The vehicles available in Code — the spider's speed wasn't even in the same league as a carriage. The three-dimensional movement would be startling if you weren't used to it, but there was virtually no shaking, making it quite comfortable.
The spider moved as if flying, then came to a sudden halt at a certain point. It seemed we had arrived in Miss Nora's managed area.
I checked the 3D map. I hadn't yet fully grasped Code's geography, but Miss Nora's area appeared to be more toward the center than Her Highness's area.
Even in the imperial capital, the district where nobles' mansions stood in rows was located toward the center. Perhaps it was the same in any era — those with power established their homes closer to the heart of the city.
Last time I had gone directly to the building where Miss Nora was, so this was my first time taking a proper look at the streetscape.
Miss Nora's area was largely no different from any other place. Building after building after building — if I had to point out a difference, the spacing between buildings was probably narrower than at Her Highness's place.
The roads had just enough room for the spider to squeeze through, but not wide enough for two people to pass each other. The gaps between buildings were similarly tight.
Come to think of it, on the way to Miss Nora's building, the spider had spent more time running along walls than on the ground.
The scene might have looked a bit cramped, but unlike near Her Highness's building, figures were visible here and there. I dismounted the spider and gingerly took my first step into Miss Nora's area.
There was no sign of anyone preparing to ambush me. It seemed I had just been unlucky earlier.
Before starting my sightseeing, a thought occurred to me, and I checked the remaining count of my Barrier Rings. Then I furrowed my brow.
"You've got to be kidding... What a pain."
Every last Barrier Ring had been consumed. Every single one. That female swordsman's attack had really stopped on a knife's edge.
Was I lucky or unlucky? Having multiple lives was supposed to be my greatest asset, and now that asset was gone.
If I got tapped now, I'd die. I needed to recharge as soon as possible.
In the imperial capital, there were plenty of mages who charged Treasure Weapons with mana as a business (though I'd been banned from their shops). If only there were a mage somewhere in this city who could do the same...
I turned to the mecha soldiers who had dismounted the spider with me and gave them instructions, just in case.
"Just so you know, if anyone attacks, please subdue them with non-lethal force as much as possible. I didn't come here to wage a war, you know."
I had no intention of fighting with Miss Nora. No, I had no intention of fighting with anyone. I just wanted — to do a little sightseeing, that's all.
If I hadn't been so unlucky, I wouldn't need to be this paranoid.
"And also — this time, if any danger approaches, jump in to help immediately. Immediately, you hear?"
Part of the mecha soldier's faceplate flashed several times, as if acknowledging the order. I understood that they were loyal to their duty, but the gesture felt so... impersonal. They were the complete opposite of Luke and the others, who were fun to be around even when they weren't particularly diligent about their jobs. Averaging the two out might have been just right.
I shrugged, took a deep breath, and stepped forward into the dense cluster of buildings that made up Miss Nora's area.
§ § § "A shop? Again? Recently, newcomers from outside keep asking about that, but there's nothing like it here. The system provides everything you need."
"Cooking? That's a word I haven't heard in a while. Listen, the city provides whatever you want to eat. Where it's made? Do you really need to know that?"
"A mage? Oh, I get it — you came from outside, right? You can't use magic in Code."
"Choco... reeto? What... is that?"
While wandering through Miss Nora's area, I called out to people on the street. The reactions were all roughly similar.
If you traced their lineage, Code's residents should have been no different from us, but it seemed that living fully supported by a highly advanced physical civilization's urban system had given rise to a unique lifestyle here.
As I conducted my inquiries accompanied by the mecha soldiers, people regarded me with the curious stares one might give a freak show, but they still answered my questions.
You didn't have to do anything to live without a single worry. Food, medical care, housing — the urban system provided it all. What set this place apart from the outside world more than anything was that there were no Hunters.
In this modern age, widely considered the golden era of Treasure Hunters, to think there was a city with no Hunters — in every other city, Treasure Hunters who brought in wealth from outside were the lifeblood of the community. It made sense that this city lacked vitality.
But despite living in such a convenient city, nobody seemed to be slacking off.
Everyone I saw appeared to train their bodies to some degree. If it were me, I would have descended into sloth in an instant — so what was different? Was it motivation?
I didn't find what I was looking for, but this was fascinating in its own way. Encountering strange customs while traveling the world was one of the great pleasures of being a Treasure Hunter.
Walking along the edge of the road through the forest of buildings, glancing around for something interesting, a face suddenly popped out from the gap between two buildings on my right.
