Free Pass
While Karem faced the reality of a medieval city for the first time and felt a wave of revulsion toward civilization itself, Catherine clutched her head at the true state of the civilization she had not seen in so long.
Of course not every city was like this—but that only made adapting all the harder...
"Ugh, it's not like this is the first or second time I've seen it..."
"Mage, it's not your first or second time either, so why are you acting like some country bumpkin who just arrived in the city?"
"Knowing something and getting used to it are two completely different things!"
"How on earth did you manage camping all this time, then?"
The bold, haughty attitude she had shown the guards at the gate was nowhere to be found; exhaustion was written plain across Catherine's face. She finally shook her head as if forcing herself to accept it.
"Well, those are clearly ordinary commoners' houses. There's no way they're connected to any sewers. That sort of thing is the norm."
"Oh, so sewers do exist at least?"
"Of course they do. Anyway, enough of this filthy talk."
Catherine cut the subject off with deliberate bluntness and strode ahead, making it clear she wanted no more of it.
Karem had no desire to keep discussing anything dirty either, so he readily followed Gordon after the two of them.
Gordon rubbed his belly with a hungry look, as if the filth and stench around them were none of his concern.
"Anyway, breakfast was way too light. It's lunchtime already—how about we go find something to eat?"
"Then would this double as a farewell party?"
"A farewell party? Now that's a good idea."
Gordon lit up at Karem's suggestion and agreed at once.
Their journey had only been meant to reach the nearest city, yet parting ways just like this left a lingering sense of regret. Catherine pretended otherwise, but she was just as hungry and showed interest.
"In that case we ought to find a place with good drinks and good food."
"Well, we can just wander around and head for wherever the crowds are, right?"
"Hmm, no need for that. Let's go somewhere I already know."
"Mage, have you been here before?"
"It was a long time ago. Long time. No idea if the place is even still standing."
Catherine took the lead, and Karem and Gordon followed without a word of complaint.
"So, Lady Atanitas—how long has it been?"
"Ten years, I think. About that long."
"...Ten years is enough for mountains and rivers to change. If we're unlucky it might not even be there anymore, right?"
"That would be true if the owner were human."
"Pardon?"
"The owners are a dwarf couple. Back then it was an inn famous for its beer and its cooking."
The moment Catherine finished speaking, a group of adventurers passed right in front of them.
An elf swordsman in chainmail, a dwarf warrior with a two-handed axe over his shoulder, a human archer—people of every sort.
The city was already crowded and busy; now, with outsiders arriving for various reasons before winter set in and citizens hurrying about their business, it was positively thronged.
Karem nearly got separated from the others more than once in the press of bodies. Seeing this, Gordon hauled him forward and set him in the lead.
After pushing through the human tide for some time behind Catherine, Karem once again saw the long line and towering walls he had glimpsed from outside Borderster. This was the inner wall.
"There's an inner city. Must be where the people with real money live, huh?"
Karem's guess was natural enough; even the people and carts lined up at the gate to the inner city looked refined at a glance.
Unlike the outer-city guards, those watching the inner gate wore armor with far more metal in it.
Catherine had been heading straight for the gate the same way she had at the outer wall, but now she shook her head.
"Ordinarily only people with a lot of property or powerful backers are allowed to live inside."
"So even a noble can't live in the inner city if they're broke?"
"Well, if things haven't changed from the old days, Borderster is still a free city."
Free cities—numerous places granted autonomy by the kingdom, free from the feudal contracts of the nobility.
So that was why she had said "influential people" rather than "rulers of the city." Karem recalled their earlier conversation.
"By the way, Lady Atanitas, you seem pretty familiar with this place. Have you been here before?"
"It would be easier to count the places on the Europa continent I haven't been."
While they talked, the three of them once again ignored the line and walked ahead, and the same scene that had played out at the outer wall unfolded again.
"Hey, guards! Who the hell do those people think they are!?"
"Do you have any idea who is riding in this carriage right now!!!"
Catherine paid it no mind. When a guard captain wearing a pot-like helm and carrying a polearm approached, she held out the same scroll as before.
"My lady, if you would wait a moment—"
"Ah, aaah. Look at this first."
"No, um. Huh? Huuuh?"
The moment he saw the seal stamped in the candle wax on the scroll, the guard bowed so low it looked as if he meant to jam the parchment into the eye-slit of his helm, staring at it again and again.
It was a seal depicting a winged dragon biting its own tail.
"...No need to look any further—the seal is genuine. Hansen!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Let them through."
That was all it took.
Exactly the same thing that had happened at the outer wall repeated itself, yet the heavily armed guards simply ignored the protests.
Karem followed Catherine into the inner city under the captain's escort.
"Wow, rich neighborhoods really are different."
The smell alone changed the moment they stepped inside.
It was nothing like the outer streets where the stench of sewers hung thick in the air.
"Hmm, I'm sure it was this way. Come on, stop gawking and keep up."
"Ah, yes!"
True to a district where only the well-heeled lived, even the clothing of the people on the streets was far cleaner than anything outside.
None of the shocking sights from the outer city were to be seen.
