“Please, take a seat.”

The guard led us to a small room inside the guard station, most likely a reception room.

“Then, please excuse me for a moment.”

And he left us alone in the room. I watched the door through which the guard had gone for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh.

“Well, this isn’t quite what I had in mind…”

We were just accompanying Alma because we wanted to. We weren’t escorts or anything like the guards apparently believed.

“Sis, are you all right with this? We didn’t have to stay here.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind it that much.”
“Nn, if you say so…”

With aplomb, I sat on the couch in the middle of the room.

“Oh, this couch is comfy.”

It wasn’t so soft that you sunk into it, but it was just soft enough to be comfortable. It was really nice.

I’d like one of these. But I bet it’s super expensive.

Nothing I could afford. Though, even if I could, what would I even do with a couch like this?

“Is it? Oh, it is.”

Karen sat next to me.

“Right? It’s nice.”

We didn’t often have the chance to sit on a couch like this one. It’s usually all wooden benches or chairs. Those weren’t necessarily uncomfortable once you got used to them but this was still different.

Still, the couch isn’t the only amazing thing here.

I let my eyes wander over the room. There was a large bookshelf with some books on it. It wasn’t filled to the brim like you could see in my old world, but rather each book had ample space. They were sitting in small holders to make sure they wouldn’t fall over, as well.

Apart from the bookshelf, there were portraits over the door. A large portrait in the middle was depicting a man that vaguely resembled Will, the king of Lafria. Below him were four slightly smaller portraits, each depicting a man or woman. I couldn’t recognise any of them, though.

Those were only a few examples of what the room had to offer, though.

“I wonder if this is the kind of thing where you try to impress your guests…”
“I think it is.”

Thought so.

“Well, I’m impressed, at least.”

Mostly with the comfortable couch. I didn’t really have an eye for portraits of strangers.

While I was enjoying the couch, Karen got up again and went to the bookshelf, looking at the books.

“See anything interesting?”
“Mmm… I wonder. There are some history books about Lafria, Aldreigh and… about Garm? And this is a collection of poems.”
“Poems? In a guard station?”

Those two didn’t seem to fit together if you asked me.

“Yes. And there’s a collection of songs, too. And these seem to be… books about the Academy…’s research… I think?”
“That’s quite the diverse collection.”

There weren’t really any similarities between those types of books, were there?

“But like this, anyone might find something that interests them.”
“Oh, that’s a good point.”

Someone who cared about history might not care about poems and vice versa.

“Still, what kind of people are they entertaining here that they would need that kind of reception?”

To be honest, my expectations had been more along the lines of a dreary station with no entertainment, decorations or anything that wasn’t vital to their work as guards. Weapons and armour were the things I would have expected to find. Not poems and history.

“Mmm… At the very least, people who would appreciate things like this.”
“Nn.”

Nobles, merchants, people like that, most likely. Though that begged the question of what those people needed from the guards.

“Mmm? Are these magic tools?”
“Nn?”

Magic tools? That drew my attention.

I turned around and saw Karen looking at a variety of… weird things.

“It spins.”

The tool Karen was looking at consisted of a few wooden balls that spun around a small wooden pillar.

“Nn, it spins.”
“... Is there a point to this?”
“Uhhh… Maybe it just looks interesting?”

Frankly, I had no idea what the purpose of that thing was. It was curious to look at, but that was pretty much it.

Well, maybe it is something… specific… I don’t know…

But if you asked me, it was just a fancy decoration. It served no obvious purpose.

“I guess it is nice to look at.”
“You think so?”
“Nn… More or less.”

While we were wondering what this thing even was, the balls slowed down and came to a stop. I pushed them a little and a moment later, they were spinning around again. When they slowed down once more, Karen pushed them again. And then I pushed them… and then Karen… and then…

“The heck are we doing?”
“Maybe that’s the purpose?”
“...”

