Sword of the Philosopher

We stayed overnight in town to gather information, and from there, we even stepped forward to travel… As a result, it was sometimes like pushing forcefully through the woods.

I also encountered a demon on the road... a level we wouldn't be dealing with right now. I don't think there's going to be any kind of struggle in this place... and I can tell you that there's no problem with the battle side.

After traveling quite forcefully that way, he reached the free city of Torbas a few days earlier than planned. Princess Emena has not yet reached the spiritual peak and will have gone to her destination before the story begins.

Its appearance... in a nutshell, like a fortified city. First, whether the town itself was even built on a small high mountain, the gates exist by going up the hill quite a bit from the streets. Surrounded by walls is the same as the King's capital of the Holy Kingdom of Liebait, but this one has higher walls and is more robust to prevent attacks from invaders.

On a mountain and a huge wall… these two make it look more like a fortress than a town. The intimidation was considerable, and we could feel a strong sense of pride that this place had defended autonomy in our own hands and, at the same time, that we would continue to do so.

"Spectacular."

Did you have the same sentiment as me, or Katie squeaked a little.

"Yeah, a fortification-like town exists on the Shergia continent... but this place is so powerful that it doesn't have that kind of color."

"Don't you feel like you're ready?

Katie nodded instantly at my words,

"Well... we can sort of guess how determined we are to protect the town with our own hands."

"Do you still think that you will be invaded by the Holy King, etc."

Words from Fili. It was a question that felt like I poked my mouth out.

"... I don't know what the upper management of Torbas thinks"

And I'll respond to Philip.

"It's just, well, you're always on guard. I don't know if peace will be threatened any time soon... but it may not be just a way to settle for war."

"Politically, you mean?"

"That sort of thing... if that's the way it is, it might not make sense to have a castle wall, but I'm pretty sure that that stand-up claims our thoughts without saying anything"

"... it would be troublesome if we became involved with the political part of Torbas."

Reese looks at the castle fortress like, oh man.

"But this time it's only a matter of gathering information... I'm glad that's not the way it's unfolding."

"Exactly. Are negotiations tight in a row?

"It takes a while, and most importantly, we have to focus all the time... I was somewhat of a sidekick, so I hope it's not too bad... Sophia didn't root up a lot."

"I was thinking that this was what I was going to need... and maybe it was a good idea that I was ready"

It's an invisible part of me, and it's a lot of hard work. Although I haven't set foot in the political realm yet... there will be some things to do with it in the future. If you're with Sophia, that's a must.

As long as the battle with the Star God continues, though that may not be the case yet...... you should be well prepared for it by now.

"So,"

I speak to Sophia and the others so I can get back to the conversation.

"It was good to arrive at a stage where Princess Emena had not set foot on the spiritual peak. It's worth the effort to get this far... but the investigation is really tough from today on."

"Right."

Sophia responds with a bitter smile. Fatigue is accumulating, and the investigation begins today... is just as painful.

"I just need to be ready to move in order to get instant information tomorrow."

The material is probably in the library or something, but I want to keep it in a form that I can look into right away. From the basics of the library location, I want to do enough to get a hit on where the material is and so on.

"All right, me and Sophia, Katie... we'll find out if those three have the material. Leese and Phili, please stay at the inn."

"Okay."

"Given the length of your stay, you should choose, right?

"Honestly, I don't know how much I'm staying, and I don't have to think deeply about the area... if I were to be here for a long time, I'd have to do one or two of my jobs, but that's when it happens"

- I have registered the Adventurer Guild and others by the time I get here. The role is almost identical to that of the organizations of the continent of Sherzia, offering good offices for their work, starting with the exorcism of demons, etc.

Among the demons crusaded in breaking through the woods were also individuals that the Alliance side had arranged for nomination. Bounty money earned for crusading such demons can also be added to the cost of staying… In the meantime, there are measures to avoid getting kicked out of the inn, so I don't think you need to worry about life.

We start walking slowly. Continue along the slopes with quite a gradient to reach the castle gate. A large number of merchants, etc. go in with their passes posted.

We mean - we crusaded the demons we had arranged, so the guild issued us a pass. If only I could go through the process without it, so it would be less cumbersome... it's not a good idea to use the extra time. It's good to be able to get through the entrance easily.

I'll show you the pass on my behalf. Briefly describing the purpose of the journey, etc., the soldier let me through lightly. It's a friendly response, and it doesn't seem to have the atmosphere of being suspicious at that rate.

The city stands heavy, but I know it's peaceful and there's no war, so I guess I'm not even alert to working gatekeepers... here. Huh, I'll consider if I might visit here on Princess Emena's journey. I don't need to stop here at all if I want to go straight from Spiritual Peak to Wang Du, but I will visit here in search of something... I wonder if it has to be.

We stepped into the free city of Torbas, wondering if we should be working around it.