Transmigrated as the Villain: I will survive-Chapter 44: Trip (12)

Entering the carriage, I took a seat right at the middle and had both Jake and Christine sit by my side with Isabella and Sophie sitting across from us

The carriage took off immediately moving through a mountainous ridge, thankfully the carriage was of high quality as such there was no discomfort on the road

" Like I said, went all out "

Jake checking the interior of the carriage couldn’t help but say once again after all not only was it a high-quality carriage but one filled with magic spells for both comfort and safety

" I mean yeah but shouldn’t this be expected for someone of our rank? "

I spoke already used to such situations, after all the rule of equality is only enforced rigidly back at the academy

For the world outside we were still the scions of the grand duke households, even Sophie despite her usual antiques is part of the 14 noble marquise households of the empire

Yet even as I said that Jake still seemed discontent

" No... not just us "

" Hey!! Hey!! stop talking so softly let us in the conversation will you!! "

Staring at us Sophie beckoned as she watched us with her usual teasing smile, yet even that easy going smile stiffened with Jakes next words

" You guys hadn’t been at the yard from the start... before you came there was hundreds of carriages waiting to escort the students....

all the same as this one, every one of them brand new... "

" ... "

" ... "

" ... "

" ... "

Silence loomed over the carriage as what seemed as the sound of thousands of gold coins trickling down a drain echoed in the back of our consciousness

’ Did he actually prepare such carriages for everyone here?!?! ’

" How much would that actually be?? "

As Sophie poised the question I couldn’t help but pale a little, even having been raised in luxury as the daughter of a duke I felt it was too much

" Woah... "

That train of thought though was broken as I heard the soft exclamation of Isabella in front of me, as she eyed the outside with a dazed expression 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

that sight caused the rest of us to turn our heads looking down as we finally focused on the view outside the carriage

" Oh wow "

The words came unbidden from my mouth, the sight of the massive city that in front of was simply that shocking

A city that sparkled as if thousands of stars where imbedded in the earth, opening the window caused the symphony of sounds to come in, one filled with laughter and bargaining

" lunae "

" What? "

Having heard Christines soft whisper, I asked

" The city’s name is lunae, that’s what Sir Nicholas told me "

Staring towards the city she continued to explain

" He said that with the massive influx of visitors that had occurred over the past few months there was a need for greater space which caused the birth of this city, the entire city is in fact one large market space meant to house all the businesses in arcane

No matter when you come, you’ll find that all the stores are open, it’s a city that never sleeps!! "

" News of it had circled around lately, and I have even read about it in the newspaper once, that being said I had always believed it was merely exaggeration... "

Isabella explained her eyes wide as she watched it all

" A market that never closes is that actually possible? "

Sophie posed the question as if unable to come to terms with what she was seeing, thankfully for her when it comes to arcane Christine tends to forget her usual shyness as she began explaining further

" I’m not sure how he did it, yet Sir Nicholas simply stated that there was too many of the unemployed in arcane, as such he had the workers it was just a matter of giving them an opportunity with some good persuasion "

" ... "

Busy staring at the city I simply nodded along, yet it seemed something bothered Jake as he proceeded to ask a different question

" Wait a minute does that mean we aren’t at the capital of arcane? "

hearing him caused the rest to focus on the conversation, after all we were transported to a plain with nothing but the hotel in sight before we made it here, even though the trip was supposed to be at the capital

" Well not really, instead it would be best to say we are in between arcane and lunae "

" In-between? "

" Yes, after all the arcane territory as whole is contains many cities and villages, currently lunae and the capital is half an hour apart in terms of distance, we had been transported at the outskirts of the capital where the hotel is, a private space if you may, and are currently moving up the mountain that is in-between the two cities "

" I see "

Having finished her explanation and with no further inquiries, the carriage grew quiet as we watched the city bellow us, one that was filled with pure white radiance at every store

A city that never stops, one that keeps on glowing no matter what

" This is the second most beautiful sight in arcane "

Speaking such words out of the blue Christine softly turned her head as she looked at the other side causing the rest of us to follow, there the view of the capital was finally revealed

If Lunae was a city that inspired awe at due to its sheer volume, then the capital inspired reverence due to its beauty

" No way... "

It had been long since forgotten however arcane was once called the black rose of the empire, being a hub for tourists from all over the world

Yet ever since the rise of the previous marquise that seized to be as arcane became notoriously reclusive and hostile to strangers

It was said that the territory became run down, and the people lived in tyranny

’ They made a portrait ’

There standing right before me was a city seemingly torn out of a fairytale, with a black rose drawn on the city landscape

" Is this actually real?? "

The capital city of arcane using different lightings and complex passageways, it had had drawn out a rose for all those who can see

.....

Isabella Pov:

’ This wasn’t written anywhere... ’

Having done research on the arcane territory I knew for a fact that its title as the "Black Rose of the Empire" was merely metaphorical, given to it by it due to its once extensive history of tourism

Having been one of the founding families its history was rich, alongside the multitude of famous monuments and preserved heritage it was almost always packed with tourist back in the day

’ Yet not once has it ever been recorded that such a sight exists in Arcane ’

Watching both cities truly showcased the change that occurred over the last few months, especially Lunae

’ A 24/7 market in the shape of a city that welcomes all who visit ’

Such a concept would have been deemed impossible, in fact the number of crimes and disorder that would occur in such a place should have been unbelievably high

Yet somehow the total estimate crime rate in arcane was close to 0, even after the total fusion between the markets, both the common and black

Focusing at Lunae once again and enhancing my eyes with I could clearly see it, while they looked the same from afar, a better look would suggest a rather large difference between the existing districts in the city

Poles were erected on the streets everywhere on each and every one of them were small flags, a way to differentiate the districts for common people, for what to buy and where to go

’ Red for the black market, green for the common one ’

A simple method but one that worked

In the city of Lunae the concept of the black market couldn’t even be called an open secret as even normal civilians seemed to enter and leave without much thought

At the time I believed that the information gathered might have been flawed, yet there was no denying what was in front of me, they moved around as if it was just one of the many local markets

Massive research had been made about this very city as it came to grow, it was unconventional in every way, yet it still somehow worked

many where intrigued wishing to know how it came to reach such heights, while other were simply trying to find ways to keep the growing power of the Arcanes in check

In fact, I remember it being covered in the newspaper, though only for a small segment

’ That might have been deliberate though ’

It was a city where past history does not matter as long as you obey its rules

’ Basically a den of criminals ’

yet even though they wouldn’t purchase anything, most commoners there talked casually to the shop owners who where are all considered criminals as if they’re old friends

Focusing more mana into my eyes even more I could even see a couple go as far as leaving their child alone in the middle of the market

’ Wait... isn’t that a problem? ’

No matter how safe the city is considered to be they shouldn’t leave their children like that!!

It seemed that the boy had gotten lost, thankfully almost immediately an unknown shop owner came and helped him locate his parents

before going back to his store.... located at one of the black-market districts!?!?

’ No really... what is this??? ’

I decided to stop my observations after that; there was no use looking any longer especially with us almost arriving at our destination

Picking up the noise of rattling of the other carriages ahead of us, I shifted in my seat as I turned to see it

The massive globe that was stated to have never been opened since its creation 500 years ago, and the place where Nicholas has chosen to host the current banquet

The Stella requiem