I had my doubts about that. We were like children playing with the weird decorations we found in someone else’s house…

Before I could voice my opinion, though, the door opened and the guard from earlier entered.

“I am sorry for the wait.”

The guard that had led us to this room returned.

“Ah, it’s fine. We didn’t wait long.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”

We didn’t even finish looking at all the weird stuff in this room, after all.

“So…” I began, “What is it that you need from us?”
“I just have a few questions. And I would like to show you something.”
“Show us something?”
“Yes.”

What could he show us? Maybe how they interrogated Alma? Though I kind of doubted that one.

“It might be better for you to see it, after all. If you would follow me.”
“Nn, sure…”

We left the room, with the guard in the lead.

He led us through a few corridors and then through a door to the outside. We entered a large backyard. Wooden dummies, an archery range and other training facilities could be seen. Men in armour were training on them.

“Huh… These must be their training grounds,” I muttered.
“These are indeed our training grounds, miss.”

Ah, he heard me.

“Are you interested, maybe?”
“Uhh…”

I glanced over at the backyard—pardon, the training grounds—again.

“... No, not really.”
“I see.”

I saw the mercenaries training every day, so this wasn’t anything special, to be honest. Although, there seemed to be a number of fairly young… men and women, training here as well. Honestly, I couldn’t even call them that, they were still boys and girls. Maybe a little younger than Rina.

Recruits, huh… And quite a few of them.

From the looks of it, it hadn’t been long since they had started. They were gasping for air, desperately trying to follow their instructor's guidance as they ran laps around the training grounds.

Ahh, I feel you, it’s exhausting.

I smiled wryly as I watched, remembering my own difficulties with training. Difficulties that showed no signs of improving, either.

Still, there are quite a few of them…

Maybe, they recruited them recently because of the war between the Akkian Empire and Bruven. It would fit, timing-wise.

“Then, let us continue. Our destination is just up ahead.”
“Nn?”

When the guard drew my attention back to him, I looked ahead to see what he meant. I expected something… Well… something. Alas, it was just another unassuming building.

“What’s that?”
“Our prison.”
“... Excuse me?”

He was bringing us to their prison?! He wasn’t going to imprison us, was he?

“I am not planning on incarcerating you.”

He chuckled a little, amused at my reaction.

“Well... That’s a relief.”

But in that case, what did he want to show us there? A prison, huh… A prison…

“Is this about someone you arrested?”
“In a way, though calling it arrested is a little misleading in this case. It’s more that we took someone into our custody.”
“... You put people into your prison for that?”
“I would prefer otherwise as well, but the situation demanded it. The cells are empty, safe for this one person, right now.”
“... Uhh, must be really safe in Auria then if it’s empty.”

You wouldn’t think of a prison being empty, usually.

“The criminals we arrested only stay here until their verdict. If they are to be incarcerated for the long term, they are sent to the national prison instead. That happens fairly rarely, though. All others are dealt with here and then released.”
“‘Dealt with,’ huh…”

I frowned at those words. It was easy to imagine what kind of punishments they dealt to criminals. Actually, scratch that. I didn’t want to imagine it.

“Now, come in.”

The guard opened the door and held it open for us.

“Thank you.”
“Thanks.”

There was only an empty, unmanned desk right next to the door and then there was already another door. This door, however, was a bit different. A heavy wooden door, reinforced with iron. It didn’t look like a door you could break open all that easily. The guard once again opened it and held it open for us. To my surprise, it wasn’t locked.

Woah, it’s dark in here. And damp.

The inside of the prison was just a single corridor with cells on either side. There were no lamps or torches or anything in here, so the only light came from small windows in each cell.

And from a single cell near the end of the corridor. The cell door was slightly ajar. Whoever was inside, could just leave if they so wanted to.

So that’s why he said they took custody of them. They’re not held here.

The guard approached the cell with the light and knocked against the cell bars.

“Hey, wake up.”

Inside the cell was a single person, spread out on a mattress and snoring.

