Arrival in Sobana

We spent one night at a lake on the way to Sobana, the border city, in order to bleed the large monsters we had slain so far.

When you kill prey, its flavor deteriorates unless it is treated properly. If that were all, it would be fine, but there was also a good chance it would become inedible.

It would have been a terrible waste to let such rare and delicious meat spoil, so we chose this place, where water was plentiful.

The bloodletting went well with the dragon variants hanging from the heavy machinery, and the meat tasted exceptional.

It was a hit with the family and the princess too.

—The next morning.

We all ate breakfast together. Since there was some meat left over from yesterday, we made sandwiches with the bread Anemone had baked.

The sandwiches eaten by Anemone, the princess, and me used mayonnaise made from spider eggs.

Bell got canned cat food.

"Yummy! The meat between the bread is great!" "It's delicious, nya! The spices really bring out the flavor, nya!"

The "spices" were mustard, but I had also sprinkled a little pepper on the meat—the beastfolk were sitting cross-legged inside the tent, devouring their sandwiches.

"It's delicious!"

"This meat and the bread Anemone baked are the perfect combination."

"Heehee."

While we were talking, the princess was polishing off sandwich after sandwich.

"Speaking of which... I woke up hungry about twice during the night. Who touched me?"

"..."

Everyone looked away and fell silent. Apparently, they had all done it—or they were all accomplices.

If someone had tried to get ahead of the others, the people who had not touched me would have made a fuss.

"But, Kenichi—we only touched you once, nya..."

"Eeeh?"

When I looked at the princess, she was looking away too.

"Maylen-san, you neglected your duty."

"My apologies. Her Highness tied me up, leaving me unable to move..."

Ah, right. Primula and Melissa weren't here...

"I thought the maids at the castle were all incredibly capable, but sometimes they're pretty useless, aren't they?"

"..."

The maids fell silent. But I had to do something about people touching this body.

But there was nothing I could do about it at present, so I would deal with it later...

When I asked the princess how far it was from here to Sobana, she said it was about 100 leagues (160 km).

"Then we can make it there today."

"Really?"

"Yes. The rest of the way should be flat, and we have plenty of oil for the familiars to eat."

I had made the beastfolk produce biodiesel fuel continuously while we were at the pass.

We had quite a lot of it, and we probably wouldn't be using the heavy machinery all day anymore.

We finished eating and prepared to leave. I stored the house, the shed, and the tent.

There was still a hole beside the lake, but it would naturally fill in eventually.

I took the H○-Ace out of my Item Box, and everyone climbed aboard.

"All right, let's go!"

"Ooh!"

We retraced our route and returned to the highway.

From there, it was a straight road—and when I looked to the right, I saw a river flowing parallel to the highway.

It was probably the river connected to the lake where we had stayed. I could also see small sailing boats on it.

Apparently, the river was being used as a waterway here.

There was no forest, so there were probably very few monsters either. Wheat fields stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Lilith-sama, the nobles mentioned salt, but can salt be obtained near Sobana?"

"The salt is a little farther north. Rock salt is mined in a small city called Bakira."

"There is abundant food, plentiful water, and salt too—perhaps this place should just become a small country of its own."

"It was originally a small kingdom. Kadan annexed it."

"The Empire should be closer, though. Why did it submit to the kingdom?"

"At the time, the Empire was annexing territories by force, using its military might without giving anyone a choice. I imagine that provoked a backlash."

The House of Rainlily, which ruled this region, was no longer the royal family, but it had taken a member of Kadan's royal family as a spouse and become a ducal house.

That was probably proof that the royal family considered this region important.

"Hmm? A ducal family with royal blood in it..."

"..."

The princess pretended not to hear me. Her marriage partner was probably a member of this ducal family.

We were traveling at forty to fifty kilometers per hour, but Sobana came into view before noon.

A huge city was split in two by the border, divided into Sobana and the Imperial side.

A wall ran along the border. It reminded me of the Berlin Wall from my original world.

But the wall appeared to run in a straight line, so it seemed as though we could sneak into the country by going around it... I asked the princess about it.

"There are forests on both sides of Sobana. The wall continues into the forests. To go around it, one would have to enter the forest."

She said the wall surrounded both cities in an H shape. In other words, there were walls in the places hidden by the forests too...

