Looking up past the crowded buildings revealed a clear blue sky.
We had stopped by the royal capital of Ulza.
The name of the royal capital was Monroy.
It was a classic castle town straight out of an isekai fantasy.
This was the first time I had seen a huge city in this world.
In Alion I had only seen indoor scenery.
After all, it had been a straight line from the castle to the Ruined Ruins.
"Pyuu〜♪"
"Stay hidden properly."
"Pii."
Pigi-maru under the robe was the same as always.
After several days of travel we arrived in Monroy.
There was still no sign of pursuers.
Along the way we had stopped at three villages.
On the road we had heard the rumors from travelers and mercenaries.
The deaths of the Five Dragon Warriors.
The disappearance of Seras Ashrain.
We had heard those two pieces of information fairly often.
But that was as far as it went.
We still had no idea about the reactions of each country or Bakos's movements.
In this royal capital we might obtain different information.
I glanced back at the great gate of the royal capital.
We had passed through the gate without any trouble.
There had been no real sense of inspection.
There was no atmosphere of frantically searching for Seras.
The knights that had been destroyed belonged to another country.
Perhaps Ulza was not that interested in hunting down the culprit.
Or maybe my disguise had worked better than expected.
"Perhaps Ulza is secretly relieved that the dangerous knights from the neighboring country are gone."
"That is possible."
Seras, who was walking behind me, spoke.
Right now her face was changed.
She was also using the alias "Misra."
"The Demon War Knights of Ulza are said to be somewhat inferior in strength compared to the main forces of other countries. Naturally, if they clashed with the Black Dragon Knights, defeat would have been inevitable."
"Have they survived until now thanks to the goddess putting in a good word?"
"It is not only that. Right now Ulza has a man called the Dragon Slayer. By keeping him in their service separately from the knights, Ulza has shown its power. Even without war, displaying strength is necessary."
A deterrent, huh.
"But even that Dragon Slayer could not wipe out the Five Dragon Warriors."
"Even though he is called the Dragon Slayer, I do not think he could have beaten Shibito. The other Five Dragon Warriors were quite skilled too, even if they stayed in Shibito's shadow. Well, the Dragon Slayer is also rumored to be extremely lazy by nature. In any case, he probably avoided any clash with the Five Dragon Warriors."
He must be an incredibly troublesome person.
"Well then."
"Let us look for an inn for today."
We planned to stay in Monroy for only one day.
It was to prepare for entering the demon zone.
I looked at my backpack.
Inside it was the Forbidden Arts Compendium.
That book also contained formulas for various medicines.
We might be able to obtain materials for medicine in the demon zone.
So we needed to gather tools for making them.
Tools that could be used even inside the demon zone.
That was one of the goals.
This was the royal capital.
There would probably be tools here that were not available in Mills.
"This inn looks good."
It was a reasonably cheap inn.
Before entering I asked Seras.
"Separate rooms are fine, right?"
The royal capital was packed with people.
Mills had been a small-scale city.
Small enough that the gatekeepers could remember faces.
The number of people coming and going in the area had not been that large either.
So anyone walking around stood out.
A suspicious pair might have drawn attention.
But this was a diverse royal capital.
Many outsiders would visit.
Seras had changed both her clothes and her face.
There was no atmosphere of Ulza seriously investigating the incident.
We probably did not need to be as cautious as we had been near Mills.
It should be fine to act together now.
That was my judgment.
However, Seras was a woman.
Sharing a room with a man would be…
We should still take separate rooms after all.
I had at least that much consideration.
Or so I had been thinking, but—
"Splitting the travel funds would be wasteful, so taking one room would be wiser. Unless my lord dislikes the idea."
"I am still a man, you know."
Seras looked puzzled.
She then placed her hand over her mouth.
She had a thoughtful expression.
Seras cleared her throat.
She seemed to have understood the meaning of the words.
"I have no problem with it."
She had no problem with it.
Seras placed her hand on her chest.
"We slept in the same small room in the Mills Ruins, so I do not see any issue."
Back then I had distracted her with Pigi-maru and used Sleep on her, though.
"If you do not mind, then it is fine with me."
"I would not say I am completely unconcerned, but if it is my lord, then I have no problem."
Well, daily frugality was something my uncle also recommended.
"Then we will take one room. But if you complain later, I will not listen. Got it?"
"Y-yes."
Seras trotted along behind me.
It seemed her caution really did drop once she trusted someone.
It was probably even more so when she had sworn loyalty.
I had not expected it to drop this much, though.