The morning passed without any issues. They ate breakfast and Catherine eagerly gobbled down everything offered until she was full. If Benjamin was against his magnanimity, which Arthur doubted, he kept it to himself.

  "When we reach the city, the city guards will demand that you identify yourself, Sir Ives. I doubt that you have anything that can serve to identify yourself but I will vouch for you. You will still have to pay the entrance fee." Benjamin said when they were about to leave.

  Arthur stopped and thoughtfully rubbed the side of his head. Normally, he would happily take him up on his offer, but not this time.

  "That wouldn't be necessary, Sir Benjamin. I have to meet with the city Lord as quickly as possible, so I will solve the entrance problem my way."

  "Ummm... Do I need to know anything?" The merchant asked nervously.

  "Technically," Arthur admitted and sighed. "You would learn sooner or later but I would still like you to keep it a secret... And please, stay casual. I'm an Arcadian Noble. I should reintroduce myself. I'm Count Arthur Ives of the Arcadian Empire."

  Benjamin opened his mouth and snapped it shut. He dropped to one of his knees nervously, but Arthur groaned, causing him to stop whatever he was planning to blurt out. Well, it was time to start playing an eccentric noble...

  "I knew it would end like that." He pretended to be disappointed. "I told you to keep it casual."

  The merchant slowly stood up and dusted off his knees. "You should have told me earlier, Lord Ives! I’ve acted so brazenly in your presence..."

  "So what? Contrary to my situation, you are in your homelands. I'm glad we have gotten acquainted." Arthur extended his hand and Benjamin closed in a formal handshake.

  "So you are a noble, Sir Ives... Or should I title you, Lord Ives?"

  "I don't particularly care, Sir Benjamin..." Arthur shrugged and observed the merchant's reaction.

  "You shouldn't use any honorifics to address me, Lord Ives!" Benjamin protested nervously.

  "So be it. In turn, you may address me as you see fit. But I would be glad if you manage to use the least amount of formalities possible." Arthur smiled.

  "Of course, Sir." The merchant smiled warmly. "I believe that in the current situation, Baron Howthorn will insist on meeting you immediately. I will gladly host you at my company's branch once you finish your meeting, Sir Ives."

  "I hope so." Arthur smiled and turned towards Catherine who was watching them in silence with a hard-to-read expression. "Let's go."

  She took the reins as they sat together in the driver's seat and stayed silent until they started moving .

  "Can you tell me why you want to meet with the Baron so soon, my Lord?" She asked in a shaky voice.

  "Normally, I would do everything to avoid standing out." He admitted. "However, I'm sure that, once we enter the city, Griss Vul will do everything in his power to be a nuisance. He won't brazenly attack city guards so we will meet Baron Howthorn uninterrupted. We need to secure his favour and we need to get rid of Griss Vul. I'm pretty sure I can connect the two tasks. Until I meet with the Local Lord, I won't be able to make any realistic plans about my stay in Saftia. He will be a good indicator of what kind of trouble I will have visiting most cities."

  "If getting rid of Griss Vul were easy, the city Lord would have done so a long time ago, my Lord." She pointed out.

  "Even better." He shrugged. "I can demand a higher reward that way. I'm sorry if that ruined your plan, but please trust me, it's the best option we have."

  "I trust you, Sir Ives..." She almost whispered and focused on the road. "I never considered that Griss Vul would make his move right after we reached the city."

  He crossed his arms and tried to decide if he should tell her about the attack or not. She was already scared, so telling her wouldn't be helpful. Yes, he had killed the minions, but he didn't see how that would be at all reassuring. It only proved that she needed him to survive, and that might be disastrous for her self-confidence. In the end, he decided that he would keep the events of last night to himself.

  "Everything you’ve told me about him indicates that he will be a bother. However, by meeting with the local lord, we take the initiative from him." He finally said with a reassuring tone. "If we play it right, it will reinforce your plan of a travelling foreign noble and his maid."

  Catherine slowly brightened as she considered the benefits of meeting with the local noble.

  ???

  The city met Arthur's expectations. It represented a similar level of development as cities of former Berna or the more remote towns of Ibrevell. Its walls were roughly five metres tall with irregularly spaced towers. Instead of a moat with water, it was filled with sharp wooden stakes of various lengths and strange plants with thorns and spikes. He wasn't sure how exactly such fortifications would stop a mage casting fireball, but perhaps it was designed to stop monsters. The guards were suspicious of him and slightly hostile but, once he announced that he was a foreign noble, they couldn't touch him. He and Catherine were locked in a waiting room, clearly prepared for wealthy merchants and nobles, while Benjamin had already been released. The city guard's captain who interrogated them did a decent job in Arthur's opinion, but he missed several questions that should have been asked.

  "So... You say that Slave Trader Solvis sold you this Black Cat Slave?"

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Of course. You can see that her contract ownership has been fully transferred to me." Arthur nodded, but calling the Nekomi a Black Cat was something he hadn't expected. He needed to ask her about it later.

  "And he did it before he died?" The guard asked, earning Arthur's pitiful stare.

  "How else would you complete a sale?" Arthur asked in an honestly surprised tone.

  "Right..." The man turned red in embarrassment. "However the contract lacks the signature of the seller, so I'm afraid we will have to confis-"

  "I was told that keeping a slave who knows the local customs should ease my travels. I'm certainly satisfied with that recommendation and Catherine's assistance so far." Arthur interrupted the soldier with a friendly tone that gradually became colder. "Are you suggesting that a trader from your country tried to deceive me? As you can see, I have already paid a considerable amount, which I only discovered was excessive afterwards. I have also invested a significant amount of money in her. The treatment alone I was forced to provide for her was worth hundreds of gold coins. Are you going to not only compensate me for that, but also pay for my damages?!"

