Chương 38: Chapter 37

Alex sat inside the haphazardly setup tent in front of the ongoing construction of the Path's SkyTower. On the table, she stared at the map of Nulfrae that was definitely not accurate. There was only one thing on her mind. It was not about conquest or anything to do with the map in front of her. That one thing was simply… tires. She made a sample tire using adamantite as the (2) inner belt material. For the amount of rubber they had, she estimated they only had enough for 6 tires in total.

Not enough for a fleet, but it was something. Who the hell cares about making more prototypes anyways. To vulcanize the tire, she needed sulfur and carbon black. The carbon black was accessible enough by putting slime to extreme heat. Pure sulfur was a bit more tricky. First of all, extracting sulfur from sulfuric acid was rather cumbersome. Transcendent_Analysis showed that Greenie's (not) scary mighty dragon breath was of the 'concentrated' quality, meaning it had very minimal amount of water in it.

A convenient trait for an acid spitting definitely not orange dragon.

"Who the hell thought orange was a dragon's colour," Alex mumbled.

"It was either green, blue, red, or black. Just like from my favourite old school game."

"But that game did have orange dragons," Raven said.

"Shut up. No one asked you. Why are you here?" Alex asked.

"Boss. I think we need to explore other continents for the crunchy-ness," Raven said.

"Did Aurora tell you that?"

"Uh… yeah. She definitely did."

"I'll think about it," Alex pouted.

"Go walk greenie or something. Make yourself busy."

"Aye aye, captain-bandit-boss." Raven saluted, then turned around to exit the tent. The slight breeze of winter's wind Returning back to her thoughts on elemental sulfur, there was really only one way to get it in this world. React sodium iodide to concentrated sulfuric acid. What a boon it was to have easy access to kelp that the locals called 'sea hair'. Of course, she didn't forget to get a discount by asking Andy Mandy (Andrea Lois). Only question left was about the structural integrity of these samples.

And that question was thrown away as fast as it came to her mind. Adamantite was not an average metal. Pair that with Yin metal to absorb heat, and she's basically got a solid tire. Thinking about these questions over and over again would just be a waste of time. Snapping her fingers once, the scenery around her changed. Around her was a flat spacious area that housed multiple carriages. The door to the facility was a barn door.

Yulka and Elador worked on the first mack truck they've built, outfitting it with the tires that Elador had made from her sample. The tires were… acceptable. It looked more like large bicycle tires. She had already checked its integrity and should be able to keep itself in one piece purely by the strength of adamantite. It took 2 weeks for him to make the tire, making Alex wonder whether this old young man was doing unpaid overtime. Alex simply looked the other way.

If she didn't see the overtime, she didn't have to pay for it, and it wasn't an HR violation. After one more twist of the nut, the wheel tightened and Yulka smiled. Both C-Suite employees turned around to greet Alex.

"Goddess of might! We've attached the heavenly wheels you've designed."

"Yeah… heavenly wheels." Alex muttered. These names were starting to get kinda crazy, but she wasn't one to rain on their parade. Leaning her body to the rear side of the carriage, she saw the materials already ready for transport to the Dukedom of Tanison. Checking its contents quickly, she noted a few items amongst them. A cloth tarp to protect the construction area of any injury liability to civilian foot traffic. A sign that had the Star Cubs logo that also said 'Under Construction'.

Other than that, there were the muted brown stone and black large black stone tiles used to decorate the outside. All was a go. Alex walked to the rear, telekinetically lifted all the heavy materials and placed them softly onto the trunk of the mack truck carriage.

"Thank you, my Lady," Elador said.

"Don't mention it. When's the departure?" Alex asked.

"We are set to board in 10 minutes and leave for the Dukedom."

"Nice." Alex rubbed her chin.

"What's the Dukedom like anyway?"

"I believe Aurora would have a better answer for you… however, I would describe it as simply the largest trade port of Nulfrae." Alex whistled.

"That means lots of money right?"

"Yes. All kingdoms within Nulfrae use it as the central hub of commerce."

"Sounds like a big shot city," Alex said.

"Anyways, I'm off to go for a walk." Yulka and Elador both knelt and said simultaneously, "Please enjoy your walk which shines your light forward." What light? Alex wanted to ask, but she actually didn't know whether that would be appropriate… maybe ask Sanders (head of HR), maybe just not. She's leaning on the latter. Oh well. Alex snapped her finger again, and now she was in the air, just above Path HQ. Construction was already on the 12th floor.

