Week 2.5 (2)
Week 2.5 (2)
Final Defensive Line, Ark City 「Frontline Ark」.
It's usually just called 'City' for short, or 'Ark', but that's the full name anyway.
Chewing over each word lets you get a simple grasp of the city's essence.
First off, what does 'Final Defensive Line' mean?
Just as it says, it's the boundary line where life and death cross paths—the frontline.
From what? ─From the Great Labyrinth.
For what purpose? ─For all the sentient species on the surface.
True to its name, the Ark is a massive shield and ark built by the twelve sentient species of the surface working together.
It suppresses the Great Labyrinth's malice by pressing down on it like a lid.
That 'Frontline's Great Labyrinth' Ray had casually mentioned back when guiding Ray and Valerie to the manor? That's the one.
It might seem similar to our territory's Labyrinth at a glance, but the lore doesn't go into detail, so who knows.
That's about all I knew of the Ark.
So, the first time I laid eyes on it, it was a total emotional rollercoaster for me.
"Wow..."
"Master, don't walk around gawking like that. It's embarrassing for me too."
Valerie ribbed me from the side, but I couldn't hold back the awe.
If there's a most advanced city you could imagine in a medieval setting, it'd probably look a lot like the sight right in front of me.
And unlike typical medieval vibes, it was spotlessly clean and brimming with energy.
Compared to our barren territory, this place looked like straight-up paradise on earth.
"No, I mean, it's even better than I expected. I thought Ark City would be this super brutal, grim spot."
"Heh, really? Well, everyone living here is top-tier from all over the place. If it was some rundown dump where you'd live like a beggar or grunt, they wouldn't have come here in the first place, right?"
Valerie chuckled and added.
"They're all folks who could live cushy lives back home with full bellies and warm backs. Why else would they bother coming all the way out here?"
"True... but then again, Valerie-ssi, you're staying in our territory?"
"Well, uh... I've got my reasons. Anyway, check that out."
She seemed kinda cornered and changed the subject hard, but I shifted my gaze to where she was pointing anyway.
At the end stood a massive gate, standing tall and proud, flaunting its majesty.
"That's the checkpoint. They do immigration inspections there."
"Ooh."
Immigration checks even though it's not a country.
Well, a place like the Ark could make a small nation bow down no problem.
After all, it's where the surface's strongest forces gather.
"Well, they don't really grill you on much. You probably won't have to do anything special, Master."
"Huh, why not?"
I voiced my doubt at Valerie's words.
It's the frontline, after all—shouldn't they at least verify identities properly before letting people in?
But the answer that came back was beyond imagination.
"Anyone confident they can pull off bullshit inside here, go ahead. It's on the loser who gets fucked over."
"What."
"So that's why backing matters—mercenaries don't risk their lives just to get guild certifications for nothing. No affiliation? Some asshole stronger than you could strip you bare and end your life in a heartbeat, and you'd have no recourse."
Ark City was way more terrifying than I'd imagined.
I couldn't fathom how a city that looked this lively could be such a lawless hellhole.
My face must've gone pale in an instant because Valerie giggled and tacked on.
"In Ark City, there's exactly one 'no-no': betraying the surface and siding with the monster bastards."
Which basically meant anything else goes.
I swallowed hard without realizing it.
Suddenly, regret crept in—did I really have to drag us all the way here?
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Valerie flashed a cheeky grin and said.
"Those fucking scumbags get their skulls personally cracked open by a seat or pillar of the Grand Roundtable."
"Ah... that reminds me, I've been curious about that too. What's the Grand Roundtable anyway?"
Back on Earth, whenever the community chewed on Ark lore bait, that name always popped up.
The 'Grand Roundtable' that showed up as a side note in Ark mentions.
But it was always just name-dropped superficially, never revealing much about what it actually was.
User guesses figured it was some kind of oversight body running Ark City—what was the real deal?
Scary's scary, curious is curious.
"Hmm, Grand Roundtable? Gee, how to explain it..."
Valerie frowned a bit, looking stumped.
What, was it a tough question? I quickly added.
"Uh, no need to force it if you don't know."
"...Nah, it's not that. You're the first person I've met who doesn't know the Grand Roundtable—I'm just figuring out where to start."
She let out a big sigh. Her frustration came through loud and clear, just like she said. I felt a tad guilty.
