“To summarize the Elder’s decision about your request,” Alysara says, “They feel that giving you this opportunity may break neutrality and be seen as obvious support.”

Governor Vanu Runa Orlan nods. He doesn’t see it that way, and most won't, but the Runalymo have a very different culture.

“Therefore,” Alysara continues, “They will simply provide a neutral meeting place for all country rulers or representatives to meet.”

Orlan raises an eyebrow.

“If that’s the case, you will still need someone to vouch for you; not many are going to trust an unknown faction. With me vouching for you, everything will go a lot smoother.”

“You just want the opportunity to get to negotiate with the other countries first,” Alysara accuses. “But the Elders have come to the same conclusion and will allow restricted access to the Entylamo.”

“Excellent! When will you depart?” Orlan flashes her a smile.

Alysara's expression remains indifferent, but her tails twitch in slight annoyance.

“Tomorrow. It will be a relatively short flight to each country, about half an hour or so, don’t expect any long voyage. Also, the purpose will be just to invite the rulers to meet at a neutral place, two days after the notification, where you can all negotiate if you want. Of course, we will be using this opportunity to negotiate trade routes.”

“I see; well then, I’ll make sure tomorrow is cleared up for me.”

To be truthful, Orlan is eagerly anticipating the experience of the Runalymo ship. What is it like to be inside something that is much bigger on the inside? What is it like when it flies? Lysha and her brothers will be jealous once they hear about this, but they are busy vying for election. Lysha is fighting the war, Maley is down in Caerym for an important deal, and Hanar is visiting the independent cities for something he has yet to fully disclose, even to him, his father.

The day couldn’t have passed any slower. After his short meeting with Alysara, the other governors wanted to discuss strategies for gaining more allies in the war. In the end, Borala, the grand marshal, and Torn, the grand judge, both wanted to come to the meeting as well.

“As the Grand Marshal, I am confident I can convince them that helping us is the best strategic option for them, since I have the best information on the current war affairs. Plus, by coming with you I can get a better idea of what the Runalymo’s ship is capable of,” Borala argues her case.

At least Torn is honest in his reasoning.

“I just want to see what kind of changes the Runalymo will bring.”

“Very well” Orlan says. “Then let us move on to the happenings of the last month.”

Reports of a bush fire that had destroyed several farms came in, although fortunately it was under control and had been put out now. Then, three minor Orders asked for him to mediate a dispute. After that came reports of a large pinkish drake flying near the city; although that last one is more of a rumor. If there were such a monster so close to the city, everyone would know about it.

Orlan is completely exhausted by the end of the day, and sleep takes him almost immediately. His wife even had to wake him up to get ready for the trip on the Runalymo’s ship.

He takes two guards with him, and he makes his way to the port, where Alysara and two elders wait. His [Analyze] shows that the Alysara in front of him is another clone, but perhaps he will get the chance to meet the real Alysara during this trip.

“We welcome you aboard the Entylamo. You will be allowed access to the deck and the residential and industrial areas, but we will have to ask you not to go anywhere else,” Alysara translates for one of the elders.

“Thank you for your hospitality” Orlan bows.

With that, he walks up the ramp and onto the ship's deck, where it is noticeably hotter.

Could the sail above them be trapping the summer’s heat under it? Orlan ponders, but Alysara answers the question rolling in his mind.

“Just to warn you, we are used to much higher heat, so you will find the ship inside to be much, much, hotter.”

Orlan nods tentatively before looking around and examining the deck. There’s a large lift, and after seeing him look at it, Alysara explains what it is.

“That leads to storage to make it easy to store and withdraw goods. Only crafters are allowed access to store or retrieve their goods.”

“Of course,” Orlan says.

It makes sense; he rarely ever visits a warehouse. Most don’t unless they work there or use it.

Orlan makes note that no crew is on the deck, but with such a strange setup, he doesn’t know what to expect. However, he doesn’t need to wait long as a gust of air rushes up under the sail, and he suddenly feels heavier. The ground falls away, as the airship raises high above the docks and city below. Once they reach a certain height, the ship begins moving forward slowly at first and then picking up greater speed.

Orlan watches in amazement as the ground rushes past from over the rails. Farmlands extend far to the horizon; he never knew what it looked like from above.

“We’ll stop by the Caerym first, then we'll visit the cities east of them before stopping by Forren; after that, we’ll visit Helikan and finally the Luna Empire.”

“I don’t think Forren will be very welcoming to me, considering our current relations.” Orlan comments.

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“It’s quite alright, we will be able to handle that one for ourselves,” Alysara replies.

She doesn’t talk much during the flight but stays with Orlan, probably to keep make sure he doesn’t go anywhere he is not allowed, even if he never intended it. It would be quite rude for him to go against his host's wishes but if he were in their shoes he’d probably do the same too.

Orlan savors the experience of flying on the airship, marveling at the ground far below, how the Hills rose and fell, the forest and plains sprawling out, the herds of animals grazing. It is something few ever get the chance to experience.

Flying skills are not unheard of, but they are rare. Hundreds of years ago, when the Luna empire occupied the lands of Vocana, there was a platoon of elite soldiers that all had a flying Class; at least, that’s how the stories were told.

Volcana broke away from the Empire when his forefather, Prince Luna Varum Vanu, rebelled. He took on the Family name Runa after his victory, and Vanu became the House name.

He’s not sure how the Luna Empire will receive him, considering the history, but that was over three hundred fifty years ago, no one from that time should be alive, and only historians should know the events.

