The next day, I was to go with Iltimina-san and Solstice's sisters to tour the divine imperial capital of Astiglio, guided by Frederica-san.

''You're not going, Kilt-san?''
"Mm.

　Ms. Kilt said that she had stayed up all night and had a drinking session with the general.

　As she gulped down some sobering water, she told me that she had plans to discuss with General Dardios and meet with some of Arun's leading nobles.

''Well, this is the kind of groundwork that needs to be put in place for people from other countries to make a move.
Hmm?

　It seems that there are many other troublesome tasks piling up, including confirming the damage caused by the "Children of Darkness" in Arun's territory, investigating the movements of the anti-Shumurian kingdom nobles, and coordinating with various related parties in order to carry out the "Search for the Great Labyrinth".



　People don't seem to be able to come up with a monolithic solution to a global crisis.
　It's very hard to do.　

Do you want me to stay?
Even if you hadn't, there's nothing you could have done.

　I was sorry, and when I suggested that, he laughed and rejected me.

　Rather, he said that I, being a 'divine dog', would be better off not being there because if I met the nobles who come to visit me, I might be used for political purposes.
　Hmm, is that so?

This is a job for adults. You, as a child, go play.

　crumpled

　The silver-haired beauty, who smelled of sweet liquor, smiled at that and patted my head.

　By the way, those three Shumurian knights are going to do a lot of things in place of Kirt-san's secretary.
　The letter from me to Princess Reclear regarding the fourth person's "Divine Attendants" was also cleaned up by them and had already been sent by pterodactyl mail.

(Well, it's for the world, right?)

　When you think about it, it's a cheap expense, right?

　Anyway, because of that, we decided to leave for a tour of the divine imperial capital Astilio.

(What kind of city is it?)

　I know it's inappropriate at a time like this, but I was a little excited.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　Me and my three beautiful sisters are now riding in a carriage that Frederica-san has prepared for us, instead of that huge horseless carriage.

　The carriage is elegant and aristocratic.
　The interior is well decorated and very stylish.

(Is it okay for me to be in it?)

　I have such concerns.

　Illtimina-san and Solstice are dressed in the high-class outfits that Frederica-san has prepared for them. It's easy to move around in these clothes because of tourism, but both of them are beautiful, so they looked like real noblewomen.
　They look good on me.

　I, on the other hand, was

(A costume for a horse child...?)

　Strange, isn't it?
　When I met Yarkin in my dream, he looked even nicer, but when he's me on the inside, his impression in the mirror changes.

(...let's not think too much about it.)

　That's what I realized.

　By the way, today's guide, Frederica, who is sitting across from the three of us, is

"I hope that you will be able to learn more about us, Lord Marl, during your visit today.

　He said enthusiastically.

　The plan, he said, was to pass through the first wall from the high-class residential area where the nobles and others live, and then head to the second section between the first and second walls, where ordinary citizens live.　

　He inspected the temples of Alzeus, the god of justice and Moa, the god of love, and the 'divine armor' stored there.

　Checking out how the people of the city live.

　If possible, they would like to eat and shop there and enjoy many other things, he said.

　That's what Frederica said.
　But.

I hope you enjoy it.

　Blurting out, Solstice muttered, looking out the window.

　I was a little worried, too.

　She's a 'Demon Blood People'.
　And on the journey to this point, we have witnessed and experienced the discrimination of demon blood in Arun territory.
　It's not surprising that this kind of muttering leaked out of Soltis' mouth.

　Illtimina-san was also silent.

　At the girl's muttering, Frederica-san tried to say something.
　But she swallowed it down.

　And instead.

''Well that's true. That's why I want you to look at this Astirio firmly by the eyes of that Lord Soltis.

　I said.

　Solstice didn't answer, just looked out the window.

　'Thump,'

　A beautiful view of the gleaming mansions of the nobility drifted backwards.

　Ahead of the carriage, the massive stone ramparts loomed up as if they were blocking the way. Looking back, far beyond the noblemen's mansions was the majesty of the sky-high Arun Emperor's Castle.

