Chapter39

"Hey," he said, looking back at Juna without stopping. "How do you feel about cities?"
She flinched a little at the sudden question, which made him regret asking it while she was already on edge, but she answered anyway.
"I don't," she said, her voice flat and her eyes fixed on the road.
"Yeah, same," he said, turning back around. "But we need supplies and I can't exactly hunt deer forever."
She didn't respond to that, but he heard her footsteps keep pace behind him, which was answer enough.
The road curved around a hill and the capital came into full view for the first time, massive walls stretching left and right with a gate large enough to fit a dozen carts side by side. People were moving in and out in a steady stream, merchants, adventurers, and what looked like regular travelers, all of them passing through without much trouble.
He could see guards at the entrance, armed and armored, watching the crowd with bored attention that meant they were only paying attention when something looked wrong.
'Alright,' he thought, slowing his pace a little, 'so we just walk in like everyone else, keep our hands visible, and don't do anything weird.'
He glanced at his wrist where the Ring would appear if he channeled mana, then at Juna, who was already getting nervous looks from people on the road because of her wolf ears and tail.
'Or I could just not channel mana and hope nobody asks questions,' he thought, which felt like the smarter option by a wide margin.
He kept walking toward the gate, the stream running quietly in the corner of his vision while the comments kept rolling in from people who thought they were watching a show.
[ xXDarkBladeXx:] city arc lets goooo 
[ LurkerNoMore:] betting the wolf girl has a tragic backstory episode coming 
[ CringeSlayer91:] if they do the whole "city guards stop them at the gate" trope im dropping this 
He almost smiled at that last one, 'yeah, let's see if I can surprise you then.'