“Ahhh… Ahhh…”
“Really came back again.”
As the brown city walls that seemed to belong to Pohelrn came into view, the merchants began to wear faces filled with gratitude.
I, apart from the merchants’ sighs, marveled at the scale of the city.
The height of the city wall was about 3 Eltes, not particularly tall, but from a distance, it seemed to encircle a rather wide area.
Moreover, it appeared that even those 3 Eltes were still under construction.
Outside, there seemed to be several kilns where bricks were being fired, and under the instructions of supervisors, people who looked underfed and poorly clothed were piling up fine soil on carts to transport it to the kilns.
At the front of the kilns, many people were shaping the soil into molds, while others were using large shovels to pick up the bricks and place them inside after setting the molds aside and closing the doors.
People then carried the freshly made bricks to the construction site of the city wall.
However, the alarming fact was that among the working people, there were hardly any grown men—most were women or children.
Each one of them was wearing clothes that looked like rags and had eyes that looked like they had lost all hope.
“It must be people from some village that lost a war. I thought progress was quite rapid considering we’ve been away for about two months, but I suspect they’re pulling in everyone because winter is approaching.”
Somewhere in the midst of his comrades’ sighs, one of them had detached himself, suspiciously raising his rat-like eyes to look at the labor force.
“Because as the weather gets colder, the ground will freeze and it’ll become harder to source clay for the bricks,” Remil added.
There was no trace of remorse in his voice that humans were being treated as property.
“Are they serfs…?”
The excitement of finally meeting the first humans’ civilization clashed with the dark emotions of witnessing the beginning of a dark chapter in human history, creating a complicated feeling in my heart.
I watched as a hefty-looking supervisor, wielding a wooden stick, struck a child, who then collapsed without even letting out a scream.
An older child, seemingly from the same family, stepped between the fallen child and the supervisor, trying to plead for him to stop. But this only seemed to anger the supervisor even more as he began to wildly strike the child.
The older child held onto their fallen sibling until another supervisor arrived to stop the scene from worsening.
After spitting and muttering something about bad luck, the supervisor disappeared while the older child watched him with a hateful glare. Ultimately, the child collapsed from accumulated injuries and nearby enslaved workers quickly gathered to care for the fallen.
“Well, honestly, it’s not a very good sight. Hey! How long do you plan to stand there!? Let’s go!”
After seeing my stiffened expression and understanding the mood, Remil quickly urged the group to move along.
Walking a bit more and passing the kiln area, we arrived in front of a gateway under construction with blue bricks.
In front of the gateway, a line of people awaited entry into the city.
“It seems a lot has changed since I’ve been gone. Looks like the gateway got a new and impressive makeover.”
“There’s been a massive increase in the number of people, too.”
While the others discussed the changing cityscape with excitement, I focused my attention on the tall, blue gateway in front of me.
Although the city wall was still under construction, the gateway was already completed. Engraved on the gate tower above the gateway was the image of a snake eating its own tail.
Its height was comparable to the giant twins I had seen recently.
However, what was troubling was the energy emanating from the gateway.
It felt like the engraved snake was glaring at me.
It seemed carved there for some kind of magical reason, and it was somewhat similar but different to Saras’s magic.
Another difference was that the energy seemed to be adversarial towards me.
If it was this alienating, other humans should feel it too, but those around me, unaware of anything amiss, were loudly discussing the changed appearance of the city after their long absence.
‘Does it affect only me?’
As the person ahead began to proceed through the gateway, the unknown ward or barrier seemed stronger.
It felt like a pressure was pushing against the air around me and stirred an unpleasant sensation deep within.
As the unseen energy flowed out from the gateway, invisible to others but pressing upon me, my own energy naturally rose and began to conflict with it.
The energy emanating from my body clashed with that of the gateway, producing a static-like crackling noise only I could hear.
As I was pondering how to respond, it was our turn to be inspected.
Remil casually waved at the guard.
“Hey, Dale! How’s it going?”
“Who’s this! I thought you disappeared forever!”
“Not really… we almost did. A wolf attacked us during trade.”
“…Really? Seriously?”
Only then did Dale, called by name, begin to examine us.
“Hey, weren’t there around ten of you before? Only a few of you came back? Is Deador not here?”
“Ah, Deador was badly injured in an attack by Barren and decided to stay until he’s healed.”
“That was an unfortunate event, but a relief.”
“So, can we go in now?”
“Ah, well…”
Dale looked uncomfortable.
“Well, you see. Even I find it difficult to explain to acquaintances each time. Now, to pass through here, it costs 10 coppers per person.”
“…What?”
“Come on, don’t give me that look. I’m just doing what I’m told. Pohelrn has kept expanding, and strangers keep rushing in. Plus, while you’ve been gone, they’ve introduced taxation. In future, you’ll probably notice new costs for each time you pass the gateway or live in Pohelrn.”
“…Absolutely mad.”
