Despite its isolation from the rest of Soleil, Riviera was still one of the four cardinal cities, so it had quite a bit of money flowing through it. And all the that money could be seen in its infrastructure. Its roads were lined with cobblestone, gutters, and swept daily by dedicated city cleaners.

The roads were separated into two types. Regular roads were meant for people to walk on foot, and wheel roads were, as the name suggested, meant for carriages, carts, or other types of drawn locomotion.

Valery's carriages cut across the city at exceptional speeds. Each carriage had a black rune inscribed upon it that granted it access to priority wheel roads that were meant only for nobles and those on official business. Here, since there was so little traffic, the mystical arions could run at near their full speed, not needing to worry about trampling over slower horses.

Valery had decided to make two stops.

The first one came up now: the main square. Here, he would drop off Jeanne and Old Thane. The driver of Old Thane's carriage, a vampire himself, would park nearby the square and keep guard over the old man.

The second would be at the Golden Flagon, where Li would see Sylvie's equipment to help her grow stronger.

The crowd at the square was so large that it threatened to spill out of the marketplace and even onto the wheel road which intentionally was built away from the square to prevent traffic accidents. There had never been a gold-ranked adventurer hailing from Riviera, so it made sense that any event with one at its center would draw a massive crowd, especially considering how much like celebrities they were.

However, when the carriage stopped, people seemed to sift away from it, parted by some invisible force. They watched the carriages with wonder and deference, such was the clout that Black Securities held.

"Let me check up on you one last time," said Sylvie as she reached across her seat to Jeanne. She put her hands on Jeanne's shoulders, straightening the hero, and then analyzed her face.

"So?" asked Jeanne nervously.

Sylvie smiled. "You look beautiful. You always have. I am sure certain you will dazzle the people of Riviera. I worry that you will end up causing another nobleman to fall head over heels for you."

"Oh, nonsense," said Jeanne, but she did shyly look away a little at the compliment.

"And then, since you are too nice to say no, it will be up to me to tell the poor man what little chance he has," said Sylvie with a sigh. She smiled. "Try to save me the trouble, Jeanne."

Jeanne smiled in response. "I'll try my best, Sylv." She paused. "Thank you for supporting me at every turn, no matter the hardship or inconvenience, and helping me where I am helpless."  

Sylvie patted Jeanne's shoulder. "It's what sisters do. I've no doubt you would do the same for me. Come, now, get out there and show the world their next great hero."

Jeanne reached out and pulled Sylvie into a hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds, their breathing synced, before Jeanne broke off the hug and opened the carriage door. Outside, a few people already murmured and gasped as they recognized Riviera's only gold-ranked adventurer.

"You're still a little nervous," said Li right after Jeanne stepped down. "Just remember that the duchess isn't anything special. If anything, I have infinitely more respect for you than that woman."

Jeanne turned back, blinking with wonder, but in the end, she smiled again. "Thank you. I do feel better hearing that."

Li saw Old Thane come up to Jeanne, leaning against the arm of the vampire driver. Though the old man could navigate himself around most places surprisingly well using his superhuman battle senses, massive crowds like this were his one weakness, and one of the reasons he did not like to visit the city much.

Jeanne went to Old Thane and took him from the vampire driver. She locked a guiding arm around Old Thane's as they made their way up the square. It was the very image of daughterly virtue, of kindness befitting a hero. The crowd smiled and murmured at the touching sight, parting even more.

"It will help her image to have Old Thane at her side," said Sylvie. "A gold-ranked adventurer with a heart of gold, paying homage to the respected veteran who once lent her a roof over her head. There is no better publicity than this."

"I see," said Li. "You've put a lot more thought in this than I realized. You wanted Old Thane to go with Jeanne to boost her image, and you're leaving with me because you want all the attention to focus on her. Did you suggest Azhar try and heal me to tire him out, too?"

Sylvie frowned. "Of course not. I would have asked him to come with us as well, but you are right in that I did wish Jeanne to have as much glory as she could today."

She looked out the window, at Jeanne's receding figure, at the crowd cheering and smiling, and she too smiled. "I believe with all my heart that Jeanne will be the hero that the world will come to need. One to change the world for the good, and I must try my best to ensure she reaches those heights."

Li watched as Sylvie's smile wavered a little. He knew how to read expressions, except in the case of certain individuals like the duchess who were experts at concealment. He could see how Sylvie's lip twitched just a little, how her eyes, though happy, were still wistful.

