The palace was larger than I'd imagined.
I'd only left my residential quarters for the gardens once before—when I went to visit my father. Meeting with Father and traveling to see him had only involved moving through interior spaces, so I had no sense of the overall layout.
"So if you go down from the Red Room, you reach the entrance hall?"
"It's the closest to the entrance, but almost no one uses this route," Helkov answered, facing forward as he spoke to me while I followed behind, invisible.
The reason almost no one used it was simple: I was currently the only one living in the left wing of the palace where the royal family resided. Conversely, the only ones who did use it were my close attendants and the servants who tended to my quarters.
"In the past, soldiers and servants used to wait in this front area to receive guests heading to the various rooms, or so I've heard."
When you descended the stairs from the Red Room that Hatti used, there was an entrance hall on the first floor. The floors and columns decorated with brownish marble looked like something from a luxury hotel.
"Why do you and the others come via the stairs from the Blue Room?"
"Because Hatti is a widow—it's to avoid any strange rumors. Also, actually, while there are many stairs connecting individual floors, there are only four—no, maybe five—grand staircases that connect all the floors?"
Actually, the grand staircases were for important people only, while the short stairs where you could barely squeeze past each other seemed to be for private use. I'd lived here since I was three but hadn't known that. Apparently, Helkov and the others could use the grand staircases because my father, the Emperor, had casually given verbal permission. Hatti had been allowed to use them too, but she'd used the Red Room stairs for convenience.
"The servants are in the basement, so being able to go all the way down with just one staircase is convenient."
"I'd like to take a look—what's the basement like?"
"That'll have to wait for another time. Today I'm acting like I'm heading home after work."
Descending from the third floor and passing through the wide entrance hall, we finally reached the outside. Actually, this was the main entrance to the left wing, and it was my first time passing through here. Signaled by Helkov, I closed my mouth. I was beckoned by his finger to hold the hand he had casually lowered at his side. I'd been told beforehand that if I needed to use my hands, I should grab his belt instead to avoid being noticed.
"The building on the right is the parliamentary wing, visible from the Emerald Room as well. If you go left, you reach the palace front square, and going straight from there with your back to the palace leads to the main gate."
Helkov stopped and explained in a low voice. The windows of the Emerald Room faced the front of this left wing, so I had certainly seen the building before, but simply having a different perspective made it look fresh.
"And the main gate only opens during official ceremonies—like when His Majesty travels. Normally, you use the side gates. But today, to avoid drawing as much attention as possible, we'll use the left wing gate."
The palace had its back to a mountain, and the mountain itself had been carved out and leveled flat. Just one step outside the palace, the road sloping gently down toward the Imperial Capital lay in the direction of the main gate. The left wing gate also served as a carriage road, but it was apparently unpopular because it zigzagged and was bumpy. Still, because the palace was so large, there were those who used the left wing gate out of necessity due to the distance.
"...We did it."
"We weren't found out."
Once we passed through the left wing gate and were out of sight of the gatekeeper, Helkov covered his face with one hand. When I looked up, his bear ears were drooping too. The gatekeeper hadn't noticed at all and had overlooked my passage. However, he had inspected Helkov's luggage, so he wasn't slacking off.
"Do they always do inspections?"
"Well, basically? It's because of me, as you can probably tell. It seems he became terribly paranoid because the Second Prince cried while with me."
Judging from Helkov's complaint, it seemed the overly strict inspections had started three years ago. Certainly, I was a shut-in myself, so if anyone were to be suspected, it would be the three close attendants who came and went.
"But the palace should be difficult to infiltrate with magic, yet we weren't detected at all."
"Perhaps because even if I produce light with magic, the resulting phenomenon itself isn't in a form related to magic?"
He still seemed hung up on how I'd slipped past the palace defenses, but they shouldn't be able to monitor everything completely. They probably distinguished harmful magic or detected designated dangerous spells.
As we talked, we descended the zigzagging road. Then, through a break in the trees, the Imperial Capital came into view. It was a scene like a port town with the sea spread out before it.
