The mana train had left the Altein region, passed by the many nations of the Imperial Federation, and tracked on swiftly toward the heart of the continent.
We landed at our destination exactly three hours after we got on the train in Altein.
Weve arrived. Please disembark here.
Ravirdyne.
The capital of the Raynac Empire and also the City of Magicians.
My steps slowed to a halt as I looked around the view of the city.
Its impressive.
Exclamations ca out naturally.
Known as an impregnable fortress, unless one approached and saw it themselves, they would never know the overpowering pressure exuded from its high walls.
Even if those giants that existed in ancient tis that were known to be huge, if they were to co here, the walls would stand indefinitely against their attacks.
And what about the river that encompassed the surroundings of the walls?
While livening the beauty of the city, it also acted as a barrier that made it hard for any enemy to infiltrate it.
Compared to the grand city walls, the insides atmosphere was quite different.
Beautiful.
As the place nicknad the City of Magicians, the ambience of it was filled with mystery and history.
It looked cozy, but also refined.
Overall, the mood of the city was bright.
Compared to the quiet and peaceful Altein after the festival, this place was filled with the boisterousness of life.
As I sat in the carriage traveling toward the Imperial Castle, I asked Stray Cat,
There are a lot of people here. Is there so festival going on?
No. Rather, today is a relatively quiet day.
This is?
On the days the markets open, youll see about three tis the people you see here.
If I were to exaggerate a little, the number of people in the capital could probably be compared to the entire population of the Radian Kingdom.
I was a little worried that the fast carriage would hit soone because there were so many people here.
But thankfully, the carriage safely took its assigned pathway, and the people walked around it naturally.
Are we far from the palace?
Were nearly there. Its that place, right there.
It was expansive.
So expansive that it took 30 minutes from the drawbridge to even see the palace itself.
Since it was covered by the roofs of the buildings, I couldnt see the palace initially, but as we entered the open plaza, I could see it directly.
It wasnt too hard since it was the biggest and most refined building in the city.
As soon as we cross this line, were on the emperors land, so well need to move on the footpath from here on out.
We got off in the plaza, and after passing by layers of tightly guarding soldiers, we entered the interior of the palace.
Even while moving toward the inner parts of the palace, I was still in awe of my surroundings.
If the most refined building in this wide city was the palace
Then that
What was that building taller than any other here for?
The building that caught my attention, this was definitely my first ti seeing it, but I could instantly guess what that place was.
So that thats the Magic Tower.
Yes. Youre correct.
The dangerously tall building was erected in the corner of the palace gardens.
With a unique exterior that narrowed the taller it reached, it was like a sharp drill.
The sanctuary closest to the moon.
The Magicians Tower.
Between the many magic towers on the continent, this is the most prestigious tower.
Even though this tower had the shortest history between the tens of magic towers on the Frelian continent, it was the most prestigious.
Why?
Because this was the place where the king of magicians resided.
As long as Fire King Teron lived as the magician at the boundary,Ravirdyne would continue to be the magicians capital.
Weve arrived.
After walking for a while inside the Imperial Palace, we arrived at a chamber.
Even between the mostly similar looking palace buildings, this was the one that boasted the fanciest exterior.
The Peony Palace. This is the palace of the crown prince. Everyone is waiting for you inside.
This was the place where the crown prince, who threatened to eat up, resided.
But wait a second.
What did you just say?
The Peony Palace. This is the palace of the crown prince.
No, after that. You said that everyone is waiting for ?
Yes.
Everyone? Hes not waiting by himself? Who is?
Then,
Thump!
The doors to the palace flung open and the inside was revealed.
Nobles.
No, even court ladies.
About 100 people were lined up on both sides.
It was as if they were waiting for .
Please enter.
Yeah.
They were waiting for .
And in the center of this welcoming crowd stood Crown Prince Chaurtan Raynac in fancy formal clothing.
Ruin Ardell, welco
He smiled while looking at .
To my Empire.
* * *
Click.
As soon as I set foot into the palace, the musicians started playing,
A brilliant carpet was laid out on the floor and beautiful flower petals were sprinkled over it.
As I walked past them, the court ladies bowed one by one and welcod .
This was quite an impressive welco, to the point where I felt embarrassed to even walk between them.
So, I had to ask,
Was this all prepared for ?
Seems you have a habit for asking questions. Yeah. Do you have any other questions?
No. Well, how do I say this? I felt this welco was too much.
Even if the Grand Festival was a huge competition, it was still just a competition between students.
I thought that this welco was too much for a winner of a student competition.
But the crown prince only furrowed his brows, not understanding what I ant.
Whats too much? This is honestly a smaller scale welco for the magician who won the Grand Festival.
Sure.
The crown prince, neither any of the people gathered here.
None of them thought this was out of the ordinary.
Everyone in the Empire does it like this.
