89: Palestorm City

Feeling the intense annoyance and clear disdain from the people's souls around them as Aidan's group callously drove past the waiting queue with nary a care in the world, there was only one feeling to describe this.

Sweet dominance.

None of the souls that glared at them were any souls worth befriending. Most likely they were all just merchants who had been waiting for hours on end, feeling the humiliation of waiting outside like mere commoners.

Those who were actual commoners, normal people and travelers who came mostly for their own personal businesses, just looked at them questioningly and curiously, wondering who they were that would easily bypass the line while they waited. For them, Aidan could only hope that their process was smooth sailing.

As for the hungry and greedy merchants, he would spit at them and make them eat his dirt if they didn't like him or his party.

According to his party, they had different feelings. Nina was just outright enjoying the attention, as though making them sit at the edge of their seats in anguish was a delightful treat to eat while they headed forward. Haley, on the other hand, felt secondhand embarrassment, glad to be tucked away in the carriage for nobody to see.

Poor Van had to be the one to suffer the indignant stares, his head forcefully pushing itself down to avoid their stares as long as he could. Unfortunately the only one present driving this arrogant carriage was the sole receiver of these stares, making Aidan wish he could just use Vanish on the guy to help out a little bit.

Unfortunately having an invisible driver would only call for more attention.

Finally they reached the end of the line where they spotted a small square-shaped hut built within the wall's structure. There were many officials standing there, dealing with the traveler processing for each one here. Soon the guards that surrounded the walls gradually increased in number as some of them headed towards their way. They most likely thought that they could have come to cause trouble, their spears out in the open and aiming at them.

“Halt!” One of the guards shouted. “We have a line for allowing entry into Palestorm. I'm going to ask you to return to the back of the line quietly and quickly.”

A fair statement, wishing for neither trouble nor resistance. Van looked bewildered, being the only one receiving it, but then Nina stepped out of the carriage, along with Haley and of course Aidan who jumped down from the roof of the carriage.

It was obvious that some sent stares down his way considering he was the one sitting on top of the carriage, but they didn't say much about it. However, it was clear to the guards who the real threat was as they raised their spears in reaction to him landing on the ground.

Currently, Nina was hiding her level, returning her back to being a Level 13 Warrior. Both Van and Haley kept their identities, with Aidan being the only higher level being in the group, thus making him stand out more in comparison to his friends.

Due to that, most of the attention was on him, which gave Van some much needed reprieve and Aidan some time to study their souls and demeanor.

It was obvious they were on alert, but they were assured that they could handle everything as long as he didn’t do anything crazy. Obviously there were plans in place, perhaps capable of calling forth more of their numbers, including some powerful people of their own, if Aidan decided to drop everyone here and make an utter mess.

Not that he planned to, nor was that something Nina wished to do as she gave a respectful nod to the one who demanded the information.

“Greetings. I apologize for the misunderstanding. I am here to visit the esteemed mayor of Palestorm city. My name is Nina Alcatrox, the new governor of Forontia.”

The guards looked surprised for a moment, some of the ones in the back whispering to one another in confirmation. The one in the lead, an older man with tanned skin, raised his brow at her.

“Identification?”

“Right here.”

Nina provided said identity, the same black card Aidan had which stored all of her information. All of the information she carefully made to present to authorities through back channels, of course.

The guard took the card, then brought up what looked like a rectangular white device and inserted the card through the hole shaped perfectly for it. A screen showed up in front of him, revealing the information of the card much like the scanner in any entrance.

So they have a mobile one too. Probably better, or maybe only for emergencies…?

He knew such a thing was expensive as fuck, considering that it had to scan information from the system itself. Making items that normally scan people’s statuses, or that do anything to the person’s powers dependent on the system, is normally hard to grasp for most crafters. Aidan specifically would probably never be able to make such complicated items, even if his Craft skill became higher ranked.

After studying the screen for a moment, he nodded. “I heard that you were visiting sometime soon. I heard plenty of stories about Forontia and its recent attack, thus changing their governors. I suspect you’re here strictly for business?”

“Business, and perhaps some personal matters. We wish to stay here for the majority of the month. And naturally, we plan to compensate for the visit. That includes this current situation.”

“I’m afraid we cannot accept monetary compensation for faster access into Palestorm,” the guard said, his tone matter-of-fact.

“There’s no need to be so formal,” Nina grinned. “What I have planned to give are gifts for the trouble. I wish to settle the matter soon with the mayor, but I also do not wish to cause unnecessary inconvenience. If monetary compensation is unavailable, then how about a gift for our hard working soldiers here?”

Nina said, then turned her direction to Aidan.

“Aidan, would you kindly make some gifts for these hardworking gentlemen?”

“Of course, my lady.”

Aidan said, following the plan as smoothly as he could. He stepped forward, putting his hand out. The guards quickly raised their weapons in anticipation as Aidan used his Craft orb to make something through the materials from his spatial bag.

