Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 599: Robbed

Chapter 599: Robbed

"According to Eucleidis." Ulysses began, only to be cut short by Ana, who inquired.

"Who’s that?"

"The owner of the airship we’ll be taking to the Boundary."

"Ah, okay. You can continue."

"Anyways," Ulysses remarked. "He said that recently, clashes between the Automatons and the Three Ring Bazaar have gotten more frequent. Rumors have begun to spread that the deities might soon face off against one another."

"I have a feeling that won’t end well," Alex commented with Ulysses nodding.

"It definitely won’t. Deities are completely different from Mystics, in the sense that if Mystics damage reality, the Will of the World would be able to fix it. If a deity damages reality, unless they fix it, the Will of the World would leave the damage as is."

"Regardless, that doesn’t explain why we need to spend extra days in Pheripolis."

"Due to the clash last night, the Automatons have reached a deal with the governor to close all exits from the city so they can search for the members of the Bazaar."

"And the governor agreed?" Ana inquired with Ulysses nodding.

"It’s not surprising, considering the Goddess is the reason the Solomon Alliance remains as is. One only needs to recall what happened to the 13th city state to understand her importance."

"I thought there were twelve."

"Exactly." Ulysses pointedly said. "In any case, we need to wait at least two days. Usually, such things blow over rather quickly so we don’t need to worry about it taking too long."

Letting out a sigh, Alex intoned. "Alright then, we’ll wait and then leave at the first opening when this blows over."

"Sure thing."

"In the meantime, could we go sightseeing?" Ana inquired, rather excited to check out the city.

Alex pursed his lips, weighing the options before replying. "Fine then, but we need to figure out a way to protect the briefcase to ensure we don’t end up with stories that touch."

"I’ll handle it." Ana quickly replied, unwilling to let Alex see a reason to deny her the opportunity for a tour.

"Alright then, once you are done with that, we can leave."

"I’ll be back shortly."

And so, Ana hurried upstairs while Ulysses focused on finishing his meal, quite aware that he would be serving as the tour guide.

***

Unlike Zion, which caused Alex to think mostly of Victorian England, Pheripolis reminded him of Ancient Greece with their dressing and overall architecture, which mostly consisted of a colored himation draped over a chiton, stylized with varying images.

The most rampant colors were white and blue, with very few seen wearing purple.

According to Ulysses, those who wore purple were usually related to the noble strata of society or, at least, the excessively wealthy folks.

Speaking of, due to the way Pheripolis was structured, which appeared like a three-way step, most nobles lived on the first step while merchants and other notable individuals lived on the second.

The third step, where Boars Inn was located, was mostly occupied by the lower strata of society.

The city was one of the few among those in the Alliance that was governed by a democratic council, with the governor presiding not as a true leader but as a conduit by which decisions in the parliament were passed on to the people.

In any case, one important aspect that caught Alex’s eye, which stood in sharp contrast to the situation in Zion was that there was no Church of Angelica.

Surprisingly, as well, there were no establishments related to the Goddess of Automation, which one would expect considering she held away over the continent.

Though there were few believers in the goddess, most people believed in household deities which were most times representations of their ancestors that had long since died and moved on to the Afterlife.

According to Ulysses, most of the household deities were empty vessels, but sometimes, there were household deities that would come to life, not as gods, but instead as tormented evil spirits or Undead Wheel Mystics.

After a brief tour that ended with them stopping at the second step, only those invited or actual nobles were allowed into the first step.

And so, they returned from whence they came, indulging in one of the favorite activities to partake in within Pheripolis which Alex referred to as elevator riding... but on water.

For context, An inland river ran down through the entirety of Pheripolis, starting from the first step and ending at Baymouth.

Due to its unique design, special boats were created and attached to incredibly large machines with harnesses, allowing people to traverse the waterfalls, to reach the steps above or below.

Naturally, one had to pay to use these harnessed boats, but the experience was quite novel and Alex likened it to an amusement park experience.

Taking the time to head to the market, Alex quickly understood why purple garments were considered meant for the rich, as just a single scarf turned out to be equivalent to half of what they spent bribing the Pheripoli state officials.

After much back-and-forth banter, Ana settled on buying a little pot that depicted the parliamentary hall of Pheripolis, an item that would serve as a souvenir.

Satisfied with her purchase, they headed back to the Boars Inn only to be met with a rather peculiar sight.

Not one, not two, but five people had snuck into Ana’s room and were now frozen in time, making for a rather intriguing circumstance.

"... You were right," Alex muttered as he stared at the face of one of the thieves.

"About?" Ulysses raised a brow.

"The number of thieves is quite appalling," Alex admitted.

Just then, Ana gasped in shock, drawing the attention of both men.

"What is it?"

"Uhmm..." Ana trailed off unsure of how to respond.

Alex walked over and glanced at what she was staring at only to freeze.

"Is that our money box?"

"... Yes."

Alex’s eyebrows twitched as he inquired. "Where are the coins?"

"... Gone."

Taking a deep breath, Alex slowly turned and left the room, closing the door as he did so.

A moment later, a loud voice was heard.

"Motherfucker!"

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