(MC POV)
As grand as the palace looked on the outside… The inside wasn't actually furnished… Much.
For some reason they only completed the bedroom and nothing else and even then, the only thing in it was the colossal bed in the centre of the room… Like literally the only thing in the room…
I take that back, I know exactly why they made that room the top priority to build first.
I was expecting Mother to be in the castle too but apparently she was busy back at our hometown so she wasn't here.
Shame, I wanted to ask her about Luna. Oh well.
At least I managed to spend the night rather uneventfully… Aside from the usual night stuff happening of course.
Morning came and it was time to leave for our actual objective, so we boarded the transport back down to the City Hall again.
I had suggested the idea of simply taking the transport there directly with the carriage stored inside but my girls had protested against the idea quite vehemently.
Apparently that would ruin the 'romantic carriage ride' they were currently enjoying with me.
I should have known they had an ulterior motive from the start, the reason for making a grand entrance was all just for this isn't it? Otherwise we could have simply teleported everyone there after all.
Odriana saw us off at the city's northern gate, this one on the other side of where we had come from and closer to the country of Sun. Similar to the other gate, this one also had statues of me to form an archway as well.
Surprisingly, there was already a long line of people queuing to get into the city at this early in the morning.
"Why are there so many people coming here despite the city not being completed?" I asked as our carriage went past them.
Elaria giggled, "Oh you know, Onii-sama, there's always a lot of things a new city would need to sustain itself, especially one on this scale. We all know how greedy those Sun merchants can be so they're all here to try and get more money like sharks that caught the scent of blood."
I looked out the carriage window and indeed, most of them looked like merchants here to sell their wares.
I guess it would be more surprising if they didn't take advantage of this but I'm a little concerned about how the city would fare if we let such people take advantage of the situation. I don't doubt they'd try to squeeze out as many benefits for themselves as they could and bleed us dry for it.
Sensing my concerns, Elaria giggled, "Don't worry, Onii-sama~ I'm the one in charge of the city after all! I won't let those trash take advantage of us! Aren't I just the best little sister? I am, aren't I?"
Tsuki heard her comment and crossed her arms, "Hmph… I think it would be better if Aniue had put me in charge instead. I can definitely manage it better."
Elaria turned to scowl at her, "Hmph, big words from someone who hasn't even built a city for Onii-sama! I've already made a kingdom for my dearest Onii-sama!"
Tsuki turned up her chin at her, "Hmmmph! Soon I can obtain the power to create all of that with a single snap of my fingers. It's been three years and you're still not done? Come back and compare when you can do that within a second!"
"Hmmmmmph! Of course a noob like you will need to resort to using cheats like using your powers to create such things. Clearly I'm the better one!"
Err… I actually thought the two of them managed to make peace with each other since I have not seen them fight for some time… Looks like they're still at it.
I was just about to intervene when Manami's tails slithered forward and picked the both of them up by the scruff of their necks.
"Ara, ara? I think that's quite enough. Stop making problems for Master," Manami reprimanded them.
As expected of the big sister.
My two little sisters pouted but said no more after that.
We continued our journey until the city was barely visible on the horizon, which was when I decided it was a good time for us to take a break.
As comfortable as the inside of the carriage was, I still need to remember our four escorts outside who would definitely feel worn out by now.
Brendan once again helped me relay the order to tell them to find a spot for us to take a break, giving the instructions to Delta through the coachman's window.
Delta whispered something back to him without taking her eyes off the road, prompting my alchemist to nod and return to me.
"It seems like there's a little commotion up ahead Master, like a gathering of sorts. It's not bandits but it looks like some kind of carnival or something, should we take a look?"
Curious, I stretched out my senses ahead of the carriage to find the gathering they had spotted.
I smiled once I found it, "Oho? It looks like some merchants have set up roadside stalls up ahead, we can go and take a look."
We soon reached the aforementioned stalls and Delta parked the carriage by the side of the road, near the carriages of other travellers who were making a pit stop here.
I alighted the carriage with my disciples and we made our way towards the stalls to inspect their wares.
The first stall seemed to be selling a variety of jewellery from rings to necklaces and various other baubles.
Though they weren't really exceptional, they certainly did look unique since they must have come from the country of Sun.
Seeing a necklace that looked quite interesting that Mother might like, I pointed to it and asked, "How much for this one?"
Silence.
I looked up to see the stall owner deliberately averting his gaze from me, like he was trying to pretend like he did not see me.
I coughed, "Ahem… I'm asking how much is--"
"You can't afford it. Go away," He cut me off before giving me a shooing motion with his hand.
I frowned at his words and looked around, realising that all the other stall owners and even the patrons were giving us the same attitude as well. Obviously we were not welcome here.
This doesn't make any sense… It's not like we were pretending to be poor or anything, we even came in that embarrassingly flashy carriage too, how are they even assuming we're poor with this?
I was still trying to make sense of what made them come to that conclusion when Lian Li stepped forward… Lifted her hand… And slapped him across the face.
"Imbecile," She muttered before stepping back again.
The stallowner was looking at her in shock. The other patrons and merchants were also looking at her in shock.
I was looking at her in shock.
…
Did… Did Lian Li think the slapping faces Guiying talked about was a literal thing? Or was it just me who thought what she said was metaphorical?