Chapter 1324: City of White (1)
Entering the subconscious could be said to be both a short and long process for Rhode. It was like a dream, where one felt like it had happened for a long time, but, in fact, it had only been a moment. This was one’s mental world, which was not always about the person themselves. It wasn’t entirely unreasonable to say that the person who knew themselves the least was often themselves. Even if one were as sane and indifferent as one could be, one couldn’t completely grasp one’s mental world. Even robots could make logical errors due to various incidents, not to mention humans whose minds were a thousand times more complex.
After an unknown amount of time, Rhode finally felt his feet setting foot on solid ground. He opened his eyes and the blurry scenery before him became clearer. Although he had already prepared himself mentally, after looking at the scenery before him, he couldn’t help but stare with curiosity.
What appeared before him was an endless gra.s.sland, as well as an azure sky, which didn’t seem to be out of the ordinary. The problem wasn’t this beautiful scenery either, but something that appeared amongst it—a white city.
Of course, if it were just an ordinary city, Rhode wouldn’t be so surprised. As a matter of fact, instead of a city, it looked more like the scribbles of a child. There were heavy, crooked black lines, square windows that were clearly not drawn neatly, a gate made of childish-looking fruit candies, cookie-paved roads, rivers flowing with fruit juice, and walls that looked like they were made out of marshmallows… And a sweet aroma of appetizing food lingered in the air.
“Have I entered Lilian’s mental world?”
Looking at this scene with an odd expression, Rhode reached out his hand and scratched his head. He would totally accept the explanation that this childish and crooked ‘candy city’ before him belonged to Lilian’s inner landscape. But unfortunately… According to the order, he should have entered Celia’s inner world instead.
“Celia?”
Rhode swore to G.o.d that he never thought that the battle angel who was always calm and quiet would have such a childish side. This was really surprising to him. But despite that, it was the truth that he had entered the deepest part of her mental world, and the most unknown side of her. Perhaps even Celia didn’t even know that she possessed such a mental world.
No matter what, this mental world seemed rather peaceful and wasn’t as sinister and evil as he had imagined. The reason why there were so many issues in Lize’s mental world was mainly due to the fact that she was taken advantage of by the Mind Devil, which unrestrictedly amplified the negative emotions within her. But this time, through his younger sister’s guidance, Rhode entered the card spirits’ mental world peacefully, so there wouldn’t be any troubles as evil or dangerous as the Mind Devil.
Rhode’s curiosity about Celia’s mental world lasted for only an instant and soon after, he lowered his guard. Since this place wasn’t dangerous, all that was left was to complete his mission. Although everyone’s mental world was full of bizarre happenings, there were always things in common. And now, he was going to find the ‘real Celia’ in this mental world and earn her recognition. Of course, he couldn’t come up with anything just by standing here, so he had to take this one step at a time.
At this thought, Rhode lifted his head and strolled toward the white city.
While the gra.s.sland and sky around him appeared normal, everything started to become strange when he arrived at the bridge built of biscuits. He stared at the gate before him, which was made entirely of fluffy cream cake and considered how he should open it. He extended his arm and pushed the gate, only to end up sinking his entire arm into it.
“Who’s there!”
And at that moment, along with the sudden yell, two figures flew down from the city wall from the left and right and arrived in front of Rhode. Upon meeting them, Rhode was stunned. They looked undoubtedly like Celia, wearing the set of battle angel armor Rhode remembered, and their expressions were no different from the Celia he knew. The only difference was that there were two of them standing before him right now. They were like twins, exactly the same without any visible differences in the slightest. They held spears in their hands, gazing at him sternly as if he were an odd visitor. As long as he acted suspiciously, they would stab him with the spear and teach him a lesson.
Forget about whether or not they could cause any harm to him; since the two spears in their hands were made entirely of candy sticks, they must taste really nice.
“Greetings, I am a traveler from the outside world. My name is Rhode.”
In response to the two Celias’ question, Rhode didn’t explain himself, but quickly introduced himself instead. He knew that this was Celia’s mental world. But even so, they wouldn’t recognize him. Because this was the most secret area of Celia’s innermost heart, where even she wasn’t aware of its existence. That was why it was natural that this place didn’t know anything about Celia’s outside world, and it was normal for them not to know him. If they did know who he was, it would then be really strange instead.
