36 Chapter 7 4 : Crossing the border (1/2)
Chapter 7 (4): Crossing the border
We went back to our room, packed up everything, cleaned the room, and left before sunset to find Tuare waiting for us outside the gates. We were wearing our own clothing of choice, namely, I was in a thin and loose silvery tunic and form-fitting pants, Char wearing a strapless light blue dress that came down to mid-thigh, Mae in a tight brown tunic and pants, Elise in a short and thin green robe over a shorter and thinner backless dress of the same color. Tuare was in a coppery shirt and skirt that exposed a large portion of her massive mammaries as well as all of her shoulders and back, her skirt extending to her knees. We filled Tuare in on what happened, and then we set off towards the demon lands once more. After all, I wanted to give Elise's father a beating, and to talk to Lars about my marrying Tuare. Therefore, after about a week of traveling, we made it to the border, where we talked with a fox-eared male guard.
”Mind if I ask what your reason for crossing the border is?” (Guard)
”Three of us are from the demon lands, and we decided to visit said families, since we didn't have anything else to do and were nearby. Don't worry, we'll be back” (Ryuu)
”I doubt it. You girls aren't strong enough to survive out there, there are plenty of C and B ranked magical beasts who would love to-” (Guard)
”Love to become our dinner? Like horned bears? Those are so tasty, and they are so easy to kill” (Char)
”You girls are making jokes, but this is-” (Guard)
”Perhaps I should have mentioned this first. We are all B rank adventurers, save for me. I'm an A rank. I also have a greater wyvern as a tamed beast, and Char and Tuare have wyverns of their own as their tamed beasts. I have killed greater wyverns as easily as you might kill an ant on your chair, and I have killed C ranked magical beasts in my sleep. Literally. We can handle some simple C and B ranked beasts” (Ryuu)
We handed him our cards, which confirmed much of what we'd told him, but...
”I've never heard of any of you, and I know all of the promising B ranks, as well as every A rank. I'm going to have to confiscate your cards on suspicion of them being forgeries, and request that you stay here until someone can verify your identities. It should only take a week or two, don't worry” (Guard)
”Perhaps... this might serve as proof?” (Mae)
She pulled out her sword, with the insignia of her father's household on it, as well as her own badge, given to her by the king as proof of her being the guard of a foreign dignitary. Char did the same, pulling out the badges of her house and of the king, the same as Mae's, and her signet ring. When the guard looked at those, he confiscated them as well as he threw us into a holding cell. We didn't resist, but we weren't defeated by any stretch of the word.
”Hmm... so, you are suspecting a duke's daughter and the daughter of the captain of the royal guard of forging their own identities, as well as an A ranked adventurer who has met with the king three times? You do realize what the consequences of your actions would be, should you prove to be wrong, do you not?” (Mae)
”I do, however, I'm not wrong. You made a basic mistake when you prepared. Those two badges, the ones given by the king to those guarding foreign dignitaries, are taken back once that guard duty is over. As you have them, but are not with any foreign dignitaries, you are either holding onto that illegally, or you forged them. In either case, you broke the law” (Guard)
”Hmm... One slight problem with that statement... I am Tuareninya Lars, heir to the first seat of the demon generals. In other words, a foreign dignitary. Furthermore, if you doubt that so much, you could check if that name matches with names known by your counterpart on the other side of the border, and if so, I'd be more than happy to prove myself. Should that fail...” (Tuare)
”Should that fail, we could ask a demon general to come here in person. After all, detaining a foreign dignitary for no legitimate cause could be treated as an act of aggression, and as such, the demon lands would be perfectly within their rights to send someone over peacefully to sort out the situation, and it wouldn't be unheard of for there to be a small fight over the matter. Now, the latter won't happen, but the former... I dare say that there are... at least two, probably three or more demon generals that would come if we asked, and there's a reason for that that beyond just Tuareninya's identity, a reason which hasn't been stated and that we are perfectly within our rights to not state if we so choose” (Ryuu)
”Spill it. Now!” (Guard)
He pushed his sword into the cell, aimed at Ver, or rather, pressed against her neck, a slight bit of blood surfacing at the point of contact.
”Let me ask you something... what do you think of divine beasts? Do you worship them, like most beastkin? Do you wish for their power?” (Ryuu)
”I worship them, like any sane person would. Why do you ask?” (Guard)