"This place… feels really different."
Even with how in hurry I was to make the report about the fake fire flower garden, one couldn't simply fly into a city. With the best-case scenario oscillating around several years in prison and in the most likely one, an instant death due to being a potential threat, descending down the skies and travelling the last remaining kilometre by foot was definitely the better option.
Yet, even outside of the city itself, the entire area was starkly different from what Fen experienced so far.
Starting with the lands of the empire, outside of the poor and defenceless villages located in the few safe spots around the country, most of the populace lingered in or around cities. According to the rule of thumb, people would settle only as far away as one could still spot the city, so that in case of emergency, its safe walls would be reachable.
