"Who goes there?"
Two soldiers in leather armor, with surcoats over it and halberds in hand, stood behind the portcullis at the city gate, watching Lin Hao and his companions warily.
Even though the group's equipment was clearly extraordinary and their surcoats bore noble insignia, the soldiers remained vigilant.
There were also openings above the gate, and figures could be sensed moving overhead. On either side were attack ports through which spears could be thrust, with people stationed behind them who also seemed to be watching the approaching group.
Lin Hao knew that the main things they were guarding against were certain special nocturnal threats in this world: Yōma.
Rumor had it that Yōma could assume other people's appearances, somewhat like shadow fiends. Lin Hao even suspected that they were some similar variant of shadow fiend, also a product of the Abyss.
And compared with Great Qi, Yōma were fairly rampant on the Antares Continent.
The university students had already encountered them, and rumors about them were practically everywhere!
But conditions for the lower classes on the Antares Continent were already terrible, and the proportion of madmen was not high. If someone went mad, so be it; people paid little attention. They had none of Great Qi's ability to maintain control.
There had been many massacres caused by Yōma taking human form at night and slipping into cities.
"These are Baron Link and the Baroness. Here are my travel papers."
Zhang Shuwen took out the credentials he had managed to obtain here and handed them over, then leaned his head forward to let the soldier pluck out a strand of his hair.
After plucking one of Zhang Shuwen's hairs and confirming that everything was in order, the soldier's expression softened.
Especially when Zhang Shuwen also placed a handful of Copper