Abandoned by my Childhood Friend, I Became a War Hero

→ City of Adventurers (2) ←

When the city gate first opened, we were greeted by a mere civil servant of the city hall.

However, when he saw the undeniable evidence of royalty, a silver hairpin, among us, he turned pale and dared to commit the disrespect of running away after saying, ‘Please wait a moment,’ in front of the princess.

Then, a little later, the city’s mayor himself rushed to the city gate.

“Ha ha, I had no idea Her Highness, the Third Princess, would be here. If I had known in advance, I would have prepared a grand party.”

“Strange. Didn’t the Academy send a letter in advance?”

“Well, that was just a week ago… It takes at least two weeks to ride a horse here from the capital, doesn’t it? I didn’t expect you to be so fast… Oh, it’s incredible! Is this the rumored non-public transport? Indeed, if you came on this, you could arrive so quickly! It’s really a blessing from the Goddess that the city was saved!”

The mayor, trying to change the subject with an exaggerated laugh, was continuously flustered in front of Elizabeth, wiping the sweat running down his oily face with a handkerchief.

In contrast, Elizabeth revealed no emotion, just slightly lifting her red lips into a well-crafted smile. Of course, she only appeared to be a generous princess on the surface.

“We don’t need a party. We’d appreciate it if you could provide us with a place to rest.”

“Of course, of course! I’ll prepare a room in the best inn in the city.”

“That would be appreciated. Thank you, Mayor Roman.”

“Oh, don’t mention it! It’s only natural considering the request comes from Her Highness, the Third Princess. It’s odd to stand here and talk, shall we go inside? I’ll guide you to the city hall first.”

Mayor Roman bent his waist 90 degrees and kept an eye on Elizabeth.

From this sight, one could really grasp the overwhelming power of the royal family. Even so, there was an undeniable sense of it being a bit too much.

Gwyn opened her mouth with a puzzled look.

“The mayor? Isn’t the highest person in the city usually the lord?”

“That’s because Shubaltsheim is directly under the empire.”

Schultz pushed up his glasses and spoke to Gwyn.

“Originally, Shubaltsheim had a different name before the war, and it was a territory governed by a noble family. However, they could not handle the undead pouring out from the Ionia Kingdom, and the city was destroyed. The lord evacuated to the capital with his family.”

“Huh? Is that allowed?”

“There’s no specific law against it, but as a noble, it’s something to be criticized for. After all, he disgracefully fled without protecting his territory. Well, given that the enemy was the demon army, there might be some room for understanding towards the lord…”

Schultz cut off his words with a short cough.

“Anyway, after the war ended, the restoration of the city took place under the initiative of the royal family, who felt the need to reclaim the border. Later, the lord’s family claimed ownership of the city, but of course, the royal family wouldn’t recognize it. That’s how a border city was created with a new name, Shubaltsheim.”

Schultz pointed to the mayor, who was consistently flattering Elizabeth, with his chin.

“That’s why he’s so deferential. If he were a lord, there would be no need to be intimidated since the city is his land, but the mayor is just a position appointed by the administration. If he falls out of favor with the royal family, his mayoral status would disappear from that point.”

“Hmm, I see….”

Gwyn nodded at Schultz’s words, then looked around for a moment and spoke.

“Anyway… why are people looking at us?”

“Isn’t that obvious? We arrived from the sky on a non-public transport and we’re the party who saved the city. People would naturally be curious.”

“No, not that… I mean, their gaze seems unusual…”

Gwyn was right. I had felt it too, from earlier.

More than 200 people were passing by, so it was natural to draw attention, yet all the citizens’ eyes contained the same emotion.

It was desperation. They looked at us as if we were the only saviors. Even considering that I drove away the undead army, their gaze felt a bit too intense.

Then, an old woman cut in front of us. To be precise, right in front of the mayor.

“Mayor! Mayor, please…!”

While everyone was taken aback, the old woman knelt before Mayor Roman, crying in desperate sorrow.

“Please help our daughter! Those monster bastards took my girl! Please, please save our daughter…!”

“What the! Why aren’t you getting rid of her now!”

“Ah, yes!”

“Mayor, Mayor…! Ah! Are you really the mayor of this city-!”

The guards escorting the mayor harshly dragged the woman away. She clung to the mayor’s coat, tears streaming down her face, but in the end, she couldn’t avoid being taken away.

The atmosphere grew heavier. As the students looked on in confusion, Mayor Roman wiped the sweat off his forehead, smiling as if nothing had happened.

“Heh, that was an unpleasant incident. Please follow me. I will continue the tour.”

“…What was that just now?”

“Just a malicious complaint. Such things are common in the city. You don’t need to pay too much attention.”

While the students were frozen in shock, the faces of the city’s citizens who were watching the scene were impassive.

No, rather, their gaze seemed to indicate they were witnessing an expected outcome. A clear hostility could be felt in the eyes of the citizens looking at the mayor.

It seemed that the city’s situation was far from normal, much worse than it appeared.

I pulled out a piece of black cloth from a nearby fabric shop, tossing a silver coin to the merchant. As the merchant happily pocketed the coin, I approached Instructor Lirya.

“I’m going to take a look around the city for a bit.”

