Chapter 499: Cadola Royal City

For some reason, Sean was pleased. “Is Miss Flame Crow concerned about me?”

“Don’t be so conceited. Let’s go.” Elvire huffed and pulled Elise away.

The areas they were responsible for were different, but since they were adjacent and in roughly the same direction, they could walk together for a stretch.

Sean was mainly investigating the northern part of the Royal City.

Watching the two women’s figures disappear at the street corner, he smiled, then turned and walked in the other direction.

「By noon.」

Cadola Royal City was huge. The three of them certainly couldn’t explore the entire place in a single morning. Flying was also forbidden within the city, which meant the “broomstick taxis,” one of the Golden Coast’s signature features, were considered contraband here. To get anywhere, they could only take horse-drawn carriages equipped with steering wheels.

The carriages themselves weren’t slow, but this was the Royal City. The population density was extremely high, filled with not only locals but also many tourists. This inevitably led to traffic jams, which significantly hampered the efficiency of their investigation.

But that wasn’t what gave Sean the biggest headache. It was the local residents themselves.

To gather information about the city, he naturally had to ask its long-term residents. But it was as if they had all coordinated their stories in advance, unanimously pleading ignorance—

“Hello, has anything happened in the city recently?”

“I don’t think so?”

“I heard that many cavalrymen from the Church Court have entered the city in the past two days?”

“I haven’t seen any. You must have been fooled.”

“It seems like something similar has happened before?”

“Never heard of it. We’re the model civilized city in all of Austinburg State. We’re extremely well-developed in all aspects, especially urban safety. For decades, our crime rate has been nearly zero. Why would the Church Court’s cavalry come here?”

Sean: “…”

He was out of questions.

As for the tourists, they knew even less.

Sean tried asking one, whose response was: “Oh my heavens, you’ve definitely asked the right person! I’ve been to dozens of places over the years, and I’ve never seen a city as beautiful, harmonious, and uniquely charming as Cadola Royal City. You can’t even find a single one of this era’s staples—a homeless person—on the streets. It’s clean and gorgeous, full of character. It has a historical charm, but also the aesthetic of modern technology. I absolutely love it here, just like I love a beautiful female musician’s big, white piano!”

Sean: “…”

‘Are you sure it’s the piano you love?’

He couldn’t be bothered to call him out on it.

Speaking of pianos, he thought of Dorunla.

‘I’ll have to go see Dorunla’s father at some point.’

In short, after a busy morning, Sean had learned nothing.

Seeing it was time for their rendezvous, he went to the restaurant first and ordered lunch.

Elvire and Elise arrived soon after.

Sean pulled out chairs for the two women, poured them each a glass of water, and asked, “How did it go?”

“Not great.” Elvire frowned. “These people are very strange.”

Obviously, she had encountered the same problem as Sean.

No matter how she asked, she couldn’t get a single piece of useful information out of the residents.

If Sean hadn’t been the one to tell her that the Bright King’s Court had been here, she would have doubted the authenticity of the information.

After all, this wasn’t a minor incident. A large number of people had come, cavalrymen included. It was impossible that no one saw anything.

But the feedback she got from the locals was one of peace and prosperity. Under the joint governance of the Potter Family and the government, the residents of Cadola Royal City lived happy, carefree lives. They never exploited the common people; on the contrary, if anyone had an accident, like a car crash, and needed to be hospitalized, they could apply to the relevant departments, and the Potter Family would provide financial and medical support free of charge.

It was like something out of a fairy tale.

As for the matter of the Church Court’s cavalry, it was as if it had never happened.

“I also asked about William Castle,” Elise said after taking a sip of water. “And I’m sure you can guess what they said.”

Sean guessed wrong.

At least, on the surface, he was wrong.

The reason the staff at William Castle were all Wizards wasn’t because the Potter Family was rich, nor was it because there was some secret in the hotel. It was because in Cadola Royal City, it was perfectly normal for Wizards to work as service staff.

Because the residents here, including the carriage drivers, every single one of them, were all Wizards.

It sounded ridiculous, but that was the truth. Elvire had been right.

When an entire city’s population consists of Wizards, it’s only natural that all the jobs are done by Wizards.

