The ship arrives before I know it.
It probably didn’t even take an hour, and we spent most of the time waiting for the ship to actually leave.
Does the ship use magic for propulsion? It’s surprisingly quiet and fast.
It goes without saying that it took a lot longer to unload the baggage the wagons were carrying before it left.
And from what I could see, it was mostly food, and it was so much that I’m now wondering where on the island it was all produced.
And now that I’m on Altair, I’m wondering that even more.
I had a good view of the city from the deck of the ship, but I didn’t see anything that looked like a farm.
Since the city is surrounded by walls, we came in through a water gate to reach the port.
There’s a giant tree here, that was also visible from Marte, and its branches and leaves spread out like a big umbrella. And since the island is cone-shaped like a mortar, the actual city is along the walls.
In front of us is a big gate, and according to what I’ve been told, the castle where the dragon god lives lies beyond it.
Also, the castle is surrounded by another lake, so the only way there is through this gate.
“Well then visitors, this way.”
The person guiding us is the captain of the ship, Toruko. This doesn’t seem like it should be his job, but I guess that’s just how rare it is for people to come here. The people we pass by on the streets also look at us with curious expressions.
I feel like there are more demi-humans like beast people than humans. Some of them look unsure, and some even a little cautious around us.
And unless I’m just imagining it, there seems to be a lot of kids too.
“Ah, don’t think badly of them. Some of them used to be slaves.”
According to Toruko, there are people here that were slaves brought from the empire, so some of them are afraid of humans. It got even worse after the war.
Some healed their wounds to a certain extent before returning to their country, and others decided to stay in this country and make a life for themselves here.
“Is the manager here!?”
“Who’s yelling… Oh, Toruko.”
“Yes, I brought guests from the outside. Can I leave them with you?”
“Sure. Six of them… Are you staying in separate rooms, or in one room?”
She asks while looking at us closely, and I notice the look she gives to Hikari and Mia.
“One room please.”
Rurika says before I can say anything.
She takes us to a large room with multiple beds. There’s even a bath too.
“Isn’t this expensive?”
It’s a bit too luxurious, so it gets me worried about the price.
We made quite a bit of money, but I’m still reluctant to splurge.
“I checked it before, but it doesn’t seem to be.”
Apparently it’s pretty cheap. One night for six people with three meals included is two silver coins. Per person that is… I don’t think it can be divided evenly, but I guess it is what it is. Let’s not think about it too much.
“But is there a reason why we’re all staying in one room?”
It kind of feels like a treat as far as I’m concerned, but are you sure about this?
I guess so. No one really seems bothered by it.
“…I figured you would think that’s strange, but be a little more vigilant.”
Says Rurika with a sigh, before she starts explaining it.
This is our first time in this city on a lonely island surrounded by walls. We should stay together and be ready for anything.
“Of course, this place does not seem dangerous, but still, who knows what might happen.
Adds Chris, and Sera nods.
That’s a perfectly valid reason, so I have nothing to say.
The room is already taken anyway.
“More importantly, what now?”
The sun is still high in the sky, and we haven’t had lunch yet.
We didn’t give them a lot of time to prepare a meal, considering when we arrived, but we were told they’d have it ready for us right away when I showed the permit. Although they seemed apologetic about only being able to put something together with what they have readily available.
I was actually curious before about why staying in this inn includes three meals, but the answer became clear on the way here. We walked through the main street, but I didn’t see a single food stall.
At first I thought that maybe there are stalls in other places, but it’s still an unbelievable sight, when compared to the other towns and cities we’ve visited so far.
I saw Hikari looking all around too, but after asking about it, I learn that there really aren’t any stalls in this city.
Apparently there’s not much point in anyone setting them up, since this place rarely gets visitors. People usually carry packed lunches with them or eat at home.
But then why is there even an inn? Well, its main purpose is actually to provide those packed lunches, and food and drinks in the morning and at night.
A lot of their customers are single adventurers and soldiers, so it sounds like a service necessary for people that aren’t good at cooking.
“What about tomorrow’s lunch?”
“We don’t know what’s going to happen, or what the plan is… Can we get packed lunches and eat them here?”
“Sure. As you can see, this place is empty during the day.”
We’re here in Altair, but we still don’t know exactly how we’re going to get the laurel tree fruit.
I’m thinking we need to go around the city and gather information this afternoon.
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Thx for chapter wow those women really did pull the wool over mc
Thanks for the treat.