Yulka's barbarians worked day and night in turns to build up the tower, in shifts of course. Towards Aurora's garden, the weather machine kept the area free of clouds and snowfall. Star Seeking flowers carpeted the whole flat land of the peak while stalks and trees were in one corner, Hadstead Stalks and Piker Bean Trees respectively. Down to I-5 was her business partner, Andy Mandy's territory. I-15 led to the capital of Lyra, and just above it was a big bird flying from the east.

She didn't care what kind of bird. It was big though. Lastly, the thing she needed to check was I-10, whether it was fully built up to the Dukedom of Tanison. Flying forward at a fast speed with a sonic boom trailing her, she reached the end of I-10 in just several minutes. A few of the Operations staff along with two of Yulka's barbarians laid bricks along the dirt path, stamping it down. This part of the I-10 was surrounded by trees. Because of that, a couple of Rand's security team guarded the staff.

Everyone momentarily stopped working as Alex arrived down to the road.

"Lady Alex!" one of the security guards said.

"Perry, right?" Alex said.

"Yes!"

"Moving up the corporate ladder, ehh. Good job."

"Thank you!!" Alex materialized a barrel and a table from her space storage. Laying it down at the side of the road, she smashed in a spigot (also from her space storage) into the barrel. Then, she called for everyone.

"Everyone, come take a break. It's coffee time."

"As expected of the Lady's benevolence!" Perry said.

"Men and women, take 15. The Lady had brought us her divine beverage!" Everyone gathered towards Alex as she materialized multiple stacks of cups for her workers. One by one in a single file, the workers took a cup from the table and poured themselves a Cup of Cub from the barrel. A hidden laugh formed inside of her. A caffeinated worker was an effective worker that would work more focused! Ring. Ring. Her mana communication device suddenly rang. On its screen was Aurora's name.

Accepting the call, Alex said, "Rorie, you good?"

"My Lady, I am well. But there is an issue. Rumimi has fallen ill after drinking a Cafe Mocha." Alex's single eyebrow raised.

"What's her condition like?"

"I do not know… she is sweating profusely and mumbles her heart is in pain. I'm afraid she will die at this rate. I couldn't ask Elador for help as he had already left for his mission," Aurora said, her voice trembling and shaking with fear.

"I apologize for asking the Lady for help, but I do not want to lose her."

"No need to apologize. I'll be there in a jiffy." Alex hung up. There was no way she'd be sick. Aurora had already detoxified the Latia berries that even amazed her knowing that convoluted process. Shoot. She forgot to ask how many cafe mochas did Rumimi drank. That was most likely the culprit. A fairly easy fix in that case.

"Perry, how many cups has everyone drink today?" Alex asked.

"I've drank only 3 today."

"Anyone else?" Yulka's barbarians spoke.

"We're both on our second cups." One of Grey's operations staff said, "I'm on my 2nd as well."

"I'm on my third."

"Alright, everyone. For your own safety, do not drink more than 5 cups."

"Is there something wrong with the beverage, Lady Alex?" Perry asked.

"Nothing wrong. Your bodies probably can't handle it that much. So limit yourselves to 5 cups a day maximum. I'll put that as part of OSHA."

"I see…" Perry said as he wiped a couple of tears that ran down his cheek.

"Thank you for allowing us to witness the creation of a new line in the OSHA scripture, my Lady!"

"Thank you, Lady Alex!!"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Alex coughed.

"Anyway, I'm off to help Aurora. Ciao." Everyone bowed, and when they did, Alex snapped her fingers once more. The spatial anchor brought her just inside of Aurora's house in her garden. On the sofa was the heaving and panting Rumimi, a dark red haired girl with dirtied brown gardener outfit. Her nails were full of soil and her apron covered in fruity brown berry stains that smelled bitter. Aurora, Yingli, and Ally knelt beside her on the sofa with worried faces.

But, again, from what Alex saw, she was not poisoned by the Latia berries.

"My Lady…" Aurora said, tears dripping down the corner of her eyes.

"She fell down in the garden half an hour after drinking the last cafe mocha." Alex crouched down to the sofa and felt for the pulse on Rumimi's neck. Elevated heart rate, around 170 BPM at a resting state. Increased sweating, flushed face, clear tremor all over her body even felt in the neck. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"It's caffeine intoxication," Alex muttered.

"May I ask what that is?"

"Normal bodies cannot tolerate too much caffeine," Alex said.

"How many cups has she had?"

"I do not remember, but it was at least 8 cups, the same as me."

