Neutral City Of Lichten

After traveling east along the highway by carriage for about eight hours from Racluzero City, a large city came into view. Rows of brick buildings lined the streets, the sort of place that might end up registered as a World Heritage Site a few hundred years from now. Whether a United Nations would ever exist in this world was another question.

“Waaah! It’s even bigger than Racluzero!!”

“The Neutral City of Lichten… it really is close.”

Located southeast of the royal capital, Paris Palace, this city had a population befitting a major metropolis, with countless people going about their daily lives.

Its primary industry was clockmaking. Wine production also flourished, and a high-class wine called Culcatino was distributed from here throughout the Kingdom. Since there were many ranches nearby, dairy production was also thriving, and the cheese in particular was supposedly exquisite. Yeah, basically, it was like Switzerland.

“This feels less like another world and more like I came on a trip to Europe~. Once we reach town, I want to eat cheese~! And I want a clock too!!”

“Those are pretty expensive, you know? We only have thirty-eight gold coins for living expenses, so we can’t waste too much money.”

“Ugh, but I’ve always kind of wanted a pocket watch.”

As had been mentioned many times, Konoha’s family had never had much financial breathing room. Because of that, ever since she was little, Konoha had learned to suppress the things she wanted and avoid acting selfish whenever possible. The backlash from that restraint was hitting her now, leaving her wanting this and that all at once.

“Let’s go to their Guild Hall first, all right? After that, this is where we’re headed.”

Meiro pulled out something resembling a tourist pamphlet and pointed to it. This too had been a parting gift from Forest.

“Huh!? This symbol looks like… no way!”

“A hot spring, I suppose. Come to think of it, this area is volcanic, so there are plenty of them around here. Apparently our lodging is nearby, so let’s dump our luggage there and head over immediately.”

“Th-this is really comprehensive. Forest-san’s influence reaches all the way out here?”

“Lord Carmen once served as Chancellor of the Kingdom, you know?”

“What!? Chancellor, as in… chan-cellor?”

In Konoha’s mind, that basically meant prime minister.

“She was a renowned Chancellor who wielded considerable influence during the reign of the previous king, Elkdreil VII. That woman was Forest Carmen. She was also the one who established the prohibition on slave trading, the National Highway Act, and the Local Administration Act that strengthened Guild authority. She withdrew from the royal court before the change of kings.”

“Wow. So she really was an amazing person.”

The carriage passed through the gate and continued onward. Since the citizens of Racluzero had been stunned by the sight of their lavish carriage entering the city, this time they had draped cloth over it. That made it somewhat less conspicuous, but the horses made of ice were still an unusual sight. They drew the eyes of every passerby.

They stopped the carriage in front of the Guild Hall at the center of the Second District and climbed down, only to find onlookers still gathered around.

“H-hey! Damn, she’s gorgeous! She’s gotta be some noble or something!”

“Ohoh… beautiful. Maybe some young lady from the capital?”

“Lick lick lick lick.”

Let’s ignore that.

“Every city has its share of dangerous weirdos. Let’s go, Konoha.”

“Y-yeah. They seem to think I’m a noble.”

The Guild Hall was one size larger than the one in Racluzero. They pushed open the entrance with all their strength and went inside. As expected, rough-looking adventurers were drinking alcohol like something straight out of a cliché. What an incredibly child-unfriendly establishment.

“Hey, girls, this isn’t a place for kids to—”

“I heard that line from someone else a few days ago. We came to see the Guild administrator here. We have a letter from Racluzero City.”

Let us briefly explain 【Tag Colors】. While you could not look at another person’s status screen, you could view their tag color. If you displayed your own status screen, there was a function that allowed you to check another person’s tag color. The adventurers who did so immediately became visibly wary.

“Green Moon-class at that age…? Are they Inquisitors?”

“We’re not. We’re perfectly respectable adventurers. Now then, are you the administrator here?”

“No, that ain’t me. If you’re from Racluzero, check with the receptionist over there.”

They walked over to reception and had their identities confirmed. Once that was done, Konoha and Meiro were escorted into a room farther inside.

“Excuse me, Anson-sama. The envoys from Racluzero have arrived.”

“Send them in.”

Konoha and Meiro were brought to a room that looked exactly like the sort of place an important person would sit, and the receptionist gestured for them to enter.

“Excuse us.”

The moment they opened the door—

Whoosh!

“!!”

An arrow flew straight toward Konoha’s forehead… but she caught it barehanded and killed its momentum. Combined with the Demon King’s power, Konoha’s reflexes had become extraordinary.

“…What exactly was that supposed to be?”

