Chapter 174 - 174. Expensive
The capital of the Utra country was placed near the borders of the nation.
As the city that held the highest power in the country, it was the best line of defense in case of an attack from enemy nations.
The Royal dynasty wasn't the only noble family that occupied it, there were many small and medium-size families that were annexed in the borders of the capital.
A single family could not have the power to rule over a nation for two thousand years without accidents occurring, it needed to have a man-power that vastly surpassed the one of the other large-size noble families.
The Elbas family solved that issue by linking many smaller noble families to their rule, giving important positions to them and connecting their heirs with political marriages.
Like that, the number of their descendants was largely increased and they could rely on them to take care of important structures of the Royal city.
Thaddeus and Lisa were precisely two of those descendants with mixed blood.
One was taking care of the matters of the academy while the other was a captain of the Royal guards.
In that way, the power of the Elbas family was never divided between their subjects but only with families carrying their same name.
As for the succession to the throne, that was a complex matter.
The stronger cultivators in their ranks would often retire from the political struggles of the mortal world and focus on their training, leaving the command of the continent to their weaker descendants.
It was easy to imagine the many internal battles that happened in the Royal Mansion in order to obtain that position.
However, none of that was of any importance to Noah.
He was sitting in the carriage with Ivor, waiting to reach Elbas city.
The academy token was in his hands and he looked at it with indecision clearly present in his eyes.
'He will be in touch he said, the Royal inheritance seems to really bother him.'
As he was about to leave his token to the management building, Thaddeus had shown up and urged him to keep it.
"We have other ways to contact you but the academy token remains the best method. Keep it so that we will know when you are ready to work for us again."
That was what he had said.
'Does this token keep tracks of my movements?'
No matter how he inspected it, he couldn't find anything wrong with the item, so he decided to ask Ivor for advice.
"It might be possible to track you down through that token, it is linked to the network of the academy after all. Though, if you keep it inside your space-ring, it almost impossible for them to pinpoint your position. Space-rings are a sort of separate dimension themselves, creating an item that can ignore that hurdle would require much more than an inscription on this level."
Ivor judged, handing back the toke to Noah.
'I guess I should just keep it then.'
Their trip was peaceful and, in two days, they arrived at the gates of the Royal city.
"What's our move?"
Ivor asked, staring at the tall defensive wall that encircled the city.
"We first reach the Hunters' guild. After I know more about my duties, we will look for a place where to stay."
Noah said, looking in the distance to find where the wall ended.
Nevertheless, the walls were too big, being right under them made impossible for Noah to even see a part of it.
'I wonder if the King of the valley could take down this city.'
The strongest being that he had ever seen was his meter of comparison regarding sheer power.
He imagined the huge white snake crashing on the wall and destroying it but then he refused that vision.
'It's the Royal city that I'm considering here. Balvan mansion had an inscribed defensive wall, how could Elbas city not have it too?'
Ivor and Noah neared the gate and put themselves in line with the other people that wanted to enter the city.
The inspections of the soldiers went smoothly and, in a few minutes, they were inside the city.
Noah was exempted from paying for his identification token since the one from the Hunters' guild was considered as a formal invitation but he still had to give fifty Credits to the soldiers in order to allow Ivor's entry.
"How can you not have an identification token?"
The reason why Ivor didn't have it was simple.
"I lost it."
Noah cursed in his mind but still paid the required sum and two golden tokens were delivered to them.
They were quite simple in their design, with only the names "Vance" and "Ivor" on them.
Right after the gate, there were many structures used for renting carriages led by magical beasts with loud people publicizing them.
"East gate's fastest transports right here!"
"Our business has the lowest transportation cost in the whole city, come to us!"
"For a small sum, we offer the best services and comforts!"
There were more than five businesses dealing with transportations inside the city, from that, one could see how populated the capital was.
"East gate?"
Noah asked Ivor in confusion.
"There are three gates on the city walls: East, West, and South. The northern side faces the other countries so they didn't build a gate in order to maximize the defenses of the city."
Noah nodded in understanding.
He moved toward the man that publicized the low prices.
"How much to reach the Hunters' guild for two persons?"
The man happily turned toward Noah and joined his hands in a friendly gesture.
"A trip for two people would be two hundred Credits. We can ensure that you will reach your destination in less than one day!"
'The fuck? One hundred Credits for a one-day trip?'
Noah looked toward Ivor that sensed his amazement and nodded.
'So, these are really the normal prices here. The Royal city sure is expensive.'
"Fine, but I want you to point out where I can find a map of the city."