NOVEL NEXT Chapter 102
Chapter: 102
So how many hours have we been waiting for the mayor now?
We definitely arrived in the morning, but here we are, already past lunchtime.
This… they’re clearly ignoring us on purpose, right? Right?
Ugh… Should I just go knock down the tower?
“Please be patient.”
“What do you mean?”
“You had this look on your face like you were about to smash the tower to bits.”
What is up with that detailed expression?
But seriously, the Temple of Life is supposed to be a big deal, right? They send pilgrims across the globe, taking care of all life forms… a kind of worldwide charity group, wouldn’t you say?
It’s a whole place full of folks just trying to care for life, with no walls of race or nation in the way.
And they’re just neglecting someone important from there, the hero and their party? And not even feeding us properly?!
No proper meals!!!
This is crossing the line. No question! I don’t know what kind of scheme is brewing, but I’m not just gonna let this slide. I’ll bring down heavenly punishment!
“Calm down, okay? They must be really busy.”
“Are you saying that the interests of this city are more important than the hero and the Temple of Life? That can’t be true.”
This hero sometimes seems completely unaware of their own value.
I grumbled as I opened the lid of the little wooden basket I created with magic.
Gotta eat something first. After all, they say a ghost looks good after a meal!
“Let’s eat something.”
Today’s menu is sandwiches. Simple food with various veggies, meats, and sauces all snuggled between bread.
Of course, this is a dish that doesn’t exist in this world yet.
Add in some rich milk, and it’s a lunch fit for royalty! Simple but superb!
I don’t know what kind of person this mayor is, but when I meet him, I’m definitely going to give him a piece of my mind!
I acknowledge that he turned this tiny wizard’s village into a huge city and built that tall tower, but I can’t just let a breach of contract slide!
Only after gobbling down a few sandwiches with the hero did I finally settle a little.
“Um, I think I’m really late.”
The culprit who kept us waiting for so long finally made an appearance.
“I heard someone from the Temple of Life had arrived, so I wondered who it was… It’s been a while.”
“Oh, so this is the mayor we’ve been waiting for. I recognize that face.”
The young guy who was with me checking the mana stones last time was now standing there, transformed into a middle-aged man by the passage of time.
“It’s been quite a while, but you don’t seem to have changed at all.”
“Well, even elves who live for a thousand years don’t change much in just a few decades, so it’s not that remarkable.”
Just a few decades.
“Anyway, I sincerely apologize. I should have come right away, but I had to handle some unavoidable external inspections. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have sent someone to tell you to come this afternoon.”
“I was a little mad, but it’s fine now that I’m here.”
Of course, I’m still holding on to that anger.
It’s just tucked away inside me.
The middle-aged former youth—the mayor of Babel—sat down in the reception room chair and said,
“If you’ve come from the Temple of Life, then your purpose must only be about that mana stone…”
“Yes, that’s the sole reason I’m here.”
The mayor nods in understanding.
“I truly apologize, but we have no clue about that matter either.”
“Hmm…?”
“That’s understandable, considering we don’t actually produce those mana stones ourselves.”
That’s true. Mana stones are not made by humans.
They come from the remains of hunted monsters.
But still, is this really all they can spare? It’s like they’re giving us a token amount just for appearances!
“We’re also having quite the trouble. The city’s grown in size, and the influx of mana stones has skyrocketed… Filtering out the problematic ones hasn’t been easy. We’ve gotten to the point where traders bypass us and buy the stones directly.”
“Directly?”
“Yes. The mana stone trade is entirely managed by our tower, but there are still people who ignore that and go buy and use them.”
The mayor began to grumble.
“This tower grew because we thoroughly inspect and sell only the problem-free mana stones to the mages… But apparently, the mages don’t understand how important this work is. They just want to line their pockets, saying this and that. They make a good amount of money, then mumble about expanding staff or whatever. Ugh…”
The mayor was definitely grumbling a lot. Hmm… seems like a real headache.
“We’re trying our best, but it takes time to identify the problematic mana stones. There’s not much we can do about it. In fact, we don’t have very many inspection tools, and some of those have broken… Right now, we’re only able to check with about 3 of them.”
