The Gatekeeper Chapter 33- Servant.

The city in which we entered was named 'Nahar'. It was also known as 'Border Capital'.

It was a huge city, the land covered was about seventy-percent of the Capital.

The buildings here were huge and advanced, but they somehow retained their ancient charm.

If I were to compare, this city was a hybrid of the two cities I previously visited. It had the enticing technological charm of 'Mendere', and also, not forgetting the alluring and simplistically interesting aspect of 'Rupee'.

There were many carriages moving about, filled with crops and construction material. People who looked like veteran merchants and traders were strolling in the streets while rubbing their hands.

They were clearly on the hunt for money, and would be swayed if provided some.

We travelled as a group, I had already descended and was on a horse for sightseeing. We pa.s.sed an unusual number of cafes and restaurants. There were this many, but none were in the red zone.

This just went to show, just how many people visited this town on a daily basis.

There were flower shops, grocery shops, inns, small casinos, and many other facilities occupying most of the s.p.a.ce.

If I had to say, residential area isn't this city's strong point.

There were more inns and hotels than there were residential complexes and mansions. We embraced the sights as we approached the other end of the city.

It was a long ride, we travelled from one edge of the town to another. Beyond that, there was nothing except a stronghold town of the Kingdom, and the border.

On the way, we pa.s.sed the guild, and to be honest, it seemed like a j.a.panese temple. There were a considerable number of steps leading to the main building, which had a sort of ancient temple air surrounding it.

As we approached the inn which seemed to be just before the West gate, we were able to spot an incredible number of magic powered carriages.

Compared to our one magic powered carriage and two normal carriages, they were equipped with six magic powered carriages and two normal, horse-pulled ones.

They didn't have a single extra horse, and by witnessing the number of magic powered carriages, I realized that there were way more n.o.bles than I expected.

Numerically speaking, there must be a minimum of six n.o.bles here, and considering the average abilities of one, they would be a force to be reckoned with.

It was like that party all over again.

About five minutes later. Delcrox came running out of the most grandiose inn in the while city.

I didn't really understand why the largest and the best inn in this huge city would be located in its outskirts, but whatever.

Delcrox approached Sylvia and me with quick footsteps and said.

"The people from HADES aren't present here. Seems like they went to train outside, on the gra.s.slands."

I was a bit astonished at the fact that the arrogant n.o.bles actually went to train. However, there was a more pressing question to be asked.

"Why would they go to train at 4 PM?"

It was Meri-san who asked that.

"Probably digesting their meal. Let's head over to their location."

I replied with a calm tone and gestured everyone to leave our carriages and luggage outside the inn.

We moved outside the city gate pretty quickly, and headed over to where Sylvia said there was a huge amount of mana concentrated.

I knew where they were, but I decided to keep quiet.

Sylvia led us towards the right direction. Our group of more than twenty was merrily moving along the gra.s.sy fields, in search of the group of people who came here from HADES.

As we approached the location, both Sylvia and myself took up the positions of rearguard and left the rest of the adventurers to lead us.

At around 5 PM, we spotted the stihoulletes of the people we were searching for.

As we closed the distance, they noticed us as well, and paused their training.

There were around twenty people gathered together, releasing tremendous amounts of mana.

If combined together, their mana would even overwhelm Freya's or s.h.i.+rone's.

They came into sight, a bit wary than not. Two of the people seemed to be on the more 'mature' side of things, it seemed like they didn't partic.i.p.ate due to their age.

The rest of the people seemed to be around 20-25, a few of them even seemed to be close to my age, but I figured that I shouldn't speak up right now, so I urged Sylvia to move forward and greet them.

She stood in front of our group as its representative, and spoke in a dignified manner, fit for a princess. She was wearing a full-sleeve top, which was a little tight so it emphasized her huge bosom. Her bottom was a blue skirt with wavy purple patterns, it was a skirt which went perfectly with her hair. It wasn't the most 'n.o.ble' appearance, but she was beautiful nonetheless.

"Esteemed n.o.bles and members of the Royal family, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sylvia Silbinas Athena. I am the first princess of The Wise Kingdom 'ATHENA'. I was sent by my brother to receive you and escort you to the Royal Capital."

It was such a gallant and majestic figure that it made me realize that she really was a princess. However, that figure was instantly washed off by the memory of the disgraceful moans and screams that originated from Sylvia's mouth just two nights ago.

