The Contract

Li made his way around the main square of Riviera. This was the first time he had entered the city without his hood, but there hadn't been any issues. The guards standing by the main gate always had a perpetual look of sleepiness to them, and when they saw Li, they raised a brow but shrugged and let him pass.

Li had given them an appreciative nod and they had smiled in return. Riviera was a city of peace and progress, housing Soleil's finest university and philosophers. They were the only of the four cardinal cities to have banned pit fighting and even allowed some minor immigration on part of non-humans from the north.

Compared to a wolfman or elf, it made sense that Li wasn't that much of a surprise. He always wondered why Old Thane had ever been so protective as to make him wear the hood, but that was a question to ask the old man himself at a later time.

As Li toured the market square, he tuned out the cacophony of shouts as sellers peddled their wares. Blacksmiths made their apprentices roar out their daily sales on blades and armor, emphasizing how beautiful they would be to display on a rack at home. Food vendors moved around carts while shouting at how savory their meat pies or how sweetly their cakes would melt in mouths.

There were quite a few hinterlanders, people that were native to the dry plains west of Riviera, selling their own wares. Their smiths sold curved blades and hooked daggers while their vendors roasted great spits of meat and carved out kebabs.

Li did not appreciate this chaos. Though it was far less hectic than the cities of his past life, they still reminded him of the unending rows of towering apartments that blocked out the horizon. The smoke that rolled out of industrial factories which blackened the skies. Cars and drones screamed as their engines worked, the harsh sounds of traffic only ever punctuated by the relatively quiet yet ominous rumble of hyperloop trains speeding their way around.

Li shook his head and pushed forwards, ignoring countless requests for him to turn back and taste a little this or that. He preferred the quiet of the farm, and he only ever came here when he had to.

Past the market square, at the center of Riviera, lay the city hall, a massive, domed building of marble. Four towering pillars of white stone stood in front of the entrance, their tips carved into images of the four great gods that had defeated the first demons and spread magic to the world more than a millennia ago.

Beyond the pillars sprawled a great stairway up to the upon doors of the city hall. The doors were impressive works of art, fashioned of polished wood emblazoned with the symbol of a dove – the house sigil of Lord Lys.

Li made his way up the stairs. Many people passed by him either moving in or out of the city hall. Here was Riviera's heart, after all, where all judicial and administrative processes were held. Citizens could come here to forward complaints and suits against businesses or others or, as in Li's case, take aptitude tests for certain professions.

Li made his way into the city hall, feeling the cool and clean white marble beneath his feet as he made his way towards a sprawling counter where behind magically reinforced glass, city hall employees aided visitors, directing them where they needed, giving them necessary paperwork, and so on and so forth.

Thankfully, there weren't too many people in line. Usually, there was a decent wait to get a spot at the counter open, but Li made his way up without any wasted time. He found himself talking with a beastman, and upon closer inspection, he could tell she was a Feli, possessing certain cat-like features such as pointed, furred ears and sharp, yellow eyes with slit pupils.

"Here to take the herbalist's exam," said Li. He looked behind the feli where dozens of employees sat at desks scribbling on papers, recording every little thing that transpired. At the wall, a great golden clock stood, its long and short hands reading half past two.

His exam started at three, but he needed a question answered.

The feli narrowed her eyes for a second. "Herbalist's exam?"

Li nodded. "You heard me right. But before that, I'd like to ask about the 'Contract of the Grasses'. Does this have anything to do with the exam?"

"Hm." The feli took a long look at Li before she shrugged. "I suppose it does not. The contract was a decree announced by the esteemed duchess Vivienne, long live her reign, stating that, er-"

She reached under her desk and rummaged about before fishing a paper. It was bordered in gold and sealed at the bottom with a red rose – the sigil of the duchess. Her eyes peered up and down the document, refreshing her memory.

"Ah, it states that under a new law passed by the executive court of Soleil, the four cardinal cities must consolidate all of their herbal production, distribution, and supply to a single local entity through a crown-forwarded contract. Under the contract, this entity will report directly to the crown and in return, receive its full aid. Would you like me to list out the benefits of contracting with the crown?"

"No thanks. Tell me more about the contract itself."

"For the foreseeable future, in order to determine which entity is best suited to receive the crown's full backing, emissaries of the duchess will be thoroughly inspecting every herbalist to scout out the finest that the cardinal cities have to offer."

Li understood where this law came from. If the duchess wanted maximum control over herbs, then it made sense that she would want to keep everything related to it to a single producer that she could keep an eye on instead of having to send administrators to keep track of hundreds of shops.

"What happens to the rest of the herbalists? The ones that don't get the contract?" said Li, even though he already knew the answer.

The feli shrugged. "You'll have to ask a lawspeaker to get that answered in a professional capacity. Do you wish for me to set an appointment?"

Li shook his head. He was reminded why he hated the slog of bureaucracy. "Nevermind. Just tell me if the exam's still being held."

"Indeed it is." The feli put on a pleasant smile, sensing that the conversation was about to be over. Having stood at this counter for hours and hours over months and months, she probably had a superhuman sense for knowing how conversations flowed by now. "Anything else?"

"No." Li nodded before leaving, sitting himself on one of many benches meant for weary citizens waiting for their papers to process or see their lawspeakers for some crime they were accused of.

He shrugged. He didn't think much of this decree, so long as he could get his license without issue. That was the bare minimum of civilized decorum he was willing to follow. He considered following the law to get his license just enough respect owed to a crown that had housed Old Thane and granted him the land to build his farm for his retirement.

Afterwards, if the crown messed around with this decree and gave its contract to some city pharmacy and tried to stop Li from practicing, well, then they were absolutely free to try and make him.