CHAPTER 193 - HOPING FOR AN ICE TIME ON MY WINTER VACATION
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The three of them turned to Scholar Wu, who was wearing a set of simple and elegant white and black scholar robes trimmed with maroon. “Prince Muyang, Duke of the North, had many monikers. You may address him as ‘sir’ or ‘Lord Muyang’ in conversation.”
Scholar Wu gave us a quick crash course in etiquette for foreign royalty. After some discussion, it was agreed that I would take over Kharli’s rooms while she bunked with Mo because the girls would feel more comfortable staying together than having one of them move in with me.
When all was ready, I used the System’s [Build] tab to remove all of the buildings on the farm, and we waited inside the [Solarium] for the guests to arrive. I settled myself and the kids down on a cream-colored couch in the reception area tastefully decorated with a few of our best jade vases, calligraphy scrolls, and tapestries.
Scholar Wu’s gift, a traditional Chinese ink wash painting of the Heavenly Terrace Mountain Range, took pride of place in the center of the western wall of the [Solarium]. On Earth it would have been called a “shan shui” painting, meaning a traditional ink-wash landscape painting. It wasn’t meant to be a photographic or realistic painting, but rather it depicted mountains and water in a poetic and philosophical manner. It was very profound and sophisticated, and not something I would’ve chosen myself since I tended to like the more colorful and vibrant style of room decorations. However, the painting was sure to impress the guests, which was important since I needed their help.
I was nervously nibbling on an apricot when they finally arrived. The whole household went out to greet them at the entrance of the flying ship.
“I heard he’s single,” one of the maids whispered from behind me.
“Don’t look into his eyes; they say any woman who meets his eyes will fall madly in love with him,” said Yinuo.
Fengying shushed them, and I covered my mouth with a hand to hide my smile. The next ten minutes were spent bowing and exchanging polite greetings with the Lady of the West, Lord Yulin, Prince Baiyu, and Prince Muyang.
The Northern prince was a clan member of average height and ordinary looks, except for his silver-gray eyes. To the Black Tortoise clans, who were classically black-haired and black-eyed, this was a terrible flaw for a member of the ruling family, but his mother, the king’s consort, declared that it was a mark of beauty. Thus, he was nicknamed the Silver-eyed, and he customarily dressed in crisp white and icy blues to further emphasize his unique eye color, all of which contrasted nicely with his warm brown skin tone.
His six bodyguards had hair, eyes, and skin of various brown shades, from the lightest caramel to the deepest mahogany. They were all short and stocky compared to the clan members that I was familiar with. Their clothes were similar to what we were wearing, except that they featured more colorful abstract patterns and were lined or edged with leather, presumably made from seal or reindeer skins, which were the traditional materials used for the cold-weather garments in the frozen north.
Once the greetings were finished, I led them to my quarters. My reception room, furnished with minimalist wooden furniture and a few glass vases filled with colorful pansies, felt crowded with all the royal guests and the guards filling it. The others must have felt the same way since they dismissed everyone else, leaving us alone with just me, Lady Yuying, Lord Yulin, Prince Baiyu, and Prince Muyang. The three members of the Westerlands’ royal family seated themselves on my couch while Prince Muyang and I sat on the chairs on either side of them.
I turned towards the tea set that was on a side table. “Would you care for some tea?”
Lord Yulin shook his head and I put it away.
“I’m very eager to see the items.” Prince Muyang leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Do you really have the Starforged Scepter and Celestial Bell?”
“Here you go!” The northern prince seemed to be a straightforward type of person, so without further ado, I took out the [Diamond Scepter and Thunderbolt Bell] from my inventory and placed it on the coffee table in front of us.
Prince Muyang snatched the items up and examined them closely, his face shining with awe. “I’ve never seen such incredible weapons!”
The rest of us patiently waited while the prince, his eyes shining with a fierce intensity, kept muttering things like, “What is it made of?” and “Could it be the twelfth evocation?” while turning the items over and over in his hands. At one point he conjured a magical ball of light in one hand and used that to examine the inside of the bell. Then he took out a magnifying glass to pore over every inch of the items.
At that point, I once again turned to the side table and served tea and cookies to everyone except Prince Muyang who shook his head without looking away from the artifacts when I asked if he wanted some refreshments.
I drank my tea and nibbled on the cookies while we all maintained a respectful silence because it looked like the northern prince was caught up in a fervor. After all, it’s not every day that a person was handed mythical treasures!
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Eventually, Prince Muyang sighed in ecstasy and pressed the [Diamond Scepter and Thunderbolt Bell]. “They’re genuine. I’d stake my life on it.”
“Wonderful! Please test which of your clan members can use it, and I will make more for them, on the condition that they join the demon extermination mission, of course.” I beamed at him and handed him the silk-lined wooden case that Fengying had bought for me.
He reverently placed the items in the case which then vanished into his interspatial storage. “And the payment?”
Lord Yulin and the prince did a bit of haggling before settling on a price equivalent to one year’s output from the iron mines in Prince Muyang’s territory, to be paid in installments over twenty years. Gold was not mentioned at all, rather, the payment would be in iron, copper, and tin ores, along with gems like garnet, jasper, malachite, etc. Though the most valuable product of the northern mines was spirit stones, there was no mention of them since they would be needed to fuel the clan members’ skills when they fought with us against the demon boss.
