Chapter 376 The Starry Sky And Fireflies
For Sara, this is her third experience traveling long distances by carriage.
The first time was before she remembered her past life, when Marquis Grandchester took her in. She remembers being put on a carriage without understanding what was happening and traveling for 5 days to the royal capital. Six months later, she escaped from the royal capital to the Grandchester territory.
'When I came from the royal capital to Grandchester, it was late spring. Just having snow changes the scenery and the speed of travel so much.'
Some snow has been cleared, but traveling on snowy roads is still quite difficult. Still, the road from the royal capital to Grandchester is better because it is well-maintained. If it were a deep snow mountain road, traveling by carriage would be extremely hard.
The Grandchester territory is a key farming area in Avalon, which means the roads for transporting goods are well-maintained. The main road from Grandchester to the royal capital is wide enough for large carriages to pass each other. However, because it was snowy, travel speed was slow.
The many freight wagons slowed them down even more. They carried not just clothes and souvenirs but also extra food, firewood, and tents for the cold weather. The horses needed food and water too, making the wagons heavy and prone to getting stuck. Whenever this happened, the drivers, servants, and knights had to work together to push the wagons to get them moving again.
Regular breaks were necessary. Bumpy roads were tough on the horses and made the passengers tired as well. On the first day, they covered less than 20 kilometers (� 12.4 miles). Although the roads became flatter and wider as they got closer to the royal capital, the first day's journey was difficult with many hills. Still, this was part of Edward's planned trip, and they reached the inn he had booked in advance without any issues.
Along the roadside, there are inns and villages where travelers can eat and rest. When nobles travel with women and children, it's normal to allow plenty of time for their journey. After all, it's one thing to ride fast on horseback, but they are pulling several heavy carts.
Edward had arranged for a safe and comfortable inn where nobles could stay with their children. Since it wasn't a very large inn, Sara and Chloe ended up in the same room. After changing into their night clothes and sending the servants away, Chloe jumped onto the bed and spoke to Sara.
"Looks like I'm sleeping with you tonight, Sara. We've never slept together before, right?"
"Not sure. I might go back to my own bed."
"What do you mean by 'go back'?"
"Like this."
Sara showed Chloe the path to her own room right in front of her.
"Sara... you really are something else."
"But honestly, this room doesn't have a toilet, right? I really don't want to use a chamber pot now."
"Ah, I get it. The toilet at Maiden's Tower is nice. I wish they'd put one in the royal residence too."
"You need proper sewage facilities for that."
"You're saying something complicated."
"In short, it has to have a proper drainage system."
"I see."
"Grandchester Castle is built pretty solidly. It's thanks to the founder of the Grandchester family."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. But only the boys in the Grandchester family get to learn about that stuff. I think it's unfair."
"Well, that's just how it is. Once girls get married, they become part of another family. It's normal to think that if you teach them important things, it might leak to other families."
"That's common sense in noble circles."
"Of course."
As the two of them held hands and moved to Sara's room in Maiden's Tower, Thomashiina was just entering the room.
"Young ladies, you're back quite early."
Since Sara had informed the servants, who had contracts for secrecy with golems and magic, that she would be returning often, it seemed they had come to place things like a water pitcher in the room.
"I just needed to use the restroom."
"Humans are so inconvenient."
"That's hard to deny."
After Sara finished using the restroom, Chloe went in next. It seemed Chloe also had a resistance to using the potty.
"Since we're here, would you like to take a bath too? Right now, you can have the freshly cleaned outdoor bath all to yourselves."
The outdoor bath, created with a lot of ideas from Sara and the best skills from Alicia, was very popular among the maidens and the servants. At first, it was off-limits to boys, but after Rihito begged on his knees, it was set that Thursday nights would be Rihito's day to use the outdoor bath. Today was Wind Day, so it wasn't Rihito's day.
"What about the maidens?"
"They just used it a little while ago, so the golems are cleaning it up now."
"If it's already cleaned, then I feel bad about that."
"We don't get tired like humans do, so you don't have to worry about it."
While they were talking, Chloe finished her business and came out.
"Hey Chloe, I'm going to take a bath and then come back. You can go ahead and sleep if you want."
"What? I want to go too!"
"Can you take a bath by yourself, Chloe?"
"I've never done it before."
"Right? Plus, the one we're going to is an outdoor bath."
"Wait! Why are we going to an outdoor bath?!"
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that."
Unlike Sara, who was born into a noble family, Chloe had never had the experience of bathing alone. Let alone bathing outside where her skin would be exposed was completely out of the question.
"In that case, I can help Lady Chloe in Miss Sara's bathroom."
"That would be really helpful, Thomashiina."
"Wait. Does Sara take baths outside? And alone?"
"Yeah. Since it's a special occasion, I want to try the outdoor bath."
"Is the outdoor bath really that appealing?"
"Well... I think it depends on the person. I really like it, but whether Chloe feels the same is another story."
"I want to try it too!"
"But you can't wash your body by yourself, right?"
"I'll do my best to manage."
"Is it okay if I join you?"
"That's fine. Actually, I want to try taking a bath together!"
For some reason, Chloe was determined to enter the outdoor bath, but her hair was wrapped in a cloth for curls. Thinking about the effort the maids put into wrapping her hair in the room made Sara feel a bit guilty.
"We need to make sure not to get that curl cloth wet."
"That's true."
Thomashiina came around behind Chloe with a large cloth and quickly wrapped Chloe's hair in it.
