"What is it, mister guard? Is there something wrong with the girls?" Benimaru's words brought the guard back to his senses. He quickly wiped the slight sweat on his forehead and looked at Benimaru, who was giving him the smile of the uncle next door.
The guard recomposed himself and said, straightening his body. "Nothing, sir. I was just shocked by the beauty of the misses."
"Oh, it's okay. Many people do praise their beauty." Benimaru nodded his head, while puffing up his chest a bit proudly.
"They sure are, sir." The guard nodded his head as Benimaru's easy going mood relaxed his mind and muscles.
Benimaru didn't stretch the topic further but instead asked. "So, can I know why you knocked on my carriage?"
The guard's mind jolted, remembering his job. "Sir, I wanted to ask for any kind of pardon by the government. I would also like to check up on the carriages behind you. Sir, don't worry about time. We will just do a quick checkup, nothing more."
"Here is the pardon from the chief of commerce." Benimaru pulled out a white envelope from his pocket and handed it down to the guard below.
Opening up, the guard gave a quick glance, mainly focusing on important words like the reason for his coming and the sign from the chief of commerce himself. After finding all of these, the guard signaled his companion to do the checkup.
Two other guards dressed the same as him walked before the carriages below and checked what was in them. Just as it said in the pardon, there were all kinds of weapons. Finishing the checkup and finding nothing unusual, they walked before the guard that was chatting with Benimaru to report to him. However, they couldn't help but give one last glance at Benimaru's personal guards, who were each driving a carriage.
A sprout of suspicion grew upon seeing them. It didn't start now, but from the very beginning, when they were about to do the checkup. Just like the first time, Benimaru's guards waved their hands at them, and they only stopped after they averted their gaze from them.
But they decided not to tell anything about this to the main guard, as this wasn't something out of the ordinary.
However, who could explain to their main guard that no personal guards or security would wave their hands at someone unknown, try to communicate with them.
Anyway, forgetting all of these, the guards reported the one in front of Benimaru.
Listening to his companions' words and knowing nothing bad was being carried by Benimaru, the guard said with a smile on his face which was unfortunately hidden by his helmet. "Sir, you can go now. I hope you have a great time in Migotanie City."
Benimaru just nodded his head and signaled his driver to start moving.
Finally, Benimaru and others were able to enter the city, where another adventure would begin for them.
…
The guards that were still doing their jobs had a small discussion while waiting for the next set of carriages to arrive.
The guard who was mainly talking to Benimaru asked his two companions. "Hey, did you find anything unusual about this one… the one we just did a checkup on?"
His companions looked at each other and were able to see the surprised faces of one another despite being hidden behind a helmet.
"There was nothing unusual about the carriages. Just like it was said in the pardon, they are indeed here to do weapon business."
"But, Garry… we felt something was wrong with the guards."
The two explained their experience and their reason, to which the man in front, named Garry, had to facepalm.
Still, he said to himself, thinking about Benimaru and the two girls with him. "Your reason might be dumb, but…in this case, why does it feel like a valid issue?"
The other two also nodded their heads, feeling the same.
"Well, let's forget about this and continue doing our job. No one can do anything in this city anyway in the presence of Baron Arash and the church." Shrugging his shoulders, he went to maintain the main entrance. His companion also threw this worry out of their minds and went back to work.
…
"It looks like we are still not the fastest one." Benimaru said, looking at the three red and brown colored carriages lined up before him.
"But, this is good enough. We can have a short rest before meeting with the chief." However, Ravenna looked on the bright side and cheered up Benimaru.
Benimaru shrugged his shoulders, as he didn't mind it much in the first place. He opened the door and invited the girls by pushing his hand forward. "Ladies first."
Ravenna didn't shy away and descended down, with a smug face. Fiain, who was usually quiet, still had that cold demeanor. She followed behind Ravenna and exited the carriage with her.
Eventually, Benimaru's turn came, and he also left the carriage. The first thing that caught his eye was a tall, three-story building, made of cobblestone. It had giant wooden windows and a rooftop where few people could be seen walking. In front of the building's entrance, hung a board right on top that had the words written — Migotanie Commerce Building.
Benimaru marveled at the sight before him — which was bland to him — a little before ordering his guards to get a few weapons down. He told one to bring those weapons to him and told the rest to watch the carriages while they were away.
After he was done with it, he led the girls and the guard inside the building, carrying a small box full of weapons.
Just as he entered the building, his eyes met with people in formal dresses walking in a sprinting manner, as if they might miss the train if they weren't fast enough. Other than that, there were very few people — probably for their personal work — who could be seen sitting in the waiting lounge.
However, Benimaru didn't directly go there; instead, he came before the reception, where a girl in a tight outfit that was struggling to hold her chest to come out, could be seen sitting.
Seeing Benimaru and others, the reception girl woke up from her dozing off and greeted them with a professional smile. "Welcome, guests. How can I help you?"
Benimaru also greeted her back with a smile of his own. "I am here to have a meeting with Chief Blarg."
"Oh," The reception girl couldn't help but get surprised to hear that name, as it was the name of the Chief of Commerce. It wasn't that she hadn't heard someone coming to meet up with him directly, but not this frequently, as someone just went to meet up with him earlier.
The thing was, Benimaru had the wrong idea about the traffic and the possibility of opening a new business. There would be at most three people coming to meet up with Chief Blarg for business. There wasn't much hype and interest about doing business; it would eventually be gobbled up by the big ones, and people didn't have the heart to do so in the first place. The people of this world had their hearts set on getting stronger and becoming legends in the world.
However, in this week alone, there were twenty people coming to discuss with Chief Blarg about opening a shop in this city, which was rare and baffling.
Benimaru saw the surprise on the girl's face. He didn't know the reason for her surprise, so he asked curiously. "Miss, is there anything wrong? You look a bit surprised."
"No…no…no…it's nothing." The girl quickly waved her hands, denying it, but she eventually decided to tell the truth. "It is just…there have been many people coming to our city to open up a shop. You have to know that at most four people might come in a week to open a shop. However, this sudden jump in numbers is surprising not just to me but even to many people in this city. But we do now know what your reasons might be for coming to do business in this city."
"Our?" Benimaru had a frown on his forehead as he felt totally confused. So, he inquired about it. "What do you mean by we? I think my reason is totally different from what others might have."
The reception just calmed down her surprise, and she was dumbfounded this time. She looked at Benimaru and others with wide, open eyes and said. "You don't know, or are you lying to me, guests?
However, to that question, the girl was met with silence. She immediately knew her mistake and started apologizing. "I am sorry, guests. I asked for something I shouldn't have."
"No, it's okay. Miss is still young, it is okay to be cheerful." Benimaru instantly forgave her with a smile, which surprised the girl. Seeing Benimaru as kind and easygoing, she felt she should explain everything to him on her own. "Sir, the reason for the frenzy of opening shops in our town is because of our princess, the pride of our city, Ana."
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