Chapter 38 : Immigration Inspection

[“Restarting the Journey” complete!]
[You will receive a reward!]
[Chain Quest “Carvalon Castle’s Tension” has been generated!]

━━━━━━━━
[Carvalon Castle’s Tension]

You have arrived at Carvalon Castle!
You must surely have an adventurous personality. Otherwise, why would you set foot on the very frontline defending against the monsters of the Great Forest? A barren fortress, impoverished residents, scarce resources. In such an environment, anyone would feel unease rather than stability. You too felt anxious. What could be the cause of this unsettling atmosphere? To delve into this, you must start by gathering information.

※Warning: This is linked to the main quest. Proceed with caution.

Reward: Growth Points…
━━━━━━━━

Lena felt like she’d become a celebrity. Everywhere she went, people stared. They say women are sensitive to gazes—perhaps amplified by the senses she’d developed after her TS, it felt, with a spoonful of exaggeration, like everyone in the castle was staring only at her. Why are they all staring like that? Maybe I look exotic? She compared her reflection in a window, but there didn’t seem to be much difference. Is it because I have an Eastern perspective? Maybe Westerners see it differently. Just as Easterners often can’t easily distinguish between Germans and Slavs, perhaps Westerners see all Asians as Chinese. Anyway, this really makes me feel like a spectacle.

In times like these, Lena wasn’t the type to stay still. An irritable person might snap, asking if there was a show or telling them to mind their own business.
“Mm-hmm, yes, yes. Nice to meet you all. Yep, yep. Hello. Pleased to meet you.”
“?”

Lena, on the other hand, knew how to ride the mood, smiling brightly and waving at the people.
“Lena?”
“Ah, I’m saying hello. They’ll be our neighbors soon anyway, living in the same town.”

In modern times, neighborly interaction had dwindled to where people didn’t even know the faces next door. But in the old days, it was common for strangers to know family matters if they lived in the same village—remnants of that lingered in the countryside. This setting was medieval, a countryside village with infrastructure far below Lena’s standards to be called a city. Life would be easier if the villagers got along. That’s why she waved like a politician campaigning for election. If my face is going to be known anyway, it’s more efficient to use this opportunity, right?

“…”
Celine was embarrassed. What is she doing, acting so undignified? The residents found it bizarre too, whispering among themselves. But demanding dignity from a wild girl would be unreasonable. It was commendable she wasn’t intimidated by the crowd. So Celine stayed silent.

It was Lena who asked, “Hey, am I weird?”
“You are weird. If you know it’s embarrassing, you should stop.”
“No, not that. Even before I did this, everyone was staring. I thought maybe I looked strange because I’m an outsider.”
“Ah.”

This was Lena, who wasn’t even sure of her own name when they first met. Hearing people were staring, it was natural her thoughts went there. But her appearance wasn’t weird—“eye-catching” was more accurate. Why else would Morutun have mistaken her for a noble’s illegitimate child? Her distinct features, tanned leather clothes, and wild aura gave her a unique quality that’d make anyone double-take on the street. Still, attributing the stares solely to her being “Oh, incredibly beautiful!” wasn’t quite right.

“Hmm.” Celine stared at the bizarre bundle of rags moving beside them. It was very large—so large that even from a distance, people couldn’t help but wonder what it was. Its identity was, of course, Badugi. They’d covered him with rags after asking the guards, but she wondered if this was right. Wrapped tightly to hide every strand of fur and prevent his wolf identity from showing, it ironically sparked more curiosity. Still, it was better than exposing him as a wolf.

Lena, following Celine’s gaze, finally realized the cause. “Why are the people here so interested in someone else’s dog?” Dogs can be big. The Python they fought in the Great Forest was a snake larger than a hill—compared to that, was Badugi’s size really that strange? Well, it was because he was a monster. Even if a beast’s appearance defied common sense, people accepted it if it was a monster. His massive size was proof of that. It wasn’t that people were overly interested in someone else’s dog—the people of Carvalon Castle, close to the Great Forest, couldn’t help but be sensitive.

