oh, I’m sorry, but I don’t have any identification.”
With my staff at my waist and a robe draped over me, I spread my arms to indicate I had nothing.
“I don’t have one either.”
Rio, clad in light armor with short swords at her hips, followed suit.
“What? I see. Then come over here for a moment.”
I had decided not to show my Adventurer’s Certificate with my name on it. Of course, I would be using a pseudonym. There was a chance my real name could slip out, but I would deal with that if it happened.
Another idea I had was to pretend to be different professions. While I was fine, Rio, who specialized in magic, also had a decent growth rate skill. Thus, she could perform better than the average beginner in a front-line role.
“First, let’s start with your names.”
“I’m Ryu.”
“I’m Shio.”
“What’s the reason for coming to the Royal Capital?”
We were led into a room with no chairs, just a slightly tall table, and the gatekeeper immediately began questioning us.
“I came to become an adventurer since I was always stuck doing farm work in the countryside.”
“I see. Where are you from?”
“I’m from a place called Japan. It’s so rural that you probably wouldn’t know it.”
“…You too?”
He directed the question at Rio as well.
“Yes, I’m the same as him.”
With a grin, Rio smiled at me, and I, forgetting the gatekeeper’s presence, returned her smile wholeheartedly.
“Ah, ahem! For being from the countryside, you don’t seem… poor.”
The gatekeeper cleared his throat, looking suspicious.
“Just because it’s the countryside doesn’t mean it’s poor. Besides, I was the best in my village.”
“Is that so?”
He seemed to have a strong bias against rural folks. Well, perhaps that was just how things were in this world. In any case, as long as we could get into the Royal Capital and obtain our Adventurer’s Certificates, we would be successful. I hadn’t heard any rules about re-obtaining them, but I figured it would be fine…
“Indeed. Ryu is amazing.”
“Alright, alright! You two owe me 1,000 Fron! You’re free to pass.”
The gatekeeper interrupted us, seemingly giving up as we were about to drift into our own world again.
“Oh, yes. Thank you very much.”
With a smirk of triumph inside, I paid a silver coin, and we stepped into the Royal Capital.