CHAPTER 7: CROSSING INTO EQUALITY

**Kuro**

It was late into the month of December when my group set off to the land of Equality.

“…”

There was not much fanfare at the event, as Maddie, Ruro, Natasha and Hinwe watched me sail to the land of the dwarves. They were unusually silent, though we parted smiling. But I could tell they were worried, and so were the servants who came to see us off with our baggage. Nevertheless, I got trusted people with me: Lily, who was eager to join me on my search, and Seirna, who made herself the ‘insurance’ to the other saints, so they would allow me to cross into Equality. The Stadtholder would love to accompany me as well, but I declined his offer. He was well-known in that place, and if we aim to go ‘under the radar’, bringing him along was definitely a ‘no’.

Still, the Prince Uhrian wanted to ensure my safety as the Church of the Golden Hammer was already after my life. So, instead of coming himself, he sent us one of his ‘acquaintances’, which was actually his niece…a dwarf lady named Martelle Hughes.

“Pfft!”

“Why are you laughing again, Kuro?” Lily asked when she heard me.

“N-Nothing…” I replied, but…

“The otherworlder thinks that the dwarf’s name is funny,” Seirna snitched me out, reading my mind. “See? In his language, Filipino, Martelle Hughes sounds like their word for hammer, ‘martilyo’.”

“Bwahahahaha!” I couldn’t help it; I ended up laughing.

Lily only stared at me with a curious expression. “Erm…I can’t understand what’s funny about that,” she quipped.

“Ah, don’t mind me,” was my reply, just to end the conversation. I never liked laughing at a person’s identity, though this one’s an exception because…err, I guess it just felt weird to call someone ‘martilyo’. As we were sailing across a mildly rough sea, we remained inside our cabins, stuck to looking at each other as we couldn’t read or do something else…or we’d be tossed by the waves. Seirna, save for that part where she snitched me to Lily, never moved from the bed. I guess, she could’ve just teleported us to Equality if she wanted to, but for some reason, she didn’t.

“You know that our god-power to teleport is limited, right?” I heard her say. “We need to have a good idea of what the place looks like, before we can send spells to transport people, or items, to the other side.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” I replied. So, she hasn’t gone to Equality? Something about her words don’t add up.

“Of course, I know that land!” There was a hint of irritation in her voice, “However, I also told you before that it’s been long since I last set foot in that place. It’s like your country, otherworlder; you take your eyes off the place for a bit, and you’ll be surprised of how fast it changes. Also, being a servant of the gods, I find myself disgusted at how the dwarves now conduct themselves. So, I never came back to that realm. I even tried to ask the Lord Gaius to allow me to wipe them out for the affront they caused, but he—a merciful god that he is—stopped me.”

Is that true, Gaius?

‘Seirna’s delusional, so I have to stop her,’ was the former god’s reply.

“Why did your mind blacken for a bit?” Seirna threw a question to me.

“N-Nothing,” I went back to my bed. “We all have our secrets, don’t you agree?”

“Well, I don’t care about yours.”

“Then why do you even ask?”

Seirna didn’t reply after that. Perhaps she realized her folly of prying into my thoughts, and went to her own business.

Sensing that she could now enter a conversation with me, Lily asked, “Kuro, have you seen Lady Hughes?”

Now that she mentioned it, the dwarf prince’s niece was nowhere to be found in our cabin; she was with us earlier though. “Probably going around the ship,” I replied, “but, I don’t really know. The sea’s been pretty rough, so I’m not searching for her.”

“Come on, Kuro,” the Iron Princess chuckled. “I know you guys have bad blood, but she’s still with us. If the dwarf lady gets into trouble, it’s us who’ll end up vouching for her.”

Well, Lily’s got a point. The tiny lady had a short fuse, so I guess it’s better we get her back here before she ended up fighting someone else on this ship. So, I picked my weapons , and prepared to head out, braving the waves rocking the cabin.

“Kuro,” my companion couldn’t keep a poker face; she was amused and surprised at the equipment I brought. “You’re heading for war?”

