Inside the luxurious Mingyao carriage, floating glimmers of magic flowed, and the spotless carriage was brightly lit.
Leather seats were placed inside the carriage. An elegant crystal tea table stood on the floor, and on it was a pure white ceramic teacup filled with steaming hot milk.
Through the window, it could be clearly seen that the train was passing through the sky at high altitude.
The magical tracks beneath it unfolded rapidly in the air like a dream, guiding the train as it soared between the blue sky and white clouds.
It moved through dazzling rainbows, feeling the dry and refreshing air, constantly advancing toward the distant Kingdom of Cant.
Birds in the sky flew happily in flocks, making cheerful chirping sounds.
Sunlight poured down, making the white clouds seem as if a soft curved line had been drawn across them.
In this comfortable carriage, Aurelian sat alone on the leather sofa, her noble aura needing no explanation.
Occasionally, Teacher Viktor would come here to check on her, but most of the time he stayed immersed in the other carriages.
No one knew what he was doing.
However, the entire first-class carriage was not occupied by only her.
At this moment, Vanilla, the maid with upright cat ears, was busy within Aurelian's sight.
She wore a black and white maid outfit and skillfully prepared snacks for the princess, brewing tea, pouring milk...
While she worked, the cat ears on her head twitched, and her tail slowly drooped down, gently swaying left and right.
Every small movement Vanilla made was carefully observed by Aurelian.
'Does she really like doing these chores?'
Aurelian stared at the happily working Vanilla, doubts filling her heart as a few complicated emotions flashed in her eyes.
'A demi-human maid...?'
She had not had much contact with demi-humans before, most of her understanding was only superficial.
She only remembered the demi-human team that once followed her when she was training in the City of Adventurers.
From that time on, Aurelian had gained some understanding of the discipline and combat ability of these demi-humans.
And then?
Before Aurelian could continue thinking, Vanilla had already finished brewing the new tea and milk.
She carried a white ceramic teapot and walked lightly and silently to Aurelian.
Vanilla slightly bowed and poured warm milk into the teacup in front of Aurelian.
White steam overflowed from the cup, swirling in the air and carrying the fresh fragrance of milk.
Vanilla gave her a slight bow and said, "Princess, please enjoy."
Aurelian thanked Vanilla and nodded slightly.
Trying milk prepared by a demi-human for the first time made Aurelian feel very curious.
She wondered what catgirl milk would taste like.
Aurelian picked up the teacup and took a small sip of the milk.
When the rich milky aroma rushed into her mouth, Aurelian put down the teacup and carefully savored it.
Although the taste still seemed somewhat unskilled compared to those experienced maids, what Vanilla made was already quite good.
Especially for a demi-human, it was already done very well.
Demi-human hands were not originally suited for doing these things.
Their hands were originally used for hunting weapons, natural claws.
Considering the physical traits of demi-humans, having such skill was truly rare.
Aurelian looked at Vanilla and asked, "Vanilla, you..."
"Why do you have a name like that?", She was a little curious.
Demi-humans usually did not have names.
But the delicate cat-eared girl in front of her had a unique name that completely belonged to her.
Vanilla.
And not only Vanilla.
Even those demi-human guards each had their own names.
This made Aurelian feel a little strange.
Why would demi-humans also have names?
Vanilla stood respectfully at the side, slightly bowing as she explained to Aurelian, "Because my master once said that I carry a pleasant scent of herbs, so he gave me this name."
"All of these were personally given by my master."
Aurelian suddenly froze when she heard Vanilla's explanation.
'Mas... master?'
Noticing the princess's curiosity, Vanilla calmly explained.
"I was rescued by my master from a demi-human trafficker."
"He gave me wisdom and gave me the talent to become a mage."
"But unfortunately, perhaps because my talent is not enough, even now I am still only a magic apprentice.", When she said this, Vanilla did not show any disappointment and simply smiled.
The more Aurelian listened, the more surprised she became.
When she heard Vanilla say she was a magic apprentice, Aurelian was even more astonished.
To become a mage, one needs to constantly study knowledge.
However, teaching magic to demi-humans, who often struggle even with learning to read, would require effort that might be ten times or even dozens of times greater than what ordinary human mages need.
Yet Vanilla was able to become a magic apprentice, which meant she was very smart.
While chatting with Vanilla, Aurelian could also feel that intelligence.
'However, demi-human traffickers...'
Thinking of this, Aurelian's eyes dimmed a little.
When Vanilla mentioned demi-human traffickers, a faint trace of fear flashed in her eyes.
Although this small catgirl looked relaxed, that fleeting fear was still noticed by Aurelian.
If there had been no Viktor, no Klevenna family, these free demi-humans might have been sold to some dark corner somewhere.
Demi-human traffickers were extremely hateful.
Aurelian once heard Teacher Viktor talk about it.
The reason the Empire forbids demi-humans from entering its territory, on one hand, is to ensure that within the Empire humans must have an absolute majority and a superior status.
