Eyes.
Many eyes.
Many eyes were upon them as they rode through the streets of the large city, Butt Stallion's horse shoes clanking against the cobblestone road.
Kris was no stranger to attention.
But not quite like… this.
The whispers were new.
"Is that an angel?"
"It's a valkyrie."
"Does that mean he is the hero?"
"They said the hero had been selected so he must be it."
"So tall?"
Kris instead focused on the architecture and the people around.
The masses looked washed, which was good.
The people varied greatly, across what Kris would expect of the human spectrum. Primarily caucasian-looking, but more than a handful of other appearances, including a more asian-esque carpet salesman, implying to Kris that the demographic was probably less a matter of prejudice and more majority, which was good.
The architecture, meanwhile, was a mess.
This area they'd entered through had no city planning involved whatsoever. Kris couldn't tell if the city grew from this section, or it had been damaged in the recent past and rebuilt, but he could tell it as an affront to proper usage of space.
It didn't seem like these were slums, even though they were on the outer edge of the city, just badly planned.
The massive walls behind them were both reassuring for their size… and daunting for their need.
As they continued, the city became more planned, better constructed.
And ahead, past the buildings and populace, was another wall of similar size to the one surrounding the city.
"Tiered defenses?" Kris asked aloud, the first real thing he'd said since entering Leodonia.
"It is the capital after all where the King and the Pope lives, so it needs to be well defended," Hilda answered.
"Mhm…" Kris said, before a wave of nervousness came over him at the words. "We're not meeting them, right?"
"Unless they specifically ask for us, no. They are busy people, we are here to meet with the Head Captain of the Order," Hilda answered.
"Oh okay. That'll be easier to deal with." Kris said with a nod.
"Hopefully," The disguised Lily said as she clung to Kris's back, nervously hugging him.
"Don't worry Lily, I'm a good talker, we'll be able to convince them." Kris assured, his own nervousness quashed at the worry of his new friend. "You'll be fine."
"If you say so," Lily responded as they continued on.
And after a few more minutes they came to the second wall, where there were Order Knights talking with some of the guards who noticed their approach.
"Ah, Lady Hilda, Lord Hero, good to see that you arrived safely, just continue onto the center, and from there you will be escorted to the Head Captain's office," The knight said as they passed by.
"Thank you." Kris said on instinct.
Hilda did they same as they entered the second zone where they met not with houses and shops, but open fields of wheat.
"Wow." Kris said at seeing wide, open fields of wheat.
An entire section of land, seemingly the same length between walls as the outer layer, seemingly dedicated entirely for farming. Maybe bigger? Even if the square footage was probably smaller.
A mounting feeling of dread came over Kris as the implications of this section and of the city's design started to click into place.
"Yeah it is pretty impressive," Lily commented.
"Yeah… impressive." Kris said as he began to wonder what threats this world faced that would need walls of that size. And what kind of magic was at play to let this much crop feed that many people. He heard a million for the population before, but that seemed like an exaggeration, it should have been more packed if it was… right?
And so they continued on, the afternoon sun shined down on them as they continued following the main road, passing by wagons and farmers who were working the fields.
And it took awhile for them to met the other wall, where as they arrived Lily recast Disguise Self on herself as they passed through the third gate, and entered what Kris presumed to be the rich part of town.
Which was basically confirmed the second they passed through as there was a great shift in architecture, the people dressed in much finer clothing.
Though while they were given looks, they were much less obvious than those earlier.
More curiosity of the powerful at a slight oddity instead of the near reverence of the commoners.
And more than a few who completely ignored them, like the man in what looked to be a two-piece suit briskly walking past them.
"I'm suddenly feeling really underdressed." Kris said.
"Nah the dragon on your clothing sends a powerful image, not many would choose to wear such garments, especially a Silver Dragon of Bahamut," Hilda stated.
Kris double took. "You know of Bahamut?"
"Of course," Hilda said. "I saw him once in the celestial realm."
"...Right, yeah, that makes sense, I keep forgetting you're literally… I'm gonna stop talking now." Kris said, reddening as he spoke before shutting up and taking in the surroundings.
There were things like cafes and high-end shops, a very well designed and laid out city with actual planning put into it evident in the surroundings. He had little doubt there were probably places for entertainment here as well.
