Chapter 402: Identification

The queue finally moved faster once they entered the controlled area directly beneath the gate towers.

Guards directed their carriage toward an inspection point, where two soldiers checked beneath the vehicle while another examined the luggage.

Boren watched with visible anxiety when they opened one of his food crates, but fortunately he possessed enough self-control not to accuse Royal Capital guards of mishandling emergency provisions.

A Mage wearing the same uniform as the gate officials stood nearby beside a waist-high stone device covered in runes.

Each carriage passed beside it before proceeding toward registration, and Sage felt a faint pulse of mana sweep across them when their turn came.

"Detection formation," he murmured.

Mina looked toward the stone. "For what?"

"Probably dangerous magical items, concealed creatures, maybe certain types of contraband." Sage answered.

Boren frowned. "Will it detect expensive wine?"

Sage looked at him. "Why would that be your concern?"

"No reason."Sage stared at him for another second before deciding he didn’t want the answer.

They were directed into a registration lane immediately afterward.

The clerk sitting behind the counter looked as though he had processed several hundred travelers already and expected several hundred more before his shift ended.

He barely glanced up when Sage approached, instead pulling a registration sheet toward himself and dipping his pen into an inkpot.

"Name?"

"Sage Alistair."

"Origin?"

"Evergreen Region. Greyvale City."

The clerk wrote without reaction. "Occupation?"

"Guildmaster."

That earned Sage the first proper glance. The clerk looked at his clothes, then at Mina and Boren waiting behind him before returning to the document. "Guild or association name?"

"The Adventurer Guild."

The pen stopped.

"Adventurer Guild?" The clerk thought for a moment before recognition appeared. "Ah. The organization from Evergreen."

Sage smiled faintly. "That’s the one."

And that was it.The clerk returned to writing.

No sudden respect. No astonishment. No guards rushing over because the famous Guildmaster of Evergreen had arrived.

The man simply moved to the next question.

"Purpose of entry?"

"I’m here to establish the Kingdom Headquarters of the Adventurer Guild."

The clerk’s eyebrows rose slightly this time, though whether from interest or because that answer meant additional paperwork, Sage couldn’t tell.

"Business establishment and long-term residence, then. Do you currently possess registered property within the Royal Capital?"

"Not yet."

"You’ll need to report the address once permanent premises are acquired. Until then, your temporary residence must remain registered. Expected length of stay?"

Sage paused. "Indefinite."

The clerk marked another section. "Weapons?"

"Yes."

"Magical artifacts requiring declaration?"

"Nothing prohibited."

The clerk looked toward Boren and Mina.

"They’ll need separate registrations. If you’re traveling as one party, I can attach the records."

"Do that."

While Mina and Boren answered their questions, Sage stood aside and considered the clerk’s earlier words.

The organization from Evergreen.

It shouldn’t have bothered him, and strangely, it didn’t. If anything, Sage found it useful.

Inside Evergreen, the Adventurer Guild had grown so quickly that he’d almost forgotten how unusual its position had become.

City officials knew its representatives.

Merchants sought locations near its branches. Nobles watched its movements.

Hundreds of thousands of adventurers carried its identification.

When Sage entered a Guild-controlled city, there was usually someone who recognized either him or the organization immediately.

Here, the Adventurer Guild was a rumor from another Region.

Interesting enough for a gate clerk to remember after thinking for several seconds.

Nothing more.

Sage actually preferred that.

For now.

The registration fees came next, followed by the entry tax for their carriage and horses.

Boren stared at the total when the clerk stated it. "That’s the entrance fee?"

The clerk finally showed something resembling amusement. "First time in the Capital?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"You made that face."

Boren reluctantly paid while muttering that the Kingdom could probably finance another city wall entirely through gate taxes.

Mina asked whether they would have to pay again if they left tomorrow and returned, which made Boren look even more distressed.

Sage collected their stamped entry documents before either of them could turn the registration counter into a debate over Royal fiscal policy.

Then they were waved forward.

The carriage moved beneath the main gatehouse.

For several moments, sunlight disappeared beneath layers of stone.

Sage looked upward through the window as they passed beneath reinforced gates, murder holes, internal guard platforms and another set of heavy doors farther ahead.

Soldiers occupied chambers built directly into the passage, while inspection lanes branched toward holding areas for suspicious cargo.

The gate alone could probably continue functioning as a fortress even if enemies somehow reached the walls.

Then light returned.

Their carriage rolled out from beneath the gatehouse and entered the Royal Capital.

Mina went silent.

Sage understood why.

The avenue beyond the gate was enormous, wide enough for several streams of carriages to move in both directions while pedestrians crowded raised walkways on either side.

Buildings rose four, five and six stories along the street, packed with shops, offices, inns and businesses whose signs competed for attention.

Carriages passed continuously. Street vendors shouted over one another. Porters pushed loaded handcarts through the crowds while mounted guards forced people aside whenever traffic became obstructed.

Sage saw warriors in armor, Mages wearing robes marked with unfamiliar insignias, merchants dressed more richly than some

Evergreen nobles, servants following their employers, priests moving through the crowds and travelers from places he couldn’t identify.

And this was merely the district beside one gate.

Farther ahead, the city continued until Sage couldn’t see where the avenue ended.

Towers rose above the rooftops in several directions, some crowned by magical crystals or surrounded by visible formations.

A distant compound was enclosed behind walls bearing the insignia of a Knight Order.

Somewhere beyond it stood what looked like the headquarters of a merchant association, a building so large Sage initially mistook it for a government office.

Farther still, elevated above the surrounding districts, the upper structures of the Royal Capital stretched toward its center.

Boren slowly leaned toward the window. "All right."

Sage glanced at him.

Boren continued staring outside. "Maybe Greyvale is a little smaller than I remembered."

"A little?" Mina asked.

Boren ignored her.

The carriage joined the traffic and moveddeeper into the city.

Sage rested one arm beside the window, watching the Capital unfold ahead of him while the noise of tens of thousands of people filled the street.

For the first time since leaving Evergreen, he understood exactly how much work waited for him.

Greyvale had prepared Sage for many things.

It had not prepared him for this.