“Traveler from the outside world?”
Upon hearing Rhode’s introduction, the two Celias exchanged puzzled looks with each other. Shortly after, as though recalling something, they revealed warm, pa.s.sionate smiles.
“Oh, I see. You must be here for Her Majesty Honey Queen’s annual Sugar Pot Extravaganza too, aren’t you! We’re so delighted that word of our grand event has finally spread to the outside world… Welcome, traveler from the outside world, I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself to the fullest here.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
After hearing their words, Rhode didn’t say too much. He pretty much figured out what was going on here. Since they had already said so, he was happy to go along with them since it was quite troublesome to explain his situation, anyway. Since they found a good reason for him, it would be a waste if he didn’t use it. That was why he kept quiet and went along with what they said. As expected, after hearing his answer, the two Celias grinned
“We’re sure you’ll be pleased, Traveler. We promise that our Sugar Pot Extravaganza will not disappoint you.”
With that said, the two Celias held out their hands in an inviting gesture to Rhode. Then, they put a knife and fork into his hand.
“This is…”
After looking at the knife and fork in his hand, Rhode s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the two of them with some confusion. Upon sensing his puzzlement, the two Celias smiled warmly, stood on both sides, and made an inviting gesture to him as if they were welcoming guests.
“Please.”
“…”
Upon hearing their response, Rhode looked once more at the knife and fork in his hand, before gazing at the gate in front of him, which was made up of fluffy cream cake. He twitched his eyes in disbelief. This gate must be almost two meters thick, right?
Fortunately, the two Celias weren’t going to let him finish the whole of the cake gate, but just let him eat his way in. But even so, that was more than enough for him to take. He wasn’t a girl, after all, and his liking for sweets wasn’t really that strong. Like most men, he only occasionally had sweets. But this time… He felt as if he were about to swallow the amount of cake that he would have in his entire lifetime. Even though he only had to eat a one-man-sized entrance for himself through the two-meter-thick cake gate, it still gave him quite a headache. And if it weren’t for the two Celias watching from the side, he would have just thrown all of the cake into the river of juice to destroy it. Of course, in the end, he finished the cake on his own will and as for how he felt… Well, that was another story.
“Phew…”
After ‘eating’ into the gate, the two Celias turned around, flapped their wings, and left in satisfaction. After Rhode witnessed the two Celias leaving, he let out a sigh of relief and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. Oh, Lord. He would rather go out and fight Chaos 300 more rounds than take another bite of cake again.
But soon, he found out that his difficulties were more than just cake. After entering the city, he realized that this city wasn’t as deserted as he thought it was. On the contrary, it was just as lively as a city in any other world. Drivers handling their wagons, vendors selling their goods and merchandise, and working civilians… Everything was no different from an ordinary city.
The only problem was that all of them were Celia.
Taking a stroll down the street, Rhode saw different Celias dressed as a groom, farmer, elegant n.o.blewoman, and enthusiastic vendor… It literally felt as if she were ‘cosplaying’ and Rhode didn’t know how to tell the difference between them. All in all, he just felt like his eyes were completely confused.
“This is going to be a problem…”
Looking at the dense number of Celias in front of him, Rhode knitted his brows. He was sure that Celia’s true projection of herself was among them. He thought that finding her wouldn’t be so difficult. But now, it didn’t look easy at all. Although this ‘candy city’ resembled a child’s world and seemed more like a small, simulated city in a children’s play area, there were hundreds of Celia around and it would take a lot of time for Rhode to find the real Celia and earn her acknowledgment, not to mention the fact that he couldn’t even figure out how to spot the real her.
Which is the real Celia?
At this thought, Rhode frowned. He pondered for a moment, but eventually shook his head and walked down the avenue toward the palace. According to the two Celias from before, they would inform Her Majesty Honey Queen of his arrival. Originally, Rhode didn’t know who that Honey Queen was, but now it seemed like it was probably another Celia. In terms of status, that Celia should be the true one.
Among the many ‘Celias’, Rhode’s appearance was naturally quite eye-catching, where almost everyone looked at him curiously. But in the face of these gazes, he remained calm and walked along the only street in this city of candy until he reached the front of the palace.