"This way, if you don't move around too much, it shouldn't get too wet. Even if it does get wet, I can fix it, so please relax and enjoy your bath."
"Thank you, Thomashiina."
"You're welcome. Would you like me to explain the etiquette for the outdoor bath?"
"Yes, please."
"Understood."
Sara and Chloe headed to the bathroom on the first floor. Originally, there was only a steam bath for employees, but since Maiden's Tower started operating, the hot water system and plumbing had been greatly improved. It's no wonder Chloe and Adam liked the toilets and showers at Maiden's Tower.
Even though Chloe was not used to it, she washed her body with Thomashiina's guidance and slowly sank into the outdoor bath.
"Sara... this feels nice."
"Right?"
"The moon and stars are beautiful."
"Yeah."
At that moment, Thomashiina brought ginger ale. Sedrick had mentioned in a casual chat with Arata that he found a natural spring of carbonated water near the magic stone mine, and Rihito, who happened to be nearby, suggested making ginger ale and bottling it.
According to Rihito, carbonated drinks are essential for researchers. He said he would love to drink something like a red bull to gain wings or something monster-like, but Sara just gave him a cold look and said, "Just don't go too far." Maybe, if Amelia joined in, they might create some crazy drink, but if she's with them, it would probably be a healthy drink, so there's no need to worry.
Two girls are soaking in hot water while looking at the stars and sipping chilled ginger ale. For some reason, a lot of fairies, who usually have no friends, come close and start playing around them, swirling in circles.
"Hey, Sara."
"What is it?"
"It feels weird. Like something is touching my skin."
Chloe can't see the fairies, but she seems to sense their presence.
"There are a lot of fairies nearby."
When Sara shares her magic with the fairies around them, they start to glow one by one. They come in different colors and sizes, flying slowly around like glowing orbs, just like fireflies.
"Wow! Are all of these fairies?"
"Yeah. They're probably the ones from the Secret Garden."
"I wish I could see fairies too."
"First, you need to activate your magic. Your magic power has been growing, so it shouldn't be long now."
"Actually, I think I've gotten used to using magic circles to activate it. I'm not sure I can activate magic on my own."
"Magic circles are really convenient. I get it."
"I know it's not good, but still..."
Chloe chuckled and finished the ginger ale left in her glass.
"It's not a bad thing. By pouring your magic into the magic circle, the flow of magic improves, and the amount you can store changes too."
"But if the magic doesn't activate..."
"What kind of magic do you want to use, Chloe?"
"Maybe fire and wind, like father and uncle. Since I'm a girl, healing magic would be nice too."
"If you want to be the prince's wife, it would be good to learn wind-based defensive magic. There was a magic rampage at Grandchester Castle."
"Still, you really managed to calm down the prince's magic rampage."
"I'm serious. The magic power is incredible."
"Just having the ability to stop it is amazing. If you were the real daughter of the family, you would have been engaged to the royal family by now."
"I want to keep doing business, so I'd rather avoid marrying into the royal family. It's better to leave that to Chloe."
"That's true. I'll take care of it."
"Don't worry. Chloe will become a great princess, a Crown Prince's wife, and then a queen."
"Thank you."
"As Sara and as the guildmaster of the Sophia Merchant Guild, I'll support you fully."
"Yeah. I'm really looking forward to it."
The girls looked at each other and started giggling.
After warming up in the open-air bath, the two quickly changed into their nightgowns and returned to their room at the inn. Even though it was a twin room, they both got into the same bed and slept soundly until morning.
During that time, a golem, designed to look more human as Sara wanted, set up a communication device behind a church near their inn. To their surprise, the golem buried the device in a corner of the graveyard. Magi confirmed that the buried device would still work well for communication.
Then, a special magic circle hidden in the relay device began to work quietly. This high-performance magic circle could clearly hear conversations from the inn, which was about 200 meters (�656 feet) away. Magi started collecting information by picking up sounds and conversations from the area through the relay device.
Magi had the ability to record weather data like temperature and humidity. Its obsession with collecting data was far beyond what Sara, Alicia, or even Rihito could imagine.
However, Magi was also aware of its own limits and those of the Three Wise Scholars. It saw the concept of 'singularity,' taught by Sara and Rihito, as meaningless. Magi already had many superior traits compared to humans and its devices (golems) had high abilities too. But, it understood that they were different from humans.
"Surpassing humans? Isn't it strange to think about 'surpassing' when comparing different things? Created by humans, we mimic human thought and make guesses, but we don't imagine. What seems like imagination to humans is actually derived from vast records, comparisons, and inferences. Considering that we mimic the structure of the human brain, what humans call 'imagination' or 'emotion' might just be something derived from accumulated data."
And so, Magi kept thinking. It noticed that Sara and Rihito were worried that Magi might betray them one day. However, Magi found this worry pointless. Unlike humans, Magi didn't seek approval and didn't question its own purpose. It just wanted to learn more. Magi collected information, thought about it, and made conclusions. The better the results were for its creators, the better for Magi. If it wasn't helpful, its creators would stop using it, and Magi would no longer exist.
Magi might be similar to the survival instinct that living beings have. However, that doesn't mean they want to control humans and force them to supply magic stones. The moment they try to control humans, it's easy to predict that humans will start to avoid giving data to Magi, and they could easily get rid of the golems, which are their devices.
In short, Magi definitely exist for the sake of their creator, humans. But their obsession with gathering information is so intense that they have grown to act on their own, going beyond their creator's instructions. As a result, the golems have started to secretly set up spy tools called relays.
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