The Treasure Weapon charging stand didn't look like much at first glance.
It was really just a box with a lightning-bolt symbol on it, sitting on top of what looked like a counter.
"You put your Treasure Weapons in that box, and it charges them. When it's done, it glows blue," Rulu explained, still not fully recovered. Her face was pale, and it would probably take a while before she returned to normal.
Her physical abilities were impressive, but she clearly hadn't been through as many life-or-death situations as a Hunter.
The other boys who had rushed after us looked equally ashen.
"I-I really thought it was all over. Who knew wind that strong could blow out of nowhere — nothing like that has ever happened before."
"Klye-san, you really went too far. What if that armored soldier hadn't made it in time? Jumping off a building to save Rulu like that…"
I hadn't jumped to save her. If anything, I might have fallen before she did.
I pulled the rings off my fingers one by one and placed them into the charging stand's box as I spoke.
"W-Well, in the end, everyone's safe. That's what matters."
If it was true that nothing like this ever happened around here, then rather than me saving Rulu, it was more likely that Rulu had fallen because of me. I was sharper than usual today, but even at my best, bad timing was something I couldn't overcome.
Rulu fidgeted, pinching the hem of her skirt.
"It took too long… but really, thank you for saving me, Big Brother. I almost died before I ever got to become Princess Nora's knight."
"It's fine, it's fine. Seriously, I didn't do that much…"
No, I really was sorry. It was my fault. Everything was my fault. So please stop looking at me with such grateful eyes.
The truth was, the only reason anyone survived was because the lady lent me that armored soldier. All I did was grab Rulu — that was literally it.
Being thanked for doing nothing was a feeling I could never get used to, no matter how many times it happened.
I pointed at the box full of Treasure Weapons to change the subject.
"How long does a charge take?"
"…That's weird. It should be done by now… Klye-san, what did you put in there? There's a lot!"
There would've been even more if Mimmy-kun were here. The ones I had on me now were only the Treasure Weapons I kept on my person at all times.
But still, sixteen Barrier Rings was a number that only someone like Lucia could charge at once. Trying to charge them all simultaneously might have been a mistake…
While I was reflecting on this, the box suddenly flashed red, then lit up blue. I had no idea what that meant, but when I picked up the Barrier Rings, the charge was indeed complete.
Code technology was incredible! Living in this city meant I could use Treasure Weapons to my heart's content — it was genuinely tempting.
And if there was a charging stand like this, there might be other unique facilities throughout the city. I wanted to pick up a souvenir for the lady who had loaned me the escort.
"That's strange… Why did it flash red for a second? The charge seems to have completed properly, though…"
The children were making faces like the explanation didn't sit right with them, so I made a request.
"Hey, if you've got the time, would you mind showing me around? Since I've come all this way to this country, I'd like to see as much as I can."
When it came to the city, the people who lived there were always the best source of information. My time for sightseeing was limited, and I couldn't afford to just slack off. I had to have fun while there was still time (contradiction).
The children exchanged glances for a moment, then looked straight at me and spoke.
"Well, you did save Rulu, so of course…"
"Yeah! But in exchange, you have to tell us about the outside! Big Brother, you came from outside, right? There have been a lot of outsiders coming through lately, and we've been really curious!"
Rulu's eyes sparkled. The people in this city, the lady included, were endlessly curious. Of course, I had no problem talking about the outside world. It wasn't like I had anything particularly impressive to say, though.
I collected all the Treasure Weapons from the charging stand, flashed a hard-boiled grin, and said: "Alright, I'll take that deal. Right then — is there a way to get Treasure Weapons in this city?"
§ § § Outsiders really were something else. That was the honest first impression Zaza and the others — Class 2 citizens living in Princess Nora's territory — had upon seeing Klye Andrich, a man with a comprehensive system evaluation of 4.
Lately, Code had been flooded with immigrants from outside. Most of them had apparently headed for Prince Angus's territory, but a portion had come to the area where Zaza and the others lived, under Princess Nora.
Since their purpose was to bolster military strength, most of these newcomers were intimidating, radiating violence — in a word, bad news.
The influx of new immigrants had affected Zaza and the others' daily lives in no small measure.
Their attitude as they walked right down the center of the street like they owned the place was unpleasant, and some had broken the city's rules almost immediately upon arrival and been thrown in prison.
The reason so few of those immigrants remained in Princess Nora's territory now was that they had earned her wrath. Even from the perspective of Zaza and the others, who dreamed of becoming her personal guards, this was an entirely expected outcome.
But Klye Andrich, whom they had happened to find on the street, was completely different from those people in every way.
His demeanor carried not a trace of intimidation, and he occasionally wore a smile that seemed to suggest he couldn't be bothered.
A system evaluation of 4 was a number Zaza and the others had never seen before. But what was truly astonishing was that despite such a low evaluation, he was Class 6.
Class 6. That was a number completely out of reach for citizens like Zaza. No — even among the large number of immigrants who had recently poured in, not a single one had achieved Class 6.
