Chapter 231 Arriving In The Capital
Drip drop!
Whoosh— A carriage traveled on the muddy, rainy road, splashing the puddles and mud with rainwater. The rain had been falling for quite some time.
An ordinary carriage would have difficulty traveling in such heavy rain, but fortunately, it was being pulled by Kuro, which was unaffected by the difficult terrain.
"Lord, what are we doing in the royal capital?" Enri asked, looking nervously and curiously at the royal capital in the distance, which was getting closer and closer in the rain.
"Visiting some friends, and also dealing with the alchemical potions I made. Our destination isn't here, but further south."
Minori replied with a smile upon hearing her question.
Further south?
"Oh." Enri nodded, seemingly understanding. For a girl who had never even left her village, her understanding of the country, or even the world, was limited.
Minori chuckled softly at this, his gaze passing through the vines and out into the heavy rain, and he sighed softly, "The temperature here is indeed warmer than the border."
It had still been snowing intermittently at the border of the royal capital, but unexpectedly, heavy rain had started falling in the royal capital region. Perhaps it was because the border area was closer to the Angelicia Mountains, making it colder.
The kingdom's terrain and environment were indeed much better than the empire's, but despite having a similar history of over two hundred years, the empire was much stronger.
The kingdom had a strong tendency towards decline.
Thinking of this.
Minori shook his head slightly. It was no wonder that the Slane Theocracy was preparing to support the empire's unification, even sending the [Sunlight Scripture] unit at the start of the story to eliminate the most troublesome "Warrior Captain" Gazef Stronoff.
"Speaking of which, I wonder which unit the Slane Theocracy sent to investigate the lava region last time?"
Minori thought to himself silently.
No matter which unit it was, unless the [Black Scripture] was dispatched, the other Five Color Scriptures would suffer heavy losses.
The Angelicia Mountains were not a place that anyone could casually set foot in.
Minori raised his eyes, looking at the approaching royal capital, and a thought flashed in his mind.
...
Skill: Unbreakable Fortress (Martial Skill)
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Description: When an opponent launches an attack, activate the martial skill at the right moment to negate the opponent's attack, rendering it ineffective. There is a limit to the negation if the level difference is too great.
...
Skill: Ability Boost (Martial Skill)
Cost: None
Cooldown: None Description: Enhances physical abilities, increasing physical attack by 30 points and agility by 30 points.
...
Skill: Perception of Possibilities (Martial Skill)
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Description: Enhances the sixth sense, making it easier to discover an opponent's weaknesses, increasing critical hit rate and weak point detection to a certain extent.
...
Skill: Magic Resistance Enhancement (Martial Skill)
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Description: Enhances the ability to resist magic, increasing magic defense by 30 points.
...
[Skill Points: 75 → 71]
...
These were the skills that Minori chose to master from the "Martial Skills" used by the Headhunter Rabbit. Apart from a defensive martial skill, the other three were all enhancement martial skills.
And all of them had stackable superior enhancement martial skills: "Super Ability Boost", "Super Perception of Possibilities", and "Super Magic Resistance Enhancement".
The carriage's speed gradually slowed down, and a city gate that wasn't particularly tall appeared ahead.
The royal capital area of the Re-Estize Kingdom was very vast. Unlike the fortress-like city of "E-Rantel", it had a large number of residential areas gathered on the outskirts.
Therefore, the city walls were not very tall, but the dense residential areas gave off a sense of prosperity far exceeding that of border cities, as well as a hint of oppression.
Kuro's tall figure pierced through the rain and fog, reflecting in the eyes of the soldiers guarding the city gate. After a brief moment of astonishment, they immediately became alarmed and prepared to defend.
Due to the rainy weather.
There wasn't much traffic at the city gate. The sudden appearance of a ferocious magical beast like Kuro was indeed a disturbing event for ordinary soldiers in the central area of the kingdom who hadn't experienced such things.
The lazy soldiers who were sheltering from the rain under the spacious city gate fearfully picked up their weapons, but none of them stepped forward to block the monster, instead retreating in unison.
