After their remaining days of two and half weeks, they could finally see their destination. It was so big that just the entrance gate was almost as big as a 7 floor building. In front of the gate, there were some people in similar clothes. Probably soldiers. There were multiple of them above the gigantic wall that encompasses the whole Royal capital. There was a small river around the wall, probably used to stall if there was an enemy.
Reaching the gate, he saw the driver handling the guards, a letter that has his father's symbol of dukedom. Seeing this, the guards nodded before walking towards the door.
After knocking on it for two times, he waited. Then answering him, Adam opened the door. Seeing a handsome young man together with three young ladies adorned in wealthy clothes, he wanted to curse the young man for his luck. However he nodded before saying, "Forgive us Lord Aldians..! Since the King ordered us to tighten the security, we couldn't let you pass without checking. Now that I've seen you, you can pass freely."
Though the guard expected the young master to act arrogant, he heard a kind voice from him saying, "Don't apologize sir. You are doing your duty. I feel very safe after knowing that the soldiers are doing so much for this country's protection...."
Hearing this, the soldier puffed his chest in pride before a smug appeared on his face and he said, "You are such a flatterer! Anyway, thank you for your cooperation. Open the gates..!"
They greeted each other again before Adam closed the cart. Sensing a silence, he glanced at the girls and saw that they were smirking. He coughed and averted his face to hide his embarrassment. Seeing this the girls giggled.
.
.
.
.
.
After an expected long journey of an hour, they reached a building that looked like a small booth. Opening the cart, they exited it. The cart driver then said, "This is the place to register for the entrance exam a week later. After registering, you are told to go to an inn until the enrollment. Here's the letter he wrote for the inn. With this, my duty here is completed."
He said to which Adam nodded. He then took out two pouches of money and gave it to him. Seeing two pouches he wanted to ask why there was so much money, Adam beat him to the punch saying, "It's a little apology for our disturbance~"
He said with a wink. The driver understanding his words smiled knowingly before bowing and leaving the place with a smile. When they heard him saying, 'apology for the disturbance' they didn't understand what he meant. However he wasn't going to embarrass them like that. He then turned towards the booth before knocking on the outside board.
Startled by the knocking, a middle aged man with brown hair and wearing a robe immediately noticed a young man and three beautiful ladies. Though he wanted to say something to the girls, the fear of offending a noble wasn't something he could endure. So he quickly asked them, "Are you guys here for registration..? If so, then fill this form and pay 1 gold coin for each person."
Though he was surprised by the payment, he didn't say anything as he brought the forms to the girls before bringing it back right away. He then placed four gold coins like it was nothing. Seeing this, the man was smiling. However when he read the contents of the form, his whole smile cramped before turning to a scaredy cat.
He couldn't believe his eyes. He saw the names like, 'Aldians' one time, and 'Malevier' three times in a row...! He then looked at the young man and saw that he was showing a smile. But behind that smile, he saw an illusionary eyes staring at him. Trembling horribly, he suddenly said,
"Si-since i like you guys a bit, I shall let you register for free...!"
Nodding his head, Adam took the gold coins back before taking the tokens used by registered people for the entrance exam. Walking towards the girls, Adam heard Amy saying, "Adam is bullying an uncle right after entering the Royal capital..."
He felt an arrow strike through his heart when he heard the word 'bullying'. Ignoring the knowing smile given by the girls squad, he took out his father's letter. Reading its outer contents, he asked the nearby person for the address. After following the address, they reached an inn that looked rather normal.
Seeing someone, coming to their place, a voice echoed outside the inn, "Welcome-nya~~! Are you here to stay or eat -nya~~?"
Hearing that there is 'nya' at the end of the words, he thought one thing...!
'A cat demi-human..!?' Answering his doubts, a young and kind looking girl with chestnut hair and black eyes just exited the inn.
There were some special characteristics that attracted him and the girls. Especially Adam and Amy. Looking closely, they could see that it is a real deal.
Seeing her customers staring at her, or rather her ears and tail which were an exact copy of a cat, she couldn't help but be embarrassed. Perhaps because of her shyness, her ears twitched which caused Adam and Amy to say in unison,
"Cute...!"
"Nya..!?" Hearing someone calling her cute right as they met, she doesn't know what to say. To make the matter worse, one of them was a young man. The reason for this was, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He seems to be noble from his clothes, however he wasn't arrogant in his behavior. He was almost childish. She could see mild interest in his eyes. It wasn't of malicious intent, but pure intrigue.
She being a demi-human, was forced to work in a low profile job, and if not for her parents being adventurers, she would be now a slave to a noble man.
Seeing that she is uncomfortable with their eyes, he coughed before bowing slightly and said, "I apologize for staring at you. In fact this is the first time we've seen a catkin. So we were interested in knowing you. I hope you forgive us."
She was startled when he suddenly bowed. So when he asked for forgiveness, she was flustered. He was a nobleman. If she offends them, her parents will also get involved in this mess. So she didn't know what to do. Suddenly, she said,
"Please raise your head Sir..! I am not worthy enough to make you bow. It was my mistake..!"
Hearing this, Adam was now confused. "What are you saying Miss..?" When he asked, he saw that she was on the verge of crying as tears began building at the corner of her eyes. Looking at each other and nodding, Adam and Amy plopped their hands on her head. With a confused face, the cat girl spelled a stupid 'Nyah!??' before turning red. However she didn't avoid them.
Somehow she felt very comfortable when they began petting her. Adam and Amy were showing a face which made the other girls think, 'why are you two smiling like a perverted old man..!?'. After feeling satisfied, they both retreated their hands before Adam said, "You are misunderstanding something, ms. cat. We wanted to be your friends. However if you are afraid of us, then it can't be helped."
"That's right. Besides we are going to stay here for almost two weeks. So we will get to know you better in the future....!"
The cat girl nodded with her ears down, which she herself found weird. She never wanted anyone to touch her ears. Now however there was something an empty feeling. She didn't say anything. She only nodded before bringing them inside.