“No,” I winked at her. “But someone’s after my neck, not to mention, Lady Hughes hates my guts. It won’t be a bad idea to be prepared to fight if the push comes to the shove.”

----------

The passenger steam ship we’re sailing on—the ‘Camaras’—was named after a naval hero from the island kingdom of Shent. As such, the crew hailed from that place, though the passengers were an assortment of humans, beastmen, Chersean elves, and halflings. The demons rarely travel to places where they face discrimination, so there’s no one from that race on the ship. Personally, I was curious of how the dwarves on the other side conducted their affairs and businesses with the other races crossing to Equality. This was because, if that event where the Prince Uhrian’s father arrived in their land happened a long time before I was summoned, then how the heck did they hide their ‘advanced technologies’ from the eyes of those people? See, humans were especially good in spying and surveilling everyone…so there was a ‘gap’ that needed to be answered in my mind.

Is Equality some sort of a Chersea ‘North Korea’ where there are parts shown to ‘tourists’, and regions hidden from our eyes?

“…”

The Prince Uhrian’s description of their realm was sketchy. He would always talk about how the dwarves were industrious, and financially-proficient, though under the ‘watchful eyes’ of the Church of the Golden Hammer. If I asked if that church would enforce everything on their subjects—like how they wear their clothes and their roles in life, he would say ‘no’, so that’s a level ‘down’ from North Korea. If I brought up the matter if they were ‘militaristic’, the prince would also deny that, though he would point out that dwarves were a ‘martial people’.

“What else can you tell me about Equality?”

“Have you read the books you have here, laddie?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s all I can say.”

End of the discussion. So, really, aside from the fact that the dwarves possessed the technology found in my world, and that the Church of the Gold Hammer had a huge sway over the realm, there was nothing else that I knew about the place. And, to be honest? There’s a mixed feeling of excitement and fear…for I was about to come to a world vastly different from what I grew up with, and scared for the same reason as well.

Any case, the sea was rough, so I was having a hard time keeping my feet steady. See, I’m a landlubber, and though I conducted amphibious operations in Cherwind and Cherwoods before, the waters in those lands were extraordinarily calm. The first literally defying physics for its crystal clarity (as smooth as glass), and the latter had gentler waves compared to the seas in this part of Chersea. And, if you’d ask me about the northern waters of this realm, that one had less rocky seas. It’s as if on this part of the ocean, some angry water god was trying to sink our ship.

Well, as long as our engine’s still humming and running, I’m sure we’ll eventually reach our destination…

----------

I found the dwarf lady in the cafeteria, slumped on one of the chairs nailed to the ship’s floor. She was with a bottle of whiskey in one hand, and a shot glass in the other. Contrary to my expectations, she was quiet, though I could tell from the dwarf lady’s red face that she was already drunk.

“Hey,” I took care in approaching and waking her, since experience taught me never to surprise drunk people.

Lady Hughes turned her head to me and asked, “Huh? Who’re youuuu?” The slurred speech was barely understandable amidst the banging and crashing of utensils and other ceramics, so I had to draw near her to hear her voice. Also, I was impressed by her ability to remain on her chair despite the rocking…it’s as if she was strapped on the wooden chair with a seatbelt.

“I’m Kuro, the duke of Maverny,” I reminded her, and wrested the shot glass from her hand.

“Ah…ye’r ze asssssssshole duuuuuke,” she chuckled.

“Don’t you think you had enough alcohol this time? We’re in the middle of rough seas; it’ll be nice if you’ll stay with us in the cabin, in case of an emergency.”

“Wha—emergensheee? What?” she tried pouring alcohol on her shot glass, but only made a mess of herself. Undeterred, Lady Hughes drank straight from the bottle instead.

“What if something happens to this ship and you’re still dead drunk? I won’t save you!”

“Not assshhking you…”

“No, it’s not a warning,” I clarified myself. “Even I don’t know how to swim, in case this ship sinks.”

