She immediately started trying various commands:"Menu, Character, Mail" yet none of them worked. As she was trying to figure out what was going on Celestine looked at her before saying:"Is something wrong?Perhaps I and other commanders could aid you?" which caused her to be a bit shaken. Was this perhaps a prank made by the administrators for players who chose to stay until the game was shut down. As she was trying to figure out what was going on Celestine said:"Ma'am" and her suspicion that this was a prank immediately vanished because Celestine's lips were moving. There were no lip movements in Yggdrasil.
With a small movement of her hands, she said:"Celestine I am fine. Don't worry about it. Go outside and check out the perimeter along with the rest of the leaders please." trying to get her to leave so that she could actually try to focus and figure out what was going on. Celestine gave her a small salute before turning to the rest of the group and saying:"You heard our lady. Let's go." and one by one they walked out of the room. As a way to make sure that she was still inside the game she gave herself a small pinch and it was actually slightly painful.
She scratched her head a bit and paused for a second as the realization sank in. She slowly got off of the throne and tried feeling out the place a bit. Touching the flags hanging from the walls. It was a weird feeling to actually experience the room she had designed. As she was about to try sniffing the flags for good measure the leaders started coming in which made her immediately let go of the flag and walk back to the throne trying to pretend that she wasn't doing anything suspicious.
Celestine spoke:"Ma'am the entire mountain was transported somewhere. We seem to be in a mountain range of sorts. What do you propose we do?" What would they do?What was the best course of action? Everyone was looking at her expectantly. After a brief awkward silence, she decided to do what she would do if she was playing some sort of strategy game and said:"Hitomi. Go organize several scouting parties to search the nearby vicinity. Do not engage with any locals. If you see anyone or any sign of civilization report back here as soon as possible. Ziafa. Put the fortress on red alert until we know more about the area."
She then paused once more as the two saluted her and left. The four rulers were still looking at her expectantly. Finally, she turned to Hedera and said:"Make sure our farms are working at full capacity and prepare for expanding them. We don't know whether we can import food here or not." Okay, that was three out of three. The only ones that were left were Celestine,48S, and Toshiko. Scratching her head she finally gave up and tried to muster what little authority she could muster before saying:"Celestine. Do you have any suggestions on what should be done?"
Celestine seemed to be deep in thought for a second before saying:"We could arrange for the ice maidens to strengthen the walls with frost in case of a siege and we could have the ifrit's prepare several booby traps in case of an attack." talking like the disciplined soldier she had imagined her to be. Giving Celestine a small nod she said:"Toshiko. Direct those who are in the reserve to create fortifications out of ice. 48S have the ifrit's prepare traps." which the two responded by giving a salute. Now it was only her and Celestine left in the room.
As she looked at Celestine she thought that since they were somewhere else maybe moral restrictions were no longer in place. She immediately shook her head. These thoughts were unacceptable. It would be similar to brainwashing someone for perverted acts. Plus she didn't feel anything other than physical attraction to Celestine. Noticing Celestine staring back at her she cleared her throat and said:"Well I guess there isn't much to do until the scouting parties report back to us. Until then I am going to supervise everyone one by one and I want you to stick with me."
She then got off of her throne and started walking outside. It felt weird having actual snow touch her skin considering she lived in an area where it never snowed. Perhaps it was a bit ironic that she had chosen to make a snow themed character despite having only seen snow on television and internet. Her thoughts were interrupted by Celestine asking:"What do you plan to do once we encounter the local's ma'am?" It was a good question and one she had no clue about how to deal with so she just said:"I am going to decide on what to do depending on the danger level they pose." which Celestine responded with a nod.
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The first stop of the pair were the walls in which guards seemed far more alive than she was used to seeing them. They were nervously looking at the distance as if prepared to shoot the first thing that was seen in the distance and Ziafa's intimidating stare was probably not helping how nervous they were. She thought about lowering the danger level but as she was thinking that Celestine commented:"It's good that the soldiers are ready. In this foreign place, we can be attacked at any given second." which she could do nothing but respond with a nod. The pair then proceeded to walk outside.
Toshiko was sitting down at the moment seems to be waiting for something and before she could ask what that was Celestine acted:"Is this disobedience?What are you doing sitting down when you could be preparing fortifications?" in a demeaning tone and when Toshiko tried to defend herself by saying:"Well I was waiting..." Celestine immediately said:"So you can't work while waiting?" causing Toshiko to squirm and quietly say sorry. As Celestine was preparing to continue her scolding she couldn't help but say:"Celestine that is enough. She made a mistake but it won't happen again and the amount of work she can do on her own is limited. It is better for her to save her energy to act as a supervisor."
Celestine immediately lowered her head and said:"Of course you are right ma'am. I will be more careful in the future." Well one couldn't make everyone happy at the same time through she also disliked seeing Celestine down so she said:"Let's head to the forges to see how everything is progressing." which Celestine responded with a nod. As the pair made their way to the forges they passed through several women that were presumably heading to fortify the wall with ice. She wished this had been an option in the game however it would probably end up with everyone setting up fortresses everywhere.
As they approached the forges she started to feel a bit uncomfortable. Probably due to her new race even if her skills nullified the damage she felt uncomfortable in hot places which felt weird in a different way. She normally liked heat and summer was her favorite season yet right now the heat was making her uncomfortable.
Upon seeing the pair all of the ifrit's started working harder perhaps to impress them or perhaps in fear of punishment. Nevertheless, it was good that they were working hard. Upon proceeding further into the forgery they saw 48S studying a bear trap of sorts before throwing it into an extradimensional chest. Upon noticing the pair's arrival she gave them a small salute before saying:"The traps are being made at an acceptable rate. Once the smiths get used to crafting these traps they will be made much faster. Is there anything I can help you with ma'am?" which she responded by shaking her head and saying:"Glad everything is progressing well on your front. " before turning to Celestine and saying:"Let's head to the farms and then I am going to call it a day."
Being honest she was feeling extremely tired considering the initial shutdown time was midnight and the whole thing had been a real shock to her. Finally, the pair proceeded to the farms below the castle which were handled by snow dryad's which were much weaker forms of frost dryads. Unlike the ifrit's the dryads didn't seem to mind their presence as they continued to grow the crops with their magic. In the middle of the field was Hedera coordinating the dryads. Hedera smiled at them upon seeing them and said:"Our crops are more than enough to feed the people in the fortress through I still asked my sisters to help stockpile food. Is there anything I can get for you?" which she responded by shaking her head and saying:"I am glad everything is going well on your end. I am going to call it a day at the moment." before heading back to the throne room.
Along the way she said:"Celestine while I sleep you are in charge. Should our scouts encounter any natives or should an attack occur wake me up as soon as possible. For now station yourself at the walls in case you need to coordinate a defense." which Celestine responded by saying:"With all due respect. Shouldn't I stay next to you for your protection?"
After a few seconds of silence spent searching for a possible excuse to prevent a beautiful woman that will probably make her too nervous to sleep and possibly cause her to cross a line she shouldn't cross she finally said:"I can manage to protect myself, Celestine. At this time of emergency, the people need you far more than i need you." which Celestine responded by nodding before leaving to take her position.
After Celestine left she proceeded to her bedroom behind the throne room and threw herself at the king-sized bed. It was as fluffy as she thought it would be and within moments her vision darkened and she passed out. She was woken up by after what felt like seconds Celestine and upon seeing her eyes open Celestine said:"Ma'am we discovered a nearby village that seems to be inhabited by humans."