The town of Oukon was known as one of the empire's four great floating cities. It was unique in that it was neither based entirely on nature, like the city of Jinchi, which was built atop an island that already floated in the sky, or like the Imperial capital and Arwen, which had instead been normal cities that were made to float through magical means.

Instead, it had originally been a site for mining Filrem stone, which floated in the right atmosphere. Over time, the miners began to build houses on the floating rocks, and then other buildings came until there were nearly a dozen layers, each one the size of a small town and connected with various ladders and stairways.

It was also unique in that despite being this far out, it was a town run directly by the empire, rather than having a local lord in charge.

Tenjo saw the upper levels high in the sky long before the base of the city came into view. Each one was progressively more spread out, with larger and larger gaps appearing between the buildings until on the highest level the empty spaces were several times as large as the buildings themselves, of which each was enough to take an entire block of the buildings on the lower levels.

As she drew closer, the true size became apparent. Not only the city as a whole, but each level on its own was enough to dwarf the village she had grown up in, consisting of enough buildings to home tens of thousands of people The largest of the massive buildings on top were each enough to nearly compare by themselves.

Just imagining the sheer scale of it was enough to make her head spin. She couldn't resist craning her neck up more and more as she approached, until she stumbled over a rock that had been left in the road and nearly planted her face in the dirt.

Several of the other travelers on the road gave her a strange look, but no one said anything. As she looked down Tenjo noticed that her clothing was still stained with blood, something that she had forgotten about after spending the past two days traveling alone.

Her robe was also practically falling apart, having been cut twice on the front and been ripped open where her arm had been pierced. She made a fist with the aforementioned limb and winced as a spike of pain shot up her arm. It still hadn't healed yet.

That was a new experience for her, as ever since gaining her aura as a child every minor injury had healed overnight, each day's bruises and scrapes gone when she woke up the next morning.

Maybe it was related to how little she had had to eat. The main road hadn't directly intersected with any other settlements, and the signs pointing off to villages hadn't said how far away they were, making her unwilling to risk going on a lengthy detour.

At the entrance where the road met the city, two guards flanked a gate set into a stone wall that ran in a circle around the city. There was something amusing about seeing the majority of the city so high above the comparatively short wall, making it almost unnoticeable.

The guard on the left was a woman with black hair, who was engaged in some sort of card game with a traveler. On the right, a middle-aged man with a notable belly was trying his best to avoid being sucked in, but his eyes snuck back to it every time someone passed by him.

Tenjo felt something odd coming from him, a sense of power like that of a swordsman. It reminded her of something, but she didn't know what. It couldn't have been an aura though, which purged any traces of body fat. It also didn't have the same impression.

It was almost more like the power around him was being stored, rather than being a part of his body. That was what it reminded her of. Enchantments, like the one that made a teapot heat up or the one that kept the food in the kitchen cold so it didn't spoil.

It was different with him, more alive and moving around, but it was without a doubt magical energy that shrouded the fat man. When she came within a stone’s throw of him, his interest suddenly switched from the game to her, and he beckoned for her to come over.

"It's not that often that a swordsman with such a well-developed aura comes by, and even less often someone like that comes by alone." He said. "The name is Meng. Would you care to take a moment to tell me about why you're here?"

"I'm looking for someone," Tenjo replied. "I think that he might be in this city."

"And who would that be?" He asked. "As large as this city is for this area, there aren't that many people who would be of interest to a wandering swordsman like yourself. This town is under the direct control of the empire, after all."

As he said that, he gestured to his uniform, red with a black dragon on the front. True enough, the crest of the empire itself was displayed front and center, rather than being a secondary marking behind the direct lord.

"You mean there isn't a local lord who rules here?" She questioned.

"There isn't even a sword school with a master," He said with a laugh. "The only real power here is with the appointed official, who can get switched out on a whim. He doesn't own the land though, only supervises it."

He was interrupted by a shout of celebration from the card players beside them, the guard throwing up her hands in a sign of victory while her opponent pushed a pair of bronze coins across the table.

The bronze coloring on the corners had begun to wear off, revealing the cheap iron beneath. For the past two hundred years, all coins had been the same size and material, actual valuable metals replaced with a lifelike coating to denote their values.

Turning back to her, he resumed the conversation.

"Where were we again?"

"You said this city is ruled by a representative from the empire," She prompted.

"Ah, yes," He let out another chuckle. "Because the mine was a large source of wealth, and needed for the imperial airships, it was decided that it wasn't worth it to hand it off to a local lord. Of course, now that it's mostly run dry things might be a different story in a couple dozen years, all things considered."

He paused. "Let me go back to the main topic though. Who are you looking for here, and why are you trying to find them?"

Tenjo brush an errant strand of dark hair that had slipped free out of her face, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation that didn't make it sound like she was bringing a source of conflict with her.

"It's my brother," She started. "He was supposed to take over the school, but didn’t think he was ready and left on a journey to become stronger instead. I'm trying to find him and convince him to come back. I thought he might have come here, since it was the nearest real city."

"I see you engaged in one or two fights while traveling," Meng commented, stroking his beard with a smile on his face.

"I was fortunate enough to find someone willing to exchange technique with me on the way, and I couldn't say no the chance at the time," She said, hoping he wasn't able to see through the improvised lies.

"I best not keep you any longer than needed then," He said. “But before you go, if you’re looking for food, the second level has all the best places, trust me on that. I mean the second up, not counting the ground level or the mining level.”

With a half-bow to the mage, Tenjo walked past him into the town, and let out a silent sigh of relief as she put the gate behind her.

It was only now dawning on her just how out of place she was. She had no idea how to start looking for Daichi, or even for the people who had taken him prisoner. Scratch that, she didn’t even have any idea if she would be able to buy new clothing to replace her ruined outfit, considering her current lack of funds.

If there was one thing that she knew though, it was that the if they had a mage on guard duty, it was unlikely that someone could just be chained up and carried into the city. She would need to find the way where people could come and go unseen.

Tenjo stopped in the street, and let out another sigh, this one audible and of exasperation. She had no idea how to do that either.

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Chapter end

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