Gardenia

The morning of the eighth day was colder than any before it. More and more dry leaves broke free from the trees; some needed nothing more than a single gust of the frigid autumn breeze to carry them away.

“Hey, everyone!” Bain called, pointing ahead. “Look! You can already see the castle towers.”

Reeve, who had been walking beside the wagon with his head lowered, looked in the direction Bain was pointing.

A cluster of conical towers rose toward the sky from one of the mountain slopes.

As they drew closer, the rest of an enormous castle came into view, surrounded by what was undoubtedly the largest city Reeve had seen in that world.

A vast wall encircled the capital as far as the eye could see.

Outside it, countless people harvested enormous fields filled with every imaginable crop. Some plots had already been nearly cleared, while others held great bundles waiting to be transported. Small villages and scattered houses stood among fields far larger than those surrounding the old village—the only point of reference Reeve had in that world until now.

Even from that distance, countless rooftops were visible beyond the walls.

The closer they came, the larger the city seemed. Its vastness, however, was different from Nova Tokyo’s. The capital of Olliria resembled a living ecosystem, every part existing in perfect harmony with the others. Nova Tokyo was a rotting corpse kept alive by appearances.

The road was crowded. Simple wagons and luxurious carriages traveled side by side, entering and leaving the capital. The closer they came to the main gate, the more imposing it became. By the time they were only a short distance from the wall, the castle towers were the only structures still visible above it.

Some guards patrolling the walls carried bows, while others operated weapons resembling Dora’s crossbow, only built on a far greater scale.

At the gate, a line of soldiers inspected every vehicle crossing the lowered bridge over a wide moat. The speed at which they worked was impressive, even without scanners or anything remotely similar.

The guards wore gleaming armor adorned with blue cloth. On the right side of each breastplate was the image of a woman holding her hands together in prayer.

Elise was the first to be inspected. The moment the guards finished, she hurried into the city, leaving the rest of the group behind. No one found her behavior strange. If anything, they seemed to have expected it.

“She has to report to the Inquisition headquarters and notify them of her arrival. It’s one of her obligations as a registered mage,” Dora explained, hopping down from the wagon before stepping forward for her own inspection.

She passed without difficulty, as did Bain and Elliot.

Then Reeve’s turn came, and a problem he hadn’t considered finally presented itself: every member of the Steel Rose had shown the guards an identification tag hanging around their neck. Reeve had nothing like that.

“You. Step forward,” ordered the nearest guard, a large sword hanging at his waist.

This isn’t going to end well, is it?

“Your guild identification, please.”

“Uh... I don’t have one of those.”

The moment Reeve answered, the other guards began watching him.

“You have no identification? Where have you come from?”

“I traveled here with Sir Elliot’s group from a village on the frontier. And, sorry, I’m not from this country. I didn’t know I needed an identification tag. Hahaha...”

The guard didn’t seem remotely moved by his story.

“Regardless of your country of origin, guild identification is issued and recognized by every nation party to the Merchants’ Guild Treaty.”

“Officer, Reeve came here at my invitation,” Elliot said, approaching the small commotion beginning to form. “I will personally cover his immigration fee and the cost of issuing a new identification tag.”

“Sir Elliot, regardless of your family’s distinguished standing, this situation is highly irregular. I’m afraid I cannot make an exception.”

“This is no exception. This noble gentleman saved the life of a member of House Hans during a mission sanctioned by His Majesty himself, losing both his possessions and his identification in the course of battle. In good conscience, I cannot allow my nation to remain indebted to him for even a single hour. We Ollirians, as worthy followers of the Goddess, must repay the kindness we are shown.”

Standing behind the small crowd, Bain and Dora nodded vigorously. Unlike Reeve, they seemed well acquainted with Elliot’s natural talent for misleading people.

The guard didn’t know how to respond to such a speech. Contradicting Elliot would mean questioning the honor of the Kingdom of Olliria itself—and the grace of the Goddess.

“Very well, Lord Hans. I will permit him to enter, but you must proceed directly to one of the guilds and arrange a new registration.”

The guards reluctantly stepped aside for Reeve. Their procedures apparently hadn’t been designed to account for someone so skilled at wrapping half-truths in elegant words.

“Did you see their faces? Hahaha! The idiots nearly froze. It’s been a long time since we saw Elliot come up with one of those.”

Judging by Bain’s delight, this clearly wasn’t the first time Elliot had done something similar.

“How did you think this would be resolved? His smooth talking got Reeve to stick with us all the way to the eighth day of the journey!” Dora added, laughing at Reeve’s bewildered expression.

“So you’re not just a noble. You’re a diplomatic son of a bitch too.”

{INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE MOTHER OF THE INDIVIDUAL IDENTIFIED AS ELLIOT PERFORMS SEXUAL ACTS IN EXCHANGE FOR MONETARY COMPENSATION}

Even by your standards, that was a stretch, rAIven.

