There was no way they would come this far and then not enter. It went without saying that Remedios answered, “We’ll listen.”
“Very well. May I hold on to your weapons for you?”
They probably couldn’t refuse this, either. But as could be expected, Remedios disapproved of the idea.
The sword she carried was one of the Sacred Kingdom’s holy treasures. When she explained that she wore it even before the holy king and that she couldn’t possibly hand it over unless they were meeting the ruler of the country, the soldier nodded.
“I see. Well, I suppose that can’t be helped. Then you may all proceed as you are. I wanted to take them for your own protection. Please promise me that you won’t draw your weapons in this room. If you can’t promise me that, it would be better for you to leave this place.”
“Got it. Since you trust us to wear our swords without incident, we promise not to draw them.”
Remedios put a fist to her chest—where the crest of the Sacred Kingdom was emblazoned—to make the vow. It meant that she swore on her honor as a paladin and her loyalty to the Sacred Kingdom.
“Thank you. First the defender of this area will come to meet you.”
In Roebel, Remedios’s vow would have drawn gasps of awe, but in a foreign country, it was passed right over. The soldier knocked on the door without even commenting on it.
The door slowly opened and what emerged was—
“Eegh!” Neia inadvertently emitted what could have been interpreted as a gasp or a shriek.
What slowly emerged was a being that could be described as thick in the vertical, horizontal, and every other direction.
Sharp spikes jutted from black full plate armor that sported a pattern like blood vessels running across its surface. Its helmet had horns like a demon and an open face that left the rotting features of a person visible. In its vacant eye sockets, its hatred for living things and anticipation of slaughter burned red.
The temperature plunged, and it felt like darkness was closing in on them.
“Please do not draw your weapons!” The soldier’s shout made everyone’s shoulders jump. “Nothing will happen even if you leave your blades where they are! But if you draw them, you’ll be killed in a single blow! And you’ll be doomed to suffer ever after! Please don’t make me watch that happen again!”
The pain in his voice was clearly from experience. He must have seen it happen before.
The undead gazed unhurriedly upon Neia and the others. The creature almost seemed to be waiting for them to draw their weapons.
“…What’s this undead?” Remedios’s voice trembled slightly.
“One of the city’s many guards.”
“…This thing’s a…?” Remedios cried out of shock, fear, unease, or maybe something else. Neia felt the same way. It was unimaginable to them that there could be a country where more than one undead that seemed this strong existed.
“E-excuse me, but is this undead under the control of the—er, His Majesty the King of Darkness?” Neia asked without thinking, and the soldier nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. He also seems to be controlling even more powerful undead than this.”
“They’re not dangerous?”
The soldier answered Gustav’s question immediately as well. He seemed like he was terribly eager to talk.
“Yes, as long as no one causes any problems in the city, no one will be killed.”
Undead loathed the living. If the King of Darkness controlled them so well he could keep them from harming humans, he had to be an amazingly powerful being. It hit Neia just how immense his power really was.
“I…see. So could you take us to this room, then?”
“Very well. Please follow me.”
The black-armored undead shifted slowly out of the way of the door, and the soldier walked right past. Meanwhile Neia and the others looked around to see which of them would go first.
Supposedly the King of Darkness had the thing under control, but it wasn’t as if there were any visible restraints. It was twice as frightening as passing by an untethered carnivore that supposedly had a full stomach.
Remedios tried to lead the way, but Gustav stopped her. Then he looked at Neia.
So I’m the canary?
If the question was which life wouldn’t matter if lost, he wasn’t wrong. She would have liked to think the weak were to be protected, but apparently squires didn’t count.
Neia steeled her resolve, squeezed her eyes shut, and walked forward.
After a few steps, she slowly opened her eyes. She hadn’t been cut down yet, so she sped up and hurried out of the undead’s range.
Seeing that Neia had passed safely, the paladins followed. Eventually, the entire party made it to the lecture room without being attacked.
The soldier opened the door, and inside were several long tables and quite a large number of simple chairs.
“Have a seat here and wait just a moment, please.”
“Okay. Thank you for showing us in.” When Remedios gestured with her jaw, Gustav took a small pouch from his breast pocket and tried to hand it to the soldier. It was a tip.
“Oh, please don’t!” He practically shrieked a forceful refusal.
The soldier raised both hands over his head so as not to even touch the pouch.
The reaction was a bit shocking to all present, including Neia. She couldn’t figure out why he responded so intensely.
“I receive a salary from the King of Darkness, so I don’t require gratuities, thank you.”
“B-but you assisted us so kindly…and besides, it’s not very much…”
“Still, I’m all right. Now then, I’ll be waiting outside until the lecture is over.”
The soldier made a swift exit. His sensitive reaction made everyone left behind exchange puzzled glances.
“Is it really okay not to tip?”
“If he said he doesn’t want it, then there’s not much we can do about it, is there?”
It was utterly natural to pay a tip. It was fine not to, but people of a certain status usually did. Of course, it came with the ulterior motive of hoping they could be moved through the inspection process quickly, but it
