Server Lost 17 『Noctia City』

Noctia, the 'Night Place' City as the natives call it, is one ma.s.sive collection of various heritage buildings following both human and elven architectural principles. It shared thousands of years of history, when there was peace between the two peoples and when they once even shared the City itself.

Those days appear to have come to an end.

There was no free Elf or Fae in this city, no free Dwarf and there were absolutely no Beastly humanoids roaming about.

As the convoy breached the portal and emerged alive on the other side, they continued their march for the front gates. The disorientation of disappearing from one location and surfacing in another, hardly phased Jack and the party.

However some of the soldiers were feeling nauseous the moment their senses picked up the change. It was like a shock to their systems.

Some of them started to heave as if they were motion sick.

For a brief moment the convoy stumbled apart and the portal closed behind them, they had left no one behind. Except for the dead that is…

Jack stood from the wagon and hopped off the front end, between the two horses which had been pulling it and began walking away from the transport.

Vivian quickly dove off the side of the wagon, doing a tricky little roll as she landed, before hopping to her feet with a smile across her lips. Like a jumping bean she was chasing on after him, a hop and a skip in each step she made.

"Jack! Jack! Jack!" She chimed, reaching for the skirting of his gambeson.

Rein and Snow would simply slip off the side of the wagon, before looking over towards Kokei and Runa who casually did the same.

Raising a hand with a curious expression on her face, Rein would open her mouth to speak. "So… Does he usually kill people who fall out of line?" The question was simple enough.

Runa shook her head lightly looking over the woman for a few moment, then towards Snow. "No… Nakajima is the first, and probably the last."

Kokei nodded as he agreed with Runa, neither of them would be stupid enough to attack Jack willingly.

"Good… Good to know," Snow replied for her sister before turning and looking over her shoulder towards Jack. The man who had originally chose to only spare her, but ultimately talked her and her sister down. The only person of their 'family' they had lost was their brother.

Letting out a soft sigh, she would hold onto her sisters hand and the two would quickly follow after Jack, dressed in their gambeson jackets and pants. Since they were essentially NPCs, they had access to an inventory, so they still had their lolita dresses.

Runa and Kokei watched as the three females followed after Jack, before looking to one another, shrugging and doing the same.

The group of five followed behind Jack, who in turn was following the Lord Carmichael.

"Welcome… To the City of Noctia!" Carmichael shouted with pride, holding his arms out in front of him as if crowning the city itself in his embrace.

With the soldiers to their back, and the front gates becoming grander and grander in size, Jack was actually rather impressed for a change. Though they were all mostly weakly leveled, they did however seem well versed in building.

This could be even more impressive than the player built cities in the Game he had just come from.

"You will all be staying within the Castle for the time being..." Carmichael turned a sympathetic eye towards the Elves. Then narrowed his sights to Kokei who's blue eyes were glowing from under the hood. "May I ask you to remove that hood of yours?"

Jack glanced over towards Carmichael, "That's not a good idea… Lord Carmichael..."

"Hm?" The Lord looked towards Jack with a brow raised, "Why would that be?"

"Kokei is all but bones, he doesn't like being stared upon." Jack said without reservation as he turned and looked to Kokei a faint smile across his lips.

They were only half way to the great southern gates.

"All but bones…?" Carmichael was curious as what he meant by this, either it being a metaphor or it being strangely truth. The being didn't look malnourished, but he was also covered by robes.

"Your hand," Jack asked Kokei to raise his hand by raising his own in gesture.

Kokei nodded slightly, raising a hand awkwardly at chest level, revealing his bone fingers.

Carmichael stared at the animated bones, "An Angel with a member of the Undead..." Mutedly he made the observation and it made him rather curious. His gaze s.h.i.+fted towards Jack.

"My domain is Death, my brothers and sisters call me Sephir, but mortals and friends call me Jack." Stoically he gave his line before placing a hand on the Lord's shoulder.

Carmichael looked calm on the exterior, but the fact that he was in the presence of the undead, made him a little uneasy. Yet because it was in the company of an angel, it was hard to believe the dead was evil, right? Plus, the last time he saw a lich or a living skeleton, their eyes were red, green or just empty sockets.

He had never seen blue before.

"You have nothing to fear of me, Lord Carmichael," Kokei's voice echoed in the Lord's mind, which caused him to jump slightly and chuckled half suppressed to himself.

Jack raised a brow at Kokei for a moment before watching as Carmichael continued to lead his troops and horse towards the doors of the ma.s.sive city. "What'd you say to him?"

"He has nothing to fear..." Kokei made a laughing motion with his shoulders.

"Cute," Jack shook his head before turning and following after the Lord, Vivian pinching her fingers on his jacket's skirting, following him closely.

Runa's eyes were on the back of her hooded head, "I think the only thing keeping her together is that faith he instilled in her mind..."

Snow and Rein looked to Runa as she said this.

"What makes you say that?"

The storytelling began as the whole group made their way to the large double doors a colossal giant wouldn't even have a problem walking in through.

Once they finally arrived, the soldiers split into two lines, leaving a gap for the Lord and his guests to walk without being impeded. The squire would hop off of his own horse and continue to lead it.

Carmichael would hand the reigns of his horse to the young lad as well, so he could lead both of the horses back to the stables at the castle.

Jack walked alongside the City's Lord, looking over the weathered stone tiled streets, the extravagant and masterful masonry of the dwarves and elves decorated each and every stone building. There were wooden storefronts and gla.s.s.

