Ken yo, kaku katariki – 98
#06 – City of a Ten Thousand Flowers
Alekheim, the imperial capital of a thousand flowers.
After leaving the station, and seeing what was in front of me, I realized why it was called that.
A giant plaza in front of the station, lines of buildings, and four lane roads. And the beautiful castle in the distance, behind a curtain of fog.
The amount of people and cars far exceeded that of the old capital.
“There are more people than usual. Because the festival starts tomorrow.”
I see. There were already numerous stalls in the plaza. It felt like things had already started.
Ms. Aize was already being lured in by the smell, and the other members had to stop her from wandering off.
“Teacher. It will become even more crowded in midday. We should move while we can.”
“Yes. In that case…”
I suddenly saw a familiar face among the people coming out of the station. She had long black hair and wore a white hat.
She noticed me as well, and took off her hat and bowed.
I did the same…
“Ah. That’s the girl you were meeting in secret!”
Someone shouted next to me.
Fae… She was pointing at M. Sumia.
“In secret… No, uh…”
“Huh? But you were!”
It wasn’t like I was visiting Kuro in order to meet her. Honest.
Still, it might look suspicious to people who didn’t know the situation.
“Teacher is surprisingly quick to act.”
Said Millie. The other students were all grinning. I shook my head.
“Really. It’s not like…”
“…Teacher?”
I felt a chill.
I turned around to see Ms. Iria there. She was smiling for some reason.
“Well, let’s go! Before it gets too crowded!!”
I ignored the stares and started to walk on ahead.
It really wasn’t like that. Don’t look at me with those expressions.
The streets of the city were surprisingly similar to Japan.
The buildings were all tall. Most were four or five stories. And while iron seemed more common than bricks. While there were some parts of the old city that were modern, things were much more refined here.
There were fancy open terrace cafes, and giant posters for what were probably films.
Though, it was the wide roads, cars and traffic lights that were the most familiar.
But…among the traffic, there were weapons. People carried swords and spears while wearing normal clothes.
So the scenery was both modern and familiar, while also being quite strange to me.
“It’s huge…”
Someone gasped.
Or perhaps it was me. Regardless, I agreed with the sentiment.
We had arrived in front of a stunning skyscraper. It must have been about twenty stories high. The tallest building that I had seen in this world.
Avansiel. The hotel that we would be staying at.
Was it normal for students to stay at such a luxurious hotel?
But most of them were the children of nobles, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising…
“Teacher. Let’s go. We are getting in people’s way here.”
“Uh, yes.”
Ms. Iria whispered to me, and I lowered my gaze.
While some of the students were astonished, there were also some like Ms. Iria, who were completely composed.
We received our card keys in the lobby, and I watched as the students scattered to their rooms. Daniel, who was left with me, patted me on the shoulder.
“Well, I’ll be returning to my military duties then.”
“Understood. See you later.”
We saluted casually, and then instructor Daniel left as well.
“I suppose we should check our rooms. Eh, Kuro?”
“Wou!”
I clutched the card key and Kuro barked.
Thankfully, they allowed pets here.