With the classiness of the area, Kris was worried about segregation for a bit, but began to spot some of the more commoner-looking folks (in nicer but still working-type clothes) going about their day.
It seemed they were mostly separated by classism, not a literal 'you shall not pass' level of separation, which was a good sign. Not the best, but better than he feared.
There were also more visible guards and the more well-dressed, Order Crest bearing knights out and about, guarding things, following their wards, performing general knightley actions.
And after a bit they came to the fourth wall and fourth gate, this one being very much closed at the moment.
Where they were greeted by the guards and knights. "The Hero has arrived, open the gate!" One of them shouted. And a second later Kris watched the wrought-iron gate be lifted, which was different from the wooden ones he had seen previously.
And after they were personally escorted by a group of knights to their destination. And after passing through the gate, Kris got a good look at the Castle and Cathedral, which were magnificent structures. The castle screamed Royal Authority while the Cathedral screamed Divine Authority.
And the two were right next to each other dominating his sight, but still allowing him to see what he presumed to be the Order HQ, seemingly acting as the very last line of defense for the two establishments.
It was much more modest compared to the two massive structures, looking more like a grand estate.
And outside it he could see what was probably both new and old knights training.
That was probably the most familiar part of this place, very similar to what he'd seen of Salvarision.
And as they got closer, they had to park their horses and got escorted inside the Order HQ, which gave of a feeling of bureaucracy as he could see people walk around with large stacks of papers, going from one room to another.
That, too, was familiar from working in an office.
And from there they were just let further inside, walking for what felt like minutes until they came to a large set of oak doors, where the Knight that had been escorting them knocked.
"Head Captain, Lady Hilda and Lord Hero have arrived alongside their companion," The Knight who had been escorting them said, he was a young man who couldn't be no more than seventeen or sixteen year old.
"Thank you Jason," A voice of authority said from the other side of the heavy oak doors, it was a voice that carried weight and experience. "You can come inside."
The three did so. Thankfully, no one had questioned Lily's disguised form so far.
And inside sitting behind a large mahogany desk, was a man of great stures deck out in the most fantasy platemail Kris had seen so far(on anyone besides Hilda). He was a stern faced man, eyes a shining, but piercing blue color, his black hair buzzed very short.
All in all the man looked like the epitome of Paladin.
"G-greetings, and well met." Kris said after a moment of awkward silence where they stared at each other.
"Well met young Hero, I am Head Captain Titus, of the Order of the Chief God. and you too Lady Hilda, it has been years since I last have laid eyes on a Valkyrie," The man, Titus spoke as he stood showing that he was very much so taller than Kris by a fucking foot.
Kris had to try very hard not to swoon.
"It is excellent to meet you as well, Head Captain," Hilda responded.
"Now might I know your name young Hero? That memo has sadly not landed on my desk… or it has and it got lost amongst the others," Titus joked, as the man's desk was very bare of paper. Either he didn't have a lot of work, or he dealt with it very fast.
"Ah, uh, yes, I am Kris." Kris said, trying to keep his composure. "It is an honor to meet you, sir."
"Kris… a strong name, now young Kris, might you tell me why you have a disguised Mamano as a companion?" He asked his eyes laid on Lily's small frame hiding behind Kris.
"Right, that, I was going to go to get to that, my apologies." Kris sputtered, before shaking his head. And forcing himself to focus on the very important convincing he needed to do. "This is Lily."
At that Lily dropped her disguise and flew up into visual sight. "H-hello." Lily said with a nervous voice as Titus just stared.
Kris felt like he was currently being stripped naked by the man's gaze.
"When I first entered this world," Kris said after a moment, the need to protect his friend overpowering the nervousness he was feeling. "I was lost and confused in a forest occupied by monsters, miles and miles away from any Order assistance. And she, for no reason than because it was the right thing to do, tried to lead back to her village, and if it weren't for her assistance I would have been eaten by a death dog couple."
"I see, and have you copulated with her?" Titus asked with a straight face.
"Absolutely not." Kris said with conviction.
"I haven't." Lily answered in kind. "I don't force that stuff."
