Every Morning, My Mirror Saves the World - Chapter 43

Chapter 43

“Yahoo! What wonderful weather. Perfect for the great Silver Knight to set sail across the sea!”

With the heroic air of a man declaring, “My conquest lies across the mermaid sea!” Galahad thumped his chest at the very ocean that had scared him witless not long ago. To Ruiyin, the gesture did have a certain Tarzan-like legacy to it. Of course, that was assuming one ignored the enormous pink ball squatting on his shoulder.

“How are we supposed to cross the sea?” Ruiyin glanced at the surface, which was currently so calm it looked almost cute. She believed that the more beautiful something was, the more dangerous it became. Beneath that water, there had to be countless worldview-destroying mermaids lying in wait for them to swim over.

“Lord Vigia no longer believes in love and cannot fly,” the ball on Galahad’s shoulder said in a flat, desireless monotone.

Right. Ever since last night, this ball that had once been so full of drive as it scoured the world for treasure had deflated into an oval. No matter what anyone said to it, the only responses they could get were variations delivered in the same fixed tone and sentence pattern: “Lord Vigia no longer believes in love and cannot eat,” or “Lord Vigia no longer believes in love and cannot sleep.”

Juvina chuckled softly and pointed toward the sea in the distance. “It’s all right. We can ride a wyvern across.”

He had only just washed the bat-dropping face mask off his face, but in just a few days, that face that had once been fit to plug a tomb raider’s tunnel had lost its sacred-artifact utility. His delicate features, fair skin, and elegant bearing all radiated the message, “I walk the path of nobility, grandeur, and taste.” His deep blue eyes seemed filled with the shimmering light of the Biqin Sea, affectionate and rippling.

Unfortunately, Ruiyin and the others had already seen this beauty before. In this lifetime, they would probably only ever be able to associate that lovely face with things like bat droppings and soup dumplings.

Vigia glanced at him and continued in the same flat voice, “Lord Vigia no longer believes in love and cannot turn into a big dragon.”

Juvina shaded his eyes with one hand and gazed into the distance, smiling as he said, “I wasn’t planning on having you carry us over. That would hardly be realistic. You are not the only wyvern in existence.”

He had been… humiliated! Vigia’s claws dug deep into the territory beneath his feet. Tears of indignity filled his eyes as he trembled with rage. Galahad let out a scream and flung Vigia off his blood-soaked shoulder.

Juvina curled his index finger to his lips and blew a soft whistle. A whirlwind swept past, and a Rolls-Royce… no, a wyvern, seemed to arrive before them in the blink of an eye as if through a dimensional slash.

Vigia looked coldly askance at that wyvern. Its silver-gray scales reflected a chilly light, sheathing a supple, powerful, streamlined body. Its proud head was tilted slightly to one side, quiet and solemn. Its golden eyes were proof of pure bloodline, as though the moment its master gave an order, it would roar out and slaughter everything in sight.

He had been… outclassed! It had actually outclassed him even in nobility!

Vigia folded forward in despair.

“Wyverns may be rare creatures, but as a royal prince, how could I possibly not have a properly trained one?” Juvina said lightly. He extended a hand with graceful ease. “Please climb aboard, my honored guests.”

“Hmph. It is merely a creature tamed by humans. How could it ever compare to the free and noble Lord Vigia!” Vigia planted both claws on his waist and snorted haughtily, then climbed back onto Galahad’s shoulder and ordered the Silver Knight to carry him onto the dragon.

Compared to the trip over, this journey was obviously much smoother. The silver-gray dragon’s scales had none of Vigia’s magic-crystal-rump practicality, but as they sat on those fine, smooth scales and watched the wyvern spread its enormous wings, gliding steadily through the clouds, the Sea of Roses below looked like a blue flower unfurling its petals. It gave them the illusion of being in a dream.

Gradually, at the far end of that deep blue, a faint wash of green spread into view. It was like some enormous sea-devouring beast had suddenly appeared in the middle of the ocean, opening its bloody maw and cutting off every shade of deep and pale blue. That strip of green wound along the coastline, and as the wyvern approached, its full shape slowly came into view.

It was a range of gentle high hills. Along the sea, every stretch of damp, fertile soil was covered in a kind of fresh green grass. These tiny lives that never grew tall were like a dense layer of green down, clustering with vibrant energy around the massive city-state atop the hills.

“That is… the Thread of Life.” On the wyvern’s back, Galahad stood up and gazed into the distance. “The Goddess of Life scattered cat-tail grass seeds in the middle of the Sea of Roses. More than a thousand years later, a bridge connecting to the Abyss appeared above the Sea of Roses. Legend says the Thread of Life formed by the cat-tail grass can never be breached by dark creatures, which is why the Sunan Empire on the mainland has always enjoyed peace and tranquility.”

Ruiyin looked at him in surprise. “You actually know that much?”

“Of course!” Galahad puffed out his chest. “You should know, cat-tail grass is exactly the same color as my hair. As the Silver Knight with the Thread of Life on his head, how could I possibly not know a basic legend like that?”

