25 Chapter 25: Exploring the City

After I calmed down from the shock I received when Illumia informed me of the number of living beings in the first district alone, the carriage became quiet as we stopped talking. When I looked out the window, all I could see was a blur for a while before the carriage finally stopped, allowing me to see a vast sea of people walking about on the streets. Some entering buildings, and others in carriages being pulled by various beasts

"Is this the first district?" Asked Elif, shocked by the vast number of people he could see.

"Yes, your highness." Answered Illumia.

As the carriage continued moving, we passed through a huge arch connected to a set of walls that seemed to form a barrier separating the first and second districts. Looking out of the window, I saw many different Elves walking about, but I also saw many various other species as well, some covered in fur, others covered in scales, and a few of them were even transparent from how I could see through their bodies.

However, it seemed my arrival caused a lot of disturbance as everyone quickly made way for my carriage, and when they made it to the sides, every Elf would bow in my direction, and even a few non-Elves would bow, though most of them didn't.

As we continued making our way through the bustling district, I enjoyed seeing the various types of buildings as well as the atmosphere this place radiated, but I started getting bored as I wished to do something fun, and while everything looked interesting, that's just because it's something new to me.

"Illumia, do you know of anything fun to do here?" Asked Elif while looking out the window.

"I can't say I do, your highness." Replied Illumia.

"Mandy, do you know of anything fun to do here?" Asked Elif, who partially lifted the window he was looking out of, though when he did so, every commoner on that side of the street intensely looked at the window in hopes of merely catching a glimpse of the person in the carriage.

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"Do you think that's the Emperor or Empress?" Asked an Elven man.

"Don't know; I heard the last time they ever ventured out into the first district was before they ascended to the throne." Replied an Elven woman.

"Stupid! Of course, it's not their majesties. Do you think they would waste their time to come down here when they could send someone in their stead?" Refuted an older Elven man.

"Since you sound so sure of yourself, who do you think is in the Royal carriage?" Asked the Elven man.

"Hmph, well, let me tell you, young man, the only person who could be inside that carriage is Crown Prince Elif!" Answered the older Elven man.

"But isn't the Crown Prince only four years old?" asked the Elven woman.

"You guys are too young to understand a child's curiosity; I had eight kids and twenty-nine grandchildren, and let me tell you something if a child is curious about something, then they'll find a way to learn about it. Besides does it matter that the Crown Prince is only four, he brought along with him some Royal Guards, and he is the Crown Prince; who would be stupid enough to do something to him?" Said the older Elven man.

"Well, the old man's right, but we still don't know for sure who's inside the carriage." Replied the Elven man.

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"I've lived here for a long time, Prince Elif, so I know this place inside and out; just tell me where you wish to go, and I shall immediately direct you there." Replied Mandy as she slightly bowed right before the window.

"Tell me the most interesting places you know of."

"The first place would be the Gambling leaf located to the east. It's always packed full of people and other nobles, and it is a great place for someone with a lot of money. The second place would be the Elven Cuisine Pagoda located to the west, the most prestigious restaurant in Yggdrasil; they've even claimed to have food better tasting than the Elven Royal Chiefs; however, it is extremely expensive. The third place would be the Auction house located to the east. That place is full of nobles and powerful cultivators with a lot of money and influence; you would be able to see various incredibly rare artifacts and resources; however, the Auction house is also expensive. Lastly would be the Gladiator Cage located to the west, a place where any cultivator can participate in various types of battles to earn fame and wealth or be killed in the process." Replied Mandy as she explained the most popular places within Yggdrasil.

'Hmm, where should I go? The Auction house seems irrelevant as I could always go and visit the Royal treasury; I don't know much about Gambling, so I might visit there; the Gladiator Cage sounds very interesting; however, what I'm most curious about is the Elven Cuisine Pagoda. I've had a lot of food made by the Royal chiefs, and they all tasted incredible, so for them to claim their food tastes better than the Royal chiefs must mean it's true.' Thought Elif while imagining himself eating various delicious fruits and vegetables.

"Let's go to the Elven Cuisine Pagoda; I wish to taste their food." Ordered Elif to Mandy, who Immediately went to the front of the carriage and started leading the way.

While Mandy was leading the way, every now and then, I'd notice a fancy-looking carriage, nowhere near as luxurious as mine, but even so, people would still make way for the carriage.

'Probably just some nobles.' Thought Elif, not bothered by their presence.

