Historical man

"Wow…" Kayla and Ethel looked in amazement at the high walls that protected Alteon, the border city.

A huge wall was built in the middle of the forest that surrounded the city. Unlike what Kayla imagined at first, the wall was not made of stone or any metal, no, the wall was made of a strange black wood.

Behind the large walls that easily exceeded ten meters, you could see the top of some buildings made of the same black wood, leaving the two girls surprised.

"What is that strange wood, Ethel? It seems like they use it a lot in this city... "Kayla looked at the wall and a panel appeared before her.

[Altean wood]

Kayla looked with disappointment at the panel in front of her eyes. Yeah, I guess she shouldn't have waited long...

She had been using his new analysis skill ever since he got it and the results were anything but pleasant. This skill wouldn't give her better results unless she leveled up. I just hope that this skill can be leveled up by using it often like in the anime...

"Nmm... well, from what I see, that is a rare type of wood from a tree that has been almost extinct due to the overexploitation of its resources, since that tree was as hard as metal and was produced in large quantities. ...although I have never seen so much of it in one place..." Ethel looked at the wall in amazement.

She had read a book about this tree and it mentioned that it had been extinct hundreds of years ago. I wonder if the construction of this city was the cause of that...

Ethel's eyes brightened a little when she thought about that. It would certainly be an interesting discovery if it were true!

"Come on Kayla, I wonder what the city is like inside!" Ethel grabbed Kayla's hand and dragged her towards the small door in the wall, guarded by a pair of guards.

"Wait, Ethel! Are you sure you can go through that door? Why don't I see anyone else here!" Kayla looked around her. Besides the guards, there wasn't a soul here.

"Obviously we can!" Ethel didn't care about Kayla's refusal and she continued. "It's just that this is the least visited gate in the city, since it faces the border of an enemy empire, it is obvious that not many people are going to use it."

"Eh?! Enemy empire?! Isn't that going to get us in trouble?!" Kayla was a little scared, Zinon had never told her that the empire that had summoned her was an enemy of the empire she was about to move to!

"You didn't know? Maybe your people kept themselves isolated from society or something?... well, don't worry anyway, I imagine Zinon must have thought of that when he told you to come here alone." Ethel moved forward, ignoring Kayla's refusal.

Shortly after, they arrived in front of the guards guarding the door. The guards, who had been sitting in comfortable chairs, reluctantly stood up and looked at them with some annoyance and even hatred.

"What business could a couple of water leeches have around here?" One of the guards, an anima monkey, somewhat short but with long limbs, looked at them.

"Eh? But leeches aren't originally water animals-" Kayla spoke but she quickly fell silent when she noticed Ethel motioning for her to shut up with her hand.

Although she still wanted to say something, she closed her mouth. She knew very well that he did not know the customs of this world and it was better that someone from here spoke.

"Haha you don't have to be so defensive, we only came to this city to use the portal to the capital" Ethel smiled elegantly at the guard, not bothered by the guard's comment.

"Oh?! Why do you think we would let water leeches like you enter our empire, much less our capital?!" The anima monkey grabbed a spear that he had on her back and pointed it at the two.

Kayla grabbed the handle of her sword the moment she saw that, but she stood still when she noticed that Ethel was still smiling elegantly. She wouldn't attack unless Ethel did.

In the few days he had traveled with Ethel, he had noticed that Ethel was a knowledgeable girl who always maintained her composure. Although he could not say much about Ethel's character due to the short time they had known each other, he could say without hesitation that Ethel was extremely cultured in almost everything. And a person like that deserved her trust.

And Kayla's trust was not shaken.

"Hey idiot, what are you doing?! I left you alone because you were just talking shit, but I won't tolerate you getting us both in trouble for attacking the wrong people!" Before the monkey anima could attack, her companion raised her voice.

A two-meter-tall man stood up from his seat and stood in front of the anima monkey, intimidating it with the large horn protruding from where its nose should be. The man, a rhinoceros anima, looked angrily at his friend.

"I thought you could act like a normal person, but I guess I expected too much from your little brain." The rhinoceros anima spoke with contempt.

"B-but! How can we let aquatic leeches into our empire?!" The anima monkey took a few steps back but still believed that he had done the right thing.

"That decision is not ours to make, so shut up!" The rhinoceros animal paid no more attention to the monkey and turned to Ethel. "Excuse me about that miss, may I know if she has any permission to enter or something to prove that he is a citizen of our empire?"

Although the rhinoceros anima's tone was cordial, the contemptuous look hidden in his eyes did not go unnoticed by Ethel's sharp eyes. But despite that, he still smiled elegantly and waved his hand, taking out some documents from his space ring.

"Yes, I have them and it is even a permit to be a resident and citizen signed by the royal family itself" Ethel handed the documents to the guard with a sweet smile.

The rhinoceros animal stiffened a little at that and sighed inwardly as he meticulously reviewed the documents, relieved to have dodged a rather deadly bullet.

Meanwhile, the anima monkey trembled with terror when he noticed the mistake he had made. The poor guy almost wet himself when Ethel had given him a sweet smile.