“One more thing.” Elvire shot Sean a look, apparently still annoyed about him gawking at the beautiful women. She said, “The fair skin and pretty faces of that receptionist and the cleaning lady you noticed aren’t an exception.”

Sean had actually noticed this as well.

The people here all had very fair skin and were exceptionally good-looking. To exaggerate a little, their average looks rivaled those of pop idol groups. This was also why Sean could so easily distinguish the locals from the tourists. If a talent scout came here, they would think they’d died and gone to Heaven. The streets were an endless source of potential recruits; they could sign people all day and never run out. A random person picked off the street could have the aura of a superstar.

“Also, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination.”

Elise added thoughtfully, “I saw a few people on the street that looked familiar.”

Sean’s heart stirred. Thinking he’d found a breakthrough, he asked, “Oh? Tell me more.”

Elise: “But I can’t remember where.”

Sean: “?”

Elise spread her hands. “I don’t know them well. I just have a very vague impression of them. I greeted them, but they didn’t recognize me either.”

Wizards have excellent memories. If they said they didn’t recognize her, then they probably really didn’t. The only thing she was sure of was that they had met before, but Elise truly couldn’t remember where.

Sean’s expectations were dashed. He retorted, “That’s as good as saying nothing.”

‘So what if you’ve seen them before? What good is that if you can’t remember where?’

“It’s not completely useless, okay?” Elise argued logically. “Me not remembering clearly means they weren’t important people. But the very fact I have any impression of them, even though they’re unimportant, means my brain hasn’t had time to purge that trivial memory yet. Knowing myself, if I can still remember something insignificant, it most likely means I saw them sometime in the last year, but at least three months ago.”

And three months ago, Elise hadn’t come to the New World yet, so the only place they could have met was at the farm.

In other words, a considerable number of the residents living in Cadola Royal City came from their world.

Hearing this, Sean gave Elise a rather surprised look.

‘Wow,’ he thought. ‘This woman is something else.’

He’d originally figured that for someone with a figure like hers, guessing his identity was already a sign of impressive intelligence. He never expected her to be even sharper.

Mainly, Elise’s thought process was incredibly clear. It was one thing to have an idea, but another entirely to articulate it so logically. It made Sean re-evaluate this flirtatious minx.

Elise proudly puffed out her chest, as if to ask Sean, ‘What do you think? Surprised?’

‘My brain is just as useful as my chest!’

Sean: “…”

‘I’ve never used it, so I’m not one to judge.’

Elvire, however, didn’t react much to Elise’s performance.

In her eyes, Elise had always been a smart woman; otherwise, she wouldn’t have made Elise her personal assistant.

But this still didn’t prove much.

At most, it only proved that a passage between the two worlds did indeed exist in or near Cadola Royal City. But that was a separate matter and had little to do with Fan Ke’er and the others’ current escort mission.

“Have you been to the Cathedral?” Sean asked Elise.

Elderidge Cathedral in Cadola Royal City was in the area Elise was responsible for.

“I went, but I didn’t dare go deep inside for fear of arousing suspicion,” Elise said.

The ordinary residents here were all Wizards, to say nothing of the clergy at the Cathedral. Afraid of alerting their quarry, Elise didn’t dare to wander around. She only pretended to be a believer coming to pray to the “Master” and, under the guidance of a Priest, took a quick look around the prayer room. She didn’t find anything suspicious.

At least, as far as she could see, everything was normal. It seemed to be just a slightly larger, ordinary cathedral.

Sean didn’t believe it.

“The lack of anything suspicious is the most suspicious thing of all.”

The so-called life of peace and contentment was the same.

In this Empire with its strict class hierarchy and aristocratic supremacy, Sean refused to believe that any family could be so benevolent. Even a family as down-to-earth as the Grev Family didn’t offer unconditional help to all its residents. Even charities didn’t operate like this. How much money would that take? Who could afford to burn through cash like that?

“Any other discoveries?” Sean asked.

Elise shook her head. “Nope.”

Elvire remained silent, thinking about how on earth the Potter Family managed it.

Silencing one person was simple. A hundred people wasn’t too difficult either. But this city had millions of people. What method could possibly be used to simultaneously shut millions of mouths, or deceive millions of pairs of eyes?