Finding the destination wasn’t a difficult task.
The magic carriage as expensive as if it were made from melted gold coins and the horse golem that could run continuously without eating or drinking, running on mana instead, were great.
While normal carriages needed somewhat maintained roads to run, the horse golem and carriage could easily traverse rough, unmaintained paths.
“Ah, I can see a village over there!”
At Adelaide’s shout from the front where she was keeping watch, Sophia unfolded a map.
In this era, maps were closer to military supplies than practical items.
Maps circulating among the public were terribly inaccurate, and accurate maps were strictly managed by the rulers of the respective regions.
The possibility of misuse was too high the moment they fell into enemy hands.
Depending on the domain, not only making maps but even possessing them could be treated as illegal and punishable.
Of course, Dorothea’s party, who regarded the world’s laws as “something troublesome if not followed”, wouldn’t bother with such things.
Sophia’s geographical information from the past. Phrases from books read in bookstores across various places. Rumors from travelers floating around in places like taverns, and finally, the fresh real-time data filled in by the party’s direct experiences.
The map the party possessed was becoming more elaborate and abundant day by day.
Sophia pointed to a spot in the northern region of the Locrian Federation and said, “Donnengarten. It’s one of the domains belonging to the Locrian Federation. They say it once claimed to be a kingdom in ancient times, but its actual size isn’t that large. About a fourth of Tik-Tok from the looks of it?”
“It doesn’t seem likely that a kingdom’s sacred treasure would happen to be in such a small place.”
“Still, isn’t it worth checking out? We can ‘incidentally’ look into other matters too. Oh, and this domain is famous for its delicious vegetables and fruits.”
“…Well, I suppose it wouldn’t be bad as a resupply location.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he sees a strange tower!]
The party’s gaze simultaneously turned to where the Tin Knight was pointing.
There was a tower that was… not exactly enormously huge, but much taller and larger than buildings one could commonly see.
In terms of floors, it might be about 5 stories high.
While most buildings were not easily visible due to the many forests surrounding the domain itself, the sight of this one tower soaring high into the sky looked just like a sharp thorn.
“Is it a watchtower?” Dorothea said in confusion.
In a domain , there didn’t seem to be any reason to build such a high tower other than for that purpose.
At first, she was going to dismiss it without thinking it was particularly important, but such an option quickly vanished.
The silver horse had used up its maintenance time and returned to the compass, leaving the corpse bird that had been guiding the party alone.
The necromancer’s last work he left behind was heading straight towards that distant tower.
Its speed was so fast that the party could no longer keep up with it.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if it’s okay to just let that go!]
“I tinkered with it before sending it off, so I can roughly know its status even if I can’t see it. If it delivers, that’s the end, and if not, it’ll come back.”
“Could that sister be in that tower? It doesn’t look like a place where people other than soldiers would stay.”
“We’ll find out once we enter the domain, won’t we?”
As the party approached the entrance of the domain, several soldiers guarding the checkpoint appeared to greet them.
“Excuse me. Could you tell us who you distinguished guests are and for what purpose you’ve come?”
The soldiers’ attitude was extremely cautious and polite.
Even the representative speaking to them couldn’t hide his nervous appearance.
It was the effect of the clearly extraordinary horse and carriage.
And their tension reached its peak when Adelaide’s figure appeared through the carriage window.
An appearance that somehow exuded nobility. Above all, that vivid golden hair and violet eyes!
Perhaps because the domain’s location itself was somewhat rural, some were dumbfounded not knowing what it meant, but the moment one of the quick-witted ones opened his mouth, other exclamations followed in succession, “T-the golden hair and violet eyes. Lennart!”
“Lion Duke’s bloodline!”
“The Empire’s First Family!”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ wonders if this is some kind of set rule!]
Adelaide could only let out a dry laugh.
The more she traveled, the more she sometimes felt unadapted to people making a fuss just by seeing her face.
“Ahem, we are travelers, and we’re looking to rest in the village for a while. Is it alright for us to enter?”
“Ah, yes! Please, do come in!”
Ignoring the sounds of “Report to the captain! Quickly!!” and “Yes!” coming from behind the carriage, the party entered the domain.
The appearance of the domain was, to put it nicely, nature-friendly and pastoral, and to put it more bluntly, rural.
There was certainly a market, people walking around, and all the basics were there, but compared to distinctive and intense cities like Tik-Tok, Thracus, and Justitia, it inevitably paled in comparison. To begin with, it didn’t seem like the floating population was very high.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that it’s like Adel’s hometown they went to before!]
“Friedel was quite nice before the bandits caused havoc…!”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says he didn’t particularly say this was bad!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is shocked, asking if Adel is implying other people’s domains aren’t good!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says we should respect the characteristics of the region, and that looking down on and ignoring them isn’t good!]
“What? No, that’s not what I… huh?”
Leaving Adelaide confused and unable to collect her thoughts from the Tin Knight’s attack, Dorothea observed the atmosphere of the domain.
People’s faces were dark, and their gazes towards the carriage were mixed with wariness and fear.
It was quite reasonable for a reaction to a high-ranking person visiting from an unfamiliar place, but even discounting that, the air of the village itself somehow felt a bit heavy.
