Mira slowly turned around to see a young lady walking towards them with a large smile plastered on her face. Her face was extremely beautiful, probably the most beautiful person she's ever seen. She had black hair with blue highlights and her legs(tail) were half black and half royal blue.
She was wearing a white robe with purple lining which made her look incredibly majestic. She also had a certain air about her that would only be accompanied by people who lead a nation.
Mira also felt an unshakable power emitting from this young lady, who looked around 16-17 years old, that could squash her like a bug. She wasn't as strong as Kayda and most likely wasn't an immortal, but she was definitely higher than Core Formation, probably by several realms.
There is only one person that comes to mind when Mira puts all of these things together…
"Queen?" Mira muttered while looking at her.
"My my, aren't you sharp?! To think that someone who hasn't even been here for more than a couple of days can identify me. Yes, I'm the current Queen, Asherah Maren, a pleasure to meet you! Now, I'd like to have a little chat with the three of you. Would you be so kind as to follow me?" Queen Asherah said in a polite tone, further proving the mermaid's kindness.
"My name is Mira and these are my two companions, Maria and Celaine. There is no reason for us to refuse an invitation from you, Queen Asherah. Thank you." Mira said, trying to be as polite as possible.
She sighed in relief seeing that nobody was upset at her for speaking to their Queen like that.
"Queen!"
"Queen!"
"Queen!"
The surroundings all called out to Asherah, kneeling on the ground with large smiles on their faces. One could see the immense pride and respect they hold for the current Queen, which was a nice change of pace for Mira.
Queen Asherah just waved her hands, signalling her surroundings to rise, while also motioning Mira's group to follow her.
Mira just silently followed her with Maria and Celaine, while taking note of the surroundings.
It seemed they were making their way towards the castle, but the scenery still didn't change much. The only thing of interest was walking over the bridge that separated the castle from the outside parts of the city, but even this wasn't very special.
Around an hour later, they made it into the Throne Room and Queen Asherah made her way onto the throne while looking down at Mira's group.
There weren't any other people in the room and it also seemed like the Queen took a secret route into the Throne Room because they were able to avoid most people while walking in the castle.
"So… I guess my first question would be how you found this place and what are your intentions?" Queen Asherah asked while narrowing her eyes, emitting the pressure of a Queen. Though this pressure didn't faze the three of them since Mira unconsciously emits a dominating pressure around her that's full of bloodlust, forcing Maria and Celaine to get used to it.
"I guess you could say by luck. We were just exploring the ocean for anything interesting while moving to our next destination when we were stopped by the guards patrolling the area. I don't think we ever would've found this place if we weren't escorted here. We currently don't have any intentions and if you're suspicious of us being spies or something like that, then there is no need to worry. Even if we were spies, our hometown doesn't even have a fraction of the amount of power that you hold. Not to mention finding this place is nearly impossible." Mira answered calmly, slightly surprising Queen Asherah.
"I see. I don't sense any falsehood from you, but I still have to take the necessary precautions that you three might be invaders. How did you end up in the sea and how did you survive? Our Core Formation Realm experts have a hard enough time surviving in the ocean, much less you three."
"We came up with various breathing techniques while also fighting in the water to get used to underwater battles. I guess you could also say that my senses are especially sensitive even if I lose my eyesight due to the darkness of being so deep. Apart from that, the rest is luck and body strength." Mira answered honestly since it's not really a secret. There is also no reason to lie here and risk making an extremely powerful enemy.
"Hou… That's quite impressive for a couple of weak humans such as yourselves, but your senses do seem especially sharp along with your intelligence. I suppose how I can understand how you three survived."
The conversation carried on and the Queen started asking about human civilizations, what's outside of the ocean, the strength of humans, different tactics, weapons used, and other things regarding either her kingdom or other cities. Mira didn't answer all of them and either said that she lacked information or it wouldn't matter even if the Queen did know.
p The topics started to take a weird turn though as Queen Asherah seemed to never want to stop talking with Mira. Whether it be to Mira's unyielding nature and the fact that she talks to her like a normal person or maybe it's because of Mira's knowledge or understanding of things. Either way, the Queen enjoyed talking with Mira and started asking more personal questions or telling Mira personal things or grievances.
Mira didn't pay this any mind as she also found Queen Asherah to be an enjoyable person to talk to, similar to Kayda just more outgoing.
Talking with Asherah like this brought Mira's mind back to simpler times. Back during her first life when she never cared for power or revenge. Back when the only thing she wanted to do is help her family run a restaurant and go about her life like a normal person would.
Mira started to remember a distant memory of having a younger sister during her first life. She was very similar to Asherah. She was very outgoing, smart, strong, but was slightly naive and a bit too kind for her own good.
The image of this distant yet familiar person started to overlap with Queen Asherah and a flurry of emotions started to invade Mira's heart.