by Ennki Hakari
Assuming the man wasn’t taking advantage of me, I was relieved to find that the value of currency here seemed comparable to Rhoden’s. That would make things a lot easier.
“You new to Kaysehk, mister?”
“Actually, I am. In fact, I was hoping to ask you something. Do you happen to know where Barysimon is located?”
Back in Rhoden, most locations were named after the local nobility, so I figured that it would be much easier—and less suspicious—if I were to ask about the place, rather than the man ruling over it.
However, the merchant just shook his head. “Barysimon, you say? Sorry, never heard of it.”
“I see. Sorry for the trouble.”
I tried asking a few other merchants the same thing, but no one had heard of a place by that name. Our search was already off to a bad start.
“I’m surprised that we’re coming up with nothing.”
I cracked the walnuts open and passed them to Ariane as we stood by the side of the street. Ariane rubbed her cheek against Ponta’s head as it lay in her arms, happily gobbling up the walnuts.
After giving it some more thought, I decided that being a member of the nobility didn’t necessarily mean that someone had a town named after them. We’d have no choice but to ask for the viscount by name. Still, it seemed unlikely that the average person on the street would just happen to know the noble we were looking for.
Just as I was coming to this realization, a voice casually called out from behind me.
“Someone’s certainly having some trouble.”
I turned to find a familiar blue-eyed figure staring up at me. She looked no different from the last time we’d met.
Standing only about 150 centimeters tall, the young girl was dressed in comfortable-looking, all-black clothes and wore a large, oversized hat atop her head of short, black hair.
She also wore gauntlets and greaves and carried a short sword on her lower back. She didn’t look like she was from around here.
“Whoa, Chiyome? What are you doing here?”
Chiyome was a member of the Jinshin clan. Ariane and I had helped her rescue some of her comrades back in the capital.
Ariane looked as surprised as I felt to see her here.
Chiyome responded in her usual monotone manner.
“After we parted ways in Olav, I made my way back to the hidden village. The chieftain gave me a new mission, so I came here as fast as I could. I figured you two would come to Kaysehk looking for your next mark, and I was right.”
Though Kaysehk wasn’t nearly as large as Lamburt, it certainly wasn’t small by any means. The fact that she’d found us so quickly was nothing short of incredible.
“Do you need assistance again? I still have a job to do for Miss Ariane, so it might be some time before I can offer my services to you.”
Chiyome nodded, as if she’d expected this response, and turned her azure eyes to Ariane.
“I do plan on waiting to make my request until your job is completed, Ariane, but unfortunately, I’m in a bit of a hurry. Could I offer you my assistance, such as it is, to help you finish faster?”
Ariane froze, eliciting a curious look from Ponta, who wondered why she was no longer feeding it walnuts.
I looked at Ariane as well. “I don’t have any objections.”
Ariane pursed her lips. “If we’re able to finish our mission sooner, I don’t see an issue.”
Chiyome beamed. “Then it’s settled! Leave it to me. I’ve already tracked down the person you’re looking for.”
Ninjas truly were masters at getting information. Here I was thinking our search had been stymied, and suddenly we were shown a way out.
“You’ve already looked into it? Where is this Viscount Barysimon?”
Chiyome pointed north. “He’s living in a town called Leibnizche. All you have to do is follow the Siana mountain range to find it.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Leibnizche? That’s not his name. Does that mean that he’s working under the local lord?”
“No, Viscount Barysimon is the lord of Leibnizche. Up here in the Holy East Revlon Empire, nobles are assigned to certain regions by the emperor, and the region they oversee may change. That’s why their names don’t match up.”
Well, that made sense. I supposed it was more of an absolute monarchy here, compared to Rhoden. I felt a bit embarrassed at having overlooked the fact that each country would have its own method of government.
Chiyome continued. “The Revlon Empire, back before it split into the east and west, used to be a massive conglomeration of countries. Many of the towns have been known by the same name for a very long time.” She suddenly hit her fist into her palm, as if she’d just remembered something. “Damn. You two can’t really show your faces around people, can you?”
Ariane and I both nodded.
“In that case, why don’t we tell people that you’re my bodyguards? Mercenaries are only allowed here if they belong to troupes authorized by the empire, so calling yourselves mercenaries will put you under intense scrutiny. If you’re questioned, they won’t let you keep your faces covered.”
Obviously, rules were different everywhere, but the more I heard, the more I understood that Ariane and I had come here knowing absolutely nothing about the Revlon Empire. I was exceedingly glad that Chiyome had shown up to help us.
Ariane had resumed petting Ponta’s head. She looked from Chiyome to me and back. “Well then, shall we make our way to Leibnizche?”
“Not yet. It’s about a three- or four-day trip by carriage from here, so even if we left now, we wouldn’t make it all that far before we had to stop for the night. We should also only stop in the larger towns, since we’ll stick out like sore thumbs in any of the smaller ones.”
Now that she mentioned it, I could see that the sun was already low in the sky. We’d have to spend the night here and leave for Leibnizche in the morning.
