Chapter 73: Kycilia Holy Kingdom

We approached the entrance of the city while enduring the strong winds in the desert. Two soldiers acted as gatekeepers and they watched over the open gate. They wore a light brown robe with a hood and large gray wings were visible on their back. They have goggles on their eyes and their face cannot be clearly seen.

“The two of you, stop right there! This is Vinea, the Holy Capital! Humans can’t enter!”

As expected, the soldiers showed a cold response as soon as they saw my face. It seems that we cannot enter the city like this. In the story of the Beast King, the winged race hates humans and beastmen. On the contrary, they are on good terms with elves and dwarves. If it’s only Erna, she can enter the city.

“My companion is an elf, is it possible for her to go inside?”

“If she’s an elf, there’s no problem. She could go inside.”

The soldier quickly cleared the way when he saw Erna’s ear. I then pushed her forward.

“Wai-, Shinichi. I won’t go inside by myself!”

“I will come inside in another way later. You go in first and wait for me.”

When I strongly pushed Erna, she could only reluctantly go inside. She looked back many times and had a worried expression on her face. After seeing her off her, I left the entrance at once. I said I’ll go inside in another way but I can’t think of any way. The only thing I can do here is to find a loophole somewhere and sneak inside.

“Now then, what should I do…”

I ponder about that while looking at the city. I do know that it is impossible to enter from the sky. The rainbow-colored dome that covers the city doesn’t look like it’s going to let people in. If so, the remaining option is for me to break a part of the wall or invade underground.

“Hey! Shinichi Tanaka!”

Someone calls out to me. Looking back, a man was chasing after me. Of course, he is a winged man. I stopped my plan for the time being and decided to wait until the winged man approached me.

“Haa- Haa-.  For a human you are walking with ease in the desert huh. I’m surprised.”

After the man comes right in front of me, he took a deep breath and then he raised his face. His face was still wearing goggles and he looked like he was in his late thirties. His hair is black and about till shoulder length. From his light leather equipment, it can be inferred that he is an adventurer here.

“So, do you need something from me?”

“I was waiting for you to come. I already talked to the gatekeeper so can you come to the guild with me?”

“Guild?”

I tilted my head in confusion.

Why does he know my name? On top of that, I still have to go to the guild?

However, I can’t think of a way to enter the city at the moment so there is no doubt that this is a timely offer. Let’s go with his words for the time being.

“I’m Shinichi Tanaka.”

“I’m Hasan. I’ll talk more about it in the guild.”

As Hasan starts walking, I followed him from behind. Like this, I passed through the gate smoothly.

“Welcome to Vinea, the Holy Capital.”

Hasan turned around and smiled at me. The city is full of lush greenery and small birds are flying in the sky. Pyramid-like buildings could be seen in the distance, creating a landscape somewhat similar to Egypt.

“Are you hungry? I’ll treat you to this kingdom’s specialty.”

“I’m happy to hear that but I have a companion. I want to find and join with her right away.”

“Ah-, her? She should be waiting in the guild. Thanks to meeting her, I knew you also came here.”

“She’s in the guild huh…”

I am a little relieved. I was worried for letting her enter the city by herself but it seems that I can join with her safely. In that case, I guess I’ll take up on Hasan’s offer and have a small meal. After all, the smell drifting from the stalls since a while ago is irresistible.

“We do not eat pork due to religious reasons. Instead of that, we often eat bird meat in addition to the beef.”

In the stall guided by Hasan, the whole bird’s leg were fried to be sold. Upon receiving the food from the clerk, I immediately carried the bird meat to my mouth. The fragrant bird skin is crisp and has a nice texture. The salt and spices are exquisitely mixed with it and the taste pops every time you chew.

“This is delicious.”

“Right? If you come to Kycilia, it will be no good if you do not eat this.”

Hasan is also munching on the meat. My eyes caught the spear on his back. It has been used for a long time and it is now tattered. It also has a three-pronged shape. My interest was piqued.

“Are you curious about my spear?”

“Well, it’s a spear that I don’t see in the kingdom you see. Are there many people in this kingdom who handle such spears?”

“Yes, most of the magical beast around here can swim that’s why it can’t be helped that it have such shape.”

“Swim?”

“Huh? Didn’t you see those magical beast when you came here? Like the desert shark for example.”

I shook my head. So far we did not encounter any magical beast. I haven’t seen any creatures that look like the desert shark that he talked about.

“Anyways, you guys are lucky that you did not encounter them. Once they smelled blood, more of them would gather around.”

“Are those magical beasts strong?”

“The desert shark could grow up to 5 meters. Their swimming speed is also considerable and they would take a whole bite on their targeted prey with their sharp fangs. I heard that there was a 10m class desert shark in the past but I think it’s just a hoax.”

Desert shark huh. I want to see how it swims in the desert. And if there are sharks in it, there may be tuna and whales. Cuisines with fresh seafood in the desert huh… it’s quite interesting.

“Then, shall we head to the guild?”

Hasan, who finished eating, starts walking. I put the bird’s bone in the trash can and then I followed behind. Most of the people in the city is a winged man. They have large gray wings on their back and goggles around their neck. Such things must be necessary to fly in the desert. I would like to buy one if possible. After walking around the city for a while, we arrived at a stone building. Hasan went straight inside the building and guided me upstairs.

“Shinichi!”

Upon entering the room, I saw Erna sitting on the sofa. She immediately rushed to me and hugged me.

“I made you worry. I managed to get inside the city though.”

“Thankfully! I was very anxious alone you know!”

“Sorry, my bad.”

When I apologized, Erna began to sniff me.

