The nature of their trip was a simple one to some degree, but increasingly complex as they began to sufficiently understand it all. Astrid Venier and her assistant, Sia, were to depart for Orchidia from Oak Town, a route that was very seldom travelled, and rightly so. Neither city were in particularly high standings throughout Fiore, the latter having been long entrenched in corruption and poor dealings, to the point where Astrid Venier having become the Guild Leader of Phantom Lord and moving her political headquarters to Oak stood to be a huge boon to the city overall. Then there was Orchidia, long plagued by plights that affected the Northern part of Fiore. It had shown great tenacity throughout all of it, but the wear and tear eventually made it a less than ideal place to venture to.

The very notion of travelling between the two of them though, was a completely and utterly foreign concept to take grasp of.

It did not help either that the pair of them were going for a matter that was of an increasingly polarizing nature depending on from where one hailed themselves. Astrid Venier’s Office of the Auditor, a position created by the Senate with the authority to siphon funds away from cities based on what was considered necessity or waste. Oak Town, Astrid’s current residence, had yet to suffer under this, but plenty of other cities and locations within Fiore were already beginning to feel the effects of it. Orchidia was one of the few that was facing such plights but also pushing back as hard as they possibly could. Their resistance was the purpose behind the trip, so long as it could have been handled in a timely manner so that everything would be handled before the Senate returned to session. They had time, admittedly, but Astrid did not want to even entertain the idea of waiting until the final hour to achieve. This was what had to happen now.

It was not the only matter that was in the back of their minds though as they sat within the carriage travelling along to the North. There was plenty of other issues that they were facing too, some relating to the Office of the Auditor, some of it relating to other matters that concerned Astrid as far as her role both as a Senator and as the Phantom Lord Guild Master. But, those would have to wait until after everything was settled in Orchidia.

413/400