It belonged to a girl of about ten. She wore easy-to-move-in shorts and was tanned all over from the sun. Her limbs were still slender, but she clearly moved her body a lot. Her features and hair color were different, but she reminded me of Liliz from years past. Two star marks adorned her chest.
Holding a terminal in one hand, the girl spoke with a bright smile.
"Hey, mister, did you come from outside? What are you doing? Four points — is everyone from outside as weak as you?"
"...I'm not the one who's weak. You guys are the strong ones. I was just looking for something interesting."
Well, I was weak, but still. Was I going to be called "four points" for the entire time I stayed in Code?
Maybe I should do some more strength training... but building a bit more muscle wouldn't really make any difference anyway.
"Don't you train? All of us do!"
"What do you train for?"
"For Lady Nora, of course! I'm going to train my body and become an Augmented Knight! Then, if I perform well, they'll even raise my class! Everyone's working hard because they want to join Lady Nora's knight order!"
Her eyes sparkled with brilliance. I had become a noble without doing anything at all, though... Augmented Knights, huh.
In the outside world, knights who served the state were a relatively popular profession, but what did knights do in this country? There were no external enemies to speak of.
As I was pondering this, three figures descended from the sky.
They were boys. Three of them, each dressed in easy-to-move-in clothing. They deftly rolled across the road to absorb the impact, then sprang to their feet with the momentum.
I looked up — there was nowhere from which they could have jumped. I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
I had no idea where they had come from, but their breathing was heavy, and heat rose from their exposed skin.
The boys caught their breath, approached the girl in the alley, and spoke.
"Hey, what are you doing, Lulu? That guy's a Class 6, you know? ...He seems like someone from outside, but—"
"It's fine, Zaza! This Mr. Klye is only four points!"
The girl spoke while glancing at the terminal hanging from a strap around her neck. Was that... a compliment? And it was strange meeting someone for the first time who already knew your name. Not that it mattered now — privacy didn't exist in this country.
At that moment, the girl called Lulu suddenly perked up as if she'd had a great idea, raising her voice.
"That's it! Mister, you're looking for something interesting, right? I'll show you something cool! Follow me!"
"Huh?"
Lulu crouched down hard and sprang into the air. She kicked off the walls of buildings on either side, ascending with a rhythmic ton-ton-ton.
Her agility stole my gaze. A fall from this height would certainly mean serious injury, yet there was absolutely no hesitation in her movements.
This wasn't the kind of movement you could pull off with half-hearted training. Well, Liliz could probably do it. Tinno and Luke might manage it too. Citry and Lucia could likely pull it off, but... given their ages, this girl was remarkably promising.
Seeing my dumbfounded expression, the boy called Zaza snorted dismissively.
"What's with that weird face? This is why outsiders are... well, maybe people outside can't do this kind of thing, but we train for Lady Nora, so this is totally normal for us."
...Outsider? That was a word I'd never heard before.
The boys took off together, and like Lulu, began bouncing up the walls. Amazing.
...But how was I supposed to follow them? I didn't even need to try — that kind of movement was completely impossible for me.
As I blinked in confusion, one of the escort mecha soldiers — the green unit — wrapped its arms around me from behind as if embracing me.
Before I could even think, the ground was suddenly far away.
The speed was comparable to my Dark Wings of the Night, one of the few flight-capable Treasure Weapons I possessed. I had never seen a mecha soldier fly in this city before — Your Highness, you've upgraded these things way too much.
The mecha soldier carrying me soared high into the air, then dove toward the girl on the building's rooftop. Just before impact, it adjusted its angle and transitioned into level flight.
The ground rushed past at high speed before my eyes. The violent maneuvers were making me dizzy. And yet, strangely, I felt no wind. Some kind of cutting-edge technology must have been filtering it out. At this point, this mecha soldier had surpassed my Dark Wings of the Night. That thing couldn't brake and only worked at night. Comparing it to Car-kun from the Flying Carpet, it was hard to say which was more impressive.
The children, who had been nimbly running across the rooftops, stared wide-eyed as I caught up in an instant.
"Whoa! Amazing! So a Class 6 can really pilot that kind of mecha soldier!"
"I want a mecha soldier too! I wanna fly!"
This one's on loan. I want one too! Though I don't particularly want to fly!
The children leaped from rooftop to rooftop with the agility of monkeys. The narrow gaps between buildings made this possible. Looking closely, there were even springboard-like devices installed along the building edges.
