The Emerea City
Chapter 36: The Emerea City
After a long journey and some luck, Bryce and his party were finally before a city.
Once again, his destination was surrounded by tall and sturdy walls. Unlike the village, those walls were enormous and made from white, polished stone, looking way better than the village's defenses, be it just appearance or feeling of safety. The walls were thick and had many floors, and the windows seemed to be covered in some magic because Bryce couldn't spot any silhouette inside them, yet he felt some eyes looking through him.
Well, he was still far away from entering the city.
He and his buddy stood in a long queue for the first-time guests. People who had already been in the Emerea City stood in a different queue, which moved faster than Bryce's, simply because they already possessed some identification.
"Come to think of it, if we had mercenary identities, we wouldn't have any problems finding carriage, would we?" Bryce thought aloud, recalling the first merchant, his daughter, and the mercenaries he had hired.
Those people had enough patience to calmly deal with their requests. On the other hand, other merchants and people with carriages simply shouted at Bryce and Wolfgang, telling them to move aside.
All of it would have been avoided had they had some proof.
"I guess," Wolfgang replied flatly, not paying too much attention to Bryce as he was busy recalling his elder sister's words, his face was so scrunched that he looked funny.
Bryce continued his talk, stroking Gengo's hand, "No, that wouldn't be so easy. You know, if we had simple mercenary tokens without any achievements, they also wouldn't believe in us and our strength. Anyone can become a mercenary."
Bryce thought it'd be the best move to get fame through mercenary occupation. He would be able to get more intel, quests adequate to his strength, and, naturally, connections with influential people of this world. For this plan, Bryce decided he'd go with the vampire side.
After all, the best mercenaries lived in the Freedom Metropolis, the city created by both heroes and villains, and took jobs from the main guild from there.
"Alright, listen," Wolfgang drew Bryce's attention, sounding quiet and decisive, "Cities have different rules. This one is pretty close to wilderness and demon and beast's lands, so it shouldn't be too strict. But if they ask you for a drop of your blood, we instantly leave and escape."
Bryce nodded gravely, trying to see through the words of his friends.
At last, it was their turn to get identified. Bryce, Wolfgang, and Gengo entered a small room, which was close to enormous gates and inside those thick walls, and looked ahead at a bespectacled man sitting by the table. He had two tough-looking men standing abreast behind him.
The man slightly slid his glasses on his nose and pushed a plate forward, "Welcome to the Emerea City, travelers. Before we let you enter, we must record just a little information about you. Please, don't get offended when our guards stop you during your visit to our city. It's their job to keep our home safe. Now, write down your first name and age."
Smiling faintly, the man gestured for the duo to sit down and reveal a little about themselves. He didn't seem to have any ill intent, and the plate he had pushed also didn't feel like a contract in disguise.
Bryce glanced at Wolfgang, who clearly was taught a few important stuff by his relative, and seeing him taking a sit, Bryce quickly followed suit.
He wrote his first name, not daring to note more, for just the middle surname of his would cause terror. And then, Bryce wrote his age.
[Name: Bryce Age: 18]
[Name: Wolfgang Age: 19]
Every word written on the plate shone in a blue light, then appeared in the system. The glasses man also received that information, his treasure confirmed that no one lied, and with that done, his smile turned milder.
"Your little companion also must be registered under you."
"Of course."
Since Gengo's head popped out of Bryce's clothes, his presence wasn't meant to be hidden, and he gladly followed all procedures to enter the Emerea City with his best friend and new buddy. He pressed his paw on the plate, Bryce said his name, and all was finally done.
"Thank you for your cooperation," the glasses man extended his hand for a handshake with Bryce and Wolfgang, and he also bumped his fist with Gengo's paw. "Do you two have any business with the mercenary guild? If you do, I can help you get in contact with them, but that's only if your levels are higher than thirty."
It sounded like getting in touch with the mercenary guild wasn't easy and took some time. When Bryce bluntly asked about it, for he wanted to get some identification and fame, the glasses man told him that the mercenary guild cared about their reliability, so they simply didn't accept everyone to their family and despised frauds.
"Because of this," the bespectacled man tapped the plate, "we can easily prove your level to them, so the process is much quicker. Just write whether your level is above thirty and whether you've fought monsters around your level."
It was an efficient method, Bryce thought.
Unlike monsters who didn't even bother hiding their levels, he couldn't easily see through the levels of intelligent people. If he wanted to see through Wolfgang's level, Bryce would have to fight him and kill him to see it. Of course, people had as many reasons to reveal it as to hide it.
"I'll do it," Bryce said, then looked at Wolfgang.
His buddy stood straight with thoughts clashing in his mind. He didn't even bother looking uninterested, for his eyes remained on the plate. He left the kingdom, his home, to find a cure to his problem, but would it be as easy as Wolfgang thought?
It could take a lot of time to achieve his goal.
He wasn't sure how long Bryce would remain in the dungeon, too, and as he had already learned that there was a lot to learn about the world, Wolfgang decided to become a mercenary, too.
'Old Wolf will kill me,' he thought.
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"I didn't expect you to go to the mercenary guild with me."
"I haven't seen enough of the world. And because I was born in the most dangerous era, I didn't have enough chances to see beyond the werewolf's kingdom, too, just a few visits to other beasts to test my skills."
And after those words, Bryce and Wolfgang left the thick wall and appeared inside the city.
Now, Bryce felt like he was in another world again, for it was way too different from the village he'd spent some days in. It wasn't close to Tokyo he'd lived for a few years back on Earth, but Bryce spotted a few tall buildings, but like everything else, they were either made out of stone or white stone.
It wasn't bright, too, and Bryce saw only a few lamps with a different electricity system, but as it was sunny, he could see what the city had to offer, feeling like it'd take a lot of time to learn what was popular, other than mercenary guilds, of course.
Before following the guidance he'd received from the glasses man, Bryce asked his friend, "Just a name and age is fine, right? I guess if they found out that I'm a vampire, they'd kick or hunt me."
Wolfgang nodded, "But it means that this city is not as safe as it makes itself out to be."
"Hmm?" Bryce narrowed his eyes and looked thoughtfully at his friend.
Repeating what his elder sister told him, Wolfgang looked ahead, "If we cast our main differences aside, we are all the same. There's nothing stopping demons and humans from doing business with each other. We, werewolves, have also once closely worked with demons."
Bryce shifted his eyes from Wolfgang's face to the street ahead of them. Stone houses and shops lined in a row on the sides, seemingly full of lovely mood. Humans came in and out with smiles, some peeked out from windows and cast their curious eyes at the main gates and people entering the city, and some casually strolled the street in elegant clothes.
But perhaps, in some of those houses and markets, there was a different side of a business, which was not as merry as it appeared to be on the outside.
Knowing what Wolfgang meant, Bryce also couldn't tell who was a human, a beast, or a demon in disguise.
"That's why many people of our age dream of having their own house," Bryce sighed and took the first step forward.
Wolfgang cast him an odd glance, "Really? Is that the dream of the villagers you come from?"
Bryce chuckled, "Yeah, try living without parents, and you will never be able to return."
Wolfgang stared at Bryce's back for a few seconds before shrugging his thoughts off and going after him. For some reason, it was easy to just not think too much about Bryce and his secrets.
Perhaps, it's because he's as strong as me, Wolfgang thought.