He made sure to do it as publicly as possible, doing slow movements in order not to scare the alarmed guards anymore as he pulled out one ring after another, presenting as many as a dozen rings. With each one grouped up in one hand, he handed the ring over to the guard who hesitantly took it.

When the guard eventually scanned it, his eyes widened in surprise and, according to his soul, pure greed and desire. With a careful nod from Aidan, Nina continued.

“I hope these will come to your satisfaction,” Nina said, getting the other guards to see the ring through their scanning and having the same greedy look in their eyes. “Think of this as gifts for your hard work, as I’m sure having some enchanted equipment would make your lives a little easier.”

It was pretty obvious to everyone’s eyes that she was just paying for the quicker access. It was just hidden under a veil of kindness and generosity, something that the guards, who had to report such things to their superiors, would gladly write off as long as this meant that they could keep such generous gifts.

The lead guard cleared his throat slightly, catching all the other guards to put away their eager looks as he spoke up. “I suppose we can’t just deny such thoughtful gifts. I can only ask that you answer to us ahead of time if you plan on visiting.”

“Of course,” Nina nodded. “Shall we proceed?”

“Go ahead then, but watch for any trouble. No matter who you are, we will not allow any troublemaking done in our fair city of Palestorm. Let them through!”

As he shouted, the other guards quickly made way for the carriage to drive through. They all returned back to their carriage, with Aidan going right back up to the roof for no reason whatsoever.

The Capyra smoothly went over to the entrance, with the guards saluting their entry as, technically, they had to formally greet a governor of another city. Aidan was definitely sure, however, that they were just thankful for the gifts they had received, a ring that creates a barrier much like most of his other enchanted items.

He could have given them something more powerful, but not only did he not plan on giving something that powerful to some strangers, he also couldn’t, not in his current state. Something about enchanting items in his current state caused his magic to go a little haywire, making even simple enchanted items like the barrier rings hard to do. Though he didn’t bother telling that to Nina as, quite frankly, he just needed to spend even more time on the enchantment process, which he just really didn’t want to do.

“Did we really have to go through all of that?” Haley asked, with Aidan noticing that she was sending a rather judgmental look to Nina.

“It’s to make a statement,” Nina said. “The governor of Forontia was kind enough to recognize the guards’ efforts, the commoners’ hard work, and the noble’s leadership. A friend to all the masses, and an enemy to those that would wrong the people.”

“That would wrong herself mostly,” Aidan suddenly added.

“That much is obvious, but nobody needs to know,” Nina said in return, adding in a grin.

“Then next time, you can drive the carriage,” Van said. “It was hard getting looked at like that all the time.”

“Doesn’t a man wish to have more attention?” Nina asked. “I figured you would like it.”

“No, I do not,” Van simply stated, making Aidan wonder if he forgot who he was speaking to for a second there.

“You should really be more like Aidan. He’s proudly sitting on the roof like he owns everything around him,” Nina suddenly brought up.

“Hey, don’t bring me into this,” Aidan commented.

“Aidan can literally turn this entire place upside down if he wishes to,” Van said. “I got no power to speak of.”

“As long as you’re working for me, you have some power,” Nina said.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

The group kept on talking like that, with Nina seemingly enjoying herself messing with the siblings and how they do things while they unfortunately kept getting reminded that they were now part of her entourage, which meant that everything she does, they would do as well.

Aidan kept to himself as he expanded his senses to view the city of Palestorm for himself. Compared to Forontia, it was larger in size, perhaps around thirty or fifty percent larger than Forontia. Their buildings were polished decorative stone, mostly more stone than wood, in contrary to the frontier city.

The roads were also immaculate, large enough to encompass various carriages side by side with people walking by. Banners of various colors flew proudly in the air, with various scents and spices filling his nose.

A massive array of voices entered his hearing, mostly from the merchants hawking their wares from their stalls, with various stores on every place he could possibly see in his current view. He also knew that this was just the residential area, meaning that this wasn’t even the commercial district, being the largest district of the entire city a few miles from where they were.

Anyone with eyes can tell that this was a major hub city, as he could see various powerful items and equipment on sale a short distance away, along with some rather expensive looking mundane items designed for the masses. It was a clear upgrade from Forontia, as there were even some showmen creating wondrous shows of magic on the side, entertaining the children that walked past with the adults tipping coins into their instruments’ cases.

“Wow… it’s so big, and so colorful!” Haley said, her eyes wide as she watched from the window of the carriage.

“Don’t get too sidetracked,” Nina said. “We’ll need to head over to the governmental area and establish ourselves. Otherwise the guards would end up questioning where we were.”

“So I should head over to the west of here?” Van asked.

“Let’s.”

Van clapped the reins, pulling the Capyra over to the western direction. They spent about half an hour traveling, only made faster as they had enough room to drive a carriage through, before eventually reaching their destination.

