Babel (2)
After waiting for the mayor for a few hours like that. We'd clearly arrived in the morning, but time had already pushed past lunchtime. This... they're deliberately ignoring us, aren't they? Yeah? Tsk... Should I just smash the tower flat?
"Be patient."
"What am I even doing."
"You have the look of someone about to pulverize the tower and bring the whole thing crashing down any second now."
What the—? That way too detailed read on my face.
But still. Isn't the Life Temple supposed to be super renowned? They send pilgrims all over the world, tending to every living thing... like some kind of global volunteer corps? Full of dedicated kids who bust their asses caring for life, no matter the race or nation?
And they leave an important figure from that place—the Hero and his whole party—hanging like this? Without even proper food?! Food!!! Properly!!! No food!!!!!!
This crosses the line. Big time. Whatever shady scheme they've got cooking, I'm not letting it slide. Time for some heavenly wrath!
"Cut it out, I said. They could just be super busy, you know."
"You think a single city's petty interests rank higher than the Hero and the Life Temple? No way in hell."
This Hero kid sometimes has no clue about his own worth.
I grumbled at full volume as I popped open the lid on the little wooden basket I'd Created.
First things first—gotta eat something. They say even ghosts look better when they've eaten well before kicking the bucket.
"Let's eat for now."
Today's menu: sandwiches. Veggies, meats, sauces sandwiched between bread—a simple dish. One that doesn't exist in this world yet, of course.
Pair it with some creamy milk, and you've got a flawless lunch! Simple, but brilliant!
I have no idea what kind of guy this mayor is, but when I meet him, he's getting an earful! I respect the hustle that turned a puny mage village into this massive city, complete with sky-high towers!
But breaking a contract? That's not flying!
Only after the Hero and I polished off a few sandwiches did our long-awaited culprit finally show his face.
"Mm, looks like I'm quite late."
"Life Temple folks came, I wondered who... been a while."
"Hoo, the mayor... a familiar face."
It was the young man who'd been there back when I inspected the village's mana stones. Time had passed, so he was middle-aged now, of course.
"Quite some time gone by, and you haven't changed a bit."
"Mm. Elves live a millennium—unchanged after a few decades ain't special."
Just a few decades, after all.
"Anyway, truly sorry. Should've come right away, but... unavoidable external audit popped up. Should've sent word ahead to come in the afternoon."
"A little pissed, yeah. But whatever, we're here now."
Of course, my anger hadn't vanished. Just simmering inside for now.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, the now-middle-aged youth—Babel's mayor—settled into a parlor chair and got down to business.
"If it's from the Life Temple, only one thing on the agenda. That mana stone... with something embedded."
"Yeah. No other reason I'd drag myself here."
The mayor nodded like he got it.
"Truly sorry, but... we don't know the cause either."
"Hmm...?"
"We don't produce the mana stones ourselves, after all."
True enough. Mana stones aren't man-made. Extracted from hunted monsters.
But come on—this is way too skimpy! Barely more than a token gesture!
"We're in a bind too. City's boomed, mana stone influx exploded... filtering the bad ones is a nightmare. Heck, even mages are buying direct from merchants now."
"Direct?"
"Yeah. We handle all mana stone trades exclusively through the tower, but they're bypassing us."
The mayor launched into a full gripe session.
"Tower only got this big 'cause we inspect every incoming stone and sell the safe ones to mages... but nope, they whine about our cut, tell us to hire more staff while we're raking it in. Sigh."
The mayor griped hard.
Hmm... sounds like a real ordeal.
"We're trying, but verifying takes forever. Few tools left—some broke mid-process... down to just three now."
Three...? I made like ten, didn't I?? All wrecked??
Hasn't even been decades... oh. Right, no durability enchantment.
Yeah, okay, fair. Even a steel trowel wears out after decades of digging dirt.
"So... could you make us new inspection tools?"
"Mm. Easy enough. Had no idea about your situation."
Who knew they were combing endless mana stones for darkness fragments day and night with just three trowel-things.
And still scraped together enough to build this tower. Impressive.
"Perfect. Was about to ping the Life Temple myself, but you coming in person... feels like the Goddess of Life herself is lending a hand."
Hah. Since I'm the one helping, spot on!
"Speaking of those tools... any chance for an easier version?"
"Easier?"
"Yeah. Picking through one by one takes ages. Faster would be ideal."
Faster, huh... mmm.
"Something like this?"
I Created a massive metal box, slapped a wide input chute on top.
Added a side output, bottom output, long legs to elevate it, then programmed the mana stone scanning function.
Quick-scan incoming stones, divert darkness-tainted ones to the side chute. Finished with power switch and mana stone drive slot.
"Gotta test and tweak. Fetch a box of uninspected stones?"
"Yes. Right away."
The mayor hustled out, barked orders at someone outside, then returned.
"So, how's this box work?"
"Remember the old tools?"
"Of course. You demoed them yourself."
I chuckled softly.
"This is totally different. Easier to show than tell."
Right on cue, someone hauled in a box through the parlor entrance.
"Let's demo. Oh, first..."
I Created a collection box under the bottom chute, carved a nook under the side one, and set a small basket there. Prepped.
Alright then...
"Feed stones into the top chute."
The mayor directed the guy with the box, who started dropping them in one by one.
"Not like that, fiddling one at a time! Just dump 'em in!"
Chute's huge for a reason! As long as it doesn't overflow, it'll handle it—simple guts, no breakdowns. Solid metal build, tough as nails!
Especially tuned for durability and speed!
The guy dumped the stones in like emptying a sack. I slotted a clean mana stone, hit the power switch.
Stones from the packed chute started pouring out the bottom.
"Ooh... so how's it spot the bad ones?"
"Just watch."
About halfway through the box, from the bottom chute...
Beep! A short chirp, and one stone shot out the side chute.
"Hm?"
"Good. Working fine."
I handed the ejected stone to the Hero.
"Press it to the diamond on your sword."
"Ah, got it."
The Hero, who'd been standing there like a lost scarecrow, fumbled a bit with the stone I tossed him, then held it to the darkness-absorbing diamond.
Shlrp.
The darkness fragment inside slurped right into the diamond.
"See? Dump 'em in top, it auto-scans and kicks bad ones to the side. That do it?"
It'd already cleared a whole box's worth. Plenty fast.
Two problem stones popped out by the end, sure.
"Outstanding! This'll clear the backlog in no time! Uh, if it's not too much, could you make a few more?"
"Mm. Two more for a total of three. Should suffice."
"Five! Total five, please! Influx is insane—three won't cut it!"
Ugh... five. Fine.
I duplicated the original, whipped up four more in a flash.
"But no skimping on stones for the Life Temple. Clear?"
"Wouldn't dream of it."
And with that, I handed Babel's mayor the new inspection machines.
Now they can properly snag those darkness-infused mana stones!
Right!
But alas, that was merely my fond hope.