Maybe it was the scale of the Empire
The difference between the world of the Ardell territory I lived in and the world of the Raynac Empire was too much.
You have proven yourself worthy of being welcod by , so stop acting so countrified and accept it.
Saying Im countrified.
That was quite the harsh thing to say.
In any case, as the grand welco event finished, the crown prince gestured with his finger.
It ant for everyone to get out, and following his gesture, everyone in the palace quickly left us.
Lets take a walk.
Ok.
As the crown prince walked in front, the doors opened automatically, and the garden in the interior of the Peony Palace was revealed.
On the walls of the gardens, ivy vines blossod their flowers to signal the coming of sumr.
Seeing this, the crown prince spoke.
Around this ti in the palace, the ivy vines and gloxinia beco prevalent. Rosemary in autumn and the scent of begonia takes over in winter. And when spring cos around again, deep-yellow peonies like these bloom again.
Why was he suddenly talking about flowers?
What did he an by this?
Peonies represents wealth. It ans that, as I stand in this Peony Palace, I hold all the power and wealth of Ravirdyne.
This must be your first ti setting foot onto the mainland of the Empire. How is it? Whats your impression of Ravirdyne?
I think its a beautiful place.
Is that all?
Was there sothing else I was supposed to say?
As I hesitated to answer, the crown prince spoke up.
What I ant is, have your thoughts changed after coming into the palace?
Ah.
* * *
* * *
Now I understood.
Since he was talking about destroying just a few days ago
It was this topic again.
Ill give you a chance to choose again. In this beautiful city, Ill promise a peony thatll never wither. Take my hand.
If the person wasnt the crown prince.
If they were a beautiful woman who I was engaged with, this wouldve been quite the sweet thing to hear.
But knowing his inner thoughts, in reality, this was quite the dangerous phrase.
Like this indoor garden that was artificially created for him.
I would certainly beco part of the crown princes collection.
In any case, my answer was already set.
I was only hesitating on how to reject him.
To be honest, I have a flower allergy.
So now youre telling those obvious lies.
Was it too obvious? I apologize. Ill at least thankfully accept your goodwill.
Chaurtan Raynac.
He gestured with his fingers, face soured.
At that, a servant ca in holding a box.
10 thousand gold. This is the reward bestowed upon the winner of the competition.
Ah, thank you. Ill accept it gratefully.
If youre ever needing sothing, you can co to find . As long as I remain in Ravirdyne, the Peony will always be in bloom.
A threat.
And now, was he trying to reconcile using money?
I couldnt fully understand why the crown prince, who had everything in the world, would act like this toward .
If its this much, I think I can use it my entire life and still have so left over.
The money was enough, so I would never have a reason to step foot in here again.
Well,
Do you really think so?
Money is like water. After it starts spilling, it never stops.
The crown prince seed to have not given up on yet.
* * *
Has your conversation concluded?
Yes.
Then, well take you to the Magic Tower. The tower master is waiting for you.
As soon as the schedule with the crown prince ended, I was called straight to my next destination.
The crown prince, then the king of magicians.
These people that were hard to see even once in your life
I was able to go see them both in the sa day.
I suddenly thought that my life had gone through quite a change.
Seems all the people who live in the palace have good physiques.
What do you an by that?
They have to move around this wide place every day.
I felt a little bit of respect toward them, these people who constantly ran around the palace.
But Stray Cat was a man who didnt know what a joke was.
Lets stop with the nonsense.
Ok.
Since it was forbidden to ride a horse in the Imperial Palace, we were still walking.
As soon as we arrived directly in front of the Magicians Tower that looked tall from far away
I cant see the top.
I truly felt how tall it was as I couldnt even see the top.
Yeah.
I would be able to select an artifact from here.
And also select the mission I would be undertaking.
As Stray Cat was activating the mana gate that led into the magic tower, he asked sothing.
So, have you selected your mission?
The mission.
I had only checked the list of missions on the mana train.
I hadnt answered his question about what mission I chose.
However, I finished my selection.
I thought back to the suggestion Straang gave before.
Yes. Ive selected one.
What did you select?
Its Search.
Search?
Search
Search and reconnaissance on a region that hadnt been or couldnt be developed.
Between the five types of missions on the list, the one that was unique in how it was the only mission to have a 5-star difficulty rating,
Search.
Stray Cats eyebrows flinched for an instant at my answer, and for the first ti since we t, he asked a rather personal question.
Is there a reason that you selected the most difficult mission?
Hm. Just because. It looked fun.
Im getting curious. Just what would the tower master say to you?
Yeah.
I was also curious.
The region I needed to search that was written on the list
**Sky Mountain Summit**
**Area Entry Forbidden**
Sky Mountain Summit.
This was the region that Draka lived in for 100 years, and also the land of the ancient ogres.
The holand of Kingram.
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