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Chapter 126
Ciel’s eyes widened.
‘Huh?’
She rubbed her eyes several times and looked again, but the number really had changed!
Arelin continued explaining.
“Instead of horses, this will make the carriage move.”
“……?”
“Since it moves on its own, let’s just call it an ‘automobile.’”
Daniel snorted openly.
“Who would ride a carriage without horses? Don’t you know? For high-ranking nobles, well-bred horses are a way of flaunting their power!”
“But no matter how fine the horse’s bloodline is, it still needs to rest, right?”
Arelin grinned.
“My mana engine? As long as it has mana stones, it’s perpetual motion.”
“……Ugh!”
What began as a small quarrel between Arelin and Daniel quickly escalated, drawing the attention of mages and dazzling with illusion magic.
“Now, look here.”
People who had been passing by stopped as if hypnotized, surrounding Arelin and the children, captivated by the illusion of the automobile.
“Automobiles are different. As long as the mana engine keeps running? Days? Even months nonstop. That’s what an automobile is.”
“Oh!”
“Now imagine these automobiles traveling all across the continent of Albrecht.”
“Ooooh!”
“Merchant caravans will be able to move between cities far faster than ever before.”
“Ooooooh!”
The illusion magic now showed the form of a large truck carrying heavy cargo.
Commerce with such vehicles!
The merchants’ eyes immediately sparkled with desire.
“In short, logistics between cities would circulate rapidly.”
Faster logistics meant greater wealth creation. The mental calculators of the gathered merchants whirred at high speed.
A carriage pulled by horses that never needed to rest—unbelievable!
“That’s nonsense, there’s no way something like that could exist!”
Daniel jumped back in.
“An automobile? You’re swindling people with something that doesn’t even exist yet!”
Swindling?
Arelin scoffed.
“This is what’s called a blueprint of the future.”
Arelin was confident.
After all, she had actually lived in such a world!
“And that’s not all. The possibilities of the mana engine are endless.”
With another spell, the illusion transformed—the car turned into an airplane.
“It could even fly in the sky.”
Then it shifted into a massive ship.
“Or cross the seas.”
No matter how Daniel denied it, the people were enthralled by Arelin’s words.
“Order today, deliver tomorrow! Faster shipping! We can make it happen. Thank you.”
“Oooooooooh!”
Thunderous applause broke out.
Before long, everyone at the business exhibition was listening to Arelin, their eyes fixed on the vision she presented.
Even the Sperom clan!
“This isn’t just starting a new business.”
“This is creating an entirely new industry…….”
“Definitely worth investing in.”
“Then we’ll have to rebuild the roads to suit these automobiles.”
In a world with permanent warp gates and magic, the development of transportation had inevitably lagged behind.
For high-ranking nobles, warp gates or magic were faster than any physical vehicle.
But for transporting large amounts of goods, warp gates and magic were impractical.
Commerce had stagnated due to this very fundamental issue.
“The cost of moving bulk cargo through gates is just too high.”
“Right, the more mass passes through, the more mana stones it consumes. Can’t be helped.”
“But if it’s automobiles……”
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing echoed loudly.
“This isn’t something one or two people could handle alone.”
Anyone who tried to hog it greedily would choke on it!
“Wow……”
Ciel’s eyes sparkled.
[RRR Mana Engine Mrk.1 (Prototype)]
[Value: 9902]
Arelin’s overwhelming victory.
“Th-the value skyrocketed!”
Ciel squealed.
“Items worth ten-thousand are only ever attached to things that change the world, legendary objects that shape history—and it’s almost at that number already. How? How is this possible?”
‘Well, because everyone looking at the mana engine right now feels it’s worth that much.’
Value wasn’t just arbitrarily set. It reflected not only objective indicators but also the subjective desires and needs of people.
The mana engine was just that incredible.
‘This is magitech.’
Indeed, the future of this world lay in magitech.
“Just one word with you……”
“Rising star of commerce……!”
Merchants, frenzied by the unexpected presentation, clamored to speak with her, but thanks to the guards and Fesion’s iron defense, peace was maintained.
‘But this could also open a foothold in Halbern.’
She’d have to tell Mehen when she got home!
It had turned into an impromptu presentation, but that was fine.
Even if others heard her vision, actually implementing it into business was another matter entirely. She was confident.
After all, automobiles were cutting-edge technology even in the modern world!
Bzzt—
“What? You want to become a car too?”
Aether sent a strong will, insisting it wanted to become an automobile as well.
How ridiculous. It was a weapon!
‘Wait… but could an automobile also be a weapon?’
Ignoring Aether’s persistent request to swallow a mana engine, Arelin smirked.
If Aether became a car, would it be silver?
‘Hold on, with magitech, a hovercar should be possible too. A flying car!’
Since ancient times, a flying car had been everyone’s dream.
While entertaining the thought of hovercars, the mage who had submitted the mana engine approached her with tearful eyes.
“L-lady……”
“Huh? Why are you crying?”
“You… you are my hero.”
The mage, who introduced himself as Reuben, wept as he thanked her.
“Everyone treated me like trash, but only you recognized the value of my invention.”
“P-please calm down……”
“I’m just a low-tier mage without even a star’s blessing, with barely any mana at all. I only tinkered around, hoping more people could benefit from magitech……!”
His voice cracked as tears streamed down his face.
“Honestly, I was about to give up. I thought, what could a useless mage like me ever create? But then……”
Arelin didn’t know how to comfort a man older than herself who was bawling.
“You’ve discovered possibilities in my invention that even I never saw!”
“Uh……”
Well, she had actually lived in such a world.
“Today, I realized something.”
“Wh-what?”
“That the path I’ve walked wasn’t wrong.”
Reuben looked at her with burning eyes.
It was overwhelming.
He bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
Even more overwhelming.
“I will definitely repay the grace you’ve shown me today. Without fail.”
“Uh, uh-huh.”
“Thank you, my lady!”
After thanking her over and over, Reuben finally left, sniffling. The mages who had cast the illusion spells with him rushed to his side, cheering him on.
“Yeah, we can do this too.”
“Our inventions aren’t trash!”
“Let’s change the world!”
……She didn’t quite get it, but if everyone was happy, it was fine.
Just as she was thinking that, she noticed a mage in a hooded robe crouching, looking unwell.
“Um, are you all right?”
Something seemed wrong.
Were they sick?
“…Run……”
“What?”
“…A…way.”
What did they mean?
She tilted her head in confusion, when a clearer, pained voice came.
“Run……away……”
In that moment—
Bzzzzzzzt!
Aether, which had been in the form of a button, leapt out, turning into a translucent barrier.
At the same time—
BOOOOM!
A thunderous explosion shook the ground, and the entire landscape warped.
