Chapter 196 - <3>
A short distance from the point of the barrier that had so brilliantly repelled the wolves, a stone wall of indeterminate width appeared before them, seeming to stretch on forever. It was probably about two meters high, a little taller than the lofty Ritz.
"Heavy security."
Muttering, Ritz scanned the stone wall. It likely encircled the entire town. On top of it, a wooden fence also ran on endlessly, with bonfires lit at regular intervals. It was immediately clear that this was a deterrent against wild beasts, meant for when the powerful barrier was breached.
"Where's the entrance?"
Franz murmured beside him, his expressionless face betraying a hint of anxiety in his eyes.
"Who knows… We probably came from the back, so we'll have to go around to the front."
"The back?"
"Yeah. We just cut through a path no one uses, right? So the road the townspeople normally use would have to be on the opposite side."
"I see."
He glanced at Franz, who was lost in thought, and circled the long, unbroken stone wall with the wagon. Edward seemed to be seriously considering making this Franz a chief aide to his grandson, Greig, and was proactively having him observe heavily fortified cities and places with unusual terrain. Unaware of this, Franz was simply observing the unfamiliar city to broaden his horizons, but would their respective intentions ever align perfectly?
As he pondered this, he focused his attention on the stone wall before him. There had to be a break in it somewhere to enter the town.
Two hours later, when the curtain of night had fully fallen, they finally found an entrance on the side facing the center of Zeum.
The gate, formed by a large stone building integrated with the stone wall, had a considerably high entrance arch and was wide enough for more than two wagons to pass each other. The map had simply depicted it as a town, but judging from its construction and the length of the stone wall, it might be a much larger town than they had anticipated.
"The entrance?"
He didn't answer Franz, who murmured softly as he stared at the gate, but kept his eyes fixed ahead. If it was a large town, there would undoubtedly be a proper check. But the saving grace was that it was now night. Perhaps security wouldn't be as tight as during the day.
"We have no choice but to enter here."
"I suppose so."
"Alright, you get inside the wagon."
When he said that, Franz glared at him silently, clearly displeased.
"Don't make that face. It can't be helped."
"Why?"
"You don't want them to find out we're illegal immigrants, do you?"
"…"
He stopped the wagon and, with a wry smile, shooed the reluctantly nodding Franz inside before poking his head into the back.
"Alright, just put on a meek face and stay quiet for a bit."
At his words, Anna puffed out her cheeks, also displeased.
"I want to see the town too."
Though silent, Franz seemed to feel the same, looking up at him.
"Don't gang up on me at a time like this. There's a proper reason for it."
Scratching his head, he looked at Edward, who was silently and calmly spreading out a tattered blanket. He sat down on the built-in seat and wrapped it around his body. As the two looked at Edward quizzically, Edward smiled.
"We went over this at the beginning, didn't we? That we are being taken to Mr. Kuchiba under orders."
"Yes."
"Therefore, we must be either criminals or have some special circumstances. If we act cheerful, it will arouse suspicion, won't it?"
"Oh, right."
Anna voiced her understanding, and Franz picked up an old blanket with a sigh. They both must have remembered. After all, with the chaos of the wolf incident, it was no wonder they had forgotten a few things. After they had finished their preparations and looked every bit like prisoners being escorted, Ritz slid his sword toward Edward.
"Take this."
"Alright."
Edward took the greatsword with few words and hid it under the blanket at his feet. The arrangement was such that he could pass it to Ritz immediately if something happened. But since it would be unnatural for him to be completely unarmed, he took Franz's rapier.
A rapier, being a weapon favored by assassins, would be more suitable for a member of the Clan of Darkness who, while skilled in combat, was fundamentally a spirit user.
"When they question you during the inspection, don't get your fake names wrong."
He said it as a joke while adjusting his own attire, but seeing Anna and Franz nod with serious faces made him worried. Franz probably wouldn't even open his mouth, but as always, some careless remark from Anna might give them away.
"Anna."
"What is it?"
"Don't say a single word."
He gave her a warning, just in case. He was willing to die for Anna, but he'd rather not die because of Anna.
"It's okay. I know at least that much."
"You think so? I feel like we always end up in a crisis because of something you say."
"That's not true!"
The cute way Anna puffed out her cheeks, annoyed at being treated like a child, was a little soothing, and he took a breath. It was a shame he couldn't reach her to pat her head. If he could, his current feelings would probably settle down a bit.
This was the crucial moment, and Ritz was well aware that he was the key player. As such, the pressure was considerable.
He couldn't act as freely and casually as usual. If he carelessly slipped up and they ended up being pursued here, it wouldn't end well. The Clan of Darkness in the city, wolves and grizzlies outside the city. Danger lurked in every direction.
Moreover, he had only ever exchanged words with a few members of the Clan of Darkness he was supposed to be impersonating—Ciela, Kuchiba, Raven, and Laria. No matter how he looked at it, he had far too few examples. He had thought and thought, for the first time in his life, about how he should act.
"You be careful too, Ritz."
