With King Zect and the others’ lead, we walked forward.
[Well then, follow our lead.]
The harpy that seemed to be the King’s attendant said.
Meanwhile, the other armed harpies formed a tight circle around us.
I guess we haven’t completely gained their trust huh.
Our group stood at the rear of the procession.
Then, we went straight, following the King’s group ahead of us.
……As for the harpies, they’re not going to fly and were walking alongside us huh.
Walking for a while, we began walking down a wide, gently-sloping staircase.
After a couple of steps, we came upon another wide corridor.
The corridor seemed to be a straight path.
Walking forward, we eventually passed through the corridor———-
—-and the scenery opened up at once.
[This is……]
Looking at the spread-out scenery, Seras exclaimed in surprise.
It seemed like Nyaki was also overwhelmed……
[Wha—nyaa……]
—-Letting out such a dumbfounded voice.
If I had to describe this place in a few words, I would say that it is an “underground kingdom”.
It is believed that there was once an underground city-like civilization.
Looking at its appearance, it must have been repeatedly extended and reconstructed to become what it is today.
The buildings are also covered in vines.
A huge rock wall encircles around the city.
The areas around the wall were terraced.
The steps got higher the closer it was towards the walls.
At the top of these wide steps were rows of buildings.
Further down the steps, we arrived at a large street.
The street continued straight ahead.
While I was looking around the place, I noticed that the distance between us and the King’s group ahead of us was quite large.
With the urging of one of the harpies, we started walking again.
Residents came and went along the paved street.
The faces I’ve seen were quite diverse.
A humanoid race with the head of a dragon.
A humanoid race with the head of a beast.
A race with the upper body of a human with the lower body of a horse.
A race that looks like Orcs.
There are also goblin-like creatures.
Just now, a unicorn-like being crossed the alley.
……Looking closely, I can even see some of them that look like those minotaurs.
There are quite a lot of them.
However———– Not a single one of them have golden eyes.
As I had expected, I can’t feel the unique frenzy that those minotaurs have.
[……………………]
I see.
This is certainly a paradise for the non-humans huh.
As I was looking at the various races in this place……
[Don’t just stand there, get moving.]
The harpy that seemed to be the King’s attendant urged Nyaki, who was standing still/
If I remember correctly, this harpy……
She’s called Gratora or something like that.
Surprised by her urging……
[M- My apologies nya.]
Nyaki flusteredly caught up with us.
Well……
It’s no wonder why she stopped and was glued to this scene.
A scene like this where Demi-Humans and Monsters were living along.
This is the first time I’ve seen something like this.
As we walked through the street, a lot of curious gazes fell upon us.
The unfamiliar faces must have caught their attention.
Well…… It’s also possible that they’re curious because of the large number of soldiers around us.
However, it doesn’t seem like they were vigilant of us.
Perhaps, it’s because there are no humans among the “new faces” walking on this street.
They could clearly tell that Seras is an elf from her ears.
Nyaki doesn’t look any different from the Beast-type Demi-Humans.
Slei looks more like a monster.
Pigimaru, whose face is peeking out from my robe, is also a monster.
And then——— There’s me who’s wearing the mask of the Fly King.
The King may have guessed that I was a human……
But that fact was still unknown to the general populace.
That’s why, they still don’t know that I’m a human.
[……………..?]
From the way they’re looking at me……
It’s just slightly different from the way they look at Seras.
Surprisingly, I also found some appreciating gazes from other monsters.
Even when they aren’t the same races———– beautiful things are “beautiful” after all.
Ignoring their gazes, I looked around again.
Even after looking around though……
I have yet to find any elf or dark elf.
[…………………]
Even so——— This place is quite big.
Moreover, there are also people like Gratora and the Harpy soldiers who are armed.
That means they have another “fighting force” huh.
At that moment……
[Belzegia-sama.]
Drawing herself closer to me, Seras whispered.
[About that matter…… Are we not going to tell them about it yet?]
That matter…
She must be talking about the Alion’s army that would be invading soon.
[I thought about telling them earlier……. but I’d rather tell them when I’m alone with the King. I think it might be dangerous if the others heard about it.]