“... Hey, Yumi, is this maybe...”
“Nn… I think so.”

The moment I saw the person inside, everything became clear. A small-statured girl, wearing clothes a little too big for her. Her face wasn’t familiar at all… However, her long ears were very much so.

Why… Why is one of the elves here?

What in the world had happened for her to… Well, stay overnight at this place?

“Not waking up again… But judging from your reaction, you know her, after all.”

Ah, he caught on already.

“Err… May I ask why she is here?”
“We brought her here for her own safety.”
“Huh? Did she do something?”
“No. It’s more that she didn’t. A few of our guards on patrol found her following some well-known crooks. They most likely lured her with candy or who-knows-what.”
“Ah.”

They tried to kidnap her…

“This isn’t the first time either. In the last few days, there were a total of six incidents with girls like her getting caught up with criminals. So, I assume correctly this girl belongs with your group?”
“... Most likely, yes. I don’t know her personally but… Probably, yes.”

I knew the elves were fairly ignorant of the ways of the world… It should have been obvious maybe, that they could get caught up in such incidents.

“What happened in the other cases?”
“We took them into custody and then let them go after some questioning.”

So, not much, huh? Well, if something serious had happened, we probably would have heard about it.

The guard knocked against the bars again, trying to wake her up.

“Hey, wake up. This isn’t an inn.”

Alas, the girl was fast asleep.

“No luck… Anyway, please make sure they learn not to follow any strangers. It would make our job a bit easier.”
“Nn, I’ll relay it.”
“Thank you very much.”

However, now that we knew what he wanted to show us, a new problem arose.

“... What should we do with her?”

The elf was asleep and showed no signs of waking up. It’d be convenient if she could just get back on her own but that wasn’t going to happen unless she woke up or she gained the ability to sleepwalk back home. We couldn’t just leave her here either.

“It would be appreciated if you could bring her back with you.”
“...”

Of course. So much to our day off… or actually…

“I guess we can ask Alma to bring her back with her.”

That’d solve the problem. No need for us to return.

“Would it be all right with you to keep her here until her interrogation is over?”
“Questioning. Yes, that much is of little trouble.”

I looked over at the elf again. How could someone sleep so peacefully in here?

“Mister Guard, why did you have her stay in the prison?” asked Karen.
Oh, I nearly forgot about that.

I turned to the guard, waiting for his explanation.

“Merely precaution. This is the safest place we have.”
“Nn…”

Well, it was a prison. People weren’t supposed to get in or out without them knowing.

“Did something warrant that precaution?”
“Not directly. The crooks got away when our patrol got involved, however.”
“Ahh… You think they might look for her again?”
“I doubt it, but I cannot guarantee it. Therefore we asked her to stay here for a short while. Fortunately, she was very cooperative. Maybe too much so.”

The guard frowned as he looked at the elven girl.

Being cooperative was great but she was clearly too cooperative, if she went along with criminals…

“Hm. Well then, thank you very much for confirming her identity.”
“Nn, no problem.”

If anything, we should thank the guards for taking care of our little troublemakers.

“The questioning shouldn’t take much longer. Let’s return.”
“Nn.”

I glanced towards the girl a last time, feeling a little jealous of her ability to just… sleep without a care.

Well, they never left the forest before this. It shouldn’t be surprising that they are ignorant of how the world works.

Didn’t make it easier though, mind you.

“Yumi.”
“Nn, coming.”

And so, we left the prison with the elven girl. The guard closed the doors behind us and then led us through the backyard once more. The recruits were still running their laps.

“There are a lot of girls among them,” whispered Karen.
“Nn? Really?”

I looked over the recruits and counted them. Karen was right. There were easily as many girls among those recruits as boys. Actually, there might be more of them, even.

“Strange… most of the other guards are men.”

In fact, I couldn’t recall seeing a female guard so far at all. Yet, there were girls among the recruits.

“Is something the matter?”

The guard, having noticed that we were looking at the recruits, stopped and turned around.

