Chapter 1185: The Floating City of Kravaj

[The Monarch Ship - With Valeria and the crew.]

The Monarch Ship rocketed through hyperspace as it made its way to the world of Lerette. Valeria was in the captain’s seat as she steered them in the right direction, and although Valeria’s expression looked serious since she was concentrating, there was a hidden excitement in her eyes that showed that she was really looking forward to reaching Lerette! Anyone who didn’t know Valeria well enough wouldn’t be able to see the excitement at all, but Stella noticed it easily!

Stella was standing at the navigation panel and putting in the coordinates to help them navigate better, but every time Stella glanced at Valeria, Stella could tell that Valeria was getting more and more excited as they got closer. Usually, Stella wouldn’t have any issues with Valeria’s excitement, but after hearing from her master that Valeria had a gambling problem, Stella didn’t know how to feel about the princess acting this way. Honestly, Stella remembered Valeria from before the world of Avaran was attacked. Back then, Valeria was still just a little girl, and Valeria had been a very respectful princess. Anytime Stella caught a glimpse of Valeria from a distance, she always thought that Valeria was one of the most graceful women in the entire world.

So seeing what Valeria had become now was a little difficult for Stella to accept. How did the graceful princess from back then turn into a woman who felt so excited just to gamble!?

"Are we almost there, Valeria?"

Arte spoke up from behind the captain’s chair, and Valeria hummed with a smile as she steered the ship to the side and guided them in the right direction. Valeria clicked a button and unleashed a wave of mana around the ship, and a dimensional tear suddenly tore open in front of them. Valeria shifted the stick forward, and the ship passed through the massive dimensional tear and vanished from the hyperspace before reappearing within an unbelievably colourful world.

The world of Lerette was one of the most popular destinations for aristocrats and gamblers within the Zeroth Domain. This entire world belonged to a powerful tycoon who had been living in the Zeroth Domain long before the Period of Lawlessness occurred, and he had gathered a reputation as a ruthless and upright businessman. Lerette was a world of eternal night. There was no sun or moon, and the sky was simply a completely black surface, but there was no need for those natural lights, because the artificial lights flooded Lerette with so much illumination that nothing could be missed at all!

"Wow! A floating city!"

Arte exclaimed in excitement when he saw the massive structure floating in the sky, and his eyes shone as he stared at it gleefully. The world of Lerette was a sprawling utopia filled with massive forests and vast oceans, but none of that mattered at all because there was only one place that mattered to anyone coming to this world. The floating city of Kravaj.

Kravaj was a massive structure that floated in the sky above Lerette like an artificial moon. It was so large that even someone like Valeria, who had come here many times in the past, had barely explored more than ten percent of it! The floating city was a majestic structure that looked like a pyramid made up of various skyscrapers and other large buildings. There were multiple lights shining through from the building windows, and beams of light were being projected from the top of the buildings into the sky to signal to the ships where they needed to go.

There were hundreds of ships moving in and out of the massive structure at all times, and there were some security personnel standing on buildings and flying around on specialised ships for protection.

Stella couldn’t help but admit that the casino looked amazing. Stella had seen many beautiful structures and worlds on her journeys with Jason, but Stella knew that this would rank as one of the very best she had seen! And it was obvious how deliberately the structure had been designed. The bright lights had been built to draw people in, like flies moving towards a fire, and the black sky had been charmed with a massive rune to prevent people from knowing how long they had spent inside the casino. This entire world was strategically built to try and make people stay as long as possible so they could spend more money!

"We’re heading over here."

Valeria steered the ship to the eastern entrance of the large structure, and as they reached the landing platform, one of the workers - a man with green skin and three eyes - used glowing bats to guide them in the right direction and then helped them to land properly. Once they landed, they began heading out of the ship. Arte and Tsara were excited to head out. Tsara was wearing a black mask to hide her face from view, and she was doing her best to control her manner of walking so her allure wouldn’t affect the people here, but it was still impossible for Tsara to walk without drawing the gazes of multiple men standing around.

Arte was dragging his sister by the arm to make her move faster; Valeria was smiling like she was finally able to relax after years of suffering, and behind them, Stella had a blank look as she stepped down from the ramp. Stella’s hands were joined in front of her calmly as she followed the group, and Stella looked around at all the aristocrats and gamblers moving in and out of the large doors of the casino.

Valeria moved like someone who had spent an unhealthy amount of time here, and it was easy for them to navigate the casino since Valeria knew it like the back of her hand! Once they entered the main door, they arrived at a massive golden reception hall that had multiple people standing around and talking in hushed voices. The sound of coins being exchanged echoed through the room constantly, and there were various waiters moving around with trays of alcohol in their hands. Valeria grabbed one of the glasses from a waiter as they passed by, but Stella immediately stopped her.

"No drinking."

Valeria immediately frowned and gave Stella a hard look, but Stella refused to back down this time.

"I don’t have a problem with us playing, but we will not do anything that can prevent us from leaving the moment we need to. No. Drinking."

It would usually be a very serious crime for a mere maid to talk to a princess in this way, but at this moment, Stella wasn’t just a maid; Stella was the maid of Prince Jason, and Stella had enough power to report all of this straight to Jason if Valeria didn’t listen to her! Valeria rolled her eyes when she saw that Stella wasn’t going to back down, and Valeria put the glass back on another tray and began moving towards the large table on one side of the hall that had multiple people exchanging golden coins for chips.

"Hello and welcome to the Kravaj Casino. How much would you like to exchange?"

One of the workers there was a pretty young woman with pink skin and long pale hair, and she smiled at the group while asking them this question. Valeria turned towards Stella with a curious look, and Stella frowned in annoyance when she realized that Valeria didn’t have any money! For a moment, Stella thought about refusing to use her money, but Stella could feel the excitement from both Arte and Tsara, and Stella knew that kids would be disappointed if they didn’t get to play. So Stella just sighed and spoke with an unsure expression.

"A thousand gold coins?"

The woman behind the counter frowned slightly when she heard this.