You know what, it was boring. It had been three days since I had come to that town, and aside from the first day (or rather evening) there was nothing interesting.

Don't get me wrong, the whole town has been extremely active all these days but it was more like all the inhabitants had united in a single impulse to find some kind of purpose. It was an interesting sight, but considering that I was a stranger and that I was feared by most, I had little to do.

All I did was stock up on food from various shops, bakeries, and taverns, and explore the city a bit. I didn't even have a date for the night, though the girl guide was trying to get herself to sleep with me.

Speaking of her, Laima is quite a pretty girl and based on her stories, she's lived in this town all her life and her family were nobles who were on the losing side during the coup. It's a typical story in noble circles.

Not much can be said about the city itself either, it was definitely built according to premeditated blueprints with sewerage, water supply, straight streets and everything that distinguishes a normal city from the chaotic development of the Middle Ages. Most of the houses are two-story, one-story very few, either workshops or warehouses, and the tallest building (something like the city hall) was 7 stories high.

This city was supposed to be a springboard for the expansion of the empire further north and northwest, but people could not get too deep into the forest, and any buildings they built in the forest were destroyed almost the same day by a large number of monsters. It would be interesting to learn more about this effect, but none of the wise men of the empire could give a clear explanation of what was going on here.

Eventually this city became unprofitable for the empire and they simply abandoned it. And after the first horde of monsters attacked the people destroying many cities, people decided to exile here all undesirable to the imperial power individuals to become a human shield. You want a spoiler? It didn't work, and after a few hundred years, the horde destroyed many towns and villages again.

In the end, the city was rebuilt for the third time, and a WALL was built in case of another breakthrough. Now it is "Free City" as it is called by the locals, or "City of Criminals" as it is called by the Imperials. And basically both are right, because in fact in this city live mostly criminals and their descendants, as well as this city does not obey anyone, and does not pay tribute (taxes on ours).

But I digress, on the first night of my stay in the city all the inhabitants were preparing to celebrate the victory, and it was marvelous. The whole city was at that moment one organism, everyone was closer to each other than the closest relatives!

And I did not participate in this celebration of life, because I felt that if I joined, I would break this fragile unifying feeling permeating the city. I spent the whole evening alone walking along the rooftops, drinking different alcohol (which I discreetly took from the tables) and watching everyone's fun.

The celebration began to fade only close to midnight, when most people, some alone and some with couples, went to bed. I even found the kids I'd given books and weapons to sleeping at one of the tables. I may have gone a little overboard with the weapons, but better to overdo it now than be sad later.

Walking back to the hotel I noticed Laima standing nervously in front of my apartment.

I stared at her for about twenty minutes, the whole time she was trying to bring herself to knock on the door. It was obvious what she had come for, as obvious as the fact that she was afraid of what she thought was going to happen.

After I got tired of waiting I called out to her and she just took it and fainted. It was a bit of a surprise, but it suited me just fine, so I carried her to one of the rooms in the apartment, bathed myself and went to bed.

The next day she acted as if nothing had happened, and went on showing me around the city, telling me its history, etc.

And now, noon of the third day, I'm riding on some reptiloid creature that I bought from the city for 200 gold coins and looking at the updated map. The purpose of my journey is in the capital of the kingdom of Zantir, on the southern coast of the continent, and for this I will need to pass through the empire Brown (strange name, however) as well as some "Anomalous" zone.

And if I move on this lizard, I can get to the place I need in about a month. I could run on my own to get there in a couple of days, but it would be too fast for me, I'm even now with each hundred kilometers more and more nervous, and if tomorrow I'll be a couple of kilometers away from my mother, my heart will burst with emotion.

But it's better to stop thinking about it, or it'll get worse. By nightfall I should be at the wall, and then after about half a day's drive from the wall, the city would appear at the same speed.

***

I was right, as the sun began to sink towards the horizon I could already see the wall. And now I'm about 20 kilometers away from the wall, standing and watching people destroy the monsters that are trying to attack them. Unlike in the city, these people don't need any help, you could even say that they destroy monsters almost without straining.

I realized this for several reasons, the first is that there is no noticeable damage on the walls, the second is that they do not come down from the walls, and attack only with magic and arrows. And the third reason was that those big cannons were standing still and not even preparing to fire.

While I was driving leisurely towards the wall, I noticed one of those cannons being used to destroy a minor subterranean dragon of about level 200. After being shot from this cannon, the dragon turned into a bloody confetti that shards of its bones and stone armor injured or killed all monsters within a radius of about three hundred meters.

