The city seemed intimidating from the outside, it wasn’t the case inside.
The city entrance is the same as anywhere else.
There were peddlers and adventurers everywhere.
Compared to the other towns though, the adventurers in this city seem to be younger.
While veteran adventurers were visible, they looked like they didn’t have any energy or heart left to continue adventuring.
Speaking of the differences, the roads here are considerably wider.
At least six wagons can pass each other.
That's three lanes in each direction.
This road seems to continue until the city’s main square.
"We’ll head to my second house, that will be our base. We must have everything ready before we enter the Royal Palace."
At Ariel’s words, we continue on.
Our destination is located in the high noble district.
Having said that, just moving through the city takes about half a day.
With Luke leading the way, we press on in the order of Eris, Sylphy, Ghyslaine, the horse-drawn carriage, and I.
Traveling in a single file.
Although the road is plenty wide,
we don’t want to get in the way of some noble and cause trouble.
Although one usually doesn’t give way to lower nobles, Ariel wasn’t displaying her crest on the carriage.
Showing each other’s crest would simply take too much time.
Like that, we continued to move into the city.
At some point, the surroundings changed.
From a city of adventurers, to a city of civilians.
At that point, curious townspeople appeared and looked our way.
"Hey...... Isn’t that Fitts-sama and Luke-sama ......?"
"You’re right......then that carriage must be......?"
"Is Ariel-sama inside it?"
"She probably returned after hearing about his Majesty’s illness!"
Sylphy and Luke’s faces gave away the contents of the carriage.
In other words, hiding our identity was no longer necessary.
Nor did we intend to hide Ariel completely.
For someone like me to represent a princess would seem unfitting.
Even if Darius doesn’t catch wind of her sighting, I wonder if he is ready to launch an attack on Ariel.
Right now, we’re not in a hurry.
"Kyaa, Luke-sama!"
"Fitts-sama!"
"Ariel-sama! You have returned!"
Still, they’re very popular.
From here and there, cheers come flying.
Sometimes, flowers are thrown.
Not everyone, but about one in five people reacted when they saw us
Ariel is idolized more than I thought.
Luke also waves back.
Ariel has been away from the royal capital for 10 years already, and yet they are still this popular.
She is amazing.
What’s really interesting is that our path is suddenly cleared.
I wonder if there’s a rule that says a path must be cleared for a noble’s carriages.
Those that interfere with the Daimyo will be cut down immediately.
"Look, it’s Fitts-sama!"
Every time she receives a cheer, Sylphy scratches and plays with the back of her ear.
That's Sylphy’s habit when she gets flustered.
I'll tease her later.
When we passed the square, the cheers became even louder
People rushed here hearing of the news about Ariel’s return.
With the increase in commotion, I wonder why the guards haven’t come out yet to calm things down.
What if Auber takes advantage of the commotion and attacks from behind.
... Scary.