335 On the Way to the Mansion Updated from novelbIn.(c)om
Around four kilometers from the south gate, the fifty-meter-wide railroad began to curve. A moment later, the train ran on the tracks five kilometers parallel with the Outer Wall and seemed to be circling around the forest. The entirety of the railroad had monster repelling lamps along its length. However, unlike the half-kilometer-wide main road, the repellants completely ward off monsters of any level within the area of one kilometer from both sides of the railroad. Approximately ten minutes later, the train had taken a U-turn, perpendicularly passing over the east and north gates, and the rail track finally met up with the other track. The train had been going westward. By the way, the other track at the station was for parking the trains. A short while after we departed from the city, the coarse rocks on the railroad became a path of stone slabs. As we went forward, the stony railroad gradually increased its height and seemed to form a long bridge until the train was elevated thirty meters from the ground. From the top, we started seeing a great river flowing under the bridge. It was the biggest river in the forest that connected to the sea in the northern portion of the forest. One of the branches of this river was coursing by Lavender City, by the way. The river was wide. The water under the bridge was almost half a kilometer in width, and its mouth was more than a kilometer wide. Due to the wideness of the river, the bridge was constructed around a kilometer long. There were monsters in the water for sure, and putting wards around it would disturb the river's ecosystem, so we only installed repellents on the bridge and let the monsters cross sim under. Although the bridge was made in a Roman style, we made it sturdy enough to withstand a charge from a Ram Bull. Anyway, after crossing the bridge, the railroad lowered, and the tracks met the crushed rocks again before continuing our journey through the dense forest. As we moved away from the depths of the forest, we came across numerous sceneries, such as natural plains and beautiful lakes. We also stumbled upon a small mountain range and passed it through a tunnel. It was funny to see the reactions of the passengers to the sudden and brief darkness. "We are about to reach the destination, Your Imperial Majesty." "Amazing, I really can't believe it... It really took two hours to reach the city of Lavender..." Roughly two hours later, we finally reached the vicinity of Lavender City and caught a glimpse of the city wall itself. His Imperial Majesty and his entourage did not remove their eyes from the window as we were getting near the city. They were blankly staring outside in disbelief upon experiencing the capabilities of this vehicle firsthand.
"The emperor seems to be enjoying himself during the trip." Big Sis spoke as our carriage was moving on the road. "I think he would approve our declaration for independence for the reason that he wanted the trains to run in the empire." "I think so too, Sis. He understands that by recognizing our country, the railway system would then be implemented in the empire. The establishment of the Queendom of Raevender would be a win-win situation for both nations." "Well, it's not like the empire would have a significant loss if we deflected from it. We are exempted from taxes in the first place, so the empire would lose a fraction of their territory, and some powerful individuals." "Yeah." "Oh, Raphael." Suddenly, Uncle Steville called out my name. "If the capital of the queendom is in the forest, wouldn't that be making the entire Great Forest of Darkness your territory?" "Oh..."
Once my uncle asked that question, everybody glanced at him, and none of us gave him a clear answer. Soon after, Mark spoke his mind. "I have been thinking about this for a while. If this is the Great Forest of Darkness we are talking about, isn't it being called by that name for a reason? Legend has it that the forest is the home of the Ancient Dragon of Darkness."