Hey! Welcome back to me DYING INSIDE. It has been three VERY long days, and to be honest, I've started to lose the small amount of sanity I had left!
[Seriously, Who the hell are you talking to? I'm starting to become the tiniest bit concerned if that's even possible considering it's you.]
SHUSH! JUST LET ME RANT TO MYSELF.
[Jeez, fine. Talk to yourself all you want.]
Great, now that that has been dealt with, allow me to continue!
To be honest, this small trip wouldn't have felt so remarkably long if I could actually have a conversation with someone.
'Huh? But you had three people with you, not including Gamma and Alpha! How is it possible you couldn't talk to anybody?' You might ask yourself, and no that wasn't specific, you're imagining things.
Well, allow me to answer that! EVERYBODY IN THIS GOD DAMN CARRIAGE HAVE THE SOCIAL SKILLS OF A CARROT. Let's start with Ai! She's more robotic than Alpha, and that's saying things. Another thing, other than the odd glance, all she does is stare out the window. Does she even sleep? I DON'T KNOW!
Next on the list is Terry, otherwise known as the carriage driver, or am I just the only one who refers to him as that? First of all, he's busy driving the carriage, which I can understand! However, what I can't understand is why somebody whose job is to transport people, doesn't know how to actually interact with a person.
Let's move on to Mr. Bandit weirdo! I hate him. He's the least likable person I have e v e r met. Sure, yeah, he's probably a murderer or something, but worse than that, he has the word personality I've ever had the chance to get to know. Now, considering I'm with Gamma 24/7, that's really saying something about the guy. Also, a little side note here, for the first day when he was still demonic and stuff (Did I mention it wore off?), the black gas he emitted smelled terrible and I swear I can still smell it.
[You do know I can hear you, right?]
DID I NOT TELL YOU TO BE QUIET?
[Sheesh, you can't tell me what to do! I'm not your goddamn slave.]
I swear, whoever implemented you into the system will die by my fist.
[That is such an indirect insult that it doesn't even offend me.]
Oh, just stuff it for a few more minutes! We're almost there and I wanna be somewhat happy when we do!
[Tsk, you're so damn bossy. Fine, I will.]
Great! Now swiftly moving back to our current topic, we've almost made it to the capital! Which is both great... and terrifying. I mean, isn't a capital supposed to be some end game place? And I've only been in this world for a couple of months! Also, taking into consideration how low my stats are, shouldn't I be in real danger coming here? Maybe I should have thought about it more before deciding I should come straight here...
Well, like I always say, better to focus on the positive rather than the negative! I don't say that, that's a lie, but I guess it's sorta true in this scenario.
Oh! Since I've been talk-- well, thinking to myself, we've gotten even closer to the capital. I'd say we're just a few minutes away, even! And from here, I can definitely say, that is one tall wall. What? All I can see from this angle is a huge wall, even with mana sense! Sorry, I can't give you an amazing description of the entire city!
[You-- I'm not even gonna try and ask who you're talking to anymore, you've obviously gone insane.]
Yes, I'm pretty sure I said that at the beginning of the chapter.
[... Chapter? You know what, I'm just gonna, not talk for a while...]
Yeah, you do that! And while you debate your existentiality or whatever, I'm gonna finally make it to the capital! Which the carriage is seconds away from getting inside... Well, more minutes, since there's a huge line. Reminds me of an amusement park back on earth, but instead of people, It's wooden boxes pulled by horses.
So... this is the longest couple of minutes I've ever been through. Luckily enough, however, our carriage eventually goes through the gate, but only after Terry spoke to a guard checking carriages for some reason. Now we can't just walk out of the carriage, no no! Apparently, we have to check in with the guards to make sure we're actually citizens of... like any kingdom. Which we actually need some sort of Identification Card for that, so that's a bit worrying because of the fact neither Ai, nor I have whatever that is.
Hm? Oh! It seems we've made it to our destination. Like the one in the village we were in before, it's a building with a bunch of horses and carriages. You know, the Trail... Or Triel... Something Carriage services? Something like that...
Anyway.
