“Finally, we made it to Zyro.”
Decker, who had been alternating between looking at the map and the walls, said.
After 12 days of traveling from Pervaz, Asha’s group, who had been walking non-stop, was quite exhausted.
However, even in the midst of this, Asha looked up at the sturdy walls that surrounded Zyro’s outskirts without a single gap and exclaimed in a voice full of envy.
“Wow…! If only Pervaz could build walls like this, there would be nothing left to be desired.”
It was a goal that felt so far away to Asha that she had to use the expression “desire” After all, Pervaz didn’t even have the rocks, let alone the means to lift them.
“Let’s go in.”
Asha took a deep breath and led the group into the city gate.
The soldier guarding the gate looked at the pass Asha handed over and her shabby appearance for a long time, but he couldn’t find anything to fault her for and hesitantly shouted,
“Pass.”
After passing through the gate and the guard post, Asha’s group finally set foot in Zyro itself, and the sight of the leisurely capital city that they had never imagined unfolded before their eyes.
“Oh my…”
“Hey, look at that.”
“Wow!”
The capital, which they had seen for the first time in their lives, gave a great shock to those who had been born and raised in Pervaz.
Pervaz, which was ravaged by war and harsh winters, was dark and gloomy everywhere you looked, but the capital was bright and colorful.
“The buildings are all so tall… .”
“That’s right. Even the wood used for the doors and window frames is all brightly colored.”
“There are also many flowers here. Many houses have flower beds, and some even have flower pots hanging outside the windows.”
“Is that painting on the wall of the building a sign? How much did the paint cost to paint it so brightly?”
“Hey, look over there! They say there’s a river that flows through the city, and there’s a bridge too. How did they make it into such a neat shape?”
Everything was luxurious to Asha and her friends.
And as they all marveled at the beautiful sight of the capital, Asha felt her heart sink.
‘We are all citizens of the same empire, yet some live in a place like this, and some live in a place like Pervaz….’
It felt so unfair.
She wasn’t arguing that all the territories should be treated the same, but it was hard to believe that there could be such a big difference within the same country.
Asha sighed heavily and walked ahead with Decker.
“We need to find a place to stay… .”
“That’s right. We should stay in a hostel for a couple of days and wash and dry our clothes. We won’t be able to get through the first gate of the palace like this.”
“You’re already thinking about entering the palace? I’m worried if we’ll be able to find a place to stay like this.”
Asha was really worried about their appearance, which even smelled sour.
She wasn’t an expert on the etiquette of the nobility or the palace, but she remembered what her mother, who had tried in vain to make her a lady, had told her.
[Everything you wear defines you. And the nobles will never truly interact with someone who doesn’t catch their eye. Never.]
The only thing she had brought with her for her entry into the palace was a single cloak that had not been hemmed. In fact, even that had become dirty from being used as a blanket or quilt on the way.
In any case, she first needed to find accommodation and wash the clothes she was wearing. Asha and her party went looking for an affordable inn that would accept them.
“Excuse me, we’re looking to stay here for five people.”
“Ah… I’m sorry, but we don’t have any rooms available.”
They were turned away from the first inn.
“Do you have any rooms for five people?”
“Of course! For five people, you’ll need to rent three double rooms, which will cost 150 Verona for one night.”
The second inn was expensive. Of course, it was the cheapest looking inn on the street.
Asha and her party were about to give up when they came across a small inn on the outskirts of the city.
“Excuse me, do you have any rooms available?”
Asha asked the innkeeper, a kind-looking old woman.
“Yes, we do. We have a room for five people that costs 50 Verona for one night.”
The price was within their budget, and the inn looked clean and comfortable. Asha and her party decided to stay there.
“Thank you. We’ll take that room.”
Asha said, handing over the money.
“Welcome. Please make yourselves at home.”
The innkeeper said with a smile.
Asha and her party were finally able to rest after a long and tiring journey. They were all looking forward to the next day, when they would finally be entering the imperial palace.
“We five will stay… .”
“Ugh,the smell! Get out of here, you filthy beggars!”
The third inn kicked them out before they could even say a word.
Still, Decker, like a proud nobleman, was about to grab the innkeeper by the collar when he heard the word “beggars.” But Asha grabbed Decker’s arm.
“Let’s not cause any trouble before we even enter the palace, Decker.”
In the end, they turned away from that inn as well.
“It’s going to be dark soon… .”
As Asha sighed and looked up at the sky, Bastian laughed out loud and said.
