The girl with white hair and red eyes is serious about revenge

"Why...why are you so nice to me?"

"I don't know either~"

Aoi said, lying on her back on the floor, and smiled gently at Perlis:

"It's some kind of instinct that comes from my heart. I feel that our destinies are intertwined... Is this too superstitious? No, no, you see, we both have special abilities. Maybe we are the same kind of people~ After we land on the Black Island, maybe there will be a 'Non-Human Monster Family Tree' on it, and it will show that I am actually your cousin. You see, doesn't everything make sense? In that case..."

Aoi was talking nonsense when she suddenly heard the sound of gentle breathing and stopped talking. She turned around and saw that Perlis had fallen into a deep sleep. Her sleeping face had lost its usual guard and looked very childish and cute.

She didn't say anything, just smiled slightly, silently extinguished the flame on her fingertips, and used her hands to straighten the quilt for Pearlis.

The moon was at its zenith, covering the Donglin Island at night. Everything was so peaceful.

......

The next morning, Perlis woke up early to Aoi's noise, and then they went downstairs to have breakfast in a daze.

On the way back to the room, they met Gleeson Tren and Hoshiki Mei who were walking together. When the civil servant lady saw Perlis, she greeted her very cordially, and then her face turned red, as if she had been seen doing something bad. Gleeson kept smiling shyly, and in Aoi's meaningful eyes, he seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

Aoi wanted to tease the young knight who was just beginning to fall in love, but Perlis grabbed her ear and pulled her towards their room:

"You are so annoying..."

"Ahhhh, this is so fun, why don't you let me make fun of it..."

"..."

Soon, the two returned to the room. According to Aoi, an official car would pick them up at noon and escort them to Dila Castle at the foot of Sakura Mountain to participate in the Canghai Festival.

So, Perlis took a rare nap to make sure she had enough energy.

At 11:30 in the morning, Aoi woke up Perlis on time and carried her downstairs.

When Perlis saw the size of the convoy at the door, her sleepiness instantly disappeared.

——There are four or five factor-enabled floating cars at the door, quietly floating on the stone brick road in the homestay area.

These factor vehicles seemed to bring Perlis back to the civilized era again - in her impression, Dila always looked very retro, and even the mainstream fleet was a backward three-masted sailing ship, without any sense of modern civilization of the Federation.

She had always thought that this was probably because the people of Dila were more devoted to the doctrine of returning to nature. After all, the natural environment of Dila could be considered good, at least much better than the increasingly polluted sky of the Federation in recent years.

The factor-energy hovercraft in front of her, which was no different from the Federation's, seemed to pull her back to reality, reminding her that the Dila Empire was also a modern country.

"It feels like such a huge contrast..." Perlis rubbed her eyes and put aside the confusion from just waking up.

"After all, factor energy is considered clean energy and does not pollute the environment. The Dila people are not like the Federation, whose factor energy technology tree is so powerful, but they still do things that pollute the environment every day," Aoi smiled and rubbed Perlis's shoulders. "If you are obsessed with retro, it's not impossible for us to take the most common carriages on the island, right?"

"No, modern civilization is better..." Perlis said softly.

As they were talking, a young girl stepped down from a factor-powered floating car in the middle of the queue. She opened a cherry umbrella and walked in front of Aoi and Perlis with a smile:

"Ms. Aoi, long time no see."

The girl's voice was very dreamy, as if she had not woken up yet, making people feel a little dazed just by listening to it.

She has a pair of cherry eyes, which look transparent and pure, as gorgeous as the cherry trees in spring. Her light pink hair is cut into a princess cut, noble yet girlish. The deep red kimono with cherry blossoms printed on it outlines her delicate yet graceful curves, and a pair of wooden clogs are stepped on by her small feet wearing white tabi, which is quite everyday yet elegant.

This doesn't seem like an ordinary person... Perlis observed carefully and detected a familiar aura from the girl's ordinary yet restrained temperament.

"Long time no see!" Aoi waved at the girl lively, and then explained to Perlis, "Junbai, this is my good friend in the palace, Miss Ayane."

Miss Ayane... I have never heard of this person... Perlis nodded slightly towards Ayane and said:

"Hello."

"Ms. Perlis, this is the first time we meet," Ayane smiled at Perlis, with ripples in her cherry-colored eyes, "Welcome to Donglin Island."

As she said this, the girl slightly made way for the Factor Energy Hover Car and made a "please" gesture:

"It's getting late. Please follow me to Dila City. I will take you to dinner."

"Ah~ I'm so sorry," Aoi said this, but her brown eyes lit up, "Isn't there anything else to do in the palace?"

"It's alright," Ayane murmured in a dreamy voice, "The matters to be waited for have been dealt with, and the palace is quite quiet."

The palace is quiet...? This shouldn't be the case. Most of Dila's navy was just destroyed by the Yaki Troll Soul Eater...

Perlis looked at Miss Ayane in front of her and began to guess the true intention of the Emperor Cang.