Sophia spoke to her, “Dorothea, shall we find lodgings first?”
“Is that necessary? I think it would be more comfortable to just park the carriage on the outskirts of the village and stay inside.”
“If we only consider convenience, that’s true, but it would give too much of an outsider feeling. For information gathering too, it would be better to get lodgings at a shop inside the domain. If not that—“
Sophia’s words couldn’t continue to the end.
“Please wait a moment!”
Men in civilian official attire, who looked to have some status at a glance, blocked the front of the carriage and shouted.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if we should just push through since it’s obstructing our passage!]
“Don’t say crazy things, let’s stop for now.”
As the carriage stopped, the one who seemed to be the representative among the officials brightened his face slightly and continued speaking, “I serve the true master of this Donnengarten and the current head of the Pimmel family, Lord John Pimmel. The lord greatly welcomes the visit of you members of the Lion Duke’s bloodline to Donnengarten, and if it’s alright with you distinguished guests, he urges you to stay at the lord’s mansion. May we have your answer?”
Glances were exchanged among the party.
Sophia smiled slightly and added the words she couldn’t finish earlier, “—We could directly visit a high-ranking person.”
Dorothea suddenly thought.
Perhaps Adel is more useful as a signboard than an actual combatant.
The lord, who had already shown considerable favor at their first meeting, showed an almost explosive level of reaction after learning Adelaide’s specific position.
“Oh, I’ve well heard of the fame of the Lennart dojo. They say more than 70% of the continent’s outstanding martial artists have passed through there, and to think that one of the representative instructors of such a place has come to my domain, it’s truly an honor.”
“Ha, haha. I-I’m overwhelmed by such excessive praise. I’ve only obtained that position temporarily through luck and connections, there are still many more excellent people in the family than me.”
“You even have humility! Usually one becomes arrogant for reaching such a position at a young age, but your character also seems truly outstanding… Ah, come to think of it, I’ve heard that the age and appearance of the Lion Duke’s bloodline members don’t necessarily match, if I’ve given offense, I apologize.”
“No, you don’t need to worry about it. Really, it’s fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You said you stopped by to obtain our domain’s vegetables and fruits? I’ll tell my retainers to prepare them in great abundance, so please rest assured. And this is a personal request, but if you could perhaps lightly demonstrate your outstanding martial arts to our soldiers, I will certainly—“
The lord was a person who resembled the domain he ruled.
In other words, to put it nicely, he was simple, and to put it bluntly, he was so honest that he lacked a bit of tact.
Although Dorothea didn’t particularly like the roundabout way of speaking typical of nobles, even she couldn’t help but think, “No matter how pleased you are at the current moment, shouldn’t you not speak or show it so openly?” It seemed like if this was an act, it would be polite to be fooled by it.
However, apart from the minor side effect of Adelaide becoming exhausted in front of the lord who bombarded her with successive queries like a boy excited by adventure stories, such a lord wasn’t particularly bad for the party.
Just for being Adelaide’s companions, the retainers and servants in the mansion showed polite respect, and even though it was rural, the place where the lord stayed seemed to have a basic quality, as the food and living environment were quite excellent.
After the dinner where the fruits grilled together were even more delicious than the steak itself, the party, having finished a brief information gathering, started their meeting.
Dorothea was the first to speak, “I checked the compass again earlier, and the silver horse was pointing outwards. In other words, there’s no sacred treasure in this domain itself.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates it as good news, saying that in other words, we only need to focus on the sister’s side without thinking complicatedly!]
“How do you interpret it to reach that conclusion…?”
Although Dorothea grumbled, she didn’t refute further.
She just didn’t say it openly, but now that things had come to this, it felt a bit off to just ignore it and go on their way.
“And, the bird that flew to the tower earlier has come back too. It seems to just wander around the tower but can’t go inside.”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that tower is indeed suspicious!]
Sophia said, “I looked into that lightly too, and that tower. It seems to be some kind of educational facility?”
“Educational facility?”
“The soil in this area is excellent. It’s good land for people to live on, but it seems it’s the same for beasts, so quite a few people get hurt when they go into the forest. Among them, the lord’s wife takes in children who have lost their parents and educates them in that tower.”
“The lord’s wife seems to be quite capable, and I heard she’s in charge of most of the actual domain management, except for military affairs. She’s taken in orphans as adopted children and raised them, and some of the graduates have settled in the village, so she has quite a good reputation.”
Adelaide, who had been listening to the story while slumped to the side, slightly brightened her eyes.
She might have been thinking it was a system worth emulating in Friedel later.
In fact, just looking at the surface, it was nothing but a good deed.
However, the necromancer, with a somewhat cynical view of the world, raised an objection to this, “But why do they do that education or whatever specifically in that tower? I checked briefly earlier too, but the structure itself was quite difficult to access. Enough that it could be used as a prison if needed. And according to that necromancer’s story, his sister was clearly ‘living alone’. That means she wasn’t living in that tower, at least until recently. Isn’t it suspicious?”
A moment of silence fell.
Normal people might have thought something along the lines of “Let’s rest first and start investigating again from tomorrow,” but the party, whose impatience rivaled that of tuna that would die from suffocation if they stopped swimming, was different.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says then let’s directly storm the tower and check it out!]
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