Although it was said to be a palace, it was nothing more than a three-story building stacked from biscuits. Just like a children’s candy house, the walls were made of biscuits, while the pillars were cakes, and the steps and floor were flakes of candy. The whole palace had a sweet and delicious scent to it. If any girl were to witness this scene, she might not be able to stop drooling. But Rhode didn’t feel this way at all. Instead, he looked at the biscuit palace in front of him with a bitter and pained expression. The taste of the cake that he forced into his stomach and had a hard time forgetting once again resurfaced in his head…
“Candy house, huh… I wonder if there are any man-eating old hags living there.”
Rhode soliloquized and shook his head, forcing himself to forget the painful memories from before. The cake itself tasted great, but if one were forced to eat several cakes and could still manage to keep a straight face, that would be a problem.
Unlike the ‘bustling’ city, there was no one on this side of the ‘palace’. From the moment he walked through the entrance of the palace to the atrium, he hadn’t seen a single person. Only when he came to the stairway did he see the two ‘Celias’ who greeted him at the entrance of the city, and the only reason why he recognized them was because they wore the same armor as before.
“Greetings, Traveler. We have reported your arrival to Her Majesty. She is very pleased to have a traveler attending the Sugar Pot Extravaganza. She wishes to meet you and personally show you how to enjoy this feast. So please follow me, Her Majesty is waiting for you.”
“It is my great honor.”
Upon hearing the words of two guards, Rhode saluted and let out a long breath. If there were no mistakes, this queen should be the real Celia he was searching for.
At this thought, Rhode’s spirits lifted, and he followed the two guards up the stairs and arrived at the entrance of the hall located on the second floor.
“Your Majesty, the traveler has arrived.”
“Let him in.”
Celia’s voice, which had a hint of arrogance and pride, sounded from behind the candy door. Upon hearing that voice, Rhode couldn’t help but feel a little amused as the corners of his mouth perked up. After all, the Celia he knew was a meek, peaceful, and somewhat rigid person. And now, after hearing her tone of voice that sounded like she was imitating Celestina, it was rather interesting. Despite that, Rhode also felt like this voice didn’t seem to be the same as the Celia he remembered, but sounded a bit childish instead.
But before he could think about anything else, the door had already opened. He threw those nonsensical thoughts to the back of his head and entered the hall, only to meet the owner of that voice. However, after seeing the figure before him clearly, he stood dazedly on the spot.
Sitting on the luxurious throne made of pudding and honey embellishments was a little girl in a gorgeous dress, who looked about six or seven year old. Her curly, blonde hair framed her small face of baby-fat and she looked exceptionally adorable. At that moment, behind her was a pair of small wings fluttering and waving along with their owner’s movements. But it was obvious that they weren’t of much use. The little girl let out a cough as soon as she saw Rhode strolling into the hall. She reached out her tiny hands and fiddled with the crown on her head, which seemed to be made from egg rolls. Then, she crossed her arms and looked at him with a smug look.
… That’s Celia?
Looking at the little girl in front of him, Rhode tried his best to not burst out laughing. Fortunately, an expressionless face was his natural disguise. If not, seeing this girl in front of him who acted as if she were playing a game of kings, Rhode would have been seen laughing already. And for a moment, he even instinctively touched his pocket to see if he had brought his phone with him. It would be funny if he took a picture of Celia in this form to show the rest!
But this was only a fun thought of his. After all, this was a mental world and also the most private of all places. Whatever happened here shouldn’t be made known to others.
“I’ve heard from the guards. Welcome to my kingdom, traveler.”
The loli version of Celia said and nodded to Rhode while pretending to be very dignified.
“As the first traveler to attend my country’s grand ceremony, the Sugar Pot Extravaganza, I will bestow upon you the highest honor, and you will join me in enjoying the most magnificent and delicious desserts and cakes at this ceremony!” With that said, the loli version of Celia raised her right hand and held it out to Rhode. “Come, traveler, to my side! Let me give you a good taste of our kingdom’s grand event!”
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
In response to her invitation, Rhode bowed respectfully.
Seems like this is the only way to continue my search for now.