Ankoku Kishi Monogatari (WN)

Act 8: Death Capital of Phantom

◆Wandering Knight, Renber

Most of the land of Vandohl was a spacious plain.

Since it was an open field, goblins who hated bright places rarely lived in this place.

But, even though the only ones who couldn’t live there were goblins, it didn't change the fact that it was also an unsuitable place for humans to live in.

The place that faced Azimid bay was inhabited by lizardmen and toadmen, as for the other side, it was inhabited by tribes such as centaurs, wolfmen, or other fanged kins.

They were the tribes that were hostile to humans. That's why those who lived in Vandohl couldn't live in peace.

The place where Nimyu and I were heading to was none other than Vandohl.

We were about to arrive at our destination.

There were so many people coming and going along the road, all of them walking along this road for various reasons. And every single one of them was walking toward a certain direction.

I squinted my eyes to look at our destination from atop the hill.

Our destination was the country built by the hero, Reiji-sama, Eld.

「Is that the country built by hero-sama and co? Looks like a really nice place.」

I unintentionally muttered such praise. Everything was good, except for the location.

Though they founded a country, the best place to build it would have been a hill, the most suitable place for complete defense.

Most countries here were built on large hills. Then, a rampart was added around the border to strengthen the country's defense.

My birthplace, Rox Kingdom, was also a country built with that concept.

Recently, many citizens built their homes below the cliff, but from the very beginning, atop a cliff wasn't the only place for humans to live.

And yet, Eld was built on top of a plain. The only place built on top of the hill seemed to be the palace where the hero-sama lived.

Moreover, the palace was small. That palace wouldn't be enough to house the citizens during an emergency situation.

In short, this place had poor defense.

Moreover, they didn't seem to have the intention to build a rampart.

This place would become an easy target for a flock of goblins if it weren’t for the fact that it was a plain filled with sunlight.

Yet, it was still quite a dangerous place.

That or the hero-sama and co had already prepared another defensive measure.

If that was the case, it must be a thorough plan.

Still, knowing their amazing power, this place must be safe even without a rampart.

That safety factor alone might be what drives many people to go to Eld.

「The country seems to have many citizens but it's still shabby. Renber, are you sure that this is the country built by the hero who Rena-sama loves?」

Asked Nimyu with a frown on her face.

Nimyu was a naiad of the water elf species.

We met along the way by coincidence and have been traveling together ever since then.

I felt so lucky to be able to travel together with a beauty like her, albeit maybe, just temporarily.

And the beauty of the elven race was famous for their eternal youth.

「I think the country hasn't stabilized yet.」

I replied to her.

I could see that the citizens’ houses were still a mish-mash of clutter even from here.

It seems the maintenance of the road was quite delayed too.

If my source of information was correct, this state was natural since it hadn't been that long since the founding of Eld country.

「Oh whatever. Let's go. I have to report to the Princess.」

Said Nimyu as she pulled my arm.

Her light blue hair was swaying along with the wind.

She was a citizen of an elf country which was located deep in the forest at the bottom of the sacred Elios mountain.

The reason why she came out from the forest seems to be to survey the hero-sama's country.

According to her, the high-elf princess she works for seems to be curious about the country made by the hero-sama.

That's why she was dispatched as the princess' scout.

It seems she only came to see the general situation and wouldn't come to meet hero-sama and co.

Well, that was exactly the reason why I accompanied her.

Honestly speaking, I didn't want to meet them either.

「Ah, wait, Nimyu!」

I stopped.

Nimyu turned around with a curious face as if to ask why I stopped.

「Is something the matter, Renber?」

「Maybe it's better if you hide your face. The public order seems to be quite bad after all.」

I was in charge of the public order before, so I knew at a glance that the public order here was still quite bad. It was already obvious even by looking from afar.

「Don't worry about that, Renber. I won't lose to the likes of humans.」

Said Nimyu as she touched the handle of the sword hung on her waist.

Yeah, I knew that Nimyu was strong. She could use water magic, and her swordcraft was far stronger than mine.

Still, we should at least try to avoid trouble.

There was also the fact that Nimyu was looking down on humans, who of course had a shorter lifespan.

Her impression on human women was even more severe, she said that they're just poor creatures who would wither immediately.

This side of her had caused a lot of trouble.