Apparently, the forests had deliberately been left in place to defend the city. They probably also served as a buffer to prevent an enemy army from invading.

Even so, I thought it would be possible to go around, but it would be a considerable detour and unquestionably dangerous.

Besides, waterways crisscrossed the city and farmlands and were used as infrastructure.

Taking a detour would involve difficulties such as crossing waterways without bridges.

There were many wagons on the highway, but their cargo was being unloaded at a canal depot outside the city.

It seemed to be transported into the city using the waterways.

"Wow, the city is surrounded by rivers!"

"So this is Sobana?" "It's famous, but this is my first time here, nya. I'll be able to brag about it, nya!"

I could hear Anemone and the beastfolk speaking behind me.

"It's lively and full of energy."

The merchant Primula seemed particularly interested in that.

As she said, the city was more vibrant and energetic than the royal capital, at least—it looked like an interesting place.

The city apparently had a population of around 200,000, which was just right. The royal capital had too many people crammed into it. It felt like it was on the verge of collapse.

I thought the problem could be solved if transportation for crossing the pass were improved.

But perhaps the Rainlily ducal family here was using that fact to extract favorable concessions from the royal family.

Still, too much of a good thing was as bad as too little—if they made unreasonable demands and turned the royal family against them, they would be invaded by the Empire.

Everything had to be done in moderation—it was important to give and take.

We entered the city as we were. Its streets were lined with houses of all kinds—wooden, stone, and hybrid—but most were two stories tall.

I wondered whether buildings with windows in the attic beneath the roof counted as three-story buildings.

The roads were unpaved, with the dirt packed hard, and several draisines were running along them.

It had spread this far too...? But these weren't originals made by Marrow Trading Company. They were copies, right?

There were no patents or trademarks, so everyone was copying them like crazy.

"Well then, Lilith-sama, where should we go?"

I asked the princess in the passenger seat while holding the steering wheel.

"The Rainlily ducal estate."

"Are you going to greet the princess's fiancé?"

"No! We need somewhere to camp, don't we?! Just as you borrowed the castle's backyard, we will borrow a corner of the ducal estate."

The fact that she did not deny it seemed to confirm that the duke's family here was indeed the princess's prospective match.

"That's very kind of them. It will certainly be safe, at any rate."

"Indeed."

We crossed a stone bridge over the canal that encircled the city.

Since the city was protected by this canal, it did not seem to have city walls.

"There are walls along the border, though."

"If they're ordinary walls, I could climb over them using the scaffolding in my Item Box."

"Exactly, but do not do that. We will proceed through the proper channels."

"Understood."

With the border wall between them, Sobana on the kingdom's side and Donkres Westendstadt on the Imperial side stood back-to-back.

Both had populations of a little over 200,000. Together, they formed a great city with a population approaching 500,000.

A granary region also stretched across the Imperial side, so this was apparently an important region for that country as well.

There was one large gate in the exact middle of the border wall, and trade with the Empire seemed to pass through it.

"We need a permit to pass through the border gate, don't we?"

"Exactly. That is another reason we need to visit the ducal family."

I drove the H○-Ace between the various races filling the streets.

Of course, I could only drive very slowly. In the crowd, I saw a short, heavily bearded man.

"Ah! There was a short, heavily bearded man who looked like a dwarf."

"There should be dwarves here."

"Do you think there are elves too?"

"Perhaps."

Come to think of it, there hadn't been any dwarves or elves despite this being another world. There weren't any in the royal capital either.

I had heard that elves lived deep in the forests near Dalia and Astrantia, though...

"Gyaa! Catfolk and dogfolk are all mixed together, nya!" "How can they stand it?"

The beastfolk seemed concerned about that, but with this many people, there was no way to keep them separated.

"Myaree, Nyamena, don't start a fight with the dogfolk."

"That depends on how they act, nya."

We proceeded along the lively main street and turned left. Bridges crossed the waterways flowing throughout the city.

The cityscape changed dramatically from place to place. It might make a good tourist destination too.

Then we headed north along the street. The estates gradually became grander, until a huge mansion sat at the end of the road.

A massive white stone mansion stood on extensive grounds. Something resembling a castle keep rose in the center.

Since this had originally been a kingdom, it was probably a small castle. Inside the black iron fence, I could see a well-maintained garden.

