Chapter 027: Danzai District

It was two hours past dawn when they were close to Vanchordé. In the distance, as they approach the city, the huge walls surrounding Vanchordé was in clear sight. 

Maou was the first among the three to awake. The sight of the towering walls was the first thing his sleepy eyes saw. The surprise sent him in an early morning frenzy. Immediately, Maou started shouting at the top of his lungs.

"It's HUGE!!!" 

Shelly and Arthur were frightened out of their peaceful sleep. They screamed, eyes popping out in shock and heart drumming through their chest as they fell to the floor.

"Look! The walls! It's huge!" Maou pressed his face against the glass as his eyes sparkled.

Shelly continued laying on the floor, too tired to move while Arthur slowly got to his feet and looked out the window.

"The… walls?"

The sight of the city walls made Arthur's sleepy eyes widen and a gigantic smile slowly appeared on his face. He too was sent into a frenzy. 

"THE WALLS!!!"

Shelly covered her ears from the annoying shouting. 

"Please! I'm begging you… shut up!" 

They didn't hear a word Shelly said and continued to shout. Their faces pressed against the glass with radiant eyes and enormous smiles.

"I'm finally home!" Arthur said.

"How wide is it?!" Maou asked. "Why is it so big?!"

Mr Frederick, having suffered through a week of this, was now unfazed by their loud natures. 

The further they rode, the larger the wall appeared. It was around 300 meters tall and 50 metres thick. On the floor, were guards with swords on their hips and guards with bows on top of the wall. The carriage got close enough for them to see the entrance. A large crowd of people and carriages were gathered there. The crowd were of foreigners trying to enter the capital, merchants and returning travellers.

Mr Frederick joined the queue of carriages. Close to them was a line of people on foot. There was a multitude of people present, humans and non-humans alike. 

A few minutes went by until they went further up along the line. A guard soon approached Mr Frederick. The conversation was heard by Shelly and Arthur while Maou gawked at the different types of people.

"Ex-Captain! A pleasure to see you again, Sir!" The guard honoured Mr Frederick with a salute as he spoke. 

"No need to be so formal. I am just a humble butler." Mr Frederick handed his Citizenship card to the guard.

The guard accepted and examined the card, then handed it back to Mr Frederick.

"Thank you, Sir! Permission to search the carriage, Sir!"

"Haa!" Mr Frederick sighed at the guard's stubbornness. "Permission granted."

As Arthur heard the conversation come to a close, he placed a mask over his face, sealing his identity.

"Uh, why are you putting a mask on?" Shelly asked.

"Gah! That's so cool! Can I get one?" Maou eagerly asked.

"Uh, sorry, but I can't explain right now. Please, just trust me and don't speak until I say so." 

The guard lightly knocked against the carriage door before announcing.

"Mandatory carriage search!!!"

The guard opened the doors to see the three sitting inside. 

"May I see your citizenship cards." His request obviously excluded the noble Arthur.

"These two aren't citizens."

"With all due respect Sir Williamson, they will have to pay the 'foreigner fee' of five gold coins each or wait until their citizenship has been processed."

Shelly had a slight heart attack when she heard the expensive fee.

"I'll pay for both the foreigner fee and cost to process their citizenship. Just send the bill to my father, and have their cards delivered to me immediately when they're done."

"Understood, Sir!" The guard then remembered something important. "Your eldest brother sent this letter for you upon your return."

The guard pulled out an envelope and handed it to Arthur. He opened the envelope and read the contents. The further Arthur read, the tighter he angrily gripped the paper. After having read enough, he clicked his teeth and crushed the paper in his hands, tossing it to the floor.

The guard started to sweat in fear of Arthur's reaction. Would the messenger be killed?

"Tell Frederick, I said to stop at the Danzai district! NOW!!!"

"Y-Ye-Yes Sir!" 

The guard hurriedly shut the carriage door then sped off to Mr Frederick. He lost his composure in fear of his life.

Arthur kept the mask on, hiding his angered face underneath. He leaned over in his seat, squeezing his hands to the point they were shaking. Shelly and Maou just looked at each other, too afraid to say anything. Who were they to pry into his business?

The carriage started moving again. The huge metal gates were dragged open by a lever, letting them through.

"Forgive me," Arthur squeezed his knuckles as he spoke dejectedly, "I can't give you a tour like I intended to."

"No no no! Don't worry about it," Shelly felt uneasy by Arthur's sudden change of mood. "You did more than enough for us already."

Maou felt his soul crushed.

"Eh! What about the cake?! You promised we-" 

"Maou! Now's not the time to–"

"Shelly, it's fine." 

Arthur pulled down the mask, revealing a bright smile to Maou. 

"My bad, Sensei. I totally forgot they're closed today. But don't worry we'll go next time."

Even the blind could see through his fake smile, hiding some unknown pain. But Maou realized it was better to pretend not to see it.

"Uh, yeah…. Sure." Maou mellowed down and the carriage became awkwardly silent.

