Chapter 87

A Journey to the Capital

"Alright, I think that's just about everything . I'll see you guys soon," I said to the dungeon's residents . All five of its more humanoid members were lined up right in front of the cave outside . "I should be back in less than a week this time . "

The reason they'd assembled so early in the morning was to see the hero and I off; a full night had passed since her arrival, so she was nice and rested .

"Stay safe!" said one little girl . "And come back soon, okay?"

"Really really soon!" chirped the other .

"You can count on it . " I gave each a pat on the head and a smile .

“Yuki . ” The next person to step forward was Lefi .

“What’s u—mrrmphhrhh!?”

I turned towards her, only to have my cheeks suddenly pinched and ruthlessly stretched to their limits before I could so much as finish a sentence .

"Listen well, Yuki . I shan't be there to keep an eye on you this time . That means not that you should find yourself enamoured by some human woman and dally in your return . You must come straight home once you have completed the task that you set out to accomplish . Have I made myself clear?"

She used the grip she had on my poor cheeks to keep me looking straight at her as she spoke . And as such, I couldn't help but notice the fact that she was smiling in an awfully intimidating manner .

"Fweah, aye gnowe . "

Only after I agreed did Lefi let go of my cheeks .

"Splendid . I am glad that we were able to ascertain that we have come to an understanding . "

"Rest assured . I shall see to it that all is well . "

"Yeah . I know . I won't even be the slightest bit worried with you around . "

And so, I finished up my conversation with Lefi, exchanged a few words with the maids, and turned around to face the hero .

"I do apologize, my lady, but we must make haste," I said . "I have prepared the perfect carriage for such an occasion . Right this way, my lady . "

"Why did you suddenly start talking like some sort of butler? And, by carriage, did you mean that huge wolf?"

"Verily, my lady . " I completely ignored her first question and answered only the second .

I hopped on top of Fenrir before giving him a few light pats on the back . "Sorry Rir . I know it's a bit far, but I'm going to need you to take us all the way to the capital . "

We didn't have the time to just sit around given the kingdom's… circumstances . And the wolf was more or less the best vehicle a man could ask for . Hell, Rir's so fast that he may as well be a Super Express Bullet Train .

Fortunately, Lefi was staying home this time, so Rir didn't need to hang around and keep watch . We actually had the opportunity to board him and ride him all the way to the capital .

The ever-reliable wolf nodded to acknowledge the command and braced himself for departure . I once again turned towards the hero, who had completely frozen over while gazing in the wolf's direction, and beckoned her over . "Well? What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get on . "

"I-I think I'll just wwaaaaaaaah!?"

I grabbed the hesitant hero's arm with a grin and wrenched her onto the wolf before she could refuse .

"Alright Rir, all passengers have boarded . Full speed ahead!"

The hero squealed in an unexpectedly adorable manner as she was exposed to a sudden burst of speed . Her screams almost seemed to trail behind us as we quickly made our way through the forest .

***

A massive rampart lay in front of me, extending as far as the eye could see . A great number of soldiers were pacing around atop of it, moving back and forth at regular intervals . They remained vigilant, and would occasionally stop to look around despite the fact that their surroundings were illuminated almost entirely by moonlight and moonlight alone . The outside wasn't the only thing they surveyed . The troops would often direct their gazes into the city that the giant stone wall had been constructed to protect .

The sole entrance to the stone fortress was a single, solid looking gate . The metal it was constructed of looked so thick that it wouldn't let even a soul slip through . Like the rampart, the gate was heavily guarded; a group of stern-looking men stood in front of it .

A grand total of two pairs of eyes was focused on the fortress . They observed it from within a forest that lay a bit further away .

"Ugh… my back is totally killing me . " The owner of the first pair, the hero, voiced a complaint as she rubbed the backside of her waist .

"Yeah, well it was either this or we take at least three entire days to get here," I said with a shrug .

Rir had pretty much made a beeline from the dungeon to the capital, taking only a few breaks along the way . And as a result, we'd arrived on the exact same day we left . Normally, travelling such a distance in less than a day was flat out impossible . But Rir belonged to a species of which legends were sung . He was far outside the realm of what one could consider normal .

One could say that the load on his back had been substantial . He had carried both me and the hero simultaneously . By all means, we should have slowed him down . The extra weight should have forced him to move at a pace far inferior to his best . And it would have, had we been a pair of fully armoured knights . But alas, that wasn't the case . My magical inventory allowed me to carry nothing more than the clothes on my back . And the hero barely weighed anything at all; she was a dainty little thing; I could lift her with one arm with ease . And although she herself was technically a knight, she wasn't the type that wore heavy metal plates to fortify her defences . As such, Rir was able to maintain a pace that matched that of your standard sedan .