“We were wondering why there were so many girls among those recruits, yet we haven’t seen a female guard so far,” said Karen.
“Ah, that’s what it was.”

He nodded as if he understood the problem.

“Your surprise is understandable. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be like this.”
“Normal circumstances, you say… The war between the Empire and Bruven?”
“Yes. As expected from a mercenary, you connected that quickly.”
“Well, it’s the only thing I could think of. But, isn’t Auria fairly far from the border? I don’t think refugees or the like would be a big worry here…”

How come there was a need to train more people if the war wasn’t even close by?

“You are right about that. We’re not very worried about refugees, even if we are one of the closest ports to the battlefield. We’re training them in the case of conscription.”
“Ah.”

Conscription… Were they worried that the war might extend to Lafria?

“The governor suggested that we train all youngsters that aren’t yet in training for a craft or made a family. Many boys that age are already in training. However, fairly few girls become craftswomen, so that’s how this situation came to be.”
“Huh… Then, is this just precautionary training?”
“You could call it that. Once their training is done, they can return. Or, if they so wish, they can train to become town guards.”
“Even the girls?”
“Yes, the girls as well. In fact, there are quite a few among them I’d like to train into proper guards. They show promise. More so than those boys. Most of them are hopeless.”

They were that bad, huh… Though, just looking at them running, I couldn’t really see much of a difference.

“Let us continue. Your friend should soon be done.”
“Nn.”

We turned away from the recruit training and followed him down the corridor, the way we had come from. He didn’t lead us to the waiting room from before, though, but down another corridor. Soon enough, we found ourselves in front of a door with a man standing guard next to it.

“Sir!”

The man saluted and then knocked on the door. A moment later, someone came out. Another middle-aged man, much to no one’s surprise. The guard leading us saluted to the man, suggesting he was his superior here.

“Oh, it’s you. Have you spoken to our guests already?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Well done. The interrogation is nearly over as well.”

His superior then looked over to us.

“Apologies for making you wait, but it will take just a little longer.”
“Nn, we understand. We will wait.”
“Much appreciated.”

And the door closed again.

“So, what do we do now? Wait here or go back to the waiting room?” I asked our guard-slash-guide.
“Whichever you prefer. The boss said it wouldn’t take much longer, though, so they should be done any moment now.”
“Nn, guess we can just wait here then.”

No point in walking back only to return here immediately.

“Oh, right, since we have the time, there is actually another thing I would like you to look at?”
“Huh? Another one?”
“Don’t worry it’ll be quick.”
“Well… I guess we don’t have anything else to do.”

I looked over at Karen for confirmation and she nodded.

“Great. Then, please follow me.”

And back to another round of walking. Back the way we came from.

“Nn, this is the entrance, isn’t it?”

What would he need from us here?

“Yes. You are mercenaries and get around a lot, right?”
“Uhh, kind of.”

Mercenaries in general, yeah. As for us… it would depend on your definition of ‘a lot.’

“Then, please look at this.”
“Nn.”

He presented a large wall to us, plastered with paper sheets.

“This is…”

I took a closer look at one of the sheets. There was a face drawn on it and below it was text.

“These are criminals wanted throughout Lafria. If you recognise any of these faces, it would help us a lot if you could tell us what you know.”
“Nn…”

I’d probably have to disappoint him then, though. I didn’t know a lot of people and none of them looked even remotely familiar. There were a lot, though.

Wanted for murder…  Wanted for highway robbery… Wanted for extortion, kidnapping, banditry and murder… Man, these people don’t joke around.

Wherever you looked, criminals with heavy crimes were listed here. Some made me wince just from reading what they did.

“Nn?”
Wait, that one…

I pushed aside a few sheets, uncovering one that had been slightly hidden beneath. Seeing the face on it, I couldn’t help but frown. After all…

Oh, great. I actually found a face I recognise.

This… was a little bit of a problem, maybe.