Aoi's eyes froze for a moment, then she smiled and said:

"Ha, you're welcome. Please introduce us~"

After saying that, Aoi gently pulled up Perlis's sleeve and pulled her into the back seat of the energy-powered floating car. Seeing the two of them get in the car, Ayane put away her cherry blossom umbrella and sat in the front passenger seat.

"Drive." Ayane ordered the driver.

The driver had black hair, wore sunglasses and a mask, and looked like a high-end security guard. She glanced in the rearview mirror and honked the horn, signaling the convoy ahead to start moving forward.

So, under the scorching sun at noon, the convoy drove out of the homestay area near Huayu Port and followed the main road to Dila City at the foot of Yingqi Mountain.

6) Sea Festival (Part 4)

The streets of Donglinyu are very clean and tidy, even a bit retro. Every once in a while, there are wooden road signs erected on the roadside to indicate the direction for vehicles.

The factor energy suspension car quickly drove away from Huayu Port and entered the winding mountain road. Looking out of the car window, Perlis saw the shimmering sea and the blazing sun hanging high above the sea.

This natural feeling calmed Perlis down, and the tense atmosphere after the naval battle of the Yamata Troll Soul Eater dissipated a lot at once.

"..."

About half an hour later, Perlis saw the Dila City at the foot of Mount Yingqi from the side of the winding mountain road.

——At first glance, it was an ancient city, but only in the area near the foot of the mountain. The farther away from the foot of Sakura Mountain, the more modern the architecture of Dila City became, almost at the same level as the old town of Federal Wiesel, and the architectural style had obvious federal characteristics.

"Near the foot of the mountain is the ancient city of Oira," Ayane said in a dreamy voice from the front seat, "whether it's the Canghai Festival, the imperial court, or the shogunate, they're all over there."

"That's also our destination~" Aoi said with a smile, "There are so many delicious foods in the ancient city! The scenery is also great, suitable for taking pictures."

Perlis silently looked at the outline of the ancient city. Those quaint buildings were getting higher and higher along the contours of the mountain, and the building density was becoming increasingly sparse.

She recalled the knowledge she had read in textbooks: the residence of the Canghuang [Cang Palace] was located halfway up the mountain, and at the top of Mount Sakuraki was the traditional sacrificial site of the Ogi people: [Cang Tian Altar].

The logo of Canghuang is "Cherry Blossoms on the Altar of Heaven"... Those ancient traditions are still continuing today...

While she was thinking, the convoy drove down the winding mountain road and into the new city area of ​​Dila. The street scenery suddenly became very modern, making Perlis feel like she was traveling between two eras.

The streets of the new city area and Lavis are basically the same. After a while, the convoy drove into the old city area and it returned to its ancient appearance.

The streets were very busy, and the eaves of the houses were decorated with various ornaments, which were very beautiful. Someone on the street was playing an instrument that Perlis could not recognize, and it was blowing a melody that could obviously only be heard in Dila.

This atmosphere reminded Perlis of many documentaries she had seen before, and she was surprised to find that everything in front of her was almost the same as it was back then.

Should we say this is maintaining tradition or falling behind?

Looking at the street scene with a strong sense of division, Perlis couldn't help but speak:

“Feels like traveling in time...”

"Although we try our best to maintain our traditions, foreign culture has gradually invaded the souls of the Dila people," Ayane said in a dreamy voice, "This is why the Canghai Festival is still being held. The Dila people need spiritual cleansing."

"Are old ones really good?" Perlis asked. For some reason, she had an inexplicable desire to communicate with Ayane. "If the Dila Fleet is at the same level as the Federation's ironclad ships, can the Soul Eater still succeed?"

After she finished speaking, Perlis realized that her remarks were a little offensive - Ayane was a member of the royal court, and the destruction of the Dila fleet should be a taboo topic for her.

Forget it, I’m not good at talking anyway...Perlis sighed in her heart.

But what surprised her was that there was no anger on Ayane's face. She just turned her head and glanced at Perlis with her cherry-colored eyes, and a gentle smile appeared on her face:

"You are very perceptive, [Pure White Flame]."

At this time, the convoy stopped beside a restaurant in the ancient city of Dila. The black-haired driver wearing sunglasses and a mask got out of the car, walked to Ayane's side, and opened the door for her.

Ayane looked at Perlis with a meaningful look again, then got out of the car and entered the hotel surrounded by a team of bodyguards who came to greet her.

"Come on, let's go," Aoi said, and got out of the car, then opened the door for Perlis and extended a hand to her, "Come on, enjoy the atmosphere of the ancient city of Dila!"

Looking at that hand and feeling the noisy atmosphere outside, Perlis considered it indifferently for a moment before she sighed and grabbed Aoi's hand.

She doesn't like to stay in crowded places, but the Dila delicacies described by Aoi seem really delicious...

Thinking of this, Perlis pulled up her hood and entered the hotel under the guidance of Aoi.

The interior decoration of the hotel also has an antique look, but it is obviously more simple, which reminds Perlis of the room decoration on the "Blue Reef".

Following the procession of palace guards, Perlis and Aoi entered the most luxurious private room in the innermost part of the hotel, sat down with Miss Suzune, and began to enjoy lunch.