"That is correct, Head Captain, she has not tried to engage in any degeneracy with Kris, and has actively defended him from other Mamano," Hilda said.
"I see," Titus said as he moved a hand behind his desk and from the sound of it opened a drawer. "That is good to hear. There has been discussion recently to allow certain types of Mamono into the city after having been certified as not all of them are… equally promiscuous, and also due to the fact that sometimes ordinary animals can become one if simply showered with too much affection."
"...Oh, great, yeah, uh, Lily's definitely a good mamano." Kris said, not having expected that at all.
"Yes an Angel of Chief God vouching for her definitely proves her good nature, so she will simply need to take this," Titus said as he withdrew his hand from the drawer and threw whatever he had taken from it at Kris for him to catch, which he did and looked at.
It was a collar.
A collar with the symbol of the chief god on it.
"...This was designed for those dog ones wasn't it?" Kris asked after a moment.
"It was, the prince's dog recently turned and Kobolds are the ones who are being fast tracked," Titus answered. "She can probably wear it as a belt."
Kris held it up for her.
"Well if it allows me to be around without needing to use my spell slots, I can deal with it," Lily said as she put it around her waist.
"With that out of the way we can move onto proper business," Titus said as he sat back down. "Do you currently have a plan? Of any kind really?"
"Of a sorts, yes." Kris said, as the relief gave way to resolve. "I need to get stronger. Strong enough to go to Makai. Strong enough to take on the Demon Lord and the Betrayer. And in order to do that, I want to help out as much as I can while I get stronger. I have some plans for how to potentially destabilize the Demon Army if they have a proper military like I've been led to believe, involving taking down the Demon Generals, but I don't think I'm near strong enough to do that yet."
"You are not, and that is good to hear, you know your limit and you wish to surpass it," Titus spoke. "So you wish to help out, correct?"
"Yes, absolutely." Kris said.
"There are always issues that need to be dealt with, Mamano that needs to be spanked, monsters slayed, bandits removed, people need something retrieved, so if you're interested in something of the second variety I have something of the second variety for you if you're interested."
"I'm listening."
"Good," Titus said as he pulled out a map and laid it on his desk, hithering them to come closer. And Kris saw that it was a proper map of the city and slightly choked on his spit as he saw the ruler in the corner.
Leodonia was fucking huge.
"Now we have been getting reports from the Eastern Commoner District also known as Mist Town about rodents of an unusual size coming from the sewers."
"ROUS? I didn't believe they existed." Kris said, trying very hard not to dismiss the very real problem at hand, but the opportunity was too good.
"They do and these are even larger than normal," Titus stated. "So the job is to go into the sewers and find their nest. We've already had four deaths."
That was a sobering thought. "I see. I believe we can do it, right guys?"
"That we can," Lily said.
"Yes, though could we do so in the morning? It is getting late, and we need to recover from our travels," Hilda suggested.
"Oh yeah, I think I got stabbed earlier, did I get stabbed earlier?" Kris asked, genuinely unable to tell. The new insensitivity to pain was… probably a bad thing, but he'd adjusted.
The two women just give him a look.
"Well if you want to you can stay in the barracks or one of the many taverns, I would recommend a tavern. Better beds." The Head Captain stated.
"Thank you sir." Kris said, before a thought came to mind. "Should we come back here in the morning or is there a specific access point we should meet up at?"
"Access point, just talk to one of the guards and say you got the Rat Job," Titus answered. "Anything else I can do for you Kris?"
"Do you have any recommendations for taverns?"
"Not familiar with any in Mist City, but if you stay in the Noble District there is Tiffy's Whale."
"Noted, thank you." Kris said with a nod. "I don't have any other questions at the moment, sir."
"I will just be in need of switching out this blade of mine with a spear," Hilda said as she placed her hand on her original sword.
"That can be easily handled," Titus said as he stood up and walked over the wall of weapons that Kris had not noticed until this very moment.
All of his focus having been on Titus due to the sheer presence the man had.
And it was a magnificent wall that contained the most popular and common martial weapons, European styled mostly, with a few exotic ones. As he was pretty sure he could see a katana on the left most side.
Titus took one of the spears of the wall and handed it to Hilda, exchanging it with her fancy sword which he simply placed on it. The blade clicking to the wall like a magnet.
