It was Celia’s first time leaving the city for an actual journey, and judging by her reaction, she had been waiting for this opportunity for quite some time.
Everyone around her chuckled, and after making sure they had everything they needed, they finally left the house together. They made their way toward the city gates, where Isaac briefly looked back at the city before continuing onward.
Originally, Isaac could’ve teleported everyone to Fortified City 22 and begin their journey from there. However, he had already fused Fortified City 22 into his own city, which had changed its teleportation links, so using the old route was no longer possible.
As a result, they simply walked through the city gates and left the city on foot. It was a somewhat unusual way to begin the journey, but there was no reason to make things complicated when they could simply travel through the wilderness from their current location.
Once they were outside, Charlotta stepped forward. She was Althea’s bodyguard and a Beast Tamer, and she reached into her Beast Space before releasing one of the creatures she had brought with her.
A massive turtle appeared before them.
It was enormous, large enough to make all of them instinctively look up at it. A large house had been built directly onto its back, but calling it a house would have been an understatement because the structure was closer to a mansion.
Emily stared at the creature with obvious amazement. "What kind of beast is that? I have never seen anything like it before."
"It’s a Void Traverser Tortoise. They are extremely useful for long journeys because they can travel through the spatial domain for long periods without becoming exhausted too quickly," Charlotta explained.
Emily looked from the tortoise to the mansion on its back. "So the mansion is actually built on it for journeys?"
Charlotta nodded. "Yes. It was prepared specifically for travelling."
The group soon began making their way toward the mansion. Those who could fly simply rose into the air and entered it directly, while Selene remained beside Isaac because she could not fly.
Isaac carried Selene upward without much difficulty. Althea and Charlotta could not fly naturally either, but both possessed special items that allowed them to rise into the air, so they followed shortly afterward.
Catherine was already inside by the time Isaac reached the mansion. She was still completely camouflaged, making her impossible to see or sense unless she chose to reveal herself, and Isaac simply assumed that she had gone ahead while everyone else was preparing to enter.
Once everyone had entered, Isaac took a moment to look around. The mansion was surprisingly comfortable, with large rooms and enough space for everyone, but what stood out most was how the building had been designed around the tortoise rather than simply placed on top of it.
Trees and living plants had been incorporated into several parts of the structure, with small patches of greenery growing between rooms and along the corridors. The faint scent of leaves and fresh wood mixed with the clean smell of the interior, making the mansion feel more like a secluded residence than a vehicle meant for travelling.
Althea looked around for a moment before turning toward everyone. "I apologize, everyone, but while we are travelling, we will have to look after the house and food ourselves. I haven’t brought any maids with me because I came to this city in hurry, and I can’t use automatons while we are travelling through the spatial domain, but Charlotta and I will do our best to accommodate everyone."
Isaac nodded. He understood exactly what Althea meant, because the restriction was not simply a matter of convenience.
The spatial domain was the strange dimension hidden behind the mists that appeared whenever someone travelled through long-distance teleportation. Mana behaved differently inside it, and using it carelessly could lead to serious consequences, especially if someone tried to manipulate large amounts of mana while already travelling through the unstable dimension.
Isaac remembered the early times he had encountered the spatial domain. Back when he had met Celia at the orphanage, he had driven a car through it, and the vehicle had suddenly accelerated and begun behaving strangely because some of its components relied on mana.
At that time, Isaac had not known that mana interacted so dangerously with the spatial domain. Celia had known, however, which was probably why she had been excited to tell him to keep driving while she enjoyed the strange experience.
The same principle explained one of Celia’s limitations. She could create spatial clouds but not use them to teleport attacks, as it could cause the cloud to destabilize and potentially result in mana backlash.
That was why Althea could not simply rely on her usual conveniences while they travelled. Automaton servants and similar devices would have to remain unused until they were outside the spatial domain.
"We can help you with cooking," Alice offered.
"No, you are our guests, so we will handle it. only wanted to explain this because I hoped everyone would be fine with it if I’m not able to provide the same level of accommodation you might normally expect," Althea replied.
Alice did not seem satisfied with that answer. "I understand that we are guests, but we can still help, and there is no reason for you and Charlotta to handle everything yourselves. You are a princess."
"I appreciate that, but I still think we should take care of it ourselves." Althea smiled politely.
Alice considered arguing again, but Althea remained firm. The two continued their mild disagreement for a while, with Alice insisting that helping with meals was hardly an inconvenience while Althea repeatedly refused to let her do it.
While they were talking, Charlotta moved toward the front of the mansion and gave the Void Traverser Tortoise a command. The creature lowered its head slightly before taking a step forward.
Almost immediately, enormous clouds of dark mist appeared in front of it, spreading across the ground and filling the path ahead. The tortoise calmly moved into the clouds, and the world outside gradually disappeared from view as they entered the spatial domain.
According to Charlotta, Void Traverser Tortoises were particularly suited for long-distance travel because they could remain within the spatial domain for extended periods. However, they could not stop instantly once they had entered it, so their route and stopping points had to be planned carefully.
The distance between cities was also far greater than one might initially expect. Because of that, they would periodically have to leave the spatial domain, stop somewhere in the wilderness, allow the tortoise to rest and eat, and then continue their journey.
With plenty of free time available, Isaac eventually returned to his room and took out a book. He settled down and began studying, intending to make use of the otherwise empty hours instead of simply waiting for their next stop.
He had only read a few pages when the door opened. Celia walked inside without bothering to announce herself, came over, and sat behind him before leaning her back against him.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Isaac kept his attention on the book.
"Why is Selene so happy? She just can’t stop smiling," Celia asked, sounding genuinely curious.