“But still, since the creation of this gateway ordered by Priegoss, monsters have stopped approaching Pohelrn. The city wall is under construction, and there have been fewer monsters appearing around the area. It’s become safe, which is why a lot more people and goods are coming in. If you look around, you’ll probably find more ways to make money now than before. Don’t be so down about it.”
“Hmph…”
Upon hearing Dale’s words, it seemed they realized there was no other way, and each began to collect the tolls.
In my case, I only had silver coins, so Kyle offered to pay for me. But I didn’t want to rely on him, so I exchanged the currency while Dale, watching it, called out.
“Who’s this? I don’t recognize you.”
“Oh, this is…”
“Never seen you around. Could you take off that hat covering your head?”
Remil, startled, tried to block Dale’s request.
“What?!”
“Just someone we met during trading. I vouch for him.”
“Remil.”
Dale’s friendly tone from before had suddenly darkened.
“You see those over there?”
“What about Pohelrn’s current state?”
“Recently, we’ve been forcing the surrounding villages to come under our control, causing a lot of resentment. Some villages like the ones over there have been completely destroyed. In today’s Pohelrn, it’s filled with people who’d gladly die if they could just strike down King Priegoss. If this little guy is here to attempt assassination out of a grudge, we’d bear full responsibility. Things are strict, so just understand.”
“Besides, if we let someone in wearing something that hides their face without inspection, what’s the point of having gateway guards?”
With no proper counter-argument, Remil bit his lip.
“Dale.”
“Hey, hey, stop it. This is making you look more suspicious. Who is this guy exactly?”
Remil tried to slide a silver coin secretly into Dale’s hand, but Dale quickly pulled away in disapproval.
“It’s fine, Remil. His words are reasonable. He’s just carrying out his duty as a gateway guard.”
Since I am representing elves to some extent, I figured there’s no need to hide my identity anymore. Plus, I’ve been disturbed by the gateway’s energy since earlier.
So, wanting to quickly get through to the city, I removed my hat and revealed my face.
“Is this good now?”
“Whaat…”
A silence fell over the gateway.
Even the people who had been urging us out of frustration due to the delay now fell quiet.
“Guard?”
“…Ah…”
Dale, who had been staring at me blankly, snapped back to reality and started speaking.
“Alright! Got it! Yes!”
He exaggeratedly nodded, and only then accepted the bag of coins Remil presented.
“Whoa, what is that? Where did you meet?”
While passing the coins to another soldier managing the funds, he turned to Remil but kept his gaze on me.
“Met by accident.”
“Nothing wrong, but your ears seem a bit long, and your speech is kinda peculiar.”
“My ears have been this way since birth.”
“Right? Fair enough. Someone who looks like that probably has something off about them.”
As Dale made this rude statement without any qualms, I decided against responding, not wanting to cause unnecessary disputes and further delay our passage through the unpleasant gateway.
“What’s your purpose here?”
“I’ve been invited by Remil’s side.”
Although my real purpose was to meet with Priegoss, judging from the previous conversation, it seemed wise to remove any unnecessary suspicion by citing Remil’s invitation.
Dale glanced at Remil who nodded in agreement.
“Alright! You’re cleared!”
As the clearance signal was given, the guards blocking the gateway stepped aside.
I put my hat back on, feeling the matter had been resolved. With a lightened mood, I started to move.
Snap! Snap!
The pressure from the gateway only got stronger as I approached, but eventually, it dispersed, neutralized by the energy emanating from my body.
And the moment I passed through the middle of the gateway, the barrier seemed to change its expression.
Shhhhhh!
In a flash, what Araya saw was the eyes of an enormous snake staring down at her.
Her body was already entangled by a giant snake.
The snake tightened the binding while its pupils contracted vertically, emitting a sinister light.
In response, my body reacted to the hostility emanating from all around, enhancing my perception and splitting time into dozens of fragments.
Araya Technique
As Ordered
”Break!”
Kiaaaaa!
Groooooooan—
“What is this!?”
“The ground is shaking!”
“Is it an earthquake?”
“There’s a crack in the gateway wall!”
For about 10 short seconds, the trembling ground eventually settled down.
Not only Remil and Kyle, but everyone at the gateway had fallen down on all fours, only lifting their heads slightly to look around.
“Essence.”
Ignoring the commotion, I headed toward the inside of the town.
“Hey.”
As I started walking, Remil hurriedly followed and opened his mouth.
“What was that just now?”
“Beats me.”
I glanced sideways at the snake vanishing into particles and proceeded into the town, ignoring the chaos behind me, where the guards were examining the collapsed bricks where the snake had been engraved.
*
“Hmm?”
“At the residence of King Priegoss of Pohelrn.”
“Seems like the barrier is broken.”
Alia, the advisor known to be by King Priegoss’s side, tilted her head in confusion upon sensing that the barrier she had set up had been destroyed.
