Chapter 100 - First Visit to the Royal Capital! (2)
“Holy shit... damn...”
As I drew closer to the Royal Capital and took in its grandeur, I couldn't help but let out a gasp of awe. After an uneventful night camping, we set off again at dawn and rode for about two hours before arriving at the capital's gates. When I dropped off Baul before, the glimpse of the Royal Capital from afar had only been the tiniest sliver of it.
The walls were at least twice—no, three times—the height and thickness of Radia's. That alone was staggering, but every section was etched with ornate patterns, and they stretched endlessly, vanishing over the horizon. I'd thought Radia's walls were ridiculously massive, but this made Radia look like a toy by comparison. It was on a truly terrifying scale. No matter how hard you galloped along them, you wouldn't see the end—and barely visible in the distance was a single gate. Compared to this, Earth's Great Wall or whatever wouldn't even qualify. I didn't know about length, but in sheer scale, this world crushed it. How the hell did they build walls like this? Magic, architecture, whatever—it had to be backbreaking. Just looking at it made my head spin.
“Heh... the Royal Capital really is huge, huh?”
“I came here once when Baul was appointed bishop... He said the city inside the walls is just as enormous.”
The city inside was massive too? Radia had plenty of four- or five-story buildings, and even a few pushing ten stories that blew my mind... If this place dwarfed that, it was no joke. This wasn't some backwater isekai I could underestimate. Maybe the difference from Earth was just tech versus magic?
“Hah... how big is the Royal Capital's area, exactly?”
“Uh... twenty times Radia? It's insanely wide, from what I hear.”
“Eek...”
Twenty times bigger than Radia, where even I thought you'd need a carriage to get around properly! At that size, someone could hide forever if they really wanted to. Why make it so damn vast?
While I was still marveling, Baul standing in front of the now-approaching walls caught my eye. He must've heard my hooves, because he waved toward us. The soldiers around him—sweating bullets, gripping their weapons—were visible too... I hoped he'd prepped them properly.
I slowed to a stop in front of Baul, who looked relieved as he spoke up.
“You've arrived, Sema. Earlier than I expected.”
“Yeah. Seeing the capital's walls got me all pumped—my hooves just flew.”
I helped Klea and Lizbet down as I said it, and Baul beamed, rushing over to Klea. She gave a subtle, awkward reaction, but he grinned obliviously and chatted her up. Baul... you're as clueless as Als.
While Baul fawned over Klea, the soldiers approached and stared at me.
“Ah, Sema. These are soldiers from the royal family. They need to verify you before letting you in...”
“No problem. Been through it in Radia already.”
My playful tone made the soldiers murmur.
“He... he really talks...!”
“A real Divine Beast...”
“Bishop Baul was telling the truth...”
“It looks so ferocious...”
What, you wanna fight or something? Seeing these fresh reactions—not something I'd get in Radia anymore—made my body itch for action.
Baul chuckled awkwardly at their whispers. “Word about you has reached the capital, Sema, but they still need to confirm...”
“Eh, fine. Just check my form and we're good?”
“Mm. You might get an invitation from the palace mid-election.”
Eek. Meet the king? Even for me, that was intimidating. This was a monarchy—he could just yell, “Off with that beast's head!” if he felt like it!
“Oh, and... someone else came along, just in case.”
Baul stepped aside, revealing a young man in ornate armor.
“...Pleased to meet you, Sema. I'm Brandy Marte, hero knight of the Reinhardt Kingdom.”
“Ah, yeah. Nice to meet you. Divine Beast and adventurer from Radia, Jeong Sema.”
“Hmm... I'd heard, but you look nothing like I imagined.”
What's wrong with my looks! I wanted to snap back, but... this guy reeked of real strength, backing up his confident royal affiliation. He looked like a light novel protagonist—about 170 cm, pretty boy vibes—but I could feel it. An unbelievable aura. I never thought I'd sense “ki” like this. For a fellow hero, he was worlds apart from the greenhorn Als. Fighting him? I'd get one-shot. This was a real-deal hero...
“...I'm just here to confirm who you are. We've never had a Divine Beast enter as a citizen like this.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“I heard you can take a half-monster humanoid form... Could you show it now?”
“Ah, I'd be naked if I shifted right now.”
“Ahh... I see.”
Marte nodded, circled me once, then nodded again.
“Hmm... yes. With Bishop Baul's guarantee and no issues... If we meet again, until then.”
The hero knight Brandy Marte gave a light bow and leaped—straight to the top of the eight- or nine-story walls.
...What the fuck? It wasn't even a huge jump, no crater... He just flew up there.
Hah... if Als had been that strong... I'd have been toast. I sighed in relief, grateful for beginner Als.
After chatting briefly with the soldiers and showing our citizen cards—mine, Lizbet's, and Klea's—they lent me the wall guards' lounge. I shifted to mine form, got dressed and armored with Lizbet's help, and emerged to more gasps of awe and fear from the soldiers.
Heh, yeah, be amazed. I smirked inwardly, but as time passed, they calmed down, asking questions and walking us a good distance. Even from the walls, you had to go far to reach the city proper, divided into districts. The Royal Capital's scale hit hard.
But amid the talk, I noticed the soldiers sneaking glances at Lizbet and Klea. Klea was blind, but her saintly beauty shone through... And Lizbet's looks and outfit? Yeah, eye-catching. Hah... yeah, they're hot, I get it. But these bitches are mine, assholes. Quit staring.
I wrapped up the chat politely, kept Lizbet glued to my side and Klea close, and headed into the Royal Capital.