(MC POV)
"You look happy," I noted, seeing the big smile that had been plastered on Diao Chan's face since this morning when we continued our journey.
"Ehehehe~ Master noticed? I had a really nice dream last night so I'm really happy~"
Dream huh… Knowing her, it probably involves me being in bed with her or something, maybe with some whips, ropes and candles too.
Curiously, the Sun merchant didn't try anything last night. Then again, he might have done something but I was too occupied with pampering my two little sisters to take note of what he was doing and our escorts took care of him.
Actually… I didn't see him come out of his tent this morning either, his group was the only one who didn't leave the campsite when the sun was rising, which was definitely odd.
Oh well, he probably didn't want to travel with us so he refrained from leaving together I guess.
With such a large group of caravans travelling together, even monsters would steer clear of us so we didn't meet with any problems for the rest of the journey.
Soon enough, we crested a hill that granted us a full view of the capital city and… It was definitely not what I had expected to see.
Sure, I was already prepared to see something grand but I was definitely not expecting to see 'giant skyscrapers' kind of grand.
I immediately moved away from the carriage window and turned my gaze towards the person responsible for the sight in front of me, the girl now acting cute with her fingers poking her own cheeks.
"Teehee~ What do you think, Onii-sama? I made several five year plans and they're all-- Ouchies!!"
I went ahead to flick her forehead before she finished, "You really don't understand the meaning of restraint huh… I'm already afraid of what I might see if we went back to our hometown…"
"Buu… I didn't do anything else to it, Onii-sama… As soon as we got the greenlight for the new city, all our efforts went to the new city project."
Well there's one good thing about that at least… It means all of her efforts are concentrated in building this city so she shouldn't be producing more weapons of mass destruction anytime soon.
Fine, I'll ignore the fact that she's building a metropolis that is way more advanced than anything else in this World, but the real question I really want to ask is…
"And why do I see statues of me?"
"Ehehehe~ It's Onii-sama's city after all! Of course there will be statues of you! You know, it's like cities having statues of their rulers?"
My disciples actually nodded their heads along with her.
I sighed, "No, no… I understand that… The question is why are there so many and why are some of them the size of buildings?! There's like two giant versions of me in front of the gates forming an archway!"
Manami tilted her head, "Ara? How else would anyone know of Master's majesty? This is natural right?"
Again, everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.
"Wait… Don't any of you feel this is weird at all?" I asked.
All of them shook their heads.
Even Cai Hong was clapping her hands, "Big Papa! Cool! Cool!"
I went back to the window and slid it open to look outside. All the travellers with us were looking up at the statues as well, but I realised they had looks of awe and reverence instead of the cringe I thought they would have.
"Gamma?" I called out.
The centauress trotted up to me, "Yes, Master Lin?"
"What do you think about the city?"
She shifted her gaze to the statues before turning back to me, "Truthfully… I think it's no good…"
Yes! I've got an ally!
However, my hopes were dashed with her next words, "The statues aren't coloured yet so they don't showcase Master Lin's majesty enough. I think we should have completed those first before we even opened it up."
"Err… Thanks for your honest opinion…" I sighed, retreating back into the carriage.
Elaria was beaming at me, "So? So? What do you think, Onii-sama?"
I sighed again, "I have to admit I am impressed by what you've managed to do at least… Considering the information and resources you have… But if I were to ask to remove the statues… What would you do?"
"Eh? We'll do it of course… If that's what Onii-sama… Really want… Mnn… *Sniff*"
No come on… Now all of them are looking disheartened like their pet puppy just died or something…
"Ok fine… I won't ask to remove it…"
"Yay! Thank you Onii-sama!!" Elaria recovered instantly, hugging me tightly.
This girl…
Ugh… I guess I should just pretend those statues aren't me… Just someone who looks like me…
We soon reached the city's outskirts and of course there would be a queue of people waiting to enter the city. Even from here, I could see most of the city was still under construction, so I'm wondering why they built these two giant statues of me at the gate first?
It's also a little weird that the city walls were built first before the city itself. That meant Elaria already planned exactly how the city would be made behind these walls which isn't that surprising I suppose.
While the rest of the caravan group joined the queue to enter the city, we moved to the side and went straight towards the gate.
Huh… I guess it makes sense that we don't need to queue since Elaria's the one in charge around here, right?
I was honestly expecting some of the people in the queue to make some noise about us cutting the line, but either they didn't care or the carriage looked important enough for them not to question it.
Either way, we got to the front gates where the guards finally halted us.
Huh… Yeah, I can't get used to this. Instead of the normal armour and spears I'm used to seeing from guards at city gates, these are wearing what looks like power body armour while holding rifles in their hands. It's kind of jarring to see them inspecting wooden wagons like that…
"Halt, who goes there? You need to go to the back like everyone else!" The guard demanded.
I was just about to assume that Elaria would show her face to the guards when Alpha called out from her horse, "The Master is here, step aside!"
The what? Sorry, what?
I don't want to assume… But that was referring to me right? What do you even mean by that? Are you even sure the guards even know who you're talking about? And shouldn't you be telling them Elaria is here instead?
The guard immediately stepped aside, "My sincerest apologies! Let them through! The Master has come to visit His city!"
The other guards also moved aside and saluted, "We bid the Master welcome!!"
Delta slapped the reins and we moved past the gates quickly. Good thing I didn't need to show my face because I really feel like hiding in a hole now…
We're just here to stay one night before leaving and I already can't wait to leave now…