Around noon, we climbed a hill to see the Royal Capital in the distance.
The ramparts appeared to be high milky colored walls. It was built on an elevated position for increased protection. The majority of the base was built on a large hill, making attacks nearly impossible. At the heart of the city stood a huge castle.
Well, from this distance, you can only make out so much, so we continued our journey to the city. Once we started getting closer, large convoys going to and from the city passed us by. It also seems that there are no exceptions for entry without full examination. We quietly waited at the end of the inspection queue.
Both the Boy Knight and the Tomboy Princess were quite impatient, but were convinced that this was good life experience and that they needed to learn patience. After that, they quieted down a little, but the Princess kept tugging at my horns.
Although our actions were contrary to our appearance, we certainly stood out compared to all of the human groups around. There were only humans going in and out of the royal capital.
This could be another problem. We continued to attract quite a lot of attention, especially the beautiful Dhammi-chan. One look at her, and it's almost impossible to look away.
Well, I hadn't considered that we would stand out this much, but it's probably due to the fact that this is the Royal Capital of the Sternbild Kingdom that has a major human supremacy ideology. Thus, there were fewer monsters and beast races the closer you got to the royal capital, hence we attract much more unwanted attention due to us being who we are.
We will probably suffer some extra difficulties getting in to the royal capital due to the fact that we don't belong to the human race, but if we proceed the quick way and bypass this line, cutting straight into the city, there will be rumors about us circulating at an alarming rate. Something I personally want to avoid at all costs.
There's nothing to do since we cannot just change our race, so in the end, we will have to just bear with it and stand in line.
To begin our plans, I want to avoid as much social contact as possible. We currently do not have nearly enough combat potential to compete with the Kingdom head on.
In addition, this kingdom is very strict on their non-human policy. If we have any difficulties, we will have no choice but to rely on the Princess. Another thing I want to avoid doing at all costs.
So in the end, waiting in line is the only option available. After waiting for quite some time, our turn finally came.
There was apparently an extra fee and tax for the transportation of our goods, but since we had certain individuals with us, they quietly voided the charges.
Finally, the benefits of this partnership bear fruit.
During the inspection, I attached a small clone in the inspector's clothing to collect information on the guards and soldiers in the city.
My clones are extremely useful for information gathering, and more often than not, serve to save my hide.
To conclude, many things happened, but we managed to enter the capital without incident.
To say the least, the royal capital lived up to my expectations. There are thousands of people buzzing within these walls. From outdoor shops to energetic voices, there was everything here.
I had my eyes on over a dozen shops that carried a multitude of products that seemed interesting.
Even compared to the Labyrinth City Purgatory, the energy of this place was in full swing.
It was as if every day was a festival.
Since it was their first time in the Royal Capital, Redhead and the girls were slightly nervous. We went down the main street where I suddenly noticed that, until recently, all of the buildings were made of wood, but every house here was made of bricks.
In addition, the roads were all lined with stone and there were systems in place to provide running water.
From what the Princess tells me, all of these things were established by a Royal Sage of the Royal Court nearly seventy years ago. The products and luxuries of this city are very rare in this world.
I really wanted to learn more, especially about the dark side of this Kingdom, but since we still have our mission to accomplish, there is nothing to be done until later.
I decided to immediately deliver the Princess to the castle.
After that, I planned to visit all sorts of different places within the city.
There will be few chances like this to gain crucial information regarding all manners of things about the workings of this world. An opportunity like this is something that I fully plan to take advantage of.
Passing through the outer town, we headed straight for the Royal Palace.
The farther in we went, the richer the houses and individuals became.
There were often occurrences where some of the more influential individuals who passed us by would stare at us with that "Who are you?" look on their faces.
Though after a short while, we got used to that and continued to move onward. No one actually bothered to interfere with our progress and would go on with their own business after a few seconds.
We arrived at the Royal Palace around 4 in the afternoon.
It's finally time to say goodbye to the Princess.
Hmm, I have to say, after these past few days, I've grown quite attached to her, so this parting will be quite sad for me.
Well... So I thought. It would seem our separation will be slightly delayed.
The Tomboy Princess requested to be taken to the location where only those with a [Royal Ring] could enter, the Amber Palace.
Honestly, this proposal of hers could result in a lot of different problems, but I ended up being persuaded by all of the benefits that I could receive from this proposal.
The place that we escorted the Princess and the Boy Knight to was in the center of the Amber Palace. The room was decorated in shades of amber and was called the [Sparkling Room].
The only individuals here are nobles, servants and the Royal family.
Because our group had appeared without prior notice, the servants here were very alarmed by our presence. Quite a few of them dropped what they were carrying when they noticed us.
They were wary of us, but since the Princess was with us, we were the same as invited guests of the Royal family and were treated with respect and politeness.
In all honestly, I would like to receive the reward that I was promised and leave as quickly as possible, but the Princess claimed that it would require some preparation.
It was determined that we would need to stay here until at least tomorrow afternoon. Of course, we weren't going to be placed in the same location as the Princess in the Amber Palace. Instead, we were moved in to a wing intended for guests.
Well, since we hadn't picked out a hotel yet, and since we were offered a world-class luxury, I... decided that it was possible to try to remain here for the day.
Dinner was amazing, the room was excellent and the bathroom was nice.
Life... Is... Good.
Today passed without problems, so I slept well.
Today's synthesis results:
[Hawk Eye] + [Wind Reading] + [Ephemeral Eye] = [Sense Area]