A couple of minutes later, we arrived at a big building with thousands of people walking in and out of it each second, and we went into one of the bigger entrances that other carriages would go into. Once we got inside, I noticed a long line of people and carriages, I didn't know what we were doing here, but I thought we might have to wait in this line, luckily I was wrong as we walked to a different area which was completely empty, and stopped just before a big door.

Mandy went up to just beside the door while taking out a medallion from her pocket and placing it inside a hole in the wall; the medallion glowed for a split second before it returned to normal; as she took back the medallion the door in front of the carriage opened, allowing us to continue into a big room with hundreds of glowing lines on the ground that formed into a circle.

"What is this place?" Asked Elif as he looked around out the window.

"This is one of the teleportation services that I mentioned before, your highness." Answered Illumia.

Nodding in response, I watched how the lines below us began to glow brighter for a split second before dimming back down; nothing happened, but I noticed that the door which was behind us was now in front of us.

'Did we already teleport?' Asked Elif, trying to understand how the door was now in front of the carriage.

Well, I didn't have to wait long to figure it out as after we left the building, I saw a tall pagoda in the distance that wasn't there before, which could only mean we'd already teleported. As we made our way through the streets, I began noticing that there seemed to be much more cultivators and nobles in this area, though when I thought about it made sense as Mandy said the Gladiator Cage should be in this area as well.

After several minutes of waiting, we finally arrived at our destination, which was the Pagoda I saw when we left the teleportation service station. Looking out the window, I noticed many wealthy-looking people were constantly walking in and out of this place, occasionally with some guards following behind them. However, they stopped their actions when they noticed the carriage's presence.

"Prince Elif, we've arrived at our destination; I shall inform the restaurant manager of your arrival so they may properly host you." Announced Mandy while kneeling just before the carriages' entrance before standing up and heading into the Elven Cuisine Pagoda. However, her actions of announcing Elifs arrival caused everyone present to be shocked as this will be the first time the Crown Prince appears before the world.

While waiting for Mandy to return, I looked at everyone in the distance who were constantly staring at my carriage and noticed how a couple of carriages were followed by a large group of guards who looked much fancier than the others. When I looked closely at their carriages, I saw words engraved on the front of the carriage just behind the chauffeur's seat. Something mine had as well.

"Eve, Sigurda, and Dagmar, I'm pretty sure I've heard those before." Said Elif aloud as he tried remembering where he heard those names.

"Eve, Sigurda, and Dagmar are the names of the Noble families whose Majesties were in the meeting when you interrupted it." Said Illumia, though she noticed Elif didn't seem to care much about them, so she stopped talking.

By the time Mandy returned, the crowd surrounding the Pagoda had grown significantly, but I was more focused on the fat Elf walking beside Mandy as they conversed, though when they arrived just before my carriage, they both went quiet and bowed.

"Prince Elif, I've brought the manager of the Elven Cuisine Pagoda." Stated Mandy while bowing.

"Prince Elif, it's a magnificent honor to have you dine at my fine restaurant, though please excuse my lack of etiquette, as I didn't expect you would be coming." Said the fat man with respect and minimal nervousness while addressing Elif.

"That's fine, but I'm going to assume everything is ready?" Asked Elif, causing everyone who could hear his voice to be surprised at the maturity he displayed even though he was but four years old.

"Of course, Prince Elif, everything has been arranged for you on the topmost floor." Answered the manager.

I stood up, hearing his answer, and was about to leave the carriage, but Illumia beat me to it; as she opened the door and stood right beside the carriage, I thought she was about to announce my presence like how she did at the throne room; however, it seemed I was wrong.

Shaking my head, I stepped out of the carriage, and the moment I did, I could feel thousands of eyes staring at me while also hearing various voices from the crowd.

"That's the Crown Prince!? He's so adorable!!" Yelled a woman in the crowd.

"Even at the young age of four, he already has the temperament of a mighty Emperor!" Yelled a man amongst the crowd.

"I want him to impregnate me!" Yelled another random woman, though her words caused Illumia to look right in her direction.

'What's wrong with them, all I did was walk out of the carriage, and they're already praising me; I mean, I'm not going to stop them. I quite like it; it's just weird. Also, what does Impregnate mean?' Thought Elif while walking towards the Pagoda.

"Mandy, make sure to take good care of the Unicorns while I'm inside." Said Elif as he and Illumia followed behind the manager.

"Of course, Prince Elif!" Replied Mandy and the other guards.