The Emporium,

Aygorzi, Merriheim.

8:34 a.m. 19th Banem 1092.

The entrances to Aygorzi's underground city were spread out around the city as subway-like stairs that led beneath the earth to a network of tunnels. Kashi, the Maggots, and Brock (who tagged along out of curiosity toward the underground city) walked down the nearest subway.

Kashi examined the glossy finished walls, surprised by the change. A week ago, these walls were rough and stony like any other underground passage, but this time, it seemed work had been done to not only smoothen out the walls but also apply a layer of finish to make them more appealing to the eyes.

The passage's lighting had also changed. Previously, it was lit by torches, creating a dark, dreary atmosphere, but now it was lit by overhead magelights which flooded the passage with light, so much so that Kashi doubted he was walking in L.N.E. It felt more like he was in a subway in the real world.

But Kashi's shock had only just begun. The final step opened up to a wide platform in front of which there was a long depression, and then a wall at the other side. Kashi looked to his left and noticed the depression led into a tunnel, and a glance to the right confirmed it was the same as the other side.

This... It really looked like...

Not believing his conjecture, Kashi walked to the edge of the platform where he saw a familiar yellow line. Ignoring it, he looked over at the depression, and just as expected, laid within the depression were twin sets of train tracks like an actual subway.

While Kashi was wondering what was going on, a dwarf walked out of a room nearby and then ran up to them, eyes glowing when he saw the daeben at the forefront. "Kashi-dono!" he greeted with enthusiasm. "Are you here to ride the train?"

"Train?" Kashi questioned, eyes wide. "It's completed?"

"A few prototypes," replied the dwarf with an excited grin. "The project is on its final stage. We've been running simulations using the underground networks to ensure safety and test the trains' limits." The dwarf patted his chest with pride as he announced, "Just tell me where you want to go, and we'll get you there in the blink of an eye."

"We are looking for a member of our guild, Jade. She's a mage that was working on the—"

"Jade-sama!" the dwarf exclaimed unable to hide the excitement in his voice. "Of course! There isn't a dwarf from the forge who doesn't know Jade-sama. We would never have gotten this far so fast if it weren't for her."

"Uh, yes," Kashi replied, with confusion. Sama? What did Jade do for these obstinate dwarfs to revere her so highly? "She should be at the forge, right?"

"Not exactly," the dwarf refuted with a shake of his head. "Jade-sama has a personal workshop near the forge." The dwarf scratched his chin in thought and then said, "But I suppose the forge is the nearest stop. Yeah, let's do that. The train'll drop you off at the forge. Any dwarf there can point you in the direction of her workshop."

Kashi stared at the dwarf and then the tracks. Unable to hide his curiosity, he asked, "How does it work?" Even though he had designed the train, seeing it in reality still floored the daeben. He had to know if there were any interesting changes.

The dwarf grinned as he beckoned to them, "Come with me. I'll show ya."

The dwarf led the Maggots through the door he came out of into a small control room. The room, which was barely large enough for all of them to fit in, housed a large screen on the wall opposite the entrance. Several lines were drawn across the screen with a marker, and lights flashed along those lines as if following a pattern.

Below the screen was a set of levers and buttons which neither Kashi nor the others could make sense of. A lone chair with a jacket draped over it sat in front of all the mess.

Kashi was the most confused of all. He'd designed the trains, but he had never envisioned something like this. He could not make heads or tails of what all these were meant to do.

Kashi, never one to shy away from learning new things, pointed at the screen and asked, "What's that?"

"The Monitor," the dwarf said as he grabbed and then put on the jacket. A name tag on the jacket revealed his name to be Byrion. "We use that to keep track of the trains' locations at all times."

Lunette stepped forward and stared at the screen in shock. This kind of technology should not exist in this world. It was far too early! "How does it work?"

"There are thousands of tiny mage lights behind the screen," Byrion explained. "There are some things Jade-sama called 'pressure points' on the tracks. Whenever a train passes through, it triggers them, which lights up a syn... suncho...synco—"

"Synchronized?" Leila guessed.

