The Walls of Valen
As we emerged from the lower layers of the mountain range, the dense thickets that had surrounded us noticeably thinned. In the distance, the city walls of Valen, the capital of Veilahn, came into view.
Compared to the sky-piercing grandeur of the walls that encircled Dmitry’s capital, Sharan, these looked somewhat shabby.
“Jeanie, that’s Valen, the capital of Veilahn right there.”
Arnel pointed toward the capital, which was still quite far away.
“I see it. But it looks a bit smaller than Sharan’s walls.”
“Don’t underestimate them. Sharan’s walls may be tall and sturdy, but Valen’s are engraved with powerful barrier spells strong enough to make up for the difference.”
“Ah… barrier magic. I see.”
One of the first pieces of history I learned at the academy was that Dmitry and Veilahn had originally been one nation.
The two colossal empires that now divided the continent—the Holy Empire of Elan and the Dark Empire of Koiren. And between them, the neutral empire of Dmiran that had once mediated.
The symbol of that lost neutrality.
Dmiran had split apart due to internal conflict, becoming what we now know as Dmitry and Veilahn.
In the past, Dmiran had reached the limits of its ability to remain neutral between two empires that only pushed their own agendas. This led to a civil war between the martial faction, who wanted to support one side and help unify the continent, and the scholarly faction, who insisted on maintaining neutrality no matter how difficult.
In the end, the nation fractured into two kingdoms along the Dragonia Mountains. One of the three empires that had once ruled the continent collapsed without much of a fight.
The two newly born kingdoms were not left alone by the empires, of course.
A fierce, invisible war broke out between Elan and Koiren.
Dmitry, where the martial faction had gathered, quickly declared itself an ally of the Elan Kingdom. Meanwhile, Veilahn, which had loudly proclaimed it would remain neutral to the end, eventually announced its support for the Holy Empire of Elan after some friction with Koiren.
That decision drove an even deeper wedge between Veilahn and Dmitry.
If they were going to end up like this anyway, they should have joined forces from the beginning instead of losing their imperial status.
There had always been reasons for them to hate each other.
“Jeanie, once we enter the city, you need to watch what you say. Understand?”
“Why?”
“Even though we all use the common tongue, the accents are different. Yours has a strong Dmitry flavor. Everyone knows that people from Veilahn and Dmitry are bitter enemies.”
“That’s true.”
“The bigger the city, the worse the discrimination gets.”
The reason the Dmitry delegation was heading to their bitter rival Veilahn in the first place was because of an order from Elan to use teleportation.
Neither Dmitry nor Veilahn could disobey Elan’s commands anymore.
It would be nice if the two countries could join forces again, but that was even more impossible.
“Here, the slope gets really steep now. Hold my hand.”
Arnel reached out to me.
I stared at the sharply descending path and took her bronze-colored hand. Suddenly, I found myself wondering about Arnel’s origins—her dark skin and shining silver hair.
“Arnel sis, which country are you from? Are you from Dmitry?”
“If I had to say, I’m from the Koran Kingdom. But the black jungle where I grew up only became part of Koran later.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m from the jungle. We don’t have a concept of a mother country. We only have a homeland. We live in tribal societies, so we don’t serve any king.”
“Have you heard of the Silver Wolf tribe? It’s a fairly large tribe.”
“I have.”
“Really? That makes me happy.”
“They’re one of the most outstanding minority tribes even within the tribal union kingdom of Koran… right? Their defining traits are silver hair and… the fact that every member of the tribe is a dual-wielding swordsman.”
Now that I thought about it, that described Arnel perfectly. It was said they worshipped wolves because they believed their ancestors were silver wolves. I wasn’t sure if it was true, though…
I had only half-listened in class, so my memories were hazy.
“You know quite a lot. Where did you hear all that?”
Arnel asked with wide eyes. In truth, knowing the specific characteristics of a particular tribe from a particular country was extremely detailed knowledge.
I had simply accumulated more knowledge than necessary. Normally, people wouldn’t know that much.
“Just… at the academy.”
“Hmm.”
“They make us study a lot.”
I wondered if I should tell her I was a noble before we parted ways.
It felt somehow awkward to bring it up now, and I was starting to regret not saying something from the beginning.
After descending the mountain and walking a little farther, the city gates appeared straight ahead.
Kenta, the leader of the Shabel Mercenaries, seemed quite familiar with the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper nodded back in recognition, confirming they definitely knew each other.
“It’s been a while, Captain.”
“There hasn’t been much work lately.”
“I see. As you know, please show me your transport permit, mercenary badge, and transport manifest.”
After a brief exchange, Kenta pulled two sheets of paper and his mercenary badge from his coat and handed them over.
“Two wagons of plaster sacks, one of carved books, one of gilded picture frames, one of sculptures and artworks classified as valuables. Five wagons total, all being delivered to the Dalph Art Gallery. Sender is the Saruka Trading Company?”
“That’s right. It was a troublesome transport. We ran into an ogre on the way.”
