[Past the imperial palace, they continue on around Memorial Park, passing monuments of all shapes and sizes, dedicated to the many heroes of Taldor’s long and storied past. Liem knows things about most of them, but only in a vague and secondhand way, and he lets the silence settle between them, supposing that Hayame is unlikely to be interested in the names and achievements of this land’s historical figures.

Presently, they come to the canal, leaving the park behind them to enter the only district in Oppara that could be described as truly, comfortably middle-class. Canal Row is the last bastion of modestly-moneyed beauty before the crowded, run-down neighbourhoods of the city’s eastern districts, and in this specific area, the clean, paved streets flanked by tidy townhouses are likely to most-resemble Springstar in terms of character. This is also the neighbourhood where Liem, at least in his own world, used to live.]

What do I like to do in Oppara?

[He looks up at Hayame as they walk, observing the way she seems to struggle to get the question out. Is it because she feels she should be asking such a thing, or because she feels she shouldn’t?]

I enjoy visiting the markets, of course. There are also some specialty shops around here that are a little less busy than the places in Lionsgate, or the harbour districts.

[He enjoyed much the same in Kenos, though he still missed the familiar places he used to visit in Oppara.]

Sometimes I would see performances, too, like poetry readings or musical performances. And, of course, I like to visit different temples.