We sat crammed together on the bed of a large cargo wagon.
Other passengers headed for Baim had begun checking their luggage and preparing to disembark as soon as the gates came into view.
I, Lyle Walt, pulled off my robe's hood and peered at Baim through a gap in the wagon's canopy.
When I pushed my blue hair aside, it felt slightly sticky.
The cargo wagon had been moving nonstop to make up for lost time.
Having traveled without rest, the surrounding passengers—men and women, young and old—wore expressions of exhaustion.
Gripping the blue Jewel that hung from my neck, I gazed upon the walls and gates of Baim.
"It's on par with Central, if not more. So this is the city of merchants and adventurers."
It was the destination countless adventurers and merchants aspired to reach. The road to Baim was well-maintained, and while the wagon ride couldn't be called comfortable, it was far better than anything else.
Novem, who had also removed her hood, began tying her long brown hair into a side tail.
Her violet eyes were fixed on me.
"Lyle, let's check our luggage."
I nodded and proceeded to inspect our carry-on bags.
That said, despite the long journey, we had remarkably little luggage.
Not quite one item per person, but close to it.
Other passengers around us struggled under far heavier loads.
Aria, with her red hair and violet eyes, pushed her hair back and began to complain.
"This is so typical. 'Linked carriage malfunction,' my foot..."
The reason we had ended up taking a cargo wagon to Baim was that the linked carriage had broken down.
We chose to board the cargo wagon that had been arranged for a spontaneous departure rather than wait, since it would get us there faster.
That said, it wasn't as though we had no other means of travel.
Clara Blumer, her dark blue hair neatly combed with a hand mirror, looked at Monica, who was grumbling while wearing a robe over her maid outfit, her red eyes glaring.
"There's nothing we can do about it. Apparently two of the linked carriages are out of commission due to scheduled maintenance. Besides, if we used a Porter, we'd stick out like a sore thumb."
Monica, her blonde twin-tails being tugged by a nearby child, shot back with a retort.
"Sticking out because of the love crystal between me and that Chicken? What's wrong with that? Spending several days like this is absolutely worse. And what's your problem? Are you dissatisfied with the maid outfit? My maid outfit is a battle dress designed to be combat-ready in any situation!"
Monica, who had originally been an Automaton discovered in the Dungeon, held a very different set of values when it came to the concept of "maid."
I simply couldn't understand why the ancients had gone to such lengths to create such elaborate Automatons and fixate on the whole maid thing.
What would have been a few days by linked carriage ended up taking several times as long by cargo wagon before we finally arrived in Baim.
Eva, an elf girl with light pink—or, if I said that, she'd correct me with "It's pink blonde!"—pink-blonde hair peeking out from her hood and long, pointed ears, was rubbing her backside.
"Not that it matters, but this road is rough even though it's maintained. I would've rather walked at this point."
Eva, whose clan had originally been traveling performers, apparently would have been better off walking on her own.
Shannon Circuli, who had light purple hair and golden eyes, disagreed.
She was the youngest among us and the least reliable in terms of stamina.
"No way! Do you have any idea how far the distance is? If we're not going to use a Porter, the cargo wagon is still better than walking!"
The two-horse cargo wagon appeared to be one typically used for short-distance travel rather than long hauls, pulled out as a substitute.
It couldn't replace a linked carriage, but it was still safer than traveling on foot.
Adventurers on horseback were keeping watch all around us.
Miranda Circuli, who had light green hair, brought her fist down on top of Shannon's head.
As Shannon's eyes welled up with tears, Miranda spoke.
"You need to build up your stamina. If this keeps up, you're going to be dead weight."
"I never intended to become an adventurer in the first place."
Miranda pinched the cheek of Shannon, who turned her face away with a pout, looking like she was having a grand time.
They were fellow party members I'd teamed up with as adventurers — reliable, but they inevitably drew attention no matter what.
A man with the look of a traveling merchant, sitting beside me, started teasing.
We'd struck up a conversation over the past few days, and he knew we were adventurers. He smiled wryly.
"That's quite the lopsided group you've got. One man in a party full of women — isn't that rough?"
I nodded.
"Yeah, it really is. If I could, I'd add more men to balance things out."
At that, the man laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Not much. Baim has all sorts of adventurers, so parties like yours aren't exactly rare. But from a fellow traveler's perspective, it certainly looks like a handful. What amuses me is that people who don't know the full story think you've got it made."
Maintaining a harem is no easy feat.
When your job involves risking your life, there are times when love and romance are the last things on your mind.
Relationship troubles are a source of anxiety for adventurers too, and ideally, the adventurer leading a party would want to assemble members of the same sex.
Keeping work and personal life separate is, in principle, the smart way to go about things.
"Still... once things have turned out this way, I intend to do my best."
The man smiled.
"Good for you. Do your best. Anyway, we should be arriving soon."
