Vermillion

After lunch, the two fixed their getup and headed out for the center of the city, the high-class area where the ducal library could be found.

The reason why the two came to Urvan was to investigate the cause for their transfer to this world.

In other words, information related to the mysterious white mist from the game and other supernatural phenomena had been gathered in the library.

“The problem would be the entrance fee.”

“…Yeah.”

Aileen mumbled, walking with her hands linked behind her head. In response, Kei nodded, confirming how his wallet bulged with coins.

The ducal library was usually open for everyone, regardless of social status. Having said that, the entrance fee was set to be quite high, so in reality, it was limited to nobles, wealthy merchants, intellectuals, and their likes.

It sounded quite discriminating, but it was not necessarily a bad thing. Looking at it from another perspective, it meant that the consumers were all outstanding people. According to rumors, this library also served as a meeting place for intellectuals from all over the duchy.

Even setting the nobles aside, the presence of scholars and merchants was quite attractive to Kei. Kei anticipated that making contact with such intellectuals would make the information gathering easier.

With that being the case, the problem now was the entrance fee that was rumored to be ridiculously expensive. He tried to ask the city folk about the exact pricing, but the ordinary people did not hold much interest in the library, so no one could give him a proper answer.

As such, Kei took all his money with him. It amounted to one gold and a few dozen silver coins. It was a sum that would allow a single adult to live modestly for roughly ten years.

“Whatever’s the case, this much has to be enough, but…” Kei muttered anxiously, his eyes looking at the passersby with a needlessly high wariness.

He always carried all his money with him when on the road, but he had disassembled his weapon, so he now felt slightly helpless.

Kei had mostly grown accustomed to this world, resulting in his thoughts inclining towards the premises that you would get attacked if carrying lots of money with you and that he would need to fight potential robbers off with armed might if attacked. As Kei was wrapped up by a threatening aura because of that, the pedestrians quickened their steps, obviously trying to get away from him as fast as possible.

“Kei… relax a little, will you? You’re making us look totally suspicious.”

“Ugh. I was sure I’m acting as usual, though.”

With Kei being on the verge of entering combat mode, Aileen got exasperated, rebuking him to give it a rest. Seeing how he was not even aware of it, Aileen believed this to already be at the level of a serious illness, but once she remembered what they had gone through in the last two weeks, she admitted that it could not be helped.

I suppose it’s still better than him acting like a peace-loving fool.

On the other hand, it allowed Aileen to realize just how carefree she had been acting just because they were inside a city, so she decided to raise her level of vigilance as well.

Just like that the two walked around while being on edge like excessively sharpened knives, but naturally, no thief attacked them in the center of the capital in broad daylight, so they reached the first rampart – a strong and thick bulwark surrounding the urban area – that served as the entrance to the high-class district without a hitch.

The high-class district was basically made out of stones and bricks, giving the townscape a far more refined feel than the common urban district you could see from the castle gate. The wall was about six meters tall, but Urvan was built on a mountain slope, making it look even taller in Kei and Aileen’s eyes.

The castle gates, which had been built into the wall at regular intervals of fifty meters, were all equipped with portcullises and riveted wooden gates. Two guards equipped with halberds and rapiers flanked each gate, cautiously scrutinizing the people passing through.

Unlike the common district that was overflowing with people, the area right in front of the rampart was deserted as if a wave had receded. Or maybe it was better to describe it as the people staying clear of it. There was almost no one leaving the high-class district either, making it seem as though the area beyond the gates was its own world. Despite finding it odd, Kei and Aileen still tried to pass through.

“Halt!”

The guards standing on either side of the gate crossed their halberts, blocking their way.

They had metallic breastplates on top of conspicuous red garments, as well as feathered helmets with visors, covering their eyes like a mask. Intense stares were directed at Kei and Aileen through the gaps in the visor.

“You look unfamiliar.”

“What business do you have in the first-class area?”

They asked somewhat arrogantly, not even trying to hide their suspicion. Kei and Aileen looked at each other in confusion, not recalling having done anything worthy of suspicion.

“…Well, we were just trying to visit the library.”

“Yeah.”

The guard looked at their faces, then Kei’s bow case, the short sword at Aileen’s waist, and then slowly opened his mouth.

“Present permits or your identification papers.”

“”Huh!?””

The two yelped in shock and looked at each other once again.

“Do we need identification papers to go to the library?”

“Entrance to the first-class area is limited to citizens and authorized individuals.”

“Are you for real…?”

“And even if you had the necessary papers, It’s forbidden to bring in weapons without a special permit.”

The two guards explained indifferently, their tones not allowing any objection. Kei and Aileen certainly hadn’t expected to get stopped before reaching the library. While the two stood frozen on the spot, the guards eased their postures while looking flabbergasted.