The dwarf lady laughed, and gave my back a slap. “Yer a poooor man!” though she said that, I could tell Lady Hughes never meant to insult me. I thought she would continue to tease me, but then, she reached for my head (though she could only touch up to my chest), and said, “Don’t be issshhhcared. Dish ish normal…”

Normal, huh? And here I am thinking of using the Elf Saint’s god-power to silence the waves. Only Seirna stopped and warned not to interfere too much with nature’s laws, unless it’s an extreme necessity.

But, just so that Lily could have her peace of mind, I should bring Lady Hughes back to our cabin. The cafeteria’s closed for today, anyway, since the waves made it impossible for customers and the crews to eat and work in there. I was even surprised that the dwarf lady got herself a bottle of whiskey while everyone else was seasick.

“Eeeeeh, don’ think too much about it. I jushh picked ze bottle from ze trasssh lying over zer…” she pointed towards the heap of bent forks, twisted spoons, broken plates, cracked cups and leaking bottles and barrels of alcohol dumped behind the cafeteria counter. A couple of crewmembers were cleaning those, so as not to cause injuries.

Not wishing to hinder their work, I reached out towards Lady Hughes and said, “Let’s go?”

Much to my pleasant surprise, the feisty dwarf just nodded and took my hand. I really expected her to snap back at me, but she’s unusually submissive now that she was drunk. Is this the effect of alcohol on her?

Well, I didn’t want to stay for too long. I’d rather pass the waves by sleeping on my bed. The advent of the steam engine for ships shortened the travel time to just ten days, we’re on the sixth day. I could only utter gratitude that it was so, for I couldn’t wait to get off this vessel the moment we hit land.

----------

The ‘Camaras’ appeared at the border crossing by the 10th hour of the last sailing day. The ships from the navy of the Eastern Confederacy met us halfway to conduct routine checks, for even if there was general peace throughout the human realm, there were still threats coming from the petty criminals and fugitive rebel leaders happening occasionally. As we were supposedly under cover (to protect our ‘movement’ from possible enemy surveillance), our ‘friends’ in higher positions gave us false identities backed with forged ‘official’ documents.

While we could travel around using magical disguises (as in altering our appearances courtesy of the magic from the saints) just like how Maddie did it when she went on a vacation to her hometown before, the risk remained that if those wore off, it’d be a bigger problem for our group. So, we used assumed names instead. Well, Seirna still cast a disguise spell on us just to be sure, making us a bit older than we were. And though our fake travel papers were issued by the officials in-charge of it (so it looked just like the original), there were still a few issues…

“Is there any problem, sir?” I asked the soldier checking my identity when I noticed he was taking a while in determining the authenticity of it.

“Well, honestly, you look like someone else.”

“Haha…” Of course, it was a tense moment, but I tried to laugh it off. Deep inside, I was thankful that it was not a saint who was checking me, or our cover would be blown at the first minute they checked on us. However, to shake off suspicions, playing along with his assumptions would be good. “I’m always mistaken for the Duke of Maverny, the Lord Kuro of Arles.”

“Indeed,” the border guard replied. “However, I remember him as someone younger, and it hasn’t been long since I last saw him returning from Cherwoods.”

“Yeah…I’m Lawrence Beatty, anyway.”

“I know. It says so in your identification papers.”

The guard then conducted a last check, which involved casting magic to verify the authenticity of the document. When the results came in, my assumed identity passed with flying colors, and he returned my papers, along with a final greeting. “Enjoy your vacation in Equality, sir,” the soldier tipped his helmet to me, and went to the other rooms.

“…”

Once the border guard disappeared, I turned to my other companions, Lily and Lady Hughes. Seirna teleported off someplace else before the soldiers boarded the ship and after she cast the disguise on us. As she alone could dispel the magic (unless it wore off when Seirna was distracted or exhausted), we had no choice but to wait for her to come back. As she had all her bags unpacked, Lily was busy putting back all her things on those. I and Lady Hughes preferred to travel light, so aside from our sling bag, we only had another baggage with our clothes. As for the Overseer…

I haven’t seen her with other clothes, save for her usual black ‘mourning’ dress.

“Haa…I wish I was a saint!” Lady Hughes quipped the moment she had nothing else to do. “It’s easy to pass these checkpoints and live my life how I want it to be if I was one!”