A moat had been dug around it, with a bridge leading to the main gate.

The outer moat also connected to the canals and seemed to be used as a waterway.

"Whoa! This place is incredible!" "It's bigger than the Earl of Dalia's estate, nya!"

"The status of a ducal family with royal blood is completely different from that of a provincial count's family. Still, they certainly seem to be doing well for themselves..."

Primula had also done business with the Asclepius family, the Earl of Dalia, so she probably knew their circumstances.

As a merchant, she was probably curious about what kind of business the duke here was involved in too.

But people seemed to be gathered inside the estate and doing something. A great many horses and carriages had gathered as well.

The brightly colored clothing suggested that merchants were present too.

"As expected, it is a magnificent estate. It is truly worthy of Her Highness's marriage into the family."

"You said that on purpose, did you not?"

"Perish the thought."

"You are my Holy Knight, so you must protect me when the time comes, understood?"

"Of course I'll protect you if anything happens to you, Lilith-sama. That would be a serious problem."

"..."

The princess may have been expecting a different answer, but I could not deal with her placing unreasonable expectations on an ordinary middle-aged man.

The car slowly pulled up to the mansion's front gate. The princess and I got out.

"I am Princess Lilith Lala Kadan! I request an audience with the Duke of Rainlily!"

"A princess?"

The gatekeepers, who were wearing light armor made of thin iron plates, did not seem to believe us.

Well, we had no appointment, and the princess was wearing riding pants instead of a dress.

"You insolent fools!"

The maids got out of the car and angrily confronted the gatekeepers.

"Maylen, wait! I am also at fault for visiting without an appointment."

"But..."

"Gatekeeper, take this ring to your master and come back. If you send me away like this, your heads will roll."

"U-uh..." "Please wait a moment..."

Perhaps intimidated by the princess, the gatekeeper hurriedly ran inside.

"How outrageously disrespectful..."

"The gatekeepers cannot be blamed for not recognizing my face. They have never met me, after all. It would be wrong to fault them for that."

Maylen-san did not seem convinced, but the princess was right.

I told everyone to stay in the car.

After we had waited in front of the gate for a while, two men came running toward us in a panic. They wore green outfits embroidered with gold thread.

One was extremely short, with slightly long gray hair whose ends curled up in an unusual hairstyle.

Behind him was an ordinary-looking young man with short blond hair. The short man was probably the duke.

Several people who appeared to be merchants followed behind them. They probably weren't used to running, since they came along with heavy, clattering footsteps.

"Y-Your Highness! We have committed a grave discourtesy—huff, huff."

"Duke, it has been a while. And you as well, Lord Miltonia."

The duke was breathing heavily because he had run all the way here.

"It is wonderful to see that Your Highness is in good health."

Apparently, the younger man was the duke's son—in other words, a candidate for the princess's fiancé.

"We had no idea you were Her Highness! Please forgive us!"

Both gatekeepers pressed their foreheads to the ground.

"There, there. I am also at fault for visiting without warning. It is only natural that gatekeepers serving a provincial noble would not recognize the face of royalty. Duke, make sure you do not punish these men."

"Yes, Your Highness! Thank you for your mercy!"

Once we entered the estate's garden, all the merchants lined up behind the duke and prostrated themselves.

"It seems quite a few merchants have gathered here..."

"Th-that is correct, Your Highness! We received word that the Veronica Gorge had suffered a massive collapse, so we were about to send an investigation team and a work crew..."

"Oh, that has already been resolved."

"Huh? Um..."

It was understandable that he could not believe such a thing on the spot. The duke was clearly bewildered.

"I took command and had the massive amount of earth and debris removed. I borrowed the power of the mage named Kenichi over there."

"I-is that really true?"

"The fact that I came here from the royal capital is proof. Do you think I am lying?"

"N-n-no, Your Highness! Perish the thought!"

"Oh, yes, Kenichi! You had moving pictures taken from the flying familiar you control, did you not?"

At the princess's command, I showed them the drone footage.

"Good heavens! This is a view from the sky! Is it magic?"

"Indeed. I do not really understand it myself, but it is something like that."

Not only the duke and his son, but even the merchants behind them crowded around to peer at the small LCD screen showing the moving pictures.

