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Once we repelled the Stalk Dog attack, we finally reached Berith. It was already nearing evening, and there was quite a big line trying to enter the city at its nighttime gates. Since this city was the headquarters of the World Tree Religion, there was quite a big flow of pilgrims and Adventurers, enough to put Raum to shame.

And those travelers needed to be inspected so the gate guards were doing quite a strict inspection. The line progressed at a turtle’s pace, and our turn only arrived when the sun was about to set.

Temuru presented his merchant guild ID, and confirmed that we were his guards. But they wouldn’t trust us with just that, so we had to show our Adventurer IDs too. I, Michelle, and Finia showed ours, and when it was Cloud’s turn, the gate guard frowned quite openly.

“Hmm, your race…”
“Huh, is there a problem?”
“You, remove your hood for a bit.”

Just as he said those, he grabbed Cloud’s hood without waiting for him and roughly pulled it off. His gestures were full of disgust towards half-demons. World Tree Religion deified the World Tree and believed that it was in charge of the world’s cycles, purifying the souls and reincarnating them.

Naturally, there were many other parts toit, but this was the most famous of them. And half-demons were deemed to be impure beings reborn with “something” from outside of the World Trees reincarnation cycle getting mixed into their souls.

For that reason, half-demons were targets of hate for the World Tree believers. This place was the headquarters of such a religion, so I told Cloud to put on the hood and cover the horn on his forehead.

However, his race was clearly stated on his Adventurer ID. That’s why the gate guard realized it.

“Tsk, so you’re tainted.”
“Wha-!?”

Seeing Cloud’s horn, the gate guard spits those words out. His eyes were filled with both disgust and even bloodlust. He seemed to be quite a devout believer. I mean, Maria was a devout believer too, but because she knew me, her revulsion towards this subject was quite abated.

But this guard wasn’t the same, and it was a first for Cloud too. Even now, the guard’s open hostility made him lose control and yell. I lightly grabbed his arm and brought him back to his senses.

“The Pope of this generation is so generous for tolerating tainted existences like you.”
“……”

Cloud clutched his fist and endured the gate guard’s open hostility. Since I had already conveyed to him what kind of place this was, he managed to just barely endure it. Had he been met with such contempt without knowing about it beforehand, it probably would have escalated into a big incident.

Getting to know about this malice was Cloud’s challenge for this expedition. He knew that, which is what allowed him to endure it. However, there was someone who couldn’t. It was Michelle who had already presented her ID.

She was looking at the gate guard with unbelievably cold eyes, as if she was looking at a bug, and without changing her expression, she reached out to the Third Eye on her back.

“Stop, stop! Michelle, what are you doing!?”
“Huh, I’m just gonna shoot him a bit. Isn’t he just the worst?”
“Just stop. Endure it for now. If you do something here, it’ll be us who will end up on the wanted list.”
“What? Isn’t he the bad guy here?”
“He is, but not in this city! Anyway, just endure it, please!”

I got cold feet at her sudden outburst of ruthless bloodlust. If it came off from some enemy, I could’ve easily brushed it off, but a bloodlust coming from a friend, and an innocent girl at that, it hit differently.

The gate guard noticed that I had suddenly moved from Cloud’s side to Michelle and asked dubiously.

“What, did something happen?”
“Nope, nothing!”
“Then stay still. Good grief, girls that do unladylike things like adventuring really can’t settle down can they?”

That comment rubbed me wrong too, but if I snapped now I’d have worked for nothing. I held it back and revealed an insincere, cramped smile, but that caused Michelle’s anger to grow even more.

At this rate, she was bound to go on a rampage. Moreover, since our inspection got delayed, people behind us started to get irritated. The gate was about to close for the day, so impatience probably played a part too.

“Hey, aren’t you done with the check? I’m tired of waiting already.”

Someone failed to read the mood and spoke such words. Surprisingly, it was Cortina.

She pulled out her Adventurer ID bordered in purple and swung it around in a showy display. Purple was the proof of the highest-ranked Adventurers—The seventh rank. There were only five people in the world who held this card that signified them to be a hero class. Of course, they were my comrades.

The gate guard noticed that color too and his face went pale.

“That card, could it be…”
“Yeah. And seeing my ears should tell you who I am, right? Hey, even knowing that, are you trying to start making false accusations?”
“No, I, umm… This is my work so…”
“Right. So I’m telling you to go ahead and check it. So hurry up, will you?”
“O-Okay!”

The guard stiffened at Cortina’s words, then accepted her card and checked it with awkward movements.

“Yes, everything is correct. If you are Lady Cortina’s comrades, there are no problems. Welcome to Berith.”
“Okay, thanks.”

Revealing her identity seemed to have settled the matter. I was thankful for her standing in cases like this. But then, Cortina took a step closer to the guard and spoke in a whisper.

“Oh right. Maria is the same, but the Pope here is also quite tolerant of the half-demons, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is as you say!”
“But you seem to be different.”
“N-No that is not…”
“Haha, just kidding. But make sure what you do can be played off as a joke. Otherwise, you could lose various things, okay? Like your job, or your life.”
“Y-Yess!”

She didn’t forget to give him a warning. But her voice did not reach the people around. It was only loud enough for me to barely hear it from the side. She didn’t let the situation go out of hand but still remembered to warn him.

This was what made her such a good woman, I was convinced once again.