It was now nine in the morning, and our horse-drawn carriage would soon arrive in the city of Vannis.
After passing this incline, we would finally be able to see it, because once we went downhill, we could see the city directly.
From a distance, I could already see a very large city with extremely long walls.
The shape of the city wasn't oval or circular, but formed a pattern that made its appearance feel even more impressive.
However, there was one thing that puzzled me—of course, it was the wall built right through the middle of the city, splitting it into two.
There was a wall constructed in the center of that city, which caused it to have two sides.
And near that wall, there was only empty land, before one could pass through the wall and enter the other side.
"Yukito, this must be your first time seeing a city like this, right?" asked Luke, who noticed that I was a little confused by the city ahead of us.
Was it just my imagination, or did Luke really love reading the minds of others?
W-well, he had already guessed what I was thinking so many times. And I didn't think that this was because of his Find skill.
I suspected that it was simply his own natural sensitivity.
"Let me guess… The city ahead of us was originally one city that split itself into two parts, right?" I said.
"Exactly. The big and long city in front of us is actually two cities—Vannis on the left side and Danvis on the right side," he replied.
Luke had told me before that he once heard stories about how this city had ended up split into two.
For some reason, I felt like I would be getting into very big trouble soon.
"Even so, I've only seen this city in a painting, so this is also my first time visiting such a unique place," he said happily.
Inside the room, Yuu-chan once again lifted herself slightly from the sofa to peek through the window.
Only Yuu did that, while Hime simply sat calmly and watched over Yuu-chan, worried that she might fall off the sofa.
"Are we there yet?" asked Yuu-chan.
"See for yourself," I said.
From inside that room, they could surely see what Luke and I were seeing too.
"In any case, we should be careful, Yukito-sama. My feelings get a bit mixed when I look at the shape of this city," said Yuu-chan.
Suddenly, I heard Hime's voice from inside as she tried to calm Yuu-chan.
"Relax, besides, our task here is only to wait for the Abbys forces that might attack Vannis. We don't need to bother guarding Danvis," said Hime.
After Hime joined the conversation, Luke followed.
"Sephira Hime, I don't think it will be that simple," said Luke.
"What do you mean?" asked Hime.
"In general, there are indeed major roads that lead directly into both cities. But there is one main road among those two large roads," said Luke.
"And that main road is the one we're taking right now, isn't it?" I asked.
"That's right. We'll be going through that road, because when we left Necvalion, this was the only main route available," said Luke.
"This road leads directly to the central area between the two cities. There's a large gate, and behind that gate lies the wall that divides the two cities," he continued.
"So when we present our identity as adventurers and chosen ones from Necvalion, the people of Danvis will feel that their neighboring city treated us unfairly?" asked Hime.
I assumed the neighbor Hime referred to was Necvalion. Since Danvis and Vannis were in the same continent as Necvalion, the continent's center.
Even though it was smaller than the other major cities like Vannis and Danvis, Necvalion still remained the center.
Even the former hero came from Necvalion, so it wasn't a mystery at all.
"They would surely start a conflict with Vannis, and they might even file a complaint to Necvalion about us. Our adventurer licenses might get revoked," said Luke.
"Wait a second, aren't we chosen ones who are now heroes?" I asked.
Hime and Yuu-chan were chosen ones who would become heroes to bring peace to the world. So why could Hime's adventurer license be revoked so easily?
"Indeed, we have a status that important. But the other cities only consider the hero party from Necvalion as Kageya Kuro's party, not ours," said Luke.
"The other cities won't see us as a hero party, and will think we're just liars using the hero title however we like, right?" asked Yuu-chan.
"Because of that, we may have to change our plans once we enter Vannis. If the Abbys forces also attack Danvis, we must consider the possibility of defending Danvis as well," said Luke.
"I don't mind. Our task is to defeat all Abbys forces anyway," I said.
In every region or city, there were Abbys forces dwelling there, and they would attack when the higher-ups of Abbys ordered them to.
But if there were no orders, they would stay still until the commands came.
"Yuu-chan and I also don't mind. We're not citizens of Vannis who might hate their neighbor," said Hime.
"I feel the same way as all of you," added Luke, matching the harmony among the four of us.
"In that case, it's settled! We'll fight the Abbys that attempt to attack both cities," I said.
They immediately smiled and murmured "yes," forming a mutual agreement among us.
——
Anyway, if there was a city split like this, there must be issues about inheritance or mutual hatred among its people.
Normal problems wouldn't split a city this large.
Right now, our carriage was lining up to enter the city gate. The reason was simple—the guards were conducting extremely thorough inspections, checking every item brought inside.
Even the carriage in front of us had been checked for almost ten minutes. What about us?
"They definitely won't allow intruders or criminals to sneak into their city," said Luke.
"Especially with the tense situation here, since they feel like one family but are separated," I replied.
While waiting, Luke and I finished the remaining biscuits the village elder had given us earlier.
We only ate them now because they were much more filling than we expected.
Just one biscuit felt like eating two or three spoonfuls of packed rice.
"You may enter, next carriage!" shouted the guard.
The carriage in front of us finally entered the gate and took the road to the right—meaning they were entering the Danvis side of the city.
I didn't know what would happen next, but I believed we would be all right.