Senator Ponpti stood before us, silently watching the jeers and hollering of the crowd. He simply looked around, watching everyone with his cold, impassive eyes until his unyielding gaze caused the mass of humanity to gradually quiet down. I could see that many still looked obstinate and were ready to start shouting at a moment's notice again, but they were apparently unwilling to prevent an expectant senator from speaking for long.

"Senator Hipocant is correct," The leader of our group said, causing some to gasp in shock, "That no beastkin has stepped foot within the heartlands for generations. And that fact still holds true now, as I have not brought beastkin into Olimpia, but Kin."

"What?" Scoffed the other politician. "That is your excuse? I thought you were going to at least come up with an amusing, if ultimately meaningless, argument for your preposterous actions. I don't think anyone has made such an outrageous claim in decades. Would you like to tell me the sky is green now?"

As the man was speaking, my head twitched to the side, and I watched as Kanieta glided forward, moving with the grace of a dancer. Before anyone could stop her, as everyone's attention was focused on the Kin's actions, some with fear, but more with curiosity, she began speaking, "What I believe the good Senator Ponpti was implying is that the difference between the Kin and beastkin is similar to that of you Olimpians and the Imperials. After all, even a child can tell the difference between a beast that can only snarl and a person who can have an intelligent conversation. Although we can all agree that some fit the latter category more than others. Or perhaps my expectations were too high due to the company I have been keeping the last few weeks."

Kanieta sniffed at the man like he had disappointed her, and her head tilted up as she looked down at the Olimpian. I could not stifle the choking laugh that bubbled out of my throat at how the man's face immediately flushed red, but it didn't matter. I was not the only one who found the arrogant man's reaction amusing. The one who stood out the most and drew all the attention was Senator Ponpti, who threw his head back and let out a bellowing laugh that carried over the abrupt din.

"No, no, my dear," Ponpti said as he turned to the side and bobbed into a bow toward the Kin, "I can not say I am an intellectual giant among my people… more's the pity." This face contorted into a self-deprecating mask for a moment, then a mocking smile spread over his face, "It is just that as we arrived, the man who decided to greet us is a particularly poor specimen of our great Republic. I hope that his lack of decorum has not given you a bad impression of my people."

"How could that be the case? I have already met so many pleasant individuals comprising all levels of your society. What would it say about me if one incident could sour my impression now? No, it will take more than that to think less of such a beautiful city and her people."

Kathren snorted at my side, and I glanced at her, seeing her face pinched in disgust, and I found myself asking, "You don't agree?"

"The facade looks great. It makes drowning in the rotten core all the worse." The scout responded, her voice filled with bitterness.

I had nothing to say to the mountain of subtext behind her words, so I grunted halfheartedly and awkwardly looked away, sweeping my eyes over the buildings and walls. It was a sight to behold. Most fortifications within the Republic were barebones, to say the least. They were thrown up in a time when speed was number one or two on the list of considerations. Frills and decorations were not something anyone cared about.

That period had long passed, and as Olimpia gradually expanded beyond the original city limits, the walls became works of art rather than simple protective fortifications. Which was more of a show of wealth than most would think at first glance. Besides, why would a city that hadn't seen battle in over a thousand years even need walls? Not to mention, how many years — and I would bet my purse it was years — did it take the craftsmen to finish the detailed work on this structure?

Anyway, it was there, and I might as well appreciate it. While I couldn't see the bottom of what looked like a hundred-foot-tall wall, I could see the top. Though I didn't care much about that, as my eyes were focused on the stone protrusions of the parapets. The stone was shaped to resemble ever-vigilant legionaries standing with their shields facing outward and spears pointed up. I couldn't tell if they all had different features, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did, because each of their shield faces had different designs.

Below them, on the wall face, birds were gliding among the engraved clouds and diving toward the ground. Given that some of the birds had a fish clutched in their claws, I was guessing that the bottom would depict a river similar to the one at my back.

While the area immediately around the docks looked just like any other, with some fishmongers, warehouses, and a convenient nearby tavern for the sailors, behind the walls were towering multi-level buildings held up with intricate columns that went on until they disappeared behind the horizon. Scattered among the buildings were delicate towers that speared into the sky, appearing as if they should collapse under their own weight. And then there were the massive domed cathedrals that blocked entire sections of the skyline, their rooftops dotted with gardens and statues.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It was… pleasant. And I had to admit that I felt a little thrill about walking into the city and taking it all in from the street level. Like when you are hiking up a mountainside and nearing the top, and you know soon enough you will get to take in everything you just struggled through. All I had to do now was power through the last annoying part, which suddenly seemed worse than everything I had just experienced combined.