Three…?
I’m sure I made about 10 for them. Did they all break?
It hasn’t even been a few decades… Ah… Wait…
Thinking back, I didn’t put any damage-preventing spells on them.
Well, I guess that can happen. Even an iron shovel will wear out after decades of digging.
“So, could you provide us with new inspection tools?”
“Hmm. If that’s the case, I can definitely do that. I didn’t know you were in such a situation.”
I had no idea they were trying to sort out mana stones with just 3 shovels, working around the clock.
Anyway, it’s impressive they managed to gather enough money to build this tower.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was even thinking of contacting the Temple of Life, but since you’re here directly, it feels like the Goddess of Life is giving us a helping hand.”
Since I’m helping, that’s not entirely wrong! For sure!
“But speaking of those inspection tools, is there a way to make them more convenient?”
“More convenient tools?”
“Right. It takes too long to sort them out one by one. It’d be great if we could speed it up.”
Faster, huh… Hmm…
“How about something like this?”
I then conjured up a large metal box with a wide input opening on top.
I included an output on the side and another one below while adding a long bridge so it could sit underneath.
Then I integrated the mana stone inspection function.
The mana stones fed into this box would get inspected rapidly, and if any had traces of darkness, they’d be expelled through the side output. I even added a power switch and a slot for a mana stone to power it.
“I’ll need to test it and make adjustments. Could you bring over a box of uninspected mana stones?”
“Yes, I’ll go get them right away.”
The mayor quickly stepped outside, gave some instructions to people waiting around, and then returned.
“So, how does this box work?”
“Do you remember the tools I made for you before?”
“Of course! You showed me how to use them myself.”
I chuckled lightly.
“This is completely different. It’ll be quicker to see it in action than for me to explain.”
At that moment, a person walked in carrying the box.
“Alright, let’s do a demonstration. But first…”
I created a small space under the bottom output and placed a small basket there.
All set! Now…
“Pour the mana stones into the top input opening.”
Following my instruction, the person started pouring the mana stones in, not one at a time, but all at once.
“Why are you putting them in one by one? Just dump them in all at once!”
I made the input wide enough for that! As long as they don’t overflow, it’ll sort itself out!
The internal structure is super simple, so there’s no risk of it breaking! Made of solid iron, so it’s tough as nails!
I especially focused on durability and inspection speed!
Hearing this, the person started to unload the mana stones into the input opening en masse.
I slipped a clean mana stone into the slot and hit the power switch.
The filled input opened a floodgate, and the mana stones began pouring out through the bottom.
“Ooh… So how does this find those mana stones?”
“Just watch.”
After about half a box had spilled out the bottom,
Beep!
With a short noise, a mana stone ejected from the side output.
“Hmm?”
“Good, looks like it’s working well.”
I handed the mana stone that popped out to the hero.
“Hold it up to the diamond on your sword.”
“Ah, yes.”
The hero, standing dumbfounded like a sack of potatoes, looked slightly flustered as I handed them the mana stone. They brought it up to the diamond that absorbs darkness.
Swoosh.
The shard of darkness embedded in the mana stone was effortlessly absorbed by the diamond.
“Did you see? Now if you pour them in from above, it’ll automatically inspect and eject the problematic mana stones to the side. This should be good enough.”
The performance has improved to the point where it can inspect an entire box of mana stones at once!
By the end of sorting that whole box, two problematic mana stones popped out.
“Excellent! With this, we can quickly tackle the backlog of work! If it’s not too much trouble, could you make a few more for us?”
“Hmm. I’ll whip up two more for a total of three. That should suffice.”
“Five! Please make a total of five! With the influx of mana stones being so high, even three won’t cut it!”
Ugh… Five, huh.
Well, it looks like I don’t have a choice.
I swiftly copied the existing box and conjured up four more.
“But there mustn’t be any shortage of mana stones sent to the Temple of Life. Got it?”
“Oh, of course! There won’t be a problem!”
And thus, I handed over the new inspection tools to the mayor of Babel.
This should help collect the mana stones with darkness in them properly! Sounds good!
But that was just wishful thinking on my part.