Chapter 6 (1/2)

“Ah, aaah, I can see it! Isn’t that it!?”

Two days later, at noon, Telaberan’s outer wall came into view.

Spotting it with her eagle eyes, Aira happily stood up on the raft.

“Don’t stand up, you’ll shake the raft.”

Though I chided her, I sighed with relief now that the end of our journey was finally in sight.

Thinking back, all sorts of things happened.

Truly all sorts of things. I bet there was no one else in the world who’d been through as much in less than a month.

And part of my problems still continued to plague me.

I looked at my hands, then pinched the front of my sack-dress and peered inside.

I sighed.

Not yet. It didn’t seem like it would be over with just this much, so I had no intention of throwing in the towel either.1

After this.

–

–

Telaberan was a city of considerable size. Almost entirely enclosed by high walls, it was a fortress city, so to speak.

Of course, even this city was originally a small port town. Back then, its defenses consisted of a moat and some fencing at best.

But when the population grew to the tens of thousands, the nation, per standard operating procedure, sent one of those so-called territorial lords to govern the city. Then, construction on the walls began.

A highly populated city translated into high revenue and value as a strategic military position. And so the walls went up despite the absence of any particular external threat, ultimately resulting in a fortified city.

Long story short, you might call it a question of appearances.

Before we approached the city, we got off the raft and covered the remaining distance on foot.

Since it was a fortress city, it had a gate. Anyone entering the city proper had to pa.s.s through that gate.

There were several different ways of getting inside. For instance, given that it was a port city, one side would naturally face the sea, and it wasn’t like the walls would block off that section. So using the raft to sneak in at night was also a viable option.

Generally speaking, any ordinary city would require an explanation of someone’s ident.i.ty and business before allowing them in. In other words, inspection.

And currently, we were runaway slaves. Since slavery was pretty much against the law, we might be able to explain ourselves honestly and gain entry without too much trouble.

…Actually, I had the feeling that we’d even be welcomed in and offered shelter.

In that case, wouldn’t that do the trick? Sure, but I’d have to decline.

Why? Because it would be annoying.

And I had a somewhat unpleasant premonition.

That being about the current lord of the city, a middle-aged man named Guibenague.

According to what I heard on my past visits, the public had an extremely poor opinion of him. It was attributed to his staggering rudeness, but in other words, he was apparently one of those VIP types who acted as if no one else in the world existed.

But there was nothing particularly rare about his kind of case.

The territorial lords are sent by the national government; they don’t exactly govern by the will of their people.

So even his breed of, well, failure will show up from time to time.

Of course, the nation doesn’t go out of its way to send someone who’d only drive the people to rebellion. Even so, that still ends up happening thanks to poor government or various other reasons.

For the citizens in question, it’s an unparalleled pain in the a.s.s, but without any other options, all they can do is give up.

Even if they were to demonstrate some token resistance, they’d just end up imprisoned or banished from the city for life.

Anyway, the city was home to that kind of friendly lords.h.i.+p.

If we took [shelter] here as runaway slaves, we were likely to become slaves again.

The truth is, slavery is illegal in name only in the upper ranks of society. It’s not uncommon for this lord or that to own slaves.

And Guibenague, at the very least, had been implicated in rumors.

Rumors that he had many, many slaves.

My gaze flicked over to Aira and Palmira.

There were all kinds, but both of them could be considered beauties one way or another. I didn’t really get it myself, but since Aira said so, I was one in my own way… or something. I had mixed feelings about that.

If the three of us were brought before the city lord, it wasn’t that hard to imagine all that stuff from before.

At any rate, as runaway slaves, we had no ident.i.ty or background. He could shelter us without reserve.

Yeah, even for a lifetime.

Of course, maybe I was just overthinking things.

But still, there was no such thing as being too vigilant. The worst-case scenario was no laughing matter, and I meant that from the bottom of my heart.

In other words, my aim was to slip through the inspection unnoticed and enter the city.

–

–

Which was more or less what I told the other two.

“…I see.”

Unlike Aira, who was trembling and unable to speak, Palmira nodded.

“That’s so… we’ve come all this way, and we can’t go in…”

Dejected, Aira looked bitterly at the gate.

We’d already walked to a position from which we could see it. Hiding in the gra.s.s, failing to come up with any half-way decent ideas, we examined its appearance.

Sure, I felt exactly the same as Aira. We’d suffered so many brushes with death to make it here, but at the very end, we still had to wait. How frustrating.

But it was precisely because of everything we’d been through that I didn’t want to mess up in the endgame.

As long as we could get into the city, we’d be able to make it somehow.

But I was coming up empty. Here’s where we wait for a chance to come along, I guess.

When I escaped from the slavers’ carriage, I waited too. And I’d just do it again this time.

–

–

“Hey, Chris. What’s that?”

After a while, the sun began to set. I was keeping an eye on the gate when Palmira tugged on my clothes the way she always did.

‘That’?

Wordlessly, I followed Palmira’s pointing finger.

Something was definitely coming closer from the direction we came from… in other words, from the other side of the highway.

When I looked, it was still too far away for me to recognize it. But within moments, I could clearly make out what was coming down the road.

Soldiers.

Cavalry, infantry, transport wagons.

Wearing armor and marching in step, they were military. And judging from the atmosphere, regulars from the imperial armed forces.

By my estimate2, there were roughly a hundred of them. Kicking up their legs, they came closer.

They would reach us within moments.

— Use them as cover?

After a moment’s thought, I shook my head.

If they were a company of irregulars, maybe, but this was clearly a unified and equipped group of career soldiers. If we did try to hide among them, we’d only be betrayed by our slave-like appearance. They might end up arresting us.

Still, this was a change. That troop was going to enter the city, no doubt about it, so the moment they were through, maybe we could be able to slip in while the gatekeepers were occupied.

“…For now, let’s wait for them to pa.s.s by.”

“…Okay.”

“Got it.”

Each of them nodded in response to my words. It wasn’t satisfying, but that couldn’t be helped.

If this didn’t work out, then maybe going the sea route really would be the best idea for us.

The soldiers drew closer and closer, pa.s.sing by our hiding place in the thicket. Their equipment and skill were top-notch. From the crest on their shoulders, they seemed to be part of the Second Imperial Army Corps.

But what were regulars doing all the way out here?

There was no end to my questions. Though they were just one part, they were still regular army. Under ordinary circ.u.mstances, they wouldn’t have left the imperial capital that easily.