The feeling of being glared and presumably cursed at was a rather novel one for Gaius, who had flown into the capital city of Mi-Zu with Isabelle in his embrace. It was probably jealousy, but he had a feeling that he wasn’t the only one attracting hostility.

Maybe it’s my looks that’s making other people jealous of Isabelle. Gaius mused on that thought for a moment, and then drew Isabelle even closer, satisfied.

“Are you thinking about something interesting?” Isabelle asked. “Presumably one related to the attention we’re gathering?”

“I was wondering if some of the women we flew past were jealous of you,” Gaius replied, a grin on his face.

“That’s probably it, right?”

His grin widened, but before he could do anything else, two people in uniform appeared in front of them, stopping them from flying. Gaius glanced at the interceptors, one male and one female, and then stopped in mid-air. “Something wrong?”

“Dynamo users aren’t allowed to fly in Seireiden,” said the bulkier interceptor. “And even if you’re using an Engine, you need to apply for a permit for flight. Furthermore, you’ve also broken the Flier’s Code by flying too closely with someone else.”

“There are laws against all these now?” Gaius asked.

“…Have you been living under a rock?”

“We came from the North,” Gaius replied. “So…”

“Visitors?”

“Tourists,” Gaius replied. “Wait, do I also need to have things like an entry visa and whatnot?”

“Vi-sah?”

“Clearly not, then.” He glanced at Isabelle, who shrugged. “I suppose you’re here to tell us not to fly in the capital?”

“Seeing as the two of you are tourists, there will no penalties for first offences,” said the woman. “But don’t do this again. If you want to fly in the capital city, you’ll need to apply for a permit at any of the zaibatsu-controlled pagodas; I personally suggest Tekkadan’s.”

“Alright. Thank you.” Without much of a choice, Gaius and Isabelle landed on a nearby street. Exchanging a few more pleasantries with the two guards, Gaius watched them leave, and then rubbed his head.

“Something wrong?” Isabelle asked.

“I was planning to check on Paragon Ying Xin, but it seems that I can’t find her easily,” Gaius replied.

“Why?”

“A Paragon’s place of residence is quite the secret,” Gaius replied. “but if I can’t fly, there’s no way I can contact the Information Brokers, who set up shop in the skies here for some reason. And I don’t plan on staying here long enough to get an audience with the East’s ruler.”

He exhaled. “Well, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go have some fun here instead, and then deal with the next familiar spirit. You’ve been here longer than me; is there anything fun to do in Seireiden?”

“Other than the food, there really isn’t much of interest, but that’s the same for virtually every single capital city of the Five Lands,” Isabelle replied. “Other than the Mortal Light Dynasty, who has a theme park for some reason.”

“Let’s just tour around the place, then. I remember that there’s a consulate here that helps with immigrants; maybe we might be able to find something about the places of interest in Seireiden there.” Gaius couldn’t quite remember what the Information Brokers here had told him, but there was definitely something about a consulate.

After consulting someone who happened to be nearby, Gaius and Isabelle headed over to Seireiden’s northern gate. Back then, he was looking down on the place, after Scorpio and Xanadu’s battle resulted in tens of casualties.

“There were lots of funeral pyres at that time,” said Gaius. “So many adventurers died from the battle, just like that. They’re probably all forgotten by now or something.”

“They aren’t,” Isabelle replied. “There’s a small monument at the gate.”

“A monument?” Gaius took a closer look at the gate, and noticed a slab of stone around his height. Pulling Isabelle along, he approached the slab and read, “Dedicated to the innocents who died in the battle between Scorpio and the Phantom Blade.”

“Chilling, isn’t it?” Isabelle murmured.

“A subjugation party, headed by Scorpio, to kill Xanadu.” Gaius didn’t quite know what to make of the mystifying event back then, but now, when he thought about it...he couldn’t help but link the event to the Human God. Anren clearly had some measure of influence over the Eastern Territories, enough to gain the support from quite a few members of the Plenum back then.

It was likely that he would never know the truth anymore.

Shaking his head, he examined the slab, which had the names of the fallen inscribed on it. On the margins, there were other words written on it, presumably from the families of the dead.

He took in the sight for a little while longer, and then headed to the nearby building, which had a sign that read ‘Consulate of Mi-Zu, Seireiden Branch’. The walls of the consulate were sparkling even in the night, a sight that made Gaius somewhat interested.

As he drew close to the glass doors of the consulate, they drifted apart to free a current of cold air. A few gazes turned to him and Isabelle, but Gaius was only interested in the small pamphlets placed around the waiting area.

Settling on a sofa — it was his first time doing so in three years, since the sofa at home was trashed for some reason the others didn’t want to tell him — Gaius passed Isabelle some pamphlets.

“Take a look too. It’ll be really boring if I end up deciding things.”

Isabelle flicked his forehead lightly, and then took them from him. “Alright.”

Gaius leaned back on the sofa and looked around the place. His eyes were immediately drawn over to the television-esque artefact, as a familiar face was depicted on it.

Paragon Ying Xin.

Or, as she was more popularly known now, the Governess of the East. While Gaius was in a coma, she had, with the help of Pinnacle Kolya, returned to the East and captured everyone connected to Paragon Shizo, as well as Shizo himself.

From what he knew, Kolya invited the Demigods of the West to capture the Paragons that were ruling the East at that time.

And then…well, there was no ‘and then’. The Paragons were captured without a fuss, thrown into prison and then tried in front of a tribunal of the Five Lands, who sentenced the responsible Paragons to death. Their appeals failed, and sometime in the middle of Gaius’ coma, they were executed.

There was something to be said about crimes against humanity…or whatever Orb’s version of it was, anyway. The Pinnacle really wasn’t a stickler for details when he recounted the more important events that occurred in the past three or so years.

“Gaius?” Isabelle asked. “Something wrong?”

“No,” he replied. “I’m just glad to see an old friend doing well. Now, which places are we going to tomorrow?”