Capital Barga (2)
The capital's checkpoint was enormous.
The gate itself was ordinary in size, but the number of personnel stationed there was substantial. Given the permanent residents and the constant flow of travelers, staffing it like any ordinary territory would have left people stranded for hours.
With so many soldiers on duty, the wait was less than ten minutes. For ordinary travelers—merchants aside—the inspection was cursory at best; they checked roughly and waved people through.
"We got in earlier than I expected."
So this was the capital, Barga…
It was certainly an impressive city. I hadn't seen many cities, but I could say with certainty that this was the most prosperous of them all—more thriving even than Wizheim, the headquarters of the Order.
"Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Normally, upon arriving in a city or town, finding lodging would be the first priority… but that wasn't necessary this time.
"Hmm? I don't really know what's here."
The only things I could picture were general stores that sold goods, or a temple.
"Ah, that makes sense."
The young master's face lit up with sudden delight.
"Then allow me to explain."
Our chatty young master seemed to think his moment had finally come, and launched into an enthusiastic monologue.
"First of all, Barga is divided into the Royal Castle, the Upper District, the Lower District, and the Academy."
So it was split into four major zones?
"The Royal Castle is where the royal family resides, and it's the administrative heart of the kingdom."
Looking at it, that had to be the enormous, towering castle over there.
"Unless you have special business, you can't enter."
Even nobles apparently struggled to get in without a proper reason for visiting.
"The Royal Castle is further divided into the inner and outer castles, but I don't imagine you're particularly curious about that?"
Not really. I could roughly guess. The inner castle would be the residential quarters, and the outer castle would house things like knight-order garrisons.
"Right. Then please tell me about the Upper and Lower Districts."
"They're called the Upper and Lower Districts, but they aren't divided by walls or anything of the sort."
As the capital grew, the districts had formed naturally. More precisely, there had been people who wanted to live as close to the Royal Castle as possible.
"At first, they say no one particularly cared about districts. But as the capital continued to expand, the situation changed."
The nobles began asserting their status and preferred living near the Royal Castle.
Wanting to live close to where you work is, in a way, only natural…
"And so the nobles settled in the areas near the Royal Castle, and it became the noble district."
Redevelopment followed naturally, and the Upper District grew increasingly lavish, he said.
"I see."
Was it only natural, then?
The people who had lived there originally moved farther out and opened up new land.
"The commoners who withdrew from the Upper District pioneered new ground, and that area became the Lower District. At first, it was a shantytown without even walls."
Though it was farther out, it was still relatively close to the Royal Castle, so the kingdom managed it carefully to keep it from becoming a true slum. Once the kingdom intervened, the shantytown was developed systematically into the Lower District as it exists today.
"Then war broke out, and walls became necessary, so a large-scale development project was undertaken as well."
Countless people poured in at that time, and the capital's scale grew enormously, he said.
"How did the Academy come about?"
"When they were developing the land, they set aside a generous plot from the start."
It had been built in a wide space deliberately reserved between the Upper and Lower Districts.
"Ah, so they planned for it from the beginning of the Lower District's development."
"Yes. At the time, other countries were already running educational institutions and seeing results."
In other words, they had benchmarked those?
"At first it wasn't an academy—it was a military training facility."
Before the world stabilized, it was apparently a place for raising soldiers and knights.
"Heeh…"
As peace arrived, the military facility that was no longer needed—or rather, that needed to be scaled down—had been converted into an academy.
"That's why there's a large drill ground inside the Academy. These days it's used as a training field for the knight-course students."
After listening to all that, something occurred to me.
"But does the capital have a slum?"
Ordinarily, shantytown and slum meant similar things… but there was a slight difference. A shantytown was simply where poor people lived; a slum was where the unsavory types congregated.
"A slum… Well, if you wander into one without knowing, it can be dangerous."
There was a district in the Lower District known as the slum, or the underworld, he said.
"The areas along the main roads, or anywhere within public view, are generally safe."
The problem was deeper inside.
An abyss hidden behind buildings, beyond the reach of people's eyes, with no proper streets. That was where the slum existed, he said.
"I don't know the exact location myself. I only know that the inner areas are dangerous."
"I see."
The young master's thorough explanation was genuinely helpful.
"Did you hear that, Sister?"
"Yeah."
I needed to make sure my somewhat airheaded older sister got a clear warning.
"As for Mary…"
"I originally lived here, so you needn't worry about me."
Right—she'd said she was from a temple in the capital. She would know far more than Sister or I, so there was no need to fret.
"Is there anything else we should watch out for?"
"Yes. You must always be careful of carriages."
Carriages…
"Nearly every carriage on the main roads belongs to a noble. Usually they have ornate crests on the doors, so you can tell at a glance—but there are also carriages used for discreet travel."