"Mnn... well, yes, everything is correct, you can come in." The rhinoceros animal put away a monocle that he had used to read the document and nodded toward Ethel, allowing her to pass.

"Thank you~" Ethel smiled and pulled Kayla, wanting to get through the door.

However, the rhinoceros anima quickly got in his way.

"My apologies, miss, but I cannot let your companion pass unless you show us your pass." Although the rhinoceros anima seemed uncomfortable about confronting Ethel, he stood his ground and did his duty.

"Oh sure haha…" Ethel laughed and let go of Kayla. A little bothered by the lack of influence from the royal family's signature. Where she came from, she could have walked in with as many people as she wanted as soon as the royal family's name was mentioned. "Kayla, just do what you were told."

Kayla nodded and showed her the bag that Zinon had given to the rhinoceros anima, or well, she especially showed the symbol engraved on the leather bag.

"The person who was taking care of me told me to show this to the guards and that a person would come to meet me" Kayla spoke calmly.

"Nmm... let me see..." This time, the rhinoceros anima decided not to make the same mistake and seriously inspected the symbol engraved on the bag. The companion of someone with the permission of the royal family had a certain degree of credibility.

Her eyes looked closely at the symbol on the bag, which was a judge's hammer embraced by a divine light, and she was scared. This is not?!

"Haha…nnm, I'm sorry, but could you wait a bit? I have to call a superior to be able to proceed with this situation…" The rhinoceros anima asked timidly.

"Uh... sure" Kayla nodded, I already expected that her entry process was going to take a while.

"Thank you very much, Miss!" The rhinoceros anima leaned towards Kayla and thanked her fervently, with a respectful glance towards her before leaving out the door.

The anima monkey tried to follow his companion, but he closed the door in his face... He looked towards the two girls and silently crouched in a corner, trying to go unnoticed...

"What was that?" Ethel asked curiously. The look the guard had given Kayla was very different than the one he had given her, although the guard looked at her with respect, that respect was based on fear.

Instead, the guard's gaze toward Kayla was warm and sincere, a kind of respect he only gave to a person you admired for his accomplishments.

"No idea," Kayla shrugged, she could only assume it had to do with Zinon being from the church. "But leaving that aside, why did that monkey call us water leeches? As far as I know, these animals live in environments with water..."

Kayla looked at the monkey, who was trembling in the corner. She was seriously doubting his intelligence.

"Oh sure, although it's not that surprising either, it's just a typical case of rivalry between nations" Ethel sighed and explained to Kayla.

"In summary, the people of this empire always put something related to water as aquatic to any insult they say to the citizens of the neighboring empire, Kaetelia because a large part of the cities of that empire is built on water."

Kayla looked at Ethel blankly for a moment. "... only for that?"

"Yes, it's pretty stupid, but the people of Kaetelia also have derogatory ways of addressing the citizens of this empire, it's a mutual thing" Ethel shrugged.

Kayla sighed. I feel stupid for expecting something interesting from such stupidity.

Sometime after Ethel's explanation, the door in the wall opened and the rhinoceros anima came out accompanied by an old man wearing full-body silver armor.

Despite the wrinkles on his face, no one would dare underestimate the old man. Although anyone would seem small next to the rhinoceros anima, this old man was on par, with a height of almost two meters and a rather large physique that was noticeable despite being hidden under armor.

This old man stood in front of Kayla and inspected them with his green eyes, which shone for an instant, intimidating her a little.

Kayla suddenly felt a chill and looked at the old man suspiciously. Aunque no sabía lo que había pasado, sentía que el anciano había visto sus secretos. Who is this old man?...

"Hoho I'm sorry about that girl, but it's something I have to do in situations like yours... tell me, didn't that brat Zinon send me something?" The old man looked at Kayla and asked her warmly.

"Oh, sure, yeah, take this." Kayla was startled by her sudden change, but she still quickly looked for the letter with a blue seal in her bag and gave it to the old man.

The old man opened it and read it at an impressive speed, finishing in less than five seconds.

"Nmm well... I understand the general situation" The old man smiled at Kayla and gestured for her to follow her. "Come, although I know you are a little cautious with me, I am an old master of Zinon, so I won't hurt you after that brat asked me to take care of you."

"Oh and of course, your friend can follow you."

Kayla looked at him doubtfully, not knowing what to do. She hesitated for quite some time until she finally decided to follow the old man. She trusted Zinon completely.

"Ethel, do you want to come with me…" Kayla turned to Ethel and asked, but her words got stuck in her mouth when she noticed that Ethel's face was pale.

"Hey Ethel! What happened, what do you have?!" Kayla ran over to Ethel and shook her.

"N-nothing... I have nothing... and yes, I'm going to follow you" Ethel regained her senses after a few seconds and gave Kayla a small smile.

"...Ok" Kayla wanted to ask what happened to her, but she could tell from Ethel's eyes that she wouldn't tell her anything, so she could only nod.

And so, they both followed the almost two-meter-old man into the city.

However, Ethel looked at the old man intensely the entire way, thousands of questions in her mind.

This old man is not the final wall, who had died on the battlefield fifty years ago?!

Ethel felt as if the dead had come back to life when she saw the old man who appeared in her textbooks walking in front of her...