Still, a three- to four-day trip by carriage should only take half a day using Dimensional Step.
I looked up and down the street. “In that case, let’s find an inn. This is a pretty nice part of town, so there should be a decent one nearby.”
Chiyome shook her head. “We’re close to the Hilk church. It’d be better to stay just about anywhere else, like the northeast part of town, even if it’s not as safe. Follow me!”
As Ariane and I trailed after her, I marveled at how much Chiyome knew about the geography and goings on of the empire.
We took the main thoroughfare up toward the northeast part of town. On the way, I caught sight of a large, somber-looking stone building.
The entrance was flanked by bell towers, their walls embedded with statues. An image of a club with a ribbed, spherical head had been painted above the entrance. It looked almost like a vajra, a mystical weapon used as a ritual object in Buddhism and Hinduism.
The building towered above those around it, as if asserting its dominance over this part of town.
“Is this the church of the…what did you call them, Hilk?” My eyes never left the building as I spoke.
“Yes. The Hilk have strong ties to both the eastern and western empires, and they teach that humans are superior above all other species. They claim that mountain people, elves, dwarves, and other non-humans are wicked, dirty…born from the devil.”
That sounded like pretty extreme dogma. I could only imagine how uncomfortable it must be for Chiyome and Ariane to be in the presence of such teachings.
Ariane glowered at the church from under her hood.
“Are there any followers of the Hilk back in Rhoden?” I asked.
While Chiyome and the mountain people were certainly persecuted in Rhoden, elves, at least on the surface, were supposedly treated like equals under the treaty.
“Hilk hasn’t spread very far into the Rhoden Kingdom yet. Traditionally, each region has their own houses of worship, and the king has used this as grounds to ban any Hilk proselytizing. However, there isn’t much difference
in the way Rhoden and the Hilk treat us. They mock us as the bastard children of men and beasts, and they think elves tricked the gods and stole their magical abilities for themselves.”
“What the hell?!” Ariane shouted. “Where do they get off slandering us like that?”
Chiyome gestured for Ariane to lower her voice. In her outburst, Ariane had clutched her arms closer, squeezing poor Ponta against her chest.
“Well, I imagine that a lot of that has to do with their jealousy over your long lives and affinity for magic.”
I imagined that, among the human ruling class, they wanted nothing more than to extend their lives like the elves. Failing that, they would want to disparage the elves, who were clearly more blessed than they were. That type of thinking was just like humans.
I continued musing on this as we walked, while Chiyome tried calming Ariane down as she raged against the humans. Eventually, we settled on an inn to stay in and ended the day there.
***
First thing the next morning, we departed through the north gate of Kaysehk and I used Dimensional Step to carry us along the northern road, where Chiyome had indicated we should go.
Chiyome was taken aback by my magic at first, but she quickly grew accustomed to it. I had previously shown her my Transport Gate ability, but this was the first time she’d seen Dimensional Step. It was the kind of magic that must have come across as incredibly useful in the eyes of a ninja.
The road we were following was bordered to the west by the Siana mountain range and the expansive forests that ran along the foothills.
Judging by the number of farms and villages in the area, it seemed like the foothills allowed for very fertile land. All in all, it was a rather tranquil scene.
However, that tranquility was soon broken as we moved down the road and caught sight of an imposing group.
It was a procession of around a hundred knights or so, all outfitted in identical armor.
Toward the rear, a group of carriages clustered together, looking almost like the beads on a rosary. The carriages were completely covered in canopies, preventing anyone from looking inside.
I had no idea where they were going, but, judging from the direction the soldiers were marching in, I guessed they were coming from Leibnizche, where we were headed.
“I wonder if they’re off to address the monster problem at the border.”
I wasn’t really speaking to anyone in particular, but Chiyome responded all the same.
“I think they’re going to be stationed at Kaysehk. I’m not really sure what’s going on, but I’ve heard that the emperor’s been moving soldiers all over the empire.”
“Hmm. Well, I suppose it has nothing to do with us.”
Something suspicious was definitely going on within the empire, but for now, there was nothing we could do about it. All we could do was watch and wonder.
I used Dimensional Step to teleport us into a distant field where we’d remain out of the soldiers’ line of sight. We continued on our way, keeping our distance.
Right around noon, we arrived in Leibnizche.
The town was larger than Kaysehk, surrounded by even higher walls. A solidly built fortress jutted from the western wall, where a stream of carts came and went.
Chiyome spoke quietly, the surprise evident in her voice as she looked out at the town in front of us. “I never imagined we’d be able to travel all the way here so quickly. I’m impressed I was able to catch up to you.”
Luck had probably played a part in that, considering we’d taken a bit of a detour after parting ways back in the capital. I suggested to Ariane that maybe the spirits had something to it, but she just glared at me.
***
We entered Leibnizche through the south gate, with Chiyome leading the way.
She showed the guards at the gate something, uttered a few words, then was allowed to pass on through without further inspection. I figured she’d gotten a travel pass before coming, once again impressing me with how much prep work she’d done.