  Arthur wasn't yelling as he finished his rebuke, but was very close to it. The captain's eyes widened as he glanced at the woman and he paled slightly. Intimidation Aura was working wonders on a person whose level was barely half of his. Well... Considering subclasses, it wasn't even a fourth of his level. But, most importantly, it was unnoticeable to anyone more than ten levels below Arthur.

  "I... I see. This..." He nearly panicked, but then he quickly opened his drawer and took out a complicated seal. He pressed on the contract and signed it himself. "I'm sure that Mr. Solvis meant to sign that later, but died before he could finalise the deal. Allow me, Lord Ives, to use my authority and finalise that deal for you."

  "I'm glad we reached a satisfactory conclusion." Arthur nodded.

  "Leave us now, slave." The captain ordered but Catherine remained where she was.

  "I'm sorry but I was ordered to stay by my Lord's side. I can't follow your order." She bowed with respect towards the guard.

  "Lord Ives, could you..."

  "Before you ask me, you must realise that I know nothing about your country. Catherine is my advisor and, as long as she is with me, I can at least try to abide by your laws. She has been ordered to warn me if my actions could cross local customs or laws. However, if you remove her from my presence, I will be forced to continue our discussion in accordance with Arcadian protocol and law." Arthur explained calmly and looked at the captain. "And I'm pretty sure that you are as versed in Arcadian laws and customs as I am in yours..."

  "That certainly would be a problem, Lord Ives..." The captain grimaced before the doors opened, letting in a slightly nervous soldier.

  They exchanged a few hushed sentences before the Captain stood from behind his desk.

  "I wanted to request some evidence of your nobility and the reason for your visit but Baron Howthorn has ordered you to immediately be brought to his manor, Lord Ives..." The captain started with a tone that meant trouble.

  "I believe that we have spent enough time to sate your curiosity, Captain." Arthur remained seated and reached under his cloak.

  He produced a truly impressive scroll, with a gilded umbilicus carved in a breathtaking floral motif and crowned with large sapphires. It bore a Royal Seal of Arcadia and the personal seal of Emperor Theon Avalon. Additionally, it radiated with a divine power that forced anyone who looked at it to recognise its authority without question. Arthur opened it with reverence and presented its contents to the pale Captain.

  "As for the reason why I'm here... Well. That's slightly complicated, but you can say that I'm travelling." Arthur smiled innocently.

  The Captain turned towards the man who had entered earlier and they exchanged a few more words. They were both far more nervous and very close to panicking. In the meantime, Arthur closed the scroll and handed it to Catherine, whose eyes were popping out in shock.

  "I... I see, Lord Ives! I must beg you for a little bit more patience! We must ensure that everything is prepared to welcome you properly, Your Lordship. I must leave you for but a moment." The Captain was close to kicking out the second soldier.

  "Of course. However, I believe that we shouldn't waste too much time. It would be impolite to cause Baron Howthorn to wait..." Arthur smiled knowingly.

  "Naturally! However, it will just be a moment, Your Excellency!" The man bowed a few more times and left the room.

  Barely had the doors closed behind him when he started bellowing orders, absolutely unintelligible from behind the closed doors.

  "That wasn't necessary, my Lord... Weren't they taking us to the City Lord anyway?" Catherine asked uncertainly, hugging the precious scroll to her chest.

  "Most probably straight to jail or to meet the executioner. I'm certain they thought I was impersonating a noble." He chuckled but Catherine paled and shivered.

  "If you weren't the real deal, my plan would have gotten us killed... I'm so sorry, my Lord..." She lowered her head.

  "Oh, we can safely assume that this entire ordeal is thanks to the man I'm starting to anticipate meeting. I'm also certain that he won't be happy about it." Arthur shrugged and stood up as he approached the decorative map on the wall. "Is this a map of the Kingdom?"

  "Yes, but it's not correct... It's more a decoration than a map, Sir. The distances between the cities are wrong and some details on the borders aren't right." She said after taking a look.

  "But the overall size of the Kingdom is correct? Roughly one thousand kilometres between the furthest points?" He tilted his head.

  "Yes, my Lord." She said carefully. "I know that Saftia is hu-"

  "What a tiny country." Arthur smiled cheerfully.

  "Tiny?" She asked flatly. "Just how big is Arcadia, Lord Ives?"

  "Roughly ten or eleven times larger. It's the biggest empire of Aderon." He said with a grin. "To put it into perspective, your country's longest border is still slightly shorter than the battlefront line with one of our enemies."

  She looked at him, pale and blinking furiously. "I never heard of Aderon, my Lord. It would be hard to convince anyone about your unbelievable claims."

  "Open the scroll you have in your hands and try to repeat saying that." He laughed.

  Catherine did it as he asked, but as she read its contents her lips parted, not a single sound leaving her mouth. She looked at him in shock as she carefully closed the scroll. "How?"

  "You are holding a scroll that was penned personally by Goddess Empress Hestia va’Theon in the presence of the eleven Gods of Arcadia. Once they were done with their seals and blessings, Emperor Theon Avalon signed it and marked it with his authority and power. What you are holding could be called a Sacred Relic." He explained as he approached the overwhelmed Nekomi. "This is a mere sample of the might of Arcadia and proof of its existence to every Mortal and God alike. So, once I showed it to the Captain, he ran out in a panic to make sure that nothing would upset me. I have a feeling that we are going to need to use this scroll quite often, Catherine."

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!