"Hmm, for some reason, manipulating my mana in this place is challenging," I remarked, raising an eyebrow.
Upon hearing my observation, the girls also attempted to manipulate their mana.
"What?! It's indeed more challenging to manipulate my mana here!" Eva frowned as she struggled to control her mana.
Similar reactions echoed among the other girls.
"Well, to be honest, it's not that we can't manipulate mana; it just takes longer to accumulate mana," I explained to them.
The one most affected by this issue was me, given my frequent use of mana in close-range combat. However, for the girls, who didn't expend large amounts of mana repeatedly, the slower mana buildup wasn't as detrimental.
Even though I was the most affected, it wasn't a severe problem for me. As a master-rank swordsman, my mana manipulation ability was quite proficient. Despite the debuff, my mana buildup speed remained above average.
In summary...
"Well, it doesn't matter too much," I downplayed the significance of the matter. 'In recent times, so many unexpected events of this type have happened that worrying too much isn't going to do us any good,' I concluded.
While I was reaching that resolution, Angie was lost in thought.
"Franz, maybe I know what has happened to the Wyverns."
We paid attention to Angie's words.
"A long time ago, I attended a conference at the headquarters to learn more about enemy monsters. There, I heard that Wyverns use mana to help them fly. They use mana as a type of fuel that facilitates flight.
If they need to manipulate mana to fly, that would perfectly explain what just happened.
'This is all incredibly suspicious, isn't it?' I thought.
I mean, just as we were about to reach Winterland, this problem occurred.
I don't need to be a genius to know that there is already something wrong with this city before I even entered it.
In the worst scenario, the authorities may already be cooperating with that criminal organization.
No, in the worst case, they have been part of them since the beginning.
Hmm, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that we couldn't keep flying with the Wyverns.
We didn't even know how to stop, and if any of the guards in the city had detected three Wyverns approaching, they would probably have set off a security alarm.
That would've completely ruined our wow factor.
"For now, let's get close to the city walls without being detected," I suggested.
Since we were in a magic-free zone, we could at least take advantage of the fact that there wouldn't be any magicians using detection magic on the wall.
Well, those guys had indeed used teleportation before, but they seemed to be big shots, so it was unlikely that mere guards could do it.
Perks of being the boss.
When all was said, we prepared to continue our journey on foot.
We kept some of our supplies in bags we carried, and the rest of the supplies were hidden nearby for an emergency situation.
As we were about to leave, though.
"Huh, guys, don't you think we're forgetting something?" Nat asked.
Eva, Angie, and I exchanged glances with each other, having no idea what Nat meant.
"Zzz, zzz, zzz..."
We slowly turned around.
Behind us, Jess lay sleeping peacefully on the floor.
This was her second nap today, so it was kind of strange that she slept so soundly in a situation like this.
"Oh, true..."
Angie and Eva turned their faces to the side in embarrassment for forgetting about Jess.
"I-I guess we have to wake Jess up and explain the whole situation to her first," I said while letting out a nervous laugh.
We had to wake her up and explain everything to her before we could leave.
***
To enter a fortified city that was the control center of a large area, different methods could be taken.
You could infiltrate by scaling the city walls, preferably at night.
You could also take more reckless approaches, such as creating a diversion at the entrance in broad daylight and infiltrating through the front door.
These approaches could be very effective when someone wanted to infiltrate the city without anyone knowing of their existence.
But Franz decided to take a different alternative.
"Number 127, it's your turn!!!"
"Hello, Mr. It's the five of us who want to enter."
"Identify yourselves and the reason for which you wish to enter the city."
"We are from a small village a little further west from here. We are traveling as trading traders. As you can see from the bags we are carrying, we have various types of goods to sell."
The guard checked the bags.
"Hmm, it's correct that you have various edible items with you. In that case, you can pass; it'll be twenty-five copper coins for the five of you to stay 1 week inside the city. You can extend your stay in the city by paying the corresponding amount in one of the government offices."
"No problem, please take this."
The guard showed a surprised face when he received fifty copper coins instead of twenty-five copper coins.
"You can keep the difference in coins as a gift from us for your hard work in keeping us safe from dangerous outsiders."
The guard smiled and said.