To him, covering the distance between our home and the capital had been a breeze . It hadn't even begun to eat into the Fenrir's near unlimited stamina .

"I guess…" responded the hero . She still didn't seem all that sold on the Rir Express . "Wait . How come you seem like you're totally fine?"

"Oh, you know," I shrugged . "I'm already used to it . In fact, I ride Rir around pretty much all the time . "

And 'cause I'm hooked on thrills and whatnot .

Speaking of Rir, the wolf was no longer anywhere in sight . As much as I would've liked to, I knew that there was no way for us to get him into the city without causing a fuss . And as such, I'd told him to shrink down, hide somewhere in the forest, and await further orders .

“So uh, any idea how we’re supposed to get inside?” I turned towards the hero and used a thumb to point to the wall at my back .

We obviously couldn't just waltz right up to the gate and say hello . While one would normally expect to be shown a fair amount of hospitality for such an approach, the current circumstances made it far more likely for such an action to be met with the sharp end of a spear .

“Hmm… Dunno…" The hero frowned .

“…You were planning to return to the capital after paying me a visit, weren’t you? Shouldn't you, y'know, know how you're supposed to get back in?”

I narrowed my eyes and gave the girl an unamused stare, to which she responded by spouting off a series of excuses .

"I was! And I totally knew what I was supposed to do, but I really wasn't expecting it to be this well guarded! Look over there . " She pointed towards what looked to be the entrance to a sort of sewage system attached to a part of the wall . It was fairly well hidden, obscured by a series of tall trees . The sewer seemed to have a freshly installed iron grate covering the exit . Moreover, there were several guards positioned around it . "I was supposed to use an item to make myself invisible and then sneak back through there so I could rendezvous with the church's knights, but it doesn't really look like we can get through anymore…"

Oh . So they found out about the security hole she was going to use and patched it . Makes sense .

"Alright, just making sure . You do have plans for what you're supposed to do after you get back inside, right?"

"I-I think so . "

"Alright, then I guess we're getting over the wall my way," I said . "Excuse me for a moment . "

I grabbed her and tucked her under one of my arms as I spoke .

"Huh!? Wait! H-Hold on!"

"Oh shut it already . "

I heaved an exasperated sigh as I activated Stealth . Stealth was, fortunately, able to extend its effects to anything I touched . That aspect of its effect was what stopped my clothes from walking around by themselves . Without it, I probably wouldn't be able to find anything to do with the skill besides maybe a few niche little things like freaking people out . Walking clothes does seem like something out of some sort of horror movie, after all .

"I said be quiet dammit . They'll notice us if you keep up all the noise . "

I materialized both pairs of wings after confirming that the stealth skill had activated before giving them a good old flap and diving into the starry night sky . The ground almost seemed to shrink in an instant as we rose . And soon, we began to see much more of our surroundings than we had before .

The hero's response to the sudden change was to scream in terror .

"God damn it Nell! I told you to keep quiet!"

"I-I know, but it’s not like I could help it!”

The guards began shuffling around and making a big fuss the moment the hero's cry filled the night .

“I think I just heard something!” said one .

“It came from somewhere up above us! Someone get some lights up in the sky!” added another .

“See? What’d I tell you?” Although they were aware that something was there, they hadn't actually seen us, so I decided there wasn't any harm in continuing as planned .

And so, I succeeded in infiltrating the kingdom's capital with a certain terrified hero held under my arm all the way .

***

Editor's note (Joker):

*when the lights come up, it's not Joker sitting in his usual chair . Instead, a catgirl with short blue hair is sitting there* U-um . . Joker onii-chan is still running away from that scary moth, so I'm going to be hosting this… um… session… thing . Onii-chan calls me Nirvash . It's a pleasure to meet all of you . *she bows her head politely* Um… I don't really know what onii-chan talks about here, but I know he checks his mail bag for letters . *she ducks under the table, murmuring "Nisho, nisho nisho" as she digs around, coming out with the letter bag* Um… it looks like there are five letters in here . So thank you

kx onii-chan, Tup onii-chan, Zehd Cashew onii-chan, Yarsh Naidoo onii-chan, and spare onii-chan .

*she bows her head and smiles brightly* Um… hopefully Joker onii-chan gets away from that scary moth and will be able to talk to you all again . I miss him, and I hope you all do to . If you have a question you want to ask him, put it in the comments with the hashtag #AskJoker, or if you want to ask me a question… . I don't know if anyone would… . You can put #AskNirvash and I'll answer . *she smiles again* Thank you for reading!