Chapter 207

In spite of everything, the horses had a good long rest all the way up until midday, so our speed after that was great. They started at a good speed and did not slow down until we reached our goal.

And so we arrived at the imperial capital in no time.

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While we had reached our goal, we had not yet gone through the gates. This was the imperial capital after all, and security was tight. Other carriages joined the traffic from side roads. We were now moving slowly in a very long line.

“Will we even get through by the end of the day?”

“Hmm…I am not sure…”

We sat in the driver’s seat next to Mister and stared up ahead. The sun was casting long, long shadows.

I climbed up onto the tarp and looked behind the wagon. The driver, who Mister called Moosh, was looking at us with a bored expression. The line continued on behind him. There were Adventurers on foot and carriages. They would definitely be staying out here during the night as well. Night shift buddies.

“We will have to camp out here then.”

“Even if we did get in, the inns will probably be full… After all, there is the Imperial Sword Tournament.”

“I see…damn, that’s not good…”

Would there be an inn for us…?

“Daniela. What should we do? There may not be any inns open.”

“That would be awful…”

I called from the top of the wagon. Daniela turned around and looked at me. Indeed. We had only just heard about this tournament and hadn’t thought about it too much. We had never lacked for an inn to stay at before, but we may have to sleep outside this time. I didn’t want to do that. We didn’t come all this way to the capital just to sleep in the streets.

“Well, there is a post town, so it shouldn’t come to that.”

“Hmmm… But if everyone in this line stays there…”

I scanned the procession once again. Hmm. There were a lot of people. The tournament was to be in three weeks. But we were surely the late-comers.

Well, there may at least be a very low-quality inn we could stay at. It wouldn’t be bad as long as they had a bar.

I told Daniela this and she agreed. It would be annoying that we had to be more careful in regard to security, but it was better than staying on the streets. We would probably wake up in prison after being robbed blind.

“But, well…the gates will close when the sun goes down. We’ll have to camp out here then.”

“Oh, the gates are closing?”

I thought maybe a place as big as this city would be open twenty-four-seven.

“They usually are open at all times. But you know, there is the tournament.”

A lot of dangerous folks had gathered from across the land. Mister said this in a whisper. I whispered back that we would be sleeping outside amongst them… We had to hope that nothing would happen.

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When the red sun had sunk completely, the west gate closed with the sounds of creaking wood. A guard came out on horseback and shouted to us that we would be received on the following morning.

Well, there was nothing to do then. Those who were in the line gave up and started to prepare to camp for the night. Though, people did not want to give up their positions, and the tents were all made in or as close to the lines as possible.

As we did not want to move either, we pitched the tent right in front of the wagon. One of Mister’s tents, that is. As we had used our own tent up until now, we had not seen this tent until its debut.

Ours had been made of two triangles, a pole and large rectangle cloth to go on top.

But this tent had one large pole in the center with a circular cloth that spread out from it. It was like a cone…like a mountain that I child might draw. As the pole was long and the cloth large, it was very spacious inside.

“I like it…”

“We should buy one like this next time.”

Daniela and I inspected the interior and began making plans for our next purchase.

It was decided that two people would take the watch at a time and Daniela and I would rest first. Mister said we had done so well in the fight and deserved to rest. So I accepted.

“Hahh…that was a tiring day…”

“I am quite confident that I shall sleep until morning.”

“Please don’t.”

Of course, I wasn’t sure I could get up either. I was tired both mentally and physically.

‘Goodnight,’ I said as I pulled the blanket over my face. It did not take long for sleep to come.

Moosh woke me up a few seconds later. Actually, I had slept for longer, but it felt like seconds.

As hard it was, Daniela and I rubbed at our eyes and left the tent. The moonlight shone beautifully down. The sky was also full of stars.

“Wow…”

“I am tired…”

Daniela and I dragged ourselves to the driver’s seat.

“…Wait, shouldn’t we split up? You should go to the other wagon, Daniela.”

“I am quite sure I shall fall asleep if I am alone…”

“Me too… Ah, well. It can’t be helped then.”

And so we decided to sit on top of Mister’s wagon. From here, we would be able to see the wagon behind us.

I took some food out of the hollow bag, which I had brought. I had been more tired than hungry earlier, so we decided to have a late-night snack now. The skewers of meat and vegetables looked especially appetizing under the moonlight. By the way, we had given some to Mister and Moosh before going to bed. They would go to bed on full stomachs. The opposite of us.

“We will have to satisfy other urges once we get a room.”

“Daniela. Are you even awake?”

“This is good.”

I stared at her but she looked unconcerned, and so I decided to focus on the food as well. Yes, it was good. I had high hopes for whatever new food the capital would offer.

And so we sat there and ate. Now that I think of it, it was our first meal of the day…no wonder it felt so satisfying.

“Asagi. I want more.”

“Yeah. Take any you like.”

“Which one should I…”

I offered her the bag and she stuffed her arms inside. I ate three barbecue meat skewers and three spicy vegetable and meat rolls. That was enough.

“I will have what you were having.”

“It’s very popular. As it should be.”

We had bought that at the bar. As we could not get more, part of me wanted to save it for a special occasion. But humans could rarely beat their appetites.

As I had nothing better to do while Daniela ate and stared at the moon, I used Night Eyes to look at our surroundings. It allowed me to see quite a lot, which was kind of fun. Perhaps it was the notion that I was seeing what others couldn’t. Still, it was just a lot of identically covered wagons. And so my gaze turned to the sky.

There was something mystical and alluring about the night sky. I would often stare at it without any reason.

Perhaps it was a habit that started when I was a part-time worker. Of course, when there were no customers. That being said, living in the city meant the sky was never this clear. The best time to see stars was right after a typhoon.

I would often stare at the stars and wonder if I could really carry on with that job… Things were different now. I felt different when I looked at the sky. I felt sorry for my dead-end life at that time, but now I had Daniela with me and felt fulfilled in our days together. I still worried about the future, but I also looked forward to it. Back then, there was nothing but anxiety…

“Daniela. Do you mind if I go take a walk?”

“If you must… But do not go too far.”

“I’m not your kid.”

“More like a descendant.”

It was sometimes hard to know when poking her about her age would annoy her. But I guess women were like that. And with that, I jumped off of the tarp and went on a stroll.