Chương 18: Chapter 18: Arriving at Ellesmere.
The carriage stopped but we stayed in, waiting in comfortable silence, as after a few seconds it started moving again.
Obviously, we were stopped for a security check, but the coachman handled it swiftly.
With the letter of introduction of Ellsworth family, that I had given him, no one could bar our passage.
Well, we wouldn't even be stopped if I showed the Ellsworth's Crest I had, but that would be equivalent to showcasing my identity in public.
So, I refrained from that.
From the letter of introduction and the type of carriage we were travelling in, we would be seen as guests of some high-ranking bureaucrat living in the Estate.
An enviable position, but not a troublesome one.
A perfect disguise for us.
Soon, our carriage moved past the ten meters thick and fifteen meters tall city walls, entering the [Potion Factory] of the Empire, Ellesmere.
The city was a colossal marvel of might and magic.
Though the Ellsworth Estate itself was quite big around 50 sq. kilometers, but this city was much, much larger than that.
Maybe twenty if not thirty times of that, and it was still expanding.
Though, the city had a huge population, the area around city walls wasn't that crowded, there were no big buildings that were built next to or close to the walls.
Why?
It was against the rules.
The area close to the walls was a technically a forbidden zone for normal people, at least it was on this side.
But of course, it wasn't empty, no land on a capital city could be empty, especially if that land belonged to one of the wealthiest capitals of the world.
This land, this area, belonged to the Enforcement Knights.
More specifically, it belonged to the 1st Division of Enforcement Knights, dubbing this area as the Enforcement District I, the strictest and largest of all five Enforcement Districts.
As we made our way through the district, I saw many, many Knights patrolling the area, looking for the slightest anomaly in sight.
Almost all of these Knights were magic users which in itself was quite a feat, but the more shocking thing was that most of them were Soldat ranked.
Considering a new Soldat could kill 200 to 300 normal soldiers with little to no difficulty, while experienced ones could massacre even twice that number, this setup was quite shocking.
But even with a lot of them patrolling here and there, they didn't stop us.
Probably, the Knights at the entrance had informed them about us having a letter of introduction? Well, whatever it was, it was good that they didn't.
It would be too annoying if every random Tom, Dick, and Harry stopped the carriage just cause he found us suspicious.
But since they didn't, I just stopped caring and observed the district we were passing through in silence.
Though, even that was getting boring.
To my relief, after a thirty-minute ride of our carriage were passed through the Enforcement District I.
Of course, we had to stop for one last time to have a final check of our carriage before leaving the district, but just like before I didn't care, I just wanted to leave this place the sooner the better.
After passing through the Enforcement District, our carriage picked up the pace, as the horses galloped with all there might.
The area around us changed again as we moved, but still it wasn't the bustling scene of a metropolis, rather it was more like a residential area.
A residential area of rich.
Every now and then, I could see fancy high-end looking carriages passing by ours as they entered or exited the even fancier looking villas or estates.
As I was watching these villas pass by us, Amy nudged me.
"Hmm?"
I looked at her in confusion, before noticing that she had her disguise magic undone.
But before I could ask her why, she spoke.
"You are wearing the artifacts, Master told you to, right?"
"Um, the ring and the necklace? Yes, I'm wearing them."
"That's good, now then, activate the robes' enchantments, Young Master."
"Okay."
I said, as I pumped my Mana in the robe, activating only it's disguising enchantment, and as soon as I did, the robe glowed with magical runes.
A magic circle appeared just an inch away from my face, and soon the magic circle turned from a bunch of runes to a face, a glowing face.
In an instant that faced latched into mine, changing its features, my face cut, my eyes, my hair, all of it changed.
From Young Master of Ellsworth family, I turned into a decent looking homely boy.
Brown hair, green eyes, healthy wheat coloured skin instead of my normal whitish one.
All of that change happened in an instant.
I was not the only one to change though, my maid had changed faces too.
Like me, other than changes on her facial features, she had brown hair and green eyes, just her hair were of a lighter shade.
Naturally, her ears and tail had disappeared again.
"Why are we disguising ourselves this early?", I asked.
After all, it should take another hour to reach our destination at this pace.
"We are going incognito, right Young Master?"
Amy asked in her teaching tone.
"Yes, we are, so?"
I asked not getting the clue.
"Say Young Master, who do you think would attract more attention, a carriage with a mercenary brother and sister, or a carriage whom your senses can't penetrate?"
"Oh, I get it." I said feeling a bit embarrassed.
Yep, she was right, the unknown and mysterious is always the most attractive, I thought, as I scolded myself for not figuring it out myself.
