The commercial city Kukrika (T/N: >> Kukurika <<) belonging to the principality of Triden(T/N: >> Toraiden <<) was a mid-sized city boasting a population of 10â000.
There was no special local product which particularly stood out in trading.
However, as if in order to not put the name of a commercial city to shame, the trade being done at this place was prosperously flourishing.
The human and demon territories were separated by an enormous forest and since it was the town closest to that miasma-filled forest, there was a busy coming and going of goods and personnel.
In proximity of the city there was a steep rocky mountain with a grim scale, which was likewise surrounded by a forest of reasonable size.
According to one legend, the rocky mountain was formed using one huge chunk, it was called ăTomb of the Recluseă.
Although separated by a far distance from the miasma-filled forest, they seemed to be connected in some way.
That very forest was called ăLabyrinth Forestă and it housed two dungeons.
From the rocky mountain a river gushed forth in one long straight line continuing seemingly endlessly across the human dominated continent until it at last flowed into the ocean. Because of the width and depth of the river, medium-sized cargo-ships were able to use it as traffic lane.
Hence, it was extensively utilized as cornerstone in the circulation of money and goods.
The water of the river was rerouted into the city dividing its roughly round shape by waterways into four parts and filling up the moat surrounding the city.
The four divided areas each held an own business district, a high-class residential area, a common residential area and a separated military ward. Those four districts completely adjoined at the city center where the feudal lord and the city mayor were residing in their mansions.
Furthermore there was a garrison ward ruled by the army.
The armed forces stationed there mounted up to 2000 soldiers who were under the direct order of the archduke of the principality of Triden.
They were highly skilled and possessed first-class equipment.
With the city hidden behind the moat, which was dug out to be considerably deep, coupled with a fortress wall, the defensive strength of the city was extremely high.
In case of something strange emerging from the miasma-filled forest or in case of the demons waging war, this cityâs purpose was to act as a frontier base.
Similar to a stronghold, the city was encircled by a wall with no end.
From the standpoint of a commercial city this exceedingly insular disposition was a problem though.
In the past this city was dragged several times into war, yet it was never especially devastatingly damaged.
Apart from the troops at the garrison, the feudal lord governing the area possessed 100 soldiers himself and the city mayor held onto a private army of 50 soldiers.
Comparing their equipment and degree of training to the forces under the direct control of the archduke, they were several grades below.
The soldiers dispatched to the pioneer village were chosen from those 150 combined forces. That means, that from those soldiers, who usually were in charge of public order, 10% 1 were sent into the vicinity. Even though they were few, it was the most that could be spared.
That was the end of the explanation Shion gave Renya while they were along the way traveling to their destination.
That city is quite carefree, was Renyaâs impression.
Describing this places in words such as frontier base, there is no point in doing so for an open commercial city lacking any kind of tension.
In the normal case, an encircling wall naturally turns a city into a fortress, isnât that so?â
âWell, it might not be reliable, but the city has also been continuing in trade business for a long time. Furthermore, suiting the feelings of the citizens âŠâ
All the same, the city is quite carefree, Renya concluded.
But even that carefree city had accurate inspections at the the two gates, east and west, being performed.
The people trying to enter the inner part of the walls had their identification and luggage checked in order of their social status serving the purpose to confirm whether there were any problems or not.
Next to the refugees from the pioneer village the guards accompanying them had the necessary identification papers with them and thus entering the city was quite simple.
The problem was Renya though.
âPlease show me your identification papers.â (Guard)
A guard, wearing a plain leather armor and holding a spear, waved at Renya to hand over the papers while asking him.
Renya not knowing what to say hesitated.
Naturally, him possessing identification papers for this world was unthinkable.
Yet, even if he answered that he was a Lost, he was troubled whether the other party would comprehend the circumstances or not.
In the worst case, he feared he might be recognized as foreign invader and be taken away somewhere.
Before arriving at the city, he should have confirmed the trouble with this kind of situation with Shionâs group. Now you could only call it too late.
Renyaâs state of silence caused by his confusion about what to do, caused the guard to look at him suspiciously with a discerning eye.
Seeing that something was amiss, the other guards had gathered as well.
âOi, whatâs wrong? Donât you have any identification papers?â (Guard)
âUmm well, to tell you the truth âŠâ (Renya)
Wondering whether he had no other choice, Renya began to open his mouth to meekly tell them that he hadnât any.
