Published: July 5, 2025
The sixth night of the seven consecutive nights of posting.
The day of the second meeting.
Fort Zalash was filled with a festive atmosphere.
"Looks like there are some temporary stalls set up..."
"I wonder where they usually are."
Ryo and Abel were astonished.
Fort Zalash was undoubtedly a fort, but its scale was extraordinary.
It had been the largest fort in the Go Kingdom even before the state of civil war, and an economy similar to that of a city was thriving here.
No, perhaps it should be said that it was even more than an ordinary city.
A city flourishes because of trade with the surrounding areas.
While being a 'fort', Fort Zalash was also engaged in trade with the surrounding areas... and even with the cities of the Alliance from afar.
Therefore, those who had heard the rumors from somewhere had come from outside, bringing all their stall equipment...
"This grilled fish skewer is delicious."
"It seems the fish was caught in the oasis that floats above the fort... but it’s practically a lake, no matter how you think about it."
Both Ryo and Abel were already eating the grilled fish sold at the stalls.
If you're going to do this, you might as well enjoy it.
In these situations, the two of them always agreed.
"It might be a long day. Considering there's a chance we might skip lunch, it's better to eat while we can."
"Yeah. That is exactly the basics for adventurers."
While making excuses to no one in particular, Ryo and Abel bought meat skewers next.
That’s right, this was their second stall and second item.
By the way, since they had eaten two skewers of grilled fish each, this was their third meat skewer.
It probably goes without saying, but they bought two meat skewers each as well... so they had eaten four skewers each at the stalls.
"We can’t just eat fish and meat. We need to have some vegetables and fruits too."
"Just as I thought, Ryo has good advice."
Finally, the two arrived at the training ground while eating a rindo that looked like an apple for dessert.
By the time they arrived, the preparations for the meeting were almost complete.
They weren't assigned any specific tasks.
The trained kids were guards... still somewhat in training, but they were guards nonetheless.
So they were patrolling.
However, the two of them were still adventurers.
Therefore, they didn't have any official roles.
This was the stage for the trained kids, and the future of the people of the fort... a crucial meeting to determine whether war could be avoided or not.
Moreover, it was all happening in full view of the public.
"Normally, meetings like these with the top leaders are held in closed rooms, right?"
"Well, yeah. It's pretty common for both representatives to announce the agreed content after everything is over."
"This time, the meeting is happening right in front of everyone... If there are any sabotage agents, it could turn dangerous..."
"Am I not a henchman for the agents?"
Recently, Abel threw back what he had been told.
"Of course, that’s a joke. If you get caught up in little things, you’ll never become a king!"
"I'm technically the active king here..."
"Maybe it's just that everyone is acting that way because they feel sorry for Abel."
"...I don’t understand."
The two took their seats marked 'Special Guests'.
They had been told by Molgar to sit there that day.
"Your names are also written here."
"Mine says 'Lord Abel,' and yours says 'Lord Ryo,' so that's correct."
"The seat next to us says 'Instructor.'"
"Must be Elder Masuda. Indeed, it’s a special guest seat."
Both Ryo and Abel sat in their respective designated seats.
There were probably about twenty seats in total for the 'Special Guests'.
After the two sat down, more and more people filled those special guest seats.
Most of them were clearly merchants.
"Merchants really do look like merchants at first glance. You can tell swordsmen and scouts by their unusual walking styles, but merchants walk normally. I wonder why."
"Well... don’t ask me."
Receiving Ryo's question, Abel looked at the merchants sitting in the special guest seats.