"…can not believe what I am hearing!" The plump senator spluttered, his purple face radiating indignation and affront. "You expect me to stand here and be insulted by some dog you trained to bark?!"

All at once, the jovial mood coming from Ponpti vanished, and he stepped forward, the air around him crackling with his power. "No, I do not expect anything from you, Senator Hipocant, because I am hesitant to say you have the intellect to string three sentences together. What I do expect you to do is act civilly and project the decorum your station entails. As you so crassly put it, I can train a dog to bark. What I can not do is train a beastkin to speak. A Kin, on the other hand, well, we can all see for ourselves that I didn't teach her anything."

Turning away from the boiling man, Ponpti swept his arm out to the crowd, shouting, "Has anyone here ever heard of a beastkin speaking? Has anyone ever heard a credible account of it before five months ago? No, because such a concept didn't exist beyond the mouths of charlatans. Such an idea was laughable and was rightfully brushed off. But now… Now, our children are waking up at night, screaming from nightmares."

At that moment, Senator Ponpti looked like nothing more than a father worrying about his own children. He radiated conviction, and his words carried the emotion to the masses all around us. "I know many of my comrades will accuse me of sullying our Republic. They will say I am not worthy of my position as I am parading beastkins into our capital. But they are fools who cannot see beyond their own noses. I, and Ambassador Kanieta, are here to show you that the Kin are far from their savage cousins."

Half turning to motion at Kanieta, Nareta, and Franklin, he put extra determination into his words. "They have a culture distinct from our own, but that does not make it any less vibrant. In fact, the differences are something to be studied and enjoyed for the variety. I am bringing the Kin before the Republic, at great personal risk, so that our people can discover that there is nothing to fear. That, in fact, only limitless opportunity awaits us should we treat the Kin as the friends they seek to become. I know many will be overcome with fear, and in their fear, they will spread false information due to their lack of knowledge. To prevent such ideas from spreading, I will be hosting several demonstrations with the good ambassador here to showcase some of their marvelous creations and abilities. On that note," The Senator turned and looked at Kanieta, having a quizzical expression. "I know we have not planned this, but would it be too much to ask to put on a little demonstration for the crowd?"

"Of course," Kanieta responded without a moment of hesitation, a kind smile on her face as she looked around. "I can't do anything too eye-catching without preparation, so you will have to indulge me a bit… Oh, I have just the thing." With that, she lifted her staff and tapped it on the ground. From the tip, balls of churning shadow about the size of a head rapidly burst into the air one after another.

In a matter of seconds, a couple of dozen must have been expelled. Once all of them were hovering tens of feet into the air, the balls of shadow transformed into shadow foxes that slowly began to evaporate under the noonday sun. They danced and pranced around in the air, playfully leaping onto and over each other and rolling around.

The first reaction of the crowd at the casting was to shrink back in fear, some even shrieking or shouting. But within seconds, most were gasping and pointing at the display, wonder filling their eyes. After a couple of minutes, where a hush had fallen over the crowd of thousands, Kanieta tapped her staff on the ground again, causing a clack all could hear, and the frolicking shadow foxes came dashing back and reentered the gem at the tip.

As soon as the last one disappeared, the children scattered among the onlookers started to clap their hands and cheer in approval, their voices filled with wonder. The reaction caused many of the adults to join in, and all that could be heard by most was the roar of the crowd. I, however, heard Nareta snickering to my side in amusement.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

Her eyes dancing, she looked at me and replied. "That is a spell called Shadow Summon… Every one of those cute little foxes can grow as large as a horse and bite a person in half. I doubt many would be cheering if they knew what they were really looking at."

A shiver ran down my spine as I imagined dozens of those shadow foxes rushing at me, but I also felt the edges of my lips tick up right after. Taking something dangerous and turning it into something beautiful… it had a certain poetic beauty. Then again, the most dangerous things often were the most beautiful. What did that say about our minds that such a truth holds true throughout the generations?

Pushing the thought away, I turned to watch Senator Hipocant turn in a huff, flipping the edge of his thin toga at Senator Ponpti and marching away without another word. It might have just been me, but he didn't look all that upset about how things turned out. Maybe we really were greeted by Senator Ponpti's people. Or he could just be good at controlling his emotions. Fuck me… I mentally sighed, feeling a headache coming on minutes after our arrival.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.