“We always meant to help out, but the sudden reappearance of the legendary weapons will embolden more people to join the fight.” Prince Muyang smiled, showing even white teeth. “This is a sign from the heavens that our endeavor is blessed.”
Lord Yulin put down his teacup and said, “I say this calls for a celebration. How about something stronger?”
The northern prince chuckled. “I thought you’d never ask! Ladies, would you excuse us? Baiyu, come with us. I’ve brought a few bottles of the red wine from the east that you like.”
Lady Yuying nodded her permission, and the three men left together. The Lady of the West, of course, couldn’t drink alcohol because she was pregnant. Expressionless, she glanced sideways at me and said, “Baiyu told me of your plans. If you can do as you say, I’ll feel more confident that we can kill the demon that emerges from the egg.”
Though her face showed no emotions, her tone of voice was neutral enough that I figured she was skeptical but not dismissive of my rescue scheme.
“I hope it will go well.” I offered her a plate of chocolate chip cookies. “Would you care for more of these, ma’am?”
“Yes, thank you. I have some questions about what you plan to do about the Vermillion Bird clan.”
I had explained it all to Prince Baiyu, but I guessed that she wanted to hear it straight from the source, so I walked her through what I wanted to do.
In the end, she shook her head and said, “That seems rather far-fetched, but my son has convinced me to try it. You’ll have our full support.”
Wow! I would’ve been satisfied if she said she wouldn’t stop me. “Full support” was more than I expected.
“Thank you very much! I just need the clans’ protection,” I said.
We spent a few more minutes discussing the details until it was time for me to go upstairs to start our journey. The last time I flew the [Solarium], I used its full speed. This time, I got permission from the authorities to go even faster using the [Speed Boost] from the Cash Shop. I went over the map with Scholar Wu and, based on the distance that the ship would cover in the time that the [Speed Boost] indicated it would take, It was likely that our passage would result in a sonic boom. A few clan members had speed skills, so they were familiar with the idea of faster-than-sound travel. Therefore, it was easy enough to ask Prince Baiyu to spread the word about it to ensure that the people under our flight path wouldn’t be scared by the noise.
The upper level had been cleared of most of the hanging plants, decorations, and furniture since it was where the staff would sleep at night. The winter sunlight, filtered through the [Solarium’s] glass dome roof, softly illuminated the open space that was dominated by the giant central tree. I rather liked it this way. The numerous plants had given it a lush greenhouse look, but now that they were gone, the upper floor was bright and airy. The open kitchen was on one side with a large dining area and a few light benches were scattered here and there.
The Lady and I went up to the viewing platform. Since this time we weren’t here to spectate anything, I didn’t need to maximize the space for everyone to stay in, so I was free to place the control panel here where I had the best view.
I set the destination and used the ship’s speakers to make an announcement. “Please sit down, we are about to depart for the northern continent.”
My apprentices came running to the viewing platform but stopped short when they saw I was with Lady Yuying.
“Here, come sit beside me.” I gestured to the empty seats on my other side.
Fengying arrived with Yinuo and some of the other maids, but not Deming. I suppose he was busy in the kitchen. I waited for Scholar Wu, Prince Baiyu, Prince Muyang, and Lord Yulin to show up before I pressed the big red [Start] button in the System menu. The control panel’s buttons, lever, and dials were just dummy ones. As the ship rose slowly from the ground, I did not forget to set the farm’s privacy and security settings to the maximum while we were gone.
When the [Solarium] was eight miles above sea level, a height that no sane clan member would use for flying, I applied the [Speed Boost].
“Okay, we’re off! It will take us half an hour,” I said out loud to the others.
“That’s incredibly fast,” said Prince Muyang. “How many spirit stones will this use up?”
“Not that many! I mean, it’s a lot but my expenses will be covered by the sale of the [Diamond Scepter and Thunderbolt Bell].” That was a lie since the ship didn’t use fuel at all, it used the [Speed Boost] which was bought using Cash Shop credits. I frowned at the view outside. “Hey, does it look like we’re going fast?”
“It does not,” said Prince Baiyu. “If anything, we seem to be going slower than last time.”
“Oh my.” I mentally checked the System menu again which still showed an estimated time of arrival less than thirty minutes from now. “Maybe it’s just waiting for us to be further away from the farm before going all out.”
“You talk as though this ship is alive.” Prince Muyang looked up at the tree. “Is it-”
His words were cut off by a loud booming sound.
The clan members moved towards the glass as one and peered outside, highly excited, but there was nothing to see at all.
I got up from the pilot’s chair and peered over the control panel screens at the blue sky and white clouds outside. “Wait, we’re still not going faster!”
The clan members were having a whispered conference, most of them with frowns on their faces.
Scholar Wu turned away from the others and walked back to talk to me. “Lady Violet, we didn’t speed up to faster-than-sound. We cut through space, and now the Black Tortoise clan members don’t know where we are. They say there’s no place like this in the northern continent.”