"Wow, it's huge! Is that glittering thing over there the lake?"
"Oh, nice reaction. As I told you beforehand, the Imperial Capital is this vast, so I'll have to narrow down where we go."
I'd been told no detours, but it was already evening, so that couldn't be helped. Certainly, the way the cityscape continued as far as the eye could see meant you probably couldn't see it all in one day. Since there had been no change of capital since the empire began its reign, the city had just kept expanding to this size. Tokyo was also vast with buildings when viewed from high places, and I felt something similar to that.
*(This makes me want to go outside regularly. Which means I mustn't be found out sneaking out like this.)*
*(This incident has proven that. I detect no cause for concern.)*
As I walked and thought, Sephira spoke directly into my mind.
*(This time it was human guards. What if they had been beastmen? Among beastmen, some have keen noses, some have keen ears, and some have sharp skin senses. Also, there might be dragonfolk who can detect temperature.)*
I'd never actually seen dragonfolk, but in book descriptions, I'd read that some possessed clairvoyance.
*(Like the pit organs of snakes.)*
*(Details.)*
*(Don't abbreviate. Snakes can capture prey using body heat. If there were dragonfolk with that ability, it wouldn't matter if they couldn't see with their eyes, hear with their ears, or smell with their noses.)*
I should think of countermeasures, but for now...
"It's the city!"
Houses gradually increased before me, and before I knew it, the road had become cobblestone. We had entered an area that could properly be called the city.
"Yes, yes, please put on this coat from the head down."
From here, we had decided I would become visible but hide unobtrusively instead. So we entered an alley where no one was watching, and I put on the coat from the head down, pulling the hood deep over my eyes. Because mountains and lakes were close to the Imperial Capital, the temperature didn't even reach thirty degrees even in midsummer. Apparently, there were many people who wore coats as light cold-weather gear.
"Then shall we first catch a carriage to the lake?"
"Ah, wait a moment."
I gave instructions to Sephira.
*(Scan commencing... complete. No individuals detected paying particular attention to Master.)*
I had her check the surroundings. Then Helkov spat and burst out laughing, holding his ears on top of his head with his eyes wide.
"What was that just now? Not my ears—was that Sephira?"
"Ah, right. Since evolving into Sefirot, I've been able to enhance my existing functions too. Until now, mental dialogue was limited to one person at a time, but now I can communicate with two simultaneously."
Sephira must have transmitted to Helkov based on his reaction. Well, I'd gotten used to having my thoughts suddenly intruded upon, but from Helkov's perspective, it was like suddenly being told *"I am now speaking to your heart."*
"It seems there's no danger, so let's go."
"That's supposed to be my job, but well, should I consider it as having a reliable lookout?"
I wouldn't worry about the details. Since Helkov accepted Sephira's existence itself, it was within acceptable limits for him.
I walked through the evening Imperial Capital with Helkov. Most buildings were four to five stories, and since there were windows near ground level, there seemed to be many houses with basement floors.
"This area is close to the palace, so there are many homes of people with considerable status. But if you're talking about noble estates, those are in the neighborhoods to the east of here."
I gazed at the prosperity of the Imperial Capital while listening to Helkov's explanation.
"And this area is the carriage stop—the driver will announce where they're going."
The carriage road and sidewalk were separated, but very roughly. There were no signs like bus stops; people just gathered and stood around casually. Even otherwise, some people raised their hands to street carriages to stop them like taxis. The stopped carriages had drivers announcing their destinations and how many more passengers they could take. If you wanted to be let off along the way, you told the driver beforehand. Payment was in advance.
"Then, this one."
The carriage going to the lake that I found was about the size of a minibus? The other passengers seemed to get off along the way to the lake area. Only people like us were getting on excitedly. And it seemed I was the only one who found it slightly disappointing that you couldn't see outside from the windows.
Daily update
Next time: First Time in the Imperial Capital 2