(.............................Arun Divine Empire, huh?

　Eventually, after completing the formalities at the wall gate, our carriage entered the second section of the divine imperial capital Astilio.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　The second section of the divine imperial capital Astilio, where the ordinary people lived, was very lively and bustling.

(It's like the royal capital of the Kingdom of Shumuria, Mulia.)

　The number of people and carriages were just as large.
　Perhaps even more than the Divine Imperial City Astilio.

　And there was one more thing that surprised me.

''This place has a separate roadway and sidewalk, right?''

　The roads in the city are paved, and the royal capital Mulia is the same.

　But here, it is neatly divided into a "human walkway" and a "roadway for carriages and dragon carts to go through". Moreover, the roadway is two lanes in each direction, with traffic on the left side. The median strip was planted with grass and trees.

It's quite a sight.
Yeah.

　The beautiful sisters are also honestly amazed.

　According to the explanation added by a happy Frederica-san, the main roads in the divine imperial capital Astilio are all structured like this. As expected, it's still impossible to maintain all the roads, but they plan to do so in the future.

(Arun's technology is the best in the world...?)

　I realize that what she said before was not an exaggeration.　

　The carriage that carried us on those wonderful roads eventually arrived in front of a large temple.

'This is the temple of Alzeus, the god of justice,'

　A proud Frederica.

　As we got out of the carriage, we couldn't help but open our mouths wide at the enormity of it.

　It was almost twice as large as the Shumurian Cathedral, the headquarters of the people who honor the goddess of war, Shurian, in the Kingdom of Shumuria.

　The number of visitors was also huge.

This way.

　The young lady of the Dardios family calls us, the three of us, who are just small country bumpkins.

　I hurry up and follow her.

...........

　When they dived through the huge gate that was the boundary between the divine realm and this world, Solstice looked left and right, as if she was confused. Iltimina-san also looked around as if she was a bit wary.

(?)

　What's wrong with both of them?

　As he wondered, Solstice approached the young priest who was standing near the gate.

''Hey?''
Yes, what is it?

　The young priestess responded calmly.
　Solstice asked with a bit of a stiff expression and a hushed voice.

''Doesn't this place have a magic detector?''
What?
''........We're the 'Demon Blood People', are we allowed to enter the grounds of this temple?''

　The words startled me.

　And then I realized.
　Probably, it's an unacceptable act for the 'Demon Blood People' to approach such a sacred place in this world in general.

　But.

Yes, that's fine.

　The young priest replied simply.
　Solstice, a bit stunned.

''This is the city of justice and love, the divine imperial capital Astilio, you know. Everyone is welcome here.''
..........
..........

　The sisters looked at each other.

　Frederica, who had been watching everything, slowly opened her mouth.

'Are you surprised?'
..........
This is the divine imperial city of Astilio, ruled by the great Emperor.

　She told me.

　Thirty years ago, when the Arun Divine Kingdom and the Shumuria Kingdom issued a joint statement to stop discriminating against the 'Demon Blood People', in fact, the divine imperial capital Astilio established legal penalties for those who discriminated.
　At the beginning of the statement, there were many who did not abide by the statement.

　However, the previous Emperor Arun had severely punished all of them.

　The people of Arun were surprised, and there was a rebellion at the time, but it was put down by the knights with force, and Emperor Arun repeatedly persuaded the people with his own voice, and eventually the discrimination in the Divine Emperor's Capital Astilio was reduced year by year, and now the figure is close to zero as far as possible.

''Perhaps there is no more discrimination in the Divine Imperial City of Astilio than in the royal city of Shumuria.

　Frederica assured us.

　We were so surprised that we couldn't speak.

　However, she also continued with a regretful look.

''But that's still only in this divine imperial capital Astilio and the surrounding central region.

　There were two problems with the Arun Divine Empire.