“What’s the worry? It’s not like this is the first or second time we’ve slept rough.”
“That’s right. If all else fails, we can sleep under a big tree and wash in the river.”
Danilo chimed in, but it wasn’t much of a comfort to Asha.
Up until now, they had been coming up to the capital along a road with few houses, so it was inevitable that they would have to sleep rough. But even in the city of Zyro, which was full of decent inns, she didn’t want to make the party sleep rough.
“Sigh… Decker, let’s go over there and take a look.”
Asha pointed to the alley she had been hesitating to go down. It was a shabby alley off the main street, visibly worn-out at first glance.
“Now is not the time to assert our pride.”
Thanks to everyone’s saving and frugality, there was more travel money left than expected. However, it wasn’t a situation where they could afford to choose only good places to go while asserting their noble pride.
“Deker and I will go look for an inn, so rest around here for a while.”
With a determination not to let the group sleep on the ground as much as possible, they stepped into the poverty-stricken alley.
But as soon as they entered, two boys wandering nearby approached them.
“Where are you looking for? A tavern? An inn? Or maybe this?”
The skinny boy jabbed his finger at Decker.
When Decker didn’t say anything, another boy approached Asha and whispered closely to her.
“I’ve got some amazing stuff, and I’ll give it to you cheap.”
As Asha frowned and looked at the boy without replying, he pretended to inhale something through his nose and chuckled.
At most sixteen or seventeen, the boy’s front teeth were missing. It seemed to depict the rough life the boy had lived so far and the bleak future ahead.
“Forget about that stuff. And this too.”
Asha grabbed the wrist of the young boy who had secretly followed behind her and said. With the two of them attracting attention, it seemed like the little kid was attempting pickpocketing.
“Shit, you wanna die? You gonna let go of this?”
Another boy, who looked no more than ten, cursed roughly while struggling.
Asha released the boy’s hand she was holding, and the child tumbled to the ground due to the recoil of his struggling.
Realizing that Asha and Decker were not easy targets, the boys quickly helped the young boy up from the ground and all ran away together.
“To be robbed in a city without war…”
Asha muttered under her breath as she walked along the street.
However, her steps soon halted. It was because she witnessed something even more dangerous happening inside a narrower alley than where they had just encountered.
“It’s obvious you’re loaded. Just hand it over, and we’ll let you go in peace.”
A rugged man in his mid-thirties was harassing someone wearing a hood.
Although the person in the hood was slightly bigger than the man, the presence of various armed street kids surrounding him like a gang didn’t seem to intimidate the man at all.
“It looks like he’s even unfamiliar with this alley.”
While Decker casually muttered, Asha stepped into the alley.
“Should we intervene?”
“We can’t just ignore it.”
Since she hadn’t particularly lowered her voice, the attention of the young gangsters and their leader shifted towards Asha.
Asha scrutinized them carefully. Despite being near the slums, the boys’ demeanor wasn’t good, but Asha came from none other than Perves, after all.
“In Perves, kids from decent families can live well with just this much….”
Asha’s gray eyes, like the color of a cloudy sky, chilled.
“Yet here, with this much to eat and live here, they still resort to robbery.”
Then, she sighed and apologized to Deker.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have insisted on coming this way and bothered you.”
“No need to apologize. But how far are you going to go with this? It might get troublesome if it ends up in a fight…”
“These ruffians will surrender if you give them a proper beating. They don’t have convictions strong enough to risk their lives, so they’ll quickly yield to the stronger side.”
As Asha examined the cloth wrapped around her hand and clenched and unclenched her fist, the leader who had been listening to their conversation chuckled incredulously.
“What the hell are those guys who look like nothing will come out even if you shake them? Hey, Boys, handle them yourselves.”
Upon hearing those words, the boys surrounding them seemed ready to pounce.
But Asha paid no attention to the punks around her.
“Always like this, huh? You send the kids to do the dirty work while you sit back and enjoy?”
“What? Is she crazy?”
“It’s hard not to go crazy after killing countless people on the battlefield. But we don’t have time for this now. If you’re just going to run your mouth, I’ll go first.”
With that, Asha immediately lunged at the man and punched his greasy face.
“Aaak!”
But it didn’t end there. Asha then kicked the staggering man’s abdomen with all her strength.
Naturally, the man flew back and rolled on the ground. Then, another man, who seemed like the leader, yelled out.
“Hey! What are you all doing! Kill them!”
* * * *
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