“Humans are going to attack this place”
If such information spread around unchecked, it may cause confusion.
Fortunately, the King seemed to be a reasonable person.
[That’s why I’m only going to tell the King first. Then, as to what we’ll do after that——- I guess it’s up to King Zect.]
[I see…… So, that’s what you’re thinking.]
[We certainly should tell them as soon as possible, but it’s not like they would be able to attack right away……]
From Alion to this place, they would have a considerable distance from Eastern Demon Zone to the Western Demon Zone.
In normal times, there wouldn’t be any Alion troops in Urza, which is the country close to here.
The same goes for Mira.
The only troops that Alion had in other countries would be Vysis’s apostles.
The Heroic Sword told me this information.
So, the 13 Cavalries would usually be on standby in Alion.
The other Divine Beast should also be there……
The 6th Cavalry and the other Divine Beast.
After they have determined the location of the Faraway Country, they will start moving.
After that letter reaches Alion, they should be departing from Alion.
That means……
We can assume that they would still take some time to reach this place.
At that moment, Gratora turns towards us.
[You there, what are you whispering about?]
“What are you talking about over there?”, Gratora questioned further.
I answered in a calm tone.
[I’m just telling her that King Zect seemed like a trustworthy guy.]
Gratora looked at us with doubting eyes.
Looking tenser, she spoke.
[……Of course. Zect-sama is a man of great talent as a king. I will not forgive you if you show any rudeness or disrespect to our king. Do you understand?]
[Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.]
It seemed like he was quite trusted by his subordinates.
After a short walk, the castle that I had seen in the distance is finally near.
It seemed like that was our destination.
Behind the case was also that rock wall.
Rather, it seems like the back of this castle and the rock wall behind it seemed to be one and the same.
I guess that’s how the castle was originally built.
The further we go into a place that seems to be the inner citadel, the higher it gets.
From that inner citadel-like place, I can see the whole region.
Thereupon, we walked even further———– and arrived at the castle gate.
Passing through the gate, we stood, looking up at the main gate.
Looking at it herself, Seras let out a sigh.
It seems like she was slightly impressed by the towering majesty of the building.
[It certainly is…… just like a great ancient fortress, isn’t it?]
Nyaki was also surprised.
[Yes…… Looking at it up close, it looks amazing nya…… Haanyaa~~]
Looking around at this distance, I could see vines and moss all over the place.
Even though this place is supposed to be underground, it looks more than just a bunch of rugged rocks.
The grounds of the castle, in particular, were littered with groomed flowers and plants.
I could also see what looked like a field.
Hunched up, several Kobolds were tending this field.
Looking back to the castle, I could see Orc soldiers standing on either side of the castle gate.
They were holding a spear in hand and wearing a horned helmet.
Compared to the Ogre soldiers in the Great Demon Emperor’s army, they are slightly smaller in size.
However, the color of their skin seemed to have more depth in them.
On the other hand, the Ogre soldiers looked like a mass of muscle.
The orc soldier glances at us.
But other than that, they didn’t move a muscle.
They may be a surprisingly quiet race.
[This way.]
With Gratora’s lead, we entered the castle.
There was an atmosphere in the castle that made me think that this place has been standing for a long amount of time.
However, it seems like this place is well cleaned.
It’s like an old, but a well-maintained house.
There were also Demi-Humans in the castle.
Some of them are dressed like maids.
Everyone wasn’t even surprised when the horse-shaped Slei entered the castle.
I suppose this is the difference between this place and the humans’ countries.
Normally, they would have been surprised to see a horse intruding this place.
However, putting aside their indifference to Slei’s entrance……
Their gazes of curiosity shoot through us.
Is it unusual for someone new to come into the castle?
Gratora, who had been restlessly watching me for a while……
[It doesn’t seem like you’re that curious, aren’t you?]
——told me so.
Even though I’m wearing this mask to cover my face, I guess I still look like that huh.
[Do you want me to be curious about this place, Gratora-dono?]
When I replied so……
[No——- That’s not the case.]
Gratora huffed, turning her head away.
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