Military city—Berqua.
That seemed to be the name of the place where we currently were.
Apparently, we'd entered Berqua's dominion without knowing it.
But this was my first time ever receiving such a 'passionate'
welcome.
And for some reason, I'd became extremely apprehensive when the
word 'dominion' was brought up.
Well, that might be because the other places were just too lax with
their security, though.
"I must say, this town is surrounded by a really heavy air, isn't it?" I
remarked.
"Indeed. How do I put it, it feels like everyone is afraid of something,"
replied Magmell.
Looking over the surroundings, we got an of out of place feeling that
we couldn't put our fingers on.
Seemed like the residents were trying to keep away from the
soldiers, too; I wondered if they weren't well liked.
"More importantly, 're we really goin' to the royal palace just like this?
These brats 're suspicious as hell," complained Ophir, looking at the
five girls who were taking us.
According to Magmell, these girls were giving off presences of
saintess, but were they really?
Sure, their archery was pretty amazing, but…
"Our utmost priority right now is to get a grasp of what's happening in
the town. Given how strict the security is and how well-armed the
guards are, there is definitely something going on. There are these
girls, too. I'm guessing that they are probably some sort of weapons.
Weapons which is based on 'saintess', that is," said Arca.
"But ya know…" Ophir grumbled.
Looked like this situation didn't sit well with Ophir who loved
freedom.
I really sympathized with her feelings, but as Arca had said, our
utmost priority right now was to grasp the actual situation of this
town.
"Well, we've told them that our party is composed of saintesses, let's
try meeting the king here for now. In case we get detained unfairly,
we can just break out by force, so it's not that big of a problem." I
said.
"Ou! At that time, Imma do my best to destroy this town!" Ophir
clenched her fist, seemingly happy.
Well, that's a bit…
We didn't necessarily need to destroy the town, you know…?
◇ ◇
"—Welcome to my Berqua, Saintesses."
Like that, a strict-looking man who seemed to be in his 40s greeted
us from the throne.
He wore a heavy armor, and I could see that he was well trained
from the intimidating feeling he released.
Though I was sure he was the king, I bet he was a first-class warrior,
too.
However, what I was more interested in was the woman standing
beside him.
She was a cool beauty like Arca, but I felt like I'd met her before
somewhere for some reason.
"My name is Zestgard. The king of Berqua. First of all, I would like to
apologize for the rough welcome. Those homunculi are excellent but
they can be quite inflexible. They never give consideration when
dealing with intruders."
"Homunculi…?" Arca knitted her eyebrows.
King Zestgard said with a proud face, "Indeed. They are artificial
lifeforms created by concentrating the essences of Magical
Engineering that Berqua boast of—'Homunculi'. Incidentally, they are
based on my daughter here—Zana, the 'Bow' Saintess."
""""—!?""""
The girls were all artificial lifeforms!?
Moreover, they were based on his daughter… no, the Bow
Saintess!?
We were all so shocked that we lost for words.
King Zestgard said with a bold smile, "Well, let us talk about the
details slowly at dinner. You have been through a long journey. You
should rest your tired bodies first. —Zana, see our guests to their
accommodations."
"Understood." Nodding quietly, Zana—the Bow Saintess walked over
our way.
"Follow me. I'll show you to the guest rooms."
"Y-yes. Thank you for your kindness."
Following the nodding Magmell, we left the throne room, thanking
King Zestgard.
◇ ◇
The guest room that we were brought to was fairly luxurious.
"Well, of course it'd be gender-separated…"
Be that as it may, I was allotted to a single room by my lonesome.
It appeared that King Zestgard, as well as Zana, mistook me as the
saintesses' attendant.
Needless to be said, the girls had requested us to share room, but
unfortunately, it wasn't granted.
Well, it couldn't be helped.
This place had its own rules.
And we as guests had to follow it.
"By the way, you're the Bow Saintess, aren't you?"
Anyways, I decided to ask Zana, who was about to leave the room.
"Yes, that's right. Is the something wrong?"
"Err, homunculi? Those girls were so powerful it got me wondering,
see."
"That is a matter of course. They are endowed with my power as a
saintess—that is "Heaven Bow" skill, and granted with 'Pseudo
Holy Bows' of which power is very close to the real Holy Bow."
"I see. Umm, Magical Engineering, was it? It's really amazing. Being
able to create an artificial lifeform itself is a great enough feat, but to
think it could even give the artificial lifeforms a skill, which only the
Goddess of Creation can bestow."
I intended to honestly praise the technology of this town but,
"—You are surprisingly a very talkative person, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
Looked like Zana didn't receive it very well.
"Well then, I'll come back to call you when it's time for dinner.
"Goodbye," she left the room expressionlessly.
"Ehh…"
Needless to be said, that made me became a bit downcast.