“Cheap isn’t the important part. The important part is that there’s lots of tasty food! And drink! If I lived here, I’d get fat in the blink of an eye!”
“If I go back fat, my wife’ll say, ‘You didn’t bring any for me?’ and get grouchy, so I have to go back skinny!”
“Whoo, guess I got lucky.”
The dwarves all laughed in the same hearty way again. “Ga-ha-ha-ha!”
“Lastly, do you know the name of the skeleton horse undead?”
“No. No, but it doesn’t matter. It won’t hurt anybody. The thing’s nothing but bones, but it’s somehow superstrong, so it’s great for transport.”
“I see… Thank you!”
“Thank you, too. Have a good trip!”
Parting from the dwarves, the group continued on toward the inn.
“Commander. Why did you ask the name of the horse undead?”
Neia was wondering the same thing. She had figured that would be the thing Remedios was least interested in.
“…Gustav. I asked because ever since we saw them, you’ve been acting kind of strange.”
“Oh…”
“So do you know what they’re called?”
“…Maybe—I have an idea, but…it’s probably not right. It couldn’t be. I must be misunderstanding something. The undead I’m thinking of would be impossible to control.”
“Hmm. Well, if that’s what you think, it’s probably the truth.”
That was the end of the conversation.
Eventually, after following the direction from the guard, they reached a magnificent inn that must have been the Golden Glimmer. There was a sign with writing on it, but since they couldn’t read the characters used in the kingdom, they could only guess what it said. Re-Estize and the Baharuth Empire had once been part of the same country, so they had many things in common, but Roebel was never part of that dominion.
“Gustav, go on ahead and book our rooms.”
“Understood. Hey, two of you come with me.”
Gustav went toward the inn accompanied by two paladins. A few minutes later, just one of the paladins came back.
“Commander. We were able to get rooms with no problem. The stable is around back, so we’re to take our horses there.”
“I see. Got it. Squire Baraja! Take the horses.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
She tied them to a tree in front of the inn and then transferred them one by one to the stable. Normally, it would be the squire’s job to care for the horses, but here the inn would do it, so she took advantage of that luxury and went inside.
The inn smelled so nice she thought maybe they did it to counteract the smell of any guests who walked in reeking of the stables.
There was definitely some kind of incense or perfume.
From the outside, it seemed the same class as the place they stayed in Re-Estize, but from the inside, she felt like it might even be a step above. It was enough that she was embarrassed to stand there dirty from her long trip (although at least she had wiped down with water, so hopefully she didn’t smell).
Neia went to the room the inn employee directed her to and knocked.
“Who is it?”
“Squire Neia Baraja.”
Inside the door was one of the paladins, still in his armor. Perhaps E-Rantel was so different from what they imagined during their travels that they were eager to get down to business, loath to even take a moment to recuperate.
“Good timing. We’re about to have a meeting.”
She wondered if it was really necessary for her to participate, but it wouldn’t do to say that aloud. If her superior was telling her to do something, then obeying was the way to get ahead in the world.
“All right, so today we’ll request an audience with the King of Darkness as planned. I’m counting on you, Gustav.”
“Of course, Commander. What will everyone else do? The idea was to have them meet with influential individuals to request assistance…”
Since Sir Momon was an adventurer, they were planning to go to the Adventurers Guild, but Ryuraryusu had told them the guild was practically on hiatus. The King of Darkness’s subordinates were fulfilling requests instead.
“Let’s go to the guild anyway. If there are any adventurers with free time on their hands, we can invite them to the Sacred Kingdom.”
“Understood. Then…”
Gustav gave orders to two of the knights, and they got started on their tasks immediately.
What kind of job would Neia get?
As a squire, her main tasks were polishing the knights’ armor and swords, doing the laundry, and even mending. Most of those who were currently knights had experience doing such chores.
I guess the commander might be an exception since her unparalleled ability propelled her up to the rank of knight right away…
“So what will the rest of us do? Should we stay at the inn?”
“Well, from the rumors we heard in the kingdom, I expected this to be a much darker place, but it seems like a pretty normal city… Going out in small groups is probably fine?”
“I can’t say for sure, but it doesn’t seem like there are likely to be any sudden dangers.”
“I see. Then maybe we should have some people go to the shrine and see if they can be a go-between for us with Sir Momon.”
“The ruler of the city is an undead. I imagine the shrines don’t have much pull.”
“But we’re paladins—holy knights. It would be strange if we didn’t at least visit the shrine.”
Gustav frowned. Remedios was right.
“Yes…yes, that’s true.”
“Don’t you think it’s important to hear from the people who live here and not simply rely on what the King of Darkness shows us?”
“That makes sense, too…”
But what should we do if we come across something we can’t let stand?
Gustav must have arrived at that question, and that was why he was being evasive.
Neia thought to herself.
Paladins are embodiments of justice. So if we act as we’re supposed to, it might result in the King of Darkness criticizing us. If, as a result, he refused to assist the Sacred Kingdom and untold thousands suffered, would it still be the right thing to do?
She remembered her father, how he said he didn’t understand the paladins’ idea of justice. While she was training and
