Nausicaa stared blankly at the scene before her.
Sunlight spilled down as she stood in soft armor at a three-way intersection in the city. Straight ahead stood a tall building, its sign bearing the glowing words "Rosewater Hall," while illusions of rose petals drifted down around it.
To her left was a fountain. Who knew what secrets lay hidden within it, but the water it sprayed not only gleamed brightly, it also spiraled upward like coiling snakes, shooting toward a glass corridor high in the sky.
To her right stood a towering spiral staircase, which could be used to reach aerial streets at different heights.
"Where is this?" Nausicaa frowned and looked around.
Hadn't Angel said that the monocle was a communicator? Why had using it brought her to a city with such a strange style?
Moreover, there seemed to be quite a few people in this city. Nausicaa saw figures passing through one of the aerial corridors overhead. Thick smoke also billowed from some enormous chimney in the distance, clearly showing that someone was operating something inside.
She was completely bewildered. Everything here felt unreal to her.
Yet the solid feeling beneath her feet, the rhythm of drawing breath, the warmth of the faint morning light upon her body—all these sensations told her that this place seemed no different from reality.
Just as Nausicaa was filled with questions about everything, someone suddenly called her name from behind.
"Are you Nausica... ca?"
Nausicaa turned around in confusion and saw a young woman standing behind her, dressed in a mint-green court gown with puffed sleeves. She held a lace-trimmed folding fan, and upon seeing Nausicaa's face, she delightedly covered half her cheek with it. "It really is you, Sister Nausicaa!"
The next moment, heedless of a lady's image, the young woman