I rode on the back of a dragon with my retainers and its other passengers. Almost everyone outside of my party was a noble that King Eduard the Defenestrator suspected of disloyalty. Most of the people who weren't suspected traitors and weren't part of my group were hired assassins.

Astrid was taking deep breaths, trying to maintain her calmness. Johannes had a hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine, Astrid. Don't worry. We're nobles now too, and we're Greenrivers nobles," he assured her.

Astrid placed her hand on Johannes' hand.

"Thank you, Johannes. I still can't help but be nervous. The last time I was around this many nobles...it did not go well," she said.

"Bastard children are never treated well in Motteburh," Joanna gave her sympathies.

"And we might be surrounded by nobles who like what Motteburh's doing," I thought.

I looked around. The platform on the dragon's back was a sea of fancy clothes and bright colors. Counts, marquis, and even a few dukes were present. I'd have to navigate this political mess.

And all the while, I was feeling an increasing urge, a greater pull. I wanted to go to the location of the Equinox. And now, I was starting to get a more exact sense of where I needed to go. Imagine having a compass inside of you. Instead of pointing North, it points at a different point and constantly urges you to go there.

Dr. Minos, who was sitting next to me, made a cow noise.

"Yeah, I'm having trouble concentrating on anything," I admitted.

He then pointed at the bag of gold on my lap. A moo escaped from his mouth.

"I mean, I'm glad that His Majesty actually rewarded me," I said. "But he shouldn't have given me so much. With the state of the economy, the crown can't afford to give out too many rewards."

Dʰéǵʰom groaned.

"It's like kings can't do anything right in your eyes," he stated.

"Hey, I'm glad that he kept his word, but King Eduard should be more frugal! We might not be in this economic mess in the first place if he was!" I thought.

"Perhaps not, but it's mostly because of all the wars he fights. If he didn't fight them, Greenrivers would be much more vulnerable to military incursions from the other large powers. It might not even be a major power if not for King Eduard."

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"I suppose so. He deserves credit for expanding Greenrivers' borders, at least."

We had a very long, boring flight. Our trip took us all the way from the capital of Greenrivers to the lands of the Southern City States. Then, it took us to the island that held the Southernmost city-state on it. This island was on this world's equator. The whole thing reminded me of taking a flight from Paris to Sicily.

As we got further South, heat started to wash over me. Greenrivers was a pretty temperate place, but the Southern city-states were in a much warmer environment.

Sweat was beating down my brow when we landed. I realized that if this was an anime, this would be perfect weather for the beach episode. But I did not want a beach episode because I did not want to see my wet nurse in a bikini.

I turned to Astrid and Johannes after we got off the dragon. The two looked like they were on fire. Their faces were red, and they were drenched with sweat.

"I've never been anywhere this warm before," Johannes said.

"Me neither. I feel like I've been heated up by some really tough fight," Astrid stated.

Turning back to the dragon, I saw most of the nobles leaving it were handling things better than those two. A few younger aristocrats were warm, but not most of them. Joanna walked over to us and cast a spell. Then, a cool breeze flowed over our bodies.

"Thank you, Joanna," Astrid breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, thanks," Johannes gave her a smile.

"Don't worry about it," Joanna waved it off. "I'm honestly more worried about Dr. Minos. He's wearing a permanent fur hat."

The minotaur walked up behind Joanna and held up a sign. It read, "I'm fine." She blinked in shock.

"How are you fine?" Joanna asked.

Dr. Asterios Minos held up another sign.

"We minotaurs were designed for this sort of climate. Honestly, I constantly felt cold in Greenrivers."

Yes! I knew buying Dr. Minos a whole lot of blank signs was a good idea! Now, normal people will be able to know what he's saying!

"Maybe if you actually wore a shirt, you'd be less cold?" I suggested.

Dr. Minos held up another sign.

"That would go against my honor as a minotaur," it read.

Well, at least no one seemed to care that Dr. Minos wasn't properly dressed. They were more surprised that I had a minotaur among my retinue. Even when I was getting off the dragon, I saw various people giving Dr. Minos strange looks.

When all the nobles got off the dragon, a tall man with a group of guards approached us. He bowed deeply, moving his arms in a grand manner. Then, he stood up to full.

"Welcome to the city-state of Paola Zenia. Our doge is honored to receive such esteemed guests from Greenrivers," he said. "I am Caesare Colonna, a patrician of Paola Zenia."

A number of the nobles seemed to recognize him. I remembered King Eduard informing me that he was going to meet us when we arrived. Then, one of the Greenrivers aristocrats walked forward.

"Ah, Lord Ceasare of the Senate!" he said.

"That is not what we call legislators," the Colonna sighed. "And besides, I lost my seat in the senate. I am now working as the doge's personal aid."

I finally understood where we were. The Southern City States were fantasy Italy, and Paola Zenia was some sort of merchant republic like Venice.

Honestly, I did not expect to see any republics in this world. When I look at fantasy, most of the writers don't seem to know that there were republics in the Middle Ages. Then again, this world was created by gods. And also again, the people here probably came up with the idea of republics on their own.

"If you come with me, I will escort you to your quarters," Caesare said.

And with that, he did exactly what he said he'd do.