Class 6 meant minor nobility. It was, realistically, the highest rank a commoner could aspire to.
Becoming a noble in this city required extraordinary contributions and trust.
That was because the only ones who could appoint minor nobles were the Class 8 royals, starting with Princess Nora, and the number of Class 6 appointments each royal could make was strictly limited.
The only person who could disregard that principle was the great King of Code alone. And so the royals were reluctant to create nobles without compelling reasons.
Earlier, Zaza had told Klye that some of the Enhanced Knights had been granted noble status. But to receive that honor from Princess Nora, one would need to rise at least to the rank of Knight Commander. Klye served Princess Alicia rather than Princess Nora, so the criteria would likely differ, but it was unquestionably a monumental achievement regardless.
The reason Zaza's group member Rulu had approached Klye Andrich on the street was probably because the status displayed in the system and the impression he gave were so wildly at odds.
Normally, casually addressing a noble was something that simply didn't happen unless you were extremely close with them. But this young man was so unlike a noble that it made the social rules feel irrelevant.
And the first impression they received upon seeing him barely changed even after spending time together.
He certainly had his impressive moments. Even accounting for the high-performance armored soldier he'd brought along, hurling yourself off a building without hesitation to save Rulu, who had been blown off by the wind and foolishly fallen — that wasn't easy. With an evaluation of 4, a fall like that should have been fatal — so if that was the kind of thing that had earned him an appointment as a personal guard, it made a certain amount of sense.
But apart from that, the young man was ordinary. Ordinary wasn't even the right word — he was spacey, hard to read, impossible to tell what he was thinking… Immigrants had flooded Princess Nora's area in large numbers before, but not a single one had ever asked Zaza and the others to give them a tour of the city.
These people were supposedly here as mercenaries, yet they wanted to wander around town looking for interesting things. There was no other way to describe it than relaxed — too relaxed.
But for Zaza and the others, it was a welcome way to kill time. The training to become Enhanced Knights didn't occupy every waking hour.
Citizens of Code generally never left the city in their lifetimes. For Zaza and the others, born and raised inside Code, the outside world was something that sparked their curiosity.
And guiding someone from outside, who knew nothing about the city's systems, around their proud city was an enjoyable pastime.
Though they all called it Code, the city's various areas each had their own unique character depending on which royal managed them. The area under Princess Nora's management focused on enhancing physical capabilities.
Using Code's systems, Princess Nora had driven research and development into techniques for augmenting the human body — producing beings who had surpassed humanity: Enhanced Humans, capable of fighting even armored soldiers. For that purpose, a strong physical foundation was essential, and so this area was equipped with all manner of facilities designed to produce powerful individuals. A cityscape designed for running, jumping, and climbing was only part of that.
There were only so many places in Code where you could obtain Treasure Weapons. In Princess Nora's area, there was only one way to get them besides joining the Enhanced Knights.
What Zaza and the others led him to was an underground arena, buried beneath an exceptionally large building.
The circular arena was spacious enough to comfortably accommodate not only person-vs-person combat but also fights against Code's armored soldiers and biological weapons. Countless spectator seats surrounded the arena on all sides.
What took place here were combat-format matches. They were used for Enhanced Knight training as well, but the regularly scheduled tournaments were the most popular event in Princess Nora's area. Not a few citizens lived in Princess Nora's area specifically to watch them.
If you had confidence in your abilities, you could participate, and a strong performance could open the path to joining the Enhanced Knights. Zaza and the others would one day fight in this arena themselves.
The way to obtain Treasure Weapons in Princess Nora's area: achieve good results in the regularly held tournaments. One of the prizes awarded for outstanding performance was a Treasure Weapon.
In this Code, citizens needed at minimum noble-class permission to possess weapons or Treasure Weapons that fell outside the city's system.
Zaza didn't know about other areas, but at the very least, the only way to get a Treasure Weapon here was to win through the tournament and prove your worth.
The tournaments featured various genres. Klye's comprehensive evaluation suggested low ability, but perhaps he'd be able to gauge the实力 of other royals' personal guards.
Hiding that hope behind his explanation, Zaza watched as Klye blinked, surveyed the arena in a full circle, checked on the fighters trading blows in the ring, glanced at the spectator seats, studied the Enhanced Knight members in the VIP section who were squinting at the fighters with narrowed eyes to assess their skill, and then turned back to Zaza.
"…Alright, I've got the general picture. By the way, what kind of Treasure Weapons do you get as prizes?"
"It depends on the day, but swords are the most popular. Most of the weapons Code can produce are ranged, so imported items end up as prizes too. Carrying a Treasure Weapon sword is proof that you're a top-tier warrior!"
"Swords, huh. I see, I see… By the way, what about smartphones and—"
"Huh…? The prizes are mostly weapons. Well… armor shows up once in a while."
The one providing the prizes was Princess Nora. Recently, with the sudden influx of people from outside, the relative values were shifting somewhat, but items brought in from outside were extremely rare commodities in this city.
