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Solomon recalled the request he received, they had asked for permission to use a special training ground for large groups. He did not remember what day it was for, but when he looked backwards to ask Luminaria if it was today, she only heaved a very deep sigh like she was completely exhausted.

「I assume Lady Luminaria is busy with something important now? I’ll go look for Joachim instead then.」

The spellcaster thought something important had come up given that Luminaria was together with the King, and Mira, who had been the center of all the gossip happening around there. But as reality would have it, Luminaria’s reason to be with them was nowhere near important enough to relegate her duties.

「We were pretty much just going to play around now, so don’t worry about bothering her at all.」

Saying that, Mira turned to Luminaria and signaled her to go with her gaze.

「That’s true, you can take her.」

Solomon was of the same mind as he turned his chin telling her to go.

「Okay, I knoww. I’ll go with her so stop that already.」

Luminaria pouted saying that, then she whispered 「Let me ride on it next time」 to Mira’s ear, before telling the spellcaster 「Let’s go」 and putting her hand to the spellcaster’s shoulder and departing with her.

「She looks really busy.」
「I know how she acts sometimes, but she’s working hard. Though if you find anyone else her workload should decrease as well.」
「Even if you say that… All we know so far are some vague clues about Soul and Kagura… And oh right, there was a story I heard.」

As Mira saw Luminaria off, grimacing seeing how her hand slowly went down from the spellcaster’s shoulder until it reached her lower body and started fondling there, Mira recalled the story the troubadour Emilio had told her about an orphanage.

「Hmm? What kind of story?」

Solomon looked less bothered watching the spellcaster nestling her body against Luminaria as one would have thought, Mira asked him with a refined look on her cute face if it was really alright for Luminaria to do that, Solomon just said 「It’s a bit surprising how less that affects her public image」, remaining as a spectator himself. Mira replied with 「It almost makes me jealous」 as she remembered the couple of Emilio and Rihanna, of whom she had recently talked with.

「If I had to put it somehow, it can’t be anyone else but her. But you don’t know where that place is, correct?」
「No, he only mentioned it was a small town without a name in northeastern Grimdart.」
「That’s pretty far. It would be pretty troublesome to just investigate the place.」

The northeastern part of Grimdart was a vast area, so searching there for a place without a name to go off would prove to be hard. On top of that, the search for the Wisemen was a state secret, so finding an excuse to send people to such a small town was another problem. As Solomon spoke, his head kept thinking of what to do about that situation.

「If I ever go somewhere near that area I could search myself.」

Mira could tell what Solomon was thinking about, so she offered to help him herself. As they spoke, they had moved along the hallway and down the stairs, and now that they stood in front of the warehouse door, their conversation came to a stop. There was a warehouse for carriages on both the eastern and western sides of the castle, the western side was for nobles, the eastern one for the army and regular people. The one Mira and Solomon had gone to was the western one.

When coming directly from the castle, one would enter the warehouse on one of the corners where most of the repairs and renovations would be performed, as well as some new fabrications. The place was made of stone and was really large, so from time to time other items that were not carriages would also get repaired there. There were multiple luxurious carriages left to be repaired.

「Is that you, Your Majesty Solomon? And could that be Lady Mira with you?」

The management room that also counted as a break room was located right in front of the door connecting the warehouse with the castle. The manager in charge of the western warehouse and stable tumbled as he leaped out of the room, seeing the king appear so suddenly, and knelt in front of him while also naming the girl he recognized only because of the description he heard about her.

「Yes, she’s Mira, Danbulf’s pupil.」
「Nice to meet you.」
「I’m Doug, the manager of the stable. It’s an honor to meet you.」

The manager spoke with a thick voice like the sound of a large conch. He was a member of the Gardia race in the prime of his age, his body well-toned to the point where each muscle could be seen moving individually, and his darker skin accentuated his healthy appearance even more. He was wearing work clothes similar to an apron which left most of his body exposed, the upper half of his body was basically naked.

