Reincarnated as a... Completely Average Person?

Chapter 74: The Capital (1)

Kotori and her party quickly made their goodbyes and left the village.

Before Kotori and her party left she made one last visit to Winry's place and to personally say goodbye. Winry seemed sad to see them go. Kotori had also gone to pick up a few things. She personally commissioned before she left.

"Are you sure we can have this?" Layla asked

The things Kotori had gone pick up from Winry were several items that she was sure would help them on their trip and she promptly gifted them to her party as an apology for her making them leave the village.

For Umi she gave her a necklace studded with mana crystals. The necklace was covered in glittering crystals and was meant to hold extra mana for Umi.

For Layla she gave two small rings which Layla instantly interpreted as a marriage proposal. When activated the rings would cover her hands in fire. The fire would something akin to "paws" to be honest it was quite cute and almost looked like cosplay. Despite her high-class tone, Layla was actually a close-ranged fighter which meant these were perfect for her

Shu received a breastplate that when activated would turn into a full suit of armor. It was a rather simple item but the armor was probably strong enough to withstand a tank shot.

Lastly for Amelie Kotori gave her a new sword that she personally filled herself. Kotori had drained herself dry the past few days filling these items so she wouldn't have to recharge them for a while. The sword was ironically very similar to Yooma's [Sword Smith] skill and was able to transform itself into whatever Amelie desired.

Of course, all the items were made of manatanium which Kotori had farmed herself. The metal slime population of the dungeon nearby had dropped dangerously low and Kotori stopped herself just before the dungeon collapsed on itself. She didn't know any other place where metal slimes spawned and she was damned if the best food source for gourmet was going to just disappear due to her over-consuming it.

Kotori set out in her palanquin frankly it was big enough to hold everybody, so they took turn walking and sitting inside it. The only exception was that Amelie stayed firmly inside since she was the most recognizable of their group. The path to the capital was quite a way away and would take over two weeks of travel. For now, they followed the main roads since they were mostly unrecognizable now. They still avoid the major cities since it was easier to make an escape on the roads instead of inside walled cities

People only recognized Shu and Umi in their animal spirit forms. Layla was completely new, and Kotori had grown quite a bit over the year they had spent in the dwarf village.

She was around 11 now but she looked like a girl in her early teens.

Their group caught several stares, but most seemed to assume they were traveling nobility. Most of the stares were people gawking at Umi and Layla, but Kotori caught several men looking her way

[Lolicon!] She often thought.

The roads slowly began to get better as they got closer to the capital.

Dirt turned to cobblestone then turned to paved stone.

The number of travelers was slowly starting to increase, and Kotori could notice quite a bit of people looking at them.

She began to wonder if she should be less inconspicuous. She eventually decided that Amelie would wait outside the city while Kotori, Shu, Umi and Layla would sneak their way in and buy a title for nobility. It would be easier to avoid getting caught that way. Amelie was good at hiding and had her [Ninjitsu] skill so it should be fine.

The first Kotori noticed when she reaches the capital was the sheer size of it.

It was an oblong shape surrounded by increasingly taller walls. The walls were made of solid stone and encapsulated a towering citadel covered in white stone it was so tall Kotori could see the citadel from quite far away

[This seems excessive] Kotori thought

The reason she thought this was because it was unnecessary. The kingdom of Faramouth had only one country bordering them which was Atlea. Although both squabbled over the border near the great forest neither side could launch a clear attack due to how it was to traverse the forest. Having such a fancy castle for the capital seemed more like a display of strength than anything borne out of necessity.

They waited until nightfall and then Kotori used Hikari to raise them above the castle walls. As for the guards?

Who would expect a metal blob to sneak people OVER the wall?

Most of the guards scanned the ground and the area near the walls.

Nobody was looking above to the skies of course.

Kotori and her party alighted down and waited for the sun to rise. The city was well protected of course but Kotori knew based of her visit to the frontier city that the guards only kept track of the people who entered the moment her party entered the city it was extremely unlikely they would be found out to be trespassers unless they got in trouble which was something Kotori was taking extra care to avoid.

Buying nobility was a rather easy process.

In the Faramouth kingdom, there were two types of nobility. Hereditary and bought titles.

Hereditary titles were self-explanatory they were "true" nobility their children will have nobility status and they were usually quite rich.

Bought titles were a little different. They were usually reserved for merchants and the rich. It allowed for them to buy audiences with the king and they would be treated like nobility. Most merchants did it to own land and build factories.

[Is this what they call bourgeoisie?] Kotori thought as she briefly considering the concept of BUYING nobility.

[Maybe Marx was onto something]