“An ogre? There must have been a lot of injuries.”
“We’re thanking the gods that there were no casualties. That’s why we need to stop by the temple too. Ah, does it say there are twenty-three mercenaries total? There’s actually one more person with us who isn’t a mercenary.”
At Kenta’s words, the gatekeeper’s eyes immediately turned to me.
A lone child sitting among a group of burly mercenaries clearly looked out of place.
I tried my best to look harmless, blinking with wide, innocent eyes that said I don’t know anything.
When I had gotten lost, I hadn’t been carrying anything. Naturally, I had neither identification nor my student badge to prove I was from Drike Academy.
In short, I was a person of unknown identity.
“So it’s that child.”
“We rescued her after she got separated from her group on the way. They should arrive here in a few days… You know Drike Academy, right? They said they’re coming this way…”
“I’ll check. It’s almost festival season, so a lot of people are using warp gates right now.”
“Can we enter together for now?”
“Well, she is a child… If the captain fills out a simple form, entry should be possible.”
“Simple? What kind of form?”
“It’s a document stating that you will take responsibility for any problems this child causes inside the city. It’s just a formality, so there’s no need to worry.”
At the gatekeeper’s calm explanation, Kenta turned back to look at me with a serious expression.
He clearly didn’t think it was a simple document at all.
After all, for the past several days, I had been at the center of every possible accident. Heh.
“Just in case… what happens if she actually causes trouble?”
“Simply put, you become the girl’s guarantor, Captain. In return, you’d go to prison or pay a fine.”
“…I see. Can’t be helped.”
Once the discussion seemed to be over, I saw Kenta head into the guard post.
I had heard that entry was quite strict in the capital without identification, but it ended more simply than expected.
Finally, we were in Valen. The capital of the land of mages, Veilahn, which had felt so impossibly far away.
The last gateway to Elan.
Because we had taken a shortcut, I arrived in the capital a whole week earlier than the main delegation.
It was something I had expected, but I still had to figure out what to do while I waited.
When it came to the capital of Veilahn, the most famous thing was undoubtedly the enormous public library that spanned nearly a thousand pyeong.
I planned to visit it soon. There were probably more books about spirits here than in Dmitry.
Though ancient language texts would likely be restricted from viewing.
The Place Where the Wind Rests
Following the mercenary group, we arrived in front of an ordinary-looking inn that could be found anywhere. Apparently it was one of their regular spots.
It looked a bit small, but the fact that I could sleep in an inn with actual beds already made me happy.
I made a modest resolution: first, have a proper meal. Then fill the bathtub to the brim and scrub myself clean. Before bed, enjoy a warm cup of milk.
But the moment the inn door opened and I stepped inside, my little dream shattered into pieces.
I pinched my nose and quickly took a step back.
“What’s wrong, kid? Aren’t you coming in?”
“In here?”
“You gonna stay outside then? Do whatever you want!”
The inn was larger on the inside than it had looked from outside.
The problem wasn’t the rough-looking thugs filling the space, nor the stares that kept landing on me—the one who clearly stood out among the group. I was proud of my thick skin, after all!
The real problem was the hazy smoke that filled the entire inn. The acrid haze was so thick that everything looked blurry.
“Cough! Cough! Cooough!”
In my previous world, this would never have been allowed.
In this world, even kids smoked, so hoping they would put out their cigarettes just because a child was present was far too much to ask.
After hesitating for a moment, I was eventually pushed inside by the Shabel Mercenaries. The air inside was so thick it was hard to breathe.
At this rate, even if you didn’t smoke and just breathed in and out, you could probably recycle the smoke.
I clutched tightly at the hem of Arnel’s clothes, my face scrunched up in clear displeasure.
Every eye in the room was now focused on me.
[Why is everyone staring at us?]
[Who knows. Maybe Arnel sis is famous?]
Or maybe they had just never seen a child in a place like this before…
“Tsk.”
“Did you hear that? That little one just clicked her tongue. How cute.”
I turned my head toward the voice. It was an unpleasant, grating sound that set my nerves on edge.
My gaze stopped on what appeared to be the owner of that voice—a man even larger than Kenta, though not quite as massive. He was staring at me with heated eyes.
The toad-like man with thick lips and half-lidded eyes slowly licked his large, fat lips and waved at me.
Shudder…
“So the Shabel Mercenaries escort kids now too? Heh heh.”
“No kidding. She’s pretty cute. Why don’t you raise her nicely and send her to me as a bride?”
Insane… Even though people could get married at twelve in this world, there was no way I would ever marry someone like you! Absolutely not! Spit!
I quickly looked away as if frightened.
I could forgive ugliness, but I could never forgive creepiness.
I simply gripped Arnel’s collar even tighter.
I couldn’t trust anyone but Arnel.
[Rai, don’t go more than five meters away from me for a while.]
[Yes!]
[Got it! Absolutely!]
Even as I repeatedly warned Rai, I still felt uneasy.