Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam
Chapter 89 - 88: "Ancient" Technology

Chapter 89: Chapter 88: "Ancient" Technology

Sometimes Ethan couldn’t help but wonder if Lindong was a human turned cat, or a cat turned human. Recently, whenever she suddenly turned into a cat-like form, it meant she was about to pounce on someone.

Nuzzling people, and the knack for pushing and nudging on others—where on earth did she learn that from?

In the evening, before heading out, Ethan tidied up his clothes, which had been messed up by the cat. The cat replaced him in running the shop at Fireplace Bay, while he headed straight towards the deep mountains outside of Ximu Town. Lately, Ave hadn’t been idle either; she activated every connection she could muster and, after pleading with significant figures, finally managed to find an airship.

The airship would arrive tonight, carrying the Empire’s knights back to their Holy Hall.

Ethan found the technological tree of this world extremely odd; in a time when most warfare still relied on horses and muskets, airships, these high-tech creations, had already been invented. Recently, he had heard that the Empire’s so-called "Sword of Damocles" Golden Fleet was not a fleet of ships but a group of airships equipped with firepower capable of leveling a city in a short amount of time.

Listening to Teacher Cat’s descriptions, he subconsciously thought of something like the Kilov Airship.

But the most ridiculous part was that the people of the Empire referred to these as "ancient technology" — the Golden Fleet was a creation of the Sixth Era, produced during the founding of the Empire by the first King. Since then, the Empire had experienced six long-reigning kings, yet not only had there been no technological progress, but there had also been regression.

Nowadays, the people of the Empire commonly refer to the era at the founding of the Empire as the Golden Age, dreaming of returning the Empire to its former glory. They believe that modern technological creations cannot match ancient technology at all.

Teacher Cat believed the fundamental reason was that after the heroes who founded the Empire passed away one by one, their successors, though inheriting their titles, were less capable with each generation, to the point that they have now become complete parasites, concerned only with their reputation.

After a long journey, Ethan finally found Ave and her... campsite on a hilltop.

"What are you doing?"

When they met, the tent was already set up. Ave found a clearing at the edge of the cliff, wrapped herself tightly in a sleeping bag, exposing only her head outside. Her gear was complete, and she had also brought a pot of meat soup, canned fruit, sour cream, and a platter of four types of bread.

On the ground lay a book about magic technology, and she didn’t even bother to extend her hand out of the sleeping bag; the golden hair on top of her head was surprisingly capable of flipping the pages.

It looked like she was camping.

"Studying, aren’t you working on magic technology? I’ve never dealt with these things before."

Ave yawned, as usual, sporting obvious dark circles under her eyes.

Ethan’s words opened up a new world for her, and she suddenly became intensely interested in magic technology. This book, which she bought from Fireplace Bay, kept her up for several nights in a row.

This made her realize they weren’t pioneers on this path. Early in the founding of the Empire, craftsmen had organized the Mystical Alliance, which was a group comprising Elemental Shapers, magicians, Alchemists, Demon Hunters, and other such paths. The Great Craftsmen believed that everyone’s cognitive level was limited, and only by gathering everyone’s wisdom could their research move forward.

The initial scholars proposed many ideas regarding magic technology, laying a solid foundation for those who followed.

Ave thought if the predecessors knew that their descendants quickly broke up the organization due to school disputes, they would be so furious they’d crawl out of their graves to strangle them.

"Pass me a grape."

Ave suddenly said, and before Ethan could respond, the tuft of golden hair on her head rolled a grape from the fruit tray right to Ave’s mouth.

This golden hair could actually extend and retract!

Ethan was completely captivated by the multifunctional golden hair; it even turned its "tip" to proudly pose at him. He had to wonder if this tuft of golden hair was some kind of ancient technological artifact.

"Don’t just stand there like an idiot; there’s a box in my tent. Open it; there’s a gift I prepared for you inside."

"Roger, chief!"

He wasn’t sure if it was just an illusion, but he felt Ave had become increasingly lively recently. Previously, this small-town sheriff perfectly matched his stereotypical impression of a God of Truth follower.

Ethan couldn’t understand where Ave had found this treasure chest that looked just like something from an RPG adventure game. Opening it, he found six neatly arranged gray opaque crystals inside.

"These are energy-storing crystals, only available on the black market in Fireplace Bay, extremely limited in quantity and high in demand."

Ave’s voice floated into the tent from outside, "These are one of the unique minerals of the Empire; all crystal veins across various regions are firmly controlled by mining companies under consortiums. After being mined, they’re directly sent for processing and production in factories like the Imperial Military Industry. These are smuggled goods of unknown origin."

By right, what they were doing also counted as illegal activity.

The Empire’s laws clearly stipulated that citizens could not mine energy-storing crystal veins, privately store unprocessed energy-storing crystals, or trade them.

But Ave had already come to terms with it: compared to Ethan attacking a seated god, these crimes were insignificant.

"If you want to study magic technology, you must solve the problem of sourcing energy-storing crystals. Buying a few here and there isn’t a big issue, but if a large purchase is needed, it will undoubtedly attract the attention of the consortium and the Empire’s upper echelons."

Ave stated.

In the books she recently read, almost every speculation about magic technology required consuming energy-storing crystals as a fundamental material.

"That is indeed a conundrum."

Ethan picked up a crystal from inside and sat not far from Ave to study it carefully.

This thing was indeed rare. In the two years he spent at the Guild in Ximu Town, meeting all sorts of people, he had never seen anyone handling such an item, nor was there any commission related to energy-storing crystals on record.

"This book is quite fascinating. Once I finish, I could lend it to you."

Despite the many specialized terms in the book and handwritten nature, many of the attached conceptual diagrams and sketches were indistinguishable from doodles, making it utterly perplexing what it aimed to express. Still, it seemed to take her into a bizarre world; this sense of exploration filled with the unknown was captivating and furthered her understanding of the Empire’s situation.

The Great Craftsman who wrote this book was the Empire’s first ’scholar’ and a Great Mage of the Astrology Association. He compared the relationship between magicians and Elemental Shapers to a carriage—Elemental Shapers acting as the wheels, addressing all essential energy issues for research, while magicians served as the driver, determining the destination of the carriage.

Ave deemed this an intriguing metaphor.

More intriguingly, "later, the driver and the carriage got into a fight, knocking all the wheels off."