“…In the first place, what business would a Grasslander and Snowlander have in the ducal library?”

“I’m surprised to actually hear that people from indigenous and barbaric tribes have a culture of reading to begin with. Besides, even if we were to let you pass here, can you afford the entrance fee?”

The two guards spoke. The elderly doubtfully while the younger one in ridicule. Kei frowned, obviously troubled, and slowly reached into his pocket.

“How much does it cost anyway? We asked around, but no one could tell us.”

“Fifty silvers per year.” The young guard puffed out his chest as he answered, his expression almost saying, See, you can’t pay, right?

Kei could only see his mouth due to the helmet, but it was clear that he had a smug expression.

“Is that so…?”

He then pulled his wallet out, and intentionally confirmed the coins within in a way that allowed everyone to see its content.

“Seems like I can pay it just fine.”

Seeing gold and silver sparkling inside the bulging drawstring pouch, the two guards stopped in place. Smirking in satisfaction at their reaction, he slowly slipped the wallet back into his pocket, clearly showing off.

“…Doesn’t match your appearance.” The older guard muttered at last.

It was only natural for the guards to be caught off-guard. It was almost as if some shabbily dressed boy would suddenly pull out millions in banknotes on Earth.

As of yet, neither Kei nor Aileen had spent any money on clothes. Kei wore a long, protective leather vest on top of plain underclothes, whereas Aileen used the second-hand village-girl attire she had received at the Tahfu village. It would’ve been another story if Kei was fully equipped with his leather armor, but the way he was now, it could not be helped that people would mistake him for a beggar.

“…Well, I can see that you’ve got the money. But passing the gate is yet another story.” The young guard, who had recovered from his shock, said looking somewhat dejected.

Kei had hoped that they would ask for a bribe, but he realized that his thinking had been too naive.

“Hey, how can we receive a permit like an ID? The point is that people with unknown backgrounds aren’t permitted to enter, right?” Aileen asked innocently after having silently observed the whole situation so far.

“…We can’t help you with the permit. You have to go to the government office.” The elder guard answered.

“Where is that office?”

“Follow the rampart to the south. Less than ten minutes from here, you’ll find a red brick building. A queue of people should be visible at the entrance, you’ll be able to immediately spot it.”

“Okay, thanks, old man!”

“…Sure, don’t worry about it.” The old guard responded bashfully, which was unsuitable for his age, at her beaming smile.

Kei also gave his thanks while believing that being a beauty definitely had its advantages, before leaving the gate together with Aileen.

“…So, what do we do now?” Aileen whispered to him after they had distanced themselves from the guards a bit.

“…Well, our only choice is to go take a look.”

“Right. Still, no one told us we needed a permit…”

“It sure would have been nice if someone had done so…”

“…Is it really necessary, though? Maybe we were just politely driven away?”

“I can’t deny the possibility, but…”

Not just the residents whom they had asked for information, but even the folks of Holland’s caravan all knew that they were heading for the library, and yet not a single one of them had mentioned a permit.

“…But would they really lie to us like that?”

“Maybe they found us suspicious… Or maybe they just were nasty? The townsfolk seem to be cold towards outsiders for some reason.” Aileen said while sulking a little.

Kei only groaned in response, but he agreed with her, despite not voicing it out.

It was definitely true for the young guard earlier, but even the Urvanians, in general, seemed to look down on outsiders. During their information gathering, people did not even meet their eyes, only giving half-hearted, curt replies. Perhaps it originated from them feeling important because they lived in the duchy’s capitals, or perhaps they were simply exclusive. Even in Satyna, they had seen some people harboring prejudices towards Grasslanders because of the past military campaign, however things seemed to be far worse here.

However, this did not include inn staff, which interacted with foreigners on a daily basis, and merchants related to the service industry. They were quite friendly. But aside from them…

“…This doesn’t appear to be a comfortable city to live in.”

“For us, that is.” Aileen said with a sigh.

She seemed to be quite disappointed about it.

Perhaps she’s not used to discrimination, suddenly popped up in Kei’s mind.

While they continued their not-so-pleasant chat, they reached the government office the guard had mentioned.

The office built with red bricks stood out among the mixture of wooden and stone buildings. Soldiers guarded its entrance, and a small Urvan flag adorned the area above the door — a dragon crest on red ground. The same crest could also be found on the bricks and the guards’ equipment. Red appeared to be Urvan’s symbol.

There was a queue of ten people extending all the way outside the office’s entrance. The two lined up at the end of the queue while earning themselves mystified looks.

Then they waited.

“……”

And waited.

…There’s nothing to do.

At this moment, both thought the same. Needless to say, neither had anticipated this situation, so they had not brought anything with them to waste some time.

Having said that, people stood in front of them, so they could not exactly strike up a private conversation, either.

“…Okay, let’s go with Esperanto.”

