That wasn’t what the guards had anticipated hearing at all.
Just seconds ago they had been laughing at him openly, already convinced they understood why soone from Percvale would co all the way to Thandor asking to see the king.
That had expected it was a loan, more debt and desperation.
That was what they expected.
Instead Darion had calmly inford them that he was here to return one.
The laughter had died instantly after that.
Darion watched them process the shock silently, his expression barely changing. His face remained calm, almost bored in a way, his eyes half-lidded like none of this particularly interested him.
But internally? He was enjoying this a little.
Not because they had mocked him personally. But because they had mocked Percvale.
And seeing their expressions change after hearing the truth was satisfying.
Behind him, the three knights from Percvale watched the scene with visible amusent.
One of them was very clearly trying not to grin.
Garren, anwhile, remained completely serious as always. The man looked like he would maintain the sa expression during a funeral, a war, or the end of the world itself.
The guards still looked uncertain though.
Suspicious too. One of them narrowed his eyes.
"How are we sure this isn’t so trick you’re playing so we let you in?"
Darion sighed softly at that. He understood the suspicion. A poor Barony suddenly arriving with claims about repaying massive debts definitely sounded strange.
Without saying anything else, he gestured toward Garren.
Garren imdiately understood. He reached into the saddlebag without comnt and opened the cloth just enough.
Gold caught the light. Not all of it, just a glimpse, enough to answer the question.
Several visible at once beneath the folds of cloth.
The guard nearest to it leaned slightly closer instinctively, staring at the coins with open astonishnt.
Darion watched him carefully. Very carefully.
Because for a brief second, the thought crossed his mind that these n could attempt sothing stupid.
Snatching the chest. Calling more guards. Trying to "confiscate" the money under so excuse.
If that happened, Darion was fully prepared to summon his undead wolf imdiately.
The image flashed through his mind clearly.
The massive undead creature appearing in the middle of the gate area. The panic that would follow. The screaming.
It would beco ssy very quickly.
Fortunately, the guards weren’t idiots. They only stared.
They straightened back up and looked at Darion with an expression that was trying to recover so of the authority it had just lost.
The earlier mockery was gone completely now.
In its place was sothing closer to defeat. Or maybe embarrassnt.
The leader of the guards finally cleared his throat awkwardly before turning toward another guard stationed beside the gate.
"Let them in," he said.
Then after a short pause:
"And take them to the king."
The other guard nodded imdiately.
No more laughter or smirking.
The heavy gate doors were pulled open further and Darion lightly tapped his horse forward first.
Garren followed beside him while the three knights rode behind them in formation.
The guard assigned to escort them walked ahead through the entrance while Darion guided his horse forward into Alddor City.
Darion rode slowly beside Garren while looking around the city properly.
It was different from the smaller territories they had traveled through before arriving here. Different from Valdenmoor to even. He had seen Valdenmoor mostly from the outside and from inside the military barracks during the battle and afterward, also during that first trip where he went to visit Aldric the first ti.
That had shown him what a small functioning kingdom territory looked like: organized soldiers, proper equipnt, stable food supplies and working command structures.
But this? This was a kingdom capital.
And the difference between a small kingdom and an actual long-standing kingdom beca obvious almost imdiately.
The streets were wider. They were not massively wide, but wide enough that carts could move comfortably beside mounted riders without everything turning into a congested ss. People walked around without constantly bumping into one another. rchants pushed handcarts through the roads while workers carried supplies between buildings.
And the roads themselves...
They were Stone. Actual paved stone roads.
Darion had noticed them earlier while from outside the gate, but now inside, their pace had slowed, he paid more attention to them. Properly laid stone fitted together across the streets, extending farther than he could see.
Even so of the narrower streets had them.
Percvale barely had packed dirt roads that stayed usable after heavy rain. Most of their roads turned muddy during bad weather and uneven during dry seasons. anwhile this place had permanent roads that probably lasted years before requiring major repairs.
He added it quietly to the long ntal list of things to do in Percvale eventually.
Not now, definitely not now, but eventually.
The buildings caught his attention next.
They were not overly extravagant. At least not to him.
Back on Earth, he had seen skyscrapers that seemingly, from his perspective down, vanished into clouds, giant malls lit with thousands of lights, streets filled with glowing signs and moving traffic at every hour of the night. Compared to modern Earth, even this capital city looked restrained.
But that comparison wasn’t fair.
For a dieval kingdom? This place was wealthy.
He could tell from the maintenance alone.
The houses weren’t falling apart. Roofs looked repaired instead of patched together desperately. Wooden walls were painted or cleaned instead of rotting. Shops actually displayed goods confidently outside instead of hiding half-empty shelves.
Everything gave the impression of stability.
The market areas especially stood out. Percvale’s market was slowly recovering, but most stalls there still sold necessities. Food. Simple tools. Occasional cloth. Basic survival things.
Here there was variety.
One stall sold polished jewelry. Another displayed colorful fabrics hanging from wooden beams. Darion spotted spices laid out in small containers, the scent carrying faintly through the air as they passed.
He even noticed books at one stall. Not many, but enough to imdiately signal sothing.
The wells throughout the streets were also in good condition, surrounded by proper stonework instead of rough wood and dirt like Percvale’s.
Everything worked.
That was the difference he kept noticing. This city functioned. They did barely survive or endure like Percvale but functioned.
Citizens glanced toward the group occasionally as they passed, though most quickly returned to whatever they had been doing. A mounted escort entering the capital clearly wasn’t unusual here.
So people looked at Darion and his knights with curiosity, probably trying to place where they were from based on clothing. Others didn’t care at all.
That part interested him strangely.
Back in Percvale, unfamiliar riders imdiately drew attention because almost nobody ca there anymore unless they had a reason.
Here?
The city was large enough and active enough that travelers blended into the background.
Darion kept his expression calm while observing everything quietly.
Part of him admired it. Another part of him compared every single thing he saw to Percvale automatically:
Their roads. Their market. Their walls. Their economy. Their future!
Because seeing this place made him realize sothing important. Percvale didn’t need to beco the largest territory in the world, it just needed to beco stable like this. Functional and alive
Eventually they arrived at the king’s castle.
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