Dream Life

The city of Kilnarek is a fortified city surrounded by gray walls.

On the map, it will be near the frontier between the Caerm Empire and the Kingdom of Kaum, but this area is like a free border zone, where the two countries have never exchanged wars.

There are walls in Kilnarek because there are many fortified cities in the cities that the Kaelm Empire builds on the border, and they are only drawing on their flow.

The walls are about five meters tall, with stone walls less than a km on one side, but many stones exposed to wind and rain for many years are dark.

About five soldiers stood with short spears at the castle gate leading to the street.

It was a relatively early time around 3pm and there were only a few carriages of wagons in front of the castle gate that were not particularly queued.

Guy told me that in the evening we could have a long queue because the merchants who left the city of Bogwood would arrive in the city one after another.

He was getting off his horse in front of the castle gate and showing a demon prop that Guy would orb, ID, to soldiers in his forties or so who seemed to be in charge.

"It's rare, Lord Jakes, to come to the city with a woman and a child."

Guy gave me a hand, and then...

"This is Master Zacharias Lockhart. My lord's second son."

The soldier rushes to bow his head to me because Guy introduced me in a serious tone.

"I'm sorry for your disrespect, though I don't know this."

I said, "You don't have to worry," the soldier said in a serious tone.

"Then I apologize, but please confirm the orb"

You need to check the orb and pay the entry tax to get into the city.

I roll my left arm sleeve and show that soldier the bracelet orb I'm wearing. The orb I made when I was little was pendant-shaped, but I heard it was more convenient on my journey to wear it on my arm, and it was replaced with a bracelet shaped one.

Soldiers will check my name and confirm it with Liddy, Sharon.

The soldier said, "There's nothing wrong," then coughed up with Cohon and hung up the welcome words, "Well, welcome to Kilnarek," he said.

I looked delicate, not knowing how to handle it.

(For once, you must be great in your capacity because it's a knight's house, but you didn't assume this kind of situation. My brother must have had trouble at first because our house is oblivious to this sort of thing...)

I managed to "thank you for the words of welcome" and misled the occasion.

Once inside the city, there is a mixture of stone and wooden buildings, with no sense of unity.

However, you can hear the prestigious voices from the open-air shops and the city is vibrant.

(Sounds like a shopping mall from the Showa era. Grandma, my aunt's calling out fine. Looks pretty exciting for Sharon, who only knows the village)

Sharon is bewildered by his prestigious father of 800 houses, who snaps at me perfectly. Liddy didn't want to be heard, he wore the hood of his cape deep and walked with his horse as his shield.

I look back and speak to Sharon with my eyes round.

"Are you surprised? Surprised you're not like the village at all?

Sharon nods loudly, but the words don't go on when he says, "Yes..."

I was intrigued by the city of the other world, like that, and I was looking around.

As we proceeded through the city guided by Guy, we arrived at the inn in a few minutes.

The inn was a large building for three wooden floors, and a peek at the ground floor through an open wooden window was a dining room and liquor store with a counter.

Guy returns after the lodging process and we take the horse to the stables behind us.

"You have to take care of the horses yourself in this inn. I'll do it, so Master Zach and the others will go up to the room first."

"No, I'll do it, too. You're going to have to do it yourself. Better get used to it early."

When I said that, Guy shook his head to the side,

"At least not in Kilnarek. It also involves your reputation."

Lockhart's name is famous in Kilnarek, and I'd say its direct line boys are bad on the outside looking after horses in the inn.

"I don't know, but I don't think my uncle or father cares... okay. I'll do what Guy says here."

Perhaps neither my grandfather nor my father cares. On the contrary, I wouldn't go along with saying you should do as much yourself as you should take care of your own horse. But I guess I don't want him to have a slight bad reputation for Guy, who's proud of Lockhart's name.

I decided to take his feelings and went into the inn.

When we walked into the inn, a man from his fifties or so came out of the back.

"This is, Master Zacharias. Thank you for choosing our Inn."

"A polite greeting, painful. Guy, no, I think my squire, Jakes, went through the process..."

"Yes, I am asking. All you have to do is check the orb."

In the inn, check the names of bandits using pseudonyms in the orb to prevent them from entering.

I'll put out my left arm and have him check the orb.

(You check with the chivalry class, too. What would you do with a nobleman with a title or something? Well, it's none of my business...)

Liddy, Sharon has also confirmed the orb and said her husband will guide her as she tries to pick up the room keys.

"The room will be the room at the end of the second floor. I'll show you now."

My husband holds my luggage and urges us to come this way.

