The Water Magician

The next day, the two of them set out early in the morning from the City of Kairadi.

Both were in excellent physical condition.

Normally, it would take a whole day to cover this distance, but by early afternoon, they found themselves on a hill overlooking the entire area of the City of Run.

"This is..."

The view from there was beyond imagination.

The area below the hill was bathed in golden hues.

Fields of wheat that were soon to be harvested.

And in the center, a massive city loomed.

It was a scale that could undoubtedly be called a city rather than just a town.

The walls surrounding the city were tall and immense.

There were probably hundreds of thousands of people living within those walls alone.

Furthermore, outside the walls, they could see many houses, presumably belonging to farmers.

"There are people living outside the city too."

"Yeah, the farmland is outside the city. Originally, it seems farmers lived inside the walls, but since commuting to the farmland isn’t trivial, they now build houses to live outside. Because of that, the City of Run doesn’t close its gates at night."

Even Ryo was surprised by this.

In many other stories set in another world, as well as in medieval Earth, it was common sense for city gates to be closed at night.

"What about security?"

"Well... Compared to other cities, there are more patrols around. Because of that, I think the safety of this city isn’t too bad for its size."

After gazing at the City of Run for a while, the two descended the hill and headed towards the South Gate of the city.

Since it was early afternoon, a rather awkward time for entering and exiting the city, there was no one at the South Gate except for the guards.

"Hey? Abel?"

A guard who seemed to know Abel was surprised.

"Oh, Nimur. It's been a while."

"It's been too long... I heard you went missing..."

"Yeah, well, somehow I managed to come back alive."

Saying that, Abel smiled.

"And who is your companion?"

Nimur, the guard, turned to Ryo and asked.

"He’s my lifesaver."

"I see! Well, thank you for taking care of Abel."

Saying that, Nimur shook Ryo's hand vigorously.

"That said, I still need to collect the market entry tax..."

"Ah, I’ll take care of that."

With that, Abel handed his Guild Card and one market entry tax silver coin from Ryo to Nimur.

"Okay, confirmed."

Nimur then gave Abel an even brighter smile, practically beaming.

"Welcome back, Abel."

Ryo, who had been silently observing, felt a twinge of envy towards Abel.

He had a place to return to.

And there were people who welcomed him back.

That was something Ryo, who had been living alone for a long time in the Forest of Rondo, was unacquainted with.

Although he hadn’t felt anything until now, seeing Abel and Nimur's joyful reunion made him feel a bit lonely.

(Good for you, Abel.)

Yes, it was also a scene that signaled the end of their journey.

Abel had requested Ryo's help for 'guarding him to the City of Run.'

And here they were, in the City of Run.

The moment they passed through the gate, the request was fulfilled.

"Ryo, let's head to the Guild now. You’re going to register as an adventurer, right?"

"Yes, it would be better to do it sooner rather than later."

"Since I'm here, you can register for a rank-up."

Ryo tilted his head.

"Rank-up registration?"

"Ah, I didn’t mention this? In the adventurers' guild, it’s normal to start registration at E-rank, but with a recommendation from a B-rank adventurer or higher, you can register at D-rank or E-rank. Since I’ll recommend you, you should be able to register at D-rank."

"What are the benefits of registering at D-rank?"

"You can take on higher-ranked requests. The higher the rank, the greater the rewards, you know? I recommend it. Well, I suppose you won’t have any money troubles, though."

Abel said, glancing at Ryo's bag.

"Oh, Wyvern Magic Stones? Are these really that valuable?"

To be honest, Ryo had no idea.

After all, he had only shot two icicle lances at each wyvern.

There was no struggle involved.

So it was understandable that he couldn’t grasp how expensive the magic stones obtained in that manner could be.