With my sign strapped to my chest and several cans of magical bug spray with me, I moved out into the main camp. People gave me strange looks as I passed by. It reminded me of high school and college. And walking down the street before I died.

I didn't like getting reminded of those. So, I tried to ignore the looks as I walked over to the closest group of people who were being assailed by insects. They were a trio of women dressed in high-class fashion. One of them turned to me. Their expressions were filled with sheer judgementalism.

"And just who might you be?" she asked.

"Saint Sir Gustav, Lord von Blitzburg," I answered.

Their eyes widened slightly when they heard my name. The women looked at each other, clear discomfort on their faces. They already looked discomforted from all the bug bites, but hearing who I was didn't exactly seem to make things better.

"I'll be fast," I said. "I'm just here to give you some spray that'll repel insects. Then, I'll be on my way."

I pulled out three cans of bug spray, Dalv brought a truly massive amount, and placed them on the ground. Then, I turned and started to walk away.

"Wait," the woman's voice came to my ears. "Your superior commands it. I am a Duchess, and you are a landless knight. If you do not turn around, I will have you flogged."

Great. Now, I was as uncomfortable as they were. I recalled the saints Dalv and Krew told me about. Then, I realized who those three were. They were most likely the saints of Nakki, and they were from Motteburh.

I turned around with a massive smile on my face, clearly forced. Greater looks of discomfort came over the women's faces.

"Yes? What do you need, nobles of Motteburh?" I asked, making my distaste clear in my voice.

One of the other women raised her hand. The duchess turned to her.

"You may speak," the duchess said.

"Your Grace, I don't think we should anger this man. He might be of a lower status than any of us, but he's from Greenrivers. Our foreign relations with Greenrivers are bad enough already. And he is the only saint of Dʰéǵʰom. And if the sign on his chest is even remotely true, that just makes angering him an even worse idea," the other woman pointed out.

Her words flashed me back to reality. I was trying to keep violence from breaking out. Even if I didn't like Motteburh, being rude to people from it wasn't going to help me here.

"My apologies. I just got a rock in my shoe, so it is very hard for me to smile right now. I did not mean any offense by it," I said.

The duchess looked between me and the woman with a blank expression.

"I will accept your apology for now, Saint Gustav, as my subordinate did raise some decent points. And we are not here to be your enemy or the enemy of your god," she stated.

"That is good to know," I replied.

She kept her expression blank.

"Dʰéǵʰom has brought up some alleged issues with Motteburh to Nakki recently. I assured her that they were not problems, but she told me that she had come down in disguise to Motteburh to find out what was going on. She was not happy and is now drinking," the duchess explained.

It was hard for me to feel sympathy for the goddess of aristocrats, especially since she let Motteburh reach its current state in the first place. Still, I was glad that she at least thought Motteburh went too far. That was a good sign.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" I asked. "And you know that our patron gods can hear us, right?"

The duchess looked at me as if I was an idiot.

"I am well aware of that. Every saint is. I merely wanted to get the perspective of someone outside of Motteburh. Its condition was enough to drive my patron goddess to drink. If that isn't a wake-up call, then I don't know what is," she answered.

Well, it looks like I might have misunderstood her.

"Tell me, from an outsider's perspective, how bad is Motteburh?" the duchess questioned.

"Horrible," I replied without hesitation. "It's a nightmarish dictatorial hellhole that makes Edo-period Japan look like a free society with high social mobility."

"I have no idea what that is," she said.

Dʰéǵʰom's laughter flowed into my ears.

Right. I was so caught up in my historical analogy that I forgot what world I was in.

"Your Grace, it is not normal for an aristocrat to threaten to flog someone if they don't stop and talk to them. At least, it isn't normal outside of Motteburh," I stated.

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The duchess shrugged.

"Well, I can understand others thinking it's a bit much for a noble to threaten to whip another noble," she said.

"They don't threaten commoners as their first resort either," I replied.

Complete and utter shock crossed the duchess' face.

"They don't?" she asked. "Why not?"

"Some might, but most don't," I said.

The duchess' jaw dropped to the ground.

"But why not?"

"Is there any need to threaten someone to do something when they'll do it even if you don't?" I questioned.

"Yes. Threatening your loyal inferiors and constantly making it clear what they are will preserve the social order," the duchess replied.

"Then, why hasn't Greenrivers collapsed? We don't constantly do that, and our biggest problem is war debts, not the social order breaking down," I said.

Not counting the social order of us not being like Motteburh being threatened by Motteburh, of course.

Silence overcame the area. The duchess looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. I could see the wheels in her head turning.

"Well...that is a good point, I suppose. Yes, Motteburh seems to have gone too far after all. This will simply not do. I must think on this," the duchess decided.

She started to turn to her comrades before stopping. The duchess turned back to me.

"Saint Gutsav, in Motteburh, it is considered socially immoral to thank your subordinates or anyone of lower social status than you. This is regardless of what they do," the duchess spoke. "It has been considered this way for 40 years now, and that never sat well with some of us. So, thank you for pointing me to what caused Nakki to start drinking."