A blond man with a rugged face sat behind the desk in front of them, wearing a fearless grin.

“Hoh. Looks like you really can handle yourself. I suppose Sid had good reason to acknowledge you. My apologies for suddenly doing something like that.”

“Do you do that to everyone who comes in here?”

“Of course not. I heard a new hero might be emerging, so I wanted to test you. Please forgive my discourtesy. I’m Anson, administrator of the Lichten Guild Hall and Guild Master of the Guild 【Wyvern’s Talon】. Nice to meet you.”

He was a middle-aged man with blond hair and a thick beard. His body was solidly built, making it obvious that he himself was quite capable. His tag color was Purple Moon.

“U-um… nice to meet you…”

“Oh? Quite a change from the killing intent you showed a moment ago. Now you’re reacting exactly your age. Interesting. You’ve caught my attention.”

Anson grinned fearlessly. Konoha looked troubled, as though she had no idea how to deal with him.

“Wyvern’s Talon is Lichten’s largest combat-oriented Guild, right? Do you have ties with the Den of Starving Wolves?”

“My Guild’s much bigger than Sid’s Wolves. We’ve got close to eight hundred members. Most of the core forces stationed in Lichten belong to my Guild. Anyway, I’ve already heard the gist of it. You need replacements after the recent goblin battle, right? I’ll send some of our younger members to Racluzero.”

“That helps. Also, while we’re staying here, I want you to arrange good jobs for us. We’ll even accept work meant for Bronze Moon-class adventurers.”

“Hoh, interesting. Adventurers these days don’t have enough fire in them. I was getting bored. Leave it to me—I’ll find you work good enough to make you beg for mercy.”

“We won’t beg. Ever.”

Meiro answered with an equally fearless smile. Konoha, meanwhile, barely followed the conversation and simply stared blankly.

“Now then, I believe you were Hikari and Meiro? What are you planning to do next?”

“Um, we’re going to the hot springs!”

“I see. Then keep this between us…”

“?”

“Apparently several 【Inquisitors】 have come to Lichten. And one of them is supposedly a 【First-Class Priest】. Their objective is allegedly to eliminate rebels who have infiltrated Lichten… but you never know what those people might do. Be careful.”

Anson spoke with a serious expression. His already severe-looking face had grown even more grim.

“You’re surprisingly kind. Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

After casually brushing aside the men hitting on them in the Guild Hall (please imagine Meiro putting them in joint locks), they went outside. They drove away the gawkers staring curiously at the carriage (please imagine Meiro looking at them like garbage) and climbed aboard.

“Meiro-chan, you’re strong!”

“Any maggot that comes near Konoha will be eliminated immediately. That’s the promise we made, after all.”

“Y-yeah… was our promise really that extreme…?”

The inside of the carriage was pleasantly cool and comfortable. It had also been designed not to sway much even for Konoha, who suffered badly from motion sickness, showing Meiro’s consideration for her.

“Come to think of it, what exactly are the 【Inquisitors】? He told us to watch out for them earlier.”

“Konoha, you know about the Church of the Full Moon, right?”

“Y-yeah. The Kingdom worships Fortuna-sama, Full Moon-sama’s son, so it belongs to the Fortuna Sect, right?”

“That’s right. The armed organization maintained by the Fortuna Sect of the Church of the Full Moon is known as the Inquisitors. As the ‘spear of the Church,’ their role is essentially to eliminate adventurers who have been declared heretics.”

“So they’re heroes of justice!”

Konoha’s eyes sparkled, but Meiro’s expression was heavy.

“That was their original purpose when they were founded. Powerful adventurers from across the land who also possessed strong faith in Fortuna were gathered, and they hunted down people on the 【Blacklist】… Ah, that refers to criminals who carry black tags.”

Meiro took a bite from a souvenir from Racluzero: Forest Magical Girl Bread, then paused. Its soft sweetness was the sort of flavor one could easily get addicted to.

“But in recent years, the organization has become completely corrupt. The upper ranks of the Church strengthened their political and military ties with the Kingdom, and began using that military force against factions hostile to the crown. The civil war sixteen years ago is a perfect example.”

“Civil war?”

Even while listening, Konoha kept both her mouth and hands busily occupied. Perfect for serious conversations: Forest Magical Girl Bread, affordably priced at fifty copper coins.

“There was a massive civil war sixteen years ago. The forces that suppressed the rebellion were the Seven Generals and the Inquisitors. Or rather, it was mostly the Inquisitors. It was an internal royal dispute concerning King Elkdreil’s accession, yet the Inquisitors were mobilized and wiped out the rebel army. And the strength of a First-Class Priest is practically unfair.”

