“Yup. It’s where all the races who aren’t human live. They say it used to be the pauper’s district of this city, but it was torn down. Then, it was rebuilt in order to let races of all kinds live comfortable lives. Well, it might be a while before it’s complete, but work on the dwellings for races smaller than you humans — like we dwarves, for instance — has already begun.”
“Originally, we came here to take charge of that building work!”
The Dwarf’s colleague jumped into the conversation.
“I see. But if the pauper’s district was torn down, where did the original residents go?”
Remedios’s eyes went to the undead.
“We’re not too sure, but I think they were sent to villages or something. There’s a lot of ruined, abandoned villages around this city, and I heard they were sent there to rebuild them and work the fields. That’s where being able to command the undead comes in handy. If I’m not wrong, they’ve begun large-scale farming with the undead, or something. That’s why food prices in this country are pretty cheap.”
“It doesn’t matter that it’s cheap! The important thing is that it’s good! And the wine! Ohhh, I fattened right up after moving to this city!”
“If I go back all plump like this, my wife’s going to yell ‘Where’s my share!?’ at me. I’d better slim down before returning home!”
“Ahhhh, we really lucked out in the lottery!”
Gahahahaha, the dwarves laughed again.
“Finally, there’s those horse-shaped undead. Do you know their names?”
“Beats me. Still, doesn’t matter if we don’t know, right? They’re not harming anyone. They’re a bag of bones, yet they’re so damn strong, makes them perfect for moving goods, right?”
“I see… Thank you!”
“Same here. Best of luck to all of you!”
After bidding the Dwarves farewell, the group continued toward the inn once more.
“Captain, why did you ask the name of that horse-shaped undead creature?”
Neia was mystified. She had thought that was what would have interested the Captain least.
“...Gustavo. That was because you were acting strangely when you saw that thing.”
“Really…?”
“Say, do you know the name of that undead being?”
“...Well, a name does come to mind… but I think I must have made a mistake. It can’t be, I was probably mistaken. I can’t imagine an undead creature like that could ever be controlled.”
“H-mm~ Well, if you say so, then so be it.”
And that was the end of that.
Before long, the instructions they had followed brought them before a luxurious inn, probably the Shining Gold Pavilion which the gate guards had recommended to them. While its name was written on the signboard, the Kingdom’s script was different from that of the Holy Kingdom, so they could only make a rough guess at what it said. The Kingdom and the Empire had once been the same country, so there were many similarities between them, but the Holy Kingdom had never been tied to either of those countries, so they differed greatly.
“Gustavo, go ahead before us and book our rooms.”
“Understood. Oi, you two, with me.”
Gustavo brought two paladins with him to the inn. Several minutes later, one of them returned.
“Captain, we’ve successfully booked the rooms. The stables are behind the inn, so they’d like us to bring the horses there.”
“All right, I understand. Squire Baraja, bring the horses over.”
“Understood!”
She tied the horses’ reins to a tree in front of the inn, and then she led them to the stables one at a time. Taking care of horses was a squire’s job, but the inn was also obliged to help out as well, and so Neia accepted their goodwill and entered the inn.
She smelled a fragrance in the air and thought, Maybe this is to prevent the stink of the stables from getting in.
Was it from some kind of fragrant wood or perfume?
From the outside, it seemed to be of the same grade as the inn from the Kingdom, but after seeing the interior, it might have well been a rank above the latter. She even felt a little embarrassed walking around inside it with her body that was dirty — bathing for them was essentially just rinsing with water until they thought they did not stink — from their long travels.
Neia stepped forward to the room which the inn staff had told her about, and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
“Squire Neia Baraja.”
In front of the door stood a paladin, still in armor. The discrepancy between the E-Rantel they imagined and what they had actually seen made them feel that resting would be a waste of time, and so they had decided to take action without delay.
“You’ve come just in time. We’re about to start the meeting.”
While she wondered if she needed to take part, it did no good to ask too much. The people on top had spoken, and obeying them was the proper course of action.
“Then let’s go seek an audience with the Sorcerer King as we planned. Gustavo, I’m counting on you.”
“Of course, Captain. But what else should we do apart from that? The original plan was to meet people in power and ask for their aid…”
Since Momon was an adventurer, they had originally planned to head to the Adventurer’s Guild. However, according to Ryurarius, the Adventurer’s Guild now was essentially closed down, and requests were handled by the Sorcerer King’s underlings.
“Let’s drop by the Guild anyway. Let’s see if we can’t entice some idle adventurers who can come to the Holy Kingdom.”
“I understand. In that case—”
Gustavo gave orders to two paladins, and they immediately sprang into motion.
Neia wondered what kind of tasks she would be given.
Usually, it was a squire’s job to polish the paladins’ armor and swords, do their laundry, among other sundry tasks. Ironing and arranging their rumpled clothes was also part of that. Most paladins now should have gone through such experiences.
Although, that might not be the case for our incredibly talented captain, who directly became a paladin...
“Then how about the others? Will they wait within the inn?”
“Ahh, when I was gathering rumors in the Kingdom, I was led to believe that this would be a grim and dark city. However, it’s far more ordinary than I expected… I trust letting a few people outside would not pose a problem?”
“While it’s hard to tell at this stage, I believe there should be no sudden danger in that.”
“Is that so? Then have several people go to the temples and see if they can help introduce us to Momon.”
“The ruler of this city is the Sorcerer King, an undead being. It won’t be too good to have ties to the temples, no?”
“Still, we’re paladins. Where should we go if not to the temples?”
Gustavo had a sour look on his face. Remedios had a point.
“That’s… also true.”
“Also, it would also be good to see and hear about life in the city from its people in addition to what the Sorcerer King has allowed us to see, right?”
“You have a point there…”
But what should they do if they saw something which they, as paladins, could not tolerate?
Gustavo was having trouble responding because he was thinking about that question.
Neia answered her own question.
Paladins were beings who embodied justice, so perhaps the right thing for a paladin to do would be to censure the Sorcerer King. However, if the result of doing so meant that the Sorcerer King would not help the Holy Kingdom, meaning that they could not save the masses from their suffering, would that still be the right thing to do?