"Synchronized!" Byrion confirmed with an embarrassed grin. "The triggered pressure plate lights up a synchronized magelight, which allows us to keep track of the train's position."

There was a tense silence in the room as the Maggots struggled to come to terms with what they were witnessing.

"Oi, Kashi," Syèl called as he stepped forward. "What the hell has Jade been up to?"

"I have no clue," Kashi absentmindedly replied. "She was supposed to be working on the skyboat. I have no idea what gave her the idea to go this far. No, how she even got this to work."

Kashi and Syèl's shocks were greater than the others because these two had done a lot of research into magic, compared to the other Summoned. Most of Ksahi's magical knowledge came from Razznik, but they were enough for him to understand just how complex the seemingly simple system was.

First thing was the pressure plate. For that to work, there would need to be a system which recognized weight, and was able to convert it to a recognizable order. Kashi surmised that if it were him, he would use a weight balance attached to a lever. When the train passed, the weight would push down the balance, which would rotate the lever, or make it strike something. However, from this point, Kashi was lost.

How did that striking transmit to the screen in the control room? And from the sounds of it, there were many control rooms, meaning this signal was sent to several places at the same time. Kashi quickly scanned the room but did not see any wires that would suggest electricity was being used, so it was a wireless transmission?

That made even less sense!

Leila, noticing Kashi and Syèl's frowns, said, "There's one person who has the answers to our questions, so don't think too hard."

'Ah, that's right.' Kashi realized he was going about this all wrong. He looked at Byrion and said, "When will the train get here?"

Byrion looked at the screen and laughed as he said, "Yer in luck. The train just rolled in. I'll control know to let you guys through to the forge without any stops."

"The train?" Kashi said, eyes wide.

"It's here?" Syèl finished.

Both men looked at each other, and unable to hide their curiosity any longer, turned around to run out of the room.

Unfortunately, Kashi and Syèl had pushed right up to the screen, which meant they were the furthest from the screen. By the time they turned around, the others had already rushed to the door ahead of them, forcing the duo to wait until everyone had passed through first.

Kashi and Syèl eventually made it out and were greeted by the sight of a beautiful, monstrous steel construct sat imposingly by the platform. The chromatic steel train was reminiscent of 18th-century coal-engine trains with its harsh, jagged exterior and gear linked wheels. However, the one significant difference was a distinct lack of a steam pipe.

Three carriages were lined up behind the engine car, soft, yellow light from within inviting the passengers on board. A dwarf walked out of the engine car and then beckoned at Kashi and the others with a shit-eating grin on his face, "First time seeing a train? Go on, get in!"

The dwarf's invitation shook the maggots out of their shock, and they quickly scrambled to get into the first car. Kashi remained on the platform, however, staring at the train as his chest began to heat up.

Lunette noticed Kashi's strange state and walked up to him. She grasped his hand, worry in her eyes as she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I've always wondered how mangakas felt when their works were brought to life in an anime," Kashi said as tears welled up in his eyes. "I think I finally understand. Nothing can express what it feels like to see your dreams become a reality." Kashi realized what he just said, and quickly wiped his eyes, nervously laughing as he then said, "Ah, what the hell am I saying? So sappy, haha."

Lunette looked up at him and smiled. She didn't say a word in response, but instead, gently squeezed Kashi's hand to let him know he had her support.

Kashi looked down at Lunette's hand, then up at her warm smile. The unease in his heart quickly settled, and he stopped laughing. Yeah, at least when he was with her, he did not have to pretend. "Thanks," Kashi said as he squeezed her hand and then let her go. "I'm going to the engine car," he said, pointing at the engine car. "See you when we get there."

Lunette could see the excitement in Kashi's eyes, like a schoolboy working on an exploding volcano for the first time. "Alright. Be careful," she said and then walked over to the first car to join the others.

"Sure," Kashi replied, and then quickly ran to the engine car. "Come on, let's go," Kashi called to the dwarf as he jumped onto the car.

The dwarf chuckled knowingly and then followed the daeben.

The engine car housed a single room and two seats, one of which was in front of a control panel filled with different levers and buttons. The second was placed just beside the door.

