Machinist of Mana Chapter 133 Sunset Talks

Ship switchovers eventually had to happen, with nobody sane wanting a warship, even one from ostensibly an ally, landing in their ports. I could wax about the elven port cities that I moved through as we did this, about the skylines, about the many things I saw, but well, there really wasn't much to tell.

Most of the places that I ended up stopping were deep ports from mid, to small cities, not the large capitals along the way, and there I saw little, docks were docks, busy, congested, and full of unhappy sailors who really wanted to get their work done for the day. The ship shapes were different, even some of the wood, which had some colors I wasn't quite used to, but the biggest difference was the food.

Once we managed to get me onto a more local sailing ship, rather than a massive ocean crossing one, I ended up getting to taste some of the local cuisine. It was largely tropical, with more fruits than I was used to, less vegetables, and almost no bread to speak of. Instead we got a very large fruit, that seemed to serve as the local equivalent to starch, melon sized and roasted rather than anything else. With it was lots of fresh fish, and more citrus than I was used to getting on my day to day.

There were fewer herbs, overall, or at least not the same ones, but I was happy to see that tea was alive and well here. Much of it was a slightly different version than we got back home, but similar enough to clearly have come from the same plant at some point. There were more floral notes mixed in with the brew, an altogether lighter style, though lacking in cream, which I commonly took mine with. Unlike the herbs though there were several of what could only be described as spices that I wasn't familiar with, odd ones that I didn't have an exact word for.

It occurred to me at some point that much of what I found distinct would likely be very, very subtle for most people. My senses were all a bit enhanced, and while smell and taste certainly weren't the most potent, that was hearing, they were better than what most humans had. It was one of the odd perks of being a physical magic user. Things that were subtle, almost difficult to describe to me would likely be lost in the noise to others.

My training in language also moved from more classroom to more practical matters. I still had some references, but as I got closer to the southern part of Elazia by nature I met more people from there, mostly on docks and the like. My final ship was in fact a public one, and I got quite a lot of looks from basically everyone involved.

“Good evening,” I said to a fellow on one of the upper decks as I made to watch the sunset.

“Oh? Oh what an odd accent, are you from the north?” he inquired.

“No, the human continent, though my grandfather is an elf.”

“Truly? I've never met anyone who's been there, though I'm told it's rather poor. Most humans aren't... very civilized are they? Um, nothing against you of course, a child of our people could never be so.”

“It's quite different, less magic overall from what I've seen, and some of the technology isn't nearly as refined as some of what I've seen here.”

“Of course, his Majesty was the most brilliant person to ever live! His genius is still unmatched in these waning days, no matter how hard we try to reach such heights. A goal to ever strive for.”

“He certainly did quite a lot for people didn't he?”

That was something else I'd come to see about a lot of the elves, that they almost worshiped the old king. It was fervent, almost religious, like he was a near perfect man. This contrasted with what I'd seen, a brilliant, and certainly powerful, but withdrawn man, not some hero of legend devoted to righting all wrongs. I briefly wondered how they'd act if they knew he was still around.

“Oh so much. It's a real shame that most of the old ancients won't come to join us anywhere near the southern nations. Which are you going to, if you don't mind my asking?”

“I'm headed to Nicon, hear there's quite a bit to see there. Lots of education and culture I'm excited to get a look at.” And the rumors of military action, though this random man didn't need to know about that.

“Nicon? Nice city, that would be The Ergen Empire then, wonderful people there, and I'm sure they'd be happy to show you the greatness of your heritage. I'm heading to one of the outer states, bit more south than that.”

“I'm guessing you've been there then? I've only heard so much about it.”

“Oh sure, the city itself is one of the oldest if not the oldest around. Even competing with Atal for that title as they both show up in the earliest records and were both about when the king first rose. Atal is considered greater, but not by much.”

“What's it like though?”

“Bountiful farmland on all sides, towering spires, all built around a multi-lobed lake of unimaginable size, almost an inland sea. It's beautiful really, the shores so pristine and lovely, maintained so people can enjoy them. You know it used to all be swamps, back in historical times.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Oh sure, but you don't need proper irrigation and water control for long to fix that up, and once you have you've got some of the best land for crops you've ever seen. Better, some of those rivers and canals are quick and easy to navigate, with tours and the like for anyone who's interested in a more scenic time.”

“Sounds like you've done that too.”

“My parents used to drag us to some of those every year when I was a kid, made us sail around for days,” he laughed. “It was nice, good times.”

We mused about childhood as the boat ambled along, though I never caught his name. It wasn't important to us, just two men talking about where we were going and where we'd been. I of course kept to what was the public story, but even with that there was much to discuss.

The trains we had back home were of the greatest interest to him. For some reason he'd not known that we had such things. They weren't everywhere of course, and there were a few similar things here, though few. It was a thing I could really get into as well without revealing anything I didn't need to. I'd loved them as a child, and still did, beautiful machines of magic and steel, a perfect blend of this world and my first. Sadly there weren't any in the south at all, boats were far more economical with the deep canals that served to move water about and irrigate everything.

That brought a small frown to my face, It seemed I wouldn't get to see any elven trains on this trip.