I've Arrived at Serelirin

We go back a little in time, for a chapter from the protagonist's point of view.

<Ah! Look, Emi! A town! I can see a town!>

Looking at the cluster of pale-yellow buildings that had begun to appear small in the distance at the end of the highway, Omake-sama grew excited and let out a cheer!

Several days had passed since I shot out of the base in the Zamago Forest and headed west for no particular reason.

Finally—no, seriously, finally!

There had been some small settlements along the way, but I had finally reached a town large enough to be called a city!

<I hope they have some delicious local specialties.>

Yeah, really.

It's probably that, don't you think?

Like, maybe they have plenty of meat from those livestock things called Mekena?

<That seems likely. I'm looking forward to it!>

The highway I was walking on had stretched through the forest for a while, but once I emerged, vast pastures spread out to my left and right.

In those grasslands enclosed by wooden fences, where patches of green still remained even in winter, large animals with yellow and black mottled patterns were huddling together and grazing.

According to Omake-sama, these animals I'd never seen before, with 3 pairs of legs and 2 pairs of wings sprouting from their backs, were called Mekena.

They're too heavy to fly, but they keep making futile attempts anyway, so the meat around the base of their wings gets just the right workout, and it's supposed to be delicious.

<They're livestock sometimes kept instead of cows. I saw them in the Livestock God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast.>

Since that kind of livestock is kept near the town, there's no way they wouldn't be a local specialty.

I can't wait!

“Muhee~~~......”

In the distance, a Mekena looked my way and let out a single cry.

“............”

I cast a quick glance in that direction.

It's a sturdy Mekena, especially big.

Looks delicious.

“Muhe!? Muhee, muhee, muhee!!”

The Mekena I looked at seemed to feel a chill; it let out a warning cry to alert its companions and then led them away, running off somewhere.

You nameless Mekena-kun, that attitude is a bit rude, you know.

Even I wouldn't think of hunting and killing you lot when it's so obvious you're being kept as livestock!

<That's not very convincing. Please stop the drool pouring out of your mouth before you say things like that.>

Omake-sama, shut up!

◇ ◇ ◇

Now, the town that looks so small in the distance is right there if I just run a little.

As I got closer, I felt a slight sense of incongruity about this town.

This town has no outer walls.

Right up against the pastures around it, houses with pale-yellow walls and triangular roofs just start, lined up in rows.

<Ah, that's because there are no demon realms nearby. It isn't a region where wars are common either, and in cases like that, outer walls aren't built. On this Golden Continent, if anything, towns of this type are probably more common.>

Huh, I see.

Come to think of it, Trash Village, where I was born, didn't have anything as grand as outer walls either.

......I remembered something unpleasant.

<Please don't leak killing intent. You'll stand out for the wrong reasons. 【Presence Concealment】.>

Yes, yes.

Obediently following Omake-sama's advice, I sneak up toward the town.

This town has no outer walls and no gates.

There was, I'll admit, a small building like a guard post at the edge of town, but inside it, an old man in armor sat with his chin in his hand, idly watching the highway I was walking along.

Hm, no, maybe he isn't even watching.

He's nodding off.

He's half asleep.

Total dereliction of duty!

<It shows how safe this town is.>

But even an old man like that, if he saw me now, with 【Black Arms】 wrapped around my body, would surely jolt awake in surprise, grab his spear and come charging out.

This 【Black Arms】 outfit is warm and tough, but its one flaw is that it gets me mistaken for a monster (or, at best, a suspicious person).

<So you were aware of that......>

After seeing how the people I pass on the highway react, even I notice, you know, Omake-sama.

But it's fine, because it's warm.

Even I'm not in the mood to walk around outside in thin clothes while light snow is flurrying down.

Now, there's no point in staring at the old man forever, so I hop up onto the roof of the guard post in a single bound.

From there, I make my way across the triangular roofs, hopping as I go.

<Heh, it's quite a prosperous town, isn't it~>

At Omake-sama's offhand remark, I nod along without thinking.

When I look down at the town's main street from the rooftops, there are quite a lot of people walking.

Travelers with large bags on their backs, ladies walking in casual clothes, children running around noisily, carriages rattling along the cobblestones......

Walking through a crowd like that would make me sick.

<Emi isn't used to crowds, after all.>

But here's one question.

There were almost no people walking on the highway I had come from.

So where did all the travelers and carriages in this town come from?

Curious, I wandered all over town, and I found the answer pretty easily.

There was another highway passing through this town, different from the one I had walked.

Unlike the one I used, it was a clean road that felt reasonably new.

From the sign, it seemed this highway led to the royal capital of this country.

Several carriages were rolling out of town along this road, and plenty of people who looked like adventurers were walking it too.

Ahh, that makes sense, I thought.

And it was from the sign at the shared carriage stop that I learned, then and there, that this town was called Serelirin.