Half an hour later, the ship lands in the port of the Caerym capital city. Snow falls from the sky as the cold air bites at his skin. The city is covered in white, and smoke billows from thousands of chimneys. People walk around in fur coats and fire silk woven clothes.

“The Elders aren’t going to like the cold here,” Alysara remarks. “At least it’s not as cold as an ice storm.”

“Ice storm? Do you have a lot of them?” Orlan asks.

Mana storms are really rare, like once a decade, if that, but Alysara talks about them like they are a relatively common occurrence. That is not even going into the fact that a specific type of mana storm is even rarer. Considering that they live in a hot place, fire storms should be more common, but for them to have regular Ice storms, they must live in a mana unstable place.

“Common enough, about once a month.”

Where the hell do they live to get mana storms so often?!

Alysara won’t say, so Orlan won’t bother asking, but perhaps he should look into some history about his ancestor’s place; maybe he can find something, but that is a matter for another time. For now, he needs to focus on the current task.

Onlookers stare in fascination at the Entylamo as a platoon of guards march through the crowds.

“I suppose this is where I come in,” Orlan says as the ramp is lowered to the pier. He walks down to introduce himself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

With Orlan’s expertise, the situation is quickly diffused, and a messenger is sent to the palace. Soon enough, Orlan, the Elders, and I are all granted an audience with the King.

“Normally, one would have to kneel before the King,” Orlan tells me before we enter the palace, “But we are considered of equal position, so in our case, it would actually be considered inappropriate for us to bow or kneel.”

The guard comes back with the King’s approval and let us in. We enter the throne room, and before us sits a tall man with long braided hair, a thin scar on the left side of his face, and a magic fur cloak on his back.

Mane of the Snow King (Exalted) (Archaic): This Cloak has served the rulers of the frost lands for over a thousand years and helped the warrior Kings repel invasions from the neighboring countries and empires. With this, the wearer is protected from heat and cold and can rally the fury of the land and blanket his foes under frost and snow.

Conjure Blizzard 280/280, Climate stabilization.

“Welcome to Caerym, Governor Vanu Runa Orlan. Who are these exotic people you bring?” The king asks with power in his voice.

I would [Analyze] him, but that may set off retaliation items he is wearing, and that will offend him and hurt our chances to trade. He wears several more magic items but none above Grand tier.

“They are the Runalymo, King Farandor. They come from the homeland of our ancestors, from before they arrived in these lands. They seek trade and wish to invite you or your representative to a neutral place in two days’ time where all the rulers of this land may meet. It is a great opportunity to make deals with far-off lands and other countries that may otherwise prove too expensive or impractical to manage.”

“They intend to take us on their flying ship?” King Farandor asks.

“Yes, they are a peaceful people. It would be folly to trick, ransom, or harm you in this manner. If they intend an invasion, they wouldn’t be parading around; they’d have been able to attack entirely without warning.”

“Hmm” The King hums with a nod “And how do I know they don’t intend to spy on us?”

Orlan glances at me, a hint of an amused smile on his face.

“This scryer here is Alysara, the one from the world notifications,” Orlan says with a gesture toward me. “There is nothing that can stop her from spying on you; they don’t need pretenses. They really do only intend to trade.”

“I see,” King Farandor says after several seconds of contemplative silence. “Then I accept your proposal, but if this turns out to be a trap, Vocana will take responsibility.”

“Of course,” Orlan replies.

After that, we return to the airship, and this time Orlan and his guards finally enter the ship, probably to warm up a bit. Unfortunately for him, it’s a little too warm; the moment the door inside opens, a wave of heat assaults him, making him and his guards flinch.

“What kind of burning pit do you live in?!” Orlan exclaims

I can’t help but smile amusedly, seeing their reaction.

“Let me help you out” I say and cast a spell to make them comfortable by balancing out the heat with ice mana to cool things down around them.

“Normally it’s dangerous to cast spells on a dignitary, but I’ll allow it this time since I know you meant no harm.”

“I wasn’t aware,” I say truthfully.

“It’s best to let them ask or deal with it themselves.”

I proceed to give Orlan a tour as we approach our next destination and the next few meetings play out similarly to the first. It isn’t until we get to Forren that we have to rely on Orlan’s previous examples to help us with this meeting.

“This is Elder Guklaro, and Elder Mara” I introduce the elders. “We would like to invite you to a meeting where we can discuss trade with you and other rulers or their representatives.”

The King, King Forren Jusantar is a pudgy man dressed in expensive mana silk clothes and wearing all kinds of garish jewelry.

“Will Vocana be there?” King Jusantar asks.

“Yes. You can also make deals with any other country there,” I answer.

“Will you be trading with them?”

“We already are.”

“They are our enemy; why should we agree to this? What’s in it for us?”

I translate to the Elders, and they give a reply.

“We will not interfere in your war; we seek to trade goods and embolden the economy of both of our countries. We do not have to trade, but we are sure you will find it quite beneficial.”

The King’s advisor whispers in his ear before he answers. “I will send a representative, but we make no promises with someone who trades with our enemy; you should be grateful for my generosity.”

Irritated by the King’s attitude, I translate to the elders, who look equally annoyed.

“Then we will pick up your representative in two days,” I say, a little eager to be leaving. With the troublesome one out of the way, we get back to the airship and make our way to Helikan, where I have personal business. If all goes well, I can finally restore my anima.