Ch. 41
As we emerged from the lower reaches of the mountain range, the dense foliage surrounding us noticeably thinned out. In the distance, the walls of Valen, the capital of Vailan, came into view.
Compared to the towering, majestic walls surrounding Sharan, the capital of Dmitri, Valen’s fortifications seemed rather humble.
“Geenie, that’s Valen, the capital of Vailan,” Anel said, pointing toward the still somewhat distant city.
“I see it. But compared to Sharan’s walls, it looks a bit small.”
“You shouldn’t underestimate it. While Sharan’s walls are tall and sturdy, Valen’s walls are reinforced with powerful barrier magic that compensates for their size.”
“Ah… barrier magic. I see.”
One of the first things I learned in the academy’s history lessons was that Dmitri and Vailan were originally one nation.
Now, the continent was divided between two massive empires—the Holy Empire of Elan and the Dark Empire of Koiren—with the neutral empire Dmiran once acting as the mediator between them.
But that symbol of neutrality had long since vanished.
Dmiran had split due to internal strife, giving rise to Dmitri and Vailan.
In the past, Dmiran struggled to maintain neutrality between the two empires, each pushing their own agendas. Eventually, a faction advocating for supporting one side and aiding in the continent’s unification clashed with another faction determined to preserve neutrality, sparking a civil war.
In the end, the kingdom split along the Dragonia Mountains, and one of the three once-dominant empires crumbled without much resistance.
Naturally, the empires didn’t just stand by and watch.
A fierce battle ensued beneath the surface between Elan and Koiren.
Dmitri, where the warriors had gathered, swiftly declared its allegiance to Elan, while Vailan, which had insisted on remaining neutral until the end, eventually sided with the Holy Empire of Elan after some undisclosed conflict with Koiren.
This only deepened the rift between Vailan and Dmitri.
If they were going to end up like this anyway, they might as well have cooperated from the start. At least then, they wouldn’t have lost their imperial status.
The hatred between the two sides had always run deep.
“Geenie, once we enter the city, you need to watch what you say, alright?”
“Why?”
“Even though everyone speaks the common language of the continent, there are differences in accent. Your accent is strongly Dmitrian. And as you know, Vailan and Dmitri are notorious for being bitter enemies.”
“That’s true.”
“The bigger the city, the worse the discrimination.”
The reason Dmitri’s delegation was heading to their long-time rival, Vailan, was due to a directive from Elan to use teleportation.
Neither Dmitri nor Vailan could afford to defy Elan’s orders anymore.
It would be ideal if the two nations could unite again, but that was an even greater impossibility.
“Alright, this part of the path is steep. Hold on to me,” Anel said, extending her hand toward me.
Looking at the sheer drop ahead, I grabbed Anel’s tanned hand. As I did, I found myself wondering about her origins—her deep-toned skin and shimmering silver hair stood out.
“Anel, where are you from? Are you from Dmitri?”
“If you want to be technical, I’m from the Kingdom of Koran. But I only grew up there because the Black Jungle is part of Koran’s territory.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m from the jungle. We don’t have a concept of a home country. We only have our homeland. Since we live in tribal societies, we don’t serve a king either.”
“Have you heard of the Silver Wolf Tribe? It’s one of the larger tribes.”
“I’ve heard of them.”
“Really? That makes me happy.”
“The Silver Wolf Tribe is one of the most exceptional ethnic minorities in the Federation of Tribes in Koran, right? Their defining traits are silver hair… and the fact that every single member is a dual-wielding swordsman.”
Now that I thought about it, that was a perfect description of Anel.
The tribe was known for revering wolves, believing their ancestors descended from Silver Wolves. Whether that was true or not, I wasn’t sure.
I vaguely remembered learning about it in class, but I hadn’t paid much attention at the time.
“You know quite a bit. Where did you learn all this?” Anel asked, eyes widening in surprise.
In truth, knowing the characteristics of different tribes in different countries was an obscure area of knowledge.
Most people wouldn’t have bothered to learn such details.
“Just… from the academy.”
“Hmm.”
“They make us study a lot.”
Would I tell Anel that I was a noble before we parted ways?
It felt too late now. If I said it now, it would just seem awkward. I regretted not mentioning it earlier.
—
After descending the mountain and walking a bit further, the city gates finally came into view.
The Shavel Mercenary Corps’ leader, Shavel, seemed quite familiar with the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper nodded in recognition, indicating they knew each other.
“It’s been a while, Captain.”
“Not much work lately, huh?”
“Indeed. As you know, I’ll need to see your transport permit, mercenary badge, and transport manifest.”
After a brief exchange, Shavel handed over two sheets of paper and his mercenary badge.
“Two wagons of plaster sacks, one of sculptures, one of gilded frames, and one carrying valuable sculptures and artwork, all being delivered to Dalph Art Gallery. The sender is Saruka Trading Company, correct?”