Discreet travel? Did they really think removing a crest would make people not notice?
"Well, how often am I going to run into a carriage anyway?"
"Yes, it's just in case."
We walked a long way down the main road without reaching our destination.
"We've been walking quite a while. Are we still not there?"
"Yes. The capital is wider than it looks."
Apparently it took nearly a full day to go from one end of the walls to the other.
"A full day? It's that big?"
"That's on foot, of course."
Even so, how vast was this place? I'd thought Wizheim was large, but this had to be nearly twice the size.
"That's why it's the royal capital."
The young master looked rather proud.
The Nam barony's mansion was situated between the Upper and Lower Districts, he said.
"Wealthy nobles have large mansions and expansive grounds, of course."
Around the Royal Castle, the estates of dukes and marquises and the like left the area looking rather sparse, or so he put it.
"So when do we arrive?"
"Just a little farther."
The boundary between the Upper and Lower Districts was more clearly defined than I'd expected.
There was no wall or anything of the sort… but the paving of the road itself was different.
The main road we'd been following had been well maintained, but past a certain line, the pavement became even more meticulously laid.
The buildings were different, too.
Among the structures along the way, there had been some stone buildings, but wooden ones were more common. The moment we crossed that boundary, wooden buildings vanished without a trace, replaced by rows of stone structures, and the spacing between buildings grew wider.
"So this is the Upper District from here on?"
"Yes, you can think of it that way."
Even so, from his earlier explanation, it seemed the mansion was in the Upper District.
After walking about twenty minutes into the Upper District, we arrived at our destination.
"This is it."
The young master had said the mansion wasn't particularly large…
"I-It's huge…!?"
It looked about the size of four ordinary commoner houses put together. And there was even a small yard—or rather, something like a garden.
"As expected, it's a mess from lack of maintenance."
Weeds grew wild in what was presumably the garden, and the trees hadn't been pruned, giving the place a rather odd appearance.
"Ahem. Rather unimpressive, isn't it?"
"No? This is more than enough."
The building itself was a three-story brick structure. Moss—or perhaps vines—clung to the walls, and it seemed to have a rooftop as well.
"As long as there are enough rooms, that's fine."
"There are plenty of rooms."
The young master approached the large iron gate, pulled a key from his bag, and unlocked it.
Creeeak.
Metal ground against metal as the gate swung open.
"We'll need to oil the hinges, too."
"Haha…"
The young master's face flushed slightly with embarrassment.
The path from the gate to the front entrance had its share of problems as well. Weeds growing right up onto the walkway, moss sprouting in the cracks.
"There's a lot to clean."
"I-It's fine. We can just hire people."
"Come on, that would be a waste of money. We can just do it ourselves."
If it got truly exhausting, we could always request help from the temple, though it would be a hassle.
The young master unlocked the front door with his key.
Inside was an ordinary interior. A plain, familiar sort of feel—as if I'd seen it somewhere before.
Or rather, was it ordinary by commoner standards?
"It looks a lot like the baron's mansion."
"Yes. We deliberately matched it that way."
Apparently they'd kept the interior similar so it wouldn't feel too different from the original mansion and become inconvenient.
"The first floor has a reception room, kitchen, dining room, and so on."
We first looked through the rooms on the first floor.
"This is the kitchen, and that way leads to the dining room."
"Yes."
Aside from the thick layer of dust, there didn't seem to be any major problems.
No signs of burglary, no broken furnishings—it was hard to believe the place had been left vacant for so long.
After touring the first-floor rooms, we climbed the stairs to the second floor.
"The second floor has servant quarters, a study, and an office."
The study and office were fairly important places for me as well, so I examined them carefully.
"You're free to use the office as you like."
"Really?"
"Yes. You were planning to use it as an alchemy workspace, weren't you?"
"I was thinking about it. But it might be difficult."
For safety reasons, the kitchen area would be better after all.
The servant quarters were multi-person rooms, though they did have something resembling beds.
"You can just use this as storage."
Last was the third floor.
"The third floor is all bedrooms. The east side is the main suite, and the west side has the regular rooms."
"The main suite?"
"It's the room prepared for a married couple—that is, for my father and mother."
Apparently the entire Nam barony family had never had occasion to come to the capital, so it had never been used.
"Would you like to use the main suite?"
"No need. You use that one, Young Master."
The young master looked slightly disappointed.
There were three regular rooms, each enormously spacious, and well furnished.
Most importantly—the beds! Each room had a soft, fluffy bed.
"There are exactly three rooms, so you can each take one."
"Is that all right?"
"Yes. There are plenty of rooms left over anyway."
I cheered inwardly. I hadn't expected it, but the presence of proper beds was a big deal.
Stepping into a room, I checked the bed first.
It really was soft!
Hah! Capital life… looks like I might actually enjoy this.