Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 554: Have you finished your tea?

Mirror of XX is the name given by the mirror elves to the territory they rule. For example, the mirror elves living in the Chaos Sea call it the Mirror of Chaos, and the mirror elves of the Infinite Sea call it the Mirror of Infinity... Then, the Blue Sky Sea is naturally the Blue Sea Mirror.

The Cloud Whale Sky Island that suddenly appeared above the city quickly attracted the attention of the city's garrison troops. However, because there were mirror elf soldiers leading the way, they were not considered enemies. They just moved closer and took a vigilant posture. Galene took the initiative to leave the Sky Island, riding her seahorse-like mount, and went forward to communicate with her colleagues in the surrounding city defense corps and explained the situation to them.

After learning that these visitors were personally invited by Her Majesty the Queen, the soldiers stationed there put away their guard and moved to both sides to make way for Yunjingkong Island. At the same time, Galene gestured to the soldiers on the city wall, and soon, accompanied by a deep and heavy thunderous sound, the holy blue arch slowly opened, and the surrounding water was pulled by a strong attraction, producing a phenomenon similar to whirlpools and turbulence.

Back on the Whale Island, Galene explained to the guests on earth: "The Gate of Saint Pareto will only be opened to welcome distinguished guests. Her Majesty the Queen sincerely invites you and is waiting for your arrival in the Ice Water Palace. Do you want to take a rest first, or follow me directly to the Ice Water Palace to meet Her Majesty?"

The Ice Water Palace should be the crystal palace that floats above the city and is heavily guarded. It can only be said that it is worthy of being a building of the Mirror Elves. Not only the appearance but also the naming style is so gorgeous and majestic.

Since she had said this, there was naturally no reason for everyone to refuse, so Nevelle said a few polite words, the general idea being that Her Majesty the Queen actually thought so highly of them, and they were really touched. In that case, we also wanted to see Her Majesty the Queen as soon as possible, so there was no need to rest, and they should go directly to the Ice Water Palace... Then, under the control of Yieta, the Cloud Whale slowly descended and swam through the Saint Pareto Gate that Her Majesty the Queen had specially opened for them.

The size of the Cloud Whale Sky Island was absolutely huge, and even its back alone was enough to pretend to be an island on the sea surface. However, compared with the Gate of Saint Pareto, it still looked like a harmless little fish. Through the glass window of the hotel, Metien had to look up as much as possible to barely see the end of the two large holy blue arches, as if facing two insurmountable cliffs.

The arch also depicts a relief full of mirror elves' artistic style. Metien has no knowledge of the history of the mirror elves, but he can roughly tell that it is a story about a hero who killed vicious sea beasts in the deep sea, piled their bones into a mountain, and built a magnificent city on the mountain. This is probably the origin of the city in the mirror. The name of the hero was mentioned by Galene just now, because he named the city after himself, that is, Nereids.

The cloud whale slowly swam past the gate of St. Pareto. On the walls on both sides, soldiers wearing silver-white armor, holding spears and shields, lined up in neat formations at intervals, looking solemnly below, silently welcoming these visitors from the earth who came from afar. They were well-equipped and dignified, and were obviously the real elite.

The three little girls, Metien, Leticia and Shemi, were lying by the window, curiously looking at the scene outside, exclaiming from time to time, and were obviously excited about what they were experiencing. But Nevi'er was not as relaxed as them, because the experienced countess knew that there was no unprovoked kindness in the world, and the higher the treatment they received now, the more difficult it would be for the Queen of Nereids to ask them for help later.

I'd better think of a reason to refuse now, and it has to be tactful so as not to offend Her Majesty the Queen... It's really annoying. I'm no longer the head of the Valenhild family, why do I still have to consider such things?
When the countess thought of this, she became so depressed that she couldn't even drink her favorite black tea.

……

After the Cloud Whale entered the inner city, it quickly attracted the attention of the citizens. The mirror elves on the streets were discussing enthusiastically this suddenly appeared island and the identities of the visitors on its back. Mixed in with some unfriendly remarks and one-sided understandings of the people on the ground, these words were too far away from Metien and others on the island. They couldn't hear them anyway, let alone pay attention to them.