"Ah, Come on guys! Stop acting all sad. It's not that serious. I'll just be stuck in some classes for a while," Arthur then threw an arm around the grim Maou. "When I get back, we'll eat the biggest cake I can buy. And this time, I'll beat you for sure, sensei."

Maou's liveliness returned and he denied Arthur's brazen victory claim.

"Oh Ho Ho! You dare challenge Me! Your teacher! You must not have learnt the first time." 

Arthur and Maou laughed as they taunted one another while Shelly stared at them with a smile on her face, feeling relieved for the change of atmosphere.

Shortly after, they stopped at Danzai District. Shelly and Maou stepped out of the carriage, arms stretched out wide in the air. 

"In a few days, I'll have Frederick deliver your Citizenship cards to you." Arthur had his mask on, hiding his face from the public. "Until we meet again, friends."

"Don't get scared and run away. It's okay to lose to your sensei." 

Maou put his fist out.

"Hah! In your dreams. Like I'd run away from you."

Arthur fist-bumped Maou as they grinned at each other.

"Thanks for everything Arthur. I'll pay you back someday." Shelly tightened the straps to her backpack.

"Nah! Don't mention it. 10 gold coins' nothing really. Just stay safe." 

Maou and Shelly waved goodbye as the carriage drove off. 

In front of them was the Danzai district. The flood of people was heaps more than that of Lamdon town. They walked down the stone-paved streets, gawking at the many places. There were numerous people like Arthur had told them. They went to different buildings made out of brick, wood and refined stone, talked in groups or just casually went about their day. Having never seen so many people before, Shelly was distracted, losing her focus of where she was walking.

"Ouch!" Shelly bumped into someone. "Ah, sorry about that. I was–"

Shelly instantly froze mid-sentence, shocked by what she saw.

"Oi, Nut'in a' worry bout lil' missy. Didn't see ya' either."

A deep voice came from the sharp-toothed mouth of a 7-foot tall lizardman. He was scantily clad in iron armour, exposing only his dark green scales as his shadow covered the two. Strapped on his back was a long spear three fourth his height.

"Wow!!! You're freaking huge!" Maou ogled in awe at the towering humanoid reptile with sparkling eyes.

"Bahaha! Tanks yah lil' cutesy." The lizardman crouched down, getting closer to Maou's height with a smile. "Ya' might grow taller than me if ya' eat lots, kiddo."

Maou's face brightened up, mouth widened. 

"Really?!!!"

The Lizardman rubbed his scaly palms on Maou's head, roughing his hair.

"Sure ya' can!"

Just then, Shelly felt a warm wind above her head. Her instincts screamed at her to turn around. To her surprise, another huge towering figure stood behind her. Immediately, her blood went cold and her eyes jutted out. Behind her was a 7 foot tall, pure muscle, eye-patch wearing, brown Minotaur. It wore a chainmail kilt and an iron chest plate armour with a huge iron axe strapped on its back.  

"Ah! Ma bad, Sina! I got loss chatting with the lil' lad 'ere."

"This huge beast is a she?!!" Shelly thought to herself.

The Minotaur's exhales were as steams. 

"Good heavens! Ya' pissed, ain't cha'?" The Lizardman looked to the side, avoiding Sina's deadly gaze.

"You're freaking huge too!" Maou gawked at the fascinating Minotaur.

The Minotaur looked down at Maou with its angered eyes but his adorable glimmering face made her instinctively lift him off the ground and hug him like a little teddy bear.

"Bahaha! Ya' like the lil' one already don't cha', Sina?" 

Sina cheerfully rubbed her face against Maou's cheek. Her little fur made Maou giggle.

"What's cha' name lil' missy?" 

"Ah, Uh, My name is Shelly."

"Shelly, eh? Dat's a new one." The lizardman extended his hand to Shelly. "Da name's Radha. Is it ya' first time seeing beastfolk?"

"Ah, yeah. I'm sorry if I offended you." Shelly shook his scaly hand.

"Bahaha! Dat dere ain't nut'in ta be sorry over. We all act different ta' new things, Shelly. Lemme guess. Ya' new here as well?"

"Yeah, we just got here today."

"Welcome ta' Vanchordé both a yous. Spend some time n' look round while da' sun's out. If ya need help, come look fa us." Radha tapped Shelly on the shoulder.

"Oi, Sina. Put the lil' one down. We gon be late."

Sina quickly put Maou to the ground with an embarrassed look. She was supposed to be the one scolding Radha for being late but got distracted.

"See ya 'round lads." 

Maou and Shelly waved as the two giants walked away through the crowd, their figure still clearly showing due to their height. 

"Shelly! He said if I eat lots, I'll grow as tall as him," Maou stretched his arms above him. "I wanna be that tall so bad.

"Eh, how much more you'd have to eat then?"

"Hm, maybe ten boars a day would be a good start."

"Ten boars!" Shelly facepalmed. "You'd put me in debt, so please don't."