"Thank you Head Captain."
"You're welcome."
"Now then it was nice to meet you all, and I hope your first job is successful."
—
The Eastern Commoner District or Mist Town as it was also known as.
Was…
Chinatown.
It was basically their version of Chinatown.
Because the local China expy was named the Mist Continent.
Which was… a little odd, to Kris, that enough people had come from there to here.
And also implied some level of racism at some point, if not currently.
But not segregation so it wasn't insurmountable.
Though unfortunately, they stood out even more here, especially with how Lily was now undisguised, even with her new belt and the presence of Hilda.
Though thankfully thanks to both Lily's and Hilda's efforts they managed to find a relatively nice looking Tavern to stay the night. As Kris hadn't really known what to look after, being still relatively new to this world, and it being a little bit different from he had expected due to this being Mist Town.
Like how the tavern they ended up staying at was surprisingly affordable, just one gold for the night for a room with two beds and spare change for some extra pillows for Lily to use as a bed, and they got breakfast in the morning, so overall a pretty good deal.
Probably.
Kris really needed to look deeper into the local economy and figure out what a gold coin was actually worth.
After a mediocre-at-best, slightly burnt breakfast (which was perfect for Kris), they set out for the meeting point, met up with the guards, and were let into the sewers.
Storm sewers, thankfully, with some surprisingly clear water running through.
"My this is dark," Hilda said as she took out her sword and suddenly it bloomed with light. "So this is a sewer? My, you humans make the strangest things."
"Well, this is designed to prevent flooding from immense rainfall by drawing the water down and away so things don't get damaged." Kris began to explain as they began to walk. "There's another type of sewer used for sewage, which is uh… the grosser version that I'm really grateful we aren't in right now."
"Well it is good it was not that kind then," Lily said with a tone of disgust, and…
Splash.
Kris heard the sound of water being displaced and instantly moved his shield and smacked what had leapt at him, landing back in the water that hid it, letting out a distraught sequel as it did so, and Kris heard others respond.
"...Water rats." Kris said in disbelief.
"Ew that this was ugly," Lily said.
"Yes it was rather grotesque, and the size."
"Well then." Kris said, pulling the flower he'd taken to using as a club off his back. "Let's see if we can provoke a response from these things." Kris said as he moved cautiously down the tunnel, the rat once more jumping out to attack but this time missing completely and impacting the wall instead. "Whaddya know, a response."
"You're fugly!" Lily shouted as came flying up beside Kris hovering over the water.
"Disgusting creature!" Kris heard Hilda say as her armor rustled and the source of light got closer. "Die!" And he heard the sound of steel hitting stone. "You guys heard nothing."
"Like you hit nothing?" Lily asked as she turned her head.
"Shu- argh don't attack me!"
And at the same time Kris heard the sound of scurrying as around one of the corners came another giant rat, and they were very much giant rats, as they looked to be just as tall as Lily.
And then a third one jumped up and bit him on the back.
"Ah, you dick!" Kris said as he batted it off.
"How many rats are there?" Lily as she looked into the darkness of the sewer.
Kris hit the one that had bit him with the flower, which caused the… visibly mutated rat to lose one of its legs, but it was coming off its back so it didn't seem affected.
"Hopefully, by the time we're done, zero." Kris said, utterly disgusted at the lordranian rats.
And then was bit on the back again by yet another rat.
"I swear to god if I die from dysentery from back wounds I'm going to haunt every rodent for the rest of eternity." Kris swore.
"Ah Krissy, I help you out," Lily said as she swung and drew with her brush and that feeling of invigoration hit him.
"Appreciated as always, Lily!" Kris said happily.
At saying that there was the sound of another splash of water and he saw a rat jump out and sink its teeth into her right leg.
"Ahhh!" The tiny girl screamed in pain as she kicked it of kickly, with landing back in the water staying visible looking like an alligator ready to strike.
"LILY!" Kris shouted, the light of the Blessing beginning to flicker around him.
"You shall all die, o' my god bless my blade," Hilda spoke, her words filled with divine power, and then Kris heard flesh being burned as rat died. "I am coming, my friend." And a second later she came flying, hovering above the water lighting up the area even more revealing another rat covered in shadows.