Feeling the subtle weight of people's stares, Karem quickly shrugged off the moss-boar hide.
The chill of late autumn cut through his clothes, but the stares lessened at once.
"Karem. Once you're inside the inner city you should have the sense to take the hide off yourself."
"Ugh, nobody cared outside so I thought it was fine. But look—there are people on the street wearing hides just like me."
"Look closer. See how different those hides are from the raw one you were wearing."
Hmm? Well... sure enough. From a distance they had looked like nothing more than skins thrown over the shoulders.
But when Karem examined them carefully, he realized they were closer to decorative leather cloaks that artfully preserved the fierce look of a boar, wolf, or monster.
Even the ones worn more casually had clearly been properly cured and finished into something with a rugged, expensive air.
Gordon was right—they were a world apart from a raw hide that had simply been scraped of its inner fat.
"As I thought. Luckily it's still here."
While Karem and Gordon chatted, Catherine stopped in front of their destination—the inn.
A signboard showed a sword thrust into a beer barrel.
Beneath it, large letters proclaimed the inn's name: The Sword Fallen into the Beer Barrel. The four-story building was half again as tall and wide as the structures on either side.
The ground floor seemed to double as a dining hall; through the wide-open windows Karem could see all sorts of people seated at tables loaded with cups and dishes.
Every time the door swung open and people came and went, the aroma of food drifted out through the windows and made Karem swallow hard without thinking.
He could tell at once why Catherine had led them here.
He knew little about the alcohol, but the rich medley of scents rising from the first floor stirred the empty stomach left by his meager breakfast.
Gordon, who ate several times more than an ordinary man, looked ready to roll his eyes at the thick hop aroma of the beer mixed into the air.
Pleased that the place she had not visited in so long was still standing, Catherine led the party straight inside.
"Wow, there are so many people. Lady Atanitas, it doesn't look like there are any seats left."
"Same as ten years ago. Lunch rush is almost over, though. If we wait just a little—"
"Well, well, look who it is!"
A dwarf carrying trays of food in both hands broke off mid-service, shoved the trays at a maid, and barreled toward the entrance, bumping into patrons without a care.
"Mage, is that a dwarf you know?"
"He's the owner of the inn. Someone I know. Glad to see he hasn't died yet."
Ignoring the protests of staff and customers alike, the dwarf—about the same height as Catherine—strode up and immediately smacked her hard on the back.
"Ow!? Hammerson!"
"Lady Catherine! Our benefactor finally drops by the inn after all this time. How long has it been?! Two hundred years?"
"Don't exaggerate. It's only been ten years."
"Ha! I thought you were never coming back! My wife has been grinding her teeth, saying she'd treat you to a proper feast!"
"More importantly—do you have a table?"
"Ha! Even if there wasn't one I'd make one! Lucky for you, a table just opened up. This way!"
Hammerson waved them after him, and Karem and the others fell in behind at once.
The table was a nearby four-seater.
Just as Hammerson had said, empty bowls, cups, and cutlery still littered it, proof that guests had been sitting there only moments before.
When Karem and Gordon moved to sit, Hammerson briefly blocked them, cleared the table in a flash, and vanished.
Without taking a single order he returned holding three large wooden beer mugs in one hand and set them down in front of the party without ceremony.
"Here—three mugs of our house special, Eisenwald mountain wheat beer! Drink up while it's cold!"
At those words Karem peered into the mug, which was nearly as big as his head.
Unlike the clear beers of his previous life—beers he had barely tasted even then—this liquid looked slightly thick from the start.
Cold, deep golden liquid filled the wooden mug, foam rising vigorously from its surface.
Every time the white bubbles burst, a nutty aroma of walnut or almond drifted up—different from the usual bitter hop scent of beer.
In his past life Karem had never been much of a drinker at all, let alone a beer drinker.
Yet the long-unseen carbonation and the smell alone made him want to drink it.
He was about to raise the mug to his lips when he caught himself, set it down, and pushed it away.
Gordon, who had just downed his own beer in one go and was savoring the aftertaste, noticed and clapped Karem on the shoulder.
"Good gods. How long has it been since I had a real drink? Huh? Karem, why aren't you drinking?"
"Well, um, how do I put this... this is the first time I've ever had alcohol."
"What!? Then you need to drink even more!"
Hammerson, who still had not left, looked thunderstruck.
"I have trouble telling human ages, but are you five years old or something?"
"No. I'm ten."
At that, Hammerson shoved the mug back into place and bellowed.
"A human at ten is fully grown! Come on, drink up!"
Under the dwarf's blazing eyes, which glared out from a thicket of beard and brows, Karem reluctantly took the mug. Well... bringing the moral standards of his previous life here might be a little forced, right?
The consistency, thicker than even dark beer, still felt a bit unsettling.
Though the color itself was beautiful.
At any rate the smell was divine, so Karem squeezed his eyes shut and took a long pull.
"Mm—mmph!?"
"Ohhh, look at that. First time, and you're drinking like a clansman who's been dry for a month."
Karem had only meant to taste it, but the rich flavor swirling through his mouth—far deeper than the aroma alone had promised—and the refreshing kick that hit his throat made him gulp it down in big swallows.