A tall building appeared in our path. There was nowhere else to jump to.
The children showed no sign of slowing down. If anything, they leaned forward even more, accelerating.
What were they planning? At this rate, they'd collide.
While I worried from a place where I had no room to talk, the children launched themselves at the building's wall.
"!"
And then they began scaling the building, ascending smoothly.
Naturally, there were no safety lines. A fall would mean serious injury at best. It wasn't just their physical abilities — their nerve was incredible.
As the children climbed the vertical wall ahead of me, the mecha soldier carrying me shot straight up along the building's surface at a razor's edge. Looking closely, I could see small handholds attached to the wall.
Of course, even with handholds, climbing a smooth wall would be impossible for children... well, even with them, I could never make it up.
The top of the building was flat and empty. There were no doors or anything — it didn't seem to be a proper rooftop. Without climbing up from outside, there would be no way to stand here.
The spider moved by leaping between buildings, so Code's buildings might have served as roads themselves.
Hovering in the air, I watched as the children finished climbing and emerged on top. Standing on the building's roof, they caught their slightly ragged breath and called out.
"We're here, you can get off now! Come over this way!"
"That's cheating, mister. Cheating."
One of the boys pouted as he spoke. The mecha soldier gently set me down on the rooftop.
Perhaps because of the height, the wind was strong. Buffeted by it, my footing wobbled.
Without my Barrier Rings, a fall from this height would certainly be fatal. There were no railings — I had to be extremely careful.
While I stood there trembling, Lulu lightly stepped right to the very edge of the roof with no railing, extended her hand, and pointed below.
"How is it? This view is amazing, right? You can only see it if you climb up yourself!! Normally, that is!"
"This is the tallest building around here. But to be selected as an Augmented Knight, you have to be able to climb the tallest building — Lady Nora's building —"
"!! Wow... this really is something."
Timidly, I approached Lulu and peered over the edge.
Just as Lulu had said, the view from the top of the building was breathtaking.
The ground was so far below it was hazy. The jumble of buildings jutted out like steps — and citizens were running, jumping, and climbing all over them.
"Lady Nora wants us to become stronger! That's why she built this city this way!"
I noticed large steps and poles here and there... Come to think of it, those buildings earlier had springboards too.
I see — this was essentially a giant obstacle course. Functional muscles. An entire city built as a playground for learning how to use your body.
I'd heard that schools for Treasure Hunters had similar facilities, but nothing on this scale. Liliz would have loved to join in if she saw this.
"Once you become an Augmented Knight, no matter how low your original class is, they'll bump you up to Class 4! There are even people who became executives in the knight order and had Lady Nora grant them noble status!"
Zaza and the others spoke with mounting excitement. Seeing children with such drive made me feel strangely uncomfortable — perhaps because I had lost that quality long ago.
But to think that even their bodies were trained, despite living in such a convenient city — were they invincible on top of everything? With powerful advanced-technology weapons and citizens who could move like this, it was somewhat easier to understand why the Explorer's Guild had once lost to them.
"That really is something... Do all of Code's residents train like this?"
Were there no people with poor athletic ability? Or was there an environment here that could develop even hopeless cases like me?
At my question, the children widened their eyes and exchanged glances. Then Zaza spoke with an exasperated look.
"No way, Mr. Klye. You really don't know anything, do you? Training our bodies is Lady Nora's policy. We're not from Lady Nora's area, so we don't know all the details, but..."
"In Lord Angus's area, they have martial and civil service exams instead of knight training, and if you pass, your class goes up! More importantly, when your class goes up, they distribute weapons that Lord Angus made!"
"In Lady Toni's area, the nobles cooperate to manage the district! They're always recruiting, and even non-nobles can get all kinds of work!"
I see, so each area had its own character. The information from my client about royals being kept under house arrest and made to comply — that might have been about Lady Toni.
Since each area was different, there might be sweets shops or Treasure Weapon stores in some districts after all.
There should be six royals in total — three left to go. I nodded with a hard-boiled smile.
"What about the remaining three?"
"Huh? You should know all about Lady Alicia, right?"
...Two left, then. Right. One of them was probably the person that dangerous female swordsman had named.
At my question, the children — unlike before — told me with obvious reluctance.
"Um... In Lord Morris's area, the use of weapons is prohibited. The city's security system has a very low activation threshold, and if you so much as raise suspicion, you get arrested."
"In Lady Zachary's area... this might just be a rumor, but the security system is supposedly shut down. Ja-ku-ni-kyou-shoku? People who want freedom go there. It's dangerous, so I don't think you should go, mister..."
