Chapter 108: Entering the Capital


    Though he hadn''t expected the journey to be short, Nobu never expected it to take more than five hours just to reach the edge of the forest separating Shuto from Yumegakure. Even then, they still needed to travel more than two hours on foot just to traverse the massive clearing that surrounded the entire capital.


    As a precaution against invaders and Aura Beast stampedes, most capital cities were surrounded byrge swaths of open terrain. This allowed the people atop the wall to spot anyone approaching the city, and, during times of war, it served as the terrain in which armies shed.


    The current Emperor wasn''t particrly popr among the people of Nian so he had enacted aw that forbade the looting and razing of cities. If an enemy army happened to reach your capital and you were unable or unwilling to defend it, they could send a request to the Emperor to have your status as a Daimyo revoked. This would effectively lead to the annihtion of your entire family, so, more often than not, the ns of conquered territories would submit and be the lesser vassals of their conquerors.


    "When we get back, remind me to draw up a design for some hiking boots or something. These cavaliers ain''t gonna cut it."


    Since he spent most of his time indoors or walking around barefoot, Nobu had never really gotten used to the footwear of Nian. The boots Yui had purchased for him had worn out pretty quickly due to their shoddy materials. He also hadn''t expected to leave the mountain so soon so the notion of travel wear hadn''t even crossed his mind.


    As this wasn''t her first time hearing Nobuin, Yui simply nodded her head while keeping a close eye on their surroundings. They had reached the main road shortly after leaving the forest so there were a number of carriages and individuals passing by on horses as they rushed to reach the city before the outer gates were closed. Camping was forbidden in the expanse surrounding the city so failure to get inside before sunset meant turning around and seeking shelter in the forest till the following day.


    Casting a nce towards the ever-alert Yui, Nobu grumbled in his mind but ultimately kept silent. She had never been talkative, and, thanks to his previous warning, she was even more alert than usual. Thus, while the past few hours had been mind-bogglingly boring, he wasn''t going tosh out at her for doing her job.


    Fortunately, the gate was already visible in the distance so it would only take them another ten to fifteen minutes to reach the queue lined up outside. He also got to see the city wall from up close, and, if he were being honest, Nobu had no idea how such a backwards group of people were able to build such monstrous constructions.


    Though it was just the outer wall that protected the civilian residential area, the walls surrounding Shuto were easily twenty meters in height. There were also a number of massive balista-like objects spaced out along the wall, and, though it was currentlyte in the day, it was possible to make out hundreds of people patrolling around the base and the top of the wall.


    The thing that surprised Nobu most, even though he had already noticed then when he was back in the port city of Asai, was the sheer scale of everything. If the wall was any indicator, the dimensions of Shuto might actually dwarf some of the metropolises back home. There were even a few massive towers peeking out over the city walls, their height easily exceeding fifty meters despite resemblingrge pagodas.


    As silly as it might sound, Nobu was actually looking forward to entering the city. Before deciding to be a Civil Engineer, he had been fascinated by some of the architectural achievement of humanity. Now that he had found himself in a fantasy setting, his curiosity and intrigue had been piqued. This made others view him as a bumpkin, but, so long as they didn''t go out of their way to fuck with him, Nobu didn''t give a damn what they thought. Cool shit was cool.


    "Here, take this. There are fifty koushukin inside. Never reveal the content of the bag to anyone and always keep an eye on your money pouch. I will do my best to keep people away but a skilled thief could snatch your purse in an instant if you''re not paying attention."


    epting the heavy pouch, Nobu bobbed his hand a few times to test its weight before cing into the enchanted leather bag on his hip. He wasn''t wearing a yukata, but, even if he had been, there was no way he would ce such a heavy bag into his sleeve. He honestly had no idea how others were able to do so without getting annoyed.


    Fortunately, Nobu''s current outfit consisted of a form-fitting brown top that vaguely resembled a t-shirt, a pair of thick brown pants lined with the hide of an Aura Beast, a leather belt made from the same material, and arge square pouch with a hiddenpartment inside to stash his money. He also had a sling for the broad ax on his back and the basrd ced at his hip. Both of which were currently bound with cloth and a special white cord that were intended to prevent them from being drawn in the city.


    Though his clothes made him stand out like a sore thumb, Nobu had been told he would look a lot more suspicious if he tried to blend in. He was, after all, a cultivator in the Fourth Realm. For his age, that was pretty fucking monstrous. If he tried to dress like a farmer while Yui was wearing the armor of a warrior, it would be extremely suspicious...


    With such thoughts on his mind, Nobu stood in the queue with Yui until they had finally reached the customs checkpoint. He had actually expected someone in the crowd to mess with them, but, even though a number of people had cast rather nasty looks towards Yui, none of them spoke out. The Nianese were a very conservative people and anyone with the wherewithal to walk around with weapons near a capital city wasn''t someone they wanted to mess with.


