335 On the Way to the Mansion
Around four kilometers from the south gate, the fifty-meter-wide railroad began to curve. A moment later, the train ran on the tracks five kilometers parallel with the Outer Wall and seemed to be circling around the forest. The entirety of the railroad had monster repelling lamps along its length. However, unlike the half-kilometer-wide main road, the repellants completely ward off monsters of any level within the area of one kilometer from both sides of the railroad. Approximately ten minutes later, the train had taken a U-turn, perpendicularly passing over the east and north gates, and the rail track finally met up with the other track. The train had been going westward. By the way, the other track at the station was for parking the trains. A short while after we departed from the city, the coarse rocks on the railroad became a path of stone slabs. As we went forward, the stony railroad gradually increased its height and seemed to form a long bridge until the train was elevated thirty meters from the ground. From the top, we started seeing a great river flowing under the bridge. It was the biggest river in the forest that connected to the sea in the northern portion of the forest. One of the branches of this river was coursing by Lavender City, by the way. The river was wide. The water under the bridge was almost half a kilometer in width, and its mouth was more than a kilometer wide. Due to the wideness of the river, the bridge was constructed around a kilometer long. There were monsters in the water for sure, and putting wards around it would disturb the river's ecosystem, so we only installed repellents on the bridge and let the monsters cross sim under. Although the bridge was made in a Roman style, we made it sturdy enough to withstand a charge from a Ram Bull. Anyway, after crossing the bridge, the railroad lowered, and the tracks met the crushed rocks again before continuing our journey through the dense forest. As we moved away from the depths of the forest, we came across numerous sceneries, such as natural plains and beautiful lakes. We also stumbled upon a small mountain range and passed it through a tunnel. It was funny to see the reactions of the passengers to the sudden and brief darkness. "We are about to reach the destination, Your Imperial Majesty." "Amazing, I really can't believe it... It really took two hours to reach the city of Lavender..." Roughly two hours later, we finally reached the vicinity of Lavender City and caught a glimpse of the city wall itself. His Imperial Majesty and his entourage did not remove their eyes from the window as we were getting near the city. They were blankly staring outside in disbelief upon experiencing the capabilities of this vehicle firsthand.
Once the train reached a certain distance from the city, it began to slow down as it approached the city. A few minutes later, the tracks guided the train toward the northern part of the walled city. The Lavender Station was situated at the northeast gate of the city. For that reason, we built a C-shaped annex wall at the portion of the wall for security purposes. From the sky, the city looked like that of a one-eared Mickey Mouse. Soon enough, the train went through one of the two gates of the new wall and finally came to a stop once it was under the roof of the open station. "And we are here." "Phew. That was the shortest, supposedly one-week-long journey I ever had." After wiping out his nonexistent sweat, Emperor Jeffrey Dixon stood up from the couch, and so did everyone. The attention stationed in our cabin then opened the door for us before we exited the room and walked along the hallway. Upon getting off the train, we were welcomed by a row of knights in full plate armor, as we had ordered them to heighten the security of the station. Yesterday, I teleported to Lavender City and gave them a short notice for the arrival of the king. I also reminded them of the train where they came prepared today. A head of state was coming to the city, so we must mobilize our knights to protect our visitors as well as showcase our hospitality. For that reason, this area was off-limits for anyone today. Immediately after stepping on the platform, the passengers from other cabins shared their travel experiences with the emperor. From what I heard, they were amazed and bewildered by the performance of the train. Some said that the train was too good, but in a negative way. But overall, I could say that the trains gave us good feedback. "Well then, how was your experience boarding a train, Your Imperial Majesty?" His Imperial Majesty nodded in response to Mother's question. "First of all, the train is truly wonderful. This type of transportation is unbelievably fast and safe, as you have proudly claimed. It is truly a pleasure that I got a chance to ride it. Not just me, but everyone is satisfied with the trip. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me." "Thank you for your response, Your Imperial Majesty." Mother wore a broad smile. "Since we are in this city, how about spending the night here, and we'll go back to the dungeon city tomorrow? We will provide you with a room in the mansion." "That sounds fine. Does anyone have a protest?" "I'm good here, Your Imperial Majesty." "The same as me." Gilbert and Prime Minister Bruce Fleder responded to the emperor. "Alright, we will be in your care again, Marchioness Raevender." "Very well. Let us guide you to the carriage, Your Imperial Majesty." Since the imperial carriages were left behind in the dungeon city, we had to provide the emperor and the others with our own magic carriages. The magic carriages were rather less spacious than the imperial vehicles, so we did not accompany the emperor and shared the same carriage as the Raeven family instead. ◆◇◆◇◆◇
"The emperor seems to be enjoying himself during the trip." Big Sis spoke as our carriage was moving on the road. "I think he would approve our declaration for independence for the reason that he wanted the trains to run in the empire." "I think so too, Sis. He understands that by recognizing our country, the railway system would then be implemented in the empire. The establishment of the Queendom of Raevender would be a win-win situation for both nations." "Well, it's not like the empire would have a significant loss if we deflected from it. We are exempted from taxes in the first place, so the empire would lose a fraction of their territory, and some powerful individuals." "Yeah." "Oh, Raphael." Suddenly, Uncle Steville called out my name. "If the capital of the queendom is in the forest, wouldn't that be making the entire Great Forest of Darkness your territory?" "Oh..."
Once my uncle asked that question, everybody glanced at him, and none of us gave him a clear answer. Soon after, Mark spoke his mind. "I have been thinking about this for a while. If this is the Great Forest of Darkness we are talking about, isn't it being called by that name for a reason? Legend has it that the forest is the home of the Ancient Dragon of Darkness."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