Just as he said that, the wagon slowed and came to a stop, joining the queue to enter Baim.
It would take a bit of time from here on out, but at Baim's entrance, a large number of gate guards had been stationed to streamline the verification process.
Given how many merchants used the crossing, entry into the city was smooth — quite different from the towns and cities we had stayed in until now.
The walls surrounding the city were thick and tall enough to force you to crane your neck upward.
They weren't simply piled-up stone — the surface was smooth, and it seemed some kind of magical treatment had been applied to it.
Once you passed beyond those formidable walls, what spread out before you was a city more vibrant than any we had visited so far — a city of merchants and adventurers, the Free City of Baim.
Near the gate where goods were being shuttled in and out in massive quantities, we climbed down from the wagon and stretched our limbs, loosening up stiff muscles.
Carriages, freight wagons, and articulated carts kept streaming in and out, kicking up clouds of dust that reeked and stung the nostrils.
Novem spoke up.
"Shall we get moving right away?"
The rest of the party exchanged somewhat conflicted looks but nodded in agreement.
A lot had happened between Novem and me, and now a rift had formed between Novem and Miranda.
"Give me a break. Come on, let's go."
As I walked ahead, thinking it wouldn't kill them to at least get along on the surface, Miranda came up beside me.
"Hey — you're not secretly wishing we'd at least pretend to get along, are you?"
She'd hit the nail on the head, so I averted my gaze for just a moment.
Then, with a wry smile, I said:
"W-well, it's probably better if you two get along, right? For the sake of the party, at least."
Miranda looked at me and snorted derisively.
"Ha! That has nothing to do with her. Besides, it's healthier than scheming against each other behind closed doors, don't you think? So — what's the plan for today?"
The plan for today meant heading to the Guild to register.
Of the two Guild Cards, one needed to be submitted to the Guild in order to complete the registration procedure for establishing it as your home base.
Without doing that, operating as an adventurer in Baim would be practically impossible.
"We'll rest today and register tomorrow, or maybe the day after?"
Under normal circumstances, you'd rest on the day you arrived and head out to register the next day.
But this time, there was a reason we couldn't do that.
After leaving the vicinity of the smoky gate and stepping onto Baim's main avenue, tall buildings lined up one after another.
Some among them were even grander than anything in Central.
Not just in height — the designs were all over the place with no sense of uniformity.
A city that pursued functionality while also pouring money into its construction.
That was the impression Baim left on me.
Aria, who had been listening, walked over to me.
"It doesn't matter which branch we register at, right? Then let's just go to the closest one."
Clara promptly corrected Aria.
"Aria, information is important. Baim has four Guild branches, and a headquarters sits in the center. If they're just split into four for no particular reason and each manages a share of the adventurers, that would be fine — but if each one has its own specialties, transferring later would be a real hassle."
Indeed, Baim had four Guilds, along with a Guild headquarters to boot.
True to its reputation as the City of Adventurers, whether the number of adventurers was too great for a single location to manage or whether there was some other reason behind it, the Guild operated four branches.
Back when I gathered information in Central — the Royal Capital — I had confirmed that there were four Guilds.
However, the details of how they operated internally were vague.
With nothing more than hearsay to go on, the current situation was that I was still undecided about which branch to register at.
Since I wasn't sure how reliable those rumors even were, I decided to spend a few days gathering information first before heading out to register.
Then, a voice came from the Jewel.
The blue Jewel had originally been nothing more than a blue
stone.
That was all it was.
But now—
"Several responses without hostility, and one with hostility. It's approaching while keeping its guard up. Be careful, Lyle."
The voice came from the Jewel, and it reached no one's ears but mine.
The voice belonged to Broad Walt—the Seventh Generation of House Walt, my grandfather and a Landed Noble.
He had earned the title of baron, though the only version of him I knew was from his later years.
But now, within the Jewel, he appeared as a man in his thirties.
His grey hair was tied back, and to me, he gave the impression of nothing more than a kind old grandfather.
Ask anyone else, though, and you'd get a very different answer.
Noble and stern—a man befitting the title of baron, they would say.
I gathered everyone close and changed our direction of travel.
Sure enough, the pursuing response surged toward us at speed.
Skills were recorded within the blue Jewel, and the successive heads would teach me how to use them.
It was supposed to be nothing more than a convenient tool, but my blue Jewel held value far beyond that.
After all, I could receive advice from the successive heads themselves.
Shannon, having gotten off the cargo cart and walked at a brisk pace, finally hit her limit and gave up.
"Wait! I can't take any more..."
Just as Monica was about to lend Shannon a hand, I let out a sigh.
The one who had approached us first was a person showing up as a yellow presence on the surrounding map displayed in my head via Skills.
If the light dot was blue, they were an ally; if they harbored hostility, it turned red; and if they weren't particularly focused on us or fell into any other category, they appeared as yellow.
