Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 202: Anima(Part 1)

"Huh, I’m surprised, Commander. No custom guidebooks this time?" Grinned Raven, as he peered into the carriages.

"No, I trust each of you to behave yourselves, so don’t let me down. I already covered everything during the meeting we held yesterday, so stick to that. Just keep a low profile and avoid causing any commotion, that’s all I have to say," Remarked Jules.

"Well, since we’re teleporting straight there, we wouldn’t have enough time to read anyway, so yeah," Added Aster with a wry smile.

It was the 7th of June, 1920, around 10 AM in the morning. The group that had been selected to go to Anima had gathered in the Capital, with three carriages set up to transport them.

Two of the carriages were for the Persona group, with the third for the representatives from Sylph, who were due to arrive any minute now.

Of course, since they were teleporting along with the carriages straight to Anima, they wouldn’t be driving much, Jules and Lyra had considered using motor vehicles instead, but decided against it since they figured the technologically-averse Elves might take offense to that.

"Oh, looks like they’re here," Remarked Raven, as he spotted Siele walking over, with Wistari, Nero and Feno following behind him.

"Woah, real Elves...they only existed in fiction in my old world, so this is pretty cool," Muttered Akila with an intrigued gleam in his eyes.

"Don’t stare too much, you’re being rude," Frowned Jules, giving him a nudge.

"It’s good to see you all again, and thank you for accompanying us to this conference," Lyra greeted them with a smile, giving them a respectful bow of her head.

"Of course, we owe your nation a great debt for your help during the Leptar incident, so this is the least we can do to repay you," Smiled Wistari in response.

Nero gave them a polite, silent nod, while Feno stared off into space, looking a bit fidgety.

"Wait, isn’t that the guy who picked a fight with Colt?" Muttered Raven, as he glanced at Aster.

"Yeah, looks like it. Here’s hoping he’ll cooperate without an issue," Replied Aster with a wry smile.

"We’ve prepared a Teleport Spell to transport us and the carriages to Anima, so we’re ready to depart if you are," Wistari informed them.

"Yes, we’re ready to set out as well. Shall we?" Responded Jules with a smile.

The group then stepped into the carriages, before the Elves activated the Teleport Spell, warping the group straight to Anima in an instant.

As they reappeared in the designated location that the Spell was set to, in Elephas City, the Capital of the nation, a number of uniformed Animoids, the citizens of Anima, approached the carriages.

"Woah, real animal ears and tails...so cool," Grinned Akila, as he stared out the window of the carriage he was in, along with Kia, Lloyd and Raven.

"U-Um, don’t stare too much, the Commander will get mad again if she noticed," Kia warned him timidly.

"I kinda get it though, this is my first time seeing Animoids, and it’s hard not to stare. It was the same the first time I saw Elves too. That said, she’s right, you should avoid trying to stare too much," Added Raven wryly.

"Yeah, I guess you’re right."

The group disembarked the carriages as the Animoids approached, Lyra and Wistari greeting them.

"Welcome to Anima. We’re members of the Anima Police Force, or APF for short. We’re in charge of maintaining order in the nation, we’ll be showing you to the hotel we’ve set your party up in, you can settle in there before the conference this afternoon. Those of you who will not be attending the conference are free to roam around and explore the city, if you’d like," One of the Animoids informed them with a friendly smile.

"Understood, we appreciate the hospitality," Replied Lyra politely.

The APF members then escorted the group to the hotel they mentioned, which was fairly close by to where they’d teleported to.

It was a tall, swanky building, and as the group entered the hotel, they were promptly shown to their rooms, each of them getting a luxurious suite to themselves, with Lyra and Wistari being given the best rooms the hotel had to offer.

After setting all their things in their respective rooms, the Knights met up with Jules and Lyra, for a final, last-minute discussion.

"Alright, so...only two of us may accompany the Queen to the conference, and we’ll be going with myself and Captain Aster. Elder Wistari informed us that she’ll only have the First Stage Warrior Feno accompany her to the conference.

As for the rest of you...ideally, I’d prefer it if you stayed put in the hotel. But so long as you avoid causing any issues, you may go out and explore the city if you want to. It is of the utmost importance that you don’t make any trouble, so if it looks like anything is about to go wrong, please head back to the hotel immediately," Jules instructed them sternly.

"We’ve got three hours until the conference is scheduled to begin, settle in until then. You can discuss amongst yourselves what you plan to do after the three of us head to the conference."

...

...

"It sure is lively out here, huh?" Mused Raven, looking around as he walked through the city, along with Akila, Kia, Lloyd and Nero.

"Yeah, it looks to be at a similar technological level to Persona, but there’s a different vibe. Wouldn’t say it’s better or worse, just different, you know what I mean?" Replied Akila, as he surveyed the area in fascination.

"I think I get what you’re saying, there is something distinctively different about the atmosphere, though it’s hard to put into words what exactly the difference is. It certainly isn’t unpleasant, though, quite the contrary," Nodded Lloyd in agreement.

They were strolling through a marketplace, with dozens of stalls set up all over the place. There were plenty of people around, the group getting a few curious stares as they explored the area.

"W-We should be careful though, avoid any alterations or incidents, the Commander’s lectures can feel endless at times," Chimed in Kia with a shudder.

"Right, we should avoid getting into any especially crowded areas, something as simple as bumping into someone could cause a commotion, so let’s not give anyone any reason to have a problem with us. And if someone does try to start something, we’ll ignore them and head straight back to the hotel," Stated Raven, before adding as he glanced at Nero, in an effort to get him included in the conversation, "By the way, is this your first time here too, or have you been to Anima before?"

Nero raised his right hand, dark energy swirling around his fingertip as he wrote across the air: ’No, this is my third time here, I never had any trouble or issues during the first two times I was here, but this is my first visit in about sixty years’.

"Woah, for real? Gotta say, I’m kinda jealous of Elven lifespans," Grinned Akila in response.

"Well, they perceive time differently to how we do, so it’s likely that they view their lifespans similarly to how we view our lifespans," Reasoned Lloyd objectively.

"Not that there’s any way to confirm that, since it’s kinda subjective," Pointed out Raven.

"Hm? Hey, let’s get some of those meat skewers over there, the scent is making me drool!" Gulped Akila, as the smell of grilled meat and spices wafted into his nostrils.

"Sure, I don’t see why not," Replied Raven, before pausing and adding, "Wait, do they use the same currency here?"

’No, but the coins are the same, they just use a different name for the currency. I believe it is called Pers in your nation, correct? The currency here is called Anz. If I’m not mistaken, 1 Anz is a bronze coin, equal to 10 Pers, silvers are worth 10 Anz, gold is 100 Anz and Platinum is 500 Anz’, Nero informed them with his letters of dark energy.

"Okay, so their currency is denominated at ten times against ours. Well, since the coins are the same, I guess it doesn’t really matter," Grinned Akila, as he bounded over towards the stall, the others following after him.

Meanwhile, in an unknown location in the city...

"So, they’ve arrived, have they? Alright, then, we have no choice. Under no circumstances can we allow this alliance to go forward, trusting the humans is nothing short of foolish."

"Indeed, for the sake of Anima’s future, we must put a stop to this, at any cost."

"Then, are we going forward with the plan?"

"Yes, we are. We’ll assassinate some of the humans to drive them off and call off the alliance. Of course, we don’t want a war, so we should avoid targeting someone important, like their Queen. We’ll just kill a few of their Knights and hope that’ll be enough to get the message across."

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