SORAhasGONE

Not really feeling creative lately. Probably because of my bottled-up stress, anyways, here's a chapter that I am not so confident about.

"Celes, I see it! The city! Look at those tall walls!" Lory who's playing knight and coachman for our carriage.

"About time, the salty air has been lingering in my nose since earlier."

"But it isn't?" "Right?" Li and Lo asked.

"It is, my senses are just superior to yours. For better or worst."

We spent the rest of the ride just like that until reaching the city.

When we arrived, we had to line up along an unnaturally long line of carriages. I suppose this is how it is in a port city that profits the most from trading.

"They sure are staring, huh?" Li said with half-open eyes.

"Of course they are, young miss went overboard with redesigning the carriage, after all," her sister stated.

"Did I really?"

"We're next now, Celes!" Lory said from the front.

"A noble..? There's no emblem though… Err, ladies, from which family are you, and for what reason are you visiting? So that I can relay it to the lord…" The knight in iron armor asked.

"Li, please handle that," I said to Li who fell asleep.

"Ah! Right, leave it to me, young miss!" Li said, Lo beside her only looked at her sister with glee.

"Is she always like that, Lo?"

"Yes, young miss. She's always sleepy in everything but combat," She smiled as we idly whispered to each other.

"I am my young miss' personal maid, here to represent her. Don't ask unnecessary questions and let us pass, if not-"

"Hold on, Li. I did not say threaten them, you're getting too into character there," I quickly pulled Li back into the carriage before anything escalated further and got down myself.

As I did so, I felt dozens of pairs of eyes stare at me as if they were in awe.

I gave a courtly bow to the guard before saying, "Excuse us for the lack of introduction but could you call for someone of higher authority that I could talk with?" I clasped my hands together and smiled at the guard.

"I-I'll be back, my lady! I'll call for the captain!" He bowed deeply with one of his hands on his chest before running off.

"There won't be any need for that, Joha. The captain is busy so let me handle this since I'm here anyway," a man in a black long leather coat walked out of the door that the guard was heading to.

"L-Lord Walf! As you please, go ahead!" The guard said before heading inside.

"Good day to you, my lady. I am Count Bel Walf, the current head of the Walf county and current lord of Aalto Adrian, the biggest port city within the kingdom." He elegantly bowed with his right hand on his heart.

"Good day to you, too, Count Bel Walf. I am Eraldine Siyen, the eldest daughter of an elven nobility heading back home to the Hyuu continent," I returned the bow as I said so.

"An elven nobility..?" He muttered before looking at me as if trying to confirm it.

"Is it my ears? Then please take a look," I said before pushing my hair to the back of my pointy ears.

"Pointy ears, silver hair. No way, a true elf!?" The guard in the back exclaimed before bowing down.

With a sweaty forehead, Count Walf said "Truly, I've confirmed it, my lady. However, even if you truly were an elf, I have no way of confirming your lineage. Can you at least show me a form of elven magic that only their nobility should know?"

"As if my lady should, it's an elven secret! K-know your place, human!" Lory shouted from the coachman's seat.

(Lory, your voice is trembling…)

"Y-yes, of course! Then please go ahead and pass. If you would like, I could prepare a room for you in my mansion, we would be delighted."

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm just a foreign noble whose name isn't known on this continent. You don't have to prepare anything for us, though I would appreciate it if you could tell my name to the ones who manage the ships," I said before heading back to the carriage, after bowing once again, of course.

"Have a nice stay, Lady Siyen! Also, I recommend Hazel's Hotel for staying the night!" I closed the doors and we headed in.

"Goodness, father! This just had to happen on my first day of lordship!" I heard him say after I closed the doors.

I observed the streets as we got further away from the gates. Children running about, brick paved roads, plenty of clay pots with healthy plants in them, buildings that are mostly built with brick or cement, roads for carriages and for people properly separated. Overall, it's a city that's as successful if not better than the capital city.

"Lory, ask around about this Hazel's Hotel that Count Walf recommended."

"Okay, my lady~" Lory waved her hands after looking at us through the window behind her head.

"Still, why an elven nobility though?" Lo asked. "I also don't understaaand~ yawn~" Li followed.

"Right, do elves even have nobility and whatnot?" Lo asked again.

"I also only found out after Lory told me about it last night. You two were asleep at the time so you couldn't learn about it."

"Yeah, I'm kind of one of them too!" Lory said from the front.

"Waaah, what is it like to be an elven nobility? Is it like here in the human continent?" Lo asked as she sat under Lory's window.

"It isn't as strict as here. Elven nobility is just a way we sort the most useful people and give them the right amount of authority based on their specialties and intellect. Not like here in the human continent where every one of them is just arrogant and forceful.

"That still doesn't answer why you chose to be a fake elven nobilty~" Li who I thought to be asleep suddenly said. Or maybe she just woke up?

"Right, it doesn't. I'll explain then," the sisters focused on me after I said so.

"At first, the plan was to either fake being a noble who's going on a trip or going back home from a trip," I paused to see if they were still listening and continued after confirming.

"Then Lory gave me this information after she remembered about elven nobility after hearing about my plan, how she forgot she's a noble is beyond me," I said which made them laugh while Lory shrunk.

"I then thought, it is better for an elven nobility to be coming back instead of a human noble. I have three reasons why, first is the cultural difference. Since they don't know much about elven nobility and their customs or etiquette, I can take advantage of this and allow me not to be bound to this kingdom's noble manners that I know not much of."

"The other two are?" Lo asked.

"Let me finish, Lo. Second, age. Elves are known for their longevity, so my child-like appearance wouldn't be questioned when we climbed aboard one of those ships."

"What does longevity means?" Li asked.

"It means that they age slowly, Li…" Lo informed Li as she warmly looked at her twin sister. "Ooohh… third reason then," was her reaction before silently snoring again.

"Right, my third reason. This is a port city and a huge one at that. It's bound to have a deep dark side, that is, traffickers. In a huge trading city such as this, slave traders are bound to be present, both legal and illegal. They won't risk abducting us because of my fake status for two reasons, that is we are from a noble house and they don't know much about us, because of the latter they won't be certain if it is worth it. If they're smart then they won't risk it, if they do then they're either arrogant or just new small-timers. In short, for security."

"Celes, aren't you being a little too-"

"Overthinking is it, Lory? Would you rather risk three young girls being targeted by slave traders or go this far for security? Right now, I am a guest that the count is looking out for,"

"I doubt that…"

"Tell that to the three men that have been tailing us since we passed through the gates."

"Eh!? Where!? Who!?"

"From what I can tell, two are from the guards and the other one is possibly from the people that I was just talking about."

I looked outside the window and observed some more. After the dungeon run, I now always use magic vision for its enhanced perception.

"They won't do anything, right?" Lory worryingly asked.

"They won't, but by the rare chance they do, then I'll just deal with them. Not like you three can't fight for yourselves anyway, so protect yourselves when needed until backup comes. Also, watch out for ambushes."

"Celes, we're here, I think,"

*****