In a way the place almost looked as if it was a modern place, but there were no modern appliances.

The lights weren't magic, they were oil lamps that lined the streets at a limited radius. The impression given off by the outside was quickly lost as the interior lacked high quality maintenance.

They were good builders, but horrible innovators.

"Jack~" Vivian chimed again as she was hopping slightly still.

Jack looked down at Vivian who was peering straight up at him. "You've reached the Jack help hotline, how may I help you?"

Vivian froze for a moment when he said something about a hotline. "A help what what?"

Runa just made this sheepish expression, wanting to apologize for Jack using modern terms.

Kokei just shook his head and averted his gaze from the duo, his eyes resting on the storefront shops as they were walking along the central avenue towards the fortress castle.

It appeared that the City itself was divided by four tall walls, each having their own set of ma.s.sive doors. These walls didn't separate the wealthy from the common, or the n.o.bles from the people.

These walls were in case of a siege from an enemy nation. These walls separated various districts from one another in order to protect them from being overrun all at once.

It was a clever design, something that a poor country would never be able to afford. Though that started to make Jack question, why had that village they were brought to early be in such poor shape?

Was it high taxation? Neglect? Jack wanted to know more, was he already knew those Knights were corrupt, could Carmichael also be? There were a few ways to find out, but there was no one on the streets… Not even as they were making their way to the castle.

There was a few though, mostly adventurers or those whom were drunk or even homeless. Most people didn't walk around outside at night in general in any world he knew of. It was dangerous for just about anyone.

It was about thirty minutes of walking at an exceptionally fast pace in order to make it to the Castle.

Vivian was still quietly trying to figure out what Jack had said, mostly just what a hotline was. There was no phones obviously and talented magic users are exceptionally rare. Telepathy wasn't used everyday.

They had already gone beyond the soldiers which had once lined the sides of the street. As they entered the front gates to the Castle Fortress of the City, they made their way up a long flight of stairs.

Jack was hardly winded, though he ended up having to carry Vivian on his back.

The two sisters were doing alright, walking on their own.

Kokei didn't really have to worry about stamina, he was undead, had no muscles. He was completely animated by ambient magic as a part of his undead nature.

It took an additional fifteen minutes to scale the stairs until they reached the very top of the place. Though it only took Jack about five as he was skipping every other step impatiently.

"Where… Where do you get that energy from..." Carmichael asked as he was panting by the time he got to the top. He may live here, but fairly often he didn't take the stairs, but an alternate side exit to leave.

Jack just looked at him with a brow raised slightly, letting Vivian down from his back, letting her plop onto her rear. "I mean, I could've flown, skipped the whole exercise."

Carmichael just gazed through the angel for a moments before shaking his head. He turned to look at the Priest and the Squire who were coming up the stairs behind Jack's party.

The squire was carrying all the gear and items, and looked about ready to fall backwards down the steps. Jack let out a light sigh, part of him wanted to watch the child tumble down to his death, and another wanted to avoid the problem. So he decided to wait for whatever was to happen.

Even without Jacks intervention, about five minutes later the boy would be standing in pristine condition, sweat drenching him from all the weight.

Jack reached down, taking some of the items off of the squire, as Carmichael was practically talking to himself under the believe that Jack was following behind.

Jack with a pack of items swung over his shoulder, turned and faced the interior that was once behind the ma.s.sive front doors of the castle. "Why do they always have such large doors…?" He'd utter to himself as he stepped inside. He could quite literally enter this Grand Hall in his fully developed forty-five foot angelic form. It was a rather scary idea to fathom.

The castle itself had various spires and towers connected to it within and onto its outer walls. Many of these towers overlooked the vast city below in all directions.

The city was a giant square with four circles within it.

The outer district was the merchant quarter. The second from the outer wall was the residential quarter. The third was the miscellaneous quarter, called the Temple district, which had the various guilds, religious buildings and governmental offices. The fourth surrounding that of the Castle area however was more residential and commercial s.p.a.ce.

City layout was pretty modern, four central avenues that lead to the center and curving circular roads that encamps the shape of the districts themselves.
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In addition to the tall outer walls, these districts are separated by smaller part.i.tions that also all meet at the fortress, as if an 'X' was placed over top of the City itself.

As Jack continued to look over the interior of the Grand Hall, he could see it was made with expensive material. Compared to the city, this place had a much higher level of maintenance. It seemed as if the n.o.bility had highest priority.

"This place is… Nice," Jack mutedly rolled his jaw, the party following in behind him.

The furnis.h.i.+ngs all had gold or silver trim. The rugs were of premium make with grandiose designs on them, including what looked like a royal emblem and a coat of arms.

There was a singular blue and silver lined carpet which went down the center of the Grand Hall and into the main reception room.

When they made it to the room, it was a large square room surrounded by decorative pillars and paintings along the walls. It felt as if Carmichael was trying to boast without words.

The room seemed to be where the King himself would be situated whenever or should he ever visit this place.

"Really? Nice you say…?" Carmichael gazed around the room, taking in a deep breath as if taking in the smell of paradise.

"But the City you maintain is dump." Jack added as his narrowed his sights on the man. From the corner of his eye, he could however see the shape of someone peering into the room from the hardly open door of the west entrance.

"Eh? A dump? Surely… You Jest."