Imperial City 4

With some extra time on my hands, I decided to stroll through the stalls along the main street.

A vendor was grilling something resembling sausages, lining up numerous fire stones in a row, working hard while wrapping a headband around their forehead.

I continued walking down the street, glancing casually at the scene, reminded of the local festival I used to visit in my childhood.

I had hoped to attend the hometown summer festival this year, once the schedule settled, but it seems that might not be possible after all.

You never know what life has in store—never thought I’d end up at such a grand festival.

As I kept walking, a large building came into view, different from the merchant stalls I’d visited yesterday.

It looked just like something straight out of a Western movie.

To my surprise, it was the Adventurer's Guild—first time I’ve seen one in person.

But of course, in another world, it’s the Adventurer’s Guild you’d expect to find!

It must have been bustling and noisy inside—curious, I charged in. But there were almost no people, just a half-hearted "Welcome!" from the receptionist.

Later I learned, apparently everyone was out during the day.

Fair enough...

"May I help you with something?"

I’d entered with high expectations, but the unexpected silence and lack of warmth quickly cooled my enthusiasm.

The receptionist seemed utterly uninterested—beautiful, though.

"I'm visiting the Adventurer's Guild for the first time—could you tell me what the guild actually does?"

At that question, the receptionist clearly made a face as if annoyed.

What can I do? I really don’t know what they do in practice...

"The guild handles adventurer registrations and the exchange of excavation finds. It also provides a venue for adventurers to share information, and includes mediation between adventurers and arbitration of disputes among them."

"So adventurers are registered? I thought anyone could just claim the title freely. And are excavation finds really sold here by rule?"

The receptionist gives me a look as if I'm stating the obvious. This girl really does show her expressions clearly...

There's no need to register to become an adventurer, and you're free to sell any treasures you uncover on your own. However, since not everyone has access to a sales channel, the guild buys everything collectively, allowing anyone to cash out immediately.

So that's what they're doing—acting like a merged version of a union and a wholesaler.

After all, adventurers face high risks with unpredictable rewards, and if they're not managed properly, they quickly become scarce. The more you strive to maintain high purity, the more you'll encounter interference from monsters. So, by stabilizing their lives just a little, we also serve to help them gain experience and improve their skill level as adventurers.

Surprisingly, they explained it quite thoroughly.

Since there weren't any adventurers around, I finally began to understand this region.

It was systematized in ways beyond imagination. I had once dreamed of living in a storybook world, but was suddenly brought back to reality.

"Would you like to become an adventurer? If things go well, you could become rich."

It was supposed to be a dramatic line, but it came out terribly flat.

"No, I'll pass this time. Thanks for telling me all that."

I handed over a small amount of money.

The receptionist plastered on a wide smile and called out loudly, "We look forward to your next visit!"

That night, while organizing my belongings, something heavy suddenly fell down with a thud.

The thick physics textbook that was flung here with me. I haven't looked at it for a while.

I'm looking at it again after such a long time.

Everything feels nostalgic—a book I desperately used more than half a year ago.

Now, to me, this content feels ordinary—yet it's the cutting edge of the world I'm in.

With this, Ms. Emma and the others could dramatically advance science.

It's thick, so it thoroughly documents experimental methods and history as well.

But can that really be allowed?

I learned in university that cutting-edge science requires cutting-edge ethics.

Can this world's ethics really keep up with this book?

I may understand science and engineering, but I can't teach ethics.

I can't come up with an answer.

It feels like lately, whenever it's nighttime, I'm caught up in worries—struggling with my own path, pretending to care about things that don't matter to me right now...

That same night, the captain announced that we'd be departing the empire within just a week.

I have to deliver results before then.

But there's nothing obvious I can do openly.

In the end, I headed toward the library.

Scanning the books within the library.

There weren't many books, and excluding similar ones, few were accessible to the average person.

I intended to leave the library before noon.

"Ah... it's not lighting up properly."

The library attendant had inserted a light crystal into a magical lamp, but it wasn't glowing.

There was an old man at the front desk near the library's entrance.

Moreover, a magic stone lamp is a luminous device that uses a light-infused magic stone.

Incidentally, the magic stone used in magic stone lamps is typically of medium purity, and once lit, it remains glowing for several hours.

However, there was a variation in how well they emitted light.

Some lamps emitted weak light, or took a long time to light up.

"What's wrong?"

I called out to the old man, somewhat uncertainly.

"No, I just changed the gemstone because the light was getting weaker, but it's not lighting up properly... Can you understand what's going on?"

"May I take a look for a moment?"

We've had issues like this before in the caravan. I've fixed them each time.

Maybe this one can be repaired too.

I examine it closely.

The lamp has a typical design.

It has a box-like shape, with several light crystals placed in the center and multiple dull triangular glass panels attached.

The light gemstone emits light, which is diffused through glass.

Upon closer inspection of the parts where the lamp's gemstone connects, or where gemstones join together, countless fragments of dull, crumbling gemstones were attached.

After wiping it clean and gently flowing magic essence into it, it began to shine beautifully.

Oh, thank goodness. I was really worried—this thing wasn't lighting up at all.

Though purely speculative, magic stones seem to possess battery-like properties—they degrade with continued use and eventually become completely inert, crumbling apart no matter how much magical energy is channeled into them.

Moreover, if degraded crystals remain, their effects weaken or fail to activate altogether. Simply being in contact with degraded crystals causes the entire system to become unstable. It's quite a troublesome phenomenon.

"Wow, you really know your crystals. I'm completely lost these days. Guess I'm getting old."

"Not at all, not at all. Once you know the cause, it's easy to fix right away."

"It'd be nice if they were a bit more convenient. Life would be much easier."

When I heard those words, it was as if a gentle breeze had suddenly blown through my mind.

I remembered something from long ago, when I first began studying at university, and a somewhat intimidating professor had asked me, "What's the purpose of engineering?"

I recalled it clearly.

"Thank you. You've reminded me of something truly meaningful."

I spoke quietly, but clearly, offering my thanks.

"Wait, I don't know what you're talking about, but you've been coming here often and studying hard, haven't you? Are you joining some research institute or something? Well, good luck with that, then."

"Yes, then I'll take my leave here for today."