Walking with their new found companions, Yamato had many thoughts running through his head. He did not think that they would believe his story that easily. Even though he was a rather convincing person. However that aside, the way they just suddenly appeared was far more interesting to him. Was this some kind of magic, the one that Yuki har mentioned earlier? Possibly. If so, maybe he could learn more about it through them. Yuki's knowledge seemed to be rather basic, or at least limited to this world specifically, meaning he could not rely on her alone for this. That gave him a thought. What if they were able to tell how much mana he had? If they would know about his mana, which he assumed was low to non-existant, it would make more sense for them to believe the story from earlier. Yuki mentioned that her powers were sealed too, so it made sense. Without any magic, it should be hard to see them as the people who were responsible for the destruction of an entire village. But that was just a theory. He would have to ask them about that later, if he got an opportunity to do so. He did not want to waste any more thoughts on the matter, seeing as he would not even have a motive because it was an accident in the first place.
As they went deeper into the forest, away from the villiage, he thought about initiating a conversation with one of the two. However, Ken appeared to be still suspecious of them, so it would be difficult to talk with him without creating more tension. He seemed oddly hostile towards them, even though they had established their innocence already. Satomi on the other hand appeared to be a more of a trusting person. Maybe even naive, in his yes. It also appeared like she is some sort of authority figure. As Ken seemed to listen to her earlier when the four of them first met. So Satomi seemed to be the more useful one of the two. So he spoke with his friendly and calm tone once again.
"Satomi, right? Where exactly are you bringing us?"
"To the capital."
"The capital?"
"So this forest is close to the capital of some nation? If so, it would be bad to not know much about it, seeing as I introduced us as travelers… Though I did briefly mention we are unfamiliar with these lands, I suppose some general knowledge is still expected… It all wouldn't be a problem if not for this Ken guy. I really don't want to give him any ground to argue against us with her. I should just get her to talk about the nation, so I can pretend I know what I'm talking about. I just hope Yuki doesn't complicate things..."
"You two seem really strong. Are you important people in the capital or something?"
Yamato asked while keeping an eye on Ken, who seemed to keep an eye on Yuki. An impressive intuition, as despite of her until now innocent behavior, ahe was without a doubt the most dangerous person present. Though Yamato was unsure if Ken knew that or had another reason for his caution.
"I suppose you could call us that, yes. Though I would appreciate if you dropped thee topic. All you need to know is that we are protecting the citizens of the Great Naru Empire no matter their race. So do not worry about your safety when you are with us."
"I see. Well, thank you very much."
"So their nation is called the Great Naru Empire. I wonder how wars go in this world… With magic and all, I imagine it scales quite differently from the wars I had in my previous world. But I doubt they are currently in one… They wouldn't treat outsiders like us so courteous. They would suspect us as spies or something. Though, maybe that's why Ken is so concerned? Maybe. But it shouldn't matter where we come from, since they didn't ask in the first place, which is what I would imagine from someone at serious war. So it seems reasonable to assume that they don't have any problems I should be aware of as a traveler. If I just say how great and strong it is, I should be fine."
So he put on a curious facade, talking about the nations greatness as if he had been there once.
"Ah, if you protect the citizens, we can trust your care then. The Great Naru Empire has a strong gouvernement and competent, after all. I'm sure all it's law enforcers, like the two of you, are just as strong and competent."
"Thank you for your trust and understanding. We'll reach the gates of the capital soon. Do you have any form of identification?"
Not having the slightest idea how identification worked in a world with magic, Yamato was about to gamble with a lie about having forgotten it at home, but Yuki realized that he could not answer that. She viewed this as her time to shine, talking with a depressed tone.
"Unfortunately, you see… We have been attacked by a giant monster, and lost all our baggage as we only barely got away with our lifes! Which is why we don't have anything but our clothes at the moment… We were so dependent on that village, only to learn that they had met a fate worse than our own… Just thinking back makes my heart ache, truly…"
Satomi looked at her for a moment, before sighing with a sympathetic and reassuring smile.
"So that's why you look all roughed up and are in such desperate need of supplies... I see. Don't you worry, we'll get you through the borders by different means. I will vouch for you."
"Thank you… So much…"
Though Yuki took offense in her condescending tone, her sad persona was very convincing regardless. It was not at all weird for Satomi, who seemed to be a very sympathetic person, to fall for it, Yamato thought. But Ken did not seem to share that trust. As he tried to argue he was shushed silent by Satomi before he even managed to make a sound.
The rest of the way seemed to pass by rather quickly, even though they spent most of it with pointless small talk which Yamato despised. It was not long, before they stood in front of a big stone framed gate. They were still in the woods, which suprised Yamato. As he expected the city to be outside of the forest, but it seemed like that was not the case. Satomi walked towards the gate, Ken walking along with her. Leaving Yamato and Yuki by themself for the first time since the four met. They talked to a guard stationed by the gate. Yamato was using this opportunity to talk with Yuki while they where alone.
"What do you think?"
"Hm... They are elves. But I never heard of this so called Great Naru Empire before. It appears as though it's population is almost entirely made of elves. But I wouldn't worry, they are nowhere near my level of gorgeous~"
"Not how I meant that… And how do you know that?"
"Well, aren't you impressed~ I can sense the mana behind that gate. About 97% of the people there are elves."
"Interesting… I'll keep that in mind. Do you know how many people are there in total?"
"Prepare yourself to be educated, dearest Master! There are around 2.500.000 people. The city seems to be build in the form of an hexagon, which I give style points for! It is completly surounded by forest, but inside the city are almost no trees at all. Makes you wonder how much they actually love trees."