When I went upstairs, he said, "I'm asking for a room for two," and he opened the door to the room.

(Guess me and Guy are in the same room. As far as I'm concerned, I'd love a room with Liddy...)

Inside was a so-called twin-type room with a bed hung with clean sheets, a small closet and a table for two. To let the wind through the room, or the wooden windows are open, and cooler winds blow through than I thought.

"Call me whenever you need me. Would you have liked dinner in your room?

I think about Liddy, who's anthropophobic, and I nod, "So please."

As the innkeeper stepped back, I stood at the window and watched the city.

(I wonder what to say. There are a lot of open-air shoppers in cloth tents, so the European market might be close. Not a lot of adventurous people yet because of the early hours. Still, when I see a man with a sword hanging leather armor walking, I feel like this is a different world. It's like a movie scene......)

As I stared out, Liddy came to the side. There was also Sharon behind it.

"Do you see anything interesting?

"Right. I've never seen a city in this world before. I've never actually seen a landscape like this before. I'm a little impressed..."

"This world... I'd like to see it too, the world where Zach was..."

Looking out blurry, Guy came into the room after taking care of the horse.

"Thank you. Looking at my husband here, I think I know what Guy meant."

He nodded with an ambiguous look,

"Then I'm going to go see the city."

I tapped the sword on my back lightly and said, "What are you gonna do with the weapon?," he asked.

"It doesn't have to be a problem in this city without weapons. But in other cities, I think you should carry it with you inside the inn."

Liddy is also nodding and still seems to have a lot of insecurity.

"My predecessors hunt for bandits near here, so it's pretty safe. But in other cities, rogues are pushing their width, and bandits are sneaking in."

The village of Rasmore was very secure. Because of my grandfather's dedication to policing my predecessors, I don't feel dangerous when my children are playing in the village, and you can say that none of the criminals, such as bandits and rogues.

I somehow wanted to get out of the city with my sword, and I decided to just get out of the city.

First, we head to the guild to run Guy's errands.

Guy walks, and he's going to explain his plans.

"It's after tomorrow, but we'll accompany the merchant squad as planned. I'm looking for a merchant army that could accompany me in a commercial guild…"

Ask him to introduce the merchant squad leaving tomorrow in a commercial guild and negotiate for the accompanying company. However, the merchants heading north will not arrive in Kilnarek (here) until around 5: 00 p.m., so they will get information in the Adventurer and Mercenary guilds first.

"What kind of information do we get?

"The Adventurer's Guild mainly checks for demons and the Mercenary Guild for bandits. The merchant army to the south has already arrived, so the mercenary guild should contain the latest information."

(You just understand the importance of information. I don't know if it's common sense in this world or common sense in the Lockhart family, but as far as I'm concerned I can rest assured...)

The Lockhart family always carefully checks the situation around the village.

Hector and Guy, who were good at reconnaissance, used the hunters' Robs to be on constant alert around the village. Thanks to that, there is little like demons getting lost in the village.

A few minutes from the inn you arrive at the branch of the Wooden Two-Storey Adventurer Guild.

At first glance it felt like a dining room entrance, but when I went inside there was a wooden counter and a few receptionists sat down.

The adventurers who have already completed the request have come to report, and the counter is all buried.

I was excited about the guild I'd never seen before.

(It's an adventurer's guild, a classic of the other world. Ah! There's the Beast Man over there. Cat ears...... dog ears over here? Or are those werewolf ears?... because there wasn't a single beast man in our village... there's a bulletin board over there. Oh, there is a request form...)

I was not worthy of my age and looked around like a child. Of course, I don't feel uncomfortable because I look ten years old.

"It doesn't really kick around. Sharon's better off."

Liddy pointed me out, embarrassed me as soon as I could, and small apologies to Guy and Liddy for "I'm sorry".

Guy says to me, "This is my first time..." with a look close to a bitter smile, but Liddy says relentlessly, "Guy will scratch his shame".

I had no words to give back, scratched my head and misled, but I still care about the Beastman.

(What's going on with ears and stuff? Do you have a tail, too? ……

Liddy pokes me with her elbow and finally returns to me. She said nothing with a frightened face.

Guy takes that seat because one of the counters is vacant.

Guy shows the mid twenties receptionist the orb as he says, "I'd like to know what's going on with the demons north of here".

"You're Guy Jakes, the fourth-degree adventurer. Ok. Since spring, there has been no information that there have been more demons than the equivalent of the fourth degree. Grade 5 equivalents have lost their way, but so far, there has been no significant damage caused by demons..."

(Guy's orb belongs to the adventurer, right? I heard it was Liddy's, but you said there was a ”grade” if you say so...)

