After sailing for nearly several days, a white coast finally appeared on the blue sea, with a little white ice floating in the waves and slowly submerging into the cold water.
After entering the northern continent, the airship did not stop immediately, but continued flying until it saw a city where life gathered.
The undulating icicles are connected together to form a tall wall with an arc, blocking the cold wind on one side, while the other side is directly open to welcome the thin and warm sunshine from the sky.
Compared with human towns, the buildings here are more exquisite and beautiful. The gray-blue bluish rocks are polished smooth and straight, forming the outer walls of high towers and castles. Under these tall castles and tower walls, there are arcs of
White huts as tall as bread are neatly arranged. If you look down from a high altitude, you can see that the streets and buildings below together outline a huge ice-gold flower, with patterns of the moon and other flowers and plants on the outside.
"That's 'Skarandi', which means 'city of mountains, forests and winter winds'. It's also the largest city in the ice elf kingdom closest to the southwest."
When the airship was several kilometers away from the city, it began to slowly descend. Erin introduced this magnificent city to several companions on the deck.
In the endless snowfields, there are large tracts of coniferous forests surrounding this city, which extend continuously to the north and east, bringing a lot of vitality to the monotonous world.
"This is probably the last city where you can see the sun. Going further north, you will find the country of ice elves in the shadow season." The scholar on the side looked at the ice blue city in the distance and said with emotion.
Before coming, they had consulted many classics about the ice elves. Although the forest elves had not interacted with the ice elves for a long time, some records were still left in the distant past.
"Let's continue moving forward. This time we will probably have to be guided by the ruler of Scarandi before we can reach the Ice Palace Garden in the northern continent."
"Does Irene know anything about 'Skarndi'?" Etesi asked the companion next to her.
"I don't know much, I just heard that the ruling family of Scarandi is a branch of the Duke of Lourdes. Lourdes, Callender, and Stide are the three Dukes who currently rule the ice elves.
, they respectively use the 'Ice String Piano', 'Dark Moon Calendar' and 'Platycodon Flower Sword' as their coats of arms, and members of their families dominate most of the affairs and responsibilities of the Ice Palace."
"If we divide it according to factions, in fact, the Hilleni family (Silver Snow Lily) where I belong is also a vassal under Duke Callender."
The airship's propeller blew the ice particles on the ground, bringing up white snow mist. With a while of shaking and adjustment, this excellent airship slowly stopped on the ground, and the propeller and sails also stopped moving and became quiet.
The long ladder made of metal was lowered, and the spikes on the bottom side of its tail were embedded in the frozen soil to secure it, and then one by one the forest elves stepped off the airship.
.
.
.
When Lorraine Hill stepped off the airship with the doll in his arms, a group of ice elf cavalry riding cold-feathered birds were already rushing over from a distance.
The blade of the long lance is elongated into a long and sharp triangle, reflecting bursts of cold light in the sea breeze. The strength of these ice elf cavalry is not weak. Almost every one of them has the strength of Sequence 3, which can be said to be rare.
It's elite.
When they came closer, they did not launch an attack immediately, but stood ready to negotiate with their own envoys.
Several envoys first took out the edict of the current Queen Aiqinweila, negotiated the documents, and then asked Irene to come out to talk to the ice elves.
After seeing Eileen, the ice elf, the cavalry captain's expression softened slightly, but he still carefully examined the document for a long time before raising his head.
"I'm sorry, many of these things are beyond my control, but I can forward some documents to Lord Antonis for you. He is the current city lord of 'Skaranti', and it will be up to him to make the decision."
"We accept it, but we also hope not to wait too long." Several members of the mission nodded to each other to express understanding.
So, the first day ended here. The envoys first camped near the place where the airship landed, waiting for the next reply.
The next day, no one in the city came to reply to the letter, but some extraordinary people in the envoy sensed some prying figures in the sky.
On the third day, there was still no progress.
On the fourth day, several ice elves finally came to the camp. They said that they could allow a small number of members of the envoy to enter the city, but the number could not exceed 5.
After some negotiation, the envoy and Irene formed a team of six people and entered the city, including Lorraine Hill.
Riding on a long-haired pony, Lorraine Hill wore a light gray and ice blue coat and a wide hood on his head. His transparent blue eyes curiously looked at the scenery on both sides of the street.
The city of Scarandi is very lively, and the ice elves with long ice-blue hair can be seen everywhere. They wear light blue long skirts, often with a layer of semi-transparent tulle on the outside as an embellishment.
These ice elves were very curious about the people entering the city, and from their conversations, Lorraine Hill discovered that many of them did not know about the arrival of the envoys, but were just curious about the appearance of the forest elves.