"Because your body is stronger than hers," Alex said, but then she remembered, this could be a potential lawsuit waiting to happen if she didn't put a disclaimer to her customers. If customers spread rumours of falling ill after drinking their nth cup, then customers traffic to her Star Cubs stores would slow down. If foot traffic into her store slowed down, her revenue would go down. If revenue went down, then she wouldn't be able to expand further.

Not having a safety disclaimer to her drinks was heresy to capitalism itself! This must be solved.

"Aurora."

"Yes?"

"For anyone under 300 prowess, the maximum cups allowed is 5. I'll have Grey train the staff to tell our customers the same. This is for the safety of our employees and customers. It'll be part of OSHA that is mandated to those even outside our company, understood?"

"Yes, your wish is my command, my Lady!!" Aurora shouted.

"Good, now stand back." Aurora scooted back. Softly, Alex placed her hand just above Rumimi's stomach. A green light engulfed her whole body, strongest at the stomach. A green hazy wind whirled around the room. With it, the girl's complexion slowly returned back to normal. Her breathing became normal and her sweating seemed to be letting up. The tremors and shaking also noticeably slowed down.

The green light faded, leaving the room to be full of a citrusy smell when Alex also cleansed her body from the unprocessed Latia residue. Rumimi's eyes slowly flickered open. Slowly turning her head, she saw Alex, Aurora, Yingli, and Ally all looking at her. Her eyes widened as she tried to get up, but couldn't.

"Lady Alex, I'm sorry for my appearance."

"Relax. You good now?" Rumimi nodded.

"Yes, I feel better now."

"Cool. Cool. Aurora will catch you up. Don't make her worry again, ok?" Alex said.

"I'll try my best," Rumimi said with a forced smile.

"Great." Alex turned her head back to Aurora.

"Need anything else?"

"Nothing else, my Lady." Aurora knelt down towards Alex.

"Thank you for saving my apprentice."

"Don't mention it." Alex patted.

"If nothing else, then I'm going back to I-10. Peace." … The snap of her fingers echoed in the room. The moment Aurora looked back up, Lady Alex was gone. She snapped her head to Rumimi who had now returned to normal. Seeing how the Lady had easily diagnosed and healed Rumimi, it seemed this was also part of her All-Seeing Plan.

To bestow one of her girls the honour of being a cog in her plan; testing the limits in which mortal bodies can consume her divine beverage was something Rumimi probably would not understand. Aurora lunged forward to hug her.

"You're safe now. The Lady had given you her grace." Rumimi's shoulders started shaking again, but this time, not from the 'intoxication' that the lady had spoken of. Quietly, her apprentice sobbed.

"I apologize for making everyone worried."

"Hush now, it's ok dear. This was all part of Her All Seeing Plan. She had proclaimed a new line in the OSHA scripture. Those under 300 prowess may not drink more than 5 cups per day."

"Aurora, may you give us your insight into Her All-Seeing Plan?" Ally asked.

"The Lady is an Immortal, correct?" Everyone nodded.

"Her beverage comes from the land of the divine. She needed a way to test how much a mortal body can handle." Aurora pushed away from the hug and then caressed Rumimi's hair.

"Rejoice, my dear. You have been just granted the honour of being part of her test."

"Has she perhaps seen that one of her subjects may fall into this excess of energy?" Rumimi asked.

"Of course," Aurora said.

"However, She presented a caveat. Only those below 300 prowess may not drink more than 5 cups a day as your mortal bodies would not be able to handle such stress of Her beverage."

"What about those above 300?" Ally asked.

"I do not know, Ally. But do believe that she has already accounted for it in Her plans."

"I really liked the Cafe Mocha though… It's sad I can't drink more than 5." Rummy head turned down. As expected, everyone was saddened at the new line in the OSHA scripture. Aurora, too, was sad at the fact the Lady had limited their consumption of her beverage.

"Girls, I understand the sadness that this new scripture comes with. But let us all be happy that the Lady had shown us her kindness by thinking of our safety." Aurora said.

"Your bodies are yet not able to withstand the strength of the divine beverage."

"It is truly a new bittersweet line in the scripture," Yingli said.

"I'm afraid there's no way I can repay the Lady's kindness," Rumimi said. Aurora pulled out of her hug, and looked at her in the eyes. Her hand reached onto her head, softly caressing her flowing hair.

