"Distinguished Saintess of the Moon, to what do I owe the honor of this late-night meeting?"
"Distinguished Saintess of Water, Ophelia Saint Gabriel, I have something important I wish to discuss with you. I wonder if you have the time?"
"Since Your Highness Luo Li has requested it, I naturally have time."
Ophelia was almost entirely hidden beneath a white headscarf, and even her hair was mostly covered.
Only a few strands of the girl's light blue hair were visible from the side.
Her face was covered with a veil, making her features impossible to see clearly, but her voice was soft and delicate, carrying a faint sense of frailty.
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness Ophelia. I will not beat around the bush and will speak directly."
"Please proceed, Your Highness Luo Li."
Ophelia's face remained hidden behind her veil, her expression completely unreadable.
"I have heard... that the Kingdom of the Sea has a water train that uses a machine called a steam engine for power, allowing it to run without horses. Is this true?"
"So Your Highness Luo Li is interested in that. Unfortunately, although I am the Saintess of the Sea, I truly have no say in commercial matters."
Was the influence of the Saintess of the Sea really that low?
On second thought, it made sense.
After all, the Kingdom of the Sea did not directly face the demon army, so their need for the Holy Church was not very great.
The Holy Church focused on the demon race in certain aspects, so in areas where the demons were rampant, the influence of the Holy Church and the Saintess was naturally greater.
The Kingdom of the Sea was located toward the southwest in the center of the Eight Nations of the Holy Church, neighbored by the Kingdom of Flame, then the Kingdom of the Sun, and finally my Kingdom of the Moon.
Its location was one of the most peaceful regions in the human realms.
Having not suffered a demon invasion for centuries, the Kingdom of the Sea's dependence on the Holy Church had reached a low point.
It was normal for the Saintess to have little influence there.
In the Kingdom of the Moon, however, it was the gateway facing the demon invasion. If the demon race wanted to invade the continent, their first obstacle was the Kingdom of the Moon.
Therefore, the dependence on the Saintess was much greater here, and my status rose accordingly.
In fact, the Kingdom of the Moon had no royal family at all; there was only the Saintess.
"I see... that truly is a pity."
I had originally wanted to use the equal status between Saintesses to get close to Ophelia and see if I could purchase a steam engine train at a low price.
But now it seemed it would not be that easy.
To be called the Maritime Commercial Capital, the commerce of that nation must be incredibly developed!
It was even possible the entire nation had entered a semi-capitalist model.
"However..."
"However what?"
"However, if Your Highness Luo Li is interested, I can contact the steam engine manufacturers in my country on your behalf."
"Really? That would be wonderful. I must trouble Your Highness Ophelia to contact them for me. I just wonder, what is the approximate price?"
"I am not entirely sure of the specifics because the Temple does not interfere in these commercial activities, but according to rumors, the price of one steam engine is approximately one hundred thousand gold coins."
One... one hundred thousand?!
Holy crap, that is expensive!
And that is just for a single machine!
If I factor in the iron rails and the carriage shells, how much would that cost?
"Your Highness Luo Li, Your Highness Luo Li..."
"Uh... yes?"
"Do you still need me to contact the manufacturers on your behalf?"
"This... let me think about it."
"Very well. If you have any needs, I will do my best to help negotiate. As fellow Saintesses of the Temple, we should naturally help each other."
This Ophelia person seemed very easy to talk to.
"Thank you, Your Highness Ophelia. I will not disturb you further. I wish you peace."
"I wish you peace."
The 3D screen before my eyes vanished instantly.
There was a lot of good news today and very little bad news, which made me feel exceptionally comfortable.
Except... this steam engine was just too expensive.
One hundred thousand gold coins!
It seemed I needed to ask Anton. Even if this thing was expensive, it shouldn't be that expensive.
There was definitely someone pocketing the difference.
To put it bluntly, it was just a bunch of copper and iron gathered together; the main issue was the technology.
"Nara, prepare paper and pen."
"Does Your Highness wish to practice calligraphy?"
Nara looked at me in surprise. Since she started following me, she had rarely seen me take the initiative to write.
Returning to my room, I spread out the paper and held a quill made from the feathers of a rare bird of this world, frantically recalling every detail about steam engines in my mind.