On the other hand, in a certain sense, it is to protect these demi-humans from being used by some profit-driven criminals as an open way to make money.
However, many people only see the first part.
Within the Empire, humans are supreme.
This made many nobles of the Empire always carry a sense of superiority when facing other races.
Other intelligent races would not actively put themselves into danger.
But demi-humans were different.
They were like beasts, without reason.
They could easily fall into human hands and be enslaved as tools and livestock.
If demi-humans were allowed to enter the territory, the nobles would become even more blatant.
Without surprise, in every corner of the Empire, those low-status demi-human slaves would be seen everywhere.
Even in garbage dumps, those demi-humans who were about to starve to death and had no value left would be discarded everywhere.
Even now, although the Empire strictly forbids the sale of demi-humans, there are still people who walk down this road of no return for the sake of high profits.
Because where there is demand, there will be a market.
Where there is a market, there will be profit.
As long as the nobles need this cheap labor and are willing to pay enough reward, these demi-human traffickers will dare to take the risk.
Although demi-humans are indeed cheap, that still depends on what they are compared with.
Aurelian still remembered something Teacher Viktor once said.
("For demi-human traffickers, capturing ordinary demi-humans is as easy as making bread.")
("But the price is much higher than selling bread.")
So Aurelian had always kept this matter in mind.
Thinking of this, Aurelian's gaze once again fell on Vanilla.
She was a little curious about the herbal scent that Teacher Viktor mentioned.
So she opened her mouth and said, "May I smell one..."
Bang!
Bang bang!
The words she had just spoken were abruptly cut off in the air.
The entire train suddenly shook violently, as if the sky and earth were collapsing.
The delicate ceramic teacup on the table fell to the floor from the violent impact and shattered into countless pieces.
White milk splashed straight out, forming a frightening streaked pattern.
Aurelian froze on the sofa, full of confusion.
Just as she was about to stand up to see what had happened, Vanilla suddenly pressed down on her shoulder.
Aurelian tried to break free but discovered that Vanilla's strength was far greater than she had imagined, and her resistance had no effect at all.
She often trained in swordsmanship, and her strength was clearly greater than that of ordinary girls.
But she still could not match the small catgirl in front of her.
'Is this the strength of the demi-human race?'
Then Aurelian saw that around Vanilla's eyes, a circle of green magical aura had appeared.
Soon, one of Vanilla's eyes began to glow faintly green.
This was a surgery Viktor once performed on her, merging the magic power of the Eye of the Hidden Magic Corpse into it and granting her the corresponding ability of the Hidden Magic Corpse.
"Please do not move, Princess."
"If there is danger, I will inform you in time."
As the words fell, the green aura gradually strengthened and scanned the surroundings.
The moment the green completely covered her entire eyeball, Vanilla felt that the world around her had fallen into an extremely thick darkness.
Through the vague outline of the carriage, colorful spots could be seen scattered outside.
Her gaze followed those spots deeper until she observed a cluster of even darker existences.
The kindness and cuteness that Vanilla had at first gradually faded from her face.
In its place appeared sharp fangs and a low, heavy growl.
The muscles on her face tightened unconsciously, as if facing a great enemy.
"Princess, please sit here."
"The next matters will be handled by us."
———
Inside the carriage, the ministers could not stop trembling, and fear quickly spread across everyone's faces.
Some were even so frightened that they buried their heads into their clothes.
Why were they so afraid?
Because the train had just experienced a violent jolt.
What the ministers worried about was not only the jolt itself, but whether the train could continue moving.
Because they were currently above the Nangabulna Valley.
As long as they passed through this deep canyon, they would have completely left the Empire.
Right now, the train was traveling along the magical rails on both sides of the valley.
Below was a terrifying bottomless rift, constantly releasing horrifying howling winds from below.
No one knew how deep the canyon truly was, but everyone knew clearly that if the train fell into it, their only fate would be to be crushed into dust.
The demi-human guards quickly began to act, moving back and forth between the train carriages.
The crisp sound of bone and cold iron lightly clashing on their armor echoed through the hall as they coldly warned the diplomats.
"Sit in your seats and do not move."
"Otherwise you will bear the consequences."
'What kind of terrible situation is this?'
Seeing the demi-human squad start moving, the ministers became even more afraid.
Something unexpected must have happened for these demi-human guards to act.
"Where is Viktor, where is Viktor!"
"We want to see Viktor! Why has this situation happened!?"
Suddenly, it felt as if a northern wind from the extreme north had passed through the ministers' spines.
A numb and bone-piercing cold instantly wrapped around them.
The noisy protests abruptly stopped, as if they had been completely frozen in ice.
Gwen walked slowly from another carriage, bringing a burst of icy wind with her.
Her face was like frost, and her voice carried no emotion at all, yet it was as cold and calm as a deep abyssal ravine.
"Now, everyone."
"Be quiet."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/XenosX
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