Elliot burst into laughter unlike anything Reeve had heard from him before, showing far less restraint than the occasional refined chuckles he usually allowed himself.

“In this city, Sir Reeve, you’ll learn that a smile can sometimes be far more useful than drawing your sword. It certainly opens more doors. In any case, we need to take you to the guild and arrange your registration before any unnecessary trouble arises. But first and foremost, welcome to Gardenia, capital of Olliria.”

Elliot gestured with his right hand toward the city beyond the gate.

Gardenia was every bit as impressive from within as it had been from outside. The very first street was lined with stalls displaying every kind of merchandise imaginable. Merchants and customers haggled amid the crowd, while countless food vendors filled the air with aromas that invaded Reeve’s nostrils unlike anything he had encountered in that world.

“This is the Lower City’s commercial district, Reeve,” Bain explained. “It stretches along the entire main road. This is where you’ll find the fun part of the city. The Guild District begins just beyond it, at the end of the street.”

Bain pointed toward the end of the long road, where larger, better-constructed buildings could be seen.

The crowd was so dense that the group could barely move. Reeve followed close behind the other three, using his implants to record every detail around him.

“I know you probably can’t wait to take me on a date around here, Reeve, but we need to get you registered first,” Dora teased, amused by his awestruck expression.

Gardenia’s size wasn’t what surprised Reeve. With its vertical architecture, Nova Tokyo was much larger. Gardenia, however, was a city he could literally see breathing.

When they reached the far end of the Lower City market street, the guild buildings came into clearer view. They were large structures made from fine wood darkened by age, each marked by a different sign.

The first building at the entrance to the district belonged to the Adventurers’ Guild. That much was obvious from the number of people carrying all manner of weapons outside. Above the broad entrance, a polished sign depicted a sword and staff crossed over a massive shield, with a dragon’s head rising behind it.

The different adventuring parties were easy to distinguish. Many had formations similar to the Steel Rose’s. Others had even more members, and Reeve had no idea what styles of combat they specialized in.

As they approached the guild entrance, a few people appeared to recognize them, but most paid them no attention. Perhaps the Steel Rose wasn’t quite as famous as Bain had implied.

The interior was every bit as impressive as the outside. Three young women stood behind thick counters, providing information or handing bags of coins to adventurers. On the other side of the hall was what appeared to be the guild’s own tavern, packed to capacity. People occupied every table, and many others stood wherever they could find room. In a far corner, several patrons played instruments around one of the tables.

The wall beside the counters was covered with notices displaying all kinds of information. Although the spoken language seemed identical to Reeve’s, the written symbols were impossible for him to read. The illustrations, however, were easy enough to understand. Some depicted monsters he had encountered or heard about; others showed unfamiliar plants and strange stones.

“Where do you print these posters? They’re incredible! They even have texture.”

Impressed, Reeve ran his hand over one of the more detailed illustrations.

“Print?” Dora asked.

{WARNING: DIGITAL PRINTING TECHNOLOGY IS UNLIKELY TO EXIST IN THIS WORLD}

“Sorry. That slipped out. It’s just... all of this is incredible.”

“If you mean who draws them, that would be the Grandmaster’s secretary,” Elliot clarified as he studied the notices. “She uses special inks and paper so the party carrying the notice can identify the monster or material without risking the illustration being ruined by moisture—or even fire.”

Reeve noticed that Elliot kept staring at one particular notice, but decided not to ask about it yet.

“So you finally decided to come back!” a voice shouted from behind one of the counters. “I was about to declare the mission a failure and every one of you dead!”

“I missed you too, Miss Hana.”

Elliot gave the receptionist an exaggerated bow.

“I hope you completed the mission, Sir Elliot. I would hate to have to lower your party’s rank... again.”

She glanced toward the mission notices.

“Mission successfully completed, Hana!” Bain and Dora declared in unison, raising their thumbs in a gesture even more exaggerated than Elliot’s bow.

“In any case, where is Miss Elise? You know that suffering a casualty will lower your rank as well.”

“By the Goddess, Hana! She only went to report to the Inquisition,” Dora replied, sounding mildly irritated.

The two women stared at each other with grave expressions for several seconds. Then both burst out laughing. They were clearly close friends.

{THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR HINDERS ACCURATE ANALYSIS}

And why is that relevant right now?

“In any event, Sir Elliot, hand me the mission notice. Since this was a reconnaissance mission, the Guild Master will want to hear the information personally. Please wait here.”

“There is one more matter, Miss Hana. We need to pay the immigration fees and issue new identification for the Steel Rose’s newest member.”

That silver-tongued bastard just added me to the party without even asking. And after offering to pay my fees, he’s made it a hell of a lot harder to refuse.

Reeve considered it for a moment before stepping up to the counter.

His life as an adventurer was finally about to begin in earnest.