"Ha?"
The merchant looked at Roland with a strange look in his eyes. Looking at Est, whose appearance was so exquisite that it was dazzling, he could not understand why such a delicate girl was called a sword by Roland.
The girl with waist-length silver-white hair responded to Roland in a flat voice after hearing his words.
"Yes, Est is the master's sword."
Despite these emotional words, Esther's face remained expressionless.
"Good."
Roland nodded with satisfaction, and then without hesitation put his hand on the girl's head and stroked it.
"… Ugh."
Being treated like this suddenly, Est did not resist at all, but just squinted her eyes comfortably.
This master and servant are really good at playing...
Seeing the friendly interaction between Roland and Est, the merchant twitched his lips. Not wanting to be fed by the brilliance of the two anymore, he simply shifted his attention to driving.
"Master...he doesn't seem to believe it."
Est glanced at the traveling merchant. Although her expression was still innocent, she seemed to see through what he was thinking. She leaned close to Roland's ear, blew warm breath into his ears, and uttered a heart-wrenching whisper.
"Want to prove it to him?"
"There's no need for that. The contract between Est and I doesn't need anyone else to acknowledge it."
Est's weight was completely on Roland, and her creamy skin gave Roland a wonderful touch and warmth through the magic-woven clothes.
He gently handed the hand to Est and asked her to look at the elf mark on the back of her hand.
The silent girl stretched out her fingers and gently stroked the back of Roland's hand with the mark on it, with a wonderful light flashing in her pupils.
"Yes, my destined master."
At the end of the Fourth War, Roland had a superficial impression of the contracted spirits of different classes, and the person who helped him fill the vacancy of the purple contracted spirit was Medea.
That's right, the conditions are as special as those of the blue ones, and there are specific requirements for the contractors, but the reason why the purple contract spirits are listed separately is because they are all alive.
Purple contracted spirits often sign contracts with the Key of All Spirits on their own initiative because they have special needs that cannot be met. Therefore, they are the rarest. In most cases, the choice between them and the contractors is a two-way one.
Although he had guessed it when he heard the introduction, Roland couldn't hide his surprise when he saw it with his own eyes.
The highest-ranking sword spirit, the Demon Slayer or Demon King-Killing Holy Sword, is a rare and good weapon even for him now.
In the process of accumulating just to complete his status, he unknowingly possessed the qualities that could be chosen by Est, which made him feel the wonder of the world.
Of course, the most important thing is that he found how to integrate into this world.
Not as an adventurer, not as a god, but as a hero, he announced his arrival to Orario.
In the most orthodox heroic epics, before the gods came and grace appeared, humans relied on the existence of immortal spirits to constantly fight against the disasters in the dungeon.
They have always played the role of guides and even assistants of heroes. They are born with the power to drive miracles. As the embodiment of elements, they can do many things, such as manufacturing top-level equipment, using the most advanced magic, and even turning into weapons to help ancient heroes fight.
Because of their powerful abilities that completely surpass those of other races and their friendly behavior, they are recognized as the race closest to God, and are also called "God's most favored children" and "God's incarnations".
In the past, immortal spirits were the true origin of the term God's grace, and, due to their rarity, immortal spirits were even more legendary than gods.
After all, the grace that the gods still need to develop is still slightly inferior to them. What's more, compared with the gods that can be seen everywhere, the traces of fairies have not appeared for a long time. If these useless gods had not indeed confirmed that fairies are real, I am afraid they would really be regarded as legends in stories.
Est's own personality and worldview make her a perfect fit for this role.
Then, it is reasonable that Roland, whom she chose, possesses strong strength and qualifications. With this identity as a cover, even if there is any turmoil in Orario later, no one will associate it with Roland.
Just as Roland was lost in thought, the voice of a surprised traveling merchant came from the side.
"We are here, Lord Roland, look,"
He called out to Roland in the same tone as, and pointed to the circular city, whose outline could already be seen and which existed only in imagination.
"That is the center of the world, the labyrinth city - Orario."
Roland subconsciously looked up and was soon attracted by the pure white tower that soared into the sky in the center of the city.
Without much effort, Roland successfully entered Orario. Because of its special nature, the gatekeepers would not only check whether there was any grace, but also quickly let the visitor in to prevent him from being sent by hostile clans to cause trouble.
As Est took the initiative to restrain her aura, although some people looked at the two of them curiously, nothing dramatic happened, and Roland entered the city smoothly.
Then he soon found out the reason.
On the noisy streets, pedestrians coming and going are intertwined, as if it is a scene that only exists in fantasy.
Because, among the crowds of people passing by, there were not many humans that Roland was familiar with. Instead, there were all kinds of fantastic races.
There are elves with a pair of long pointed ears, delicate looks, elegant clothes and manners, fancy looks, orcs with beast-like features, various animal ears and tails, and strong-looking orcs who are less than half the height of ordinary people, dwarfs with appearances ranging from old to young, and Amazons with cool clothes and wheat-colored skin, who are even more open-minded than Roland from modern times.
These people of different races walked harmoniously together on the street, talking to each other without any barriers, accompanied by the enthusiastic shouting of the surrounding stalls, which made Roland feel excited.
——I have never seen anything like this.
This was the first time he had seen a real different world. Even in the Shendu's experience, apart from humans, all he had impressions of were all kinds of strange monsters and demons.