"It certainly looks as though the collapse extends for fifty or sixty kan (100 meters)... Did you remove all of this?"

"Indeed! Kenichi, show these people that familiar too."

"All right, all right—please clear some space. Something huge is about to fall. Summon, Hi○chi-san!"

At my words, an orange wheel loader with enormous tires fell from the sky and bounced on the ground.

"Ooooh!"

"What is this?!" "An iron familiar?" "I have never seen magic like this!"

The merchants nearly collapsed from shock at the heavy machinery that had appeared before them.

"He uses unique magic, you know."

At the princess's instruction, I gave a demonstration of the wheel loader in the estate's garden.

I raised the huge steel bucket high in front of everyone.

"S-so you can pile a huge amount of earth and debris into that enormous steel claw like a mountain?"

The duke's son was excited as he stared at the wheel loader's bucket. Perhaps men from another world were just as fascinated by construction machinery.

So it was the same even for people from another world.

"Indeed, it stands to reason that this iron beast's enormous claw could remove the earth and debris in no time..."

"Exactly. If you were making arrangements to send people to the gorge, cease them at once. I expect the nobles in the royal capital will also concentrate on the bridge at Ibelis."

"What has happened to Ibelis?"

"Ah, you have not received the news yet. The bridge near Ibelis has collapsed. Combined with the blocked gorge, it was a crisis for the entire kingdom! But thanks to this man—Kenichi—the kingdom has been saved!"

"We were terrified that if the gorge became impassable, we would be unable to expect reinforcements from the royal capital—and that the Empire might invade if it learned of this."

"Indeed, on that subject—we should spread word through the city as soon as possible that the gorge has been reopened."

Information traveled slowly in this world, after all. Though perhaps it was just that I and my car were too fast.

I climbed down from the heavy machinery and stored the wheel loader in my Item Box.

"Yes, Your Highness! At once!"

The duke's subordinates were gathered, and instructions were given with remarkable efficiency.

The unassuming-looking, short duke seemed to be quite capable.

"And now, Duke..."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"This man has become my Holy Knight as the savior who rescued the kingdom."

"I-is that true?"

"As someone connected to the royal family, you know what a Holy Knight is, do you not?"

"Of course. It is connected to the founding of the kingdom... However, what will the elders of the Round Table Council in the capital say?"

This ducal family had royal blood, so it seemed to know some sort of secret passed down by the royal family.

"I know nothing of such a thing! That is merely the nonsense of old men. What is wrong with giving the royal family's blessing to the hero who saved the kingdom?!"

"Certainly, but..."

"This matter is settled. Now then, Duke—I have a request."

"Yes, Your Highness. Anything."

"I would like to borrow a corner of the ducal estate's grounds so this man can camp there."

"That can certainly be arranged... But as Your Highness's companion, he would be welcome to stay formally inside my estate."

At the princess's prompting, I took my house out.

"A-a house in an Item Box?!"

The merchants behind the duke began murmuring too. Naturally—they would all yearn for an Item Box with such enormous capacity.

"That isn't all."

I took the lesser dragon and wyvern out of my Item Box and lined them up in front of everyone.

"Good heavens, even a wyvern!" "And its condition is incredible!" "It looks as though it was just killed!"

Of course it did. I had put it into my Item Box immediately after killing it.

The merchants began clamoring for me to sell it again, but naturally I had no intention of doing so. I stored it back in my Item Box.

"Ahhh..."

The merchants' disappointed voices overlapped.

"As you can see, I used the iron familiar to remove the earth and debris, had the girl over there operate a huge golem to throw the rocks aside, and defeated the wyvern that attacked us. What do you think? Is that not precisely the work of a hero—a Holy Knight?"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The duke and the merchants prostrated themselves before the princess.

After that, the negotiations proceeded smoothly, and we were allowed to borrow part of the garden. The location was the corner to the left of the front gate.

Of course, there was no problem with the beastfolk entering either. There were quite a lot of beastfolk in this city, so there did not seem to be much prejudice against them.

Strong beastfolk were indispensable as laborers, after all.

"Kenichi, it is wonderful that we were able to borrow this place."

"It's a beautiful garden."

Anemone and Primula were relieved to have somewhere to stay as well.

Staying outside would have posed a problem for the beastfolk. There might have been inns in this city where we could all stay together, since there seemed to be so many beastfolk, but...

