Two human figures stood out in an infinite sea that was filled with the colors blue and white for most of the day.
Both were wearing gray helmets, and their expressions were thoughtful.
In front of one of these figures was a sword facing downward, with its edge concealed by being holstered.
With his right hand, the second figure, who had his back to the first, held a spear, the tip of which was facing upwards.
Although the two presences were made of grayish rock, they stood out in the midst of this infinite sea, popularly known as "the sky". The two monumental statues stood atop two twin towers, which were so sturdy that they had stood for nearly a hundred generations.
Below the two statues was a vivid city. The countless buildings in this city had roofs of many sizes, shapes, and different shades, from yellow and blue to purple or green.
As the largest monuments in the city had stood on the top of a rocky mountain since ancient times, the city's core formed around them. Then the commercial center, indicated by the presence of the colossal twin towers, was bounded by many hills and sloping streets.
From afar, Kaizen could see the twin towers and The Two Guardians, as the two statues were called, only a few days a year were swallowed by the clouds.
If Galion, the cartographer, had not warned Psyker about these enormous details of the entrance to the Royal City, he would have been intimidated and frightened. The protruding statues were the largest monuments he had ever seen in his life, both in scale and also in beauty and grandeur.
"Lucky for me I have a map of this place, otherwise I would definitely be lost." He thought, looking at the vastness of the city in person.
He then lightly swung Black Cloud's stirrups to move forward. The goal was to reach the connecting bridge to the city as quickly as possible.
Kaizen's route since leaving Holinda was calm, and he had almost no problems during the trip. Some monsters suddenly appeared, and some NPCs tried to stop him from asking for help, only he was already aware that muggings were normal on these long roads, so he ignored everyone and everything while speeding with Black Cloud to his goal. Still, it took at least 2 hours before he finally caught sight of the main city in the Tretidian kingdom.
Between the Royal City and the dirt road, Kaizen used to get there was a wide, busy bridge. The place seemed to be a common commercial point that took advantage of the movement of the abundant travelers.
Kaizen controlled Black Cloud's speed as he approached the bridge, and he spotted some king guards sooner than he expected.
The guards providing security at the beginning of the bridge wore white armor with gold ornaments. They all carried thin steel-bladed sabers and were also so serious that they looked as if they had never had a happy day in their lives, which contrasted with the graceful atmosphere of the city. Kaizen didn't care what the guards looked like as long as they could answer his questions.
First, Kaizen got off his horse and brought it with him close to one of the guards.
"Excuse me. I am looking for a dormitory called the Copper Sturgeon. Do you know where that is?"
"..."
The guard didn't even look at him.
"Hello?" Kaizen raised his right hand and, passing this hand in front of the guard's eyes, tried to get the inexpressive man's attention. "How strange..."
"Give it up, traveler. These men don't respond to anything other than an order or the clank of a sword... What do you need?" A fat, bearded man who was standing under a potato sale asked.
This man's tent was ingenious and different from the others Kaizen had seen in Holinda. This tent was part of the man's cart, and what was apparently pulling the coach was not a horse but some kind of giant bird with gray feathers and an orange beak.
Kaizen was surprised for a minute and then remembered his goal.
"Ah, yes... Good afternoon, sir. What do these guys have?" Kaizen approached the merchant named Bori Summercut.
"I don't know. They've been like this for a few days. I'm beginning to think that sunbathing for 12 hours straight daily with those metal helmets must have affected their minds or something."
"Probably. Anyway, do you know if there is a place here called Copper Sturgeon?"
"If there is? That's the worst place in the whole city. The streets around the Copper Sturgeon are dirty, the people are rowdy and troublemakers and all the commerce consists of taverns. There used to be a market there, where I used to sell these potatoes of mine, however, I had to leave there because the smell of piss was soaked into the cobblestones of the streets."
Kaizen frowned and secretly wished he didn't have to know this place that Bori Summercut described, except that he needed to go all the way to Copper Sturgeon to visit Klank, so he had no other option.
"So, this place nearby?"
"If it's close? Look down the parapet of the bridge, and you will easily see the place. Near the viaduct below us is a large complex of buildings with pointed roofs. This is the Copper Sturgeon. If you are still in doubt about how to find the place, ask any other merchant. Most of us are pretty nice."
"All right, thanks for the help, sir."
"Wait, don't you want to take some potatoes along for the ride?" asked Bori as Kaizen climbed on the Black Cloud.
Kaizen first lightly snapped the reins to get the horse started and then exclaimed, "Who knows later!"
Once he reached the end of the long bridge connecting to the city, he realized that walking through this central part of the city would be tricky. From the map he bought, it was possible to see that only the commercial center of the Royal City was like this because, on the other side of the mountain, there were plains where the city actually adopted a more conventional shape and where King's Palace was also located.
Soon, Kaizen concluded that it would be better to leave Black Cloud resting for a while than to walk with her through narrow, sloping streets, so he left the horse in a stable that charged one silver coin per hour. This was very expensive, except this guaranteed the mount would be well taken care of.
Soon after, Kaizen looked down into the lower part of the city and quickly spotted the only pointy buildings near the colossal viaduct.
The roof tiles of the Copper Sturgeon were ruddy, as was the armor of a red-haired woman who passed behind Kaizen as he looked down.
"Emma, I mean... Lily, sometimes when I put my head on my pillow at night, I wonder who that guy is, the one who stole the centaur from us. Is he from some other kingdom? We've never seen him in any high-level raids, so that would make sense, right?" the brown-haired boy theorized as he stood next to the red-haired woman.
"It doesn't matter, Dathan. No matter who he is or what his level is, I'm going to make him pay for the damage he's done to me." Blood Lily firmly replied.
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
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