“…” Had he never realized that having a thousand cat tails on his head was not exactly something to be proud of?

The wyvern gradually descended. It had no intention of approaching those high city walls. Under Juvina’s command, it circled down and landed on a patch of cat-tail grass near the urban district. Juvina was the first to leap gracefully down from the wyvern, then began carefully straightening the elaborate, gorgeous hem of his clothing.
“Why aren’t we landing in the city?” Vigia seemed to remember something all of a sudden. Its spherical body puffed up in an instant, and it planted both claws on its hips, looking insufferably smug as its eyes darted around and glanced sidelong at Juvina. “Ha! You really aren’t His Highness the Prince, are you? If you were His Highness, how could you not have a special landing spot in the city? Even if your face isn’t bad, you must be an impostor pretending to be my beauty!”

Juvina gave a cold snort. “My apologies, but as His Highness the Prince of the Sunan Empire, I must maintain royal dignity at all times. How could I possibly allow myself to appear before my admirers in such a sorry state?”

As he spoke, he removed the crystal necklace from his neck. After he infused it with magic, the crystal gave off a faint glow.

“Your Highness!” A cloaked figure suddenly appeared before them, bent at the waist in front of Juvina, and performed a standard mage’s salute.

…Where did this guy even come from?!

Ruiyin, who was in the middle of climbing down from the wyvern, slipped and nearly fell. Lars reacted quickly and caught her. But before Ruiyin could even voice her question, another earth-shaking roar rang out:

“Your Highness!!!”

At least thirty cloaked figures dressed exactly the same appeared on the grass in an instant. The emblems on their robes showed that every one of them was at least an intermediate mage or higher. Juvina nodded coolly to them and took a step back.

The spectacle that made everyone’s eyes nearly pop out of their sockets was far from over. Right in front of Ruiyin and the others, the mages took all sorts of materials out of identical standard-issue spatial pouches and began drawing a teleportation array on the lawn. Their movements were swift and orderly. Thirty minutes later, the mages knelt on one knee around the enormous array, which had a radius of ten meters, and began pouring magic into it. Then…

“Your Highness!!!!!”

More than a hundred knights in silver armor knelt in unison before Juvina and let out a shout that shook the mountains and rivers. All of these knights were handsome young men, every single one tall, well-proportioned, and mouthwateringly gorgeous. After saluting, the knight order withdrew behind the mages, and then people began leading one warhorse after another out of the teleportation array, each one strong, glossy, and uniformly colored…

The warhorses lined up beside the knight order. Then, from the teleportation array, came the butler corps, the maid corps, the hairstylist corps, the chef corps, the gardener corps…

On the grass that had been empty moments before, over a thousand people arrayed themselves with a great rustle and cried out like a mountain roar, “Congratulations on Your Highness’s safe return!”

An hour later, Juvina was reclining on a soft chair, enjoying beautiful maids feeding him, massaging him, and providing special services. Behind him, hairstylists and fashion designers anxiously worked to craft His Highness the Prince’s perfect look. Beside him, chefs began preparing delicacies. Gardeners began transplanting fresh flowers. Mages and the knight order stood solemn guard in the distance… Juvina generously pointed to the grass opposite him. “Everyone, please don’t stand on ceremony. Sit wherever you like. Barring any accidents, we should be able to enter the city in two hours.”

“…” Seriously, were all the new characters showing up lately more punchable than the last?

Located on the Thread of Life, the Sunan Empire was the wealthiest nation of the four continents. It possessed the most prosperous towns, the largest population, the richest merchants, the greatest variety of rare treasures, and… the most extravagant, debauched, rotten prince.

Two hours later, when Ruiyin and the others followed the utterly transformed Juvina through the city gates, all four country bumpkins were deeply shaken by the wealth and prosperity of this nation.

Ever since entering the legendary western fantasy world, Ruiyin had been on the run. For over a hundred thousand words, she had spent the entire time in the wilderness and in prison. The people she dealt with were either magical beasts or Dark Elves. This was Ruiyin’s first time seeing the legendary adventurer supply hub. Only a place like this could raise a prince that bizarre!

Look at all those jewels! Spices! Powerful magical items! Beautiful clothes! Delicious food!

What kind of less-than-human life had they been living before this?!

“Welcome to the Sunan Empire,” Juvina said gracefully, dressed in fine new clothes. “My honored guests, a sumptuous banquet has already been prepared for us at the palace. Please come with me. The Sunan Empire never neglects valued guests.”

Galahad and Vigia had long since thrown their arms around each other and begun shedding tears of excitement, and even Ruiyin could barely keep her eyes from wandering. Lars watched Ruiyin, who was staring fixedly at a roadside stall, with a faintly indulgent expression for a while. Then he turned his head and said mildly, “Thank you very much for Your Highness’s generous invitation. However, I imagine what you’ve prepared for us is more than just a banquet, isn’t it?”

“Of course not.” Juvina smiled faintly, ripples of light stirring in his deep blue eyes. “My honored knight, I have also arranged a small after-dinner activity especially for you all. What do you think of an unusual little test?”