At her words, he looked back to see Anna looking up at him with a worried expression. He thought he had completely hidden his anxiety, but it seemed she had seen through him. He had always thought he couldn't hide things from Edward, but now it seemed Anna would be able to read his feelings as well.
"Of course I'll be fine. Who do you think I am?"
"Hmm, that's right. You're Ritz, after all."
"Right. So just sit back, relax, and put on your best criminal face."
"Okay. But a criminal relaxing on a big ship sounds weird, doesn't it?"
"I guess so."
As they bantered, he felt himself calming down a bit. This should be fine.
"Alright, I'm going. You all ready?"
He asked everyone. Anna answered cheerfully, and Edward smiled. Franz, stiff with tension, gave a small nod. Confirming this, he closed the canvas, turned to face forward, and muttered to himself.
"Alright."
He headed straight for the gate. As he had thought, there was very little traffic coming from the gate. He hadn't expected it to be this sparse, even though it was dinnertime. He drove the wagon forward and, pretending as if they had come along the main road, entered the gate from the highway.
The gate was like a short tunnel several meters deep, with a wooden bar stretched across the middle. The short passage felt incredibly long. Beyond it should be the city, but it was dark and completely invisible.
Even Ritz, for all his experience, had no way of knowing the customs of a country he was visiting for the first time, in a city he was seeing for the first time. He realized, unusually, that he was nervous. It had been a long time since he'd felt this way, and this kind of tension felt somewhat fresh. He found his own reaction somewhat amusing, and his lips curled into a smile.
Live long enough, and all sorts of things happen.
Ritz stopped the horses before the wooden bar. As he scanned his surroundings, wondering what kind of person would appear, a large shadow suddenly fell over the horses. The horses let out a short, frightened whinny.
He looked up to see the source of the shadow and saw a giant figure lumbering toward him. Swaying its shoulders slowly, the shadow approached. The bonfire's light quietly illuminated its full form. The man was taller than Ritz, with broad shoulders and a massive frame.
As the figure stood before him, blocking his path, he instinctively tensed up.
It was a man from the Giant Clan, a common sight in the battles between Zeum and Tarnien.
The Giant who approached was wearing a single piece of cloth-like clothing tied at the waist, despite the chilly night. With their incredibly developed muscles and skill in combat, they disliked wearing much clothing in order to maximize their strength and abilities.
But having fought them on the battlefield, Ritz also knew their weaknesses. The greatest of these was that their heads were very small in proportion to their bodies, and their intelligence was on par with a child's. As a result, their movements were slow and their sense of touch was dull.
In the Zeum Divine Kingdom, there were several other races besides the Clan of Darkness. They were special races completely under the rule of the Clan of Darkness, separate from the demi-human races who worshiped the six great spirits.
Sometimes called the goddess's failures, they had aspects that surpassed humans, but also significant shortcomings. Their lifespans were mostly comparable to humans.
One of these was the Giant Clan, and in a pure fight, there was no race more troublesome. But on reflection, they were undoubtedly the easiest race to deal with among those in this line of work.
"Halt."
The Giant spoke in a drawling tone. Relieved that it was the standard continental language, he stopped the wagon.
"Show me your passport."
The Giant who approached tilted his head for a moment after seeing Ritz's face, then staggered back two large steps.
"Well, well, if it isn't a Guardian-sama."
He seemed very surprised, but his movements were so slow that it took a moment to realize it. It seemed the Clan of Darkness was called Guardians in this country.
"What a rare sight. Welcome to this frontier town. Are you on your way to the temple?"
"No, I am not. I have been entrusted with a secret matter from the Grand Temple."
When he said this in a grave tone, the Giant nodded with a look of deep understanding.
"You have a hard job, sir."
"Indeed. May I pass?"
He asked, gambling on whether he could get through without showing the passport, but the Giant tilted his head slightly, fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"Even for a Guardian-sama, that's not allowed. My superior will scold me."
"I see. You're right."
He nodded gravely and took out the passport. There was a guarantee that it was real, but there was no guarantee that the person it belonged to wasn't a wanted criminal in this country. If he was, they would be chased from here.
The Giant took the passport and slowly looked it over, page by page. There was probably some proof of authenticity that only this gatekeeper would know.
Cold sweat ran down his back in a situation where he could do nothing.
"Shiou-sama, let me check the people inside, please."
"Of course."
"Sorry for the trouble."
The Giant opened the rear flap and peered inside. He was tempted to open the flap right behind him and look in, but he resisted, thinking it would be odd for a member of the Clan of Darkness to worry about prisoners he was transporting. Fortunately, the Giant said nothing to the three inside, and they didn't utter a word either.
"Excuse me."
After a moment, the Giant slowly returned to Ritz's side.
"Marcus Kiaran, and his two grandchildren. Confirmed."
"Yes."
He let out a small sigh as he took the returned passport. It seemed there was no problem with the passport itself.
"Shiou-sama, so your destination is the Grand Temple?"
"That's right."
"Are you sure you don't need to inform the temple?"
