Iver maintained the appearance of a white-robed Child of the Moon, holding Aleister's hand as he followed Arsene.
He admired the local style, so different from Avalon.
"Les Herbiers... my favorite city."
Arsene adjusted his wide-brimmed hat and asked in his deep, magnetic voice, "How do you find it?"
"First impression?"
Iver asked.
Arsene nodded. "Speak freely."
Iver looked up at the streets.
Les Herbiers—a city in western Iris that was not particularly wealthy, yet was home to many rich people.
The city's colors were mainly gray with white accents, glittering beneath the early summer sun with a radiance like that of the Holy Church. Expensive crystal lamps stood everywhere along the streets—these streetlights were alchemical products imported from Stibium, high-end goods that Avalon had previously forbidden to import.
Iris linden trees lined the shaded boulevards on both sides. The clatter of hooves along the roadside mingled with the crisp ringing of bells. Carriages, horses, bicycles, and automobiles roughly five years behind Stibium's models could all be seen on the streets...
"A very refined city."
Iver offered his assessment. "It feels like the sort of place rich people would enjoy."
"Yes. At least both of Iris's dukes have estates in Les Herbiers."
Arsene sighed. "It has no port, but it's still adjacent to port cities. The big shots like living in places like this—transportation is convenient, but not too convenient; crowds are dense, but not excessively so."
"Isn't convenient transportation a good thing?" Iver asked with interest.
"If transportation is too convenient, it also means more frequent crime... Someone might commit a crime, immediately take a ship abroad, and escape beyond pursuit. And dense crowds mean poor public sanitation..."
"Public sanitation?" Aleister asked.
"Yes. Unlike Avalon, Iris has no Path of Authority guiding it from above—the defining feature of life