I couldn't depict the specific details, but any modern person would roughly understand the principle of a steam engine.
I drew a water bottle, then a pipe, then a piston chamber, and then a wheel.
I managed to draw a rough schematic of the steam engine principle.
I would discuss it with Anton tomorrow. If he could build it, why would I need to spend those one hundred thousand gold coins to buy one?
Furthermore, once this thing was created, mechanized production could begin.
The preparation of firearms naturally required a standardized manufacturing method.
What I wanted was for every gun to have interchangeable parts.
To achieve this, there had to be a machine tool for mechanized production.
And for that... an engine as a power source was absolutely essential.
Some high-end items could be crafted by the dwarves, but large-scale mechanized production had to be put on the agenda as well.
Sometimes, what these people lacked was not skill, but an epoch-making idea!
It was just like some ancient items that were difficult to replicate even in modern times. One couldn't say their craftsmanship was poor; one could only say their ideas weren't bold enough.
"Your Highness... what are you drawing?"
At some point, a Lola had appeared behind me!
She startled me so much that I pressed down too hard, nearly puncturing the paper.
My hand jerked, and I quickly pulled it back.
"Wh-When did you get back?"
"I just came in. What is... Your Highness drawing?"
Even someone as limitlessly intelligent as Lola was completely bewildered when faced with something she had never encountered before.
This caused the vanity in my heart to reach its peak.
Finally...
Finally, there was something that even you, the master of mind-reading, didn't know!
I even wanted to balance the quill on my nose to display the pride in my heart at this moment.
"This is called a steam engine."
"This... can also be considered a steam engine?"
Lola looked at me in confusion.
"Look, here is the water storage tank, and here is the pipe. As long as it is heated, the expanding steam will travel through the pipe into the piston chamber, pushing the piston, which then pushes the connecting rod, and then this wheel moves."
As the quill's feather swept across, a rough outline of the steam process appeared in Lola's mind.
Being a top-tier intelligent person, Lola understood the principle almost instantly.
"Your Highness, can just steam... truly be as miraculous as you say?"
However, as a clever person who could not transcend her era, she still wore a confused expression when faced with such a trans-dimensional mechanical device.
"...Follow me."
Since she didn't believe it, I would prove it to her.
I found an iron kettle, filled it halfway with water, had the mages use magic to seal the spout and lid tight, and then placed it over a fire to roast.
The bright moon had already hung in the sky at some point, and the sky full of stars made me clearly aware that this was not Earth.
Because those stars did not match the stars I knew at all.
Only the North Star provided a slight sense of familiarity.
Even the most prominent Orion in the Northern Hemisphere was nowhere to be found.
As expected, this was not my hometown.
But no matter where this was, at least for now... I was standing right here!
This was my world.
The fire roared, and inside the kettle being cooked over the flames, a clanging sound rang out; it was the muffled noise brought by high pressure.
I pulled Lola to a spot about sixty or seventy meters away from the kettle.
I didn't want my little life to meet an untimely end because of an experiment.
Under Lola's gaze and my own cautious watch.
The kettle... finally did as I expected.
With a loud bang, a massive explosion erupted, and in an instant, thick mist filled the air. The thunderous sound even caused the entire Temple to suddenly wake up.
"Quick! The sound came from over there!"
"Protect the Saintess!"
"Notify the Guardian Knights immediately, something has happened at the Temple!"
Uh... I didn't mean to make such a big scene.
Lola pushed up her glasses. I was just about to ask her what to do, but to my surprise, the moment I turned my head, she was gone.
The north wind whistled through, and in the courtyard... only the Saintess remained, bewildered in the wind.
"Lola, you have no loyalty!!"
Next, after a good deal of comforting and explaining from the Saintess, the misunderstanding was finally resolved.
However, the Temple was now brightly lit, and many soldiers wore expressions of lingering fear.
After all, the demon army's attack had only receded a few days ago. Who wouldn't fear a sudden return of the demons?
The four Guardian Knights gathered in the Temple in the middle of the night.
They glared at the Saintess sitting on the divine platform.
"Your Highness, please do not do such dangerous things in the Temple. Do you know how terrified I was the moment I heard that sound!"
