The carriage sped across the muddy ground. Around it, guards rode armored horses, carrying various weapons as they encircled the carriage.
Numerous fine horses charged forward at high speed, passing through roads splashed with flying dust and mud, until they reached a flat street.
The sound of the horses' hooves pulling the carriage gradually grew sparse, until it finally stopped.
Aurellian felt a bit puzzled and asked Lady Cassandra, "Aunt, why did we stop?"
Cassandra reached out and slowly pulled aside the curtain of the carriage window.
"Because we've already arrived."
Aurellian looked out through the window.
What she saw was a sight that would shock anyone who came here.
Countless tall buildings rose straight from the ground. On both sides were streetlights driven by magic, and from massive chimney-like structures poured out streams of magic in all kinds of colors.
The traffic flowing along the streets seemed to be enchanted as well. Aurellian couldn't see a single horse-drawn carriage.
Instead, there were only mechanical devices emitting white exhaust, racing along at high speed.
Some pedestrians even had strange mechanical prosthetic limbs as they walked along the road.
Mechanical eyeballs moved back and forth in their sockets, and it was hard to tell whether they could actually see people.
There were also cats and dogs with turning gears woven into their bodies, scurrying through the streets, seemingly adding a touch of life to the ecosystem of this mechanical city.
Aurellian stared out the window with her eyes wide open, looking around like a curious child.
"Get out of the carriage."
The guard outside opened the door and placed a step stool for them.
The two of them stepped down from the carriage one after the other, their movements equally graceful.
"Go back and report in. You don't need to continue protecting me."
Cassandra calmly gave orders to the surrounding guards.
This was the Lesser family's territory. There was no need for these guards to accompany her.
They all nodded to Cassandra in unison and dispersed in an orderly manner, clearly well trained.
Only Elsa did not leave, remaining by Cassandra's side.
Lady Cassandra turned around and looked at Aurellian.
"Next, we need to switch to a different means of transportation."
Aurellian was a little confused. After all, she had lived in the royal capital for years and had never seen cities outside of it.
The last time she felt like this was when she went to Endymion with Teacher Viktor.
That experience had brought her many novel impressions.
And this time, the advanced city before her eyes also filled her with a sense of novelty.
Moreover, unlike the Mage City's fantastical atmosphere, this place gave off a feeling of order and harmony.
In this mechanical capital, even the air felt a bit heavy, carrying a hint of seriousness.
Suddenly, a magic-powered automobile slowly came to a stop in front of them.
At the rear of the vehicle was a fairly large magic storage tank.
Compressed, dense magic was packed into it as a power source.
Every bit of magic on the vehicle was strictly controlled by steel, distributed with great precision.
Seeing this "carriage" that could move on its own, Aurellian felt amazed.
This carriage had no wheels. Its body seemed to be enchanted, floating slightly in midair.
Four seats were arranged in pairs, front and back, yet no one was inside driving it.
"A new product from the Lesser family. You can think of it as an automatic carriage that doesn't need horses to pull it."
Aurellian blinked and couldn't help but think of Teacher Viktor's magic carriage, which also didn't require horses.
But it seemed a little different from the one in front of her.
Elsa stepped forward first, opened the rear door, and bowed to invite them inside.
"Get in."
After saying that, Cassandra sat down first in the inner seat.
With a mix of nervousness and curiosity, Aurellian sat down inside this strange "magic carriage."
Elsa sat in the front, acting as a bodyguard.
The vehicle slowly began to move. Because it floated in the air, the ride was extremely smooth.
They gradually headed deeper into the city.
The appearance of the city revealed itself more and more to Aurellian.
Countless towering buildings shimmered with strange colors.
Rotating gears constantly assembled in midair, forming all kinds of signboards, as if advertising something.
When the vehicle reached the city center, Aurellian seemed to sense something and couldn't help but look up.
That was the highest point of the mechanical city.
High in the vast sky, several powerful magic channels converged at a single point, and a massive magic barrier covered the city from above.
A stunning clock hung on a tall tower, shaped like a gear.
On it were two hands, one long and one short, emitting red and blue light respectively.
"That is… magic?"
Lady Cassandra began to explain to Aurellian, "This place is known as the [City of Advancement], Tiepoh."
"And it is also the location of our Lesser family's main house."
Just judging from the surface, one might even feel that this place was more prosperous than the royal capital.
But…
"Aunt, why haven't you spread all of this to other places?"
Aurellian asked. Cassandra simply rested her head on her hand and looked at the surrounding mechanical scenery.
"Not enough energy."
"Energy?"
Cassandra didn't answer her question directly and continued, "These things are very convenient, aren't they?"
"But they require too much energy. We can only operate them in a single city of limited size."
Tiepoh's area was naturally no match for the royal capital, nor for Braeston, which was ruled by the Clavenna territory.
Braeston had an extremely large population and relied on its coastline and harbor to conduct extensive commercial trade.
The sea area under its jurisdiction was vast.
Because of this, Braeston was able to become the Empire's second most prosperous economic city.
The advanced city established by the Lesser main house, strictly speaking, wasn't even one-tenth the size of Braeston.
Not to mention the royal capital.
To popularize this technology in those two places would require enormous costs, whether in manpower or finances.