His persistent questioning revealed that the temple was the center of everything in this town. In other words, what would be an autonomous lord in Yuresla was the temple in this country.
"It is a secret matter, so I am forbidden to inform them."
When he said this firmly, the Giant looked straight back into Ritz's eyes. His expression was as if he were trying to figure something out, but Ritz returned his gaze unflinchingly.
"Secret, you say. That sounds like a pain."
Eventually, the Giant nodded deeply in understanding. Then, with a leisurely motion, he removed the wooden bar in front of the wagon.
"Be careful on your journey."
"Thank you."
It seemed they had passed the inspection.
Just as he let out a sigh of relief, the Giant unexpectedly asked him a question in an unfamiliar language.
His blood ran cold.
To the blessing of our king.
The Giant had spoken in the traditional language of the Clan of Darkness. He understood the meaning, but as Ritz remained silent, the Giant's eyes grew suspicious. In that instant, the answer reflexively popped into his head.
Taking a breath to avoid suspicion, Ritz calmly replied.
May you grant the protection of night and sleep.
"Very well. Safe travels, Shiou-sama."
The Giant said this with a strangely drawn-out expression. By the time he realized the Giant was smiling, his expression had returned to normal. It was the first time he had seen a Giant smile. Giving the Giant a slight wave, Ritz passed through the gate.
The scene that spread before him was not a city, but a vast expanse of fields and pastures. The land outside this town was too dangerous for agriculture or animal husbandry, so it seemed they had enclosed everything, starting with the cultivated land, with a stone wall. But with the night growing late, there was not a soul in sight.
After moving a short distance from the gate, he called out to the back of the wagon.
"It's okay now."
At his words, Anna poked her head out as if she had been waiting.
"A town! …Or not."
"Yeah. You're right."
The lights of the town were visible at the end of a single road. It would be a little while longer before they reached the town itself.
"Fields! Oh, I see. Outside the town, the wolves would eat everything."
Anna climbed onto the driver's bench and sat next to him, her voice filled with a strange mix of admiration and understanding. Franz, who had been beaten to it, poked his head out of the wagon, shrugging his shoulders with a hint of regret. He must have taken longer than Anna to recover from the tension of the border check.
He couldn't help but place his hand on Anna's head beside him and sigh.
"That was close."
"? What was?"
"The password."
"Oh, the words you were saying to someone earlier? You were whispering, so I couldn't tell what you were saying, and you were talking so fast. What did you say?"
As Anna asked innocently, Ritz turned to her, Franz, who was looking at him with interest, and Edward, who was visible through the now fully opened front flap, and began to speak.
"The Giant who came to inspect us said, 'To the blessing of our king.'"
"…Huh?"
"And I replied, 'May you grant the protection of night and sleep.'"
The three of them looked bewildered by the completely incomprehensible words.
"I don't get it at all. And a Giant…?"
Anna asked, speaking for the three of them.
"Ah, to explain in order, the one who came for the entry inspection was a member of the Giant Clan."
He explained what he knew about the characteristics of the Giant Clan to the three of them, and Anna nodded deeply.
"So, they have the body of an adult but the mind of a child?"
"…Well, to put it simply, something like that."
"I see. That's why he was so big. So, what about those words from before?"
"That's the unique language passed down among the Clan of Darkness."
"The Clan of Darkness?! You can speak it, Ritz?"
He shrugged at Anna, who was staring at him with wide eyes.
"To some extent. My mother was from the Clan of Darkness, after all."
"Oh, right."
"But I'm not fluent, so don't expect much. It's pretty risky, so if they talk to me in that language, I'll definitely be found out."
He made sure to warn Anna, who was nodding in deep understanding, and Franz, who looked impressed. He wasn't familiar enough with the language to get by in a pinch.
He and his mother had used this language in a sort of secret code play that his father didn't understand when Ritz was a very young child, nearly a hundred years ago. Since then, he had hardly ever spoken the language, except as a joke or to mess with his comrades on the battlefield.
And yet, he had understood the password from earlier for a reason.
It was actually the same prayer that his mother, Ciela, had said to him in this country's language before he went to sleep as a child. In other words, it was the standard prayer of this country, and he had never dreamed it would be used like a password to verify one's identity as a member of the Clan of Darkness.
"Well, anyway, it looks like we'll be able to sleep in a proper town tonight. Pray that we can find an inn."
"What about dinner?"
"We'll eat properly too. Of course we will. A proper meal at last!"
"Yay!"
Behind the excited Anna and Ritz, Franz muttered under his breath.
"…Seriously, how long are you going to talk about food?"
Edward smiled at Franz and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Being able to eat is of the utmost importance. As long as you can eat, you can survive, no matter the circumstances."
"Uh-huh."
Anna, who had been looking ahead without paying any mind to Franz's half-hearted reply, raised her voice and pointed.
"Look, look! I can see the lights of the town!"
"Alright! Time to eat!"
"Hooray!"
Imagining tonight's dinner, Ritz urged the horses to go faster.