The Replacement of the Sword Hero

Chapter Ten: Making Acquaintances

Unlike Melromarc where the castle town was too far inland to reach by ship, the capital city of Zeltoble had an active port. We could see the city from afar the previous night. As first mate Philip said, Zeltoble was a city that never slept, so lights from the city made it clearly visible from the ship after dark. We had made good time according to the first mate, and so we were a day ahead of schedule. Due to the mostly uneventful nature of the rest of our voyage, I'd had plenty of time to organize everything I knew about Zeltoble and to gather information about the city from the captain as well. Captain Cyrus told me that the Hickwaal trading company was very influential in the guild of merchants that governed Zeltoble, and offered to introduce me to the company's first president. There was no way I was going to turn down an offer to make such a powerful connection so I readily agreed. The downside was that we would have to wait for the captain to take care of all of his business at the docks, which according to him would consume the better part of a day. As such, Eclair and I decided to get some breakfast at a local tavern before searching for the slave trader's uncle.

The streets were much busier than those of Melromarc. The main throughfares were lined with noisy market stalls in bustling business districts, and scantily clad women trying to entice visitors into houses of ill repute in the poorer districts. The real slums of the city were patrolled by various gangs of armed thugs, but in a place where the majority of the population were mercenaries, there was no semblance of a police force.
"I have heard a little about this country from my father." Said Eclair. "He told me it has a profound dark side, and that it was no place for an upstanding citizen of Melromarc."
"War is fought in the shadows of Zeltoble." I said, repeating a line that I recalled from the light novels.
"Exactly."
There were many merchant buildings situated along the waterfront, and with them were establishments catering to the needs of the wealthy. As such, the quantity of money that changed hands inside the high class restaurants was a bit too high for my liking, so Eclair and I sought out a cheaper menu for our first meal of the day.

As we were walking down the street past numerous market stalls and vendors, the breeze carried a familiar smell to my nose. I turned my head instinctively in the direction the smell was coming from and found myself looking at an outdoor café selling warm pastries.
"What's the matter, Sword Hero?" Eclair asked.
"I never expected to find chocolate in another world." I answered, my feet unconsciously carrying me over to the café.
"What's chocolate?"
"This is." I said, paying for two warm chocolate croissants and handing one to her.
Her features broke into a blissful smile after the first bite.
"Wow. It's really good."
"I know, right. It sure beats hard bread after two weeks at sea."
Eclair finished eating hers quickly, still maintaining impeccable manners despite scoffing a chocolate croissant. While I admired her noble decorum, she subtly eyed my unfinished pastry.

I noticed her gaze and consumed the rest, brushing away the crumbs that I spilled in my haste. She pouted briefly, before correcting her expression and asking.
"So where to next, then?"
I gave the issue some thought. We didn't know where the slave trader might be, but our best shot at tracking him down might be through the Hickwaal company's president, whom Captain Cyrus had promised to introduce us to later today. That being the case, there were a few other characters from Zeltoble that would go on to become the Shield Hero's allies. A certain killer whale demi-human and a hero from another world. The killer whale demi-human even had ties to slave traders herself, given that her mission in Zeltoble was to track down the survivors of Lurolona that had been enslaved. Perhaps if we could find her first, we could find the slave trader's relative through her and I could acquire the two I needed.

We headed along the main street directly in line with the port. Past the merchant buildings were extravagant lodgings, and beyond them, a pair of huge stone buildings cast the street into shadow. They reminded me strongly of Ancient Rome. Coliseums. I already knew that Zeltoble was home to many of these fighting arenas, but seeing such grandiose architecture in real life was very different from reading about it. All around the base of the coliseums, they were encircled by squat buildings that served as inns, taverns and casinos, as well as numerous weapon shops and armourers. If I wanted information on a fighter from the coliseums, those would probably be the best place to go. Eclair stuck close to me as we threaded our way through the crowds and into a tavern. She may have been an experienced fighter, but as a member of Melromarc nobility, she wasn't used to mixing with crowds of mercenaries and it showed. We drew looks from a few patrons as we entered the tavern, Eclair more so than I. Her equipment looked new and her appearance was well kept. Her natural looks were eye-catching too. Compared to my brigandine which was badly singed, courtesy of Bitch, my sword which was disguised using the conceal weapon feature of the Mimic Sword and my plain European features which did nothing to differentiate me from the rest of this world's human population.