"I see... I imagine we will face a lot of difficulties when inside. We should also aim to separate ourselves from Satomi and Ken as soon as possible."
"Okay~"
Satomi returned from the gate as they seemed to have settled everything. Ken walked into another direction, so Satomi informed them about the situation on her own.
"Since you don't have any passports or identification, you can only enter and move freely in the city after we inspected your abilities and information through magic stone, through which we then issue you a new ID. Will that be alright with you?"
"That would be great, thank you so much, Satomi."
Yamato said, understanding why Yuki compared it to a video game now. He was curious as to what this inspection would show, especially regarding Yuki.
They were brought into a sort of waiting room, where there was a blue crystal ball on a stone podium. In the room were various other people, all being elves. Satomi then walked over to the crystal and explained.
"Well, please proceed."
"With…?"
"You have never done this before?"
"This method is not used where we are from, I'm sorry."
"Huh, I never heard of a country that doesn't use these… Well, I guess you really traveled form far away then! It's really simple. You need to put your hand on the crystal and then all your information appear on it. Therr will be numbers from 0–... Well the maximum amount is actually unknown, grading your physical and magical properties. The average would be 50, but that's just because some people's numbers are so ridiculously high. So don't feel bad if it's lower than that, because it will probably be by a margin. For reference , someone who never did anything to train would probably average 5-10 or so. Any questions?"
"No, not really."
Yuki was first to do so. She was excited yet worried about what would appear. If she got special abilities, maybe Yamato would praise her, she thought.
"Alright… So, just like that?"
As her palm touched the crystal, it started glowing brightly, She moved her hand away to see what was on the crystal.
[Name: Hikari Yuki]
[Age: ——]
[Titles: ——, ——, ——, ——, ——, ——,…]
[Special Abilities: ——, ——, ——, ——,…]
[Mana: 0,0000018794]
[Strength: 0,0000018794]
[Speed: 299.792.485]
[Durability: Infinite]
[Stamina: Infinite]
[Physical Resistance: 0,0000018794]
[Non-Physical Resistance: 0,0000018794]
"Urgh, that looks so ugly… I guess I will not be getting any praise for that. Even though it's just because of those seals and those little numbers are growing by the second! But whatever…"
As the stats appeared on the crystal, Satomi was utterly confused by the results, while Yamato looked interested, but expressionless. Satomi didn't really know what to do here.
"I never heard of numbers like that… Why is it either really high, infinite, or just barely above zero…? Maybe it's broken?"
"Ah, no, it's as I had feared… Those are not accurate. Sadly, she was cursed sinec birth, and we were told any way of testing her abilities would only result in randomness… I guess this was what it meant."
"O-oh... I see… That makes sense! You poor thing, and here I thought for a moment…Anyway, that is unfortunate. But I suppose we can skip that part for her then. Like I said, I vouch for you two."
"Thank you for understanding"
"Well... We should continue with you then."
"Ah, yes of course."
It sounded convenient, but good enough as a lie. Lucky for them that Ken left earlier. He probably would not have left it at that. But since Satomi was rather naive, that was that. Now Yamato put his hand on the crystal. It started glowing again, and as he looked at the numbers, it went about as expected.
[Name: Tasumaki Yamato]
[Age: 18]
[Titles: ——]
[Special abilities: None]
[Mana: 0]
[Strength: 99]
[ Speed: 101]
[Durability: 87]
[Stamina: 120]
[Physical Resistance: 0]
[Non-Physical Resistance: 0]
"Wow, you have very high stats! And that at so young, you must be pretty talented or train a lot or both. But 0 mana? I never heard of that either. Usually everyone has at least 1… Well, but your other stats make up for it, I suppose. But compared to just no, I'm just happy the results show up properly..."
"I guess they do. Is that all we need for our ID's then?
She really was naive. Though she was probably just confused, and took any explanation she can get.
"Yeah, that's all. Here you go. Since your old ones got lost, be more careful with these. Normally they are not this easy to replace."
She handed them two small metal plates, which had their stats and information written on them.
"You are now free to move in the city. I also made sure you have… A place to stay for the night?"
Her eyes momentarily darted over to Yuki, but Yamato thought nothing of it.
"There will be free food and water, but don't expect anything fancy. That's about all I can do for you now. It's a big building near the northern city walls. You can't miss it once you are close, and they are already informed about your names. So just introduce yourself."
"It's more than enough, thank you so much."
"Well, I have other things to attend to. Maybe we'll meet again some day. Good bye, you two and good luck."
She waved them goodbye before leaving them.
"Ah, yes. Good bye"
"Bye~."
After she left Yamato and Yuki got into an alley that looked safe and secluded for them to talk.
"What a troublesome expirience that was, Master..."
"Yes, but it was exactly what we needed. We have identification now, a bit of knowledge about this world and even a place to stay with a water and food."
"That's… That's right~! I can't wait!"
Yuki got excited for some reason.
"Anyway, we should go and look around the city to find out where this place for us to stay is."
They walked around the city, and after a bit of searching found a big building that fits the description they got. It looked unique, to say the least... However, it seemed that Satomi got the wrong idea of the relationship Yamato and Yuki had. Because the place Satomi reserved them to stay in, was a love hotel. A luxurious one at that. Yamato looked at the building, expressionless as ever. He did not even have that fake smile anymore, since Satomi was gone now.
"...Great."
"Isn't it, though?! We are going to share a bed~!"
As expected, Yuki didn't mind. The opposite, of course... But it's not like something was going to happen anyway. So whatever, Yamato thought.