With Tama and Rex now tucked away inside my shadow, I walked downhill toward a massive sprawl of circular walls.
The fortifications were immense, clearly designed not just to keep monsters at bay, but to funnel every traveler and merchant through a single, heavily guarded checkpoint.
The closer I got, the more the scale of the architecture impressed me. A long queue if people snaked away from the main gate, a mix of merchant carriages laden with goods, weary travelers, and hooded worshippers.
I took my place at the back and waited in line too.
When I finally reached the front, a knight in silver plate armor didn't even look up from his ledger. "Identification papers, please," he mumbled.
I handed him my guild card. As soon as his eyes saw the rank inscribed on the metal, his bored expression shattered.
"Wow... a male S-rank from Eldoria?" He looked up, eyes wide. "What brings someone like you to our town?"