"What's going on?"
"It's a magical beast!"
"This is the royal capital, how could a magical beast rush out?"
"Look, there's a carriage behind it."
"..."
As the carriage approached, several soldiers finally saw clearly that the ferocious magical beast was actually just a monster pulling the carriage.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, they were curious and fearfully looked at the approaching carriage. Even some nobles couldn't manage to have a magical beast pull their carriage.
No matter how you looked at it, that more than two-meter-tall, ferocious-looking monster that was gradually approaching didn't seem like the kind of creature that would obediently pull a carriage.
Click!
The bone chains tightened.
The carriage came to a complete stop. Kuro shook the rain off its head, and its pair of indifferent beast eyes swept over the several trembling soldiers.
A green light flashed from the carriage, and the vines wrapping around the carriage slowly dissipated, revealing the three figures behind the carriage.
Enri carefully glanced at the soldiers guarding the city, and with a sense of fear towards these kingdom soldiers, she subconsciously reached for the pocket on her waist and began to rummage.
"What are you doing?"
Minori looked at Enri in confusion.
Enri obediently and blankly replied, "Pass… permit."
She had always remembered what Uncle Latimon had said, that a pass permit issued by the city lord and noble lords could reduce the cost of entering the city.
Although it couldn't be used in other places, having this certificate could also prove one's identity and avoid being harassed.
They had passed through some large cities before, and she had wanted to take it out, but before she could, the carriage had already entered.
And after all, this was the royal capital.
In Enri's view, the cost of entering the city and the inspection should be more detailed and complicated. She didn't want to cause trouble for the lord, so she wanted to take it out in advance.
"There's no need for that kind of thing at all."
Minori said helplessly, reaching out and flipping his palm, a gold coin already appearing in his palm, and he flicked it with his finger.
Ding～
The gold coin drew a beautiful arc in the air, falling into the hands of the city gate soldier at the front.
Minori didn't say much, picking up the "Gold" adventurer's plate on his waist and shaking it at the several soldiers guarding the city.
No need to speak.
Several soldiers guarding the city immediately made way, and the soldier holding the gold coin tightly in his hand had a bright and humble smile on his face, respectfully reminding in a low voice:
"This adventurer lord, please try not to bring your monster into the inner city."
"Thanks, everyone."
Hearing the reminder, Minori didn't show a superior attitude, nodding gently.
Click!
Kuro pulled the carriage again, slowing its pace and driving into the outer perimeter of the royal capital.
A flash of green light.
The Verdant Witch activated her magic again, and the plant vines re-wrapped the carriage, blocking the pouring rain after leaving the city gate.
Outside the city gate was a straight and wide road paved with stone slabs, and the carriage wouldn't make too much noise driving on it.
This immediately caused Enri, who had been bumping along the way, to exclaim in surprise.
The "paved stone road" was implemented under the proposal of that "Golden" princess, but currently, apart from the main streets of the royal capital and the territory of Marquis Raven, one of the six great nobles.
Other nobles expressed their opposition, and the reason given was that paving roads for easy movement would facilitate the empire's invasion.
"That's really interesting."
Minori instructed Kuro to turn onto a main street ahead and proceed towards the inner side, while raising his hand and tapping his chin, suddenly letting out a soft laugh.
He had stayed in the empire's imperial capital for a while to find Leinas, and although he hadn't stayed in the royal capital for long, he had come twice.
Minori suddenly realized that the purpose of the many proposals made by that "Golden" princess might not really be what he had thought at the time.
Having seen the situation in both countries, which could be considered broadening his horizons, Minori vaguely realized that the Golden Princess's heterodox level of thinking might be higher than he had initially anticipated.
In simple terms.
The numerous bizarre reasons rejected by the kingdom's nobles might not have hit the essence of the matter.
As the carriage gradually left the main street.
Pools of "lakes" began to gradually gather on the ground. The road paving in the royal capital clearly didn't consider drainage, especially for the residential areas on both sides.
No wonder most of the surrounding buildings were two-story structures.
Water splashed under the wheels.
