***Year 0, 4th era, day four of the First Quarter***

-Shield-City Lyus, Are-Versi Duchy, Kingdom of Francea-

Lucas had never been so thankful to see a bed in his life. He had thought pulling all nighters to complete the workload his double doctorate had dumped on him was difficult, but riding in the back of a speeding carriage (whose horses had been magically infused with stamina) while fleeing for his life from demons had shown Lucas another side of things.

And then there was the massive crowds that had formed to see the “Hero” pass through, even though he was in the back of a carriage and would not be visible to them at all. Lucas was not even sure how they knew he was there honestly. Later, he would learn that the sentries on the outer wall had sent messages via pigeon to the inner wall and that the news had leaked from there.

When he first saw the outer wall of Lyus Lucas thought he had vastly underestimated the people of this world. It stretched a ways into the distance before curving out of sight, implying that the city was absolutely massive. Passing through the outer, or Third Wall as it was known, he learned the truth.

The kingdom of Francea was constantly in danger from demon attacks. They lacked the terrain to wall off their lands completely like Almistis and the elite personnel required to hold a defensive line to perfection like Ulian. Instead, each city had three walls.

The area between the Outer Wall and the City Wall was all farmland, protected from demons by the sentries on the Outer Wall and constant patrols throughout the area. The area between the City Wall and the Inner Wall contained the bulk of the city. Everything from housing, to shops, to the various guilds and industries could be found in this section. Unfortunately, with the constant threat of demon attacks, there were very few guards stationed throughout and so crime was rampant.

The Inner Wall contained the nobility and the administrative functions of the city. It was here, in the mansion of Viscount Are, that Lucas was enjoying the feeling of sinking into bed.

As far as Lucas could gather through his exhaustion and stress, Lady Versi was the Viscount’s niece-in-law. Though the actual understanding of the relationship between their families escaped him. As he considered the similarities between this world and medieval Europe, Lucas was not even sure he wanted to know. The complexities of nobility would likely become a headache for him in the near future.

Unfortunately, Lucas could not laze about in bed all day. He had managed to skip introducing himself to the local nobility last night, but as several maids entered the room he could only sigh.

...Which soon gave way to mortification as the maids attempted to dress him! “I didn’t think maids actually did things like this!” Lucas thought as he hastily dissuaded the maids. Of course, if he were to attempt to wear the fashions of the nobility, he probably would need their help. With the frills, lace, random puffy parts, and strangely patterned tight areas, Lucas was not even sure what article of clothing he was looking at. Probably pants of some kind, maybe?

After a fair bit of argument with the housekeeper, Lucas was finally able to dress himself in clothing closer to that of a knight, with a fine tunic and pants. Near as Lucas could tell, it was not precisely “knight’s clothing.” But given the stubborn look on the housekeepers face, he highly doubted he could get anything of lower quality than what he was wearing. Still, he avoided being stripped by fourteen year old girls and dressed like an idiot, so he could call the morning a win, he supposed.

Afterwards, one of the maids guided him to the dining hall, informing him that the nobles were quite excited to meet him. Lucas merely nodded and followed, taking the chance now that he had rested to observe his surroundings.

One would think that the lord of a border town would live in a castle. Well, one would expect lords and nobles to live in castles generally no matter what. This place would more accurately be described as a manor, and most noble residences in the Inner City would be described as such as well. The closest thing to a castle was the fortified Inner Wall and its gate, which was massive in size and contained the facilities to house and train the armed forces of the city.

The mansion was quite beautiful, built of stone and fine wood and exquisitely decorated with tasteful carpets, paintings and tapestries. All of which were illuminated by candles set into mirrored holders and large glass windows, both of which screamed of wealth in this world.

The dining hall was no exception, as the maid showed him the door and bowed, Lucas got to see the massive space and the gigantic table that dominated it. It was laden with steaming plates of food and glittering crystal goblets filled with wine. The nobles at the table dressed in all their finery, attended by manservants who waited behind the chairs to attend to their every need.

Lucas took a deep breath and stepped into the room.