“That’s right. It was a difficult job—we ran into an ogre along the way.”
“An ogre? That must have caused quite a few injuries.”
“We’re just grateful there were no casualties. We need to stop by the temple as well. Oh, by the way, the manifest should list 23 mercenaries, but we have one extra person with us who isn’t a mercenary.”
At Shavel’s words, the gatekeeper’s eyes immediately landed on me.
Amidst the rugged mercenaries, a lone child stood out starkly.
I made sure to appear as harmless as possible, blinking my eyes innocently as if I had no clue about anything.
Since I had lost my belongings when I got separated, I had no identification—let alone my Royal Drike Academy student badge to prove my status.
In short, I was an unidentified individual.
“That child?”
“We found them after they got separated from their group. Their party—Drike Academy, you’ve heard of it, right?—is supposed to arrive here in a few days.”
“I’ll need to verify that. With the festival approaching, plenty of people are arriving to use the teleportation gates.”
“Can they enter with us now?”
“Well, she’s just a kid… As long as the captain fills out some simple paperwork, she can enter,” the gatekeeper said.
“Simple? What kind of paperwork?”
“It’s just a formal document stating that you take full responsibility for any trouble she causes. It’s just a formality, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”
At the gatekeeper’s calm words, Shavel turned to look at me with a serious expression.
He clearly didn’t think it was just “simple paperwork.”
Over the past few days, I had been at the center of countless incidents. Hoho.
“And if—just if—she does cause trouble, what happens?”
“To put it simply, Captain Shavel would be her guarantor. If anything goes wrong, he’ll either have to pay a fine or spend time in prison.”
“…I see. Well, there’s no helping it.”
Shavel disappeared into the checkpoint office, signaling the conversation had reached its conclusion.
I had heard that entering the capital without identification could be a hassle, but in the end, things wrapped up more easily than expected.
At last, we had arrived in Valen, the distant and fabled capital of Vailan, the land of mages.
The final gateway to Elan.
Because we had taken a shortcut, I arrived in the capital a full week ahead of the official delegation.
It was expected, but now I had to figure out what to do while waiting.
Valen’s most famous landmark was undoubtedly its grand public library, which was said to span nearly a thousand acres.
I planned to visit soon. There were bound to be more books on spirits there than in Dmitri.
Ancient language texts would probably be off-limits, though.
Following the mercenary corps, we arrived at an ordinary-looking inn, the kind you could find anywhere. Apparently, it was their regular spot.
It seemed a bit small, but just the thought of staying in an inn with proper beds already made me happy.
My plan was simple:
First, have a proper meal.
Then, fill a bath and scrub myself clean.
And finally, drink a warm glass of milk before bed.
A modest but satisfying dream.
But the moment the inn’s doors opened, that dream shattered into pieces.
I pinched my nose and took a quick step back.
“What’s wrong, kid? Not coming in?”
“This place?”
“Then what, you wanna sleep outside? Do as you like!”
The inn was much larger inside than it seemed from the outside.
The problem wasn’t the rough-looking men filling the place.
Nor was it the fact that I stood out and was getting far too much attention. I had thick skin, after all!
No, the problem was the thick haze of smoke that filled the room, making everything look blurred.
“Cough! Cough! Haaack!”
In my past life, this wouldn’t have been allowed at all.
But in this world, even kids smoked, so expecting them to put out their cigarettes just because a child was present was wishful thinking.
After hesitating for a moment, I was shoved inside by the mercenary corps.
It was so bad that simply breathing felt like I was smoking secondhand.
At this level, I might as well be reusing the smoke just by existing.
I clung to Anel’s sleeve, my expression scrunched up in sheer displeasure.
Everyone’s eyes were on me.
[Why is everyone staring at us?]
[No idea. Maybe because Anel is famous?]
Or maybe they had just never seen a child in this place before…
“Tch.”
“Did you hear that? The little brat just clicked her tongue. How cute.”
I turned my head toward the voice.
A grating, unpleasant, and downright nauseating voice.
Where my gaze landed, I saw the likely owner of the voice—a large man, not quite as massive as Kenta, but still huge.
His thick lips and half-lidded eyes made him look like a toad.
He licked his fat lips and slowly waved at me.
Chills ran down my spine.
“So, the Shavel Mercenary Corps is in the babysitting business now? Hah!”
“Seriously. She’s quite a pretty one. You should raise her properly and marry her off to me, hah!”
Disgusting.
Even though in this world, people could marry at twelve, I refused. Absolutely not.
I quickly averted my gaze, pretending to be scared.
I could forgive ugliness, but creepiness was another matter entirely.
I tightened my grip on Anel’s sleeve.
She was the only person I could trust right now.
[Rai, don’t go more than five meters away from me for the time being.]
[Yes, ma’am!]
[Got it! Absolutely no wandering off!]
Even as I reassured myself, unease crept in.
