Bundle aaaand squish. There you go.

"Wonderful." And she pays and leaves.

Bella goes and grabs her notice down and looks for something that isn't nuts to eat. Wow there is like no bread or sugar anywhere. Is there... cooked... meat... at all.

No but there are people being downright profligate with temperature-control magic and there's raw meat.

She'd eat, like, some raw fish, on a salad, can she assemble that?

There is actually a restaurant selling salads and juices and porridge. Just a small one, but it's open.

...does the truism that restaurants are more expensive than groceries hold?

It does, and she could also get some of her salad together maximally cheaply by foraging in the park. Meat is already expensive here, though, and fish is even worse.

Foraging in the park will make her cry though so no. Also that might be illegal, she's not sure who owns the park or their opinions on eating it.

She winds up with fruit for dinner. One day she will go home have enough money to buy a plot of land for a bungalow a house and then she can cook meat. Gods, don't these people even eat beans or rice or anything? Produce and steak is going to get old so fast.

Sufficient digging would turn up cereal grains but not beans. At least there’s a wide variety of fruit available and all of it is spectacularly fresh (or frozen) without having been bred for transit-hardiness at all.

(She could also drink the blood of a belul if she wants, that's another normal food for sale.)

She is not a vampire. Fruit for dinner is fine. Maybe it she meets another human - one who doesn't SUCK REALLY OBVIOUSLY and keeps it out of their conversation for FIVE MINUTES like they have ANY SHAME - she can ask where the bread's hiding.

Now she wants her hotel room. She doesn't need to be able to stand up in it.

She can rent a little cubby with an illusion on the wall letting her know how long until checkout.

Can she set an alarm for fifteen minutes before dawn so she doesn't miss her appointment?

It costs extra but yes.

It's an important appointment. She pays up.

She goes in her cubby, sobs uncontrollably, writes furiously, and then finally puts herself to sleep by arts because there's no way she's doing it naturally.

Nothing happens overnight.

Then at the expected time she will be sitting under the Nonevil Tree.

And the government agent comes to fetch her.

She goes quietly.

There’s a flight to Mar Geru.

Mar Geru has more agerah and fewer beluli than the city of Thelm Ret and the buildings stand closer together and the streets are shadier. The capitol building is designed to make people feel small. The imperial audience chamber within it is past a maze cloaked in illusions of a different maze.

Confusing architectural choice. She telekineses one of her hair clips ahead of her so she doesn't bump into things should her attention ever stray from her guide.

When they get there, her guide is the only perceptible mind, but can hang out in mindreading range being capable of understanding Hari.

High up in the shadows of the room, there appears to be an agerah on a dais. The agerah instructs her to drop any illusions or other wards against knowledge magic and step forward into the room.

I was not warned that I would have to drop shields to attend the meeting. My shields only protect my mind, nothing else.

When this is translated into Hari the agerah fixes her guide with a look, tail twitching warningly.

"I did tell her! At least, I thought I did! I thought I said she had to make herself visible to knowledge magic!"

You were thinking about visual illusions! Magical light and stuff! I only have telepathic shields, none of those.