Hilda had never been angry with her before, but today, she was truly furious. Her eyes were filled with a raging fire, and if she weren't still maintaining her sense of duty, she probably would have rushed up to give her a beating by now.
"I'm sorry."
"Your Highness, if there is a next time for something like this, please be sure to notify me in advance."
Cain's face was solemn, his gaze like that of a judge sentencing a criminal, making it impossible to look him in the eye.
"I'm sorry."
"Your Highness! No matter how powerful you are, please do not take such risks again. What if you were truly hurt?"
Yuna, with her short pink hair, looked like an irritated puppy at this moment, baring her teeth as if she were about to rush up and take a bite to vent her frustration.
"I'm sorry."
"Your Highness! You are the Saintess of the Moon, our King! How could you do such a dangerous thing yourself? If anything happened to you, how could we knights face anyone!!"
Serious little Nar, though young, had a sharp and piercing voice. His slightly chubby face was flushed red with anger.
"I'm sorry."
At this moment, facing the rebukes of the four Guardian Knights, Luo Li could only lower her head and issue a sincere fourfold apology.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I won't do it again."
"Your Highness, what on earth were you doing?" Seeing the Saintess before her with her head bowed, looking like she was about to cry from the scolding, Hilda felt both pity and resentment.
"I... it's all my fault, I'm sorry."
What could I say? Should I say I was showing Lola the power of steam?
If I actually said that, this criticism meeting would probably be extended by another hour.
"Since Your Highness knows your mistake, do not repeat it. Otherwise, next time, we won't let you off after just half an hour."
Hilda sighed helplessly. The Saintess before her was truly unpredictable.
I thought the path to restoring the glory of Brilliant City was next, but who would have thought that before the demon chaos had even fully passed, such a joke would suddenly occur.
"I understand..."
Sob sob sob!
"Indeed, for the Saintess to be so careless with herself and personally conduct such a dangerous experiment is truly inappropriate."
This voice was unexpectedly familiar. I instinctively looked up.
Holy crap!
You disloyal Lola actually dare to stand on their side and scold me!
I!
Fine, you win!
Looking at the fire in the eyes of the four knights, I really didn't dare to explain anything more.
But... I'm so angry!!
I clearly did it to show you the power of steam, but you ran away without a word and now you've joined the judgment team.
I... I'll glare you to death!
As if sensing the Saintess's exasperated gaze, Lola calmly pushed up her glasses.
"My Lords, it is late now. Since Her Highness is unharmed, she should rest. Should you all not take your leave? It would not be good to disturb the Saintess's rest."
The four Guardian Knights looked at each other and nodded.
"In that case, Your Highness, we shall take our leave."
"I'm sor... uh, you may go. Thank you for your concern."
I almost apologized instinctively again and quickly changed my words to let them leave.
When only Lola and I were left in the Temple, an evil power filled my thoughts!
Lola, you're really asking for it! If I don't spank you today, I'll have the title of Saintess in vain!
"Lola! You..."
"Your Highness, it is time to sleep."
It was time to sleep; I was tired too.
No, that's not right!
"Lola! How could you be so disloyal..."
"Your Highness, you are to meet Anton of the dwarves tomorrow morning. Please go to sleep early."
Oh right, tomorrow I have to discuss the steam engine and firearms with Anton... wait!
The subject was changed again!!
"Lola—!"
"Your Highness, I have left two thousand gold coins of pocket money for you; they have already been sent to your room."
"I'm going to sleep now~~"
When I returned to my room with excitement and saw that bed full of gold coins.
While excited, I suddenly felt something was wrong.
Dammit! I let Lola get away!
She actually used money to lure me!
This was clearly all my money anyway!
I wanted to go back and find her, but looking at that bed of shimmering gold.
She got away... so be it. She can run, but she can't hide forever.
I picked one up and sniffed it.
Mhm... these coins have been cleaned, probably to avoid dirtying my bedroom?
I can't hold back anymore!
I... I'm diving in!!
Thud~
I slammed heavily onto these thousand or so gold coins.
Ugh~
A wave of dull pain made me wear a mask of agony.
But the corners of my mouth still couldn't stop curling upward wildly.
Mine, it's all mine~
Rate on N.U.
