The Evroria royal carriage had already landed not far from Aeddoterra City. However, it was still clad in invisibility for some reason.
"Uhm, we can't just enter the Holy City because we are with Lynn as the representative of Yhester Region, Beastkin Continent. We need to let everyone know of our arrival, right?" Elysia explained a bit of reason about why they shouldn't just enter the city without any prior notice.
"Yeah, I totally think it's the right thing. It's just... Wouldn't it be pretty weird if this carriage moved with the magic carpet pulling it? A magic carpet-drawn carriage. Oow, I don't know what those humans would think, haha..." Sylvia dryly laughed as she didn't want to imagine that.
"..." Everyone looked at each other. All of them felt it wouldn't be so wrong if the magic carpet worked to pull this carriage like a horse, but that might look different in the eyes of third parties.
"Hm, I think you're right, Ely. I can use my blessing magic to make my magic carpet look like a charming white horse. Please wait a moment." Nell nodded in agreement.
After that, she opened a small window to the coachman and asked her magic carpet to standby in front of the carriage. She then cast simple illusion magic, and poof, her magic carpet instantly became a white horse that could move like a living creature.
"Now everything is fine, right? So, who wants to be the coachman?" Nell turned around and looked at everyone. Yet, everyone's gazes suddenly fell on Yuuki.
"M-me? I'd love to do it, but I've never been a coachman. What should I do?" Yuuki pointed to herself.
"We need a beastkin for that role. You just have to sit in the coachman's seat and hold onto the horse rein. It's still my clever magic carpet, after all." Nell replied with an encouraging smile.
"You can't do it yourself? Then I will be the coachman, and you will be my assistant. I am a dragonkin now, rawr." Sylvia bared her teeth with a smile as she stepped out of the carriage.
"Eh-ah? Assistant? I get worried if you become the coachman. It's more like I have to make sure you don't cause trouble instead." Yuuki immediately came out to follow Sylvia to become the coachman.
The two of them then scrambled to get hold of the horse rein, but Yuuki came out victorious in the end because she won the vote.
"Go!" Sylvia raised her hand to voice her command.
Yuuki rolled her eyes in response, and they moved to the city gate without invisibility.
On the leisurely trip, Elysia asked Ella to inform Pope Alexander of their arrival. A holy knight squad was then sent to guard them.
"Halt!" The guard shouted as he raised his palm forward.
The guards then looked at the two girls on the coachman's seat in surprise. The two of them were beastkins, namely a half-fox and a half-dragon. Not to mention, such a large and luxurious carriage was only pulled by a single horse?
"Who are you, and what is your purpose in coming to this Holy City?" One of the guards asked, but it sounded like a snap.
"Heh~ We are representatives of Evroria City, Yhester Region, Beastkin Continent. Our arrival was already known to Pope Alexander, the Holy Grandfather. What reason do you have to stop us from entering the city?" Sylvia snorted softly.
"Huh?" The guards looked at each other in confusion. They were not informed or had any information about this at all.
"Please forgive us as we were only carrying out our duties. We were not notified of the arrival of envoys from other continents or anything. With that being said, you must follow the applicable procedures and pass the inspection before entering the Holy City." The guard leader put his hand on his chest.
"That's troublesome. So, what kind of procedure?" Sylvia pursed her lips and glanced up as if she didn't care.
"Please show valid proof of your entourage's identity. After that, we need to do an examination of who or what is in the carriage." The guard leader explained politely but firmly.
"Oho? I thought it was just paying the entrance fee." Sylvia scoffed and looked at the girl next to her. Unfortunately, Yuuki was as clueless as her. They had no identity proof or something like that!
The small window suddenly opened at that moment, and Ella showed her golden card to the guards. "I am Gabriella Celestine, and this is proof of my identity. We came with a royal representative from the Beastkin Continent. Our arrival was just notified, and my grandfather has sent a squad of holy knights to escort us."
"H-holy Princess Gabriella!?" The guards gasped in surprise. That golden card looks perfectly valid, and they get a little awkward.
Basically, how could they apply the procedure to the granddaughter of the owner of the half Holy City?
