Volume 5 - Prologue Part 2

Volume 5 Prologue Part 2

Editor: Weasalopes

「Alright, everything’s been checked. Please, enter.」

The Japanese made suspicious faces at how quickly the woman had returned their cards and gave them permission. Darl and Forre had actually checked their luggage.

「Are you sure you don’t want to check our belongings？」

「No, if it’s anyone from Azuma Workshop, there won’t really be a problem. 」

「……Don’t tell me that we’re also known over here？」

「We’ve heard about all of you quite a bit as of recent, and we have our own circumstances.」

Hiroshi and friends immediately knew what was going on when they heard the gatekeeper’s words. The higher-ups in this country seemed to be scheming in their own way.

「I believe there will be further contact your way shortly, so I advise that you contact the adventurers’ association or government office to find a place to stay as soon as possible.」

「Ah, okay.」

The woman said as she bowed her head, and Makoto instinctively nodded as she responded.

「I should really be telling you more, but I’m just a gatekeeper and the higher-ups have only said to convey this to you as quickly as possible once I’ve seen you through……」

「No, no. You’ve already explained plenty, don’t worry.」

The lady was a bit ashamed, but Makoto felt she should be the one apologizing, telling her with a smile not to worry about it. After all, she had understood the majority of the situation when the lady mentioned “contact”.

「Also, this is our first time here in Rufeus. Are there any hotels you would recommend? We’d be especially happy if they have good food.」

「Right. I would recommend the Sage Bell Pavilion near the central plaza. It’s one of the few hotels continuing their long and honorable tradition in Rufeus since the city’s beginning. It’s a bit pricey, but the security is top-notch, it’s comfortable, and the food is delicious, as per the ratings.」

「Sage Bell Pavilion, huh. Are there any outer characteristics to look for？」

「As the name implies, there is a belfry on the hotel roof. It’s built in a fairly conspicuous location, so I think you will quickly recognize it.」

「Okay, thank you.」

Asking the lady for information, Makoto returned to the minivan.

「I asked what to look for to get to the hotel, so I plan to go there. It’s fine right？」

「Yeah. Thanks.」

Conveying this to the members who had returned to the car before her, Makoto readied the car for departure. Tatsuya spoke up for everyone else to respond to Makoto’s question, and like that they headed for the hotel. Unlike in Stiren, this time the group found a place to stay in quite smoothly.

Now, I should probably give a supplemental explanation here about Lorren.

Lorren, also known as the Country of Knowledge, was a country that developed around its capital, Rufeus’s academy and library, as well as the god of knowledge, Daljan’s temple. Rufeus did technically have a castle in the center for an executive position, but the academy had an older building with an equally high degree of familiarity, so the castle didn’t stand out as much.

Rufeus’s political structure was something akin to an open monarchy, with the king in charge of the executive position selected through elections via parliament. Of course, frequently changing the king would only create chaos in the politics, so new kings were only elected when either the predecessor died, announced their abdication, or was determined to be considerably unfit to lead. The elected consisted of the royal descendants of one of the six sages who built the academy who became candidates based on inheritance, age and other things.

Parliament consisted of legislators selected from royalty and nobility for the House of Peers and legislators selected from the people regardless of status for the House of Representatives. While you might think Parliament had an incredible amount of power for being able to select the king, in actuality their power was limited just to that. The king had to truly mess up for them to recall him, and their work practice all in all could never win against the king, who was always involved in everything. The king also had the authority to dissolve parliament.

Still, ignoring Parliament and doing whatever you wanted would in fact legitimize the recall, so neither party could do anything silly to the other side. Then again, more than that, both branches of government were bound by the fact that the country was renowned as the country of knowledge and the fact that the capital Rufeus’s academy had the most authority and power in the world. Unable to have pride in this fact, chasing one’s own profit all the time, and not being able to so much as debate properly would make it impossible to be a legislator or a king. Also, being a country of wisdom, everyone who despise you if all you did was chase the ideal and couldn’t compare and adjust it with reality.

A country who couldn’t even govern itself would never be trusted, no matter how much it touted its own academy’s brilliance. No one would acknowledge your intellect if you claimed to be the country of knowledge yet acted arrogant.

In the end, because everyone from the top to the bottom of society knew full well what their country was built on, no one could make any rash decisions, which was both the high point and perhaps the limitation of Lorren.

The average citizen’s pride toward their country and self-confidence toward the foundation, as well as the measure of the god of knowledge, Daljan. Thanks to this, Lorren as of now had evaded the paper-thin difference of complete corruption.

「Just as I heard, it seems to be a comfortable inn.」

「Yup. Kinda has a calm vibe to it.」

Hiroshi agreed with Makoto’s impression of the Sages Bell Pavilion. Its calm, historical appearance exuded the kind of comforting atmosphere present at Japan’s old ryokans.

「Hey, Haruna. How much was the fee？」

「With breakfast and dinner attached, it’s 25 chrone for one night per person. Sure it’s a little pricey, but not so much that we can’t stay long-term, I’d say？」

「With an average class 5 income, I guess you’d be able to stay a month with one quest.」

Hearing Haruna’s response, Makoto calculated roughly what the price would be. Also, Lorren’s currency was the same as Farlane’s. This was due to one of the sages being friends with the founding king of Farlane after it was built and making the academy in Rufeus. After accepting all sorts of aid from Farlane, the currency just became the same.

Furthermore, while Lorren’s key currency did consist of chrones and tirols, but as the distance was close enough, Forre’s domas could also be used without having to exchange. The strong point here was that the rates were practically the same.

「Rufeus apparently is known for its duck, green pheasant, and freshwater fish cuisine. Also, there’s a giant deer monster called nidred that they hunt in the steppe and they say it’s one of this region’s gourmet foods.」

「Nidred, eh. Never heard of it. What about you, Makoto？」

「Me neither. Isn’t it like the poms with how it wasn’t in the game？」

「If neither you or Haruna knows then yeah, that’s probably the case.」

Based on the info that Haruna brought in, Tatsuya and Makoto surmised where the nidred came from. Most of the monsters up till now were unfamiliar, but this time the comparison made since.

「That being said, I guess it would be difficult to just go out hunting today, tomorrow, or even the next day if we’re talking about leisure.」

「Agreed. Plus they said there’s supposed to be contact.」

「And it would suck if we crossed without meeting.」

Recalling the conversation with the gatekeeper, Tatsuya and Makoto gave small sighs. The countries and regions they had stayed in until now had always ended with having the royalty or executives get fairly deeply involved with them. Even with the kingdom of Forre, which still barely had a connection with Azuma Workshop, rumor had it the royal family just had a fondness of the adventurers and it seemed like it was impossible to cut relations with them.

Considering all this, the fact that executive organizations were seeking contact with the group was basically a given at this point. Still, it was a little out of the ordinary to just have immediate notification of this upon arrival.