"You can come in; I hope you guys have a good day. I recommend you look for the 'Bonfire' Inn since it has the best prices per night for its quality. To sell your products, you will need to request a special permit from the merchants' guild, but if you say my name, Eric, the procedures to obtain the permit will be carried out more quickly."
"Thank you for your kindness in giving us that information, Mr. Eric. Have a good day!"
"Same, sir. I hope you guys enjoy your stay in Winterland."
In this way, the group of merchants bid farewell to Eric and entered the city with some identifications delivered by the guards for the value of the entrance.
"Franz... Are you sure it was a good idea to enter the city this way?" Eva asked.
"As you just saw, we were able to easily enter the city as traders. Even the friendly guard gave us useful information for a little extra money," I said smiling.
But more importantly,
Unlike the other two methods to infiltrate the city, this was the only option that provided us with IDs to get inside the city.
This was a crucial benefit even if it meant more exposure.
First of all, many places require you to show them your ID as a security measure.
Sometimes, guards patrolling the streets often ask you to show them your ID.
In the case of not having it, we would be immediately detected as criminals and locked up in a dungeon.
Of course, we would be able to run away before that could happen.
And for this very reason, the other options are the worst methods.
Luckily, we discovered that the city was accepting visitors.
There was even a long line outside the main entrance with people waiting to get inside.
We quickly abandoned the idea of sneaking in and just lined up with the rest of the people.
Finally, after at least an hour, our turn came, and we were able to successfully enter the city.
"To be honest, I was expecting a bit more chaos here," I said as I looked at the city.
"Yeah, it's strangely quiet, don't you think?" Angie replied with the same doubtful expression as me.
Winterland was a huge city, populated by thousands of inhabitants not only from the Herssian Kingdom but also by foreign merchants and visitors.
Due to its winter climate that lasted practically the whole year, it depended heavily on food imports both from abroad and from other parts of the Kingdom.
In fact, this was another of the big questions Franz had.
Since communications with this area were cut off, the shipment of food supplies from other regions of the Kingdom and from abroad was almost completely cut off.
After all, no one wanted to risk their lives transporting things here.
Companies also didn't think highly of risking losing their products and workers for no monetary gain.
But in that case...
How was it possible for the economy of the South to prosper?
We didn't know the answer to that question.
"Many people are selling their products here," Angie said.
"The streets are also full of people strolling and shopping. This is quite a contrast to what I thought it would be. Shouldn't the South be in a very bad situation?" Jess asked.
I frowned for a moment as I realized something.
"What do you think, Nat?" I asked.
Nat was a resident of the South in the first place; then, she might understand the current situation better than us.
Previously, I thought that she was simply a girl who had lived her whole life within that village without leaving that territory, so the information she could give us wouldn't be very useful.
However, I later found out that she had only been living in the village with her father for a while, so she might actually know more than I thought in the first place.
Unfortunately.
"I'm sorry, Franz, but I don't think I can help you with this. I'm not actually from this area; my father and I traveled a long distance before arriving here," Nat said.
"Wait. So you're not from the South? Where in the kingdom are you from, then?"
Nat hesitated for a moment before answering.
"...Actually, I don't come from this kingdom; I'm an immigrant who crossed the border hoping to find a better life here with my father."
Oh, this is unexpected.
So she isn't someone born in Herssian.
In that case, it's unlikely that she knows anything about the economy and politics of the area.
...
Wait a minute.
"Wait Nat, how did you and your father get across the border?"
"Hmm? By the official route at the border, of course. That place is always full of people crossing; many of them come not only to live here but also to trade their products."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Not only Franz, but the rest of the girls made shocked faces.
"Huh, guys why did everyone make that weird expression? Nat didn't understand what was wrong with what she had just said.
We were deep in thought.
Because there was no 'official passage' in this area.
The crime level in the area was supposed to be so high that multiple people had gone missing in recent years, so that channel was cut years ago by order of the royal family.
'Does that mean that they opened that immigration passage illegally?
Why would they do that, though?'
"Tell me, Nat, where do you think the most immigrant people came from," I asked.
I had a bad feeling.
"Huh, actually, quite a few of them come from different small countries, but if I were to say which place most of them come from...
"..would be from the Jacinto Kingdom."