The Pharaoh's welcome banquet was scheduled for the evening, while his official birthday celebration was three days away. That left the players some time to explore the Ptolemaic capital, but not nearly enough.
For a city of five million people, three days was just enough time for them to take a quick look around. They could barely complete the first stage of the exploration side quest Lady Triss had assigned, but they would have to wait until the free exploration phase after the birthday celebration to delve into the story and look for hidden rewards.
And given the size and layout of the Ptolemaic capital, if the players really went wandering on their own, a few of them would probably get lost.
Modern people had a pitiful sense of direction. Even with the game's UI pointing the way, they might not be able to find a meeting point in an unfamiliar place. Fortunately, the diplomats of the Sanghai Empire had prepared for this.
They had arranged for some local nobles to serve as the players' guides, leading these valiant foreigners and legendary god-slayers around the capital. As mentioned before, the Sanghai Empire would cover the players' basic expenses here.
Basic expenses only, of course. If a player suddenly decided to buy some expensive luxury item, they would have to pay for it out of their own pocket.
The Pharaoh might be rich, but he wasn't a fool who'd let himself be fleeced. The players were honored guests, but they still had to behave with the dignity expected of guests.
As it happened, the players' movements were easy to predict. After they were dismissed, Murphy watched them through the administrator system and, just as expected, found that most of them were wandering around the Ptolemaic capital's smithing district, trying to get