Chapter 1157: Keminomi Capital City

It took another day for us to reach the capital city and this time, it looks like the city was built in a forest clearing.

Hmm... That wasn’t exactly accurate as there were still trees growing within the city so they probably only cut down trees that they needed for resources to build the city up. But they did not clear out all the trees and allowed a number of them to continue to grow within the city itself.

Because of all the greenery that still grew in between the buildings within the city, it was hard to tell how big the city actually was since your line of sight would be blocked by the foliage.

But as far as I could tell, it might not be smaller than Crown Capital City itself.

And yep, the buildings still had the same design that looked like a specific far eastern country in my old World.

We approached the main ’entrance’ of the city which was marked by two towering trees with a road running in between them.

I was wondering how they would prevent people from sneaking into the city until I looked at the trees themselves.

Stuck on each of the tree’s trunk was a large talisman that was even bigger than me in size.

And if you were to squint your eyes, you might see a very faint barrier that stretched along the boundary of the city. I’m guessing they exist as both a shield against monsters and also a wall against intruders.

We joined the people that had emerged from the forest behind us to head towards the city’s entrance, joining the queue that was seeking entry into the city.

They seemed to also differentiate the lines for citizens and visitors so we had to join the queue meant for visitors.

It took a while but we finally reached the main gate to see the line curving into what appeared to be some kind of checkpoint just like the first one we saw when we entered the forest.

When it was our turn, I led the way to the raised counter where a male Inugami staff member was seated behind.

"Hello. How many of you, purpose of visit, how long would you be staying and any items to declare?" The staff member asked in a bored tone.

"Err... There’s seven of us. We’re on our way to Elhiria Republic so we’re stopping by this city on our way there for some rest and relaxation. We do plan on touring this city so maybe a few days? It’s our first time here so I’m not very sure what I should declare as well..."

He didn’t look phased by my last question and merely added, "Any drugs, weapons, slaves or dangerous items in your possession?"

"Umm... No drugs... We’re Mercenaries and Dungeoneers so we do have weapons... I do have a slave and I don’t believe we have any dangerous items with us."

"Which one is the slave?"

I turned to Katsuki and she stepped up to show herself to the staff.

I thought he would ask her to show her collar but he simply asked, "Are you a voluntary slave?"

"Yes. I serve Mistress of my own accord and take great pride in my service."

"Hmm... Very well. Take this and head towards the next station to my right," He instructed, taking a moment to scribble on a piece of paper before he slid it across the counter to me.

I took the paper and it seems like it’s supposed to record what I had told him since I saw the number seven by itself in the top corner which must refer to the number of people in our group... But the rest were just a mix of letters and numbers which I wasn’t sure what it meant.

The next area was obviously a security check and we had to line up once again until an available spot opened up for a staff member to check us.

"The immigration slip please," A female Nekomata drawled.

I handed it over to her and she pointed at the space in front of her, "Seven people... Line up here and place your weapons and luggage on the table in front of you."

This seems like an even more complicated process than the previous one... Then again, I guess this was the capital city so it’s not surprising that security was more strict.

We did as the staff asked and I brought out my swords to place on the table while the others also took out their own weapons if they had any.

The staff checked each of our weapons meticulously and noted down on her notepad.

I wasn’t really sure what exactly she was looking for though, but she spent at least a minute at each table to record what we brought.

Ironically, my Bangle of Folding was still on my arm and they don’t seem to be able to detect it. So I could have just put whatever I wanted into it and they wouldn’t even know.

Still, we complied with their request to avoid looking suspicious.

I did, however, notice a group of people in particular standing at a security station just looking around at the people in the room.

I’m guessing those guys must be using [Analyze] on the people they see to inspect their stats to look for criminals.

Yep... They’re really thorough I see.

Finally, the staff member gestured at the table, "Everything is cleared. You can proceed to the next station."

There’s another one?!

I suppressed a groan and went ahead to take back my weapons with my girls.

We were then ushered to the next section where everyone was positioned in front of some kind of device that would flash at every person before they were allowed to proceed.

I thought it was a camera until Katsuki whispered, "That’s a mana registering device, Mistress. It would record your mana signature so if you were to cast spells inside the city, they would know who was the one that cast the magic when they investigate the location."

"That’s... Really high tech? Why don’t we see those more often?"

"It’s a relatively new invention, Mistress. We believe this was made by an Off-Worlder residing within the Nekinumi Kingdom. Right now, they have monopoly over its usage but there have been talks about spreading it outside. It’s not going as smoothly as there are pushbacks from the magic community stating that this was violating their privacy."

Well... I guess I can see why people might be opposed to it... Though I believe most of the protest comes from people intending to do crime with their magic to begin with.

Anyway, we don’t plan to do anything like that so we just walked past the magic device and let ourselves be scanned.

That seemed to be the last checkpoint as the exit of the building was right after that section and we could see a huge sign that said ’Welcome to Keminomi Capital City!’ overhead.

Looks like we’ve officially entered the capital city of the Nekinumi Kingdom!

Plap plap plap...

Err... That sound...

I turned to the side and sure enough, there was a couple that was literally making love right beside the immigration building, both of them completely naked and just screwing away without a care in the world.

Right... I forgot this was a thing here...

Most of the people who passed them didn’t even look at them like this was something that they had already seen before.

And out of those that actually looked at them, only a few actually leered for a moment before also moving on.

I’m also just going to move on then...

"Right... Umm... First things first... We should look for a place to stay, right?"

Katsuki suddenly pulled out a scroll out of nowhere before unfurling it, "We have a few choices, Mistress. Would you like to have a private bath attached to the room?"

"Oh? There’s such a choice?"

"Of course, Mistress," Katsuki nodded, right before turning to Emilia.

Ah.

I turned to our resident merchant and she had her chest puffed up with pride, "Right this way, Boss! I have the perfect place for you!"

Just how many businesses does she already have?

"Emilia... How many--"

She suddenly turned around and placed a finger on my lips, a sly grin on her face.

"Let me keep that a secret please, Boss. I wanna spoil you as much as I can with the power of money~ And it would be even better if I can surprise you with it~"

Well... It certainly is working right now so I won’t complain.

I guess all I can do is keep quiet and follow along.

Speaking of following along...

Plap plap plap plap plap~

Ok, to be honest, I was already expecting it since Katsuki warned me and I got a reminder of it at the immigration building...

But there’s literally a couple or two every few metres that were just engaging in public sex along the street...

Is the sanitation of this city ok?!