Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 728 Novice on the Road
Wood sat in the driver's seat of the alchemical wheel, feeling as if his whole body was about to fall apart from the jolts.

After being selected for a crash course in driving for more than a week, he still couldn't quite believe that the alchemical wheel he was sitting on... was actually alive.

The instructors in charge of leading them repeatedly emphasized that these magical creations, cast entirely in metal and appearing somewhat heavy and clumsy, were actually infused with the soul of some kind of tamed camel beast at the beginning of their creation, giving them a certain degree of autonomy.

Wood dared not delve too deeply into the wizard's bizarre methods, and he knew nothing about things like souls, magic, and consciousness... The only thing he was clear about was that controlling a wheeled vehicle was not much different from driving a horse.

Oxen and horses pull carts, which require pulling the reins to control their direction and whips to accelerate them. The same applies to wheeled vehicles, except that the reins are replaced by a "steering wheel" that needs to be gripped at all times, and acceleration and deceleration require pressing down on two different pedals. Only in this way can the alchemical creation receive the corresponding command signals and obey the instructions.

The various tedious operations sound complicated, but for Wood, a seasoned driver of carriages, he quickly mastered them and was praised by the instructors as a natural-born carriage driver.

"Driver" sounds like a completely unfamiliar word, but it probably means something similar to a charioteer... After all, this title is only given to those who drive carriages for royalty, nobles, or church dignitaries; ordinary drivers are simply called grooms.

Encouraged by the praise, novice driver Wood devoted himself even more diligently to practicing his wheelchair driving skills, always ready to take on his first upcoming mission.

Soon, his wish came true... The newly established border transport team received a very urgent transport mission. Due to the suddenness of the situation, the military high command even had to use all the new recruits who were still in training. This meant that Wood and his team had to drive the wheeled vehicles independently back to the north-central part of Eisengard, which was ravaged by alien races, to cooperate with the Saint Valen army to complete the rescue and transfer of refugees.

……

"Holmes... Hey! Holmes! Wake up, don't sleep!" The vehicle rumbled across the endless grassland, but it couldn't wake up his companion who was slumped in the passenger seat, forcing Wood to reach out and shove him forcefully.

"Hmm...we've arrived in Highlands?" Holmes, still half asleep, sat up and leaned out of the car window to look around.

The transport team dispatched nearly a hundred wagons, with two people taking turns driving them, following behind the army's war vehicles. They set off from the Langya Ridge garrison on the border and headed north. Since they set off at dusk, Holmes, who was originally from Saint Valencia, took the lead and was responsible for the more difficult night section of the road. He persisted until dawn before handing the road over to Wood, who was eager to take over, while he curled up in the passenger seat to catch up on sleep.

"Highland City? You're fast asleep, we've already passed Highland City!" Wood was a little excited on his first mission. The army accompanying him made him no longer afraid of those terrifying northern aliens, and the sense of accomplishment from controlling magical creations made him feel that he, as a mortal, could stand shoulder to shoulder with the superhumans at this moment. "We're about to reach Transport Station Four."

"They went straight through Highland City? Without stopping to rest? It seems this mission is really urgent..."

Holmes had done a lot of emergency transport work in St. Valencia in the past, and had also run a few thrilling journeys across the wasteland, so he was naturally used to it. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and found the map.

“That’s right. If we go another thirty miles or so, we’ll reach Transport Station Number Four. It’s estimated that the magical energy of the wheeled vehicles will be exhausted and we’ll need to replenish it there.”

This touches on a point that Wood has always been interested in: "Holmes... which is more expensive, the magical fodder that the alchemical carts eat, or the ordinary fodder that the camels, oxen, and draft horses eat?"

The oxen and horses transported on long journeys not only need alfalfa hay, but also require supplemental feed such as wheat cakes and soybean meal to maintain their strength. They also need salt bricks to lick constantly; otherwise, their lifespan will be drastically shortened under the high-intensity transport work, or they will frequently fall ill, causing business losses for the wagon owners. The alchemical wheelbarrow also houses the souls of these camel-like beasts. Wood witnessed and learned firsthand how completely sealed metal canisters, called "magical fuel," were inserted into the closed slots on the side of the wheelbarrow. Although the "old drivers" called it "refueling"... in Wood's mind, it was still considered feeding these magical oxen and horses with concentrated hay.

Holmes chuckled. “Magical fodder? Hahaha… Are you Eisengard people all this humorous? This stuff is far more precious than the fodder that ordinary cattle and horses chew. The difference in value between the two is probably like the difference between stone and gold. Magic fuel is only produced in the royal capital, Starfire City. Each transport team can only be allocated a fixed amount. Sometimes, the captain even needs to take the initiative to coordinate and compete to get us extra fuel supplies.”

Wood suddenly realized, and without feeling embarrassed at all, he said quite sincerely, "I see... So our continuous journey day and night must have consumed a lot of fuel... uh, quota, right?"

Holmes lit a cigarette and waved his hand. "Don't worry, in case of an emergency mission, the Northern Army will reimburse our fuel rations, and the members of the transport team will also receive extra allowances, so it's only natural that we're a little tired."

Wood nodded, refocusing his attention on driving, and diligently followed the convoy, enduring the bumps as he continued driving.

……

Before long, they could see a dense forest in the distance, as well as several tall watchtowers.

We've arrived at transport station number four...

Wood had passed through here a few months ago when he fled south... Because of the spring, this place used to be a common resting place for traveling caravans. Many caravans gathered here, and even temporary small markets would spring up on the spot for the buying and selling of goods and supplies.

Although the scenery and terrain are still similar to before, this place is now a military outpost built by the people of Saint Valen – towering watchtowers, layers of checkpoints and roadblocks along the way, supply crates piled up in the open, and soldiers patrolling back and forth on the outer simple wall.

I heard that a whole battalion of soldiers is stationed here... that is, more than 500 people.

After getting out of the car, Wood glanced around and noticed that many ordinary people, dressed in rags and looking emaciated, were moving about in the makeshift houses and tents. These people were clearly Eisengarde people who had fled south.

Holmes walked over to him. "The captain just instructed me that our mission... is to get them safely to the border as soon as possible, and then transfer them into Saint Valencia."

"The number of people doesn't seem to be that many... less than a thousand, so why did we deploy more than a hundred wheeled vehicles?"

Holmes sighed and said quietly, "This is the first batch that has just arrived here. There are nearly 10,000 more refugees behind them, rescued from the Lizardmen by the troops fighting at the front. Their situation is even more dire... They will also arrive at the station soon."

(End of this chapter)