Adventurers enrolled in the Adventurer Alliance are awarded a "Level” of 1 to 10 depending on their contribution. Starting with Grade 10, the system is gradually upgraded by fulfilling the requests ranked by the Alliance.

Generally, up to Grade VII rushes out, with Grades V and VI serving one person and Grade IV being considered veterans. Grade three and above is said to be a first-rate adventurer and is seldom found in local cities.

The Adventurer Alliance rank is a contribution to the Alliance and is therefore not directly related to combat power.

Mercenary guild ranks are also ten levels from the first to the tenth, but unlike those of adventurers, ranks are determined by combat skills, i.e. professional levels such as swordsman and archer.

Guy, a fourth tier, was one of the few veteran-class adventurers in a regional city like Kilnarek.

Guy gently raised his hand to the receptionist and came back.

"Demons don't seem to show any particularly dangerous signs. We're going to the mercenary guild."

We head to the mercenary guild as Guy urges us to.

I was still interested in the Beast Man, but I'm going to give up that I'll see it again and again.

The mercenary guild was next to the commercial guild, slightly away from the adventurer guild.

The building was bigger than the Adventurer's Guild and was a splendid three-story stone building.

The tree doors at the entrance are open, with many large mercenaries dressed in metal armor moving in and out.

(You look strong, but to what extent? Guy should have had a swordsman level of about forty and a bowman level of forty seven, but are the mercenaries at a higher level than Guy?

Asking Liddy about it,

"Right... I think the captain class is as good as Guy's when he's a mercenary escorting the mercenary. Guy's the fourth in front of the third, so even a first-rate mercenary regiment is a good level."

"With that said, is your uncle equivalent to the third degree? Thinking about it, how strong is a first-degree mercenary?

Liddy chuckled at my whining,

"It's a monster class where there's one person in the country or not at the first level. At least you never actually see it."

Talking about that, I'm going into a mercenary guild.

There were more people than the Adventurer Guild, and there were several people lined up at the reception in four places.

When I whine, "That's a lot of people,"

"Because this is the time for the merchants to arrive. We have to travel long distances, especially tomorrow, so we often hire temporary mercenaries."

Guy's description often leaves early in the morning because between Kilnarek and Bogwood it goes as far as thirty-five km through the deep woods. For this reason, we often hired the necessary information and additional escorts the day before, and this time we talked about getting crowded.

Guy talks to a mercenary nearby and checks the street information.

The mercenaries around looked frigid at Liddy wearing two children and a hood deep.

There was nothing like a voice, but our appearance seems to inspire the mercenaries' curiosity. Maybe they think it's a guest (client) who came to ask for an escort.

Guy talked to a few people and then he came back.

"There doesn't seem to be any particularly dangerous signs about bandits either. However, since this is where the bandits originally come and go, we can't be alarmed. Then I'll ask the receptionist for information on the merchant squad. Sorry, please wait a while longer"

Guy bows his head to me and lines up in front of the reception queue.

The three of us headed to the table for the meeting in the lobby because it was going to take some time.

Some mercenaries are sitting in a chair, but I still feel like I'm going to look at them.

(I know there's a chimpy-style mob involved when it's a novel temple, but that's just not what professional mercenaries do. Well, you seem to care, but I guess you're just wondering if it involves work)

By the way, me and Sharon are good kids, and Liddy's the caretaker and Guy's never seen as the leader of the escort. Sharon in particular, in addition to her beautiful blonde hair and white skin, doesn't feel thin and dirty at all because she bathes almost every day. Wearing leather clothes similar to mine, but if you look at people you don't know, it's not strange to mistake them for the patience of an aristocratic maid.

(I look good too, so maybe it looks like a noble trip. That would be a bit of a hassle...)

When seen as a trip to the patience of the nobleman's son, the rumors may call the bandits. Especially since there's a lot of danger ahead, it's even more troublesome.

(That's going to be a lot harder when Liddy takes the hood. When it comes down to all this beauty, it just looks like the duck is carrying an onion...)

Guy came back in about fifteen minutes.

"There doesn't seem to be a story of so much more danger. The merchant squad to the north has begun to arrive, so head to the commercial guild."

I nod and tell Guy what I was thinking right now.

"Don't me and Sharon look like rich kids? ……

Guy, who listened to me, thinks with a difficult face, but starts to smile and talk to reassure us.

"Right. I still shouldn't be able to. But you should get into a big merchant squad. But it's okay. When it comes to me and Lydia joining the escort for free, they'll let me in anywhere."

We headed for the commercial guild.