"Do not be afraid. As long as we continue to work hard for her, she will show us endless kindness. That is all she asks for." Rumimi nodded, her face full of determination. Ally and Yingli showed the same expression, holding in their tears. Aurora too wanted show them tears right there, but she had to be strong for her girls. ☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎ It was the first time Alizia ever fell asleep on a carriage ride through the Hadstead mountains.

Even now, the carriage moved straight on the bricked road through what the bandits had called 'I-5'. The road led to the territory of the newly titled Viscountess of Lois. What normally would have been a rough and dangerous passage had become a cozy and smooth venture. The only surprise they had was purposefully ignoring the left turn at the fork just after they had entered the mountain range.

That would've led them to the southern bandit camp and Alizia wasn't one to want to find out what happened behind those walls. In the carriage with her was Alice, one of Dragus' 7 legends, titled Moon's Devourer by the continent. She had earned the title through killing tens of thousands of dreams in a single night against the Pandor forces in the border between the Stronghold Hatir and the Church of Frae. The legend's last reported prowess to the Church was 947, but now she exceeded 1027.

She alone towered over all of Pandor's legends, but one legend couldn't change the tide of a continental war.

"Alizia, do you think the Viscounty would have more of the cups we got at the North Star location?" Alice asked as her posture had devolved into a sprawl all over her side of the carriage. She wore a dark blue tunic with a white fur overcoat. On her neck was a red gem, enchanted with a warming effect. Turning her eyes away from the serene snow fall outside the carriage, Alizia, with her status glasses, saw the woman lazily sprawling more as time went by.

Her status glasses, on the other hand, pointed out a prowess of 29 to the being in front of her. A significant number just before the magical number '30'. Simply put, the being in front of her wanted to be 'forever 29' for no reason other than the fact that anyone above '30' was a 'hag'. Yet that was not an age, but prowess. Once again, Alizia had to swallow her logic. Most legends had a few things loose inside their heads and Alice was not an exception.

"Alizia. Are you listening?" Alice asked.

"Yes, yes. I'm listening." Alizia turned back to the window to watch the snow fall on the road. Not a layer of snow covered the ground, similar to the North Star Star Cubs location.

"The 'employee' did say there was a rest stop nearby with the menu…" Alice muttered.

"It seems Princess May's plan is working," Alizia said.

"Had there been any locations in Dragus' borders?" Alice asked.

"Sleider's coast," Alizia said.

"From what my Mist knights have spoken of, there had been constant travel between that small town and the Hadstead mountains."

"Are you sure its the Princess May and just not the Southern Bandit camp?"

"Perhaps." Alizia paused before continuing.

"The possibility did exist, however as likely as it is, Lyra would have to bow down to legends' will. History states that such holding hands with groups of eccentrics do not fair well." She coughed once, looking over at the sprawled Alice.

"Though there are exceptions."

"Are you calling me an eccentric, Alizia dear?"

"The word 'dear' makes you sound old, auntie."

"You best take back that auntie." Alice laughed.

"It still makes me wonder. Can such an establishment survive the ravages of war?" Alizia thought of the question for a moment. The answer depended on who the war was against. The corruption of the north or the two other kingdoms against Lyra? If it was the first, then surely, it could not. If it was the latter, the deterrent of having the backing of multiple legends already made the establishment as powerful as kingdoms themselves.

Being allied with the strongest economy in the continent of Mir would let Lyra easily surpass both Dragus and Pandor in terms of power.

"That is why we're on this vacation, Alice," Alizia simply said.

"Would it not have been better to go to Capital of Lyra for 'diplomatic' reasons?" Alice asked.

"As much as that would have been a simpler solution, Princess May is not one to show her hands. Do not be fooled by her bubbly smiles." Alizia saw the carriage turn against the curve of the road, entering the foot of the mountain from the rock walled path.

"Had we gone to the capital, the Princess would have held us in the castle for as long as possible while delaying my own eyes from peering beyond the veil she had set."

"The words she does not utter could be used to deduce what's behind that veil, no?"

"A deduction does not suffice to what we need to see. First, the mangled adamantite wheel. Such an event couldn't possibly escape the mouths of the common folk. We'd need to see for ourselves whether this has any connection to the pipes in Villipente."

"Wheel and pipes don't sound like they have anything to do together."

"That is the point. We need to see the material of these 'pipes' to deduce what happened to Lazarus."

"You lost me."

"Lazarus is an Earth Archmage, correct?" Alizia asked. Alice nodded.