“Nice idea!”

Kei spoke up and Aileen readily joined in.

“…So, what’s up?”

“Well, about the library.”

Since they suddenly started conversing in a mysterious language, the people looked strangely at them, but neither of the two noticed.

“Actually, I can climb across a wall with such a height, you know?”

Aileen said while pointing at the first rampart with her chin. It was a tall wall with no uneven parts, but remembering Andrei’s abilities from the game, Kei nodded in comprehension. Aileen should have still had a rope with a grappling hook.

“Let’s save that as last resort.”

“So it’s no good?”

“It’s not a bad idea, but I wanna get in as well.”

“I could just drop you a rope from above, right?”

“I suppose that’d work at night. But we’d have to wait out until the library opens up…”

“Hmm… True. It would be one thing if I’m alone, but finding a hiding place for you, once the sun is out, would be problematic…”

Their vocabulary was lacking when compared to their English, which they found quite vexing, but they still continued coming up with infiltration plans. Thanks to that, their waiting time passed before they knew it, and after thirty minutes, it was finally their turn.

“…Next.”

When they entered the office, a scrawny man with exhaustion written on his face called out to them from one of the reception desks. One furnished with just a single, crude seat. Kei had Aileen sit down for the time being while standing by her side. The receptionist gave them an ill-mannered stare, obviously regarding them as shady.

“…What’s your business with us?”

“We wish to go to the library, but we don’t have any identification documents or the necessary permit, so we can’t enter the first-class area. We would like to know details about how to acquire the permit.”

“…”

The man tapped on the desk with his finger.

“Meaning, you have no valid domestic documents?”

“We don’t.”

“I see. Then it doesn’t fall into our jurisdiction. Go to the administrative bureau for inhabitants.”

“”Wha-!?”

“This is the office for municipal matters and citizens. We have neither the right nor duty to process the requests of foreigners… With that said, next.”

“No, wait a minute, please. Where is that administrative bureau for inhabitants?”

He was about to end the conversation, but Aileen pressed on.

“…Follow the rampart to the east and you’ll find a building similar to this. Or well, ask people in the area, if you can’t find it.”

“How far is it?”

“It doesn’t take you more than ten minutes to get there. It’s not far.”

“Do we understand correctly that we need identification papers to enter the first-class district?”

“…Yeah, the rules apply to everyone equally, unless during wars. Even a king is no exception to that.”

“Oh? By the way, do we need to keep anything in mind when getting the—”

“Give it a fucking rest already!!”

Just as Aileen was about to ask another question, an angry yell reached them from behind. Before they even managed to turn around, someone loudly stomped close and forcefully pushed them aside.

It was a middle-aged man with a sturdy build. He sat down on the chair in Aileen’s place and glared at them.

“How long are you planning to talk while making me wait here! This place is for citizens, not some outsiders! Just get the hell out already, you damn barbarians!”

After running his mouth, he topped it off by spitting at Aileen. She avoided it by jumping back, but it only caused the man to raise his eyebrows, glaring even more intensely.

“…What are you looking at? Eh?”

Apparently unable to stomach it, he extended a hand towards her while kicking the chair aside at the same time. However, Kei stepped in front of him and grabbed his wrist, holding it in place. This time, the man’s glare shifted towards Kei.

“What? Wanna have a go, asshole?!”

The man yelled provocatively while shaking his hand free. He was a little shorter than Kei, but he was well-built. Given his muscles, he was probably a manual laborer and thus likely had confidence in his own strength.

However, without minding him, Kei silently jerked his chin towards the wall – at a big poster right next to the reception.

It stated in big letters… “…Quarrels are strictly forbidden it seems to say. Or are you unable to read?”

Hearing his cold words, the middle-aged man glanced at the poster, grunted incomprehensibly, and took two steps back.

His gaze alternated several times between Kei and the poster, before he eventually opened his mouth to say something. However, no matter how long Kei waited, no words left the man’s lips, so Kei even started wondering whether the guy had suddenly forgotten how to speak.

But then Aileen whispered to him, “…Looks like he can’t read for real, doesn’t it?”

“…Sure does.”

With that, Kei finally realized.

“So you really couldn’t read it, huh. Can’t be helped then…”

This world was certainly more abundant and technologically advanced when compared to medieval Europe. But that did not mean that the literacy rate was at 100%. When it came to commoners, a fixed number of them could not read.

Kei nodded in understanding, while the middle-aged man trembled, his face deep crimson.

“I just intended to point the rule out to you in case you’ve missed it, but…”

“It’s fine, let’s go. We can’t have him wait too long, after all. And moreover, it’s a waste of time.”

“You’re right. Excuse us then.”

He nodded towards the receptionist and they quickly left the office before the situation escalated any further.

The man remained trembling on the spot while clenching his fists.