(So something like that happened sixteen years ago. Huh, did I read about it in a book… or maybe I didn’t?)

“Ah, we’re here!”

“I ended up talking longer than I expected… Help me unload the luggage.”

“Roger that, Princess!”

“You may proceed… Wait, what was that?”

The inn they had reserved was an elegant establishment called Suifu Manor. It apparently had its own large bath, but since this entire region was a hot-spring district, Konoha and Meiro planned to visit the various springs around town. Despite the very Japanese-sounding name, its appearance was unmistakably that of a luxurious Baroque-style hotel, the sort of expensive place wealthy people would stay.

“This is great~! A hot-spring town!! I’m getting excited!”

“Now hurry up and carry these ridiculous amounts of souvenirs. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve bought an item pouch beforehand.”

“Let’s buy one later! After we enjoy the hot springs—whoa!”

Konoha collided with a passerby. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say the passerby who had not been watching where she was going collided with Konoha.

“Pyaah!”

The passerby stumbled and fell. Her appearance was—

“R-rabbit ears!?”

“Owowow. Man, I wasn’t watching where I was going. My bad, my bad… Whoa!! You’re super cute!! Girls like you are totally my type!!”

“H-huh!? A rabbit… demi-human!?”

“So cute! Your skin’s all soft and squishy~! Hug time!”

“Myaaa! That tickles!”

Without warning, the beautiful white-haired rabbit-eared woman began rubbing affectionately against Konoha. Seeing that irritated Meiro, but before she could intervene—

“Cherine-sama, please stop there.”

A large man wearing a coat stepped in to stop her. The rabbit-eared beauty reluctantly separated herself from Konoha, looking disappointed.

“Guh, sorry ’bout that. I’ve got a huge weakness for cute things. What’s your name?”

“Ah, um, it’s Kono—H-Hikari?”

“Hikari! Hikari-chan! So cuuute! I wanna sleep with you! Like, really wanna sleep with you! Wanna? Hey, hey, wanna sleep together?”

“She. Does. Not! Get away from… Hikari!”

“Whoa, seriously, sorry. I’m Rakka. Hope we meet again someday~. But I’ve got work to do, hop.”

She casually slipped a rabbit-like verbal tic onto the end, but it sounded extremely deliberate. The stare from the huge man behind her was painfully intense. Also, neither Konoha nor Meiro was used to calling Konoha “Hikari.”

“Cherine-sama, it’s time.”

“Geez, you’re so impatient. Leaving a suuuper cuuute girl like this behind for work—if anybody fits the phrase ‘corporate slave,’ it’s me.”

The rabbit-eared beauty made an exaggerated gesture of resignation and turned around.

“If we ever meet again, let’s sleep together then~! I’ll be waiting! I’m usually in the royal capital! Wherever Hikari-chan has a wish, I’ll show up anywhere! Bye-bye!”

Rakka skipped lightly down the street, with the large man following behind her. Once they had disappeared from sight, Meiro finally relaxed her guard.

“What in the world was that?”

“Sh-she didn’t seem like a bad person… ahaha.”

“You always say that. Learn to be a little more suspicious of people.”

“Ehehe.”

“Honestly. Let’s put our luggage away and go to the hot springs already.”

“Yay! Hot springs♪ Hot springs♬”

Meiro sighed as Konoha bounced excitedly beside her. The sky had already turned completely crimson.

“Hmm hmm~ hmmhmm~♪ Trululu~♪”

“You seem to be in an excellent mood, Cherine-sama.”

“Because I met a suuuper cute girl~. A-and on top of that, she’s Green Moon-class with a face like that! I’m definitely gonna meet her again soon. Even if she turns out to be a heretic, she’s cute enough that I’d want to keep her and train her myself♪”

“As an Inquisitor, that statement was…”

“I’m a First-Class Priest. I can force through at least that much selfishness, one way or another. Now then, let’s hurry up and kill 【The Porcelain Stars】 and that Fulgaud brat. Search every likely location.”

“Understood. Immediately.”

“Hehe, I’m looking forward to this~. I’ve heard the Fulgaud brat is pretty cute too~. I’d love to decorate my room with just her head~. I’m so excited.”

The man and woman walked down a narrow street untouched by the setting sun. The rabbit-eared beauty from earlier, Rakka, wore a savage grin.

“In the name of Chief Inquisitor Rakka Tillier le Cherine, First-Class Priest, I will absolutely complete this mission. Whenever I say something is absolute, it’s always been absolute. I won’t lose, Norvard.”