The map was the Fifth Generation's Skill, and the light dots were the Sixth Generation's Skill.
Together, they told me the movements of the people around me.
"Can I help you with something?"
The person who had shown a red response was eyeing us carefully.
Others who had attempted to approach were also watching us from a distance.
He was a narrow-eyed, small-statured man.
"If you'd noticed, you could've just stopped me. Oh, don't worry—I'm not a suspicious person. ...Actually, saying that probably makes me sound even more suspicious, doesn't it? I'm what you'd call an information broker. Though right now, I'm guiding newcomers around Baim."
Since the narrow-eyed man had introduced himself, I took charge of the negotiation.
"A sightseeing guide?"
"Not quite. Ah, but that's not entirely wrong either. The difference is that my customers are adventurers."
He must have approached us because we were adventurers.
Just as I was wondering what his aim was, the man promptly—
"Well then, let me give you a proper introduction. I'm a former adventurer. Now I offer paid guided tours for newcomers visiting Baim, as well as adventurers who've honed their skills elsewhere. Everything from Guild quirks and essential info to picking the right shops when you're shopping. Why not give me a try?"
He seemed to be the type who made his living by giving newcomers to Baim directions and basic information for a fee.
A voice came from inside the Jewel—the Third Generation.
"As expected, something this large and complex does have its limits when we try to handle it on our own... I'd like to use my Skill here, but doing so in a place like this would be rather—"
The Third Generation's Skill, Mind, was an ability that interfered with the mind.
It was a handy Skill that could even pull information out of someone, but when there was too great a disparity in power, using it was pointless.
On top of that, there were people lurking nearby who seemed to be watching us.
"What's the going rate?"
When I asked, the narrow-eyed man answered with a smile.
"Two silver coins for a full day. Oh, I know it sounds steep, but it's worth every coin. It's cheaper than wasting several days here in Baim, and more importantly, you get to pick a place that suits you, right? Besides, dangerous spots exist everywhere. I'd say paying to find out in advance beats stumbling into a rough neighborhood and starting trouble, wouldn't you?"
The map floating in my head was complicated, and wandering around on foot to scout it out would definitely be a pain.
Even when going out on a day off, it was worth knowing which places were dangerous.
I pulled two silver coins from my pocket and confirmed with the man.
"You said a full day, but we don't really have time to spare today."
He seemed to understand, and the moment I went to hand over the money, the display shifted from yellow to blue.
"I'll just introduce you to an inn today, so tomorrow works fine too."
I looked at him with a suspicious gaze.
"Don't you think we might run off? And you're saying the inn introduction is free today? That's no profit at all."
The narrow-eyed man laughed.
"No, sorry. Yeah, I know it looks like there's nothing in it for me. But just by introducing you to the inn, I get a referral fee, so it's all good. Yeah, it's pretty rare outside of Baim, I'll admit. But I appreciate you worrying about my finances. I'll happily take tips anytime."
I opened my mouth to respond, then decided against it.
I handed over a few large copper coins, and the narrow-eyed man asked me another question.
"Generous of you. So, for eight people staying—what price range are you looking at? You'll probably be here for several weeks, so I'd aim lower than the rates I've got listed. That said, if you've got coin to spare, there's nothing wrong with paying more for safety and a chance to rest up from the road."
He made his living working with adventurers in Baim.
There was no point in us worrying about his bottom line.
I told him the amount, and he immediately suggested several options. When I asked him to guide us to an inn that looked promising among those, we set off with the thin-eyed man leading the way.
Fourth Generation grumbled, though not without a measure of acceptance.
"Two silver coins just for a guide, that stings. But getting shown around the right shops without having to wander aimlessly, plus a tour of Baim on the side… when you factor in the time saved, it's the right call."
Unless an adventurer was working solo, even a single night at an inn meant forking over lodging fees for several people.
The larger the party, the bigger the expenses.
When you thought about it that way, shaving several days off their schedule for two silver coins was a pretty good deal.
Just then, a voice carried over from somewhere in the distance.
When I turned to look, a boy with a greatsword strapped to his back was being approached by an information broker who looked just like the thin-eyed man.
His upper body was lightly dressed — or rather, wearing nothing but an undershirt — yet his lower half was clad in metal armor around the waist, with knee guards and the like on his boots. The boy was striking an extremely unbalanced pose as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Two silver coins? Are you kidding me?! Who'd be stupid enough to pay that much just for directions?!"
Sixth Generation heard the boy's outburst and started teasing me about it.
"Lyle, that's exactly what you look like. Why don't you fire something back at him?"
I decided not to get involved and kept walking ahead.
The thin-eyed man was smiling wryly too.
"Ugh, are those kids really trying to become adventurers in Baim? That's the kind of place Baim is — you get people recruiting kids like that."
He looked thoroughly exasperated with his fellow information broker.