—
All [notes] will be added when we finish the whole chapter.
Shouma who descended to Astral following Iris, was walking around looking really curious.
Although he thought he would definitely see fantastical places in this different world… there were no buildings that gave Shouma a feeling of culture shock.
Whether it could be described as a European-style townscape or not, there were buildings that gave the feeling of oldness and nostalgia.
However, not all of them were [European-style], so that explanation was not valid.
"Oh, it's pretty crowded! There are also various types of people, I guess this is more fun than I thought!"
While Shouma was advancing he could see many people pa.s.s by, even the merchant who ran the store that was in his sight.
Some of them had earthlike appearances, other were particularly different from those. There were people who were far different from humans, with lots of different physical features from Shouma, such as wings, tails, animal ears or horns.
"How many races are there in this world?"
While she was floating on Shouma's right side he asked Iris this question. She was attracting the attention of the pa.s.sers-by. Was she standing out because of her beauty or was it because she was floating?
"Oh yeah… If subdivided there can be more than 100… However, whatever race you are, it will be cla.s.sified as one of the eight legions [1]."
While Iris was counting with her fingers, she named all the eight legions.
「Hyural [2]」
「Beast[2]」
「Dryad[2]」
「Harpy[2]」
「Leviathan[2]」
「Nephilim[2]」
「Undead[2]」
「Tiamat[2]」
The eight major legions had a huge community [3] in Astral, and the representatives of the Legions, the Area Masters, were hegemonic.
"Which legion dominates this area here?"
Shouma had visited this area using and found a city that seemed to be crowded using . Therefore he didn't know which legion dominated this area… because various races could be found.
"This area is within the jurisdiction of the Spirits, in other words, it is a neutral zone."
Indeed it was possible to see various races. Because this was a neutral zone ruled by the Spirits, various races could live here.
If it were a territory under a specific race’s control, Shouma would have gotten provoked by them and he would also have had to duel with them. Well, as long as he won that's all that mattered.
"What legion are you a part of, Iris?"
"Tiamat. Well, now I look more like a ghost [4]. At least that is better than an undead."
"And me?"
"The closest to your appearance is Hyural. Actually, there is no doubt you are Hyural."
"So, Hyural is a person with an earthling appearance… Hey Iris… I was wondering… what is up with that queue?"
Shouma pointed at a queue that had formed in his sight.
"Queue? Oh, they are waiting for someone to cast a flight Wiz card. Races that can actually fly are limited, so they come here, finish their errands and then go home to their communities. Astral is expansive, I do not know how long it would take for them to walk home."
For the people of Astral, using a Wiz card was like buying an airplane ticket.
"In other words, you can earn money by using Wiz."
"Yes. I do not know if Atsumori's magic ring contains money. But no matter if there is any money or not, because you have a large amount of useful Wiz cards, you can make a lot of money."
"You can only duel someone who agrees to it, so… if we are struggling with money, I'll just have a Duel with a rich person. I can take all their wealth if I win."
"In such a case, those who have a reputable position will become cautions when in a Duel. It's very unlikely for someone to lose all their wealth."
"At that time you only have to create a situation where they cannot refuse the game invitation… hmm, why are they arguing?"
"Where?"
"Over there. In that Wiz trading store."
"… As you can see that is a fishy shop, I guess a fake product was found."
"A fake? Why deciev… oh I see. Using a Wiz card to make a worthless Wiz card into a rare Wiz card, is that what they're doing?"
"That's right. When buying expensive Wiz cards, it is the iron rule to check whether it's genuine or fake using . Maybe the shopkeeper used some sugar-coated words and made them believe it was genuine."
"Got it… Uh, both of them disappeared."
"When there is no settlement in the argument, the winner or loser will be decided by a Duel."
"So, they were transported to the battlefield…?"
Just like that, enjoying a conversation with his bride, Shouma went to the main street.
The street was about fifteen meters in width. The number of pedestrians had increased, and in front of the stalls on the stony pavement roads, there were young ladies who presumably looked like poster girls. Maybe they were advertising some store.
"Where are we going now?"
"Well…"
Even Shouma who enjoyed sightseeing… got tired from walking after a while.
In his original world, it would be around twenty o'clock now, but here it was still daytime. Although the climate was calm, the sun blazed down hard on the city and made Shouma feel physically exhausted.
Now that I thought about it, I decided to stop moving for today.
"Perfect, I'll just take a rest over there."
Shouma, who pa.s.sed through the crowd, found an open s.p.a.ce of about 25 meters. Terrace seats were set up in the plaza, and stalls were provided to surround the terrace seats.
Shouma was sitting on a terrace seat next to Iris (strictly speaking, Iris was floating), checking the stalls from there. And then…
"Iris-oneesama."
That’s it for today guys, I’ll try to post the next part next week, but I can’t promisse anything.Â