Chapter 27: The Streets of the Royal Capital

“Whoa… so that’s the royal capital! The walls are enormous!”

Through the carriage window, I could see a gigantic stone wall surrounding the city.

The massive walls towered nearly 30 meters high, and they stretched endlessly to both the left and right. The town where we stayed yesterday had also been a large city, but even that was nothing compared to the walls of the royal capital.

As we approached, the sheer size of the walls became even more overwhelming.

At the entrance stood a massive metal gate, while weapons such as cannons and ballistae were installed above it. Numerous soldiers guarded the royal capital.

The walls probably had some kind of magic or magical tools embedded into them.

When magic is combined with technology, it really creates something incredible…

“The royal capital is the largest city in this country. That means it also has the most people, which is scary…”

“Not a single monster or bandit appeared after all…”

Contrary to my excitement, the two of them seemed rather disappointed.

Of course, they were relieved that we had arrived safely at the royal capital, but it seemed that something else had been on their minds more than anything.

Still, seeing them remain so calm was reassuring in its own way.

When we approached the gates, we saw heavily armed guards stationed there.

Separate from the gate used by ordinary citizens, there was another entrance used by nobles and other important figures, and our carriage passed through that one.

The scenery of the royal capital visible through the carriage window was breathtaking.

Compared to the cities we had passed through so far, the buildings here were larger, more luxurious, and arranged in a perfectly orderly manner.

This city must have been built according to an incredibly detailed plan.

The carriage pulled by the Sleipnir continued through the streets of the royal capital, heading toward the central area where even larger and more extravagant buildings stood.

As we moved closer to the center, we began seeing more wealthy-looking people wearing jewel-adorned necklaces and rings.

Apparently, the closer one got to the center of the royal capital, the wealthier the residents became.

“T-this is an incredibly luxurious inn. The rooms are spacious too, and there are even artworks displayed around the place. I don’t even want to think about how much just one of these costs…”

The inn where our carriage arrived had a magnificent exterior and was an extremely tall building.

Considering the knowledge brought by the Blessed Ones and the power of magic, perhaps even a civilization at this level could create buildings this impressive.

The room we were shown to was incredibly large, and a magical tool shaped like a chandelier illuminated the entire space.

Perhaps this was similar to the kind of suite room found in a luxury hotel back in my original world.

“It seems like we’re being treated quite well. Having the audience scheduled for the very next day is unusually fast. Perhaps they have something they desperately want to ask of Kakeru.”

“Maybe they want to demonstrate their power first so that they can negotiate from a stronger position. Even though he’s only the Fourth Prince, the authority of royalty is considerable.”

“Y-yeah…”

Hearing the two of them say that made me feel nervous.

Since the sun was already setting, our audience with the Fourth Prince—the person who had requested this mission—was scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Normally, an audience with royalty would take several days to arrange after arriving at the royal capital, so being granted one the very next day was apparently extremely unusual.

Just as Yuuka and Aoi said, perhaps he was welcoming us while also showing us his influence and authority.

Either way, tomorrow’s meeting was making me a little nervous.

“We might never get another chance to stay at a place like this, so we should enjoy it while we can.”

I didn’t know what kind of wish the Fourth Prince had, but there was no point worrying about it right now.

An opportunity like this might never come again, so I decided to enjoy this inn and the royal capital.

If we successfully completed the Fourth Prince’s request, perhaps we could explore the city afterward.

Visiting new places was something I genuinely enjoyed.

“Wow, this is delicious!”

“This is an incredibly elaborate dish. This soup contains many different ingredients.”

When dinner time arrived, the inn staff brought out a series of delicious-looking dishes.

A large table covered with a pure white tablecloth was gradually filled with colorful dishes I had never seen before.

…Well, some of them were dishes I recognized from Japan.

However, the meal lacked any kind of consistency, mixing Japanese and Western-style dishes together with completely unfamiliar fantasy-world cuisine.

It was chaotic, but in a way, that made it feel uniquely like an otherworldly meal.

And as expected from a first-class inn, every dish tasted amazing, using plenty of luxurious ingredients and expensive spices.

The roasted wyvern meat was tender and incredibly juicy.

The concentrated flavor of the meat combined with the perfectly balanced sauce created a wonderful harmony of flavors.

I had eaten roast beef before, but this was on another level.

Perhaps warm roasted meat really was better than cold roast beef.

The consomme-like soup that Aoi mentioned also had an incredibly deep flavor.

I couldn’t explain exactly what made it different with my own limited sense of taste, but it was probably made by carefully simmering various high-quality ingredients over a long period of time.

“As expected, food at a luxury inn really is on another level. This braised meat is so tender. I wonder how they manage to make it this soft.”

Yuuka, meanwhile, was enjoying the delicious meal while occasionally asking the staff who brought the dishes about the recipes.

Whenever she received compliments about her cooking, she always looked happy, so she really must love cooking.

Incidentally, Aoi was like me and could barely cook at all, so I felt a little guilty that we left everything to Yuuka when we were at the mansion.

We had certainly enjoyed this luxurious inn, but considering everything—from the Sleipnir carriage to the extravagant hospitality—it felt like we were being treated far beyond what was necessary.

Because of that, I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious about what the Fourth Prince would ask of us tomorrow…