“I’m afraid you won’t pass the test,” I told her, though it was a half-jest. “For sure, you’ll turn the land you rule into a huge crime den.”

“Hey, asshole! Watch your stinky mouth; I never asked for your opinion!” the dwarf countered. I thought she was pissed, but then, she fished something out from her bag and threw it to both Lily and I. “We’re about to cross into Equality,” she explained, “If you’re looking for the dwarf saint, then you’ll definitely have to wear that.”

It was a pendant, with the loop for the necklace still in place. Only the latter was missing.

As if expecting our questions, Lady Hughes added, “Don’t wear it in the open. Dwarves know what that is, especially the guards at the other side of the border. They’ll confiscate it once they saw that, and we’ll end up in trouble. But keep it in you while we cross.”

“What’s this for, anyway?” Lily asked what I had in mind.

“It’s a device to keep your memories in your mind once you cross back into Chersea,” the dwarf revealed. “Look, what you’ll see on the other side will surely shock you, and the Church of the Golden Hammer is careful about the ‘witnesses’. So, in order to keep our ‘secrets’ safe, they invented a magic spell to destroy any memory related to the things you’ll see there.”

“Is this ‘secret’ about the things the Prince Uhrian showed me?” I wanted to confirm my suspicions.

“What things?” Lily and Lady Hughes chorused.

“Some…advanced stuff,” I was careful in revealing to the Iron Princess what I’ve witnessed inside the Stadtholder’s castle dungeon before, though trying to give clues to the dwarf at the same time.

However, instead of answering, the Lady Hughes muttered, “Shit.” Her reaction was enough to confirm to me what she was referring about.

“Is something going on?” Lily was still in the dark, though I’d like to keep it that way until we cross.

“Well, I think it’s better if you see it yourself,” I told her. “It’s hard for me to explain here, anyway.”

----------

The border crossing of Chersea-Equality was like the one in Chersea-Cherwoods. However, there was still a difference; for one, the ship had to let us disembark in the middle of the crossing ‘tunnel’, and we had to walk all the way from there to the realm of the dwarves.

“There is land of the other side,” Lady Hughes explained. “Of course, if the ship went closer, the possibility of running aground is high.”

Well, at least, her words satisfied a bit of my curiosity. After all, walking into the water about knee-deep was quite hard, and the squishy feeling of my feet inside the boots was…disgusting.

“…”

Lily brought about three bags full of baggage, plus her weapons and equipment. The Lady Hughes immediately commented on her stuff.

“This is why I told you not to bring too much bags with you.”

The Iron Princess, however, was used to the heavy work in the Holy Palatial Gardens. Not to mention, she was a former military lady as well. For her, carrying stuff heavier than her weight was as easy as picking a stone on the ground. Still, as I was her husband (prospective), I won’t let her carry all of those. I took two of her bags and wade my way towards the other side of the border.

“Thank you, Lawrence!” I heard Lily call out to me from behind. Well, I guess it’s nice of her to rely upon me even once. The Iron Princess was self-sufficient, probably influenced by her involvement in the army of Nerfes before.

When we finally reached dry ground, the dwarf border guards immediately came to greet us. Equality had long been trading with Chersea, for dwarf goods were highly-prized and gained a reputation for unworldly durability and exquisite craftmanship. Both realms also exchanged their share of tourists as well, so the soldiers at the border knew how to conduct checks in an orderly and efficient manner.

“…”

The line was long, though the inspections were fast. The Lady Hughes, however, went somewhere else. From my spot, I saw her being shuffled away by the other guards—without stops for inspection. I guess, they knew her much like her uncle to forgo any routine checks.

“Papers?” the dwarf at the counter asked the moment I reached him. So, I gave him my document. Then, he followed-up with, “You’re Lawrence Beatty?”

“Yes, sir.”

The dwarf then looked again at my document. After that, he left his seat and talked to a sentry standing nearby. At that point, I could feel that something was amiss, as he was taking too long to return. And the sentry had already called another soldier.