However, although it looks very noisy, the surroundings do not seem chaotic. After all, the guild that manages this city has the basic responsibility of maintaining order. In addition, the security guards are formed by the Familia of Ganesha, who looks funny but is essentially a good person. Orario still maintains general peace.
At least the superficial peace was maintained. In order to supply the logistical needs of the gods' followers and adventurers, in this maze city, as long as ordinary people did not deliberately go to the side roads, there would not be much threat to their safety.
But for this city filled with perhaps the most adventurers in the world, conflicts hidden in the shadows never cease.
Humans cannot even solve the oppression of their own race, let alone cities where multiple races live together?
The gods are all pure pleasure seekers, and in most cases they act for fun. Not to mention the injustice faced by the residents of the underworld, some gods have a lax attitude towards the Familia they created and completely let them run wild.
No wonder the traveling merchant was worried about his careless attitude when he came in.
After all, Roland is now on the dark side of human evil. Putting aside factors such as his physical fitness compared to the servants, the Twelve Talismans, the power of the Beast, and whether or not he has a fully evolved stand, compared to the strongest people, he is simply weak and pitiful.
After admiring the surrounding scenery, Roland didn't walk far before arriving at the guild, which served as the management organization.
As the power center responsible for Orario's operations, this building is quite conspicuous and looks like a majestic temple. After entering the lobby on the first floor and glancing at the surrounding notice boards and the crowd gathered in it, Roland's eyes quickly locked on the receptionists in uniform.
They were dressed quite modernly, with white shirts and sleeveless vests on the upper body, and black trousers on the lower body. Their appearance was also above average, and they would not look out of place even in Fuyuki City.
Needless to say, this was another masterpiece brought by the gods, but at this point, Roland had to admire the gods' taste.
Uniforms are good for civilization.
This was especially true when the receptionist was still very pleasing to the eye. Roland followed his heart and came to the most beautiful one, walking over with Est.
"Hello, how do I become an adventurer?"
Eina, who was sorting out documents, raised her head and looked at the young man in front of her with some surprise. It was the first time she heard such a clear voice.
She has a pair of pointed ears like an elf, but the curvature is not that obvious. There is a warm glow in her emerald green pupils, and there is always a faint smile on her cute and sweet face, which distinguishes her from the natural indifference of traditional elves and makes people feel more approachable.
And under the smart uniform, her beautiful figure is clearly visible.
Although she is a half-elf, she is the most popular in the guild because of her personality. As a result, she is often approached by adventurers, forcing her to use the excuse that she is handling matters.
"Excuse me, I will handle it for you now."
Eina took out the form and looked at Roland in front of her.
The appearance of black hair and red eyes is rare among humans. The most important thing is that he has a natural temperament, which gives people a sense of reliability. The cute girl who sticks closely behind the young man further strengthens this sense of reliability.
However, he looks very young. Was he abducted by some unreliable god?
Unfolding the form, Eina began the usual questioning.
"Which god's Familia do you belong to?"
"I have no Familia."
Roland answered in a cheerful voice, but those brief words made Eina stunned.
"Huh?"
It was not uncommon to find people without a Familia in Orario. For example, she worked in the guild simply to supplement her Familia income, but for adventurers, this was very unusual.
"You can't enter the dungeon without a Familia. It's too dangerous for ordinary people."
However, despite this, Eina still instinctively released kindness.
Because Roland did not look thin and was already an adult, if he had good innate qualities and specialties, it would not be very difficult for him to join a Familia.
"What kind of clan do you want to join? Since you want to be an adventurer, then you should mainly join an exploration Familia. In that case, would you like to come back in a few days? Occasionally, gods will come to us to entrust us with recruiting new members, and I can help you keep an eye out for them."
"That's not necessary."
But Roland just smiled and flatly rejected Eina's good intention.
"I don't have any fame right now. If I join the clan, wouldn't that be like begging to be picked? Rather than being chosen, it would be more in line with my heart to let me hold the right to choose after I make a sensation in Orario."
Roland said this in a matter-of-fact tone, his arrogance evident in his words.
Even though Eina was not an adventurer, she was shocked by his words. Isn't it normal for gods to choose people from the lower world?
They are transcendent beings, but in Roland's words, they are equal to him, or even inferior to him. In the past few years as a receptionist, Eina has come into contact with all kinds of adventurers. Therefore, she was sure that the young man in front of her was not pretending, but believed this from the bottom of his heart.
"But...how are you going to enter the dungeon without joining a Familia?"
"Does the guild have a rule that requires you to join a Familia before you can enter the dungeon?"
This question left Eina speechless. The guild did not have such a rule, because any rational person knew that entering the dungeon without grace was tantamount to seeking death.
Even the goblins on the first level could cause casualties to ordinary people who have no combat experience once their numbers increase.
Even races with excellent talents would reach their limits after going deeper into the upper realms. In the past, the history of tens of thousands of armies of the lower realm residents being defeated by a Minotaur was still recorded in many books.
Not everyone is a legendary hero who can turn the tide and lead the development of the times.
"Indeed, no, but..."
Eina wanted to say something else, but Roland just smiled and said in a firm tone: "In that case, please help me register as an adventurer."
"——Without Falna, you can't take risks? Is taking risks such an inconvenient thing?"