Clearing an Isekai with the Zero-Believers Goddess

Chapter 64: Takatsuki Makoto arrives at the capital, Horun

“That’s the capital of Rozes, Horun. The Rozes Castle towers at the middle of it.”

The sight of it slowly got clearer and clearer from on top of the Flying Ship.

“It is surrounded by more than thousands of water fountains and flowers of varying sizes, and it is called the number one most beautiful castle of this continent.” (Chris)

Christiana-san adds.

“But that rampart under construction doesn’t look good.” (Aya)

Just as Sa-san said, the big wall under construction that surrounds the whole capital destroys the sight.

“Horun, which is one of the most prominent touristic locations of the continent, only has the minimum defense facilities, and they were mostly working in maintaining the scenery after all.” (Fujiwara)

“But after receiving the oracle a few years ago that the Great Demon Lord will be reviving, the ramparts were hurriedly being reinforced.” (Chris)

I see.

They do say that the monsters have gotten more active and wild.

Must be rough.

“Hey hey, when we arrive at the capital, where are we going?” (Lucy)

Lucy asks with excitement.

“First, I will go to the castle and greet the King.” (Makoto)

“Isn’t there still time till the settled date?” (Lucy)

“It said come within 7 days, so I suppose it is okay to go sooner.” (Makoto)

I want to finish up the problematic things fast.

I can leisurely explore the capital after that.

“Then, let’s go down.” (Fujiwara)

Everyone nodded at Fuji-yan.

◇◇

—Flower Main Street

It is the main street that extends straight from the main gate of Horun all the way to the Rozes Castle.

Just as its name states, there’s many flowers blooming at the side of that path.

Brick buildings that remind me of the cityscape of Europe.

The street was crowded with people.

The people that were walking the path were of varying races: human, beastkin, elf, dwarves. From children to elderly.

Makkaren was similar, but the people here have a somewhat different atmosphere.

How to say it, they were polished.

Their clothing and the way they talk.

“It feels as if I went from the countryside to the city.” (Makoto)

“Haha! The first time I came to the capital, I thought the same thing-desu zo.” (Fujiwara)

Fuji-yan says while laughing.

“Hey hey.”, Lucy pulls my sleeve.

What was there was…

“Ah…sorry, Christiana-sama.” (Makoto)

Oops. The daughter of the feudal lord of Makkaren was here.

“It is okay. Compared to the capital, Makkaren could indeed be considered a countryside.” (Chris)

She forgave me with a simple chuckle.

“Hey, what is that?” (Aya)

Nice, Sa-san. She diverted the topic.

What she pointed at was a big tent that was set at the plaza.

Indeed, what is that?

In our previous world, those kinds of tents were…

“That’s the monster tamers’ circus troupe. They are a group of performers that go around the continent.” (Chris)

“I have seen it once before a long time ago, but it was quite the thing.” (Fujiwara)

So it really is a circus.

So there’s in this world as well.

Is what I thought, but in this world, it is not people that do the performance, but taming monsters to make them do the performances.

The difference in those areas makes it an Isekai, huh.

“Ah, there’s a giant and a dragon!” (Lucy)

At the place Lucy points at, there’s a giant that’s around 10 meters tall, and also a dragon on the smaller side inside a cage.

“So you can tame dragons too, huh.” (Makoto)

Monster tamers are incredible.

“No, that’s a wyvern. If there were a monster tamer that could tame a pure dragon, they wouldn’t be working in a circus trope but the country.” (Chris)

Christiana-san tells me.

“But those monsters have accumulated stress.” (Aya)

“You can tell, Sa-san?” (Makoto)

“Yeah, kinda.” (Aya)

Some kind of link between monsters?

“The monsters in the circus trope originally attacked people, and would normally be killed, but the circus trope would buy them. Just that…the way they treat them is bad.” (Nina)

So they are utilizing monsters that were originally supposed to be subjugated then.

If there were an organization for the ethical treatment of monsters, I feel like there would be complaints, but there’s most likely not.

“Anyways, this city really has a lot of flowers.” (Lucy)

Looks like Lucy prefers the flowers over the circus.

She is looking at the flower beds and potted plants here and there.

“It is a beautiful city.” (Makoto)

I truly think that. This is the flower capital.

“We will be arriving soon-desu zo. I will talk to the gatekeeper.” (Fujiwara)

We always leave these areas to Fuji-yan.

I am really grateful to him.

We passed through the gate that was adorned artistically, and entered the Rozes Castle.

◇◇

“Raise your heads.”

After entering, we had an audience with the King of Rozes.

There were many people who had come to speak to the King, but when we arrived, we were placed as the top priority and let in.

It gave me a slight sense of superiority.

“I extend my gratitude for your contribution in the subjugation of the Taboo Dragon.”

“The Laberintos City is an important asset of Rozes. We were saved by you heroes of the parallel world.”

The King and Queen of Rozes were giving plain words of gratitude.

They asked me what I wanted between gold or peerage as a reward, and after thinking for a while, I answered: Gold.

Serving the royal family as a noble is a bit…

This is okay, right, Noah-sama?

(Do as you please, Makoto.) (Noah)

Looks like there’s no problem.

The King finished speaking, and at the end, Princess Sofia spoke.

“Takatsuki Makoto, Fujiwara Michio; this is the business permit for the Water Country that you requested. I have signed it under my name.” (Sofia)

“Thank you very much.” (Fujiwara)

Fuji-yan receives it with glee.

In the Water Country, the power of the nobles and the holy professions is strong.

Princess Sofia is the Oracle of the Water Goddess.

She is the person that is close to the top in regards to the nobles and holy professions.

Her sign apparently means a lot.

(Well, with this, we probably won’t be meeting again.) (Makoto)

I glanced up and…her ice cold eyes met with mine.

(Uwaah…she is glaring at me.) (Makoto)

I am really hated.

Princess Sofia continues her words.

“Merchant Fujiwara, if you so wish, we could grant you a peerage.” (Sofia)

“Eh?”

The one who raised a voice of surprise at Princess Sofia’s words was Christiana-san.

“…No, this business permit here is plenty enough, Princess-sama.” (Fujiwara)

In the end, Fuji-yan refused that.

And in this way, the audience ended.

Aah, it really stiffened my shoulders there.

◇◇

“Fuji-yan, why did you refuse the peerage?” (Makoto)

I was curious about it, so I tried asking.

“Because if I were to accept the peerage from Princess Sofia, I would have to live in the capital of Horun. Also, that was more of a preparation for you, Takki-dono, rather than me-desu zo.” (Fujiwara)

“Eh? What do you mean?” (Makoto)

“She most likely investigated that you and I have formed parties together in Makkaren, and that we were doing business together too. It seems that her objective was to bind us to the Water Country-desu zo.” (Fujiwara)

The latter part was in a low voice.

It seems like he read the mind of Princess Sofia.

So that was her intention, huh…

When I glanced to the side, I saw that Christiana-san was making a complicated expression.

What happened?

“Makoto, we are exploring the city!” (Lucy)

Lucy was pumped up.

But there’s something more important than exploring the city!

“No, first, let’s explore the castle.” (Makoto)

It is the basics of RPGs.

This is my first castle since coming to this Isekai.

I will explore every nook and cranny!