Most of the forest elves have golden or chestnut hair, which is different from the ice elves and are easy to distinguish. In addition, they all have long pointed ears.
Compared with the slightly lively forest elves, most of the ice elves are much calmer, and there are rarely scenes of loud shouting even on the street. These ice elves are often used to writing prices on the notice boards nearby and are unwilling to say too much.
If you talk a lot, you won't spend too long negotiating the price in general transactions.
Compared with the places Lorraine Hill has been to, there are no mobile stalls on the streets here. They are all in their own shops, and the shops are also very warmly decorated and have a sense of life.
Green wisteria, different small pendants and curtains, white conch cups, light yellow scented tea, and a small hand stove that breathes light and dark. The interior style here can see the vines and flowers that the elves always have, and you can also see some of them.
The unique elegant style of the East has a feeling of combining the East and the West.
Perhaps the ice elves were more influenced by the Plantagenet Dynasty because they had been cut off from the Western Continent for too long.
Arriving under the towering city wall in the city, several elf knights in moon-white armor in front of the castle opened the door lock and slowly raised the gate.
There was a creaking sound, and some ground ice chips fell along the edge. It seemed that this gate was not used frequently.
Lorraine Hill raised his head and looked at the several high towers behind the castle gate. He swept his eyes and found many traces of the arrangement of magic circles.
It seems that the security measures here are very strict, maybe because it is close to the border.
The corridors of the castle were silent. Although several elf knights watched the group of people entering, they all remained silent, neither welcoming nor hostile.
When you come to the hall in the castle, you will see a huge ice blue lyre. It is about ten meters high and close to the top of the ceiling. The whole is made of solid ice. It is beautiful and majestic, which makes first-time guests feel
to a kind of wonder.
“Welcome to ‘Scarandi’~”
"I am Antonis, and I am also the current manager of 'Scalanti'."
The quiet environment was finally broken when an elf man wearing an ice blue dress and short light blue hair walked down the stairs.
"For hundreds of years, forest elves have not visited our distant land of ice and snow. What mission does it have this time?"
He didn't have too many polite words, but directly asked about the purpose of the group's visit.
"The main reason we came here this time is to solve the problem of the cold disaster with our fellow tribesmen in the past. We also intend to resume exchanges between the two tribes."
Atesi spoke first. As the princess of the forest elves, she has the right to negotiate with foreign countries.
"Is the cold disaster... it is indeed a trouble? I can provide you with some help in this regard."
After pondering for a while, Antonis nodded, then clapped his hands gently, and asked the attendants to arrange the white shell tables and chairs, and invited everyone to sit down together.
"Everyone has come all the way to the north. Although I can't entertain you grandly, I have prepared some basic etiquette. Let's dine here tonight. I think after hundreds of years apart, there is still a lot worth talking about between us.
things."
Unlike the cold elf knights and residents outside, this administrator maintained a certain enthusiasm for the envoy.
Soon, the meals were served one by one.
Transparent ice crystal shrimps, sweet and glutinous pastries, delicious transparent hot soup, steaming barbecue ice pig, the food here is not simple.
At the dinner, Antonis's sister also came to participate, which made the atmosphere more harmonious. After some conversation, the few of them became familiar with each other easily.
The Antonis brother and sister are not too old, probably about the same age as Vistena. They grew up in the Ice Palace Court when they were young, and came here more than ten years ago to succeed the previous city lord, who was his uncle.
"Sister Irene, are you still in the habit of eating tonight?" The aristocratic woman wearing an ice blue off-shoulder dress asked Irene softly. She is Antonius' sister, Anton Schnee.
"The habit even makes me miss the time a long time ago." Irene replied.
After confirming that Irene was the eldest daughter of Count Hilleni, Antony Schnee became very enthusiastic and interested in her.
"How did Sister Eileen leave the Northern Continent at that time? I was still studying in school at that time, and suddenly everyone began to spread your story, which aroused many people's yearning and curiosity."
"This... I'm afraid I can't explain it clearly tonight." Irene shook her head, smiled at the curious junior, and then briefly explained.
With the presence of Eileen, a former ice elf noble, the relationship between the two parties quickly became familiar and relaxed.
At the end of the dinner, Anton Schnee quietly said to Irene: "Your visit this time will probably be difficult because the adults in the Ice Palace don't want to see you. Even my brother and I can only provide
Limited little help.”
After hearing this, Irene wanted to continue asking, but Antony Schnee had already returned to her brother. The two of them bowed and saluted together, ending the dinner.
After arriving at the accommodation arranged in the city, Irene told the matter to Atesi, Lorraine Hill and others, and then they discussed it together.
