A big street where 10 people could walk comfortably side by side.
It goes without saying, but stone pavings were set without any gaps in them, and for some reason, you could barely feel any unevenness.
From the back to the front; the advance of a massive amount of people was creating a flow, and it wasn’t easy to stop in place.
People, people, people.
It is not only hyumans, but demi-humans, and there’s also even living beings that at a glance only look like mamonos.
The temperature isn’t that high, and yet, this city had a certain peculiar heat whirling around the whole place, making them sweat just from standing there.
The city-state of Tsige.
The top of the remote regions and the city where monsters live.
““…””
Jin and the others were at a loss for words.
Sif and Yuno, who in a sense were coming back home, had a certain degree of shock that they were suppressing deep in their hearts.
In just the few months they were away, the city had changed to a shocking degree as if it were a completely different city altogether.
Their father is the helmsman of these changes, so the sisters could only be amazed by this.
Even their teacher Raidou admires their father, and that completely diverged from their own image of their father, which was a slight worry of theirs.
“The entrance has gotten bigger again.”
“Right. There’s this many people coming and going, so this might be a matter of course, but…the skills and the fast work of the craftsmen here are overwhelming.”
“…”
The students of the Rotsgard Academy were being watched over by their guide, Shiki.
He moved them to a place separated from the wave of people just in case, and it was as if he were trying to make the students get used to the ‘air’ in the place.
It resembled the sight of a fish getting adjusted to the environment of a new water tank.
“Haah~~.” (Jin)
Jin breathes out heavily.
Is it in order to calm down his excited self?
At the moment when Shiki said ‘it is about time’ and was going to direct words at the students…
“I see, this is what they call a ‘parallel world’.” (Jin)
“!”
Jin made a grand escape from reality.
Looks like he couldn’t acknowledge this place as a city, a land, and their way of being on a fundamental level.
(Even though he is still young… The common sense of the Rotsgard Academy might be more problematic than expected…) (Shiki)
A sigh leaked out from the mouth of Shiki.
If this had been Makoto, he would have given one big retort.
“…Now then…” (Shiki)
““!””
After a while of silence, Shiki spoke, so everyone’s attention gathered to him.
“Everyone has their simple map of the city, right?” (Shiki)
““Yes!””
“Waka-sama proposed to have free time, and in the evening when things have calmed down, to gather at the Rembrandt Company. However, looking at your states, I feel like that would be dangerous. I have arranged for a carriage, so let’s head first to the Rembrandt Company that’s also a famous location in the city.” (Shiki)
“Eh?”
“Aah…”
“Not that into the idea of suddenly going back to your home, Sif, Yuno?” (Shiki)
“Honestly speaking…yes.” (Sif)
“How to say it…I would have preferred if we had gone somewhere like the Adventurer Guild or something like that as a cushion before that.” (Yuno)
“Fumu… The Adventurer Guild, huh. It is true that that place is also made in a peculiar manner. The possibility of wasting money in the plaza luxuriously makes me a bit worried though… Then, let’s make this a simple majority vote. Go directly to the Rembrandt Company, or go visit the Adventurer Guild; choose the one you wish. Now then…” (Shiki)
Sif and Yuno don’t want to return to their home immediately to begin with, so there’s already two settled votes for where to go.
The result was everyone wanting to go to the Adventurer Guild.
Shiki internally chuckled thinking they have a high sense of camaraderie.
“I-I personally would prefer not using the carriage and go on foot to see everything around…” (Izumo)
Izumo groaned at this situation where deeply interesting buildings and roads were densely packing the place.
For him who awakened into civil works, the whole city was like a treasure mountain.
“Izumo, that will definitely end up with you all getting lost. That’s the reason why I arranged a carriage. Dealing with this crowd of people for the first time isn’t easy. I made a bit of a mistake in my judgement.” (Shiki)
The crowd split apart, and a big extravagant carriage showed up.
There were some who were a bit late moving away, but they were still synchronized enough that it felt as if it had been planned beforehand.
As if there were a traffic light.
‘Open the path with priority over the carriage’, that kind of crest was placed on the exterior of the carriage for others to be able to tell that, and it is a system that has decently spread to most of the people aside from the tourists and the people who have only just recently come to the city.
Tsige is good at promulgating these types of rules and enforcing them.
It is to the point that the central people working in the city would get contacted about it swiftly on that very same day and would begin to act upon it.
This isn’t only because of Rembrandt and the others, but also thanks to the influence of a certain number of zealous merchants.
“Shiki-san, is the Adventurer Guild that different from the one in the Academy Town?”
