novelraw Chapter 43
Chapter 43
43. Sky City
"Munch, munch... delicious!"
In the largest restaurant in Morbi Town, Carolingian watched the Silver Dragon sisters wolfing down their food across from her. She glanced at the small mountain of plates stacked beside them and felt her lips twitch.
Were they even human?
Meng Lian sat between the two sisters, feeling rather embarrassed as they completely let themselves go eating.
These two wives of hers could really eat. She wondered if she would be able to afford feeding them in the future.
But right now, Meng Lian didn't have that worry, because the sisters' meals were being covered by Carolingian.
Earlier at the Adventurer's Guild, when Carolingian saw Tina destroy the testing equipment, she knew these sisters were definitely hiding something impressive. So she invited Meng Lian's group to join her team and complete a commission together.
Carolingian promised that after completing the commission, she would pay ten gold coins as reward, and she even vowed to cover their meals.
Meng Lian had been a bit hesitant at first. After all, Carolingian had barged in halfway, and they weren't familiar with her. But when she heard that their meals would be covered, Meng Lian agreed without a second thought.
After all, suckers like that were hard to find these days.
So when mealtime came, to discuss some details, Carolingian generously took Meng Lian's group to the town's largest restaurant and boldly declared they could eat whatever they wanted.
Little did she know this was the beginning of her nightmare. The Silver Dragon sisters swept through the table like a storm, and soon they had devoured the restaurant's entire inventory.
Carolingian was still in a daze, but the restaurant owner was grinning from ear to ear. That inventory would have taken ages to sell, but today it was all gone in no time. He walked up to Carolingian with a smile, holding a bill.
"Miss, your meal today comes to ten thousand and forty copper coins. Let's round it down, just one gold coin."
One hundred copper coins equaled one silver coin, and one hundred silver coins equaled one gold coin. One gold coin was enough to cover half a year's expenses for many ordinary families.
Carolingian painfully fished out a gold coin. The owner accepted it with a smile and left.
"Is that all? I'm only half full."
Tina licked her plate completely clean and patted her unchanged little belly, seeming unsatisfied. Tiane also looked like she wanted more.
Not full yet?
Oh, goddess above, were these two even human?
By now Carolingian realized something was wrong. She looked at Meng Lian, her eyes full of suspicion.
"Cough, they're indeed not human."
With such enormous appetites, it wasn't like the other party was blind. Meng Lian knew she couldn't fool her, so she admitted it directly.
"Dragons?"
Such a massive appetite, plus the ability to take human form. Carolingian immediately thought of the dragons, the overlords of the sky.
"Mm."
Seeing Meng Lian confirm it, Carolingian looked at her with newfound respect.
From her brief contact with them, she could swear the relationship between these three was definitely unusual, certainly not just friends. Now knowing that Tina and Tiane were dragons, she couldn't help feeling some admiration for Meng Lian.
After all, a dragon knight, no matter what, was an incredibly impressive existence.
Little did she know Meng Lian was the one being ridden.
"If these two ladies are dragons, then this mission is in the bag!"
Carolingian felt her luck today was absolutely incredible. She never expected to run into two dragons just by stepping outside. Thinking about it that way, one gold coin per day for meals didn't hurt so much anymore.
"So what exactly is the mission?"
The two sisters had finished eating and were getting drowsy, leaning against Meng Lian on either side and dozing off.
Seeing this, Carolingian became even more certain of her guess. She showed a knowing smile, then began explaining the commission.
"Miss Yelena, have you heard of the Spirit Lands?"
"The Spirit Lands? What a strange name."
Meng Lian shook her head, indicating she hadn't heard of it.
"The Spirit Lands are on the other side of the Forest of Elves, named for the evil spirits that drift there all day long."
"Isn't the other side of the Forest of Elves the Far Shore?"
"It seems Miss Yelena isn't a local."
Carolingian sighed. "The Far Shore, that was its name three years ago. One day three years ago, a rain of blood fell on the Far Shore. After the blood rain, the Far Shore was covered in red flowers. The stamens of these flowers were like slender threads. Adventurers called them Equinox Flowers."
"The Equinox Flowers were non-toxic and odorless, covering the entire Far Shore, so adventurers didn't think much of it. But later, adventurers discovered that a large group of evil spirits had gradually gathered on the Far Shore. They attached themselves to the Equinox Flowers, and any living creature that approached would instantly have their soul sucked dry by the evil spirits, becoming a walking corpse."
