To get to the village of Hasam, the party would have to cross the Aurus River.
Very few merchants used the highways in remote regions like this one, so Zelos had made most of the trip on his Harley-Sanders—and Ado, Shakti, and Lisa in their kei car—without worrying about being spotted. But now that they were approaching a trade hub and pedestrian traffic was increasing, they’d have to travel the rest of the way on foot.
After all they’d done, they understood it was maybe too late to start worrying about standing out—but they still wanted to do anything they could to keep a low profile.
Zelos effectively had the backing of a ducal house, so he didn’t have to worry about open oppression by authority.
Ado, however, was affiliated with a foreign country, albeit only temporarily. The more he stood out, the more likely it was that he’d get his movement restricted. Not to mention his fiancée was here in this country, and he didn’t even want to think about what could happen if she were taken hostage.
Not all people in power were as clever as Duke Delthasis.
Some would pull stupid stunts without a second thought.
And considering that possibility, Zelos had decided to take some preventive measures, just in case.
Things don’t always go how you want, do they? Trying to ensure our freedom could just draw in more stupid bigwigs.
Perhaps that sounded a bit rich coming from Zelos, who could whiz around wherever he wanted in his groundbreaking form of transport, but he did have a justification for keeping it under wraps. After all, he was trying to prevent a rapid technological advance.
As long as he was affiliated with the Solistia ducal family, he had to be careful about how much technology he showed off.
If this world’s technology developed too quickly, it could lead to war. For example, if Zelos’s Harley-Sanders Model 13 were repurposed for battle, there would be obvious reconnaissance utility.
Replicating it wouldn’t be practical, of course. The cost of all the metals and other materials would seriously strain Solistia’s finances. The design required materials that only came from dragons, after all. Maybe the country could figure out how to make a rudimentary version of a motorbike in the end, but in terms of durability, versatility, and so on, it would pale in comparison to Zelos’s Harley-Sanders.
Still, showing off something that far past society’s current technology would only cause unnecessary chaos.
If he took things step by step, and helped jump-start research into the basics of steam engines or something, he could maybe introduce the motorbike. But then that approach would run into the problem of environmental issues. After all, vehicles suddenly exploding in popularity seemed almost guaranteed to cause issues with pollution.
Earth’s history exemplified how far humanity could progress, but it also showed all the issues that could follow.
Yeah. Suddenly whipping out advanced tech would cause nothing but trouble, huh... Plus, I assume inciting that kind of rapid economic and industrial growth would just give nobles even more influence than they already have. And I doubt the average noble would give one damn about pollution.
Civilization would advance sooner or later.
Left to its own devices, this world’s economy would probably advance in a major way, driven by magic—effectively a clean technology. But the people of this world had no experience with industrial technology and its harmful effects. They wouldn’t comprehend the significance of contaminating seas and rivers.
They’d have no way of knowing how toxic certain chemicals or tiny particles of metal were to the human body until those things were already a problem. Worse, it was possible the average noble would quietly approve of endeavors that caused suffering for the common masses. And even if nobles did try to take measures against such consequences, their lack of background knowledge made it hard to say whether they’d even manage to find out the causes, let alone prevent them.
Further, it was a given that most technology would be used to strengthen countries’ militaries. And a stronger military would whet nobles’ appetites for conquest, driving them to start wars to expand their territories.
Technology could also enable more affluent lifestyles, which would risk making nobles even more arrogant than they already were. Now even more focused on their shortsighted endeavors, those nobles would close their eyes to the harms of pollution and focus instead on finding new, uncontaminated land to spoil.
Long story short, a lot of bad things could happen, and Zelos and Ado had the power to cause all of them. If they wanted to live free, they needed to make friends in high places. Having influential backers would make a big difference to their standing.
I guess it’s more important for them to learn other stuff before focusing on technological development, then... Wait. Why am I thinking about all of this, anyway?
Magic-based technologies were typically developed by continuously combining and testing theories. Over time, enough hypotheses were proven to form a consensus.
Studying pharmaceuticals could lead to advancements in medical knowledge, hygiene, and biology. Even something as simple as a cog could lead to mechanical engineering, electronics, and more.
But Zelos’s and Ado’s cheat skills could bypass all that and send the world skyrocketing straight to the top rungs of the technological ladder. They had the potential to make things that were incredibly dangerous—things that could affect a great many lives. That was the problem.
What if I got Ado to enter into a business relationship with Duke Delthasis too? I can’t bring myself to trust other nobles—and besides, it should be fine if they’re just focused on what’s mutually beneficial. Yeah. And if they ever need, they can form a contract, like I did with the spell scrolls.
Duke Delthasis was a wise man.
If he could maintain a mutually beneficial relationship, he would. He wouldn’t come to a business partner with an unreasonable request unless the situation were truly extreme.
Plus, nobody—or at least, next to nobody—wanted to make an enemy of the Solistia ducal house.
The duke was just about the most trustworthy business partner anyone could ask for.
His mind still mulling over all this, Zelos joined the others on foot and headed toward a little port town, where they intended to get a boat to cross the Aurus River.
“Urgh. I hadn’t realized we’d have to walk once we got close,” Ado grumbled. “I mean, I get there’s a lot of people around a trading town like this, so the kei car would stick out like a sore thumb. I don’t want to attract the wrong kind of attention, but still...it’s a drag.”
“Your car and my bike are clearly from a whole other technological era,” Zelos said. “Showing off forms of transport more efficient than carriages could revolutionize war and industry as this world knows them. If any nobles saw you traveling in that thing, they’d drag you away for sure. You can’t go around showing off tech like that willy-nilly.”
The port town was still a fair while away, but Zelos used a familiar to scout from above and determined that they’d probably arrive in about three hours.
Despite walking for about an hour, neither Lisa nor Shakti had said a word. They were probably both exhausted. After all, they were both at a much lower level than Zelos and Ado.
And with such a huge gap between all of their stats, it was only natural that some got exhausted far more quickly than others.
“Shakti and Lisa both look pretty spent, huh?” Ado said.
“I can see why,” Zelos said. “Sure, the road’s paved, but it’s far from even.”
This was nothing like a perfectly flat, asphalt road; it had a rough, bumpy cobblestone surface that made it hard to walk on.
Plus, the surrounding scenery was nothing but forest. It got boring after a while.
“They didn’t say a single word even when we were resting, now that I think about it...” Ado mused.
“Mmm... It reminds me of those overnight study camps back in elementary school. You know, where all the kids had to walk up a mountain. They’d always be pooped by the time they got halfway up. Their willpower’s keeping them going, but their spirits have given up on thinking. Something like that, at least.”
“Overnight study camps? What are those? Are they different from regular field trips and other excursions like that?”
“Not that different. We’d stay at a lodge surrounded by nature, walk around a lake like we were on a field trip... I think we even did some fishing and stuff. Then there were the night events, where we’d build campfires and stuff. What, did your elementary school not do those?”
“I, uh... I always seemed to get sick right before those kinds of trips. As far as I can remember, I only ever got to go on one field trip. It was in my third year of middle school. It ended in tragedy before I even started going up the mountain too.”
“That doesn’t even sound like you got stranded in nature. It just sounds like a typical kid, getting lost.”
Ado wasn’t just bad with directions—he also had terrible luck, apparently.
He’d even missed photo day, so his graduation album had added his photo afterward, roughly editing it in next to the rest of his class.
The memory was so sad that tears started welling in his eyes.