"He's gone missing, but Pandor has not pronounced his death. It is King Adric's way of stating he has no relation to the Count Mourier's mines cave in. Since their own Archmage has defected, they have no claim to any fault. Mind you, this suspiciously happened at the same time our Viscount Magnus' mines had caved in."

"You're saying he's still alive?" Alizia cleared her throat.

"Lazarus has created a perfect environment for Princess May to capitalize on. The Count's resources has dwindled to an extreme low. His territory at risk for this winter. The Princess could buy ores for cheap and use that to fund her own private ventures."

"That does not explain the pipes and the adamantite wheel."

"The wheel could be a form of new transport for heavier products. The state of which the wheel was found in could have been just conflict between the eccentric legends. The pipes, I do not know for what reason they exist yet. What we need now is factual information on the state of the Viscounty."

"For what?"

"Princess May's gambit on an economic war." Alizia's eyes darkened.

"Have you not noticed the increase in efficiency of Sleider's coast?"

"I have. Their fishmongers have had a slight surge in exports to the capital. However, wouldn't that mean that May, with her product, helps foreign kingdoms?"

"What happens when a kingdom is reliant on a single product?" Alice sat up, making eye contact with Alizia.

"I do not believe that the product of Star Cubs sits solely on this 'North Star' and 'Interstate Rest Stop'," Alizia said.

"Princess May has put all her eggs into this single play."

"Well. At least I'd get more cups. A truly worthwhile vacation." They'd only be able to see this by going to Villipente which her Mist Knight has spoken of. The other Mist Knights that went to the Capital has not returned even before she has departed. It was easier to pronounce them dead, most likely caught by Lyra's own royal knights. The safest and clearest view of what would be May's gambit would be in Villipente, away from the recluse legends and away from the Lyra's royal court.

Going to Lyra's capital directly would put even more question marks in the current board. Princess May wasn't one to miss an opportunity to provide unverifiable false information. Alizia suddenly shot up onto her seat, opened the window, and put her head out to look back at what she just saw. Over the growing distance, slightly covered by the root-like fence, she saw something that glimmered orange and a rare giant three-eyed howler.

The orange looked like a silhouette of a dragon, a young one, and it looked like it was getting along with the howler beside it.

"What?" Alice asked.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"The dragon!" Alizia yelled.

"Oh, yeah. There was a woman beside them too."

"A woman?"

"She was wearing all black and her dress looked pretty."

"Does that not scream of 'strange' to you!?"

"You've definitely not met some of the recluse I've met." Alice laughed a bit.

"The orange dragon was a strange one, though." Alizia shook her head.

"Fine…" For couple of more minutes, the ride continued along. The trees thinned and revealed what looked like freshly dug up soil. Between the soil were white coloured pipes, metal as they shined subtly, covered by a small layer of snow. The material was certainly Yin metal, a pure white metal. Mounds of soil sat beside where the pipes ran at even intervals. Shovels stood stuck into those mounds, yet there were no workers burying the pipes.

A strange sighting as usually commoners would still work through winter if it was related to city infrastructure. But that wasn't what caught Alizia's mind. Yin metal wasn't one to bend easily even when heated. To create such pipes, they'd need either a metal mage or…

"an Earth mage?"

"I would dare say Lazarus would not stoop so low to lay down these 'pipes' for a city as small as Villipente," Alice said.

"Could be one of the recluse legends."

"Would they stoop that low as well?"

"No…"

"What about other earth or metal mages?"

"At least a ranker Earth mage is needed to force Yin to bend like that. A metal mage of 200 prowess would suffice, but metal mages are already rare. They'd have to be paying the mage a substantial amount." Alizia shook her head.

"It does not matter what these pipes are for. They are laid down. We must see for what reason they are there for." The carriage finally stopped right in front of Villipente's city entrance. It slowly entered through the streets and towards the carriage parking area. Alizia and Alice looked at each other immediately. Taking a big whiff, both already knew that the air was much cleaner than Dragus' capital. Looking outside, they saw the streets were clean of any debris on the side of the walls.

The streets were clear of any snow pileup. All this time, she has not even bothered to consider the absurd amount of the dungeon artifacts used to prevent snow from coating the roads. Yet, it would seem this whole city's pathways was filled with it. More questions popped up in her head. It was already certain this has no connection to the adamantite wheel. There would be no gain in warfare to uplifting a small city such as Villipente.

This did not fit Alizia's conclusion that Lyra was waging an economic war against Dragus. It would mean that Princess May simply just wants her subjects to live a great life, except that conclusion also contradicts her action against Count Mourier. What are you planning, May?!