So there were places that dangerous too... The nobles were probably doing whatever they pleased.
Absolutely outrageous. I'd entrust the protection of those two to Kaiser and Saya. At least I'd gotten useful information here.
"I see... I still have some time."
Excluding this area, there were two more places worth visiting — Lord Angus's and Lady Toni's.
Kaiser and Saya were Level 8, so they should work quickly. A considerable amount of time had passed since we arrived in the city, so preparations to protect the royals should be nearing completion. I needed to finish my sightseeing before Kaiser and the others wrapped everything up.
"...Time?"
"No, just talking to myself. Anyway, there's something I want to ask — is there anyone around here who charges Treasure Weapons with mana?"
It seemed magic couldn't be used in Code, but mana charging should still be possible. Among the mercenaries who had entered from outside, there had to be some who carried Treasure Weapons.
Priority was important. Sightseeing was nice, but my Barrier Rings were my lifeline.
Lulu tilted her head with wide eyes.
"Treasure Weapon? You want to charge a Treasure Weapon, mister? There's nobody who does that, but — why not use a charge stand?"
"A... charge stand?"
It wasn't a term I was familiar with — but could it be that Code had facilities for charging Treasure Weapons?
The more powerful a Treasure Weapon was, the more mana it required. Throughout all of history, mana charging for Treasure Weapons had been a headache for Hunters. There were even businesses that charged them for a fee.
Even without being used, the mana stored in a Treasure Weapon gradually leaked away over time. Hunters with less mana naturally found it harder to carry powerful Treasure Weapons — but if the city could charge them, that changed everything.
This Code might truly be a paradise for Hunters, regardless of its connection to an advanced civilization's legacy. If only it were a peaceful country, I'd have set up a base here.
"The nearest charge stand is... over there, I think."
"Let me see..."
Lulu leaned forward and pointed below. I followed her gaze and peered over the edge of the building.
— That was when a fierce gust of wind tore across the rooftop.
"!"
My back was pushed by the wind, and before I could even brace myself, my body was swept clean off the building. But it wasn't just me who was blown off.
If a gust was strong enough to throw off an adult man like me, there was no way a girl lighter than me could withstand it, no matter how agile she was.
In front of me, I could see Lulu's bewildered expression — she had no idea what was happening. Behind me, the boys' screams rang out.
The world seemed to move in slow motion. There was no time to think. I couldn't even scream. Gravity pulled me down without mercy, and I began to fall.
Reaching out to grab Lulu was almost pure reflex.
There was no sense of reality. I held Lulu close, falling helplessly, and in the weightlessness, I thought: Could this be — the end?
Normally, Barrier Rings made a fall from this height trivial, but right now I was just an ordinary man who had used up every last one.
If I truly had the strength of a Level 8 Hunter, I might survive a fall from this height. But I had no such power. Even if I broke her fall, we'd both die on impact.
Dying from a fall while trying to find a charge stand would be absurd... No, wait — it was too early to give up.
The Mourning Specter had faced countless crises before. But not once, not even once, had I given up in the middle of an adventure.
If that was the case, then I — as the leader of that Party — absolutely could not give up.
Through the tremendous wind pressure, I took a deep breath and prayed with all my might.
MY TALENT FOR MAGIC, BLOSSOM NOW, OH PLEASE BLOSSOM NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!
I WANT TO FLY I WANT TO FLY I WANT TO FLYYYYYYY!!!
The ground rushed closer with terrifying speed — how many seconds until impact? As I desperately prayed for my magical talent to bloom, suddenly my body was lifted against gravity.
But my talent hadn't actually bloomed.
The mecha soldier borrowed from Her Highness had come to save me.
Without even being ordered, it came to my aid — what an incredible machine.
The green mecha soldier, holding me, who was holding Lulu, shifted its trajectory in midair, gliding smoothly into a horizontal path.
The gravity that had been pulling us moments ago was powerless against the might of the advanced civilization.
It seemed to be heading in the direction Lulu had pointed earlier. It hadn't been given an answer, yet it had listened anyway.
...Though I had a simple question — how exactly was this mecha soldier flying without wings?
Now that the danger had passed, my heartbeat finally began to settle. I let out a small breath and checked on Lulu, who was still frozen stiff.
"That was close... So, where did you say that charge stand was?"
Dangers weren't limited to monsters. I needed to charge my Barrier Rings with mana as soon as possible.