It was then, that Shionâs group, who had separated from Renya to return the luggages to the villagers, came rushing over.
âSorry, I had totally forgotten about your circumstances. This person isnât anyone suspicious.â (Shion)
âHe is a bit unfamiliar with the state of affairs. I am terribly sorry to causing you trouble in any way.â (Rona)
The spectacle of two beautiful maidens bowing their heads in apology caused the guards tension to fade.
Additionally it caught Renyaâs attention that the guards, after looking at Shionâs appearance, showed a momentarily expression of surprise.
âWe are adventurers belonging to the Adventurerâs guild who were sent to investigate the miasma gathering in the forest. He is a Lost we stumbled across there.â (Shion)
While saying this, Shion casually shifted her armor slightly and shoved her hand between her breasts taking out a card from there.
Likewise Rona tried to also take out a matching card from her chest area. In her case though, was it a difference of volume or rather a difference of the depth of her cleavage? Somehow the card didnât want to come out.
Twisting âround in order to extract the card, her two hills shook up and down due to the vibration exposing a staggering sight. Stretching her clothes at the collar to somehow take out the card, the exposure of the flesh-colored surface was vast in comparison to Shion.
For a small amount of time Shionâs fully exposed breasts and Ronaâs breasts shaking with a *burun burun* awoke the sad nature of the males.
Renya made sure to catch how the guardsâ concentrated stares were glued to Shionâs breasts while pretending to gaze at the cardâs surface she had taken out.
A string was attached to said card allowing it to hang from the neck. Comparing it to his original world, it had the size of a business card. Giving off the glittering of a bronze or copper metal quality, several characters were written on the surface of the card.
Confirming it to be words at first, the characters used to write those words were unknown to him and yet he was still able to properly read the words.
Because it was handed over to guards almost right away, he wasnât able to read overly much.
What he managed to catch was, that the card was issued as identification by the adventurerâs guild to verify the ownerâs affiliation, the owner belonged to the principality of Triden and finally that the name of the owner, Shion, was recorded on the card.
Only ăShionă was recorded in the name field.
There was nothing concerning the family name recorded on the card. Renya firmly engraved this within his memories.
At that moment, Rona finally extracted the card from deep within her cleavage. While floating an apologetic smile, she handed the card over to the guards.
Somehow an air of relief swept across the surroundings.
Renya secretly averted his eyes. For some reason Renya had a feeling that Rona had turned towards him and thrown him a fleeting glance.
âConfirmed. You certainly seem to be from the adventurerâs guild.â (Guard)
The guard verified both cards he had received earlier. After a slight hesitation he returned them.
Half of his feelings could be considered due to regrettable act of returning the two cards which were warm from being placed within the cleavages of the two beauties.
Of course that was a joke that couldnât be mentioned to others.
Yet again the other half was the doubt that there was a reason why he hesitated in returning the cards.
âHe is called Renya. We will guarantee this personâs identity. We intended to go to the adventurerâs guild now to have him register so he gets a card as well.â (Shion)
âIs that so? Then you better hurry up. Let me confirm the card once it has been made. Given that it is the rule, someone entering without identification papers has to pay one silver coin as fee.â (Guard)
âAh, thank you for your hard work.â (Shion)
The returned card was stuffed in between the breasts again. Shion handed 1 silver coin to the guard.
âYou may go.â (Guard)
After confirming the guards authorization, Renya was led away by the two and together they set foot into the commercial city Kukrika.
âTo begin with, Lost always cause similar trouble when trying to enter the city through the gate for the first time.â (Shion)
Shion, who was leading the way, explained to Renya.
âYou are a Lost. And not identifying yourself as one is a serious matter. How should I put it ⊠Listen, if you donât understand, just be silent. Usually suspicious people will be restrained. Because the circumstances of Lost are known, it usually is possible to place the entrance fee as deferred payment. However, since the Lost donât know of such possibility, it is unreasonable to expect it to be completed smoothly.â
âIsnât it a serious matter to take advantage of the Lost by posing as imposer?â (Renya)
It doesnât seem like falsifying oneâs identity will yield many advantages. While assessing it like this, Renya put on an inquiring look just in case.
