Chapter 2: Troubles at the Gate
"Who are you? State your names." Ordered the head guard.
There were about a dozen armed men near the main gate and probably several more above them.
"I'm Sitri, and this is Fadila. We're hoping to enter-"
Once the guard posed his eye on the goblin, he immediately interrupted, "No Demi-Humans allowed. Move along."
Sitri took place before his companion, effectively dissimulating her behind his imposing frame. He snapped his fingers and stuck his pointer at the guard. Several seconds passed, as both men glanced at each other in silence.
"Wait, you were being serious?" Sitri broke the silence with wide eyes.
"That arrow was your first and final warning. We don't need more Demi-Humans in E-Rantel."
"But surely you can make an exception. What if I told you-"
"No exceptions." The guard's reply was as dry as sand.
Comfortably clinging to his ever-present smirk, Sitri tried, "Seriously, just give me a chance to explain-"
"Arrows at the ready!"
In response to the gatekeeper's command, the men prepared their projectiles.
"She's my wife!" Sitri exclaimed, shoving Fadila in front of him like a case-turning piece of evidence.
The gatekeeper merely scowled in response. "Degenerate…" He muttered with disgust, "Draw!"
"I mean… She's with me! We're here to contribute! As adventurers!"
Sitri suddenly reached for his pocket and pulled out two small insignias.
"… At ease." Finally, his efforts seemed to have allowed them a moment of respite.
The head guard angrily snatched the finger-sized emblems.
"Is this…? They look like copper plates, but…" The guard flipped the insignias, inspecting every inch, "Where did you get these?"
"We… euh… We come from a distant village. Their plates look different there." Sitri offered with an inescapably large grin.
"Have you heard anything about other cities in Re-Estize having their own kinds of adventurer plates?" The gatekeeper's question was aimed at one of his comrades.
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't sound right to me."
"Agreed." With a flick of the gatekeeper's fingers, Sitri and Fadila were surrounded by guards. They pointed their spears at the goblin, whilst grabbing the supposed adventurer by the arms.
It was odd, but every guard who grabbed hold of Sitri felt like he couldn't be forcibly moved, as if a mountain, rooted into the ground for eons.
Shaking off their unknowingly shared concern, the city guards of E-Rantel barked, "You'll both be coming with us, we got a few questions we need answered."
Sitri's wrists and forearms were incredibly thick, so much so that the guards wondered if he even realized he was being restrained.
After all, what to think of a man who, in the midst of the situation, calmly asked his olive-skinned companion, "Do you mind, Fadila?"
"Maybe it is the will of the magic item." She replied timidly, unwilling to provoke the spear-wielding guardsmen.
"Gahahaha! Then who am I to question it?"
Visibly frustrated by Sitri's lack of urgency, one of the guards thrust his shoulder into him, "Hey, we told you to move!"
But still, he stood unflinching.
"Oy, are you resisting-!?"
Or did he?
Finally, Sitri's legs were moving, so perhaps the guard had simply imagined the mishap. He would sooner embrace that thought than be reminded of the ominous delay between his efforts and the man's motions.
As if the guard's strength did not even hold the slightest effect on the strange man's actions.
Impossible.
"Take the Demi-Human's staff." The head guard ordered.
The E-Rantel guards simultaneously patted-down Sitri. "What about you?" Their hands searched for a weapon, yet they found none.
All they felt was the threatening engorgement of the presumed adventurer's massive muscles.
"You call yourself an adventurer and yet you don't even carry a weapon?" The guards taunted him.
"I was planning on buying one once I got inside the city." Sitri replied, sticking out his tongue in embarrassment.
The gesture felt incredibly fake – like a demon wearing a man's face.
Perhaps that is why the guards instinctively frowned.
"Get them sorted out, and keep an eye on that one." The gatekeeper stuck-out his index finger at Sitri, "For some reason he strikes me as even more suspicious than the Demi-Human."
"Whaaaat? Come on, I'm just a normal aspiring adventurer! There's-"
"Yeah, yeah, save it." That same frustrated guard jabbed his elbow into Sitri's side, a decision he immediately regretted, as he winced in pain from the impact.
Had he struck him too hard?
Why was it, then, that the man he had attacked acted as though he hadn't even felt the blow?
The answer would have to come at another time, for the gatekeeper stepped aside, motioning his men to escort the odd pair inside the city.
