บท 29: Stone City

It wasn't long until Amadeus' group reached the last checkpoint before they left the empire. Passing through the border, they entered a territory which was neutral. Every nation had this on their borders, neutral territory that separated their borders and their neighbour's.

The road was a dirt one and they were surrounded by trees. The neutral territory was mainly supervised by the adventurer's guild, they would take it upon themselves in clearing out the garbage that littered this area. The bandits and the like. Still the bandits here were unlike what were found within a country, they were clever, and most of them were outlaws running from their county.

They knew who to attack and who not to so despite the occasional beast the group encountered, the trip was relatively peaceful. Towards the end of the day, the sun had just started its descent over the horizon when they reached the first city of the dwarves. Stone city. High stone walls surrounded the city while a queue was present at the gate.

Short guards carried around large weapons like holding a tree branch. Even a layman could tell that the armour they wore and each of the weapon they held were exquisitely made. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the city while the faint sound of metal clinking could be heard from where Amadeus' group was.

The convoy slowly made their way towards the city attracting a lot of attention. Amadeus, who was sitting on Sleipnir, looked at the faint city and muttered under his breath,

"Here I come, my future weapon and armour."

The group didn't jump in line but entered the queue like everybody else. This in turn caused the people ahead of them to feel a tremendous pressure weigh down upon them. One by one, the people let them through as the horse driver tried to say no but eventually 'caved' and went forward. Rather than just cutting in line and earning the dissatisfaction among the merchants, they would be able to get a good relationship with them and allowing more to come and trade within their empire.

This would help the empire's economy and would spread good rumours about the place rather than bad ones. If they did cut inline, the merchants wouldn't say anything and let it be as they were in no position to complain but within their hearts there would some dissatisfaction. If only one had this type of dissatisfaction it was ok but if more of them had it and the word spreads, these merchants would be reluctant in bringing their best goods to trade within the empire.

In no time, they were already in for of the gates where Eras handed the letter to the captain of the guard. With a gruff voice, the captain bowed towards Amadeus,

"We've expecting your highness. The best room is already prepared within the city and a group of escorts would lead your highness to the residence of Lord Varrulir."

The rest of the dwarves also bowed and let the convoy in where a soldier led them to the hotel. The streets were cobbled ones and the group would come across people from various races. Amadeus had returned to the carriage and watched all this from outside. The group did attract attention, but Amadeus was marvelling at how there would be at least one smithery on a side street and moany more on the main ones. The dwarves were loudest bunch, but they weren't the majority here. Adventurers from everywhere would come here to get their equipment done.

Making their way through the streets, stone houses and shops were the norm and the occasional stall would be seen. People would get out of the way for the convoy until they reached the hotel. Normally, a person of status would live in the mayor's house, but here, the mayor's house was a blacksmith, so it was a no go.

Setting aside the horses, Amadeus exited the caravan followed by Erika and Velia. Since that night, Velia had become quite attached to Amadeus and wouldn't leave his side. When asked, she would always reply,

"I'm his highness' shadow, I go wherever he does,"

No matter how much they asked, she wouldn't leave Amadeus' side, so he just let her be. As the maids walked behind them, he was flanked by Eras and another blade while the rest were supposed to take care of the carriage.

The hotel was a simple rectangular building with over a dozen floors. From the people in front constantly entering and leaving, it could be said that it was a popular one. The luxurious designs and marbles used meant that someone without big pockets couldn't afford to stay here.

Entering the hotel, they came across a bustling restaurant and a reception to the far end where the receptionist had a nervous smile on her face. In front of her was a man that had an angry expression and bloodshot eyes.

"We had already booked the best room and now you're telling me that it's not available!"

The shout rendered the whole restaurant quiet as they all looked towards the reception. Amadeus' group went to the place and stood just a short distance away from the reception. Enough so that they wouldn't catch the receptionist's eyes.

"Please customer, something came up, the hotel is happy to give you your full refund and the next best room, free of charge…"

The man never let her finish.

"The next best room?!"

The man was starting to turn red. He wore a simple, silver medieval armour and had a sword strapped to the side of his waist. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and seemed to be the knight of the lady behind him. The lady was flanked by two servants and two more knights as she waited.

The knight got more and more irritated while the receptionist got more and more helpless. Amadeus' group just watched the show happen and didn't do anything. In truth, Amadeus wouldn't have minded the second room, but he didn't think that the blades and maid would allow him to stay in the second-best room while someone else did stayed in the first.

He waited and waited and was getting tired of waiting. He didn't even lean onto anything when Velia appeared with a chair. She then got him popcorn to watch the whole thing. The soldier that was supposed to direct them wanted to intervene but was held back so they watched the whole argument. The group had naturally attracted the attention of everyone within the hotel as Amadeus started to attract many eyes.

The females started growing hearts within their eyes while dissatisfaction was present within male counterparts that were accompanying them. Slowly, everyone's attention was off the arguing group and was naturally directed to Amadeus' group. The blades had already moved everything and had surrounded Amadeus in a protective formation, waiting for his orders.

As more and more of the people looked at them it naturally caught the eye of the one of the arguing group. One of the maids, a rather short one with that had black hair balled up into two buns on either side saw this and followed their line of sight. Turning back around, Amadeus saw her cute face morph into shock as she hurriedly called out to her master.

Just before she was supposed to turn around, the boy's voice was heard once more,

"Do you know who we are?!"

Amadeus felt weird seeing this. He only thought that these types of characters only belonged to stories and novels. The girl behind tried stopping him but another voice interrupted them,

"We do."

A firm voice interrupted the argument as a middle-aged man made itself known. Well, middle aged dwarf. The dwarf wore a suit and had a monocle on his left eye. His braided beard reached the floor and had a pink bow at the end. No-one dared laugh at it as they knew that whoever laughed at the dwarf's bow would get kicked out. It was made by his daughter for her father after all.

Still just because no one dared to, didn't meant that no one would.

"Pfft."

Amadeus started laughing while pointing at the dwarf.

"W-w-what is that girlish bow doing on that manly dwarf?! Hahaha…"

Everyone had shadows covering their eyes as they refrained from looking. Velia also started laughing, trying her best to cover her mouth while the maids were well trained but still couldn't help contorting their faces with the occasional tremble.

As for the blades, well they didn't care about anything and they started laughing out loud as well. The dwarf leader felt aggrieved at this as he knew that the opposite party was not to be offended. He could just stand there and be laughed at. If it was anyone else, he would just lash out because, although he loved his daughter very much, it didn't mean he liked the bow. He just couldn't bring himself to say no to the cute little girl. Suddenly, amidst the laughing, a cute scream rang out,

"Don't laugh at my dad!"