However, the guards just exchanged glances and nodded. They decided to make the safe decision by waiting for the holy knight squad to confirm everything.
"In that case, please wait for a moment until the arrival of the holy knight squad you mentioned, Holy Princess." The guard leader announced, but he had a slight suspicion nonetheless.
"All right then." Ella nodded then closed the small window.
Sure enough, a few moments later, a squad of holy knights with full attributes came out of the city gate. A long lemon-haired elegant lady took the lead in the front row. She and her squad then went to the side of the carriage respectfully as if they were waiting for orders.
At the same time, Ella opened the door of the carriage to convey her greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Miss Ariel. We came with the representatives of the Beastkin Continent for a royal visit. Can you escort us?"
"Honor lies with me, Holy Princess. Allow us to escort you and the envoy from another continent." Ariel gave a slight bow of respect. She then gave an eye signal to her squad.
Several holy knights then opened wide the city gate for the carriage to enter.
"The notification was so sudden, and it's only natural that it hasn't reached you yet. However, the order was immediately handed down by the Holy Grandfather. Please return to your duty." Ariel gave a brief report on the situation to the guards.
"Affirmative!" The guards replied with a chivalrous salute. They no longer had any suspicions anymore.
Ariel just gave the nod, then she climbed into the coachman's seat, beside the two beastkin. "Excuse me."
"Ooh, it's getting narrower in here. The coachman's seat is less than two meters wide." Sylvia complained a little, but she let the holy knight lady sit next to her.
"Then do something with those wings of yours." Yuuki poked Sylvia's wing.
"Hey! Please be careful with my wings. Every single feather of my wing is precious to me." Sylvia retracted her wings and tried to make enough space for her to sit comfortably.
"Allow me to hold that horse rein. I will guide you to the palace." Ariel stretched out her hand.
"Okay, here." Yuuki easily gave the horse rein to the holy knight lady. After all, she could have led everyone astray because she didn't know the way to the palace.
"..." Ariel looked at the rein in her hands, then at the white horse in front. She felt that something was strange. The luxurious carriage of this size only pulled by a robust horse?
"What's bothering you, holy knight lady? Please don't mind the small stuff. The carpet is actually very strong and reliable." Sylvia waved her hand in front of her face.
"Carpet?" Ariel was confused. She had no idea what this girl was talking about
"Ah, that's the name of the horse. Yes, this robust horse's name..." Yuuki quickly explained in a hurry. She then pinched Sylvia's waist.
"Oow! What are you doing?" Sylvia smacked Yuuki's arm reflexively.
"It's nothing." Yuuki just snorted softly.
After that, Ariel gave the command to the horse to walk forward into the city. A few seconds passed, then she realized that the horse rein didn't seem to have any effect as the horse seemed to be able to move without the coachman's orders.
The holy knight squad on their white horses immediately entered into formation to escort the carriage to the palace.
"Hmm..." Ariel stole glances at the girl next to her several times.
"What's your problem?" Sylvia felt a bit uncomfortable to be stared at in silence every now and then.
Ariel then brought her face closer to the girl next to her and took a quick sniff to confirm something.
"What are you doing? Are you a sniffer cat?" Sylvia backed away a little on reflex.
"I don't mean to be rude to ask this, but you have a similar smell to the devil. You're a dragon, right? Your wings, horns, and tail are real, but why..." Ariel scratched her head in confusion.
Sylvia tried to sniff herself, and she still smelled good as usual. Then, she replied with a grin. "Hoho? It's because I'm a demonic dragon. There's nothing wrong with my smell. I smell good. But, please don't mess with me because I'm actually stronger than you by a large margin."
"I see." Ariel just nodded in understanding and didn't question anything anymore. She just sat in the coachman's seat and let the robust horse move without command.
"Carpet is a clever horse. It can tell where we want to go..." Sylvia explained a little as the holy knight lady frowned.
"..." Ariel was at a loss for words. Who would believe in that reasoning? Even so, she didn't bother about it.
The arrival of the luxurious carriage with two beastkins on the coachman's seat immediately caught the townspeople's attention. Not to mention because it came with the escort of the holy knights.. Whoever came was clearly not the usual honored guests, but the distinguished guests from another continent.