When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in a large bed.
A spotless, clean white ceiling above me. A bed with just the right firmness to cradle my body. I propped my elbows on the mattress and managed to sit up.
The room was unfamiliar. Where had I been sleeping yesterday...? Memories returned to me, bit by bit.
That's right, come to think of it... I'd asked Zaza and the others to show me around a different area.
They'd told me it was the busiest area. Right — I'd entered a building, and after that, things got hazy. I couldn't remember much of what happened next.
Did I drink alcohol after that, by any chance?
I stretched wide and looked around. I felt great. The most surprising thing of all was — I didn't feel sleepy at all. For someone who needed as much sleep as I did, this was an incredibly rare, wonderful awakening.
Today's going to be a good day. Now, where were Zaza and the others?
As I was looking around the room, a man in a white lab coat suddenly burst in.
"Oh! You're awake! Thank goodness, truly!"
"...Huh?"
Behind him, Zaza trudged in looking utterly exhausted, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Thank goodness... really, thank goodness. I mean, I knew you were alive and all, but..."
"Big Brother! You finally woke up! You were asleep for three whole days! We woke up right away, you sleepyhead!"
"Huh... wait?"
Lulu's words made me tilt my head involuntarily. It took me a few seconds to process what she'd said.
Three days. That's a new record... wait, no!
Even for me, sleeping for three days wasn't normal. The bed I'd been lying in was different from the one at the princess's place, so maybe this was what Code's technology could do?
Ah, that explained why I felt so refreshed. Ha ha ha ha...
Despite having been out for three days, my physical condition felt no different from usual. I hadn't eaten anything, yet my stomach wasn't growling and my muscles didn't feel atrophied at all. Maybe Code's bed compensated for all of that?
At this point, it was practically a Treasure Weapon in its own right.
"I'm going to report to Princess Nora! Klye, don't go anywhere on your own!"
Zaza left the room. The man in the white coat examined me all over and murmured: "There are no abnormalities anywhere. There is individual variation in susceptibility to the neutralizing gas, of course... but three days is a new record. We've tested extensively across ages and genders, and no one in our records has ever been affected for this long. Some were close, but having someone affected this long —"
Neutralizing gas? I wasn't familiar with that term. They didn't need any special gas to render me powerless.
It seemed... I hadn't just slept for three days on my own. That made sense.
Since coming to this city, I hadn't done anything particularly exhausting. And even for a long sleeper like me, sleeping three days for no reason? It didn't happen. I could dawdle away three days easily enough, sure, but that was different.
I sat down on the edge of the bed. Lulu spoke in a panic: "Big Brother, don't fall back asleep! Princess Nora is furious!"
"Huh? ...Why is Nora upset?"
"Even I have to insist — they were seriously deliberating whether they needed to conduct research just to wake you up."
"...I don't really understand, but I'm sorry for the trouble."
"Oh... well..."
I was fine, as far as I could tell. But having been out for three days, I was curious whether Kaiser and the others had made any progress. A Level 8 Hunter would work fast — they might have already rescued one or two people by now. I needed to hurry with the sightseeing... waiting for rescues just so I could tour around would be absolutely unacceptable.
"Well, you've finally come around. Klye Andrich."
Just then, a man entered the room.
The man in the white coat and Lulu and the other children quickly parted to make way.
The newcomer was a red-haired young man in a white suit — someone I recognized. It had only been recently, so even I could remember.
"You — !"
"My, my. I'm afraid I've caused you some trouble this time. I never expected you'd get caught by our defense system... My apologies."
If my memory served, this red-haired young man was the one who'd escorted me to the prison.
An impactful entrance, with an equally impactful outfit. His name was — ?
I clapped my hands together, grinned, and said: "TC, right? Hey, thanks for escorting me to the prison the other day. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but let's call us even."
It was always best to keep things even. You never knew when someone might pull something extra on you.
It seemed we'd gotten caught in some kind of defense system, but no one was actually hurt. I'd just fallen asleep.
TC's eyes went wide for a moment at my words, but then he flashed a cynical smile.
"Ah, can't do that. See, I've gone and made Nora angry over this. Well, it was our screw-up, but... damn, it's cost me big. If anything happens in my area, just say the word."
"Lord Tony, we've found no irregularities upon investigation. At this point, we have to consider it an individual matter. For now, he's perfectly healthy."
"Is that so. I underestimated the four-point dosage. Didn't think it would be that effective — he's an adult male, for crying out loud? Well, it's not your fault, but..."