One of the men walked up, it was clear that he was the representative of their group.

He appeared to be a man in his early twenties. He was a bit on the short side, well, for average people he would be tall, but surrounded by such adventures, his 175 centimetres long stature seemed lacking.

His hair were red and his face was quite handsome. He had trimmed facial hair which were quite fitting for him considering his shoulder-length red hair. His eyes were red, so were his eyebrows. He was equipped with an impressive looking sword and had no armor. A bit of sweat was acc.u.mulated on his clothes, but it seemed like he didn't care about it.

"First princess of the Kingdom of Athena, it's a pleasure to meet you as well. You're as beautiful and majestic as they say. I am Julius Hades, the crown prince of The Great Empire 'HADES'. We were to meet back at the inn, but all of us just seemed to want to shed a little sweat, I apologize for the inconvenience caused."

He said so and bowed in Sylvia's direction, with one hand on his chest.

"Please raise your head, it was no problem at all. In my opinion, it was rather pleasant, all of us were getting rusty as well, sitting inside the carriages the whole time."

It was clearly an act of courtesy, but Sylvia was impeccable.

"Is that so? Shall we move on to introductions? We can set up chairs and a table here, we brought the whole set just in case."

He said so and gestured every female in the group to move. There were about twenty people, out of which, five were females.

They quickly moved, the other men helped in arranging the table and a makes.h.i.+ft place to brew tea.

It was a large round table, there were chairs for everyone present. It seemed like the chairs were made from magic, as more than forty chairs came out of a single carriage. The table as well, it was more than ten metres in diameter.

Out of the forty or so chairs, 35 were filled, as if to say, there were 35 n.o.bles here.

The rest of the people were left standing behind one of the n.o.bles in their respective party.

I was no exception, I was standing behind Sylvia, who was seated right beside Prince Julius.

I gently escorted her and pulled out a chair for her. She was happy but she didn't let it show. Currently, she had a perfect poker face on. Julius and Sylvia were merely exchanging words of courtesy, but they were both very cautious as to not let something slip.

"Okay, then, let us enjoy the tea and get to know each other better."

Julius said so and raised his teacup in the air.

"Yes."

All the people on the table replied together and indulged themselves in their tea.

As I was standing behind Sylvia, I was idly staring into the sky, contemplating about various things.

"My name is Julian Hades, I am the first princess of HADES, older sister of Julius."

One of the women, who had the same hair colour as Julius, spoke up. She had a glamorous ring equipped in her finger, which indicated that she was already married. I wonder why she decided to accompany her brother here.

And as such, the introductions started, I wasn't particularly interested, but my enhanced hearing just wouldn't allow me to ignore.

There was one name among the n.o.bles which caught my attention.

"Nice to meet you, Princess. My name is Adol Meuxche. I am the current Prime Minister of HADES. I am happy to see that you are doing well."

I smirked, n.o.body noticed. The introductions continued without interruptions for a while.

There was the first princess, the second princess, the second prince, heirs of many influential n.o.ble families, even some of the heads also joined us.

One thing I was wondering about was why was there no escort team with them. No adventurers or bodyguards whatsoever.

Slowly but surely, the introductions came to an end, the last one to be introduced was me.

"Toru. Commoner. Nice to meet you."

It was a completely indifferent introduction, unfit for a mere commoner. To my surprise, only scowls and looks of disgust were directed at me, there were no words.

"Princess. A very rude servant, wouldn't you say?"

Julius said in a half-joking tone.

"Servant, is it? Hehe, what can you do?"

Her nails sunk into her palm and she bit her lips in order to stay calm.

In terms of power, Sylvia was clearly superior, one could tell at a single glance. She was doing her best not to explode, looking around, everyone from our group had grim look on their faces, they knew just how much Sylvia was in love with me.

Honestly, if Sylvia were to go on a rampage and kill him right now, I wouldn't mind cleaning up after her. No matter how resistant you are, being called a servant isn't the best feeling in the world.

"Whatever could this commoner do to protect you, Princess Sylvia? He just seems like a pretty-faced decoration behind you."

Seems like Sylvia's losing it.

"Thanks for the compliment."

It was me who said that, with the same att.i.tude.

Sylvia seemed to pick up on my intentions, her shoulders stopped trembling and her breathing stabilized.