I think that if I had been shot by that cannon and didn't try to defend myself, then I could have been severely injured. And I say that with the abilities of my current body. It's a scary weapon, and if the core is anti-magic then there's no barrier to protect myself.

Well, the break is over, it's time to go to this too long fortress only by misunderstanding called "wall", because the fighters have already opened the gate and began to collect the bodies of dead monsters and killing the wounded.

After a couple of minutes, the most gawky on the wall noticed me and started shouting something, which caused a fuss and those who were with shields began to stand up in some kind of protective formation while those who were collecting bodies began to collect them even faster. After another ten minutes of traveling, when everyone could see me, people calmed down a bit and even stopped aiming their cannons at me. Honestly when they pointed five of those guns at me, even I felt a little uneasy.

Oh, someone rode out of the gate on a similar lizard, only a little bigger and a different color. Looks like they want to talk to me. Stopping five meters away from each other, she began to speak.

— Greetings, my name is Sarah and I am the commander of Her Majesty the Empress' 178th Cohort. Identify yourself and state your purpose for being on this section of the Great Wall.

Cohort? Isn't that about half a thousand soldiers in command? She's probably talking about all the guys behind her in formation right now.

— Greetings Sara, my name is Emilia Irbis, and I'm here just passing through.

She frowned slightly, though it was hard to see behind her helmet. It's even strange that I realized it was a 'she' before we spoke, for outwardly she looks like a regular knight with a 'tank' role, though that's a misnomer.

— Am I correct in understanding that you are not or have not been a resident of the Brown Empire?

— That is correct, as I said before I am only passing through the Empire.

— Hmm. I'm sorry, but I can't let you through the Great Wall until martial law is lifted. You'll have to wait.

— Is that your decision, or is that a general directive, commander?

— No, it's not! This is the general procedure for martial law on the Wall, only residents of the Empire can get a pass after inspection and interrogation, except in special cases.

— Good, then go now to the fortress, and tell the head of the fortress that you have the most special case that has ever been in front of the gate, and that if this special case can not pass smoothly inside, there will be a gap in your defenses.

In response, the knight placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and released an aura.

— Is that a threat on your part?

Meh, since I was welcomed so warmly, I should return the favor. I think my aura will be scarier than hers.

— No, it's just a warning, girl. Go tell the most important person what we're talking about, I'll be expecting a response in about an hour. I have no negative feelings towards the people of the empire, and it is in your best interest to keep it that way.

With those words, I end our conversation and stop showing her my aura. Time for a snack of goodies.

After moving the lizard to a more or less clean spot free of blood, guts, shit, and all such elements of battle, I pulled out a table, a chair, and a typewriter. Pushing it aside I also pulled out an artifact teapot and began brewing cocoa. Mmm, what a smell, I love sweet cocoa with milk.

What? Cocoa with milk is a children's drink? Go fuck yourselves, you don't understand the beauty of high quality sweet cocoa with milk! It's the best drink in all the worlds! Right, now that we're doing this, I might as well get the cake.

The cake itself reminds me of "Smetannik", only 10 times tastier. Tender, soft, sweet, perfect. I'm so glad I almost didn't use any food in the "Game", if I could go back I'd even kiss our clan Chef on the cheek with gratitude. Though considering all the other food in my inventory is just as tasty, then I might as well just kiss him on the lips once. No more.

A half hour or so passed over a small, solitary cocoa party, after which two lizards with riders on them rode out of the already closed gate.

One of the riders appeared to be Sarah, and the other was a smartly dressed man with slight signs of old age. Hmm, and he has more enchantments on his clothes than the commander's armor, and quite a lot of artifacts. Well, shall we get acquainted?

I_H_I

Yeah, that was a tough one. I couldn't write that chapter for several days straight! I wrote about 1000-1500 words a few times, but ended up erasing it because I didn't like it. (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ 

I originally wanted to tell some stories about this town, introduce a few characters, one of whom had the potential to become one of the main character's love targets! ☆⌒ヽ(*'､^*)

But a week of sickness didn't go unnoticed, so I decided to just skip that stage. (＃￣ω￣) 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please forgive me for the delay in chapters. 人(_ _*)

Thank you for reading, commenting, and for your support. By the end of this week I will definitely make a discord server, this time I am 100% sure. ( ` ω ´ ) 

See you in the comments or in the next chapter.( ´ ∀ ` )ﾉ