“This won’t do.” They say not to create stressful situations for pets. She’d intended to leave him be for adaptation training, but at this rate, it’d only harm Badugi. “Go inside.”
“!”

The moment she gave the command, the swollen bundle of rags collapsed abruptly, flattening against the ground. Celine’s hand on her sword hilt was a reflex. He disappeared that quickly? I didn’t even sense a presence.
“Ah, I didn’t release him among the people. I told him to hide in the shadows,” Lena explained, her tone nonchalant, like she’d just commanded her trained pet to do a trick.
“…Hide in the shadows?”

Though they’d escaped the Great Forest together, Celine hadn’t known Badugi could do that. It surpassed a pet trick—ordinary dogs couldn’t manage it. She glanced nervously at Reiner.
“Rookie.”
“Yes.”
As expected, Reiner chimed in. “That’s a dog, right?”
“Yes…” Her reply trailed off. Unlike Lena, Celine had normal sensibilities.
“Alright, I’ll trust you. Let’s do well.”
“Pardon?”
“If he could do that, why didn’t you have him do it earlier? Then we wouldn’t have had to argue with the guards.”

Reiner didn’t press the issue. “And I wouldn’t have had to come all the way here while I’m busy.” His words carried weight—his true feeling. “This way, I don’t have to report it to the higher-ups. If people can’t see it, it’s as good as not being there. Good, good. This cuts down about five documents.” This was the fate of a knight who should’ve wielded a sword but spent years buried in paperwork. Even now, his desk was piled high. This was why rookie civil servants who fussed over regulations eventually adopted a “whatever works” attitude over time—the reality of “flexibility.”

“It disappeared!”
“What on earth just happened?”
“A mage! It must be a mage!”
“Yes, nice to meet you, everyone! Let’s see each other often!”

The people freaked out, Lena greeted them, and Reiner muttered about hating paperwork. It was utter chaos.
“…”
As the only sane person, Celine pressed her throbbing temples and quickened her pace.

Having lived in the wild since waking up, Lena had high expectations for places where people lived. Travel is partly about escaping daily life, but also about seeing exotic sights. Here, the culture, technology, and era were different. Just as Japan’s countryside can feel like a tourist destination, every space in Carvalon Castle felt new and fascinating to her. When arriving in an unfamiliar place, you first need to explore the neighborhood to get a feel for it. What do people eat to survive? What’s the infrastructure like? Where’s the main street? She had many questions, but her first sightseeing tour was unfortunately postponed for a while.

“Wait here for just a moment.” The place they arrived at was the knight order’s headquarters in the inner castle. Compared to the outer castle’s buildings—none exceeding two stories—it looked almost majestic… from a distance. Up close, it was a ruined house. Ivy grew on the walls, bricks were cracked, and dust coated everything thickly. It was like a landmark luxury building turning into an eyesore without maintenance. Its spaciousness and size made the shabbiness even more apparent.

The inside was even more spectacular: a rough floor without carpets, cobwebs on the ceiling, cracked busts, and so on. This… is the knight order? Where’s the grandeur that should evoke admiration—flags fluttering, swords and spears clanging, gleaming armor on display? No, if you saw it as a building steeped in history, it had charm, but… this was a space where people lived and worked. It was utterly disappointing. My knightly dream… I should’ve just become a mage…

As Lena’s disappointment showed clearly on her face, Celine quickly added, “It won’t take long. My return report will be finished quickly, and the important part is discussing what support can be provided to you.”
The person responsible for that was Reiner, who’d escorted them here. Since he was right there, there’d be no delays waiting for procedures.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about me—just do what you need to do.”

That wasn’t why she looked downcast, so Lena corrected Celine’s misunderstanding.
“Will you be okay waiting alone?”
“That’s just the procedure. Complaining won’t do me any good, only harm.”

She’d heard on the way that this place was effectively an administrative office disguised as a knight order. Immigration checks take time—it was fortunate she wasn’t dragged into a secondary inspection room without proof of identity. Besides, they were offering to handle the processing for her. Complaining about waiting a little would be thuggish. …Of course, if she got bored, she might step out for air and wander around. But anyone would do that, right? That was the hidden thought behind her commendable answer.