"Officially, it's this: the Grand Roundtable isn't a metaphor or symbol for some group—it's a real, existing holy relic. And only humans directly chosen by that relic can take a seat at it."
"So, actually?"
"No clue. I'm just a lowly mercenary."
She stared at me with eyes like what kinda nonsense is that?, leaving me no choice but to quietly look away.
Don't talk like you know more then clam up...—but saying that out loud would just get me chewed out, so I swallowed it solo.
"Anyway, enough chit-chat. It's our turn soon. Just answer quick when they ask—no need to stress. I'll go first, so follow close?"
And with that, Valerie said.
By the time I snapped to, we were right at the checkpoint entrance.
While I was a bit flustered, Valerie strode right in ahead.
Hmm, kinda tense. But Valerie said it's no biggie.
At worst, just where you from, what's your business... something like that.
I stepped boldly into the checkpoint.
*
[Next guest, please enter the checkpoint.]
Anna Deroshi, 3rd-class checkpoint guard at the Ark Eastern Great Checkpoint directly under the Grand Roundtable, had been suffering unprecedented hellish workloads for the past three days.
To explain why her shift schedule was a brutal double-shift with no breaks or days off would require a long-winded tale of Anna Deroshi's utterly unlucky life, so we'll boldly skip it—and so, right now, Anna was smiling with lifeless pupils.
Sadly, that smile didn't quite reach the entrant, who scurried out with a dubious look.
Whatever, Anna thought.
Would this painful shift ever end?
Once it did, could Anna go home and get some sleep?
Fill the tub with hot water, dump in that citrus bath bomb she'd been saving, and soak her exhausted body while humming a hometown tune.
After massaging her fully relaxed muscles, her overworked, all-matted tail and ears would fluff back up nice and soft.
They say to check a beastkin's condition by looking at their tail first.
Of course, staring outright is rude, so side-eye it tactfully—unless you're rationally, perfectly attractive, then it doesn't matter.
Anna, who'd briefly dispatched her soul home, snapped back when the next entrant stopped at the desk.
Realizing more work had been delivered right to her doorstep, Anna smiled blankly and said.
"WelcomeI am Eastern Great Checkpoint 3rd-class guard Anna DeroshiPlease state your name place of origin purpose of visit length of stay in order."
In a tone utterly devoid of humanity, Anna rattled off the line she'd spat over a hundred times today.
Frankly, she couldn't care less who the entrant opposite her was.
"Uh... what do I say?"
"Name place of origin purpose of visit length of stay."
It was a pretty soft voice.—Naturally, not Anna's, but the entrant's.
After machine-gunning the required info, Anna waited blankly for a response.
The guy hummed thoughtfully for a sec, then spoke slowly.
"My name is... ──. Purpose of visit, uh, commissioning a request... Stay won't be long, three days tops."
Huh, didn't catch the name. ...Whatever.
Shockingly, Inspector Anna judged thus.
Truth was, her civil servant eyes had long since realized this was all meaningless formality.
Even more shockingly, no paperwork on this either.
Not her call—the guidelines said so.
Visitor ID info was meaningless in Ark City anyway.
So she could've just waved him through, but out of habit, Anna asked again.
"Place of origin's missing."
"Ah, place of origin..."
Looking a bit sheepish at his slip, he said.
"From United Territory R'lyeh."
United Territory R'lyeh.
Reflexively rolling the answer in her mouth, Anna's face slowly twisted.
R'lyeh. ─Wait, R'lyeh?
Twitch.
A beastkin's sharp instincts poked her back. ...Bad vibes.
Anna's half-dead eyes gradually regained rationality.
"─Additional questioning: please state your Union administrative rank."
Anna gathered her utterly wrecked mind.
The face that'd been half-blurry till now finally came into focus.
A plain-looking guy with dark green hair and pitch-black eyes.
The entrant responded with a slightly anxious face.
"Administrative rank? Uh... so, like, Count-level..."
"...Huh?"
Without thinking, Anna let out a dumb noise.
Union Territory, R'lyeh, Count-level.
Per what Anna knew as an inspector, little eastern Union Territory R'lyeh was a Count's domain.
All statements and context naturally pointed to one conclusion.
This guy was the infamous lord of that 'R'lyeh'.
"...Um, you okay?"
The man in front of her asked cautiously, but Anna was frozen with that same smile, unable to reply.
Because the star of the weird rumors quietly circulating in Ark City these past few weeks was standing right there in front of her, no one else.