My eyes immediately fell on Lily, whose hand was about to reach for her gun. She had a worried expression on her face, and she was just waiting for any trigger…

“Mister Beatty?” the dwarf finally returned, though this time, he had the dwarf sentries with him.

“Y-Yes?”

“Can you please come with us? We have questions to ask you further.”

“Is there anything wrong with my document?”

“Let’s say we’re just keeping our lands clean from anything undesirable,” the dwarf signaled for the sentries to position themselves on my side so I couldn’t fight back. By then, they had their war hammers ready; one wrong move and my head would be crushed.

Well, I could always summon the god-powers of the Beastman Saint to bulldoze my way out of this situation, though I was worried about Lily. Even if she used her ‘Bloodbath’ skill, she was still vulnerable to injuries…it was only her pain perception that would go numb once she’s in ‘Bloodbath’ mode.

“Mister Beatty, I trust that you’ll come with us?” the dwarf continued. “After all, we are aware of that device you have in you and your human partner over there.”

“How did you—”

The dwarf winked, and he looked around before whispering, “Trust me, sir. I know who you really are; the Lord Kuro of Maverny and the Princess Lilyhaven Tamriel of Nerfes is your companion. I’m with the Prince Uhrian; he placed me here in case you guys arrived.”

Well, that’s a relief.

“Please come with me,” the dwarf resumed his poker face and gestured to the guards. The soldiers wrapped their arms around mine, as if they’re arresting me. And I had to use the pre-arranged signal I discussed with Lily that everything’s still fine.

She called out, “That man’s my companion!”

And the dwarf at the counter signaled for her to go with us to that small house nearby, where Lady Hughes was brought in earlier.

----------

“So, how is the experience?” was Lady Hughes’ greeting to us when we were reunited inside the barracks of the border guards. The soldiers who brought us in immediately left when we’re safely hidden from everyone’s sight. And since the place had no other people (the guards were busy processing the tourists), Lady Hughes thought it was fine to talk about the incident. She had a nasty grin on her face, revealing that she already knew what would happen to us.

“Well, you fucking made me nearly kill those guards,” I replied; honestly, they were a ‘hair strand’s width’ from death earlier. I was ready to fight back, and Lily wouldn’t take it lightly as well.

“You’re too serious, dude,” the dwarf lady chuckled. “Besides, the dwarves here are friends with Uncle; they’ll let us out after the last of the tourists left. By then, the members of the church will also leave, as they have no reason to stay until the next ship will unload its passenger on the other side. Though I think they’ll have us cross through the bushes over there, so as no one can see us.”

“I know a lot of people who died playing pranks on others.”

“Tch,” was all Lady Hughes said.

“Any case, what’s with the setup?” Lily asked. “Why did we have to go to all that trouble while entering Equality?”

“Princess, have your eyes become dull?” the dwarf countered. “You didn’t notice the members of the Church of the Gold Hammer observing the lines?”

“They are?”

Lady Hughes nodded. “The Church will never let its guard down. Once you are let in, you’ll be subjected to magic sensors, so your magic disguise will be detected as soon as you set your foot into our land.”

“Wow…that’s a saint-level magic spell there!” I quipped. I mean, Seirna cast that on us, and to think it would still be detected…I wonder how ‘powerful’ is this ‘Golden Hammer’…

“Well, I’m not really sure it’ll work against the power of a saint, but we have to be sure of our every move,” the dwarf argued. “Besides, even if the church members didn’t detect your disguises, you’ll be given a ‘guide’ once you’re cleared to cross.”

“Guide?”

“Yep, and that guide will report on your every move,” she looked outside the window. “For short, if you end up being assigned a guide, your movements will be restrained. And looking for the dwarf saint will become harder than it is now.”

“This is the Chersean North Korea, is it?” I blurted out.

“A what?”

“Nothing,” I replied. “Just some country in my world where every move and life aspects of its citizens are determined by the leaders in their government. As in they have no freedom to choose.”

“Huh? That’s cruel, isn’t it?” Lady Hughes commented. “I can’t imagine living in a place like that! I still prefer my own freedoms.”

I could only look at her in sheer disbelief.