It had only been a while since we traveled together and yet, I've seen her causing a scene for the same reason quite a few times.

Still, I had no idea why Nimyu was still traveling with me.

In the first place, she didn't seem to look down on me.

That's why I got even more confused.

Nimyu clung to my left arm and forced me to walk along.

I heaved a sigh and left with no choice but to match my pace with hers.

===

◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

More than thirty days had passed since Shirone-san woke up from her coma.

Though Shirone-san wanted to go to his place right after waking up, we fortunately managed to stop her for now. That’s because the Silver Witch by his side seemed to regard us as enemies.

Moreover, there was split opinion about him in our group.

Reiji aside, Kaya seemed to regard him as an enemy of her parents.

The reason seems to be related to Kyouka who yearned for him.

Kaya seems to be unable to accept that.

In short, it sounds like a petty reason.

Still, Kaya was the one who stayed by Kyouka's side for the longest.

Thus, she might exclude just everyone else.

Kaya seemed to be worried about what a man could do, while also trying to make Kyouka understand how to deal with a man.

Well, Kaya's feelings seem to be quite complicated.

Kaya's rejection of him had only been strengthened by Sahoko, who still held a grudge against him for almost killing Reiji back then.

I also voted my ballot against him coming, albeit for a completely different reason.

Thus, we postponed the matter of taking him to our side.

I mean, how would I face him if seeing him again would always remind me of his WMD?

Moreover, with the increasing number of citizens in our country, we had no choice but to focus on this matter for now.

In addition, there was also the matter of Zarxis that had been weighing on my mind, but it seemed that not even Rena could detect his latest movements, thus we had no choice but to wait.

As a result, days passed with us never taking a step out of Eld to stabilize the internal situation of our kingdom.

I met a certain guest in the parlor room on a certain day.

「It's been a while, Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki-dono.」

Said the old man who stood before me.

No matter how you look at it, the old man's attire defined him as a sorcerer.

A black robe a hat with a large brim, and a long white beard.

Anyone who saw him would recognize him as a sorcerer.

Well, that was right. Not to mention that he was the sorcerer among sorcerers.

「Long time no see great sage, master Magius. Welcome to Eld.」

I bowed lightly at him.

The great sage Magius.

That was the name of this old man.

He was the honorary chairman of the Magician’s Association, the moderator of the wise men’s assembly and the decision maker.

The representative of the Magician’s Association was the chairman, who was appointed in the wise men’s assembly. Yet, this man's words held more weight than the appointed chairman.

In short, he was the actual representative of the Magician’s Association.

This was my second time meeting this Great Sage.

He requested to see the kingdom that we built.

The reason is to see what kind of people lived in the kingdom built by the hero.

Since he was my guest, only I could welcome him in this parlor room.

「This is our second meeting, Chiyuki-dono. The first time is when I awarded you with the sage title, right?」

Said Magius while combing his long, white beard.

「Yes. Thank you very much for your recommendation.」

I expressed my gratitude to him, the one who recommended for me to receive the title of sage.

Sage was a title for someone with an abundance of knowledge, it was also the greatest title for sorcerers who belonged to the Magician’s Association.

Still, the one who received the sage title had the duty and privilege to attend the wise men’s assembly and had to contribute to the development of the Magician Association.

When we had just come to this world, I joined the branch of the Magician’s Association in the Holy Republic of Lenaria to learn more about this world and was awarded the title of sage a while after that.

Though I was confused at first, I knew later that it was due to the recommendation of a Great Sage.

I tried to ask for the reason since I don't remember making any particular contribution but then I was told that my transcendental amount of magical power was the reason.

I had no idea whether he was telling the truth though.

Still, there was no disadvantage in having such a title.

「Spare me the gratitude, Chiyuki-dono. That matter aside, I find that this kingdom, Eld, is a really interesting one. On top of making a kingdom in a place with poor defense, are you still planning to expand this kingdom?」

Asked Magius as he looked at me.

It seems this old man had seen through my intentions.

「That's right. The reason we built it on a even plain is to make it easier to expand the size of the kingdom.」

In this world, there must be a lot of considerations when someone wants to build a kingdom.

The first and most important thing was the defense.

In this world that was overflowing with monsters, the top of the hill, which made defense easier, was the best choice to build a kingdom.

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