TC sighed and extended his hand to me.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I'm TC — Tony Code. Your companions seem to have already figured it out, but I'm one of the royalty in this city. I hear you'd like to tour my area... Consider yourself welcome."
"!! What was that?"
TC... Tony Code. Royalty — which meant this young man was one of the protected persons from the request.
I'd ended up meeting another royal? When he said "my companions," he probably meant Cool and the others who'd been with me at the time.
Honestly, if they'd known, they could have told me...
I stood up, shook his hand, and said: "I had no idea... Sorry for being so dense. Thanks again for the other day. I'm Klye Andrich, from outside the city. Not sure if you've heard of me, but believe it or not, I'm the personal guard to the princess — Princess Alicia. Nice to meet you."
"Tch... I can't tell if you're being serious or winding me up... You really are an interesting guy."
"Oh, and this might be a strange question, but... am I being watched by the nobility right now?"
The royals I'd come to rescue were supposedly imprisoned and kept under surveillance by the nobility, forced to obey their every command. But this Tony, much like Nora, didn't seem to be imprisoned at all — nor did he look like the type to take orders from anyone.
At my question, Tony raised his eyebrows: "Ah... of course I'm being watched. By the nobles who manage my area for me. What about it?"
So... he was being watched. He didn't seem imprisoned, but the request details weren't entirely wrong after all.
That made three royals I'd found. Out of seven total, I'd met just under half. If I really were a fighter on par with Level 8 Hunters, I could've flattened the nobles and spirited them all out of the city. If only.
Once I found Kaiser and Saya, I'd let them know about this. I let out a small sigh and said reassuringly to Tony: "Don't worry about it. Things might be tough right now, but I'm sure Kaiser and Saya will find a way."
"?? What are you talking about?"
It was frustrating, not being able to spell things out while we were under surveillance. But I had no business attempting a rescue. There was absolutely no chance of success.
Forgive this powerless me.
Tony furrowed his brow for a moment, but then looked at me as if something had clicked.
"Wait a sec? Kaiser and Saya... Could you mean Kai and Sāya? The ones who entered the city recently?"
"Huh...? No, I don't think so."
"My brother was bragging about it — said some strong fighters had joined."
Ah, so it was those two. Apparently, they'd both entered under fake names.
When I thought about it calmly, using their real names probably wasn't the best move. (Though it was a bit late to say that now.)
Tony's brother, which meant he too was royalty. I'd been a little anxious about the lack of reaction, but it seemed both of them had been working hard. As expected of Level 8 Hunters.
It was a surprise they'd both ended up at the same patron, though. Maybe it was a double booking — or perhaps that brother of theirs happened to be the most difficult person to extract.
Once I'd figured that out, I knew what I had to do.
"Alright, let's start the sightseeing then — no time to waste. I heard there are things in this area you can't find anywhere else, right?"
Now that I'd confirmed both of them were doing well, I needed to get my own sightseeing done.
Sleeping for three days... I needed to find a Treasure Weapon quickly, and I'd already wasted so much time.
"Yeah, that's right. Our area is pretty unique since the nobles take the initiative with all sorts of things — it's a different flavor from my brother's or Nora's places. And we've got money."
Tony snapped his fingers, and the floor opened up to reveal a chest.
Inside was a mountain of gold coins. Not just any coins, either — they were the hundred-thousand-Gill gold coins that circulated in Zeburdia.
My eyes went wide, and Tony said proudly: "We made them ourselves. Using the coins you had as reference. I've seen a few designs before, but this one's pretty good, right? Looks just like the real thing."
Yep, they were counterfeit. They really did look just like the real thing...
"I've been trying to incorporate all sorts of interesting outside culture here, but unfortunately, the monetary economy never took root in Code. After all, in this city, as long as you're a citizen, you can get just about anything. The closest thing to money would be City System resources, but if you have resources, the City System provides everything for you. There's no need to exchange anything. As an outsider, what do you think?"
"Are those gold coins actually made of gold?"
"Nope, generated from earth."
I'm pretty sure counterfeiting gold coins is a crime.
"I think it's... a pretty interesting idea, yeah. But more than that, I want to see something different. Doesn't your area have any bars or restaurants?"
The first thing to prioritize when sightseeing was food. Even when I'd been traveling the world as a member of the Mourning Specter (still technically a member, I guess), meals had been one of the few pleasures.
If Tony's area was incorporating outside culture, there was a chance places like that existed.
To my question, Tony crossed his arms and answered: "Restaurants and bars, huh? Yeah, of course, I know what they are. I've confirmed with people from the outside, and the city has records at least. Places that serve food? But as far as I know, there aren't any in this area... Wait, Nora's place had something similar, didn't it? Facilities for preparing food that enhances humans."