There was no need to waste money staying at an inn. Besides, our own cooking tasted better.

"Meow."

I asked the duke to make sure nobody accidentally bothered the forest cat.

"After the castle, now we're staying at a duke's estate?" "I can't believe it, nya."

The beastfolk had a point. Normally, they could not even approach such a place, much less enter the grounds.

I put the house back into my Item Box, then set it up again.

The location was in a corner of the estate's garden, near the black iron fence. There was a moat on the other side of the fence, so it was a little distance from the city.

"All right! House and shed, set up! And the tent too."

There seemed to be a well in the garden, and the city was full of waterways, so we would not have to worry about water.

While we were preparing to stay, the princess and the duke and his son came over.

"It is astonishing that your Item Box contains a house that people can actually live in."

The duke and his son were amazed by the house and shed I had set up.

"We stayed in this house and traveled here riding that horse-less familiar, you know? Hahaha."

The princess pointed at the H○-Ace everyone had ridden in.

"It sounds like an unbelievable journey."

"Indeed. I doubt I could convince anyone if I told them about it. Kenichi, I shall stay at the duke's estate for one night. Otherwise, I would insult their honor."

The duke and his son looked relieved upon hearing that.

If the princess had visited them but slept in the garden, unpleasant rumors would have spread.

"People of high station certainly have a lot to deal with."

"Do not be sarcastic."

The princess and the maids went toward the mansion with the duke.

She said she would also negotiate with the duke for our permits to enter the Empire. I could leave that to her.

But if the princess was gone, that meant her accompanying maids would be gone too.

"Well then, I suppose I'll sleep in my own bed for the first time in a while."

"Yaaay!"

Anemone celebrated with a jumping cheer, both arms raised.

"But we can't sleep together, you know?"

"Pff."

Anemone puffed out her cheeks, but if she hugged me, my natural Heal would activate.

I wished she would give me a break. Basically, all I needed was to avoid getting hungry.

"Hmm... That's it!"

In a city this lively and overflowing with goods, an item shop might have something useful.

Perhaps something that suppressed magic power or the like—though I did not even know whether this Holy Knight power was related to magic power.

I decided to give it a try.

"Are we going into the city?"

Anemone immediately leaped at my idea.

"An item shop might sell spellbooks, and there might be a bookstore too."

"I'm coming too~!"

"Then we'll come too!" "Me too, nya!"

"What about you, Primula?"

"I will prepare dinner. Besides, we are on a noble's estate, so I do not think there will be any problems, but I am worried about the luggage and such."

The princess's luggage was in the house too, and the estate was supposed to have guards patrolling the area...

"If you're worried, we could put the house back in my Item Box for now, and you could come with us."

"No, I am tired from the long journey, so I would like to take my time preparing the meal."

Well, Anemone was young, and the beastfolk were practically monsters when it came to stamina. I was probably tired from driving too, but thanks to the Holy Knight's natural Heal, I felt fine.

If I kept taking in enough nutrition, perhaps I could even stay awake through several consecutive all-nighters?

I took out a table and cooking utensils and left her to it. Low-temperature cooking took time, so we would use the ordinary method today.

"Boss, that meat will be delicious even if you cook it normally!" "That's right, nya!"

"Let's try the lesser dragon meat we bled yesterday."

"I can't wait to see what it tastes like." "The wyvern turned out delicious, so the lesser dragon should be delicious too, nya!"

Well, I could not imagine it tasting worse than meat that had not been bled and had simply been boiled to remove the scum.

—And so I gave Primula some lesser dragon meat and left the house and cooking to her.

We all walked to the gate.

"Meow."

Bell came along too. With a guild tag, Bell should be fine, but...

I slipped the gatekeepers a bribe. Bribery worked in this world. There was no benefit to being stingy.

"I don't know how many days we'll be staying, but take care of us."

I gave each of them one small silver coin (5,000 yen) and a bottle of wine.

"C-can I really accept wine in a glass bottle?"

"Yes. Take care of us."

Glass was fairly expensive, so they could make money by selling the bottles too.

After asking the gatekeepers where the market was, we headed there. Apparently, shops gathered wherever people gathered.

I took out the La○d Cruiser, and we set off into the city of Sobana.