"It feels so troublesome. I'm not good at dealing with or dealing with complicated relationships." Aitexi lay on the table and looked at the white candle in front of her in frustration.
"I guess we have to trouble the dedicated personnel in the mission for these matters." Irene suggested after thinking about it for a while.
The various talents in this mission are well prepared. Some are knowledgeable and good at history, there are high-level extraordinary people who are specialized in combat, and there are also people who are good at diplomacy and negotiation.
In the next two days, the Antonis brother and sister hosted several people again, and then gave the envoy a lot of local supplies, such as food and daily necessities. However, there has been no progress in the reunification of the two tribes.
"Can we go directly to the Ice Palace Garden?" One night, Etesi asked Irene.
"I'm afraid not. The Ice Palace Garden is located in the middle and highest point of Beiyaohan Mountain. Not only is the terrain there rugged, but there are also several large ice elves guarding it. If you break in forcefully, it will probably trigger a conflict with the ice elves." Ai
Lin shook her head.
"This is going to be troublesome. If we can't jointly investigate with the ice elves, we just can't cover such a vast continent and ocean."
"Why is the Ice Palace so indifferent to our visit? In the past few days, news has probably spread back there."
"I don't know, maybe it's rejection? Or maybe it's fear of trouble?" Eileen guessed.
"It's not a good thing if it continues like this."
In the next few days, the envoy tried various methods, contacting several other nearby ice elves cities through trade routes, or taking a long way to the hinterland of the ice elves, but these were all stopped by the ice elves.
Just like Antonis said, the Ice Palace refused to receive the envoys and did not want to get involved with the forest elves again.
"Disgusting." After the soft contact failed, Etesi was a little angry, but her reason told her not to use violence.
And just when their patience was about to run out, different news finally came.
"The eldest son of the Hilleni family has brought someone here." Antonis said to the people in the envoy one day.
"Is this Miss Irene's brother?" asked several elves on the side.
"Yes." After hearing that familiar name, Irene nodded helplessly. It seemed that she would not be able to stay in the mission for long.
Three days later, a dusty team arrived at Scarandi on horseback. A stern man in a dark blue trench coat dismounted. He gripped the hilt of a sword engraved with dark blue and gold patterns around his waist, and then hurried to the mission.
resident visit.
"Eileen."
After seeing Eileen, the brother's expression changed slightly, but soon returned to being cold and serious.
"You should go back." His voice was calm and low.
"Brother..." Looking at this powerful brother, Irene slowly lowered her head.
"I understand, I will follow my family's arrangements."
"snort."
"Not only is it an arrangement, you also have to apologize to the Tixiu family. Father and I will also accompany you."
"One more thing, I'm afraid I have to tell you in advance, Palos is in very bad health now. Your escape not only brought shame to the family, but also made Palos's environment at home bad and his life very difficult."
"And you know his character well. He is not good at words, introverted and weak. Because of this, he was ridiculed by his peers and even his own sister. Under such long-term depression, his health became worse and worse.
He even suffered from the withering moon disease."
"Withering moon disease?" Irene raised her head when she heard this, her face full of surprise.
"Yes, the cause of this disease is difficult to explain and ascertain, but the sick elves slowly lose weight and become dim like a crescent moon, and finally wither and die."
"I think you are familiar with this. After all, you suffered from it for a while when you were a child, and then miraculously recovered from it."
"Let's go, don't keep me waiting this time. Even if Palos dies, you will marry into the Tixiu family."
After finishing speaking, the stern elder brother led people out of the mansion, leaving only a few followers from home to help Irene handle and carry her luggage.
"Miss Irene, it's time for us to go back." Several familiar ice elves walked up to Irene.
Are you leaving? Lorraine Hill looked at the hesitant Irene and sighed slightly. This is someone else's family matter, and it's not easy for her to interfere, but...
While Lorraine Hill was thinking in her mind, the puppet in her arms moved, and a burst of quiet words came into her mind.
"Well, I understand..." the girl replied in a low voice, and then walked to Irene's side in small steps.
"If Sister Irene wants to go back, I haven't prepared any other gifts for you. I will just give this doll to Sister Irene. I hope she can accompany you to relieve your boredom on the road." While speaking, Lorraine Hill winked.
Eye.
"This..." Erin looked at Lorraine Hill who winked at her. Although she didn't quite understand the reason for the moment, she also knew that this meant that she should accept it.
"Then thank you Jia Lan."
Afterwards, Lorraine Hill sent a delicate small suitcase, specially used to hold the body of the silver-haired doll, for Irene to hold. Just like that, in the afternoon, Etesi and Lorraine Hill watched Irene off.
Follow the family's team to leave the city and head to the hinterland of the ice elves, which is the direction of the Ice Palace Garden.