(46)
An air limo picked Nestra up near one of Threshold’s rare hotels. When she stepped in, she realized there were more levels of luxuries in life than she’d been expecting. This wasn’t a fancy means of transportation designed to give corpo execs a sense of superiority for working ninety hours a week. No. Those were entirely too pedestrian. This was Shinran’s personal car. It even had custom made interior design, athmo, rare leather upholstery… The works.
“Riel, is this Champagne?”
It was Champagne from the Champagne region of France. There was also caviar from the Black Sea. Shit, Nestra didn’t even know they still made some! She had gobbled the small pot by the time the limo flew over the eastern district.
She remembered going there a few times as a kid, back when she was an up and coming striker prospect. The richest and most affluent gleams kept their compounds here, secluded from the hoi polloi and each other by tall hedges barded with enchantments and security cameras. It was a place of privilege, but mostly, it was a place of exclusivity. Those who stayed there valued their privacy at the cost of money. A ton of money. It wasn’t a surprise that here is where Shinran would have his own domain.
Damn, it was weird how he managed to keep his ascetic persona with all the obscene luxury he had on display. Maybe he used the city’s wealth? She could see the top of his manor from here: it looked like a multi-floor pagoda. Or a temple. Orange pillars emerged from the canopies of old ginkgo trees. Very nice.
This place didn’t even have roads that she could see. Either you flew in or you were too poor, she guessed. Or too weak.
“I can jusssst swim through the walls anyway,” she grumbled.
The hover limo descended a separate spot near the main house, one of the few visible concessions to modernity. She spotted the steel cylinders she associated with hidden gun emplacements, which made sense. Shinran wasn’t always here, and he was bound to have fancy guests. Also, it wouldn’t look good if Threshold’s protector couldn’t even protect his own home, even when he was away.
Nestra nodded to herself. Obviously she was justified in having a naval gun at home. Even Shinran agreed with her. She stood when the limo landed without a sound, the door opening to the scent of osmanthus flowers. Incidentally, osmanthus syrup was delicious with alcohol.