Chapter 27 (1/2)

Published

at 3rd of December 2019 02:27:49 PM

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Chapter 27

Translator: Kell

Editor: Weasalopes

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Stealth Kid, on to the Royal Capital

The kingdom of Ponsonia’s royal capital, G . Ponsonia, was also known as the Flatland Capital .

There were benefits to having level land; it was easier to expand towns, transport routes, and agricultural fields . Huge granaries – Ponsonia’s hallmark – spread out far and wide near the capital . During fall, the whole plantation looked like a sea of gold .

The kingdom was surrounded by both allied and enemy nations; the latter was dealt with by n.o.bles who lived near the borders . They were called Margraves, allowed by the kingdom to build their own independent army .

Since the Margraves solidified the kingdom’s defences against external threats, the granaries inside could flourish . Cheaper grain products enriched the ma.s.ses . Ponsonia was at the height of its prosperity like never before . As such, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if the kingdom harbored an ambition to spread its influence abroad .

Being a flat and landlocked nation, Ponsonia was easy to invade . To counter this the army developed something unique – a moving fortress, the Heavy Infantry which Ponsonia was known for . Though not all that mobile, it sported incredibly high defensive prowess .

「So that’s the Heavy Infantry I’ve heard so much about . Their equipment looks light though, if you ask me . 」

A large-scale exercise was being held just at the edge of the royal capital . There were two reasons behind this: First, was to show to people entering the kingdom – spies included – that it had a powerful army . The second reason was extremely simple . Carrying around heavy equipment like that was difficult, so regular training was done inside the capital and large-scale exercises in an area nearby .

「It’s incredible . This is my first time seeing it as well . 」Lavia said .

「You too, huh? But isn’t that basically Ponsonia’s trademark?」

Inside a rocking wagon, Hikaru and Lavia were talking . The other pa.s.sengers were seated a distance, so they could speak in low whispers . They could see the exercise outside the window . It was a remarkable scene . Plate armor covered the infantry’s whole body all the way up to their faces . The plates themselves were uniformly painted in either green, purple, or blue, dividing the soldiers into three units according to color . They had long spears as weapons which had axes as the spearheads – halberds . Hikaru wondered if halberds counted as long spears when it came to the Soul Board stats . The soldiers brandished their halberds, charged, and jumped . They even let themselves be thrown on purpose to practice how to fall properly . There were others that performed backflips .

「…Are they using magic?」

「Of course . It’s not the man himself that’s excellent, it’s the armor . I read that in a book . 」

「Oh, I see . 」

It all made sense now . The plate armors themselves were most likely magic items . They either made one lighter or improved the physical abilities of the one wearing it . A very efficient method indeed . Instead of training the troops one by one, the armor they wore was enhanced, upgrading the whole forces overall . It didn’t work without mana, though . The enhanced equipment could probably only be used for a limited time .

A war without guns, huh… I want to see what that’s like . Though war is pointless anyway .

In a conflict, the fruits of victory pales in comparison to what’s lost . For those defeated, it’s way worse .

「I can see the capital . 」Lavia said .

Hikaru looked ahead . In the distance, he could see what looked like the spires of a castle . Around it buildings sprawled with the castle at the center .

「It’s quite huge . 」

That was Hikaru’s impression at first .

「…You’re kidding . 」

But soon, he started doubting his own eyes . From a distance, the size of the castle didn’t seem to change much, and yet the wagon they were on was already running through town . Hikaru recalled what Jill said about the capital having a population forty or fifty times more than that of Pond . Back then he never really realized how big the number was, but now he gradually did .  What’s with this place? Just how big is it?

「Wait, there wasn’t even any inspection . 」

His voice was a bit loud that a well-built man, who looked to be a merchant, laughed .

「Hahaha! That’s right, kid . There’s no inspection here . A place as big as this, that’s just impossible . 」

He seems to be a nice man, Hikaru thought . He proceeded to thoroughly get some information .

「That makes sense . So can you go anywhere in the capital?」

「Closer to the royal castle, there’s an area called the n.o.bles district . In addition, there’s also the first and second residential districts . They’re within the walls, and there’s inspection before anyone could enter . 」

「I see . It doesn’t feel that safe knowing inspection is only done over there . 」

「It’s all right . Even though this area right here is far away from the castle, it’s still part of the royal capital, so there are guards patrolling around . It’s strange, though . We would’ve seen one or two of those patrols by now, but I haven’t spotted one today . 」

Patrols? Will they do surprise inspections? Feeling a s.h.i.+ver run down his spine, Hikaru looked outside the window . All he saw was wagons and civilians walking – no patrols . A lady sitting beside the merchant, who appeared to be his wife, spoke .

「It’s because there’s a war happening soon, Dear . 」

「Ah…」

Their expressions grew dark . The kingdom couldn’t spare men for patrol due to war preparations . The large-scale exercise could have been a bluff, then – to show that even though the kingdom was preparing for war, it still had plenty of soldiers available .

「Anyway, why are you headed to the capital? Me, I have a store…」

The couple seemed to be worried about them since they were kids . They offered help, but Hikaru gently turned them down .

There’s some nice people around here . I guess that’s only natural…

And so Hikaru and Lavia entered the royal capital without any trouble at all .

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「I have received the package . Thank you . 」

The royal capital’s Adventurers Guild was approximately ten times bigger than the one in Pond . They had seven receptionists at the counter . Though for its size, it felt deserted . The war was probably affecting the guild as well .

Hikaru’s job was to deliver one sealed letter addressed to a merchant in the capital . The request was fulfilled once he handed it to the guild . Delivering the letter from the guild to the man himself was a different request in itself .

Just like in j.a.pan, there was a postal service in this world as well, where letters were delivered from one town to another . Although the service was available only to major towns . Adventurers with spare time would deliver letters to remote areas like villages deep in the mountains . Even then, the success rate was low .

「Oh . With this delivery request complete, only two more requests for you to be promoted to rank F . 」

This was one of the reasons Hikaru took the delivery request . Right now he was rank G . He wanted to climb to rank E so he could enter the dungeon managed by the Adventurers Guild .

The condition for promotion to rank F was to complete requests that required going from one Adventurers Guild to another . The simplest requests one could take in this case were either Delivery or Escort jobs, but there wasn’t anyone eccentric enough to hire lowest-ranked adventurers as escorts .

「Do you have any reasonably easy requests available?」