　The first was that the Arun Divine Empire had only recently, as recently as fifty years ago, destroyed the small nations in various places and unified all of its current territory. There were still multiple values in each place, and animosity against Arun also existed.

　The second was the size of the territory, as it was the largest country in the world.

　These two problems overlapped, causing an extreme temperature difference in the awareness of the 'Demon Blood People' between the center and the frontier of Arun.

　And even if there was discrimination

.... those information will be crushed before it reaches the center.

　Miss Frederica's beauty was painfully contorted.

　To protect their ancient values.

　Also, to harass the Arun Divine Empire.

　Therefore, in the frontier, discrimination against the 'Demon Blood People' still occurs, but before we can correct it, that discriminatory act itself does not reach the center.

''..........''
..........
..........

　Was Mr. Naruda's village damaged for such a trivial reason?

　The people of Arun Central have also sent top-secret inspection teams to the frontier many times, but due to the length and time of travel, the presence of the inspection teams would be noticed and the discriminatory act itself would be concealed.

　I see.

(It's a different world where they can't prepare any means of communication or visual evidence like they did in their previous lives.

　This is the limit of what we can actually do to deal with it.

　It's just a disadvantage of a vast country.

''It may sound like an excuse to you guys. But we, the Arun Godland, are not a country that tolerates discrimination against the Devil's Blood People.
..........
..........

　Frederica-san's blue eyes were staring straight at the 'Demon Blood Sisters'.

　The two of them were silent and took it in stride.

　Eventually, Illtimina-san opened her mouth.

''I see.''
..........
''But in the 'Demon Blood People' friendly Divine Emperor City, but there don't seem to be many 'Demon Blood People' there?''

　She sends her crimson gaze to her surroundings.
　As an excellent warrior, she could see the strength of the magic of the people around her, right?

　Frederica-san replied.

''That's right. ........The capital city, the divine imperial capital Astilio, is inevitably expensive.''
Oh...

　Ms. Illtimina sounded convinced.

The 'demon blood people' who are oppressed in the frontier don't have any reserves. Even if they want to come here, they can't, can they?
..........
I see. No wonder so many refugees are fleeing to Shumuria.

　Ms. Frederica had nothing to say.

　And these two sisters are among the refugees.

(............)

　There was no malice in Illtimina-san's tone of voice.
　I just plainly confirmed it.

''I'm sorry. I don't blame you for anything, you know?
Yeah, I know.

　She exhaled heavily.

　And Solstice, who had been silent until now, slowly let her gaze wander around.

''..........''

　All the worshippers there are smiling faces.
　It is a people who say they do not discriminate.

　In front of them stands the great temple of Alzeus, the god of justice.

　The girl who shed the same blood as the 'Demon Blood People' who were once executed in the name of the god, however, had now stepped into that divine realm.

　Purple hair with a slight habit.
　The fingers of the girl who wore glasses played with the ends of her hair in a twirl.

''..........I've shied away from you until now, but should I study Arun a little more?''

　Frederica-san looked up with a huff.

　Ms. Illtimina's beautiful crimson eyes were down with a smile.

　I laughed, too.

"Good?　I'd love to study with you.
Yeah. Okay, all right.

　Solstice cowers her shoulders as usual.
　And.

　sizzling sound

　He grabs my hand with his little hand.

'Well, let's learn about this temple first, shall we?

　He laughed and pulled away.

'Wow?　Hey, Solstice?
Come on, come on, come on.

　He then called out to the two people who were standing still.

'Look, sister Irna, come on!　And Frederica, we're in trouble if you don't show us around.

　The two beauties looked at each other.
　Then they chuckled.

'Yes. 'I'm sorry, Sol, Marle.'
All right. I'll tell you what you need to know.

　Laughing, they, too, will soon come to me.

　The sky is clear and sunny when we look up.
　The sun's rays shine down on the Great Temple of Arzeus, making it glow white and softly illuminating the four of us who are laughing at each other.

　--And so we join the many tourists and worshippers as we enter the interior of the majestic Great Temple of Arzeus.