Dear Diary, I got captured.

I wake up with a start. Yesterday, Kuro and I managed to find a fancy inn to stay at in the scholar's district. But that is not the problem. No, the problem is the glinting steel of the weapons that have been pointed at me. About five guards are in my room, pointing their swords at me.

“I surrender,” I say a bit awkwardly.

“Good, you are coming with us? Bind her hands,” the lead guard says.

One of the guards sheets his blade, takes out a length of rope, and starts using it to bind my hands together. Once that is done, I am told to stand up and follow them. I do, as they say, not exactly feeling in the mood to resist whatever is going on. It is still early in the morning, at least, so there are not many people out and about to see what is going on.

As they take me outside, my mind is racing with possible ways to get out of this situation, but there does not appear to be a direct answer besides burning a lot of stuff, and even that is iffy at best. For some reason, the guards don’t really trust me, as two of them still have their swords pointed at me as we walk. I guess the only positive thing is that they havened manged to catch Kuro. What the little cat was doing, I had no idea, but whatever it was, it would probably help me in the end.

I am taken to what I think is a guard post. The squad-looking building has what looks like two floors plus a platform on its roof, allowing people to overlook the situation within the city. I am taking a side and put in a small room with two active guards watching me.

“So what happens now?” I ask the guard after about fifteen minutes.

The guards look at each other before one of them shrugs. “Word has been sent to the city officials and the temple. They will send a representative to judge you.” The guard explains.

I frown. “That sounds a bit too much for me.”

The guards don’t answer, so I continue.

“I don’t know the rules about the city all that well, but does your captain not hold enough authority to judge?”

“Normally, he does, but in this case, an exception had been made because of circumstances.”

“Circumstances? What circumstances?” I ask, only getting more confused.

“For starters, your clothes are not from here, which usually would mark you only as an outsider, but no one has ever seen anything like it; well, that doesn't just mean you're an outsider. It also means you might be from much further out than anyone here thinks."

“I guess you're on the mark there. I do come from very far away.”

The guard I have been talking to nods, “So you must understand that in the current circumstances, your presence might be a threat.” He says

“Well, I would gladly leave if I could, but I am as stuck just like the rest of you,” I say with a sigh.

We stay like that in amicable silence until another guard walks in, ordering me to move again. I begrudgingly get going. I am taken further inside into a room that looks like something between a theatre and an arena. On the seat, looking down on me, there are several men looking down on me as they whisper.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I am taken to the centre of the stage, and as I wait for whatever is about to start, I notice one shadow growing darker as it moves towards me. Once it reaches me, I hear a whisper in my ear.

“Small update: Some of them think you are a Roman spy. Some think you are a scholar coming from far away, and some think you are the daughter of the sun god Apollo sent here to protect the city.” Kuro whispers.

I frown. That is at least useful information, but as a child of a god, how did they come to that conclusion? Suddenly, a memory flashes back to me on the roof using the spell. Sun step. Or how it is translated into Greek apollo step. That, plus the whole fire magic, probably didn’t help. Okay, cool, that is a plan. Then, pretend to be a scholar while dropping hints of having a connection to the gods.

Suddenly, the room quiets down as a man walks in and sits in the middle of the room, appraising me.

“You stand here under suspicion; tell us who you are and what you are doing here?”

“I am the Traveller I am just here to learn and explore,” I say as I do a small bow.

“Traveller, what kind of name is that?” the man asks.

“It's a name my father has given me as I will go wherever the sun takes me. Wait, that is wrong. I think it was supposed to be wind takes me. Regardless, not everywhere I go, everyone will speak the same languages, so having a name that is a word with meaning allows my name to be translated into any language.” I say with a smile that it is technically not wrong, according to the other Travellers, and that is why they carry the name.

“I see, so your parents had a plan for you then?” the man asks me, studying me intently.

“I don’t know. I was just told to travel to learn and observe. I have been given no specific details other than that.”

“Then, where did you come from?”

“The south beyond the desired is an immense jungle, which is where I have been before coming here, learning from the locals about the law of the jungle,” I say with a smile.

“So, do you hail from the south?”

“No, beyond the land to the west, past the unending ocean, that is where my home is.” I really enjoy talking in cryptic language.

There is even more muttering in the crowd as the main guy frowns at me. “Do you hold any allegiance to the romance?”

“No, I have never been anywhere near a Roman before, if I am honest.”

“Really, then, how did you enter the city? You can’t have walked past all the soldiers outside without noticing.”

“Well, as your guards might be able to confirm, my way of travelling is a bit less than reliable.”

Suddenly, a man in fancy robes stands up. “We should stop this farce. The girl is under my lord's protection, so she is responsible for the temple!” the old man shouts.

“That might be, so that does not mean I am comfortable with her running free to do as she pleases.” The main guy, who I assume is the mayor of some sort, says.

“So you are just going to keep her confined?” the priest shouts at him.

The mayor got an awkward look, so I decided to speak up. “What if I had an escort?”

Everyone turns to me as the priest asks a question, “What do you mean?”

“Well, if I am not trusted enough to room on my own, then we can just compromise, right? What I am doing is not a secret, so if you assign some guards to keep an eye on me, you can make sure that I don’t do anything that is out of line.”

People start muttering and whispering in each other's ears until they reach some kind of consensus.

The mayor turns to me, “You are allowed to stay, but you are under constant guard, and you are not allowed to leave the library until we have seen your true allergens.”

“That is more than acceptable,” I say

After that, people are called, and I am released as four guards come to me and are introduced to me as my escort. I was also introduced to the head curator of the library, which is exciting. Going to the library would be a good change of pace, and I actually have the time to look around for once, so that is good.

Okay, when they said library, I was not entirely sure what I had in mind, but it was definitely not this. The building itself is a wonder beyond belief; great architecture combined with Egyptian iconography gives the building a unique and imposing look.

The inside, somehow, is even more impressive. Besides the decorated walls, there are shelves open shelves of scrolls. I let out a whistle. I could definitely stay here for the remainder of the time.