The fortress city of E-Rantel had once been a vital border stronghold of the Re-Estize Kingdom. After the war between the Sorcerer Kingdom and Re-Estize, E-Rantel and all its surrounding territories were completely ceded to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, becoming a directly administered city of the Sorcerer Kingdom.
EeDechi and her party had already heard all sorts of rumors on the road. They said that in E-Rantel the heavy farmwork was handled entirely by low-tier undead, free grain was handed out every month, and the Sorcerer Kingdom had paid out of its own pocket to repair and renovate every house until it looked brand new.
Most important of all, the Sorcerer Kingdom was building a paradise on earth where every race could live together in harmony and equality.
They had heard that in E-Rantel ogres built the city walls and houses, flying dragons handled all the logistics and transport in the sky, death knights patrolled the streets as the law, and lizardmen, humans, elves, satyrs, kobolds… every different race lived side by side in E-Rantel, working together to create a wonderful home.
But rumors were still just rumors. Only the three adventurers could learn what E-Rantel was truly like by seeing it with their own eyes.
...
After a full month of nonstop travel, the three adventurers and their cat finally reached the borderlands of E-Rantel. Along the way they had barely seen a single Dark Undead Knight from the Sorcerer Kingdom. The forces had been scattered in every direction, leaving the heartlands strangely empty.
EeDechi's black hair had been dyed golden once again by Barrett. A wide-brimmed felt hat hid her hair, and a thick wool scarf covered the lower half of her face. Barrett and Franco had each made simple changes to their own appearances.
They stopped their hurried pace in the town of Kolma and stepped into a small tavern for a short rest. In the distance the towering circular walls were already visible; just a little farther and they would reach the core city of E-Rantel.
The moment EeDechi walked through the door, she saw a huge portrait of Ainz Ooal Gown in an ornate golden frame hanging on the wall. The chairs and tables around the painting stood completely empty—no one sat there.
The first clear sign of "different races living together in harmony" had already appeared. Behind the counter, the tavern keeper was a yuan-ti abomination. He had two human-like arms, but his neck and head were those of a turquoise python. Instead of legs he had a thick, powerful tail, and every now and then a forked tongue flicked from his mouth as he spoke.
The tavern's patrons came from all kinds of races. Besides a handful of humans, there were gray dwarves no taller than the tabletops, dragonborn with hot breath steaming from their nostrils, orcs with fangs bared…
At the feet of one gray dwarf rested a morningstar as large as his own head. If he could actually swing the thing, he would clearly be a dangerous opponent no one wanted to cross.
An orc with a mouth full of yellowed teeth shot the three adventurers a vicious glare. In the old days, if they had run into each other anywhere else, swords would have been drawn in an instant and the fight would have ended only when one of their heads hit the dirt. But now the Sorcerer Kingdom cracked the long whip called "Order," and even a crude, savage orc had to sit quietly, learning to sip from a teacup and eat with a knife and fork.
Barrett slid his sword half an inch from its sheath. The cold gleam flashed across the orc's eyes. He was sure the orc's true nature would never change. No matter how hard the Sorcerer Kingdom used raw force to crush that nature, it didn't mean they could actually civilize the orc into a polite, well-mannered race.
The three ordered a bottle of wine. As soon as the liquid touched their lips it brought a faint numb tingle that felt distinctly unpleasant.
Barrett wasn't sure whether the yuan-ti innkeeper had slipped some of his own venom into the drink. He remembered hearing that pureblood yuan-ti had a similar custom—adding fresh venom to their malt liquor to give it extra flavor. The thick-skinned patrons at the next table were drinking it with obvious enjoyment, but the adventurers didn't dare take another sip.
A hooded young human woman crept timidly into the tavern. The hood was oversized and completely hid her face. She carefully found a seat in the corner of the tavern and sat down. Suddenly, a key-shaped golden pattern lit up on the back of her hand.
The girl fearfully covered the back of her hand, but the dazzling golden light still leaked through her fingers like sand that couldn't be held back. Everyone in the tavern turned their eyes toward the girl. Some of the non-human patrons who saw the golden key on the back of her hand showed clear envy on their faces.
All at once, two tall death knights strode into the tavern. Blue ghostfire flickered in their eye sockets, and the Sorcerer Kingdom's emblem was inlaid on their black armor. The whole place fell silent. The yuan-ti innkeeper behind the counter lowered his head slightly, and even the loudest gray dwarves shut their mouths.
One of the death knights noticed the glowing hand of the girl in the corner. In a raspy voice like a broken bellows, it said, "Honorary Citizen, you are not permitted to leave E-Rantel."
The other death knight flicked out an enchanted rope. The thick cord, glowing with an eerie green light, slithered like a living snake, wrapping the girl in coils and dragging her straight into the death knight's grasp. Then the two death knights carried her out of the tavern.
"I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back!" the girl cried out helplessly. Her hood slipped off, revealing a head of soft, light brown hair. Her face was beautiful, and a pair of bright emerald eyes brimmed with tears.
Seeing the beauty being humiliated, Franco drew his wand, ready to step in and set things right.
Clang~ A long arrow slammed into the table of the three adventurers, its black-and-white fletching still quivering.
"Got a death wish?" The archer was a pointy-eared female elf. A quiver hung across her back, a shortsword rested at her hip, and she wore form-fitting emerald leather armor. A soft grass cord tied back her long, pale gray hair. She had fired the arrow as a clear warning for them to mind their own business.
"That girl they dragged off is going to die," Barrett said in a low voice. "I thought elves, who always pride themselves on being so noble, wouldn't just stand by and let someone die."
"Relax, she won't die," the female elf replied. "She's just a canary that flew out of her cage. The owner dragged her back so she can keep singing inside it." She put away her bow and took a sip from her own waterskin.
"What do you mean?"
"You three must be new to E-Rantel, right?" The female elf smiled. "Did you see the golden key emblem on the back of the girl's hand? That's the Sorcerer Kingdom's symbol for Honorary Citizen. It comes with all kinds of privileges, a smooth life with no worries about food or shelter. As long as you don't commit murder, you're spared the death penalty."
"If she's an Honorary Citizen, why would she want to leave E-Rantel?"
"How should I know?" The female elf shrugged, unconcerned. "Maybe there's more to the story."