Road to the Crown

Despite how crucial this day would be, I felt absolutely no pressure as we rode through the open gates of the city of Pilzno. Separating my entire group into two units, with Kalen and Jan following with the majority of my troops and carriage, and only me, Elia and my trusted retainers entering the city just like that.

Common sense dictated that any major group had to be checked, and if the news of lord from Tarnow approaching with a huge group would reach the ears of Elia's family, they would obviously prepare something to secure their position. But if the entire group posing as trade caravan were to be lead by a noble from far north, no one would bat an eye!

The layout of the city was insanely similar to both Tarnow and Krakow, taking a shape of a water droplet, with its thicker part resting on the bank of the river, while its sharp end protruding into the open plain. With the trade route cutting right in the middle of the city, we entered from the west gate. A group of four nobles might not be common, but it definitely wasn't something strange.

"So, we are going to stay in the city Tavern or…?"

It was the very first sentence that Elia uttered after the events from the morning. Just like the last time, with our minds hazy from all the alcohol we drank, we continued the same sort of fun that we discovered on the carriage until every single drop of beer was gone… Only to enjoy ourselves some more later on! Thankfully, be it the drunkness or a shred of surviving common sense, I somehow managed to detach myself from her lips before it was too late.

In the end, we cuddled each other to the sleep, both happy with the results of the evening. But it didn't mean everything was all right in the morning!

Just like she did when we first slept together on the carriage, Elia put herself on the guard once again, despite not even a single move made by me either through the last evening or the night!

"Yeah. We need to leave our horses there, and then we will pay a visit to the lord of this…. To the current protector of the city. If everything will go as I want, we might even secure a meeting with the town's mayor."

Instead of trying to duke it out with Elia's family straight away, it would be infinitely simpler to just visit the town's mayor, explain the situation to him and after acquiring a paper background for our claim, we would simply chase away the occupants of the local palace.

"Oh? I thought you would want to instantly burst into their quarters and demand justice for me… There goes my knight of a white horse…"

Sending me a nudge to the side, Elia hurried her horse a bit to prevent me from paying her back. I wasn't someone who would just flaunt my status and follow the common misconceptions about the rules of our class. Instead of risking not only my life but also the prosperity of the entire nation in the long term, I preferred to just deal with this trouble in a simple and safe way. Yet, her ironic remark still ended as a needle struck right into my manly pride.

"Wait, I just realised something."

Hopping off the horse, I passed the reins to Al before turning back to Eila.

"Get the horses to the stable, and meet with me at the magistrate in about an hour."

Without waiting for her response, I dashed away towards the market street, with colourful shops decorating its sides. To prevent the horses from dirtying the stones of the street, the tavern was located right beside the gate, with the trading street extending all the way to the other side of the city wall where the opposite gate was. Unless we were willing to just skim through the city and get to the other side, no matter if we were the nobles, it was forbidden to ride a horse on the streets.

Looking around, I couldn't help but notice the stark difference between my current reality and modern times. While in the future, shops would create an insane composition in their front to bait new customers into entering, craftsmen of this age never could complain about lack of work, allowing them to limit their shopfronts to just a simple sign indicating what kind of trade its owner cultivated.

After passing through the smith with an obvious anvil on the sign hanging above the simple, bricked wall, inner-city tavern discernable just by the jovial voices startling everyone passing beside it even at such an early hour, and a few more shops that were differed only with the markings on the doors and image on their sign, I finally found the place I was looking for.

Compared to the other shops where people were coming in and out without even a moment of hesitation, the doors leading to this particular one were closed. Knocking on them a few times, I waited for a moment only for a burly man to open the doors and look at me as if I raped his daughter and now came asking for dowry.

"What?"

Not bothering with any pleasantries even after seeing my clothes, the burly, bald man in front of me already reached for something hidden behind the planks of the iron reinforced doors just in case my answer wouldn't please him.

"I need an engagement ring."

Apparently, this was one of the answers that didn't activate this man's trap card, with how his expression changed to an amicable one, with all the previously tense facial muscles suddenly relaxing as he graced me with as kind as a repulsive smile.

"Dear customer, please, come in!"

The moment I passed through his big body akin to the kind of people who thought that the strength alone would grant them victory on every battlefield, this small giant shut the doors behind me and secured them with a sizeable iron slab.

Compared with s simple knob that most of the doors around the world use, this place was closer to a fortress than a simple shop! But considering how many expensive materials were lying around here, all those precautions were warranted.

"Welcome to the Pilznian Goldsmithy, Royal Ring. How can I help you?"