January 6th. We finally reached the border.
And yet…
"I didn't expect a national border to look like this. I'm kind of disappointed."
A simple fence marked the boundary. Every few sections stood a crude signpost. The entrance checkpoint looked plain—honestly less impressive than some villages we'd passed.
"What exactly are you disappointed about?" Jacob asked.
"It just feels sloppy. Like they didn't care."
"It can't be helped. There's the Ten-Kilometer Rule."
The Ten-Kilometer Rule meant that neighboring countries couldn't build any structures within ten kilometers of the border. Doing so was considered a declaration of war. In other words, a twenty-kilometer stretch of emptiness. No buildings. No towns. Nothing.
We had to reach the border checkpoint before nightfall. The checkpoint itself sat just beyond that ten-kilometer line, built right on the edge. It doubled as a first line of defense in case of war.
When we reached the border fence, we stopped. I looked at the nearby sign.
"Welcome to Butnashso. Any goods you need transported—leave it to us. We guarantee perfect delivery."
I pointed at the slogan and looked at a slightly winded Jacob.
"This country runs a delivery service or something?"
"...Basically, yeah. It's a transportation nation. Their land and sea shipping are extremely fast. The country has a ton of islands, so their sailing technology is advanced. Almost every nation uses them to move goods."
"I see."
I pulled out the world map. Butnashso was huge, but split into three major islands and countless smaller ones. The region we were entering was one of the three big islands. The capital sat on another island much farther away.
We were going to take a ship.
Jacob, now fully recovered, continued.
"I've also heard that in their capital, they've stopped using horse carriages in recent years. They switched to a new type of transportation. It's even faster, but the cost and construction scale are enormous. Our country probably won't see it for another ten years."
This place was absurdly advanced when it came to logistics. At this rate, I might live long enough to hear about air transport.
I really wanted to know what kind of vehicle they were using.
"What is it?"
"No idea. There isn't much information."
That was fine. Seeing it in person would be more exciting anyway. And since we were heading to the capital, maybe we could even take it.
We crossed the border and entered Butenashso. A few hours later, we reached the checkpoint. Soldiers guarded the gate.
Another interrogation.
"Are you traveling together? What's your purpose for entering our country?"
A soldier approached us. Jacob stepped forward to answer. I wasn't good at this kind of conversation, so I left it to him.
"We're merchants."
"You're a merchant? Show me your merchant license. The other four—adventurers? IDs."
We handed over our identification cards. The soldier frowned.
"Hey. I said adventurer IDs, not these colorful cards."
Had the new IDs not reached this country yet? He probably thought we were mocking him. My turn.
"Those are the new adventurer IDs. Rank is indicated by color now."
"Really? I'll confirm. Wait here."
The soldier returned our ID cards and went inside to ask someone. A little while later, he hurried back and gave us a slight bow in apology.
"My apologies. We still use the old ID here, so we weren't familiar with the new IDs. Sorry for doubting you."
"It's fine."
Then the soldier immediately returned to business.
"Identities confirmed. Now where are your goods? We need to inspect them."
It is Jacob's turn. He reached into the storage space and pulled out a bar of soap.
The soldier froze.
"...Where did that come from?!"
We all looked at each other, confused. Apparently the problem wasn't just him. The other soldiers were equally stunned.
"His hand disappeared for a few second."
"I saw a light blue circle."
"What was that thing?"
…Wait. Did storage magic not exist here?
"Um… do you know storage magic?" I asked.
"Storage magic? What kind of magic is that?"
Looks like, after several years, I'd have to start explaining and spreading storage magic again. After I taught the soldiers, they were amazed and kept opening and closing it over and over to test it.
Then another soldier walked out. He carried a sword and wore better armor. A knight, probably their superior.
"This is working hours. Why are you making noise? Are you ignoring the entrants?"
He had the face of a schemer. Especially the eyes, the sharp like a fox.
"S-Sorry, Sir Turin. We'll return to work."
"Pelox. Explain what's going on."
What kind of boss was this? Couldn't he talk like a normal person?
After the inspection resumed, the soldiers complimented the scent of Jacob's soap.
"No issues. You may enter."
"Thank you."
We headed toward the gate in relief—
—and the fox-eyed knight raised a hand.
"Wait. You said that's storage magic, right? You can store items in another space."
"That's right."
"Then empty everything. We'll inspect it all."
"Why?"
"You could be smuggling dangerous items. Drugs, for example."
I was speechless—he actually came up with something like that. Does he even realize he's a joke?
Some people are like that, when they raise a suspicion and it turns out to be nothing, their pride won't let it go, so they start talking nonsense and invent problems that don't exist.
That fox-eyed knight is exactly that kind of person. Even if I took everything out and proved I didn't have what he was looking for, he'd just claim I hadn't taken it all out yet and insist I was still hiding something. He'd already decided I was guilty.
People like this never admit they're wrong.
So I refused.
"I decline. If I show you everything and you still don't believe me, what then?"
"Karen, don't escalate," Jacob whispered, thinking I was about to start a fight.
I wasn't. My tone was sharp, but I was calm.
The knight smirked.
"Then you've failed to convince me."
"That's nonsense. Nothing is nothing."
"Men. Arrest them."
"Yes, sir!"
There it was. Straight to force.
The soldiers restrained us and cuffed my hands. The one who'd questioned us earlier leaned close and whispered:
"Sorry. We're just soldiers. We can't disobey him."
They were decent people. I wasn't going to make their lives harder. I caught the others' eyes and shook my head. Don't resist.
Then we were taken to a room and seated on benches. Grace looked a bit flustered and quietly asked me,
"Mr. Karen… what do we do now?"
"Yeah… we might not be able to enter the country," Jacob added uneasily.
Ethefelis remained unreadable as always.
Alice, on the other hand, was visibly terrified, glancing around nonstop.
I whispered to them, "I'll speak and you all stay quiet."