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A day has passed since we swiftly quelled the small stampede. We circled the forest to overtake Princess Leshimiiya’s group and arrived at the capital before noon.
Perhaps because the people are unaware of the stampede, there were long lines at the entrance, so we joined the queue. In situations like these, nobles, renowned merchants, high-ranked hunters, and local hunters returning to the capital after completing their tasks receive expedited entry and rarely queue, but unfortunately, Ailniege does not qualify for any of those.

Well, since we are posing as a noble lady acting incognito, Ailniege is technically a noble, but the only proof of status we have is the crest Mother Fii gave to us.
And while that may allow us unbarred entry to even the royal palace, I’m almost sure that using it will end with us getting dragged into needless trouble.
Given that we’ve already been embroiled in—or rather, jumped headfirst into—a problem, that must be avoided at all costs. Besides, we’re accustomed to waiting in line, so it’s not an issue.

「Seeing it like this, the capital is quite large.」
「Estoque’s capital was pretty big, too, wasn’t it? We only roamed the areas around the Guild, though.」
「Central is also quite large for a town, but my range of activity was rather narrow as well.」
「Does that mean we’ll only visit similar places even here in Ausente?」
『Since we’ll be attending school, our range of activity will generally be within its premises.』
『Is that so?』
『It was the case in my old world, at least. You mostly spend the whole day within the school campus—the academy premises, and usually, you'd only go outside for leisure.』

I have only vague memories of my general activities back then, but I do at least remember singing often.
I think I might have been part of a club, and I likely visited Karaoke establishments.
Reflecting on it now, I was quite fortunate those days. I could play music whenever I wanted to sing, listen to any song I chose, and find places to sing as much as I liked for a small fee.
However, I still find myself fortunate now, just in different ways. After all, I have an audience that enjoys listening to me sing at any moment.

『That reminds me; during our stay in Ausente, we’ll be living in accommodations provided by the academy… the dormitory, right?』
『Only if we pass, that is. Until then, we’ll be staying at an inn.』
「Mia, can we count on you to find us a place to stay during enrollment?」
「Of course, please leave it to me. I’ve already made inquiries at the manor about where we can stay.」
「Do the people back there know about that? Well, they do know the faces of the royal family, so I suppose they would.」

Seeing Ciel answer her own question, Mia looked at her with a gentle smile.
With Central’s intelligence gathering capabilities… or rather, the presence of the Hunter and Merchant Guilds, it’s easy to collect a lot of information, and there are also individuals at the manor who do specialize in data gathering. That being the case, finding information about inns and lodgings shouldn’t be difficult.

The exam is tomorrow. Depending on Princess Leshimiiya’s actions, things might start getting noisy this afternoon or evening, but that’s not our concern.
Many people have been entering and exiting the capital before and after us. Given that the only description they have of me is my short height and black hair, we shouldn’t draw too much attention.

So today we’ll probably just locate the academy and then enjoy some downtime at the inn.

◇◇◇

I don’t know if it was because of the sheer number of people or because we appeared to be just a pair of normal girls, but we entered Royal Capital Ausente without any difficulty.
Or maybe it felt this way because we had encountered so many problems back in Estoque.
Royal Capital Ausente is quite different from Estoque and Central.
For starters, their paved roads are superior to any I’ve seen before, and the entire city looks exceptionally clean.

Central was also tidy, but if I had to describe it, I’d say Central was in harmony with nature, whereas this place feels very man-made.
There isn’t much greenery, only those that appeared to be planted by individual establishments and residences.
Most of all, what sets Ausente apart from other cities are the carriages that can run without livestock pulling them.
The drivers have their hands raised at a magic core at the driver’s seat, so these likely serve as its steering mechanism.
From my observations on the road, I can’t say for certain, but these autonomous carriages number only a few, so they likely don’t have widespread use in this kingdom.

While not as shocking as the carriage, I can observe prevalent use of sorceric tools throughout the capital.
For example, the fountains in the parks and the clocks occasionally spotted around the neighborhood are all sorceric tools.
There are no traditional wells, but there are installations that generate water through sorcery.
And here are also street lamps that will surely illuminate at night, providing luminosity equal to daylight.

If I were to describe it, Ausente is like a kingdom of sorceric tools.
Looking back on our journey, even the smaller towns and villages we passed through had a significant number of sorceric tools.

As it is home to the largest academic institution hosting numerous foreign nobles for extended periods, I have been told that Ausente has exceptional public order and advanced technological developments, and it certainly does appear to be the truth.
With so many sorceric tools around, there must be a high demand for magic cores, which explains why the academy’s curriculum includes subjects for hunters, the magic core gathering specialists—well, not that’s their actual specialization.

I can’t say for certain since we haven’t visited the local Hunter Guild yet, but I expect numerous requests for magic cores to be posted up.
If we were to harvest magic cores extensively at a den and sell our loot here, we’d likely gain a significant profit margin out of it. We won’t, though. Unless Ciel wants to do it.

『How do I put this… There’s so many sorceric tools here. I already knew about it beforehand, but it feels strange to actually see it in person.』
『Wasn’t it the same when you first saw the ocean and the sky?』
『It was, it was! It’s not just about seeing something new; seeing things that you only knew about as information with your own eyes is really interesting.
I couldn’t do it back then, but I want to try drinking sea water someday.』
『I would advise against it, but it could be an interesting experience.』
『If Ain is so against it, it must be really salty then.』
『I’ve accidentally drank some before; it was pretty bad. However, I don’t know if this world’s oceans are the same, you know?』

The ocean breeze carried a salty scent, so the seas here likely contain salt as well. Still, I don’t have extensive knowledge of this particular topic.
My judgment is merely based on my own past experience.
Regardless, it is true that one will never know until they try, so if Ciel wants to taste seawater, I won’t stop her.

Since we’re heading to the ocean, open sea swimming could be enjoyable, but I wonder if swimsuits exist in this world.
Considering the existence of ocean monsters, it is possible that swimming in the ocean isn’t a common practice. If that’s the case, it would be like being on a private beach, which I wouldn’t mind at all.

Anyhow, we parted ways with Mia at the inn, and while chatting, we headed out to locate the second academy where we are supposed to be tomorrow.
The inn is neatly situated near the entrance of the district where the school is located.
It’s clearly not one for hunter occupancy, as most of the guests were dressed more for style than functionality.

We only checked for available rooms and left Mia to manage the rest.
Apparently, the room was in need of adjustments, or so she said.

And that ends our current chapter (part)!

Our cast safely arrived at Royal Capital Ausente, and it looks like it’s quite advanced in terms of technology. We have magic cars, water fountains, street lamps, and more! Mostly expository this time around, but we did have a few cute interactions here and there. And Ain, good of you to let Ciel drink the world soup, lol.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!