The south entrance led straight to a large thoroughfare that ran through town, filled with people bustling about. There was another road along the perimeter of the town just inside the wall. Off to the east was a second wall, and even more town beyond that. It seemed like there had been explosive growth in the direction. This second wall, separating the old and new towns, was lower than the one surrounding Leibnizche, which probably explained why the buildings on this side were shorter as well.
Chiyome led us to the newer part of town, passing through a gate built into the old town wall along the way.
“First off, I want to get a room at an inn that can serve as our base of operations, in case this takes a while. Usually, when a town is divided, the new part isn’t nearly as safe, but in our situation, this is to our advantage. It will make it easier for us to move around.”
I nodded, my eyes taking in the town that lay before us.
The roads here were much narrower than in the old town, but the crowds naturally moved out of our way when they saw a two-meter-tall knight outfitted in armor, trailing a pitch-black cloak.
After making our way farther down the road, we settled on an inn deep in the new section of town.
“I’m going to head out and start gathering information,” Chiyome said. “What will you be doing? You can stay here in the inn where it’s safe, if you want.”
“Going out on your own doesn’t sound easy,” I said.
Chiyome shook her head, her black hair swaying with the movement. “The Jinshin clan has a rather unique way of gathering information, and we don’t usually travel in large groups. This is my first time in Leibnizche, but I’ve learned some things from other mountain people who’ve been here before. I’ll be fine going out on my own.”
She looked plenty confident.
There was nothing I’d rather have seen than a well-trained ninja gather information. But, lacking any of that training myself, I’d be more of a hindrance than anything else.
I let out a sigh. “We definitely aren’t nearly as adept as you are, so we’ll defer to you.”
Ariane looked up from massaging Ponta, a defiant look in her eye. “Since when do you get to speak for me?”
“You can’t deny the truth.”
Ariane puffed out her cheeks and scowled.
We had to consider the right person for the job.
And, of course, we couldn’t ignore our own shortcomings. I couldn’t take off my armor or helmet. Sure, those things might help me intimidate information out of low-level thugs, but it also caused a lot of people to avoid me altogether. Ariane was also stuck wearing her hood low in order to hide her amethyst-colored skin, pointy ears, and long, white hair—all traits unique to a dark elf—which made her come across as incredibly suspicious.
Maybe if she turned up the charm, she might be able to wrangle information out of some old pervert, but I couldn’t imagine her doing that.
Whereas all Chiyome had to do was hide her cat ears and tail and she could easily blend in with humans without any need to conceal her face. This made her far better suited than the two of us to talk to people. Since we had someone who was particularly good at information gathering, there was nothing embarrassing about leaving it to her.
I laid this all out for Ariane, and she finally relented.
“Fine, I got it.” She turned away, and I could see that her ears had turned a light shade of red. “But this is my assignment, so I can’t just leave everything to Chiyome. You and I will head into town too.”
She turned back to me, her glossy lips turned down and her eyebrows knitted for some reason I couldn’t understand.
“You’re coming, too, Arc! I hired you!”
“But I didn’t say anything…”
I appreciated the fact that people could rely on me. Perhaps this had become my purpose in this world. Besides, I had nowhere else to go.
“All right then, so we’ll meet back here at nightfall?” Chiyome asked.
Ariane and I nodded, and we all left the inn.
Chiyome disappeared into the sea of people. I turned my attention back to Ariane.
“Well, I guess we’ll just do the best we can.”
She nodded. “Right.”
“Kyiii!”
Ponta let out an excited yip and swished its tail about in Ariane’s arms, apparently also eager to get underway. Though, judging by how excitedly it looked up and down the streets, I had a feeling Ponta was just eager to find something to eat.
“How about we pick up something for Ponta and make our way to the old town?”
We started walking in the opposite direction Chiyome had gone, passing through the wall dividing the old town from the new, ending up in a large, open square in front of the south gate.
We walked past the shops lining the road, letting Ponta’s reaction guide us.
“Even if we wanted to ask people for information, they all seem to be avoiding us.”
“That’s because you’re just too imposing of a figure, Arc. Maybe…you should crouch down a bit?”
That would only make us look more suspicious.
However, I did have an idea.
“Ariane, are you able to use the wind spirit magic to listen in on people’s conversations, kind of like what you did back in Lamburt?”
“Hmm. You know, I’ve never tried. Give me a minute.”
Ariane handed me Ponta, whom I placed back atop my helmet. She whispered something to herself and blew on her open palm. The outline of a faint, glowing shape shimmered above it. Ariane looked up at me.
“So, who should we listen in on?”
I looked around for a bit before finally settling on a group of older men talking among each other at a shop on the opposite side of the street.
“How about that group over there?”
Ariane followed my gaze, nodded, and whispered something to the faint glow. I felt a light breeze, and the glow disappeared. A few moments later, another breeze blew past, and the glowing light returned to Ariane’s palm.
“Do you want to have a listen?” She lifted her hand to my ear.