Such small things proved that, I was still too clueless about this world, it was still new to me. Thankfully, I had an excellent guide with me.
And that guide toned down the enchantments on the carriage as we continued moving.
The rest of the journey was simply waiting, waiting, and waiting, I made some small talk with Amy, asked her about some things I thought I should know, and rest was just idle chatter so as not to get bored.
Slowly but surely, the long line of Villas and Estates ended.
We took a few more turns, rode for a few more minutes and before I knew it, the not so crowded area became packed with people.
The not so bustling scene became a clamor of sounds and the most importantly the smell of money lingering in.
Finally, we entered the real city of Ellesmere, I thought.
Despite having huge streets, the roads of Ellesmere were crowded.
There were no traffic jams or something like that, it was just that the streets had so many vehicles that there was no choice but to slow down.
But this was an expected development, and we had planned ahead.
So, not long after slowing down, our carriage took a few turns and we entered an alleyway.
Normally, I would suspect myself being kidnapped if this happened to me in my previous world, but now, it was all according to the plan.
Our carriage weaved through a few more alleyways before finally stopping in one.
Then, our coachman who looked like an old man got off the carriage and asked Amy, "Is this okay?"
"Yes.", My maid who had her eyes closed, brows knitted, as if trying to sense something, opened them, and answered in a serious tone.
He nodded in response, and went near a wall, placed his hand on a specific spot, before taking out a whistle from his pocket with his other hand, and blowing it.
And to my surprise, after a few seconds his hand just sank in.
"…!"
I was surprised and turned to Amy, my expression clearly asking the intended question.
But Amy just gave me a small smile and whispered, "Security reasons."
And I didn't ask further, at least I knew this was not the time to.
So, before long, the coachman was on place driving the carriage straight into the wall.
Thankfully, there was no house-elf messing with our magical gateway, and we passed through it quite smoothly.
The feeling of going through the wall was similar to entering a space bubble yet a bit different.
Rather than entering a completely different space, it was like a wrap...?
Hey, hey, hey, isn't that too high tech just for security measures?
I wanted to complain, but somehow, I kept quiet, and just let my maid handle things.
For that is the only thing I could do.
***
"But that was really ridiculous."
I said to Amy telepathically, as I walked on the crowded streets of Ellesmere.
"Of course, it wasn't Young Master, you just don't know how many tails there were observing our carriage, you wouldn't say so if you had known."
"Is that so?" I said as side eyed a hot blonde bombshell passing by me.
"Yes, there were 8 tails eyeing our carriage, and yes that girl is hot. Ohya, I didn't know Young Master prefers butts against breasts, I will note this too."
"Stop, stop, stop, cut the link Amy!"
I shouted in my brain as I turned to look at Amy, despite her serious expression she had a smirk on her face.
Because of the crowd around us, we couldn't talk normally so Amy proposed to talk with a mind link, at that time I didn't think much of it and simply agreed, but had I known it will turn out like this, I would have chosen to die rather than accept!
Okay, not really die, but still I would have refused.
The thing was that, I was a bit of newbie in using this mind-link thingy, I didn't know how to layer my thoughts properly, so my inner thoughts get exposed a bit here and there.
But even if she hears these thoughts, as a maid she should just ignore them, and protect her Master's dignity!
She shouldn't tease me like that!
"Hehe, that can't happen Young Master, if you want to protect your dignity, then just learn how to control your thoughts, plus, I'm just following the orders, Mistress specifically ordered me to report her anything I find about your tastes to her, especially your tastes in opposite sex~"
"Why Mother!!" I screamed in my mind, as I desperately tried to control my thoughts.
"But Young Master, I didn't knew you had such wonderful tastes under that serious face of yours. Hmm, are you okay Young Master, you are looking quite red, getting a sunburn? But its winter you know?"
"Stop teasing me already!" I screamed as I held her hand and dragged her to move faster.
Our destination the [Blackbeard Searchers, Ellesmere Branch], was just around the corner.
And I wanted to reach that before I thoroughly embarrass myself!
Thankfully, Amy stayed quiet after that and we reached our destination.
{Blackbeard Searchers
Ellesmere Branch
Find anything you want
From a lost treasure,
To your Mistress' lost son.
Just at the ri~ght price!}
Yes, that was what the logo said.
Just knowing that their business flourishing even while having such a ridiculous logo was enough to prove their capabilities.
Again, I recalled the list of names I had prepared, in my mind, after confirming that I didn't miss anyone, I stepped in, for it was time to splurge some money.
For I knew how 'ri~ght' the prices here were.
'Well, pocket change is pocket change.', I thought, before cursing the Ellsworth County for breaking my sense of money.
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