That's... a little different from the restaurants I know. You just eat and get stronger? Could those really be considered normal food?
In any case, no regular restaurants or bars. If there weren't even restaurants, there probably wouldn't be any dessert shops either.
I was going to have a hard time figuring out souvenirs for the princess.
"It's kind of strange that a city built by people from the outside world doesn't have any of those places, right?"
"There's no need for them. Think about it calmly. In a city where you can get anything, why would you need such places? People's labor is directed toward jobs that actually require people."
That was true. In this world, you could survive without working. In the outside world, plenty of people worked reluctantly just to make a living. But in a city where everything you needed was provided and no monetary economy existed — was there any point in running a shop?
I thought about it for a while, then looked at Tony and said: "No, I mean... I don't know if it's 'necessary,' but you might find it surprisingly fun if you tried?"
"What... did you say?"
"In my country, there are plenty of people who run shops as hobbies. And speaking from personal experience, I'm thinking of maybe opening a café someday."
It wasn't uncommon for former top-tier Hunters to open shops as a pastime. Those kinds of shops operated without regard for profit, which meant great deals, plus you could get advice on the Hunter business.
Maybe it was because they'd spent their lives in a violent line of work that they craved a peaceful lifestyle after retiring. But what I was trying to say was, ultimately, that people didn't work solely for survival.
I was dying to retire even as we spoke, but that didn't mean I found zero enjoyment in the Hunter life.
If the fun were truly zero, I would've quit ages ago.
Tony blinked and mused over this for a while.
"Hmm, now that you put it that way... there might be something to trying it out."
"You mustn't, Lord Tony! It would be terribly inefficient! We're in the middle of an important period, ahead of the succession war!"
"Which is exactly why now's the time. If we're going to do something foolish, now's the only chance. Once my brother becomes king, who knows how much authority I'll still have?"
Tony shot back at the man in the white coat who'd interjected. It sounded like there was a lot going on. I cut into the conversation without delay.
"Oh, changing the subject — can you get Treasure Weapons in your area? I'd like to pick up a souvenir."
This was the real reason I'd come. It wasn't an exaggeration to say I'd cut short my sightseeing at Nora's place specifically to look for Treasure Weapons.
I came to this city to find a Treasure Weapon!
Tony looked at me with an exasperated expression.
"A souvenir...? Come on, you don't know? Treasure Weapons are strategic resources. All Treasure Weapons in Code belong solely to the Code King, who distributes them equally among the Class 8 members. Royalty lends them to those who need them. In other words, the only way to obtain a Treasure Weapon in Code is to receive one from royalty."
"Does that include smartphones too?"
Well, whether royalty would give me one was another matter, but in principle...
"I know of such things... but there's no need. The City System can do similar things. Why go through the trouble of making one?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's true... huh?"
What did he just say? ...Making one?
"Most of this city's weapons lose their normal function when they leave Code. Treasure Weapons that work outside the city can only be made by the king. Most of the Treasure Weapons produced so far have been weapons, and apparently, they consume vast amounts of resources. Only the king knows the details... Hey, are you listening?"
That was absurd... the production of Treasure Weapons was something powerful figures throughout history had studied but never achieved.
In the modern era, it was internationally prohibited research since it constituted manipulation of Mana Material. But had this city actually succeeded in producing Treasure Weapons?
...Well, if they could make mechanized soldiers, it wasn't that far-fetched. Maybe if I asked the king, he could make me a smartphone or two?
I felt a flicker of motivation. Once Kaiser and the others rescued the king, maybe I could ask him to make one as a favor.
Then, Tony let out a small sigh. A hint of fatigue crossed his face.
"Ahh... fine. Feel free to explore our area as you like. There's nothing to hide. I'll let everyone in the area know about you. Want a guide?"
"I don't need a guide... but I could use some transportation. Do you have any nice-looking spiders? The crimson one was cool too, but I'd prefer something smaller — a more compact one a single person can use."
The spider-type vehicles commonly used in this country were convenient but far too large. The city residents didn't seem to ride them much either, and I'd been hoping for something more casual.
My words left Tony silent.
It was fine if they didn't have one. Spiders were useful, no question. They had the mobility to leap between buildings, and I hadn't seen any accidents either.
If bigger really was better, then they had a point.
Just as I was about to break the silence and politely decline, Tony finally spoke up.
"...You — did you know about my research?"
"...Huh?"