"You're welcome," I replied. "Don't forget the bug spray."

"Nobles don't pick things up off the ground, and none of our servants are here. So, we will endure the big bites."

Well, that was stupid of her.

The duchess turned to her fellow Saints of Nakki.

"Let us depart and discuss things in private, or I might have you flo...never mind that," she said.

One of the others curtsied so low that her nose almost touched the ground.

"If it pleases your Grace, and it troubles you not, might I catch up with you later? I wish to have words with Saint Gustav, with your permission."

The duchess nodded.

"While I would normally refuse your request...you have my permission this day," she stated.

With that, the duchess and other Saint of Nakki left. Now, it was just me and this one girl. We walked someplace private, a bit outside of the camp, where we were certain no one could hear us.

"Hello, Saint Gustav," the woman curtsied to me. "Or should I say, hello, monsieur Louis Martin?"

I waved it off.

"I'm Saint Gustav. Louis Martin died 15 years ago in another world," I replied. "I take it you used to be Princess Élisabeth Philippe Marie Hélène and are now Dame Alarie?"

"The very same," she nodded. "Are you not holding onto your former identity?"

That was a strange question...no, wait, under these circumstances, it's a normal question.

"I guess I am to some extent. I think of myself as someone with dual citizenship in France and Greenrivers," I said.

Alarie nodded. Her expression was one of unnerving calm. However, she swiftly replaced it with iron.

"It is a shame that I cannot say that I am happy to see a Frenchman here," she stated.

"Considering how you lost your head in the revolution, I can't blame you," I admitted.

Alarie's expression remained ironclad.

"Yes. Nakki also kept me informed of what happened after my death," she said. "Without a king and misled by unscrupulous individuals, France turned to madness.

And then, I had to see Motteburh suffer a different type of madness. I thought my faith in Nakki had been misplaced before she spoke to me recently."

"We might disagree on a few things," I stated, a hint of anger flashing through me.

Alarie nodded.

"I thought as much. You are a supporter of that revolution, are you not?" she asked.

"Not really," I answered.

Dʰéǵʰom spat out something he was drinking.

"You of all people don't support the revolution? Don't you hate kings and nobles?" he asked.

"It's true that I don't like kings and I don't like nobles. I also think France is better off as a Republic than it was under the monarchy," I spoke aloud so Alarie and

Dʰéǵʰom could hear me. "But the revolution went too far when it put nobles who supported it on the guillotine. I can't support any cause that punishes people for doing the right thing."

I then took the deepest sigh I ever had in my entire life.

"And things kept getting worse from there. Robespierre's reign of terror was a disgusting mess. The only thing it managed to accomplish was to keep a lunatic with a god complex in power until he made a mistake," I said.

"So, you don't intend to repeat the revolution?" Alarie asked.

Anger started filling me. I clenched my hands so hard they turned white.

"I don't like monarchies, and I hate to admit it, but most of the monarchs in this world aren't so bad. At least, they aren't now that Hildoara is in charge of Vandalland. And even in Motteburh, the consequences of repeating the revolution could be disastrous, even more than in my old world," I answered. "The fact that spellcasters don't age makes it worse. I don't want to risk putting an unaging Robespierre or Stalin in charge of a country. Imagine anywhere from centuries to infinity of being ruled by someone like them."

The thought made both me and Alarie cringe. I'm pretty sure it made Dʰéǵʰom cringe too. But I couldn't see him.

"Well, Gustav, it seems we are in agreement about something at least. Neither of us want someone as horrible as Robespierre on the throne of any country for any length of time," Alarie said. "And I fear that if Motteburh continues down its current path, it may get a revolution and someone like him."

I nodded.

"There's no way I'm going to let Motteburh stay the way it is forever, but a revolution could put it in an even worse position. That's my dilemma," I replied.

Alarie nodded.

"We are in agreement on that. But are you planning on having your king conquer us?" she questioned.

I shook my head.

"Even if I agreed with his conquests, which I don't, I wouldn't plan on it. King Eduard is going to conquer the Northern barbarians no matter what. And after he does, Greenrivers will have reached its logistical maximum size. He couldn't hold down more territory even if he wanted to," I said.

At least, that's what I assumed based on the maps I looked at. King Eduard had already brought a bit of war debt onto Greenrivers, and I suspected a lot of that was the cost of transporting supplies.

"But don't worry. I'll think of something else eventually. In the meantime, it'll be good to have someone inside of Motteburh who I'm working with. Could you give me your crystal ball number?" I asked.

"No," Alarie answered. "I don't have a crystal ball."

"Ah, you can't afford it," I nodded.

"That's not it. In Motteburh, it's illegal for anyone of lower status than a viscount to have one. Even viscounts are only allowed to have them if they get the approval of their count. And I am just a knight."

...I REALLY fucking hate the Motteburh government.