Unlike the more crowded areas, the district they entered was bare but not lacking in supervision. More decorated guards patrolled the streets, keeping an eye on their carriage as they made their way to a moderately large building. The building itself was devoid of colors, but made its presence known through its golden decorations and pedigree that would catch anyone’s eye, proving that this building housed someone very important.

As the carriage stopped, Van let himself down along with Aidan. They both stepped to the back of the carriage and made a show of delicately holding their lady’s hand down from the carriage.

It wasn’t needed for them, but it was to show proper decorum, even if it sounded ludicrous. Haley certainly enjoyed it at least, looking smug as Van helped her down with a slight grimace. Aidan did the same for Nina, who looked as proper and business-like as ever before.

“You are Lady Alcatrox of Forontia, I presume?”

One of the guards, a more decorated one wearing full-plate armor and a helmet covering his face, approached the group with a calm demeanor. It was even calm through his soul according to Aidan’s eyes, proving that he was more professional than average.

“That is correct. I take it you have been informed?”

“Yes, the mayor will see you now. However, I ask that you leave your entourage here–for security purposes, of course.”

“Then for my own security, I shall bring only one. Aidan, with me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Aidan said, the siblings nodding in turn as Nina and Aidan were led inside the building. Along the way, Aidan scanned the rest of the guards that they passed by, including the one that was leading them in.

Knight, Level 55.

Definitely high level enough to receive a class improvement, something that was made pretty clear from their rather expensive looking attire. The rest of the guards were also Knights, ranging from level 50 to level 56, the highest one he had seen thus far.

The inside of the building was nothing that he hadn’t expected to see. Pristine walls and flooring made with lavish decorations like he was in some kind of fancy hotel, large enough for several people to pass through. He also sensed various magical arrays that enhanced the security around the building, fortifying the walls and keeping doors closed and unable to enter from, according to his guess. It was simple enough to figure out that no thief would ever be able to enter, and it might even give Aidan some trouble.

Then again, he wasn’t sure whether they would be able to stop him if he used Phase, not that he planned on stealing anything from here. Unless the mayor decided to be a dick to them.

They passed through several halls before finding themselves in front of two large doors, both guards present there to open the door themselves to let them in. They entered into what appeared to be a large office, way grander than what the governor of Forontia had, even having its own chandelier proudly displaying itself generating light even though the windows were clearly open and sunlight peering through, giving the office a shinier look than average.

Inside was an older looking man, perhaps around in his fifties, with well-combed silver hair tied into a ponytail at the back. He wore a black suit with a white shirt underneath, with etchings clearly made with enchantments in mind as Aidan could sense its magical power from here. He turned to the new visitors with a smile.

“Ah, we finally meet. Miss Nina Alcatrox, correct?”

The man presented himself with a big smile, captivating enough to make Aidan think that his Charisma stat was way up there. Despite looking older, he still seemed dashing enough to be compared to those old movie actors that would make any woman swoon regardless of age. Nina offered up her hand to which the man took and shook.

“My name is Bruno Belvere, the mayor and fellow representative of the Palestorm council. Please forgive my lack of hospitality, though if I’m being frank, this was quite short notice.”

“I recognize that, and I apologize for the added trouble,” Nina said, finishing the handshake. “I only wish to establish myself first with one of our trading partners beforehand due to the sudden change in leadership. I also wish to introduce you to the one who I believe you have heard about from rumors.”

“Ah, and this is the one…?”

Bruno turned to Aidan, eyeing him up and down. Not only was he scanned, obviously, but he also felt that his gaze pierced more than usual. Aidan only smiled in return, offering his own hand.

“Aidan Munez. I’m Lady Nina’s bodyguard and confidant.”

“I heard quite a few things about you, Aidan,” Bruno said, taking the shake. Despite his stats, Aidan felt a tight grip on his hand, assuring that he also had the Strength stat to match it. “I’ll speak plainly for us all–thank you for your service. I heard that you have been heavily injured. Was that not the case?”

“He had been, but thanks to everyone’s support, he had recovered well. Though he is still feeling the after-effects of the battle,” Nina answered in Aidan’s stead. “Still enough to provide protection for me, though.”

“Quite a powerful fighter, I see,” Bruno smiled. “If not for you, then that demon would have been a challenge for many of us. Its power was well-known enough that the country would not just let it be, but it was possible that many lives would be lost. Once again, I thank you on behalf of Palestorm.”

“It was my honor to defend Forontia and its people,” Aidan said. “The fact that I managed to protect many more is a bonus I’ll gladly take.”

Aidan didn’t say much more on the matter, but this entire thing was to show that Nina not only had a powerful individual as her protector, but humble enough to know his place. It was one of the things Nina wanted to establish with the mayor and the reason why he was here at all.

Bruno nodded, seemingly satisfied with the response. “Please, come, take a seat. I suppose there are many things to speak about while I have you here.”

“I’m more than thankful,” Nina said, thus prompting them to get their little meeting underway.