"The number of evil spirits grew and grew, until finally the Far Shore became a forbidden zone of death. We started calling it the Spirit Lands."
"A few days ago, I received a commission to escort the Elf Princess to the Sky City."
"Sky City!"
Hearing Sky City, the Silver Dragon sisters immediately woke up. Meng Lian also explained to Carolingian at the right moment, "Our destination is the Sky City too."
"What a coincidence!"
Carolingian was pleasantly surprised.
The Sky City was originally dragon territory. With the Silver Dragon sisters' help, they could probably complete the mission very quickly.
"But why are you going to the Sky City?"
"Well..."
Carolingian suddenly hesitated. She thought for a moment, then seemed to make up her mind as she looked at Meng Lian.
"Miss Yelena, I'm afraid my client will have to tell you that personally."
Carolingian's client turned out to be the Elf Princess.
Although the Forest of Elves had no country, only several elf tribes, there was an Elf Queen and an Elf Princess. The Elf Queen was the nominal leader of the elves, and the Elf Princess was naturally the Queen's successor.
Following Carolingian into the Forest of Elves and seeing the towering trees all around, Meng Lian couldn't help but marvel.
The Forest of Elves, with elves living in it, was full of vitality, completely unlike the Mist Forest.
The Elf Princess's bedchamber was in the center of the Forest of Elves. After passing through layer after layer of elf checkpoints, Meng Lian finally arrived before the bedchamber.
It was very elven in style. The bedchamber blended seamlessly with the surrounding environment, reflecting the unique aesthetic of the elves.
Entering the bedchamber, a golden-haired, green-eyed elf girl was already waiting.
"Your Highness, these are the helpers I found."
"Hello, I'm Aurora."
Aurora was very approachable, with no airs of nobility at all. After Meng Lian introduced herself, Tiane, and Tina, the atmosphere between them was quite harmonious.
"If I'm not mistaken, you two should be Silver Dragons, right?"
Aurora looked at the silver hair of Tina and Tiane, her gaze complicated.
"Yes."
Tiane nodded. At this moment, Meng Lian also sensed some fluctuation in Aurora's emotions.
"Silver Dragons, what a coincidence. My fiancée is also a Silver Dragon."
Meng Lian: ?
Happy New Year
Where was this?
Meng Lian opened her eyes and found herself in a mysterious space. This wasn't the witch's world, nor was it Nordlin.
"You're awake!"
Suddenly, a pleasant voice came from beside her. Meng Lian looked over and found a petite girl who only reached her chest.
Moonlight crystallized into frost and snow at the tips of her hair, while silver chains wound around her fingers flowed with liquid starlight. The girl walked barefoot through mandalas blooming in the void, her pitch-black skirt ripples surging with the remnant glow of a supernova explosion from billions of years ago. When the star orbits rotating within those irises collided with Meng Lian's gaze, the miniature black hole collapsing deep within her pupils was grinding the tombstones of some civilization's era into fine powder.
"I'm called [unspeakable], ah, I forgot, you can't know my name yet."
The girl's star-filled eyes revealed a hint of annoyance as she smiled at Meng Lian.
"You can call me Primordial (#0). I brought you here without any ill intent. I just want to ask you for a favor. Don't worry, I'll delete the memories of this experience completely afterward, so it won't affect your original fate."
Hearing that the girl before her was actually the supreme existence of witches, the Primordial Witch, Meng Lian was very surprised. Hearing that the Primordial Witch wanted to ask her for a favor seemed unbelievable.
"Oh my, this is a bonus space, nothing will happen to you here~"
The Primordial Witch smiled, then snapped her fingers. A piece of parchment floated before Meng Lian's eyes.
"The favor I'm asking is for you to read the text aloud~"
Meng Lian looked at the parchment. It was filled with words she couldn't quite understand.
"Happy New Year! In the new year, I wish everyone all the best and may all your wishes come true. May the anime you follow never have a bad ending, may the authors of the novels you read be typing machines, may your families be healthy and harmonious, and may your gacha pulls always give you double gold in ten pulls!"
"Wonderful!"
The Primordial Witch nodded with satisfaction, then sent the completely bewildered Meng Lian back to her original fate.
"Alright~ I've delivered the New Year's blessings. Everyone, stay safe and have everything go your way in the new year~"
"What? You want me to say it myself?"
"Really, you guys are impossible~"
"Then I wish everyone a Happy New Year!"