The chassis for a "brand new magitech car" concept.

It's about time I take action and head to a dungeon.

Dea-kun gathered intel from Blade-senpai, and we learned there's a dungeon in a town called Karkassa. On foot, it's apparently more than a month away.

"As expected, I'd get bored of lazing around at home that long."

Faking that we "traveled" is such a hassle.

… Maybe I should just buy a carriage. No idea how many gold coins it'd cost including the horses, though.

If only we had a car…

"Oh, right. I'll just make a car."

A car. Since there are Golems, something like a car should exist too.

If we had a car, saying we covered a month's walk in three days might fly. Fuel costs would be a thing, but… actually, in practice we don't have to pay any.

That said, it needs to be something Karina Shounin can afford — or rather, if I frame it as a loan from Dea-kun, that should be fine to at least some degree.

I already repaid the one gold coin from buying the slave, so I could take on some additional financing.

"Alright then, let's make a car, Dea-kun! Aishia, help too!"

"Eh, what is this all of a sudden?"

"I don't really know what that is, but okay!"

Oops, I should explain properly.

 

*

 

First, we need to procure lumber as the main material. We can fell trees in the mountains at the former site of Alchemia. Free. It can't be used without drying, but Spatial Magic can do that in an instant. Even if rapid drying causes cracking, Spatial Magic can fix it — it's just that OP.

For now, we'll shape it like a handcart; it just needs to move on its own. Something that can go reasonably fast and steer.

"And here's the chassis for a new-model magitech car I made along those lines!"

Ta-dah. What I showed the two of them was a wooden three-wheeled handcart. It looked like a retro three-wheeled truck. For operation, the front wheel had a bicycle-like handle, letting you nudge the direction a bit. No brakes yet.

"This is a magitech car? There's no horse Golem, and I don't see any magic circles."

Ah, so there are setups where you have a horse-type Golem pull a carriage. Huh.

"If there are Golems you can ride inside, a car-type Golem wouldn't be strange either. I wonder how things stand there."

If a Japanese person made a bathhouse, I wouldn't be surprised if they made a magitech engine too. Denma aside. I hesitate to develop erotic stuff, you know? No no, a Denma is just a massage device, so it's not erotic.

"It's probably about driving skill and compatibility. If existing coachmen can use it as-is and carriages can be used as-is, then a horse Golem is better than getting in and driving."

And powering a horse Golem with magic stones costs more than a real horse. Biiiig fuel economy problem there.

"Will this even move?"

"I'll actually move it with my magic. Like, swoosh."

"Oh, it ru—did it run? Did it?"

I lifted the chassis a few millimeters with Spatial Magic and had it run. I also tried sliding it at top speed… At that top speed, if you were riding inside you'd probably get minced. We'd need internal protection with Spatial Magic.

"I-it's really fast…! But it feels kind of weird, Master."

"Well, I'm just moving it myself. It's like moving a box in your hand back and forth."

To put it another way, it's like pushing a toy car by hand.

Right. It doesn't actually have to be practical as a magitech car.

It's in development! A cost-be-damned, energy-guzzling prototype! That's the setup.

Point is, as long as we can use this to say our travel is fast, it's fine.

What's that? We'll be in the red from fuel costs? Sure, but a noble sponsor is footing the bill, so it's outside Karina Shounin's purview!

"So, I want you two to modify this to make it look like it's magitech. At least for its internals."

"I see, so it doesn't have to be the real deal. In that case, even I might be able to handle it now. We just need to come up with plausible mechanisms, devices, and magic circles, right?"

"Yeah. You can even think of a way to actually make it run. Like a piston engine."

"Give me details on that, Onee-san!"

"Umm, there's something called an internal combustion engine. A crank, a heat sink…"

I gave a quick overview of engine concepts starting from pistons. I don't know the details either, though.

"Um, Master. What should I help with? I don't know anything about magitech devices."

"Assist Dea-kun… For the fake engine — the heart-looking section — can you work in design motifs with a speedy vibe to sell the bluff? Can you do something with your bard sense?"

To insist this is magitech, we need at least the heart section to have a cool look that immediately says, "This is something amazing." Not that we'll have many chances to show it off.

"Understood. I'll consult with Dea-sama and give it a try!"

Yep, do your best.

I handed them parchment, ink, and pens. Since it's for design, using replicas is fine.

"Then I'll go do market research on what to bring when we go peddling to Karkassa. Maybe I'll even procure stock."

"Okay, see you, Onee-san."

"Leave the house-sitting to me, Master!"

We don't particularly need someone to watch the place, though. This is a space no one can enter without my permission, so customers won't come. In the end, I never got around to renting an inn and setting a door there.

Ah, and I need to buy materials for massage devices starting with a Denma (wand massager). Fufufu.