"I see now, the mechanism is quite simple. So even with only two wheels you can ride around like that."
"Y-Yeah," Senna replied with languor. The coachman, whose name was Herman, unreservedly requested that Senna demonstrated various techniques he could use when riding the bike.
It was one thing about simply riding to get to one place or another, but he also asked to see advanced freestyle techniques such as raising the wheels, spinning, bunny hopping, and so on.
As a non-practicing rider, it was too much. The exhaustion from both the day's ordeal combined with the impromptu stunts display was bearing down on him.
"You look tired, friend. Come, feel free to rest on the back of my wagon," Herman invited. His index finger pointed to the rather empty wagon bed. "Your dog seemed to be enjoying itself."
Cybele was freely relaxing on it. Practicing stunts while carrying a dog was impossible, at least for Senna, so he had asked to let her get on it.
"It's far slower than I'm with you, Sen, but being on this 'wagon' is pretty nice too," the dog let him know her feelings on the matter.
As before, it seemed Herman couldn't register that Cybele was speaking. To the coachman, it only looked like she was merely barking.
"Is it because of the Language Comprehension effect?" Senna threw out a guess.
«It is so. The effect allows you to understand any language uttered by intelligent lifeforms.»
The system explained it briefly. "So you mean Cybele is really sentient?"
«Indeed, it appears so.»
His mind returned to the woman in the fog. If she and Cybele were truly the same entity, why didn't she acknowledge it? Her appearance was pretty dang human, but the dog said she never saw any human before him.
The more he learned about the Siberian Husky, the more mysterious she became.
"Ah… Thanks for letting me aboard." Leaning the mountain bike to the side of the bed's wall, Senna was finally able to sit down and rest his tired legs.
"No problem. Where did you come from, anyway? Morrigan?"
He had no idea where Morrigan was even supposed to be. Or rather, Senna didn't even know the name of the region he was in.
The only geographical name he learned was Kyllian City where they were heading.
"…I'll be honest, I don't even know where this is. It took me, uh, quite a long time to traverse the forest where I was lost."
"You serious? Just what kind of nowhere village did you crawl out from? Obviously, we're in Helena Kingdom."
'Hm?' The name sounded familiar.
«In the analysis of Count Silverback, it mentioned the term Helena Kingdom where the beast is a native population.»
What a great helper, this system of his. Although sometimes she was disappointingly absent during crises when Senna needed her the most.
"Helena Kingdom? A constitutional monarchy?" Senna inquired.
"Constitutional? What's that? Never heard it before. Dunno what you're talking about, but the King's the one who ruled the whole nation."
Hearing that, Senna finally confirmed the one thing he already guessed since the first time he woke up in this world. It was still in the medieval age.
Herman's horse-drawn carriage was a blatant sign, sure, but Senna knew some regions of his modern world where people still used them frequently.
"Look, we can already see the gate clearly. You okay with going in the city, right?"
"Yes, that's my intention."
Soon they arrived at the entrance to the city. A very tall arch greeted them as they lined up at the checkpoint, standing proudly with raised iron grates that looked substantially imposing.
To the side, nestled in the wall was a room that Senna presumed to be the place guards were stationed.
"Are they checking the goods people are carrying?" Senna wanted to check and make sure.
"Obviously. You do be kinda clueless, don't you?"
The queue of carriages and wagons slowly trickled as the guards armed with swords and spears inspected both the occupants as well as their cargo.
Glancing at his bike, Senna was anxious. With his modern-time perception, its appearance was strikingly out of place in the current environment.
"Will my bike get me in trouble?"
"Nah, don't worry. It's just a weird-shaped wagon with two wheels, right? I'll help explain it to them."
With the coachman's assurance, a portion of Senna's worry was eased. However, it didn't completely assuage his anxiety.
"Hey there, Lop!" the coachman addressed one of the guards with familiarity.
"Oh, that's you, Herman. Finally returned home, I see."
It seemed the two were acquainted. The guard named Lop shook hands with Herman in friendly gestures.
"Yeah, left the capital three days ago. Crazy, man. Monster attacks are rising in that region. Got chills wandering the roads alone. Guess I should've hired escorts."
"That's your own fault, you dumb cheapskate. Told you it's getting dangerous lately."
As they talked, Lop finally took notice of the passenger and his dog sitting on Herman's wagon.
"You got someone with you?"
"Yup. Met him just a while ago on the road. Can you believe it? He suddenly jumped out from the bushes in front of me. Thought he was a bandit for sure," Herman recounted his experience.
"Heh, for real?" Lop moved closer and examined Senna from top to bottom. "Sure, got a weird getup on him. Don't look like a bandit one bit, though," the guard commented.
"Thank you for the confidence…" Whether it was supposed to be a compliment or not was subject to different interpretations.
"What's this thing?" Noticing the mountain bike, Lop inquired. "There are two wheels on it."
"Farron—that's his name by the way—called it a bike. It's a vehicle to be ridden by one person, I'd say. Quite an intriguing concept."
"Wagon with two wheels? I see, I see. With how small it is, I can understand how useful it can be in crowded places," Lop interpreted.
He seemed pretty smart, unlike the ignorant and oblivious security tropes Senna often read in fiction.
"So you're not bringing anything back with you?" Lop changed the subject, returning his eyes to Herman. "Usually you brought souvenirs home."
"Don't have the chance this time. The capital is in pretty bad shape right now. Honestly, I wished I could get out of there a day earlier."
"Ah, the tension with the Empire? Yeah, I can imagine people are on the verge of rioting over there."
"True. Stupid debacle, indeed."
As he listened, Senna learned something new. It seemed there was a bad relationship between the Helena Kingdom and another state, an empire. He wondered whether interstate wars were commonplace in this world.
"Well, I'm just holding the line relaxing out here. I'm going in, yeah?" Herman said to Lop.
"Sure. This Farron guy is clear too. Say hi to your wife for me."
"Idiot. Why would I do that? Hah," scoffed Herman as he spurred the horse to continue its trot.
"Goodbye, Mr. Lop!" Cybele said her farewell to the guard, though it would only amount to an incoherent bark for anyone except Senna.
"You really are one curious dog, aren't you?"
Entering the city proper, Cybele repeatedly turned around and around observing the view of humankind in their natural habitat.
For Senna, it was as new and foreign as well. The cityscape perfectly fit his imagination of what the medieval fantasy world looked like.
The houses were built on bricks, often without any covering layer. Multiple lantern posts dotted the sidewalk, which he guessed would be lit when night came.
The cobblestone streets were filled with stagecoaches carrying people wearing tunics and linen shirts. Observing the pedestrians they passed by, Senna saw striking differences between some people and others.
A few wore substantially cleaner and higher quality clothes than the rest. Complimenting their clean look were warm fur cloaks and fashionable ankle-length trousers. Beautiful leather leggings finished the cultured appearance perfectly.
The most extravagant ones he saw decorated themselves in jewelry.
In contrast, many he saw only had rags as the sole garment covering their body. A lot of them also didn't have any footwear under their feet. A word came to Senna's mind as he observed them: peasants.
If that was the case, then the finely clothed ones must be the upper class.
"Hey, Farron. Where do you wanna go? I can carry you to it."
"…Ah."
He just realized that he had no clear destination at all. And above that, he also had no money he could use.