We continued south along the highway, aiming for the sea.

Tired of walking, we traveled by riding Nir, who had returned to his original size, when the highway was deserted. Sometimes, we even flew through the sky. We spent a day sightseeing in a town along the way, and on the fourth day, we crossed the border into the imperial border town of Rylei.

As expected, the scenery changed dramatically once we crossed the border. My first impression was that the town was filled with narrow streets and had a rather chaotic appearance.

"Yeah, nothing really beats the beds at the Beldran Workshop, huh?"

We had taken our time getting here, but comparing the field house we used for camping and the inns in the towns we stayed at, I couldn't help but sigh.

"That can’t be helped. Unless it's a big city, it's unlikely we'd find a comfortable inn."

The same was true for Rylei. We searched for high-end inns along the main street, but there weren’t any that stood out.

"I mean, the inn we stayed at in the commercial city was just too luxurious..."

"...Yeah."

So far, the only place that surpassed the beds in the field house was the inn in the commercial city. That suite was something else. Though, to be fair, a big part of that was the overly attentive maid.

That said, it's not a reason to avoid staying at inns entirely. Staying at an inn is part of the travel experience.

"By the way... does the empire have a lot of slaves?"

As we strolled down the main street, Rio suddenly spoke up.

We had been using Appraisal frequently throughout our journey, and of course, we had used it on people as well. Ever since entering the empire, we occasionally came across people with the status "Subjugated." It was easy to identify them even without Appraisal, as they wore slave collars around their necks.

"That might be the case."

The word "slave" immediately made me think of my classmates, and I couldn't help but wonder if these people were being mistreated.

"But none of them seem particularly gloomy."

That was true.

After observing various slaves, they didn’t appear any different from ordinary citizens. There was no sense of despair in their expressions.

"Maybe it's a properly regulated system with human rights."

Rio nodded slowly at my words. While the term "slave" naturally evoked discomfort, perhaps it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

Now that I think about it, I don’t know much about how slaves are treated in this world. Maybe I should have asked Fleur.

"For now, let's gather information at the guild."

We decided to head to the Adventurer's Guild. It was always a convenient place to gather information in any town. Although we had recently joined the Merchant's Guild as well, it wasn't as widespread as the Adventurer's Guild. In smaller towns or villages, the Merchant's Guild was often absent, so we relied mostly on the Adventurer's Guild.

Before long, we found the Adventurer's Guild and stepped inside. Today, for some reason, we didn’t attract any stares.

"Oi, oi, what’s a brat like you doing in the Adventurer's Guild today?"

A thug-like adventurer was laughing boisterously, picking on a boy about my height who stood between me and Rio.

"I'm not a brat! I’m already twelve, and I properly registered as an F-rank adventurer!"

The boy shouted back without a hint of fear, but the thug showed no sign of stopping his mockery.

"Hah! That doesn’t change the fact that you were probably sucking on your mommy’s tits just yesterday."

"What did you just say...!?"

The boy clenched his fists and was about to retort when he suddenly made eye contact with me.

"Then what about him!? He looks even younger than me!"

"Huh?"

The boy pointed at me and yelled, causing the thug to turn toward me. His gaze then moved to Rio, and finally to Nir. At that moment, his expression changed to one of understanding.

"You idiot. I wouldn’t pick a fight with someone just based on their appearance without knowing anything about them first. That’s why I call you a brat."

With a sigh, he shifted his gaze back to the boy.

"Hah!?"

The boy reacted with outrage, but he clearly didn't realize that his behavior was exactly why he was being treated like a kid.

"Sheesh... Come on, I’ll spar with you again today, so let’s go."

"Why!? Let me go!"

With those parting words, the thug grabbed the struggling boy by the collar and dragged him off.

The onlookers in the guild watched with amused expressions.

"..."

For a moment, I thought we were about to witness a classic cliché scene, but this was... different from what I expected.

"He seems like a very caring person."

Yeah, I totally agree. And now I feel bad for mentally calling him a thug. Turns out, he was just a responsible and considerate adventurer. Honestly, dealing with the boy seemed more exhausting than anything else.

"Looks that way. Well, let’s gather some information."

While casually using Appraisal on our surroundings, we approached an available counter. Although the people here had different professions, the general atmosphere didn’t seem any different from other cities.

"Welcome to the Rylei Adventurer's Guild. How may I assist you today?"

A serious-looking guild employee greeted us, and out of habit, I used Appraisal.

And then, something unexpected appeared in the results.

"Ah— ahem."

My voice almost slipped out in surprise, so I quickly covered it up with a cough.

Wow... I didn’t expect my Appraisal skill to level up here of all places.