“Totally different. The Adventurer Guild in the Academy Town is also a special existence compared to the other ones, so the difference sticks out even more.” (Shiki)
“…Does that mean the adventurers of the Academy Town are soft?” (Misura)
“Hmm…soft, huh. Misura, that’s close, but it isn’t correct either. It is true that the word lukewarm fits that place perfectly. However, that’s the result of the ideal form of that place, or more like, they are misunderstood because of their courteous disposition.” (Shiki)
“?”
“For good or for bad, the Academy Town’s guild is polite. It is probably the grace of having the guildmaster Falz-san stay there most of the time.” (Shiki)
“Then, what about the Adventurer Guild of Tsige?”
“Well, he is currently here though. Right, the Adventurer Guild here is, for good or for bad, taking a stance of noninterference. The adventurers not that long ago dropped dead like flies before, so they were taking care of them more than necessary, but right now they are riding the waves. This is thanks to Waka-sama supporting those disappointing adventurers. Good grief.” (Shiki)
“Dropping like flies…”
Is it possible for a city where remarkable adventurers die that often to have this much liveliness? No, in the first place, aren’t remarkable adventurers getting experience in order to not die in the first place? Is what made Misura tilt his head.
“That’s the Tsige that I knew before.” (Sif)
“Same here. My image of adventurers was that they were drawn to the wasteland by their desires and would die.” (Yuno)
“They were the minority that the grace of Rembrandt-san couldn’t reach. I don’t know if it was because of the lack of power or time, but by joining hands with Waka-sama, the city developed in strides -changed. You two know that, right?” (Shiki)
“Yes, of course we do.” (Sif)
“By the time we got better, something was swirling around, and there were signs of change sparkling here and there.” (Yuno)
“And so, adventurers began to be implemented as important resources, and with enough fuel and exemplary leaders, Tsige managed an explosive evolution. Rules that only exist in this place began to get birthed one after the other, and the market is expanding every day. What’s the result of people and things gathering continuously in one place? The answer to that question is in the middle of being formed in this very place.” (Shiki)
“Shiki-san?”
“Maybe, haha. Now then, we have arrived at the Adventurer Guild you have all been waiting for. We will have the carriage wait for a bit, and let’s all get down.” (Shiki)
While lightly touching the history of Tsige in their casual talk, Shiki explains about Tsige little by little.
There’s a high chance that, if they don’t know about the state of being of the city and its history, they won’t be able to understand things correctly.
Jin, who was the first to get down, directed his gaze towards what’s close to the entrance to that world, a liveliness that made him show a smile.
“Shiki-san, there’s 2 entrances, but which one should we be going to?!” (Jin)
“Shut up, brats!! I don’t know from which loaded house you came from, but putting your big ass carriage in front of the guild tells me you lack any common sense!”
“Oops, sorry about that.” (Jin)
One of the adventurers that reacted to the shout of Jin speaks out their impoliteness.
The crest that’s displayed in the carriage isn’t such a lukewarm thing that would let an adventurer anywhere to easily speak out to them, but it seems like he still doesn’t know about that.
Jin had no choice but to turn around to get an answer to the question, but Shiki was not there.
“Hah?! If you are a parent, you should properly look after your children—”
“Yeah, it is just as you say. We will be careful. Sif, go ahead.” (Shiki)
“Hm? You are Shi…Shiki-san?! Geh?! Also Sif Rembrandt?! Now that I look closely…the crest of this carriage is the one…of the congress?!”
“And so, what aboou you? Who and from where?” (Shiki)
The tone of voice of Shiki, which was gentle at first, changed.
However, the man went ‘excuse the rudeness!’ and dashed away, disappearing into the guild.
“Uhm…” (Jin)
Jin, who had the man run past him, looked at Shiki with a complicated expression.
“One of those entrances is exclusive to the wasteland, Jin.” (Shiki)
“That adventurer was…” (Jin)
“Even if he looked like that, he was a decently strong adventurer. It is not like all of them have proper manners, so make sure you are all careful about your attitude and your words. Those uniforms are not an *all-purpose seal case* here after all.” (Shiki) <He is referring to the story of Mito Koumon here.>
“Meaning that he was strong?” (Jin)
“I would say he was around level 300. His appearance and way of speaking is like that of a hoodlum, but he has the power to achieve complete victory even if you all were to fight him together.” (Shiki)
““!!””
“That’s the kind of place you are in. It looks like it will take a bit more time for you to understand it with your skin though… Going to the rowdy Adventurer Guild might have actually been a good idea. I was a bit apprehensive about having you understand your standing and various other things on the first day.” (Shiki)
Shiki laughs in the same fashion as he does in his lectures.
Hearing that peaceful and gentle laugh of his, Jin and the others steel themselves.
This is a trip, but it is also a special lecture.
This is not the time to be escaping from reality by thinking about something impossible like a parallel world.
While being enveloped by rather enticing smells from around, and the peculiar Adventurer Guild of Tsige in front of them, the Rotsgard’s first ever school trip students gulped.