    What Nobu didn''t know was that his height had a lot to do with the reason people kept clear of them. He was easily a head taller than the tallest people in the crowd, and, thanks to his constant infusions of Yin Elemental Energy, he had a lean yet muscr figure without any visible blemishes. This,bined with the fact he was armed and apanied by a remarkable beauty dressed like a warrior, were more than enough reason for them to give him a very wide berth...


    Seeing Nobu among the crowd waiting to enter the city, the guards manning the customs station actually called in a few extra men over just to be safe. Nobu was, of course,pletely unaware of this. Fortunately, that was actually a boon in this situation as his obliviousness and genuine intrigue matched perfectly with the cover story he and Yui hade up with.


    Approaching a desk manned by a piggish man with beady eyes and a t nose, Yui allowed Nobu to step forward as she kept an eye on the guards nking them. As for Nobu, he was looking down at the inordinately fat man, or, more specifically, the silver insignia on his ck leather armor. It was literally the roman numeral for four, so, for a brief moment, he was genuinely confused.


    Mistaking Nobu''s confusion as awe, the rotund official cracked a ck-toothed smile as any fear he had towards the ''giant'' promptly faded away. He was even tempted to knock Nobu down a peg or two, but, after someone had reported his previous misconduct to the Lord, he was already walking on eggshells. Thus, after fixing his sneer, he adopted a stern andmanding tone as he ordered, "State your name and hand over any identity tokens you may possess."


    Though he was annoyed by the arrogant sneer on the man''s face, Nobu did his best to remain calm as he answered, "Nanamori Nobu. My identity token was lost during an Aura Beast attack so I need to purchase a new one before entering the city."


    Snorting through his t and wide nose, the portly man muttered, "Presumptuous..." before writing a few notes on a piece of paper. Then, after quickly stamping said paper, he pushed it toward Nobu, saying, "Fill out your information. Recement identity tokens require currency corresponding with your Realm and Rank. If you''re Iron Rank 3, that''ll be 7 iron pieces. If you''re Iron Rank 7, the cost is discounted to 3 iron pieces. Since you are armed, you''ll also need to hand over ten koushukin as a security deposit. So long as you don''tmit any crimes prior to exiting the city, you will be able to reim part of your deposit upon departure. After ten days, it will no longer be returned."


    Since Nobu had been ''awed'' by his Silver 4 identity token, the portly official automatically assumed he was a hunter or a low-ranking mercenary from one of the surrounding viges. It would certainly exin why he had been looking around like a bumpkin prior to approaching the station.


    With such thoughts on his mind, the portly official''s eyes nearly popped out of his skull when Nobu casually produced 34 golden koushukin. This was not an amount some country bumpkin could pull out on a whim.


    Looking closer, the man noticed that the pouch on Nobu''s hip was of a much higher quality than he had initially thought. In fact, even the shirt covering his body seemed to be sewn from some kind of Aura Beast fiber. These would cost doznes, if not hundreds of golden koushukin on the market, so, after recovering from his momentary stupor, the protly man promptly stood up, politely cupping his hands as he asked, "Might I ask what this young lord''s Realm and Rank are?"


    Though it was customary to return a polite greeting, Nobu remained standing tall as he answered, "I recently broke through to the Third Rank of the Fourth Realm. My parter has a simr base so this should be the correct amount."


    Swallowing hard the moment he heard Nobu''s response, the official and many of the surrounding guards eyed the duo as if they were monsters. Neither looked a day older than twenty, yet, based on their rxed postures, it was easy to tell they weren''t afraid of being questioned.


    Fortunately, Yui realized the direction things were heading, so, before Nobu was asked to reveal his Aura, she promptly raised her hand to produce a golden dagger that hovered over her palm as if it were suspended in a maic field. This caused the portly official''s eyes to widen as any intention of questioning the veracity of Nobu''s im faded from his mind. Offending those of a higher Realm was borderline taboo, so, rather than risk his life by demanding Nobu disy his Aura, he promptly sat back down and processed their paperwork while one of the guards split off to go inform the on-duty Commander.


    Though Nobu noticed the man running off, he just crooked a brow before crossing his arms and waiting patiently. Yui had warned him that something like this was going to happen so he wasn''t too concerned that they would be chased away or thrown into a prison cell. Rather, the assumption most people would make after learning about their cultivation base was that they hade to the capital to join the army. With their power, they would quickly rise to the rank of Lesser Nobles, so, unless they specifically went looking for trouble, most people would pay them the obeisance their Ranks and Realms demanded...


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    (A/N: Imagine the guards asking Nobu to prove his Realm and he just blows air at them xD...)