And as she did one of the rats jumped at her to try and bite at her feet, but got a kick in its face at the attempt.
At that the rat behind Kris bit into again, hitting the spot it had previously.
"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" Kris shouted as the white light began pouring from his body, before slamming the flower into the one on his back, the burst of radiant light blasting it off his body and sending it screeching to the ground, the grotesque mockeries of a normally adorable creature only serving to fuel his anger.
Even in the state of divinely empowered rage, Kris could tell that these things were just wrong in every way, but their tails were standing out even if Kris couldn't place what about them seemed so odd.
Other than the feeling of wanting to rip their spines out by grabbing said tails.
"Get above me!" Kris said as he stepped under Lily, into the water, to make himself the biggest target, the rats immediately taking the bait.
"I do," Lily said as hovered above him. And began shouting insults at the rats as Kris began bashing them with his shield.
And behind him he heard Hilda let out a grunt of pain.
"Just die." Kris said as he finally killed one of the damn things, its skull bursting open in a burst of radiance and gore.
And after he finished that rat behind him took the opportunity to attack, but he just gave it a swift back hand with his shield.
"You're all so ugly not even your mother loves you," Lily mocked one of the shrieking in response, seemingly able to understand the insult.
The one that did so trying to get at Lily but Kris blocked its attempt.
And he heard Hilda shriek out in pain behind him.
Kris turned his head and saw that one of the rats had ripped a chunk out of her right leg.
"Hilda!" Kris said. "Are you alright?"
"I am fine, focus on your monsters," Hilda said as she swung her blade at the one that was busy eating her flesh.
And her currently radiant sword cleaved in half.
And then quickly blocked the attack from the other rat.
And then Kris's attention was pulled back as he heard movement and saw the rat that had been staying back finally move past its compatriots and went for him.
As if.
He immediately lashed out with the flower-club and uppercut it into the ceiling with a burst of radiance, causing it to splatter.
Another used the distraction to try and bite him, only to get a shield to the mouth.
"You're all a bunch of sewer rats!" Lily mocked again, and whatever magic those words seemed to carry made the rat it worked on seem to perform worse than before.
Though the one that had not been affected went for Kris once more and it managed into his thigh and sank its rotten teeth into it. Kris quickly jammed the butt of his staff into its head to get it off with another one of those annoying squeals as he crushed its skull.
"Okay, getting tired of you all," Lily said. "So sleep."
Immediately, they fell asleep, the one in the water probably starting to drown.
Without any further thought, Kris and Hilda immediately finished off their respective rats.
Kris waited a moment to see if any more would be coming, and when nothing came, the light crescendo'd and left him, the lingering pain from the bite wounds now a dull ache.
"Hilda, can you heal Lily?" Kris asked, before seeing the chunk missing out of Hilda's leg. "After you heal yourself, obviously."
"What about you?" Hilda asked as her body glowed green for a second the wound on her leg regenerating and sealing shut as she landed on the sewer walkway, Lily floating over to her and she quickly healed.
"I can do this all day." Kris said, seconds before the invigorating magic of Lily faded and he could feel his wounds beginning to bleed. "I can do this all day." He repeated as if he wasn't bleeding.
"Well I've got something to help a bit more," Lily said as she spun her brush and drew a symbol over each of them.
"Ooh, I feel great, what was that?"
"It's a spell called Aid," Lily answered.
"You gave me AIDS?" Kris asked in shock.
"Yep I gave you an Aid," Lily clearly, not knowing what he was talking about. "It gives you a bit more uhhh, life for a few hours."
"Mhm." Kris said, grateful it wasn't AIDS, before a thought occurred to him. "And if it lasts that long, why didn't you do it before we came down here?"
"Ehhm, I forgot?"
Kris sighed. "You're lucky you're cute-."
"Nope, not luck, just genes."
"-because otherwise I might be salty about that." Kris finished with a half-serious glare.
Lily just gave a chuckle.
"So shall we find the source of the monstrosities?" Hilda asked as she held up her blade, it light filling up the room.
"Oh yes please, I need to obliterate whatever twisted demon is creating these monstrosities." Kris said, the feelings of UNYIELDING RAGE still lingering.