Even while knelt down, Doug stood at the same height as Mira. With his face just in front of her, she saw his dark red beard, while his head was cleanly shaven, but his face had a gentle appearance, making him look like a smiling daruma doll.

「If Mira is accompanying you, I assume you came to unveil that one?」

The exclusive wagon that had been finished just one day before. The workers had put their hearts and souls into making it, so Doug’s eyes shone with pride as he asked that.

「Yes, that’s correct. I’m sorry we bothered you during your break, but could you bring it here?」
「Right away, sir.」

Doug stood up and saluted before calling other workers there and running into the warehouse while making his magnificent muscles work. His manly back looked large and rigid but had a liveliness to it that resembled that of a young child. The word of who was there passed around, and it only took an instant for the entire workshop to turn bustling with activity as if there was a fire somewhere. Everyone helped to clear some space from materials and tools, throwing everything into the corners and clearing the center. When the signal was given, the warehouse doors were open and a white wagon appeared, pulled along by the workers.

It looked like an elongated box with triangles on the narrow sides, with four gilded wheels. Its height was pretty high, but the door handles were placed rather low, so Mira would be able to reach them without trouble. The overall design was pretty simple, but it also somewhat resembled an armored vehicle.

「Well Doug, explain everything to her.」
「Right away.」

Around ten workers with dirtied faces but filled with youthful vigor stood lined up in front of the wagon, smiling and with their chests puffed waiting for someone to say something. In response to Solomon’s request, Doug stepped forward and began explaining the different features of the wagon and the materials used to build it. His voice rang easy and enjoyable, while the workers’ movements made it clear they were proud to have been involved in its creation.

Doug’s explanation began with how the braces and shafts had been made to support both flying and being pulled on the ground. Then he moved onto the poles and hangers for storage on the outside of the wagon, the ventilation holes and airtight zones, quality of life improvements like springs on the axles to diminish rattling, and other more technical features. The frame of the wagon had been made of an advanced alloy of Mythrium, which was easy to manufacture, had a strong resistance to changes in temperature while being light, and was becoming really popular in construction works, but the shafts for the summoned entity to attach to were made of an even stronger material. He continued talking about more advanced technicalities.

His deep involvement in its creation, as well as his knowledge as a worker, and more importantly the excitement from the other workers made even Mira get caught up in his explanation. There were multiple times she felt like she could relate to them.

「Now please come closer and take a look inside as well.」

Once he had exhausted all his knowledge on the outside of the wagon, it finally was time for the main course so he opened the doors broadly.

「I’m intrigued by how the interior looks.」

Infected by Doug’s high spirits, Mira replied as if she was another worker there, peering into the interior of the wagon from the opened doors. The interior was brand new, foreign to the presence of any person before her, filled with a strong yet familiar scent of soft rush which filled Mira’s nostrils.

The interior was snug and compact, but it also was made in a Japanese style just like she had requested. As soon as she entered she saw the frames made of black stone and a large window that would let as much sunlight as she wanted to get in. But more importantly, there was the feature she had wanted the most, there was a kotatsu with pillows in arabesque patterns placed there, and instead of mandarins, a pot with a plant with a multitude of leaves on top of it.

「I can only say this is way better than I was expecting.」

Mira felt like she had been transported back to Japan the moment she crossed the door, so she voiced her thoughts in a straightforward manner. When the people around heard that, some of them raised their fists with a bright expression and exclaimed 「Alright!」 without being too loud. They were probably the ones who built the interior.

Mira took off her shoes and lifted one of her white legs poking out from her skirt, placing one foot on the tatami mat. It was soft but had structural rigidity to it, it was the same feeling she was familiar with. Once her other foot joined the first, she slowly looked around.

Next to the kotatsu, there was a small purple chair, in front of a closet with sliding doors painted with light shapes of flowers. On the other side, towards the front side of the wagon, there was a small door. The wagon could also be pulled like a regular carriage, so that door led to the driver’s seat. Mira could not contain herself as she kept looking from one side to another inside the wagon until her eyes finally stopped at the closet and she opened it. The closet was divided into two floors, the top one was empty while the lower one had a futon stored in it.