Having Dragons fly above a city was not something that could be summarized as a “big incident.”
Dragons were creatures against whom even fully armed and prepared heroes might fall in combat. That was why all warriors dreamed of slaying a Dragon. Slaying an overwhelmingly superior creature with the strength they had honed, their comrades, and their weapons was a glorious deed and a deed that only the most superlative of warriors could perform.
Surely it would cause a great disturbance if such a Dragon were to appear in a dwelling place for humans.
The undead are fine, because we’ve already seen them as guards, but Dragons… no, still, having one fly overhead as a sentry ought to be fine, right? Also, they have many age categories, and their strength varies greatly depending on their age...
Freshly hatched Dragons were still Dragons. However, such a tiny Dragon was more easily controlled than the undead creature from just now.
“Then, that is about it. Thank you for listening. Now, can you follow the soldier back to the gate after you leave this room?”
“Forgive me, but may I ask a question?”
Remedios raised a hand.
“Hm? And what might that be?”
“You don’t intend to kill or eat us, do you?”
“Perhaps this one might have thought of doing so in the past. However, that is strictly forbidden now. In addition, after seeing His Majesty, I feel that there is no point in feuding with my fellow inferior lifeforms.”
“Is His Majesty really that powerful?”
Ryurarius smiled tiredly.
“He is ten times more powerful than you can imagine. Him aside, even his subordinates are extraordinarily potent… simply put, there is no safer city than one which His Majesty defends.”
Perhaps she was thinking of something, but Remedios fell silent.
“This one does not know why you have come here. However, let me give you some sage advice that a friend with whom I take tea — a widow — told me. Declaring your opposition to His Majesty would be extremely foolish. A wise man would immediately throw himself at his feet and beg for mercy.”
There was a shocking sense of reality to those words. While he said he had heard it from a friend, it was more like that the Naga called Ryurarius was speaking from personal experience.
“Thank you for your advice.”
Remedios stood, followed closely by everyone else.
Neia bowed to Ryurarius from where she stood at the rear of the group before leaving the room.
Part 4
They walked along the streets of E-Rantel. The group’s destination was the inn which the gate guards had told them was the highest class establishment in this city, the Shining Gold Pavilion.
Neia looked at the assorted people along the streets.
Ryurarius’s words had given her the impression that this nation was filled with demihumans and the undead. However, the reality was different — most of the pedestrians were human.
The only undead she saw were groups of the same undead being they had seen near the city gates, as well as horse-shaped undead with bodies of bones and fog who pulled carriages. There were no other kinds besides them.
On the other hand, there were all kinds of demihumans.
A group of Goblins marched down the streets in neat formation, each of them radiating the aura of a seasoned veteran. That immediately shattered the impression Neia had of Goblins. No, it was not just Neia who was that way. Gasps of surprise came from the paladin contingent.
There were also a demihuman with a rabbit’s face wearing a maid’s uniform, as well as a bipedal, frog-like demihuman, but she had only seen one example of each in the city.
It seems more normal than I imagined… well, not that normal, but still, it’s quite similar to a human nation. You can hardly tell that it’s under the thumb of a terrifying undead king.
There were no looks of fear on the faces of the citizens walking along the streets. Neia was not sure if this was because they had resigned themselves, they had grown used to it, or they had decided that there was no need to worry about living with the undead. However, there were no signs of chaos on the streets. At times, she even heard the sound of children laughing.
This is much better compared to Jaldabaoth, I guess.
Just then, Remedios suddenly halted her horse. Since their leader, who was travelling at the group’s head, had stopped, the rest of them had no choice but to follow suit.
“Excuse me, Dwarf-san. May I ask you a few questions?”
Remedios was addressing three Dwarves who were working by the side of the road. There were also three Skeletons performing earthworks under the Dwarves’ orders.
The culture shock she had received after entering the city had been so great that she now thought little of seeing Skeletons. There was even a hint of relief in her mind which came from seeing an opponent which even she could win against.
“What? Who are you guys? Which country do you hail from.”
“I apologize for speaking from horseback. However, we are from the Holy Kingdom and we are looking for the inn known as the Shining Gold Pavilion. May we ask how to get there?”
“Shining… Shining Gold Pavilion? Ahhh, that’s a classy place.”
The Dwarves gave them rough directions. However, it differed slightly from what the gate guards had told them and it felt like they were being sent slightly off-course. However, her real objective was not asking directions.
“I see. Thank you very much. Gustavo, give them a token of appreciation.”
Gustavo dismounted from his horse and produced a small pouch of coins.
“You do know all we did was give directions, right?”
“It’s fine. After all, we’ve interrupted your work.”
“Really? Well, sorry about that.”
The Dwarves accepted Gustavo’s gift, and smiled.
“Well, when we get some good grub with this, we’ll thank the men and women of the Holy Kingdom for it.”
“No, there’s no need… speaking of which, what are you doing here?”
“Hm? You can’t tell? We’re laying roads. His Majesty himself requested it of us. While it’s mainly the residents who are doing the work, we’re here to serve as technical advisors.”
Gahahahaha, the Dwarves laughed heartily.
“I see. And the undead over there are…?”
“They’re Skeletons that His Majesty lent us, can’t you tell? Ahhh, honestly, you can’t beat the undead when it comes to pure manual labor. It’s certainly changed my view of them.”
“Controlling the undead, huh…”
“It’s not like there’s anything surprising about it… Well, I guess it can’t be helped because you’re travellers. Still, it’s only to be expected in the Sorcerous Kingdom, no? I’ve heard that the undead are showing their stuff in the nearby villages. After all, they can complete tedious chores like planting and so on with just an order. I mean, look, the undead don’t tire, they don’t sleep, and they don’t eat. In addition, they also understand what we want to say, so they do fantastically when given a task within their means. Things being what they are, you don’t even need to work like a dog any more. Even our country’s starting to make use of them too.”
“By your country, you mean a nation of Dwarves separate from the Sorcerous Kingdom?”
“Oh yes. That’s where we come from, but now we stay in the Sorcerous Kingdom’s demihuman district.”
“Demihuman district?”