Gathering Husbands with a System in a Game Like World [BL]
Chapter 23: Welcome to Voltra

Chapter 23: Welcome to Voltra

After several days of travel the road finally opened onto something Kai had never truly imagined. He had expected a large city, the kind of place that could swallow a smaller town without noticing, but what stretched before him was far bigger than anything he had prepared for.

The city went on and on until the horizon itself seemed to bend around it. There were tall buildings of stone and crystal, wide ports along a long river, busy markets, vast neighborhoods, and more streets than he could count. Voltra did not feel like a city. It felt like an entire world packed into one place.

Kai slowed without meaning to, eyes wide beneath his hood.

"whoa..." He gasped.

Elias walked beside him with the easy confidence of someone who had seen this view before.

"Mind Blowing right? This os the very large city of Voltra. This city sits on many major trade routes and has been growing for a long time. Most people who come here for the first time need a moment, i know i did"

Kai needed more than a moment. The size alone made his earlier understanding of the world feel suddenly small and greatly irrelevant. The game he remembered had never prepared him for this. As they joined the flow of people entering the outer parts of the city he began to hear the same phrase repeated by merchants, guides, and ordinary passersby.

"Nothing ever goes unfound in Voltra."

Kai repeated the words under his breath. Elias glanced at him.

"You’ll hear that a lot here" he said. Kai gave him a side glanced that was laced with mild irritation.

"How true is the statement?" He asked and Elias smiled unreasonably.

"It’s very legit, you can find anything in Voltra. Rare item, forbidden spell, missing person, strange ingredient, criminal, monster—someone in this city has either seen it, sold it, or knows someone who has. Voltra is both a place and a huge network of information that never stops moving."

The System confirmed immediately in Kai’s mind.

[Location Identified: Voltra]

[Classification: Major World Hub]

[Population: Unavailable]

[Known Races: 127+]

[Recorded Territories: Extensive]

[Information Density: Extremely High]

Kai nearly stopped walking.

"One hundred and twenty-seven races?"

[Confirmed. Statement regarding information density is accurate. Voltra holds one of the highest amounts of circulating knowledge in the known world.]

Kai looked around with new eyes. Humans filled the main streets, but elves moved among them with grace and ego in every step, beastfolk of every kind sold goods from open stalls, some dwarves were arguing over metal prices.

Strange grey, horned people in fine coats spoke in low voices near Thier elegant carriages, and further still he caught glimpses of races he could not name at all. Some walked openly. Others stayed within groups of their own kind.

Everyone coexisted but Kai couldn’t help but acknowledge the growing tension amongst them all. He knew they were all tolerating each other and that any little conflict could lead to a serious racial clash.

[Observation: Host’s appearance is generating increased attention.]

[Recommendation: Maintain facial concealment.]

Kai pulled his hood lower at once. He had lost himself in the mesmerising expanse before him. He noticed the lingering gaze of passerbys and pulled his hood down the more.

"shit!"

[Host appears to have forgotten.]

He ignored the System and focused on the streets once more .

He noticed the unmistakable group of Adventurers in every style of armor walking alongside some merchants and researchers.

Which was strange because, these groups did not get along.

The deeper they went the more the city changed. One stretch belonged almost entirely to human traders. A few blocks later the buildings shifted into elegant elven shapes and bright glowing lamps. Further on, beastfolk businesses became more common, loud and colorful. Then came a quieter area where the same grey people handled business in a shady manner. Every few streets the feeling of the place changed again.

Kai was fascinated and a little overwhelmed.

"You’ve been here before." he said to Elias.

Elias nodded.

"Several times"

"How much?"

"Enough to know which parts are watched by the city guard, which streets belong to criminal groups, which taverns, inns or relaxation centres adventurers actually use, and which neighborhoods you should never enter alone after dark. Voltra rewards people who understand its layers. It is hard on people who don’t."

"So....a lot?"

"You can say that"

"Well since you know your way around maybe you can find an Inn for us to stay?"

"The inns i sleep in when i get here....you might wanna drop the thought"

Kai scoffed loudly, they needed somewhere to stay and the stupid S rank hunter was not helping.

Kai asked the system for help.

[Request Acknowledged]

[Searching available lodging data, please wait!...]

After sometime, Ding!

[Suitable place found. Distance: 1.2 kilometers. Safety rating: Moderate. Price: Acceptable.]

Kai followed the guidance naturally and led Elias to a mid-range inn in a busy but relatively safe commercial district. Kai paid for his own room, checked the lock twice, and only then allowed himself to relax a little. Elias took the room directly beside his.

Kai had no intention of sharing a room. When Elias suggested it with a lazy smile Kai shut the idea down immediately.

"Temporary mission partners. That is not the same as roommates. I want to sleep without waking up to you standing beside my bed."

Elias considered this for a moment.

"Fair."

Kai remained suspicious.

The innkeeper, a broad-shouldered woman with a practical smile, explained that Voltra’s inns had long since learned to take in every kind of traveler—humans, elves, beastfolk, demons, adventurers, merchants, nobles. Everyone needed somewhere to sleep eventually.

After settling in they spent the remaining daylight hours walking through the nearby streets. Kai saw things he had never expected to encounter so casually. Rare magical items behind strong glass.

Foreign clothing styles. a strange stall that sold weapons that belonged to dead soldiers which still held traces of mana. Monsters being moved in legal cages.

Magical creatures sold as companions. Information brokers sitting at open tables. Street mages offering small services. Treasure hunters comparing maps. Everything seemed to exist here, and the city’s energy made the earlier saying feel less like a boast and more like a an objective truth.

As evening settled and they returned to Thier room. Kai found himself standing at the window of his room, looking out over the endless spread of lights.

The Districts glowed in different colors. Magic drifted through the air like soft fireflies. People of every race continued their lives far below. For the first time since choosing the Adventurer path he truly understood the size of the world he had entered. The game had only ever shown him a small part of it. There was so much more.

The System remained silent during that quiet moment, allowing him to think. Later, after he had finally settled into bed, a single unnoticed notification appeared.

[Voltra Exploration Data Updated.]

[New Regional Database Available.]

[Husband Collection System: Potential Candidate Detection Range Expanded.]

[Adventurer Path: Regional Exploration Function Unlocked.]

[Observation: Voltra holds an unusually high number of possible Husband Candidates.]

[Chance of meeting one is much higher here.]

Kai was already asleep. Outside his window the city of Voltra continued to move, vast and alive, holding within its many streets and hidden corners answers to questions he had not yet thought to ask.

The investigation could wait until morning. Tonight, he was simply here, and for the first time the world felt as large as it truly was.h