The lunch was very sumptuous, with a plate of exquisitely presented Undertow Hammer white meat sashimi, several plates of fresh salmon and shrimp sashimi, a kind of mashed potatoes sprinkled with caviar and arranged in the shape of a snowman, several plates of deep-fried pork chops coated with sauce, and bowls of miso soup.

In addition, there were foods that Perlis had never seen before: a kind of small thing made of glutinous rice balls, seaweed, and various meat ingredients stuck together. Some were sprinkled with white sesame seeds, and some were sprinkled with caviar. They looked and tasted good.

"This is called sushi," Aoi explained to Perlis with a smile, "You should know this kind of food, but you have never seen authentic Oira sushi, right?"

I see, it's sushi... Just as Perlis was thinking about how to eat it, Aoi picked up one and put it to Perlis's mouth:

"Come on, open your mouth, ah~"

Perlis glanced at Aoi with disdain, and then reluctantly opened her mouth. Aoi smiled and put the sushi into Perlis's mouth:

"This is foie gras sushi, it's rare~"

As soon as she took a bite, the fresh aroma filled her mouth. The goose liver on the rice ball melted almost immediately when it touched the upper wall of her mouth, soft and delicious.

Perlis quickly ate the foie gras sushi, turned around, and saw the smug look on Aoi's face. For a moment, she didn't even know what to say.

Are they all picked up directly with the hands? Thinking so, Perlis wiped her hands with a handkerchief and began to taste different kinds of sushi.

She tasted all the delicacies on the table. The more she ate, the more she enjoyed her taste buds and her mood became better and better.

But even so, Perlis discovered a tiny detail - most of the waiters serving the dishes had sad faces and looked in very bad condition.

The same went for the palace guards in the private room. Except for the driver who drove Ayane, everyone else had a gloomy face, which was completely inconsistent with the joyous atmosphere of the celebration.

Was it because of the great loss of the Dela Fleet caused by the previous Soul Eater naval battle? Listening to the festive folk music coming from outside the hotel, Perlis gently stroked her chin, thinking.

As if noticing this, Ayane, who had been eating without saying anything, suddenly raised her head and said in a dreamy voice:

"You seem to be very concerned about that naval battle, Miss Pearlis."

6) Sea Festival (Part 5)

Facing Ayane's question, Perlis was stunned for a second before she spoke softly:

"Because the Soul Eater is very powerful."

She recalled the giant ship made of snake bones rising from the black ocean current, and the figure standing proudly on the bridge.

[Yakitsu Soul Eater] Destroying the Dila fleet is as easy as crushing a mosquito.

Hearing what Perlis said, Ayane closed her eyes calmly, nodded, and said without any change in her expression:

"Don't worry, everything is still under control."

The attitude is the same as what Aoi said... Why do people in the Dila Palace think that the destruction of the Panhai fleet is not a big deal... Perlis felt ashamed all of a sudden and didn't know what to think.

Even the fleet that was almost fully built was almost completely destroyed by the [Yakitsu Troll Soul Eater] in a surprise attack, so how can the remaining troops fight the enemy now? [The King of the Islands] cannot wait for Dila to reorganize the fleet, let alone the [Iron Lord] who has won many battles on the Autumn Plains.

By the way, even if the technology of the Dila Empire was relatively backward, why did their main fleet still use three-masted sailing ships that were outdated on a large scale?

Perlis recalled the acting captain of the "Canghuang's Wrath": Admiral Fujita Hideo. According to Furukawa Wataru, he was a man eager for innovation, so he had a strong hostility towards old captains like Furukawa Wataru.

Letting him command the fleet, does that mean that Dila is about to usher in a wave of innovation?

If that were the case, even if those three-masted sailing ships were destroyed, it wouldn't be a big deal. But the point is that the current time does not allow Dila to rebuild a modern fleet.

Why didn't they start planning for innovation in advance? Could it be because of the treaty during the [College War] period...

"..."

As if seeing through Perlis's thoughts, Ayane smiled lightly and explained:

"As the defeated nation in the Academy War fifteen years ago, Dila's naval power has been restricted. Not only are the use of a series of beyond-visual-range strike weapons, including the Kamistrikers, prohibited, but the development of modern military ships is also prohibited."

As she spoke, the water waves on the surface of Ayane's cherry-colored eyes rippled slightly, and the ripples were mixed with the waves of the past.

"In the final analysis, it is because the Federation needs to control the sea power. Most of their fleets are stationed in the area of ​​the I-Tran Islands and control the waters there. As for us, we are only allowed to retain the most basic maritime power."

So that's how it is... After listening to Ayane's words, Perlis felt that many of her doubts were answered.

But based on this, a new question arises:

Why does the Federation continue to restrict the development of other countries' basic armed forces when "The Babel" is still standing?

During the [Academy War], the world coalition led by [Attack King] Rosedes Ad Pershipons was easily destroyed by the unfinished Tower of Babel. You know, that was a joint army composed of all countries except Thebite, which is far more powerful than any force today.