"Books shouldn't be judged by their cover alone. Similarly, people should not be judged just based on their appearance. Many a first impression went horribly wrong because of this habit." - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden

On the second day of their stay, Cal had been touring the city with Fheeri when the latter accidentally bumped into someone. She had walked while she gawked at the city, so honestly Cal was surprised something like this had not happened sooner.

"Sorry sorry! That was my fault!" Fheeri apologized as she bent down and helped pick up the man's fallen items - they looked like souvenirs to Cal, wooden and metal statuettes that were carved to resemble mythical beasts - along with the man.

"Not your fault, ma'am," said the man politely as he collected his fallen statuettes. "I was a bit too engrossed on the carvings myself, shouldn't be doing that while walking I guess."

Now that the man had straightened himself, Cal saw his huge figure in its entirety. His lineage itself was quite mixed, with his towering height that stood nearly two heads taller than Cal herself a, along with the thick growth of facial and body hair hinted at a mix of elvish and dwarven ancestries.

On the other hand, the round, fluffy ears atop his head was a telltale sign of bear-therian ancestry as well. For some reason Cal thought the bulky, bearded man looked a bit familiar, but she couldn't quite recall from where.

His bright blue eyes sparked with recognition when he saw Cal, so clearly that feeling of familiarity was mutual.

"Madam Ambervale," greeted the man politely and cheerfully. "I had not expected to see you here. The world is certainly a small place sometimes."

"Pleasure to meet you too…" Cal said in return a little awkwardly, since she could not place where she had met the man so far. "Pardon me for the question, but have we met?"

"Oh no, madam, my bad. I had seen you from afar and heard stories from great-great-great grandpas about you, and to be honest, you are pretty easy to identify," answered the man, somewhat flustered. "Fyodor Bronzmeier at your service. Archmagus Magnus and the respected mayor are my elders."

"Oh! No wonder you looked familiar," exclaimed Cal as she made the connection. The boy had resembled both Hans-Grell and Magnus, which just made sense if he was descended from both of them. Now that she knew of it, it looked obvious to her eyes. "So what brought you here to Boroes? It's a long way from Paradise."

"Visiting some relatives from pa's side of the family, and getting some souvenirs for my little sisters too," Fyodor said. "These statuettes were supposedly figures for a board game they were into. I don't realy get it myself, but they're easy enough to find."

"And who might this charming young lady be?" He asked as he referred to Fheeri. It had not escaped his notice that she travelled with Cal, and that the woman looked out for her at that.

"I'm Fheeri! Fheeri of the Boghunter tribe," said Fheeri as she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, and sorry again for not looking ahead while walking."

"A pleasure, Fheeri," Fyodor said as he shook the girl's hand.

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That evening they dined on a restaurant Fyodor suggested, the big man having joined along with them. As befit the descendant of a chef, he picked out a restaurant he vouched for the authentic cuisine they served, the sort the therians brought from their former homeland with them.

Appetizer was an unusual hybrid of a soup and a salad, the bowl full of shredded raw vegetables, with some boiled potatoes and slices of ham. All were doused with a beverage called Kvass made from fermented bread, and kept chilled with a helping of crushed ice. It was definitely unusual, but refreshing.

What followed was a hot stew, colored a dark pink from the copious amount of beets used to make it, and chock full of meat, potatoes, onion, cabbage, and carrots. The dollop of sour cream added on top gave a sour accent to the sweet-savory stew, and kept it hearty but not too heavy.

What looked like small pancakes were served next, each covered with a spoonful of brined fish eggs harvested from the nearby lake. The relatively plain, slightly sweet flavor of the soft pancake meshed with the strong brininess of the fish eggs, and the mixture of flavors juxtaposed an interesting contrast.

Fried pastries filled with a mix of potatoes, onions, and meat were served next, a more rustic flavor that satisfied in baser ways. This was followed by plates of mest filled dumplings drenched in butter and sour cream, which was more a symphony of stronger flavors.

The main dishes were grilled skewers of beef and vegetables - cut into large chunks - seasoned simply, and a dish where strips of beef were cooked in a creamy sauce of mushrooms and tomatoes, served over chunks of potatoes.

They drank more of the excellent Kvass throughout the meal, but Cal also ordered a bottle of strong liquor that looked clear like water, but had quite a kick. It was flavored with lemons to cut the taste, which gave the drink a pleasant sourness to cut the alcoholic heat some.

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Cal and Fheeri left Boroes two days later, and Fyodor came with them. Cal was headed for Levain where she would take a trip via gate to Paradise, which suited Fyodor as well, since he was on his way back to Paradise as well.

To hitchhike a gate transfer with Cal would have saved him a lot of time.

She had asked whether he could keep up with her own and Fheeri's pace of travel, or if they should hire a carriage for the trip to Levain. He assured her that he had no issues with long distance travel at speed, and as they left the gates of Boroes, Cal saw how he had that confidence.

Fyodor hadn't exactly walked or ran along them at all. Instead, he extracted a fist sized lump of metal from his storage, formed it into a flat disc, and simply stood on it. The disc was propelled at speed by his magic and easily kept up with Cal and Fheeri's pace, and he assured them that he had enough mana to sustain that speed for each day's travel without issue.

The three chatted as they walked a straight line between Boroes and Levain - a trip Cal estimated would take at least another week and a half even at their pace - and traded news. They should reach Paradise by the first month of Winter. A couple of weeks later than Cal had originally planned, but she hadn't exactly planned for Fheeri either.

To no surprise, Cal heard how the kingdom of Iznuguod received heavy sanctions from the union, and at the moment had mostly isolated themselves from their neighbors. They also intensified their dealings with the cultist rebellion in Ezram, no longer hiding their support of it.

At the same time, the northern and western regions of Ezram upped their disobedience of royal summons into a formal seccession movement. That left the Ezram royalty in a dillema, as they were now pincered between two rebellions, with nowhere the strength needed to handle both.

Should they attack one, the other side was bound to take the chance to strike them from the back. They lacked the force needed for them to reliably beat one rebellion while they guarded with enough strength to repel the other.

The neighboring regions made the matter worse as they meddled. Paradise stayed neutral as usual, but the orcish tribes, city states, and Knallzog all sent envoys and formally acknowledged the secession of northwest Ezram. None of them bothered with the cultist rebellion in the southeast though.

As it was, the issues other countries had weren't exactly Cal's problems, and she soon steered the topic to more jovial matters.