Soon, it stopped in front of an ordinary inn.
The Verdant Witch canceled the vines surrounding the carriage, took out an umbrella and opened it, covering Minori's head as soon as possible.
The innkeeper saw Minori and his group, suppressed the fear he felt because of Kuro's appearance, and immediately showed a face full of smiles, displaying the most extreme service attitude.
Minori ordered three rooms as usual, even paying extra because of Kuro.
A moment later.
"Click" sound.
The innkeeper carried the food, carefully walked into Minori's room, and immediately saw Kuro lying lazily in the center of the room.
His neck stiffened,
"Huff." The shop owner took a deep breath, slowed down his pace again, and respectfully looked at Minori sitting at the wooden table, looking at him,
"Lord, your food."
"Thank you, just put it on the table." Minori nodded with a smile, indicating that the innkeeper could just put it down.
The innkeeper put the food he was holding on the wooden table, then carefully and respectfully retreated, quickly leaving the room, as if afraid that Kuro lying on the ground would attack him.
"Well, it smells good, Kuro, the food looks good." Minori looked at the food on the table, a satisfied smile on his face.
A freshly baked soft white bread, still steaming, and two pieces of roasted red meat dripping with sauce and emitting heat.
As well as a clear soup made with corn and vegetables.
Minori used a fork to pick up a piece of roasted red meat and threw it towards the back.
"Awoo." Kuro immediately raised its head, opened its mouth and bit the piece of roasted meat thrown over, swallowing it in one gulp.
Minori, on the other hand, slowly cut the tasty roasted meat and ate it with the soft white bread.
Time passed little by little.
Just as Minori was about to finish the last bite of roasted meat.
Bang!
Outside the half-open window in the room, a black arrow suddenly shot out from the rain, the arrowhead emitting a translucent luster.
It pierced through layers of rain, unaffected, and shot straight at Minori.
"Roar!"
Kuro immediately got up, its beast eyes showing a fierce look, and raised its paw to slap the arrow.
However.
The situation where the arrow should have been knocked down by Kuro did not occur. Instead, at the moment when Kuro's paw was about to collide with the arrow.
The straight arrow actually made a turn in mid-air, bypassing Kuro and shooting at Minori in the back.
Missing with a paw.
Kuro wanted to turn around to block it, but it was too late.
Minori calmly looked at the incoming arrow, picked up the fork with the roasted meat on it.
Buzz—
Suddenly, the arrow vibrated again.
A faint light flashed on the arrow, which was already very close, and instantly turned into two arrows, shooting over at the same time.
Clang!
A crisp metallic collision sound rang in the room.
Minori calmly held the fork in his hand, blocking one of the arrows, while the other arrow passed through Minori's body and dissipated in mid-air.
This was obviously not a real arrow, but a phantom used to confuse people.
"Martial skill techniques, plus magic arrows, it seems your strength has improved a lot."
Minori exerted a slight force with the finger holding the fork, knocking down the colliding arrow, before continuing to put the roasted meat on the fork into his mouth.
He raised his head and looked in the direction of the window.
He saw that the half-open window had been completely opened, and a figure wrapped in a black raincoat robe was standing on the window.
The other party was holding onto the window with one hand and holding a bow and arrow with the other. Even wrapped in a black raincoat robe, one could see the other party's slender figure.
It was Imina.
"Tsk, you disappeared for so long, I thought you were dead."
Imina raised her slender neck, her delicate face with a hint of dissatisfaction, sarcastically saying:
"This girl was ready to make a fortune and run away."
While speaking.
Imina moved her slender legs and sat down very naturally opposite Minori's wooden table, picking up the remaining soft white bread and eating it.
Seeing Imina's expression was very cold, looking unhappy.
Minori let out a soft laugh: "Making a fortune in "Eight Fingers", that's a lot of money."
"But it seems you don't want to leave so soon, otherwise you wouldn't have bought this inn."
The inn where he was currently staying was the inn where he had used Imina to fish out the "Eight Fingers" members when he came to the royal capital for the second time.