I step out, sorta just pulling Mr. Bandit along with me. Oh? You're confused? Well, allow me to explain to you something super interesting. Turns out, this guy has a pretty big bounty on his head! Well, I don't exactly have a full grasp on this world's currency yet, but two gold sounds like quite a bit. Ai followed, though I'm not sure she's actually paying attention to anything and is instead just following me.
A man in a moderately fancy suit greeted us, putting on one of those fake smiles you see fast-food workers and stuff use. I stared for a few seconds before he began to talk.
"We thank you for your patronage and we hope you had a wonderful journey," Yeah, if by wonderful you mean terrible. "Though I see that you have caught some scoundrel, a bandit I assume."
"... Yeah, we did," I responded, a bit confused... I mean, this guy looks the same as the last suit-wearing man we met. Oh, it's probably nothing.
He continued, "Ah, I see. Might I suggest you take this man to the nearby guard station? It's right by here, just make a left and you'll see it."
Well, isn't that helpful? Now, Mr. Bandit-- No, I'm not avoiding saying his name because I forgot it, I just... Don't like it, yeah!
...
Moving on, we leave the building, me still dragging Bandit Man across the floor. Yeah, it probably hurt, but he's probably a murderer, so he kinda deserves it. We make it to the station pretty quickly, just like that man told us, it's pretty close by. Well, I'm assuming this is it, but I can't exactly read. That language skill I got doesn't exactly affect reading, just how I hear.
I knock on the door with my open hand, a man dressed in full metal iron opening it. I have to admit, I'm a bit intimidated by him... He's tall, maybe around 6'5, but I can't exactly see his face due to the helmet. He simply glared at me, not a word to be said.
"Uh... Hi! So, I just got here and I kinda like, captured this bandit guy. I'm pretty sure he has a bounty on his head, and since this guy told me to come here... I did." Jeez, me! What the hell was that? Did you major in awkwardness?
He stared for a few extra seconds, signalling for me to come in... I assume. So, I followed, Ai staying close by, as always. It was a decently large room, a bunch of jail cells to the right of me. Some had people in it, some didn't. I ignored them, continuing to follow the man. We ended up in a decently small room, another incredibly tall man sitting at a table, looking at a piece of paper. He seemed stressed, I wonder why.
"... Ah? Oh, hello Geard, who are these?" The stressed looking man asked Geard, who I assume is the armoured man. Geard stayed silent, only staring.
"Oh, I see. Well, show me the Bandit you caught, if you think he has a bounty on his head." I'm just, not gonna ask how he got that from whatever that Gealt person did.
"Oh-- I--" I helped Mr. Bandit up so he could get a better look at his face.
"Hm...? This is... Trent Tailor... How in the world were you even able to get this guy here?"
"Ah... Rope." I responded... I mean I told him the truth, didn't I?
"No, I mean-- Do you know how well known this guy is? He's part of a pretty infamous group of bandits." Really? He seemed pretty weak to me, before the demonification, I mean.
"Oh... I come from a pretty small village, so I don't know much." I responded, lying to his face.
He sighed, "That makes sense, then. The bounty on his head was two gold," A couple coins just sorta... appeared on the table? I don't know how to explain it, must have been some sort of magic or skill since I did sense some mana collecting near him, "Take it."
Well, no reason to decline! I grab the money, sticking it in my pocket. I was about to leave, but he spoke one more time.
"Piece of advice, if you were able to defeat Trent, you'd be able to probably do well as an adventurer. The Guild is south from here, good luck if you're planning to join, you and that Beastman behind you."
"Oh, um, thank you. I was planning to." I replied, quickly leaving after.
So! Getting some directions from that man was an unforeseen turn of events, but definitely a welcome one. After we head for the Adventurer's Guild, we should definitely find an inn to rest at.
After a few minutes of walking, we make it to the Adventurer's Guild! Or what I assume is the Adventurer's Guild... I can't read, so... Well, a lot of Adventurer looking people are entering and leaving this place, so who wouldn't assume this is it?
I open the doors, walking in.
[Chapter 21, End.]