âSimilar to this time, those, who possess legitimate identification papers, are able to guarantee. Otherwise, in case there is no guarantor, the words of the requester can be checked upon their truth. If their words are deemed to be true, there wonât be any problems and they can go on.â (Shion)
âHow do you ascertain the authenticity of their words?â (Renya)
âThere is a magic called <Judgment> 2 which can ascertain it.â (Shion)
Renya was surprised about such unusual magic apparently similar to a lie detector.
While living in the pioneer village, it was also surprising to see the commonly widespread use of particular magic to create water or ignite a spark of fire.
As one would expect of another world, no matter how strange it was, it was still quite useful.
Speaking of useful, the same could be said of the card Shionâs group used in order to proof their social status in front of the guards.
According to Shion, it was the guild card of the Adventurerâs guild. The adventurerâs guild had a huge sphere of influence. Wherever one went, the card served as valid substitute for identification papers, at least within the territory of the human race, that is.
Almost extending across the entire nation, there didnât seem to be any place where the card couldnât be used.
Also, not only in the eastern continent of the human race, but also in the western continent dominated by the elves and in the southern continent dominated by a mix of demi-humen and beastmen the card was in circulation to some extent.
Still, as one could have expected, apparently the dragon tribe and the demon clan didnât use the card at all.
Nevertheless, in total close to 60-70% of the entire continental area used the card as valid identification papers. Thus calling that card convenient was quite understandable.
Apart from this, there were also identification papers which were issued by the feudal lord. 3 Just that it was quite useless to obtain them, going by Shionâs words.
âIt would be different though, if Renya decided to not move away from this city.â (Shion)
Deciding to settle down could be called a really attractive alternative.
But considering Kami-samaâs request to scatter the resources, it wasnât possible to say that settling in one place was a good thing.
Even assuming he set up a base at some point in time, the option of leading a hikikomori 4 lifestyle didnât exist for Renya.
âIt is only valid for one province after all?â (Renya)
âUn, basically the pass issued by the feudal lord is only valid within the province. The one issued by the state is only valid within its borders.â (Shion)
âThough for common people it is quite sufficient if you consider that they donât need the excessive traveling of adventurers. Assuming Renya-san similarly wishes to make a living by being an adventurer, then you shouldnât hesitate about obtaining the guild card, you know.â (Rona)
âBecause of that very reason, we are guiding you to the adventurerâs guild first. We have to report about the accepted request, too.â (Shion)
Recalling the subject of reporting while speaking about it, Shionâs expression got heavy and gloomy.
While hardly being able to investigate the forest itself, unpredictably their subjugation target, the goblins, spilled out from the forest. The result was the destruction of the pioneerâs village.
Almost certainly they wonât get any request reward. If things didnât go well, it wasnât unthinkable that they might be charged with some kind of penalty due to the failure of the request, too.
Conversely, Ronaâs smile didnât falter at all.
Contrary to the pessimistic Shion, she blamed the failure to investigate the forest itself on the hindrance by the accompanying party.
On the grounds that the village was destroyed, she pointed out that originally in such case it wouldnât been strange if they had been totally annihilated.
From the standpoint of letting about half of them getting away it was above all a success since more than 100 goblin bodies from those overflowing from within the forest had been cleaned up, too.
Thus she didnât seem to consider it to become such a particularly harsh issue.
Renya himself wasnât overly eager to go to the guild either, if one asked his true opinion.
At the time he met Shionâs group, they were attacked by six ruffians. The matter which led to their deaths and the handling of their dead bodies wasnât anything he wanted to report.
Furthermore, Shionâs group implicated that he might potentially be restrained to some degree.
Since the situation was as it was, he considered the case of him getting rid of the six people as trivial. As for the restraint of being a criminal, he would ask them to pardon it.
If it was possible, Renya felt like playing dumb and fleeing. Doing it that way, it would be necessary to part from Shionâs group and depart for another city.
Although, in the first place on top of reporting about the matter on hand, Shionâs group would report that the person concerned ran away, too.
Thus escaping to another city would very likely cause him to fall into a similar situation, which would put an end to his simple plans.
I will escape once the issue gets too troublesome, he decided.
For now I will follow their guidance as is, since I have no choice but to go and have a look anyway, Renya leaked a heavy sigh.