The dwarf took a seat on the captain's chair as Kashi stood next to him and grabbed onto the chair for support. The daeben examined the panel and spotted a screen with four colored squares drawn on it. The squares were colored green, yellow, red, and then blue. He spotted a speedometer which tracked the train's current speed.

As Kashi watched, the green light suddenly lit up.

Seeing the light, the captain pressed a button, then spoke into a microphone, "We just received clearance and will begin moving to our destination. Enjoy your time on Aygorzi Line."

At the same moment, Lunette and the others seated in the first car heard the announcement from overhead speakers. The carriage seats resembled those found in modern-day subways, lining up either side of the walls, with handrails for standing passengers along the middle.

This particular train was designed for inter-city travel and thus had to prioritize space over comfort. However, the soft, leather seats were much more comfortable than those in real life trains.

Meanwhile, in the engine car, Kashi's eyes gleamed he watched the captain gently push on the throttle on the control panel. The train slowly picked up speed as the dwarf moved the throttle forward. The dwarf then held the throttle steady at the halfway mark until the train had reached a desirable speed of about 80 km/h, and later released the throttle, allowing it to fall back into its rest position.

The captain checked the speedometer and the screen. Assured that there were no problems, he finally let go and turned to look at Kashi. "At this speed, we'll get to the forge in about thirty minutes. I guess you must have a ton of questions?"

Kashi rapidly nodded his head, and he quickly asked the prickling question in his mind. "There's no steam engine? How is it being powered?"

The captain grinned as he knocked on the control panel. "She's got ten mana crystals in her belly. An array converts the crystals' mana into electricity which is then used to power something the guys at the forge called a 'motor.' The motor causes, a shaft I think it's called, or was it crank? Not sure of the details. But anyway, this crank-shaft thing turns because of the motor, and that causes the wheels to turn."

Kashi pointed at the throttle, "And that?"

"This here's called a throttle or accelerator," the dwarf explained with pride. "She determines how much electricity gets pumped into the motor. If I push her the motor gets more juice and the train accelerates."

Kashi blinked. "I get that. I mean, how exactly does it do that?"

"Uh..." The captain scratched his beard in embarrassment. "The folks at the forge said something about converting BC to AD or something like that. I'm not too clear on the details. That's above my paygrade."

"Ah, sorry," Kashi apologized as he realized his questions were getting a bit too technical for the train driver. "I'll ask Jade for the details." The daeben then decided to switch gears for a bit and ask something less technical. "The mana crystal. How do you recharge the mana?"

"That's the current problem," sighed the captain. "For now we have mages dedicated to charging mana crystals at the trainyard. Whenever a train is running low, it returns to the trainyard and swaps out for a fully charged crystal."

Kashi frowned. "Will that system work when the trains are fully functioning?"

"No, that's the problem," the captain said. "It'll cost too much to hire mages to replenish the number of crystals needed to power a city full of trains. Besides, this train only has three cars. If we add any more, the crystal will not be enough for a return trip."

Kashi sighed as he scratched his head. "In the end, the problem's still the same. We need to find a better power source than mana crystals."

"I heard guys at the forge talking about using the cores of magic beasts, but there's been pushback claiming it could cause extinction-level hunting if that is the only source."

"I agree with that," Kashi said with a nod. "Many years ago, there was a rumor that a spacewalker's core could allow people to teleport across the continent."

The dwarf frowned as he looked at the daeben. "What's a spacewalker? Never heard of them."

Kashi turned to the dwarf, a cynical smile on his face as he said, "...Exactly."

The captain shivered as he realized the daeben's meaning. Those poor spacewalkers had been hunted to extinction for their cores. There was no doubt a similar event would play out in this case, especially if the beast cores were the sole power sources for the whole continent.

Kashi sighed and then looked ahead at the tunnels. "Well, we'll figure it out eventually. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that there are no dead ends in this world, only alternative routes waiting to be found."

"No dead ends... Ha!" the captain burst out laughing as he repeated the daeben's words. "I'll be sure to use that one on the wife next time she claims I'm working a dead-end job."

"It's your funeral," Kashi replied with a playful snort and then turned his attention to the tunnels ahead, brimming with anticipation of meeting Jade.