c18 (1/2)
CHAPTER 18: CARAVAN GUARD
Several hours after the h the city wall encircling Mehter, dressed in the clothing he’d purchased earlier, the altered bag he’d brought with him from his world in one hand
Despite having taken the time to finish final preparations at the inn, finish breakfast, and even kill some time before departure, Suiize or say farewell to Lefille Fate perht to hi off at the appointed time
Running through a few requisite exit procedures with the sentry at the city gate, he finally exited the city
At the side of the long road leading away fro place for the caravan escorts
Before reaching the rendezvous point, however, Sui pro city walls
This was Sui at these city walls, which protected Mehter every day, from this close
It was athe entire city
Although it had been constructed not only for the purpose of protecting the palace, but the entire capital as a whole, the term “castle wall” felt nonetheless appropriate Back in his oorld, the construction of castle-like rampart walls to protect cities had sies
An integral part of the defensive function of the structure, the top of the as arrayed with battleainst ene archers to fire their own arrows through
It looked like the people of this world relied on such fortifications to defend against external threats to the city – both human and monster alike
However—
Just like Dorothea mentioned earlier, it doesn’t look like these walls are protected against ic
Looking at the city wall, Dorothea’s words ca around Mehter seemed to be constructed of a very different type offield had been built with
Instead, it looked to have been built using a kind of gray brick, likely the same type of primitive concrete that the Ancient Greeks had used to build the ic-resistant material had been a recent discovery, and thus could not have been used in the construction of these walls, given their age On that point, given the scarcity of the material in question, it likely couldn’t have been used on such a large structure anyway
“But like this, a single powerful spell is all it would take to bring this whole thing down”
Objects subjected to direct ical attack would very quickly crumble, let alone a primitive structure like this one
Although it looked i the vital role it played in defense, he had to say it didn’t see; its fundaility
Worrying about this is ht as he turned back The defensive capability of the city was no concern of his – he had defensive walls of his own, after all Spending anythe defenses of this world was a pointless endeavor
Pulling his thoughts back to the present, Suimei looked at the eather
Standing there were a nuhly twenty ere armed In total, there were soons
It had already reached the scale where it could be considered a se – this was the caravan that Sui for
Caravans In his original world, sis had existed Merchants and transporters would join together to protect both theerous areas, defending against robbers and other violence
The caravan head was typically a oods between cities, who engaged in this business as a livelihood Other members of the caravan included both those who traveled under this banner as well as unaffiliated merchants who joined for the journey
I have to say, this is pretty much what I expected
The scene before his worked back home At least with respect to outer appearance, there wasn’t really anything that stood out as being different
However, if one were to instead consider the ar by the wayside, the differences between this caravan and ones back home would become immediately apparent
A single glance would reveal ar even fe their number
Although the armed individuals numbered not more than twenty, Suimei nevertheless felt that this was quite a substantial force already
The sheer nuers of this world
Not only was the level of civilization in this world considerably low, but ers were also present that were not to be found in his oorld In this world, without suitable doms would already be all but impassable; transportation methods from back home such as airplanes and rail were, of course, an impossibility
Traveling between cities consisted of following the large, paved road Street lights did not exist, and even finding a water source or lodgings required a good amount of effort
As Suimei considered the circumstances, he came to realize just how convenient life had really been back in his oorld
Debating the relative conveniences and inconveniences of the torlds with himself, Suimei finally arrived, and made his way toward a particular man as dressed like a merchant
Fro the request, this appeared to be the ht Pavilion
“Can I help you?”
“I’uild I’m here to present myself as one of the escorts for this caravan”
The man first met Suimei’s business-like introduction with a look of suspicion, his expression changing as he suddenly re
“Oh, how polite I’anized this caravan You’re the Yakagi who knows restorativethis request If any are injured along the way to Kurand, I’ll be relying on you”
“No proble with you as well”
Sui the end of their business
Suddenly, however, Galeo looked at Suimei with some confusion on his face
“I’d heard Yakagi-san was a …”
“Oh, my clothes?”
“Me’s clothing…”
So he’s confused about this too, huh?
“Haha I’, to be quite honest with you,” Suined smile
Galeo again gave hi look
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Let’s see, how do I put this… Mage clothing is so over-the-top, as if to rub how great we are in people’s faces It’s totally putting on airs”
This was indeed how Suies of this world These last few days, up until he’d one out for strolls on the town He had thus seen ician’s guild
His impression at the time? How incredibly pompous
Now, that wasn’t to say that allof this nature was inherently inappropriate Nevertheless, for Sui in that manner filled him with embarrassment
Additionally, Suimei had no particular desire to appear particularly mysterious, important, or superior
Furtheres of his oorld, where he’d seen the ostentatiousunnecessary s, he refused to look like that
Finally, although his situation was indeed slightly special, the other icians Suimei had met – his father and the Society head included – were si
“Oh, I see …Well, if I have to be honest with you, I don’t really like that style of clothing either Any tiive off the feeling that they’re superior to me”
“Is that so? Yeah, I have to say I don’t feel like that suits me”
“Yep, yep I can totally understand that I definitely prefer your type, who are s”
“Oh, that reic staff, so you don’t need to worry about that”
100 lie
“Oh, okay There’s nothing else on my mind then We’ll be in your care for the duration of the trip”
“Right”
Suireement marked the end of the conversation and Galeon returned to join the other merchants
He definitely had other matters to take care of They were about to set out, after all It was natural that he’d be busy at this tie of the caravan
At thathim with a sense of deja vu
“…Excuse me, but is that you, Suimei-kun?”
“Huh? Oh, Gurakis-san?”
Suiure of someone who shouldn’t have been there: Lefille Gurakis
“What brings you here? I’ for a short while yet?” he asked, thoroughly nonplussed