“…Hey, it smells delicious. Did you eat somewhere?”

“I-It’s probably your imagination.”

I moved Erna away from my body and made her sit on the sofa. There’s no way that I’ll tell her that I lose to the smell so I ate. Erna sat next to me and she squints her eyes as she look at me. Hasan sits on the sofa facing us and then he gently removes his goggles. He has a sharp chin on the drooping eyes. He has a pretty handsome face.

“Well, let’s introduce ourselves again. I’m Hasan, the representative director of Kycilia Holy Kingdom’s Guild Headquarters.”

“I’m Shinichi Tanaka, an adventurer in the Kingdom of Rogas. Next to me is my party member, Erna. Well, we have two more members.”

“I’ve already heard of the adventurer party named Homeless. You’ve done well coming all the way from the Rogas Kingdom to Kycilia. I humbly welcome you guys.”

Hasan stretched out his hand. I shook hands with him. I’m a little surprised knowing that he was the representative director of the guild.

“By the way, how did you know about us?”

“From Edmond of the Kingdom’s Guild Headquarters.”

“Edmond? Do you mean, Edmond, the guild representative?”

“Yes, he asked me to help you.”

I and Erna looked at each other. I wondered why Edmond’s name came up here. Sure, I got to know him but we don’t have that close relationship where we’ll help each other. Hasan continues talking.

“Edmond was a little angry. Why didn’t you accept the request through the guild?”

“This job was confidential so I can’t tell the guild. This is a personal request in the first place.”

“Of course I understand what you’re saying. Well, Edmond wanted you to use the guild’s diplomatic route. The Adventurer’s Guild has its own routes in the six kingdom. It’s easier to enter any kingdom with it you see.”

I know there are guilds all over the world but I just thought that each kingdom was an independent organization. In other words, if I asked the help of the guild from the beginning, I could have completed the request sooner. I’m about to sigh at the new facts that I finally learned when I came to the last kingdom.

“Edmond seems to have been late to know that you guys accepted the request so he hurriedly contacted the guilds of the four kingdom. Well, he contacted me the day before yesterday.”

“How do you make contact? Don’t tell me you can send letter to the middle of such a desert?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that. I could say that it’s the guild’s own route.”

In other words, if I had informed the guild of this request in advance, the guild in the kingdom could immediately send information to the guilds of the four kingdom. Perhaps it is also a magic tool similar to a telephone.

“But I can’t think of any reason for Edmond to help us.”

“Simple. He wants to keep the kingdom alive. He believes that you can persuade the kings of each kingdom. It’s hard for Edmond to have high expectations on someone you know.”

“I see……”

I can only count the number of times that we met but Edmond seems to have high expectations on me. Then I should live up to that expectation.

“I want to meet the king of this kingdom right away. Is it possible?”

Hasan spreads his hands and shakes his head. It doesn’t seem to be easy even if he is a Guild representative.

“The King of winged men is currently ill, he is lying on his sickbed. It will be difficult to meet him.”

“Illness? What kind of illness?”

“From the rumors, it’s said to be “Gaga’s disease”. It’s a long-standing illness around here, when you gets inflicted with it, you’ll be vomiting due to the high fever and you’ll be having continuous diarrhea. We usually have a medicine for that, but unfortunately, we’ve run out of it.”

“Then, should I find the medicine and go see him?”

“Well, that’s the only chance you’ll have for him to listen about your goal here. However, the cure for Gaga’s disease is made from a rare magical beast material. It may be difficult to get one at this time of year.”

I took out a golden mushroom from the bangle. Hasan looks startled when he sees it.

“Isn’t that a golden mushroom!? It’s a phantom mushroom that is said to be available only once in a hundred years!”

“With this, the King’s illness could be treated immediately, right?”

Hasan soon began to think about something though.

Is there a problem with the golden mushroom?

“…It’s hard to say, but golden mushroom is a little-known phantom mushroom. Most people don’t know about it, especially in a desert kingdom like this. Even if you bring that mushroom to the Royal Palace, it is doubtful that it will reach the king.”

“Do you mean to say that if it is just this mushroom, it won’t reach the king?”

“That’s right. And before you could feed this mushroom, you need a plausible reason. I don’t think the Knight Guards or the Minister will be willing to feed His Majesty something that is suspicious.”

Well, it’s exactly as what Hasan said. A human stranger would like to feed something suspicious to the king. No matter how I think about it, the vassals will not allow me to. Let alone an adventurer. It is impossible for them to trust me.

“Hmm…”

I folded my arms as I think about it. I won’t get a chance to talk to the king unless I can somehow think of a way to feed the mushroom to him. At that moment, Erna opened her mouth.

“Hey, Shinichi why don’t you disguise yourself as a doctor and go see the King?”

“Disguise as a doctor? But…”

“It’s alright! Leave it to me! I’ll disguise you as a decent doctor!”

“Uh, uhm…”

I lost to Erna’s momentum so I could only agree. After she took a white cloth from the bangle, she quickly makes a lab coat and puts it on me. For some reason, I also had a little moustache under my nose.

“No matter how I look at it, you look like a doctor! It’s perfect!”

“Why did you put a moustache? This is not necessary you know.”

“What are you talking about!? Moustache is necessary for a disguise you know! Shinichi doesn’t know what disguise is!”

Erna enthusiastically talks about my disguise. I can’t understand why she is so enthusiastic about this disguise.

“…Yes, it’s not bad. Maybe you can really meet His Majesty with this.”

Hasan is also impressed by my appearance. However, his eyes seemed to be laughing…

“Alright! Let’s go see the King!”

With Erna in the lead, we head to the Royal Palace.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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