The vehicle continued moving forward and passed through a dark mechanical tunnel.
When the light appeared once more, they arrived at the Lesser family's main house.
After getting out of the car, Cassandra said calmly to the guard beside her, "Elsa, you can leave for now as well. Come find me later."
"Yes."
The female guard called Elsa lowered her head in acknowledgment and quickly left.
Taking advantage of the moment, Aurellian looked up.
She widened her eyes, not wanting to miss a single detail.
The Lesser main house was enormous, surrounded by massive, sturdy stone walls and divided into several areas.
Countless servants carried out their duties in the courtyard. Even standing outside, Aurellian could see them constantly moving in and out of room after room.
The huge brown buildings looked like mechanical towers, and between them seemed to exist a faint sense of order.
This place didn't feel like a home.
It felt more like a small city brought together in one place.
"What you're seeing now is the Lesser family's research zone. Without special permission, no one is allowed to enter."
"And over there, the area with the largest footprint is the testing zone, where dedicated testers carry out experiments on various new inventions."
Cassandra led Aurellian through the steel corridors while explaining everything about the Lesser main house.
"This is the botanical garden."
Aurellian leaned forward to look inside and found that it contained all kinds of common plants, but at sizes far beyond common sense.
Even the fruits that had just grown were taller than a maid.
"These botanical gardens are responsible for purifying the air here, as well as cultivating vegetables and fruits, ensuring that the research staff can be self-sufficient."
Aurellian listened in a daze and nodded blankly.
Suddenly, right in front of her, a robot with turning gears swayed past.
This moving, puppet-like machine startled Aurellian so badly that she immediately hid behind Cassandra and asked tremblingly, "What was that just now…?"
"You can think of it as a brand-new invention. They have a collective name."
"Magitech."
Cassandra said as she walked with Aurellian.
"Everything designed here serves one original purpose."
"That is to make human life more convenient."
Cassandra crossed her arms and said calmly, "Using magic as the fundamental support, but also breaking away from magic, so that even ordinary people who can't use magic can enjoy the benefits that magic brings."
"So… so amazing."
After Cassandra finished speaking, Aurellian's eyes lit up.
Everything before her felt incredibly novel, filling her with interest in this unfamiliar land.
But suddenly, she raised a question, "Oh, right, Aunt."
"I heard the ministers say that you're suspected of luring and capturing elves… but why would you capture elves?"
Lady Cassandra's body paused, and she let out a sigh.
"Your father asked you to bring this up, didn't he?"
"I knew he's never been at ease about this issue."
Aurellian didn't reply. Cassandra instead turned and changed direction, slowly walking away.
"Come with me."
Aurellian obediently followed quietly behind her.
As they walked, Lady Cassandra stopped in front of the research lab's door.
At the entrance stood an extremely strong guard. When he saw Cassandra arrive, he immediately stepped aside and respectfully let her pass.
"Welcome back, Lady Cassandra."
The guards clearly held Lady Cassandra in great respect. In Aurellian's eyes, this was Cassandra's control.
A vague feeling rose in her heart.
Perhaps the Lesser family had always been under her aunt's control.
The mechanical doors slowly opened. During this time, Cassandra continued speaking, "In order to realize the plan of letting ordinary people enjoy the convenience of magic, our researchers have been constantly experimenting."
"Later, we discovered that among the human race, only mages can store large amounts of magic as energy."
"And once this kind of magic leaks out, humans can neither store it nor transport it elsewhere for use as energy."
"So we found inspiration from other races, and in the end, confirmed this possibility."
The moment they stepped into the laboratory, they were surrounded by busy researchers.
They wore white lab coats and bustled about the lab, their arms filled with blueprints and documents.
All kinds of precision instruments were placed on huge research tables, and many rooms were plastered with warning signs to keep away.
"Don't mind them. They're all mages the Lesser family hired from Endymion under expensive contracts."
"We need the wisdom of the Mage City, so we invited many people to help us."
Cassandra walked ahead as Aurellian followed closely behind.
The researchers constantly passed by the two of them, as if they didn't see them at all, burying themselves in their work.
Cassandra didn't seem to mind their lack of etiquette in the slightest.
Here, it seemed everyone had something they needed to do.
As they continued walking, the two arrived in front of another large door.
There were also two guards standing there, as if guarding whatever was behind the door.
When they saw Cassandra arrive, they bowed deeply.
"Lady Cassandra."
Cassandra said calmly, "Open the door."
The man took out a card and swiped it across the panel by the door.
[Authorization accepted]
Along with a mechanical voice, the door's gears rapidly turned, and the lights above changed to blue.
Cassandra continued speaking to Aurellian, "Actually, I don't know that much about elves either."
"But I hope you'll replace the word 'capture' with something else."
The door opened, and Aurellian froze in place at what she saw inside.
Before her was an astonishing forest.
Dense jungle mixed with vibrant undergrowth, and a rich, natural breeze rushed toward her face.
Just staying here made one feel incredibly happy.
Within the forest, many elves played and laughed, darting back and forth among the trees.
Aurellian stared blankly at the lively elves, while Cassandra stood in front of her with her arms crossed.
"This is the secret the Lesser family has always hidden, the energy source of the City of Advancement."
"A paradise of the forest, designed with care solely for the elves."