When morning came, we ate breakfast then headed straight out to make the most of the three hours we had to see Syressa. Apparently so did everyone else, since we barely made it past ten minutes into the meal before the inn’s dining hall was abandoned.

“Where do you guys want to go?” Durreg asked as the three of us headed out.

“I’d like to get some additional travel gear. We were underprepared for a convoy escort mission, and it showed yesterday.” Nico sighed.

Seeing no reason to object, Durreg and I went along with that.

Now that I had the energy to do so, I began taking in Nisos’s hometown as we explored it. Unlike Kengir’s mud-brick buildings and Tamery’s tier-locked architecture, Syressa had buildings made from regular stone. The streets were evened out but continued winding all over the place, and there weren’t any of the street stalls I’d grown accustomed to; likely because of the rugged terrain the city was built on.

Still, what few people walked the streets – mostly men – were all heading towards the large building atop the city’s biggest hills. Hearing a few of them talking to each other, I tried to listen in to see the talk of the town.

“Did you hear? Atenos is putting the irritating gadfly on trial for corrupting the youth.”

“They what? Have they lost their minds?!”

“I can’t say I blame them. The man was provoking people for no reason at all, and the youngsters were all looking to him like he was some sort of role model. You know the saying, mess with the minotaur…”

“He’s been at it for years, even when we’ve been at war. Atenos needs to shut his mouth, or else we ought to reconsider our place in the Delilan League. With such weak leadership, Atenos is a sinking ship!”

“You shut your yap! They worship Lady Atena like we do, which is more than can be said for the rest of Iona! Anymore talk of treason and I’ll punch your lights out!”

“This is a bad time for the trial at all. With the tournament in the Republic, we’ve got to show a united front to the other nations, but these idiots just had to hold the trial now!”

“That’s exactly why they had to do it now, moron. We have to show that we’re not going to tolerate disunity in the face of the world.”

“Lady Atena should intervene and cast a ruling. This case risks dividing us all, but no one will object to the decision of a Goddess.”

“Are you daft, boy?! You want to upend decades of democratic tradition, and for what, some mangy old mutt in another city?! And what about the rest of the Delilan League? They don’t worship Lady Atena, so why would they accept her judgement?!”

The people on the street’s opinions were all over the place, and some of them looked heated enough to beat the daylights out of each other. Still, not one of them actually moved a muscle to do so.

Interested, I asked one of them as we walked.

“Why aren’t these people fighting in the street if they’re that passionate about their opinions?”

The middle-aged man looked to me and answered without missing a beat.

“A foreign guest in our city, eh? Been a while since we had one of those, though it shouldn’t be surprising with news of the tournament. I haven’t seen anyone with your appearance before; are you from some Republican province?”

The man shrugged off the question as soon as he asked it.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Bah, don’t answer that. Answering a question with another is poor form. Anyway, in the cities of the Delilan League in Iona, we don’t solve arguments with our fists. It’s monumentally stupid to think that being a better fighter makes your argument right; you can go to the cities of the Ponesian League to see the results of that idiocy for yourself.”

Huh.

“Pardon me, but I am also curious. Why are the people on the street not only familiar with political affairs, but have opinions on them? Isn’t it best for your leadership and your god to decide?” Nico added in.

“Ah, a Tameryian. It’s not surprising you’re asking a question like that. I am also assuming you’re nobility?”

Before Nico could answer, the man spoke again.

“Bull’s balls, I did it again. Sorry about that, it’s a bad habit. To answer your question, the people of the city are its leadership. The landed men, anyway. The women’s place is taking care of their household, while men whose thoughts are filled mostly with where to find their next meal make for poor council.”

Nico was taken aback by the man’s answer. Despite that, she carried on.

“Giving everyone a voice is a recipe for chaos, it’s just mob rule! Moreover, how can a wise man’s voice hold the same weight as a fool’s?!”

The man looked at Nico and laughed.

“Well, it does get chaotic. Still, both the nobleman and the commoner can be wise or foolish. Better to have their ideas stand on their own merit rather than on their holder’s social status. More importantly,” he said, the chuckles finally stopping, “people with a voice in making the rules are a lot harder to oppress, youngster. Better to have it this way than keep praying for a merciful and just ruler from the heavens every time a new king or god takes the throne.”

Hearing that, Nico couldn’t object any more.

“Oh, look at the time, I’ll be late to the agora. Sorry youngsters, it’s been a pleasure, but I’ve got places to be!” he said, taking off to jog after the rest of the men going up the hill.

“You never introduced yourself, old man!” Durreg yelled out.

The man yelled back at us as he ran ahead.

“I am not an old man, boy! I am 47 years young! I’ll smack you if you call me old again!”

I snorted.

“Dammit, I forgot to answer again! My name’s Platon!”

The man’s voice faded as he turned down the road going up the hill. Durreg and I continued to look around for stores selling gear, but Nico seemed to be dejected – even a little shaken up.

“…You doing okay, Nico?” I asked.

“Don’t mind me, I am alright. I just have a lot to think about.” She said.

***

A few minutes later, we found a store selling gear. Inside, Aui and Nishem were already there.

“Hey guys. Didn’t expect to see you here!” I said.

The grumpy old lady at the counter shushed us loudly.

“If you’re going to buy something, then hurry up and do it. Do the chitchat elsewhere; my shop isn’t an agora, dammit!”

I gave her a sheepish smile as I began browsing her merchandise with the others.

“Kids these days…” the woman grumbled before going back to her newspaper.

Durreg gave me a shit-eating grin after that, clearly struggling to hold back his laughter. I rolled my eyes at him then turned back to my shopping.

Scattered throughout the shop were pieces of Ionian gear, including shields, helmets, chest plates, and a cornucopia of weapons. There also seemed to be magic items and gear as well, and all of it was made from monster parts. I could even tell which creatures some of the gear was made of; seems like Iona really didn’t struggle much with the revenge of the abyss.

A quick look around showed nothing better than my Tyrant Gorilla-Frost Eagle enchanted armor and my staff, but there were some nifty magic accessories.

With my mana regeneration ring, I could wear one more enchanted ring and an enchanted necklace. I could technically get a helmet, leggings, bracers, and boots to complement my enchanted chest piece, but I didn’t see anything worthwhile in that regard.

“Hmm…”

As I browsed through the ring and necklace sections, only two items really caught my attention.

[Necklace of Petty Health Regeneration]

[Ring of Petty Stamina Regeneration]

Taking a closer look at them, I noticed an outrageous price tag of 35 platinum drachma. Their effects weren’t even anything close to the regeneration ring I got!

“Hey aunty, what’s the deal with these over here? The mana cores on them couldn’t be bigger than rank D, so why’re they so expensive?”

The old woman put down her newspaper again to look at the accessories.

“These are stat regeneration accessories, of course they’re expensive! Do you think enchanters who can make them grow on trees?” she asked.

“Using bigger mana cores with these enchantments are a waste since the effect won’t change, and it’s not the mana core that makes it valuable anyway.”

My eyes widened in surprise as I stared on the ring Lady Sept gave me. The old woman followed my gaze to the ring and gasped.

“Where did you get that?!” she yelled, drawing everyone else’s attention.

“Sell it to me. I’ll give you all of my stock! No, I’ll give you 465 platinum drachma for it!” she said, her eyes glued to the ring with a ferocious intensity.