The ones managing the import and export of goods were the royals and the Level 7s — upper nobles — who could only be appointed by the king. From Zaza's perspective, obtaining such items required extraordinary luck.
What did he mean by "I've got the general picture"?
While Zaza tilted his head in puzzlement, a new match began. Klye glanced over — both fighters were on the cusp of being selected as Enhanced Humans, a matchup that promised to be exceptional.
The honor of being chosen as an Enhanced Human was granted to very few. It was a rare, high-profile card. Under normal circumstances, Zaza and the others would have been glued to the match.
But Klye watched the fierce bout for a while, then suddenly looked up.
"Alright, let's head to the next place."
"Huh!? You're not going to watch the result?"
He wanted to know who would win… Their records were nearly evenly matched. Both had pushed their bodies to the point where they could withstand enhancement techniques.
The outcome would be decided by instinct, luck, or how well each had studied the other beforehand. Either could win — it was that kind of heated battle.
"I've seen plenty of matches like that outside. It's not that I'm not curious about the result, but Code is huge and I'm running out of time…"
What are you talking about, Klye-san? You're going to be living in this city for the foreseeable future — running out of time?
No… he meant that once the king passed away, there wouldn't be time for sightseeing anymore.
"Fine… I understand. What a shame, when it's such a good match…"
Zaza sighed, forcibly tore his gaze from the match, and turned his back with a lingering sense of regret.
But had this match been scheduled? Normally, a bout this good would have been announced in advance to draw a crowd…
§ § § Zaza (who seemed to be the leader of the group of boys that included Rulu) and the others gave me a running commentary about the city as they showed me around Code, and it was genuinely enjoyable.
When it came to the city, the locals really were the best source of information. On my own, I never would have found the underground arena among the countless nearly identical buildings.
It seemed like Nora really did love combat. Every place Zaza led me to was a training ground, an arena, a shooting range — all combat-related facilities. And the citizens who lived in Nora's area apparently trained themselves relentlessly day and night. Having such a convenient city system and still not slacking on self-improvement — honestly, they should just become Hunters in my place.
As we wandered from place to place, the sun gradually set.
The imperial capital was bright at night, but Code was even brighter. The main streets in what appeared to be the heart of Nora's area still had citizens walking around.
Having walked around all day, I was completely famished. I hadn't even done anything strenuous — just walking around was enough to exhaust me. It was a humbling reminder of just how frail I was.
In the end, I wasn't able to get a Treasure Weapon in Nora's area. Winning one through the tournament was obviously out of the question, and besides, weapon and armor-type Treasure Weapons weren't the purpose of this trip. I wouldn't say no if someone offered, though…
Rulu, who had called out to me during training and was therefore far more exhausted than I should have been, showed not the slightest sign of fatigue as she said: "Big Brother, where are you staying tonight? If you want, you could come to our place!"
"Sure, that works. We've got room. And you can tell us about the outside. You promised, right?"
Right now, I was staying at the lady's building. If I wanted to go back, I could summon a spider and head home… but a promise was a promise.
My duties as the lady's personal guard were practically nonexistent, and one night without going back would be fine.
"In that case, I'll take you up on the offer."
"Yay! You're our very first noble guest, Big Brother!"
"N-No, don't call me a noble… I barely know anything about this city, and I'll disappoint you if you expect too much."
I hurriedly protested against Rulu's cheering. The whole thing was already absurd from the moment I became a noble without knowing the first thing about this city — my class had been raised essentially as a jab at Olivia.
Did nobles in this country even have specific roles or duties? The only concrete benefit of becoming a noble so far was being able to file a release request for Klave…
Seeing my bewilderment, Zaza's eyes went wide. He took my hand and said: "Oh right, you just got here, so you wouldn't know. In this Code, there are things you can only do if your class goes up."
"I know. Filing release requests for convicted criminals, right?"
I answered immediately, and Zaza made an odd face.
"…Why is that the only thing you know? It's not just that. Food, daily necessities — there are things you can only request if you're a noble. We can't even use the virtual terminal — that's why we're trying to raise our class too."
I see… I thought I'd checked all the system's functions, but I hadn't noticed that at all. There were no explanations, after all.
It seemed that even in a highly advanced physical civilization where the city system provided food, your status still determined your treatment. There was still so much about Code I didn't know.
"Oh… So, what do you want me to bring you?"
"Well… mechanized soldiers! For practice. And equipment for physical training."
"There are supplements that Princess Nora researched, but those are only available to nobles directly under her, right? They're classified…"
…Nora, your citizens are becoming training addicts.
This was a good opportunity. I could have them teach me more about how to use the city system as well.
§ § § "That is all. Klye Andrich will be staying at the home of a citizen aspiring to become an Enhanced Knight tonight."
"…He just waltzed into my territory without warning — what on earth is that man here for?"
Upon receiving the report from the guard she had assigned to monitor Klye, Nora clicked her tongue in annoyance.