"I don't mean to sound selfish, but if you live your life for others, you'll end up not knowing how to live for yourself," said Li.

Sylvie's eyes widened as she looked at Li, and she opened her mouth to say something, but found no words.

Instead, Valery filled the silence with his cheery voice.

"Moving onto the next stop: Golden Flagon! Glad to be getting out of this crowd, goodness."

__

Because most of Riviera's populace was concentrated on the square, the way to the Golden Flagon went by quickly. They passed by the city hall, going around the great staircase leading up to the domed building and towards the Adventurer's Guild. Behind it, the Golden Flagon loomed, not much foot traffic surrounding it at this time of the hour when adventurers were either at Jeanne's ceremony or out hunting for monsters.

Throughout the short ride, Sylvie had been silent, and Li, not the type to talk first, had also remained silent.

"Here we are," said Valery as he whipped his reigns, getting the arion to stop. The carriage lurched forward slightly as its momentum halted.

Li and Sylvie left the carriage, and as Li was about to follow Sylvie into the Golden Flagon, he said to Valery, "How's the wheat going to be distributed?"

"No worries, good sir," said Valery. "The portion you chose to grant the crown and temple for tax will be brought directly to them. The rest will go to three of the largest orphanages in Riviera, two of which the count directly oversees and the last thoroughly funded and inspected by the count so that no funds are misplaced.

To respect your wishes, the donations will be named publicly under Old Thane's name, and accordingly, if any civil service rewards are to be distributed at the year's end, I am sure he will be in strong running to receive one."

Li nodded in approval. "Thanks for the hard work, and make sure to give Alexei my regards."

Valery nodded, tipping a black cap. "Most certainly."

______________

Li found that Triple Threat did not share their quarters. They rented out three separate rooms, and, unlike many inns, these rooms had longtime leases that lasted up to a year or until an adventurer's death. As an adventurer's inn, the leases accommodated well for the adventurers, reducing the amount of rent they paid if they were off during a hunt or pursuing an official contract, but of course, most teams still just rented one or two big rooms to stay together.

The fact that Triple Threat could rent three rooms was a testament to their increased income and fame.

Sylvie's room ended up looking surprising and unsurprising at the same time.

Surprising, because Li had not expected a room to look so eastern in this land, but unsurprising because it was Sylvie.

There were impressions on the wooden floor where a bed had stood, but it was noticeably absent, replaced by a blanket laid upon the ground. For sure, it wasn't like bedding on the ground was rare in this world, especially among the poor, but this wasn't like the piles of skins and blankets Li and Old Thane had slept on.

Sylvie's bed comprised of a clean white blanket that was puffy, filled with soft and downy feathers, and laid upon a woven green mat that reminded Li of tatami mats. On the wall, there was framed a sprawling ink painting of a swallow perched atop a flower. The paper was aged and cracked, protected by a preservative glass frame.

A weapon rack stood atop another wall, carrying rows of shuriken, kunai, her wakizashi, and Chinese weapons such as a staff, tasseled throwing knives, and a curved dao sword in rusted and unusable condition.

Sylvie stood over a massive chest sealed with a circular formation of mystical runes. She held her palm in the circle, allowing it to read her handprint and magical signature to ensure it was her.

"Interesting," commented Li as he noted the Chinese-style weapons. They were not from the game, which piqued his curiosity quite a bit. He wondered if this Xia empire used the same gameworld magic of Eldenia or whether they abided by entirely different sets of powers as the heroes did.

"Do you see anything you recognize?" said Sylvie as she withdrew her hand, the chest making a satisfying series of clicks as it loosened its bolting and locking mechanisms.

"I'm not too sure," said Li.

"Hm." Sylvie rummaged in the chest, looking for her scrolls and manuals. As she did so, she said, "I do not mean to be rude, but what did you mean at the carriage?"

"It was just an observation."

"Yet one that seems to have been made from personal experience. Are you certain you know nothing of your past?"

"Nothing I'm afraid you can make use of."

Sylvie stopped searching and instead turned to Li with an expression of genuine care, her hand clasped shyly at her wrist. "I do not see you as just someone to use. Yes, your knowledge can help me, but I want to help you, too. To recover your memories and to better understand you. Isn't there anything you remember? Some memory associated with what you said to me?"