Chapter 81 – Journey to the Royal Capital 2 Part 1

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

It’s been twenty-six days since we’ve set off from Gantz city. We should be able to reach another city we can stop over for a rest soon.

Whew. Finally. We’ve been running on foot non-stop for the large part of the day, so everyone’s showing hints of exhaustion already.

That’s right. We’ve been running on foot for the greater part of the day and haven’t boarded the carriages and wagons even once. As for why we’d do something like this, it’s for our training of course.

On the third day since departing from Gantz, Adjutant Dalshim came to me with the proposal of letting our men run on foot without getting on the wagons and horses as a form of training.

Since the frequency of monster encounters significantly decreases the further away we were from Gantz, and since I could always detect if something was wrong via scanning magic, I gave it the green light.

Since you could always jump into the wagons and carriages once you’ve hit your personal limit, it was the perfect form of training to determine everyone’s current ability, or so I was told.

I felt that making everybody run all at once would be a bit overdoing it, so I divided the group in two and made them run in turns. One group runs for an entire day and takes a rest the next day while the other group replaces them.

And of course, I couldn’t just laze around in our own carriage while the others ran, so I ran along with them instead. Well, I was getting a bit bored just sitting around the carriage anyway, so I didn’t really mind running with them.

Before long, we spotted city walls from a distance. It was a relatively small city, but since it was just a day away on horseback from the royal capital, it probably served as a specialized stopover station for merchants and travelers.

There were two guards manning their posts in front of the city gate. They held up their spears in a panic the moment they spotted our group.

“What!? What happened to you all!?”

One city guard called out to us with evident tension in his voice. Ah, I see. After seeing a group of people running toward the city on foot, they probably thought we were running away from something.

“We’re sorry for making such a commotion. We’re just running on foot for training.”

“So that’s it. Don’t surprise us like that. But what’s with your number though?”

“My name is Alan, the leader of Shining Star. We’re currently serving as escorts to Baron Volker Herring. The people behind me are my Clan members.”

“Shining Star!? You mean you’re the famous Bandit Hunters!?”

“Well, yes, I guess.”

I handed my guild emblem to the guard and had him verify it.

“Please excuse us for earlier! Just in case, could you allow us to check the baron’s coat of arms as well?”

Having anticipated the guard’s request, one of the baron’s attendants walked to the front while bringing the baron’s coat of arms.

“Here you go.”

The coats of arms were plates made of mithril with a size of about 15 centimeters or so. A noble family’s unique emblem was engraved on them. The baron’s personal coat of arms was an item of superb craftsmanship and was apparently made by the best artisan in the royal capital. The emblem depicted a pair of lily-like flowers.

The guard checked the coat of arms with great scrutiny.

I was impressed with the guards when the attendant first showed me the coat of arms, thinking that they’ve memorized all of the unique emblems of the different aristocratic houses. But it looks like that really wasn’t the case.

With a hearty laugh, the baron explained that while the guards probably remember the emblems of most of the high-ranking nobles, there was no way they would remember the emblems of low-ranking ones like him.

It seems they confirmed whether or not a coat of arms was real by checking if it had an official royal seal which was engraved on the corner of every genuine article.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Please go ahead and pass.”

If you are acknowledged as part of a noble’s entourage, you are able to pass through a city’s gates without any further inspections. Our group stopped at the spacious plaza that was located right after entering the city gate.

Within moments, a group of five boys from the city approached us. They acted as city guides who listened to a traveler’s requests and showed them around the city for a small fee. That’s why boys like them were usually found hanging out near a city’s main gate.

Katolle and the rest of the supply procurement team had the boys guide them in order to arrange our accommodations and scattered all over the city.

As one would expect, a group as large as ours can’t stay in just one inn, so it was necessary to divide ourselves into several smaller groups and stay in separate inns.

The rest of us decided to wait for the meantime, and our party chatted with Baron Volker. The baron seems to be from this area and cheerfully told us about the local specialties.

We’ve managed to get along well with Baron Volker during the trip. Even though the baron was a nobleman, his attitude and mannerisms were actually quite close to that of commoners, and he even told us how he managed to become a noble himself.

Apparently, the baron was formerly an A-rank adventurer and the leader of a ten-man party.

At one point, he and his party managed to encounter and save a carriage that was being attacked by a herd of twenty Orcs.

Of course, the carriage had a guard escort that was able to defeat 15 out of the 20 Orcs, but by the time Baron Volker encountered them, almost all of the escorts had been killed already.

He said they managed to rush to the carriage’s aid just in time, killed the Orcs who were in the middle of trying to pry it open, and rescued the passengers inside.

The owner of the carriage turned out to be a baron and his family and having been impressed by Lord Volker and his men’s bravery, the old baron promised him as much reward as he could manage.

The old baron’s family was actually a branch of a fairly influential high-ranking noble family, and he generously welcomed the former party leader into his fold.

Usually, one wouldn’t be able to get knighted by just defeating a measly five Orcs, but Lord Volker’s case was an exception.

After that, he was hired by the old baron and worked as one of his personal guards, and it was then that he got to know his partner, who was the baron’s eldest daughter, and eventually married her.

After asking him for details, he revealed that when the old baron’s family was attacked by the Orcs, Lord Volker’s wife was present among them, and she seemed to have fallen in love with Lord Volker when she witnessed him ‘gallantly’ defeating the Orcs.

By the way, the two attendants serving him were actually members of his former party when they were still adventurers. Perhaps due to that, there were times when they called Lord Volker without honorifics. And whenever they noticed that we were around, they hurriedly corrected themselves. It looks like their relationship was not simply of master and servants.

The supply procurement team finally returned and led us to the inns they booked. Our group was led to what seemed to be the most luxurious inn in the city. We didn’t really mind if we stayed in the most luxurious inn or not, but it can’t be helped since we were together with the baron this time.

Baron Volker also thought that he didn’t have to insist on staying at a luxury inn when he was first knighted, but he was persuaded by his employer, the old baron, that it was his duty as a noble to spend money in order to contribute to the city and its inhabitants.

He found his employer’s words strangely persuasive.

The inn was small, but it seems to be a clean and pleasant establishment. As expected of the city’s most luxurious inn. It looks like I can expect good things from the bath as well. There were no other guests present, so we ended up booking it completely. By the way, the rate was 600 Guineas per room.

The bath at the inn was wonderful and the food was delicious. And curiously, the inn also offered unlimited alcohol, which was actually quite rare. Everyone was really happy about it and ordered without reserve.

Furthermore, the mayor and other influential local merchants also brought us alcohol and local specialties as ‘refreshments’. This was apparently customary, and both the baron and I found it to be somewhat of a hassle.

It was fortunate that today’s visitors withdrew after giving their greetings. Maybe it’s because they noticed that all of the seats in the dining hall were full.

After enjoying the food and alcohol together, we decided to rest up early.

We were finally going to reach the royal capital by tomorrow.