The cloud whale floated upwards, surrounded by long white steps, and swam towards the Ice Water Palace above. When it was about halfway through the journey, another army appeared in front of it waiting to welcome it. They were obviously different from the army that lined up on the city wall to welcome them. They had fewer people, only a few hundred people, but they were better equipped. They all wore crystal armor and equipped with ice-blue weapons that exuded cold air. Their faces were hidden under thick visors, but their demeanor was solemn and awe-inspiring. Just standing there gave people a heavy sense of oppression. Their mounts were neither the seahorses of the patrol soldiers nor the four-legged winged fins of the city defense soldiers. Instead, they were a sea beast with a huge body, covered with black fur, red eyes, horns, wings, eight legs, a scaly long tail, and a sucker-like mouthparts. Not only did it look more terrifying, but the aura it exuded was also more powerful, with at least the strength of Sequence 8.

In other words, each of them can defeat a Galene. "Is that the Crystal Guard?" Galene was unaware of Nevile's disrespectful thoughts, and said in confusion, "It is the Queen's direct guard. I didn't expect that she would send it out to greet you. The Crystal Guard is responsible for the defense of the entire Ice Water Palace, and it always maintains a staff of 6 people, which will not be reduced or increased. Each of them has received rigorous training, and they cooperate well with each other. They can use origin magic to achieve undelayed resonance. Although they are only at the level of Sequence , it is said that they can even fight against demigods if they unite."

You are only a Sequence 8, so don't say that others "only" have a Sequence 6, right?

Nevile drank her tea silently.

The little girls were not very interested in the comparison of combat power, and did not want to know whether 300 Crystal Guard soldiers could compete with a demigod. They were more interested in those ferocious-looking sea beasts. So Galene also explained: "The mount they ride is called Seabed Lothar, a creature that only lives in the dark abyss. It is said that there is a trace of the blood of the Octopus Lothar in its body. It has an extremely strong body and athletic ability. Its eyes can see through the darkness and can use simple blood magic. The Octopus Lothar is the ferocious sea monster that the sea hero Lord Nereids entrenched here before building this city. Its defeat symbolizes the rise of Nereids City. Therefore, the warriors of the Azure Sea Mirror have always been proud of conquering a Seabed Lothar. Only the truly fearless brave dare to imitate Lord Nereids' feat, dive into the abyss alone, and tame a Seabed Lothar. This is also the first test to join the Crystal Guard."

The little girls started to discuss enthusiastically, wanting to imitate the great mirror elf hero and tame a seafloor Lothar as a mount. Considering that he didn't know magic, Metien said sadly that he probably couldn't do it. Leticia immediately patted her chest and guaranteed that she could tame two, and let Metien ride one, so she got a sweet thank you from Metien. Seeing this, Shemi was not convinced and said that he could tame three, and you didn't have to go, just watch my performance. Leticia snorted coldly and said that I could tame six, twice as many as you. Shemi put his hands on his hips and said that I could tame twenty-eight, four times as many as you!
So soon, according to the little girls, the underwater Lothar beasts were completely extinct, and even the cubs to be born in the next two hundred years had been reserved in advance, but the parties involved did not realize how cruel this was.

The Countess didn't think so either. On the contrary, she thought the little girls were very energetic, which was a good thing. As for the mirror elves...

Not only did you defeat someone's ancestors, you also enslaved their descendants. You mirror elves of the Nereids are truly cruel.

Nevile drank her tea silently.

but.

The Countess suddenly thought of a question: Since Her Majesty the Queen's personal guards were sent here to welcome the guests, why was Galene still staying here?

With the Crystal Guards here to welcome him, it shouldn't be the turn of the captain of the city defense corps to continue to meddle in such diplomatic affairs, right? Didn't you see that the mirror elf soldiers who led the way had already retreated voluntarily? But Galene didn't seem to have the slightest intention of avoiding suspicion. Could it be that she wanted to take advantage of the guests and enter the Ice Water Palace to meet her most admired queen?
You look quite honest, but I didn't expect you to be so scheming.

Nevile drank silently again...well, didn't get any.

The black tea is finished.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)