Let Us In!!
The imperial capital thronged with merchants as lively as ever.
Carriages clattered noisily through the streets while peddlers shouted their wares at the top of their lungs. Citizens strolled about inspecting goods, chattering without a moment’s pause—that was the empire for you.
Even with fresh rumors swirling that the empire was about to wage war on the kingdom once more, the capital remained absurdly peaceful. The reason was another rumor that drifted alongside the first.
The kingdom’s knight order has collapsed.
Not only that—most of its people have fled abroad.
At first the imperial citizens had trembled with anxiety, dismissing it as mere hearsay. After all, this was the same period when everyone had been shaking at the news that some elf girl who hadn’t even come of age had erased an entire legion of soldiers.
The kingdom that won the war is spreading false rumors.
They had swallowed the strange, sourceless nonsense that the demon Esilly was merely waiting for her chance to erase the capital itself. But before long, unfamiliar faces began to multiply inside the capital until they formed mountains of people. Those newcomers were the kingdom’s refugees. Once the empire officially announced the truth, its citizens simply nodded. Everything that had been circulating turned out to be fact.
In truth, before the war the imperial capital had never known the meaning of secrecy. Embezzlement by high nobles, every dirty deed imaginable—if you just wandered the market streets long enough, you heard it all. The scandals of Chancellor Amperus, once called the Black Chancellor. Even the dangerously explosive rumor that the 133rd Emperor Coldoraus XVIII had an illegitimate child had spread the same way. In a capital where even those laughable rumors thrived, why had people quaked in such terror over ordinary gossip this time?
Looking back now, it was easy to realize that once the war ended there was no reason for such a thing to happen. Of course, those days of fear were exactly why the capital could roll along so peacefully now.
And while those peaceful days continued… a certain letter arrived at the imperial palace, leaving its occupants clutching their heads.
“Have you confirmed it is truly her?”
In the audience chamber of the imperial palace, the emperor sat upon his resplendent throne and addressed the kneeling official in a voice of absolute gravity.
“Y-yes, Your Majesty! We have verified through her adventurer guild card that she is indeed Esilly von Yggdrasil herself!!”
“And her reason for visiting?”
“Th-that is…”
Gulp.
Everyone present swallowed hard.
Esilly von Yggdrasil.
A girl not even twenty years old who had created and wielded the absurd magic called Inferno—a monster who had erased an entire legion. What would happen if that magic fell upon the capital?
Even knowing it would never come to that, they could not stop the images from flooding their minds.
They were terrified.
They wanted to run.
All she wanted was permission to enter the empire, yet their bodies trembled like rabbits before a predator.
“E-Esilly von Yggdrasil appears to wish to enter Shaneport Forest!”
“That is a griffin habitat, is it not? Why would that girl… no, I correct myself. Why does that person wish to go there?”
“I was told her goal is the griffins, Your Majesty!”
Capturing griffins.
Hundreds of adventurers came for that purpose every single day. It was hardly strange that Esilly von Yggdrasil, herself an adventurer, would want to enter the kingdom’s Shaneport Forest for the same reason. Yet no one present could understand why she—who until recently had been in Labyrinth City—would suddenly desire griffins.
They all knew she had conquered the final unconquered dungeon of the Western Continent’s Labyrinth City, the Sacred Aldebaran Underground Arena. That news had spread not only across the Western Continent but throughout the Central Continent as well.
The emperor pondered long and hard, trying to discern Esilly von Yggdrasil’s true purpose in coming to the empire. No matter how he turned it over, nothing came to mind. She had sworn that so long as they kept their end of the bargain, she had no intention of harming the empire—sworn it while even coating her worn undergarments with mana to prove she was the real Esilly von Yggdrasil.
At that moment one of the officials stepped forward and knelt. He was the sort who usually spouted nonsense, yet the confident look on his face prompted the emperor to grant him leave to speak.
“Your Majesty! Could it be that Esilly von Yggdrasil’s true aim is to drive the griffins to extinction and collapse the empire’s industries?!”
Extinction of the griffins.
Had it concerned anyone else they might have laughed it off, but because it involved Esilly von Yggdrasil, not a single person present dared to contradict or even smile. It was true that the empire had built many industries around griffins. Their hides, meat, blood, and bones were prized materials used not only for weapons and armor but also for dyes and catalysts—reliable cash cows upon which the empire heavily depended.
The emperor sank into thought.
Esilly von Yggdrasil was dangerous, yet she had declared she would not harm them so long as the agreement was honored. If she had intended to force her way in, she would simply have turned the border into a wasteland and charged through. The fact that she was waiting at the border for an answer meant she was keeping her oath. Therefore there was no legitimate reason to refuse her entry.
At last the emperor made his decision and rose from his throne. He raised his voice and commanded his officials.
“I grant Esilly von Yggdrasil permission to enter the empire. I also grant her permission to enter Shaneport Forest.”
“Your Majesty…”
“However, effective today, any ‘adventurer’ entering Shaneport Forest may capture no more than two griffins. Amend the regulations accordingly.”
The method that had sprung from the emperor’s mind was exquisite. If overhunting was a concern, simply add a law to prevent it.
“Ohh… such a method…”
“Then even Esilly von Yggdrasil will be unable to overhunt…”
“Moreover, with a limit of only two, the supply of griffins will drop sharply.”
Exactly.
With this single move the emperor intended to catch two rabbits at once. Restricting the previously unlimited griffin captures to a maximum of two would drastically reduce the number reaching the market. At the same time, the reduced limit would shrink the number of people seeking to enter Shaneport Forest. When unlimited captures had been allowed for a mere twenty gold coins it had been a profitable venture… but with only two allowed, even a single mistake during butchering could mean catastrophic loss. The entrance fee remained the same, yet it effectively became far more expensive. As a result the griffin population would recover and grow. By cutting supply he would both prop up the fallen prices and protect the dwindling numbers.
Even with Esilly von Yggdrasil prowling at the empire’s border, he could still think this far ahead and put it into practice.
That was the man who sat upon the throne now—
the 172nd Emperor of the Empire, Palmus I.
Getting from Free Port City to the empire took surprisingly little time. From the kingdom to Free Port City the entrances sat at opposite ends, so it took about a week, but the empire maintained gates not only on the kingdom side but also right next to Free Port City’s border. That was why we reached the entrance in a mere three days.
Yet the moment we tried to go in, a soldier’s face changed color. He whispered something to his captain, and then the two of them slammed the gate shut and vanished.
Those bastards.
I wanted nothing more than to blow the whole thing up and walk through, but I held back for Lumine’s sake. When I’m alone I pull all sorts of bratty stunts, yet somehow I just can’t do it when she’s right beside me. Is this what it feels like to be a husband completely under his wife’s thumb?
“What if they refuse us entry at this rate?”
“Even if they refuse me, you can still go in, Lumine.”
“I have no intention of entering if I can’t go in with you, Esilly.”
She actually managed to move me!
I was so touched for a second that I almost kissed her right on the lips.
Anyway, how long do they plan to keep us waiting? If they’re going to refuse, they should just refuse already.
“Miss, we really ought to get moving soon. Will you be all right?”
“Ugh…”
This was the border—no people, no fields, not even a monster in sight. If you asked whether we could walk back from here without a carriage, the answer was an absolute no. So we had to get inside before the carriage driver turned around… or else pay extra and ride somewhere else entirely.
Argh! Just how long are they going to take?!