“Huh? Instructor Graham, don’t tell me you’re going to-“

“It’s not dangerous. And I’ll be back shortly.”

Instructor Lirya looked up at me with worry-filled eyes.

“…You must return soon, right?”

I nodded at her and wrapped the black cloth around my body like a robe.

After pulling the cloth down to hide my face, I made no sound and concealed my presence.

“Huh? Where did Instructor Eon go?”

“He was here just a moment ago… How strange?”

Leaving the confused voices of the students behind, I quickly disappeared into an alleyway.

***

The current situation of the city wasn’t information of great importance.

I could easily overhear the curses and complaints of the worn-out citizens, and if that wasn’t enough, I could catch a few gang members in the back alleys for more information.

What I discovered about the current state of Shubaltsheim was, to put it simply, a mess.

Regardless, now that I had the information I wanted, I headed straight back to the city hall. It was much easier to enter through a window rather than bothering with an identity check at the front entrance.

I was able to find where the students were quite easily. There was a lot of noise coming from upstairs.

I went straight up to find the students.

Upon seeing me, Marian asked with a surprised look.

“Instructor Eon? Where on earth did you go? And how did you get in?”

“It’s nothing. But why is it so noisy?”

“The mayor and the instructors of the Garnet Red are having a discussion inside. But…”

I didn’t need to listen to the rest of Marian’s explanation.

Because Instructor Lirya’s voice was ringing out loudly enough to be heard outside.

“What do you mean there’s not a single horse in the city!”

“As I’ve been telling you, for several days now the horses in the city have been suffering as if sick, so it’s really not feasible for us to provide a means of transportation for 200 people.”

“…Fine. We’ll give up on the carts and move on foot. That should be no problem, right?”

“Well, the truth is… the only bridge connecting the city was destroyed a few days ago by an undead attack. If you want to go to Jeddah, you’ll have to go around the river or cross the border of Ionia.”

“And all the carpenters who could repair the bridge have been deployed to repair the city walls?”

“Exactly.”

“Then we’ll buy a boat. Surely you won’t say there are no boats?”

“I’m really sorry to say this, but during the attack, all the boats that were moored in the river were destroyed. As for making new ones, as I mentioned, the carpenters-“

“This won’t work, that won’t work…! So you’re saying we should just stay in the city and not move!”

The dispute between Instructor Lirya and the mayor continued in the reception room.

To be precise, the mayor was just making excuses, and the only one losing her temper was Instructor Lirya.

“Hmm, but we’ve sent Juggler, so reinforcements should be coming soon. How about staying in the city until then?”

“You’re suggesting staying in a place where we don’t know when the undead might attack again? No! I can’t put the students in danger! They are not combatants! We will leave the city as soon as possible!”

“Even if you say that, the situation doesn’t allow it. And don’t you have combatants? I heard there’s a very formidable warrior…”

“…That doesn’t mean we have any reason to risk our lives and fight! It’s truly tragic about the city’s danger, but we were just inadvertently involved!”

“Now, now, Instructor Lirya. Calm down… haven’t you seen Instructor Graham fight? The mayor does have a point…”

“Instructor Haiger, you sure are easygoing about other people’s business! The one risking his life to fight is Instructor Graham! How about you go and fight yourself, Instructor Haiger!?”

“Ah, no… I didn’t mean that…!”

Hmm….

I’m not sure if it’s okay to keep listening to this.

Anyway, the conversation continued a little more, but it just kept going on parallel lines without any clear conclusion.

In the end, the one who first left the room was Instructor Lirya.

“I can’t believe you won’t listen! I cannot agree to the people of the academy, including the students and instructors, being in danger!”

“Instructor Lirya!”

Bang!

I caught Instructor Lirya’s eye as she opened the door to the reception room and came out.

She showed a briefly flustered look, but quickly walked away down the opposite end of the corridor.

I quickly caught up with her, walking briskly, and asked,

“Are you okay?”

“…Did you hear everything I said?”

“Not everything. I just got here a little while ago.”

“Then you might as well have heard everything. Sigh….”

Instructor Lirya paused for a moment in the corridor and looked around.

Then, confirming that it was just the two of us, she lowered her voice cautiously.

“I don’t understand the mayor’s attitude. He’s making all sorts of excuses to prevent us from leaving the city. Does he really want us to fight instead of the city guards?”

“It might be a very dangerous situation, don’t you think?”

“Even so, it doesn’t make sense…! This is Shubaltsheim, the city of adventurers! It’s the place with the most S-ranked adventurers who are master-level in the entire continent, no matter how many undead there are, can’t they hold out for just a few days until reinforcements arrive?”

Instructor Lirya’s thoughts had merit.

No matter how terrifying the undead are and even though they brought siege weapons.

Considering that the majority of them were lower undead, it was true that the city was being hit in an inexplicable manner, as if the adventurers had hardly participated in the battle.

This place was Shubaltsheim, the city of adventurers.

It was teeming with professionals who were especially skilled at slaying monsters – specifically, the undead.

“It’s probably because of that.”

“Huh?”

I explained to Instructor Lirya in a calm manner what I had seen in the city.

“Most of the adventurers in the city have declared a strike.”