NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1735
"What should we do first, Master?" Lydia threw herself against me, allowing a soft feeling to press against my arm.
We were currently sitting in one of the horseless carriages. We were in one that was much roomier than a car and was able to fit fourteen people in it. That still meant we needed three of them to fit everyone. Other than First, most of the lionesses, and maid staff had been relegated to the second vehicle. The Esmere and the church representatives were each given their carriages, even though the Esmere group was extremely small. Ahem… I meant that there were only three of them.
"According to the catalog, there are no workshops today other than the Welcome party, so we're free to just explore." Miki was still carefully looking through the tablet while Terra looked over her shoulder.
Terra's hands turned out to be too large for the tablet and her rocky fingers weren't capable of triggering the magic, so she could only have Miki use it for her. This wasn't an issue with most magical artifacts, because she could just use mana to control them. Most magical artifacts I was used to worked one of two ways. Either they were powered by inserting mana into them, or they held mana, thus making them a single-use item. There was a third way, absorbing mana directly from the environment, but that was complicated and usually needed a soul, like my sword Alysium. Most things, including magic swords, had to eventually replace their magic stones. Magic stones like light stones, heat stones, and water stones were used to power lighting and water faucets.
One of the reasons housing in cities was so expensive was because of the maintenance cost of those stones. They could only be gathered in dungeons or mined in areas of high mana concentration. This turned out not to be an issue with Chalm, as the wilderness contained several of these mines. Unfortunately, they hadn't been accessible to the residents, as the monsters of the wilderness were too difficult. One of the goals of the Osterians as they cleared out wilderness was to reclaim these mines. I didn't personally care about them much at all, as my dungeon could produce the stones needed to support Chalm and the nearby cities, but the surplus would be another revenue source for Chalm, and that was something valuable to us.
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That's why I was a bit surprised by Jespain. Although I hadn't attended this Mana 101 course yet, I had enough skill with mana that I had reasoned out their power supply. Jespain had seemingly created magic batteries, which held a charge just like the lithium batteries of my world. These tablets were being powered by these batteries rather than a direct feed of magic. Yet, looking around, it seemed like a lot of their technology was being powered by similar batteries, including the carriage we were in.
That left me with one major question. Where were they getting all of the stones? The power demand when compared to the likes of the capital city of Aberis would be insane. I was planning on taking that Mana 101 course, as condescending as the title sounded, as I was really curious about that.
Celeste's stomach suddenly growled. "Ah… I'm hungry. Can we go eat?"
"That can be arranged. Simply let me know where you would like to visit, and we can go."
"How are you even hungry?" Miki asked irritation. "Can't you subsist on wind or something?"
"Or do you need food to grow a certain thing," Terra added, her eyes narrowing down at Celeste's chest, causing Miki to join her.
"J-just because I'm a fairy doesn't mean I can't eat!" Celeste responded with a huff. "It just doesn't affect my size."
This caused most of the girls in the carriage to let out groans of envy as they shot Celeste a glare. Celeste's mana body existed on a different level from theirs. Whether it was cleanliness, looks, or weight, she required almost no maintenance. She could even be pocket-sized when the occasion called for it.
"Wait…you're a fairy?" For the first time, Marina's placid expression had broken and she put on a look of shock.