Free Web NovelChapter 42: Hey, why do you smell like...
It was around 3 PM, three days after leaving the royal capital.
In the distance, the defensive walls protecting the city were visible.
Here and there, carriages and people could be spotted around us.
We had arrived safely without being attacked by bandits or drawing the short straw with dangerous monsters.
I was sitting in the driver’s seat next to Satour, who was currently driving, as the relief driver.
Erika poked her head out from the cargo bed between us, her eyes sparkling as she spoke.
Although Erika was a count’s daughter, she apparently hadn’t been allowed out of the royal capital much.
So almost everything she saw outside the capital must have felt new and rare to her.
"Is that Santony?"
"Yes."
"It looks surprisingly worn down..."
"On the outside, yes."
Some parts were newly rebuilt, while others were scorched—probably traces of magic.
It was perfectly natural for Erika, seeing it for the first time, to think it looked rundown.
However, despite its outward appearance, the interior of the walls had been reinforced with new construction and iron reinforcements. It was actually quite impressively built.
Santony was not a city that could be easily taken.
One of Santony’s characteristics was the philosophy of preserving old structures as much as possible.
Because they incorporated new elements while keeping the old, the city ended up with performance that didn’t match its appearance.
As I explained this to Erika, Satour glanced at me with a surprised look and said,
"You really know a lot, Instructor. Have you been here before?"
"...During the war."
"I see."
Satour nodded in understanding and looked forward again.
Erika tilted her head slightly and looked at me with a curious expression.
She had probably noticed that I didn’t answer immediately and seemed to be thinking.
It was true that I had passed through Santony during the war, but the reason I knew so much detail was because I had played as an adventurer in the game.
The main story usually centered around the royal capital, but for locations outside it, it was my area of expertise.
By the time the soldiers at the gate finished questioning us and we were allowed into Santony, it was past 5 PM.
There had been an unexpectedly long line of carriages waiting to enter, which took time.
Following my instructions, we headed to an inn, stabled the carriage and horses, and secured rooms.
When the five of us left the inn, Erika was happily looking around at everything.
There were wooden houses lined up, stone houses with clearly old roofs, and so on.
More than anything, Santony’s townscape made heavy use of red and blue colors.
I had seen the cityscape from the walls several times before, and the many red and blue roofs had looked beautiful.
"Erika, sorry to ask this right after we arrived... but there’s somewhere I want to go."
"I leave it to you. I understand this is for the songstresses, but I can’t predict how you’ll move."
Erika nodded with a smile that seemed to say "Especially when it comes to you..."
When I looked at the three girls, they all smiled and nodded, so we began moving.
As we walked, I gave Erika a light explanation of the townscape and told her about our destination.
"To put it simply, Santony is like a maze."
"...A maze?"
"Yeah. For example, you probably noticed that red and blue are used a lot, right?"
"Yes..."
"If you look closely, don’t you think there are only those two colors?"
"...Eh?"
Erika stopped walking and looked around. The three girls, who already knew, laughed at her reaction.
This phenomenon only happened in Santony—if other colors were used, it wouldn’t occur.
Erika tilted her head and muttered, "The place we passed earlier...?"
Yes, it was an optical illusion.
Santony deliberately used color to create the same effect as rows of identical buildings.
There was a proper reason for this.
It was so that if enemies broke in and urban fighting began, they could fight on advantageous terms.
That’s why the city’s soldiers trained by moving throughout the city in short periods, training their bodies to memorize it instead of relying solely on sight.
I took Erika’s hand and continued explaining as we walked.
"The colors are one thing, but the roads are also maze-like."
"The roads too?"
"’Like a maze’ is the right way to put it... The road we’re walking on right now looks straight, but it’s actually curving slightly."
"Eh... but it looks straight to me?" freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"The roads aren’t as wide as in the royal capital. See? The visible part ahead is a curve, right?"
"Yes..."
Then Minty, smiling happily, tapped Erika on the shoulder and pointed toward a side path.
Erika looked over, tilted her head again, and turned to Minty with question marks floating above her head.
"Erika-chan, didn’t you notice? The road behind us is ’the same’ too~?"
"...Why? We were walking straight just now, weren’t we? We didn’t turn at all?"
"Calm down, Erika."
I gently stroked her head, took her hand again, and started walking.
The three girls laughed cheerfully at Erika’s confused expression while I gave a wry smile.
"If it were just one or the other, the effect wouldn’t be this strong. In Santony, the effects are cleverly combined, turning the whole city into this maze-like structure."
"...Don’t the people who live here get lost?"
"They have landmarks."
"Landmarks...?"
I pointed to a small spot and whispered into Erika’s ear.
After hearing it, she nodded and lowered her gaze as she walked.
It was a landmark that first-time visitors wouldn’t notice because they didn’t look down.
Small blue flowers—made with magic tools—were blooming in the corners.
Erika looked at me with a wry smile and said,
"I’m glad I didn’t come alone."
"Haha, I’m the type who gets lost easily, so I understand the feeling."
After walking for about fifteen minutes, we stopped in front of a stone house.
If the address I had investigated was correct, this was where she lived.
Her name was Flair. A singer who, in the future, would compete for the top spots with the three songstresses.
And the woman who had Baron Tegagusa as her patron.
Because I had meddled with the story, confirming her safety had become necessary.
I knocked on the door. A beautiful voice answered, and the door opened.
Standing there was a woman with long, crimson hair reaching down to her waist and a slender figure.
Her breasts were about grapefruit-sized and well-balanced. She had a gentle-looking expression.
...Was it my imagination? When the door opened, I thought I caught a scent similar to Croana’s.
Flair tilted her head suspiciously upon seeing us.
"Excuse me. I’m Raid, a combat instructor at the academy in the royal capital."
"...Combat instructor?"
"I teach Aurora, Win, and Rain’s class."
"Theirs!? ...Don’t tell me, Baron Tegagusa—!?"
"It’s alright. They’re safe. May I explain?"
Flair let out a sigh of relief at my words. Just as I was about to explain—
Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine along with a sense of dread.
"Hey?"
A killing intent from behind, along with a young voice different from Erika and the others.
I slowly turned my gaze backward.
There stood a young girl who looked very much like Croana.
With eyes devoid of light, she smiled and stood in a combat stance with both hands slightly spread to her sides.
Still smiling, the girl tilted her head, looked up at me, and spoke with killing intent laced into her words.
"Hey, why do you... smell like Croana?"
