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[b]Event: Metropolis[/b]
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From the outset the Rettanese ambassadors seemed intent on treating Yalen as the leader. Some of his fellow Biros were okay with that, some appeared to silently take issue, and some didn’t seem to care. In his case, he was glad to have such a role fall into his lap with no effort on his part. The more these strangers trusted his authority the easier it would be to make himself heard when necessary. This whole mission would go smoothly as long as they could keep the local government on their side. 

Being courteous in a foreign country was not that hard. Yalen copied what the political officers did: when they saluted, he saluted, and when they bowed he bowed back. These people knew he was a foreigner and had brought in the appropriate translators, so he was not embarrassed by his lack of understanding of the language. If anything bothered him at all it was the sheer amount of time they were wasting on mere greetings, when they could be working on catching the Traveler’s spy within the city. Anything related to the topic of that man instantly put him on edge.

[color=FD5E53]”Hello. Yes, hello there. Nice to meet you.“[/color] Yalen politely droned on as each civil servant stepped forward to introduce themself. Everyone had similar things to say about themselves and the hour was quite boring, broken up by the sudden Constantian style greeting offered by the man named Wu Long. 

[color=FD5E53][i]I better remember this fellow for later.[/i][/color] He thought to himself. 

Once the ceremony was over it was finally time to move on, and Yalen was glad for it. As the team walked around the densely packed city he carefully observed the common folk. Did they appear underfed? Was anyone sick? Were there obvious signs of poverty in the area? His eyes searched for clues regarding things of this nature, as these were factors that were commonly exploited by the Traveler to incite revolts. There [b]had[/b] to be a reason for this city to be targeted in all of Rettan. 

Yalen’s hand went straight for the scepter strung at his waist when he felt the kinetic disturbance. He was on a very light trigger right now. Their guide was not bothered by this, or at least was trying to look that way, and he didn’t want to press the issue when they were still fresh off the boat in an unknown land. Yalen wouldn’t try to assert himself until he had gotten a better feel for their Rettanese companions.

[color=FD5E53]”Lead the way Blossom. It would be nice to discuss our future moves over a meal.”[/color]