Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 636 Dalburg

When Alec came down from the airport tower, he couldn't see the mechanical transmission, but he could hear the sound of the elevator running. The closer he got to the ground, the more heated it became, and finally it hit his sunglasses and condensed into water droplets.

It is humid and warm here, and there are two systems operating at the same time, burning transmutation dust and coal.

The huge transportation hub is bustling with people. Here, nearly half of the population is humans and half are dwarves. The latter are mostly the remnants of the Dwarf Confederation. Back then, the Lord Earl generously took in these homeless people after the Black Sun Disaster.

Therefore, in Dalburg, you can see traces of the dwarves and their construction everywhere. Rough cement and gray stone are exposed inside and outside the building, and there are rivets and brass pipes all over the ceiling and walls, which not only play a practical role, but also show the aesthetic taste of these dwarven craftsmen.

But there are still parts that do not belong to the dwarves.

Tall puppets carry heavy goods, and there are forklifts and trucks driven by transmutation dust. More sophisticated and complex magic circuits continuously flash arcane light, providing lighting, instructions, temperature control, monitoring and warning, and other functions.

The mixed style of the two extends from the transportation hub and the Earl's Mansion as the core, and in fact, the entire Dalburg is a huge military fortress, with factories, residential areas and commercial streets stuffed in the gaps and underground.

A team of fully armed air troopers trotted past Alec, who took off his glasses and watched enviously as these aerialists disappeared behind the gate.

"What, you want to go to heaven too?" Voger, touching the wine jug, raised his head and glanced at the boy he raised.

"Well, I mean, we could get a couple of maneuvers that would be better than ropes." He carefully removed and put away his sunglasses.

"Impossible! Do you know how expensive this thing is? Even if it's second-hand, a previous generation product, it costs 14 Dazi! And they only accept alliance coupons!"

Vog's shouting made passers-by look sideways. After all, they were still in the empire, but soon no one cared. You know, there were traces of Byrne everywhere. They had already formed an alliance.

"Dear passengers, please note that due to weather reasons, all flights will be suspended from now on. The train to the capital will be delayed by one hour. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience." The broadcast in the hall sounded and broadcasted again.

"Where are the passengers going to the imperial capital now? Aren't they all from the star realm?" Voger muttered for a while.

The scavengers are doing the business of the astral people. In addition to the astral dwarves who are willing to buy the ancestral inheritance from them, there are also many idle humans and elves who return to the ground from other planes or the astral realm, and then speculate on these cultural relics at high prices.

The prosperity of Dalburg, or the entire border earldom of the empire, is based on this. They sell these things to the star realm guys and develop "nostalgia tourism", and the foreign exchange they earn is returned to those people in exchange for food and other strategic materials to maintain their presence on the ground.

Food Alec was old enough to eat a whole cow, but he and the dwarves often ate "Star Rations", which were said to be products from the plane of air, but Alec lost his appetite when he thought about it. However, this did not change the physiological need for calories and desire for food, and the growling stomach gave the dwarves a signal to feed the human boy.

"Let's go to the old place."

After walking out of the transportation hub, they did not return to the ground, but came to a closed pedestrian street. The surrounding shops all served the starry sky tourists. Only the locals knew which shops were not so deceptive.

The "not so bad" stores must be dirty and shabby. After all, Dalburg has almost lost its production capacity. All the factories that are still in operation are producing weapons and ammunition to maintain the defense line. The remaining capacity is to keep the city running. The rest of the goods are almost all imported from the sky and are shockingly expensive.

If the scavengers are unable to find items that are favored by the Star Man, they can also collect the most common things from the ruins of the dwarf city, and then appear inside and outside the shabby shops to be bought by the less wealthy residents.

They pushed open the door and saw a crowded and dirty bar where people of similar professions gathered to drink. There was a crooked sign on the wall, and through the grease, they could barely read and guess the content of "Adventurer's Association - Dalberg Branch". They didn't know whether it was the owner's collection or revealed the true face of this shabby bar.

Anyway, it is now a gathering place for scavengers to sell and consume stolen goods.

"Oh, a wine jug. What else?" The elf boss, who only had one ear left, took the only remaining spoils of this trip. Then he pushed out a tin jug for the dwarf, a plate of food and a glass of water for the boy. "That's all."

"No more?" The boss glared, then retracted his gaze. He still looked smart, but his throat had been destroyed by alcohol and cigarettes and turned into an ugly hoarse voice: "That's fine, it's good to have some. After all, the others didn't go out and just drank here. I don't know how much they have to pay on credit."

Voge couldn't believe it: "They didn't go out?"

"Yes, we were all notified, after you got drunk."

"Damn it!" Voger shouted, and suddenly the tavern was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Alec gnawed silently on the "Star Ration". Sometimes it was off-white, and sometimes it was gray. The latter was obviously second-hand goods, but there was not much difference. They were all tasteless and would rob the mouth of all moisture as he chewed them, leaving a strange aftertaste.

According to Voge, it tasted like mushrooms, but Alec had never eaten anything called "mushrooms" and couldn't imagine it. But he was sure that he hated mushrooms, just like he hated the sliced ​​dry food he was eating now.

"Okay, estimated value: 78 coppers"

"Look carefully, this is pure gold! Don't be fooled by the silver coating on the outside."

"Oh, there are cautious dwarves who like to hide it like this. Let me take a look. It's interesting." The boss perked up a little. After taking a closer look, he didn't bargain, but offered a condition that was even more difficult for Vog to accept: "You can put it up for sale here. When a dealer or a star man buys it, I'll give you a share."

"No! No, no, no, I want cash. I want to receive the money after I deliver the goods."

"But I can't afford the price. Unless you accept the price I can afford." The boss was very calm: "You see, not everyone is a straightforward Mr. Vog who can pay for my drinks immediately." At this point, the one-eared elf raised his eyelids a little: "Ladies and gentlemen, you have been sitting here for too long!"

“Oh come on.” “Hey, you’re driving your customers away!”

The boss had anticipated these customers who would order a glass of watered-down wine and stay in the bar as long as they wanted: "From today on, we will only offer 10 credit places, first come, first served."

"I, I, I!" "I just remembered that the heating at home was not turned off. Boss, I'm leaving first." "Goodbye, Boss!"

In an instant, people swarmed out of the small shop, and a bunch of messy currencies were scattered on the bar, including currencies issued at the end of the empire, daily necessities exchange coupons issued by the earldom, alliance coins, and hearth coins of the Star Dwarf Confederation.

The boss was too lazy to count them, because he would not be able to collect them all anyway. He was about to collect them all and throw them into the drawer, but Voger stopped him and said, "How about exchanging these for the pot?"

“You’ll still lose money.”

The dwarf said uncharacteristically: "It's okay. You still have some money, right? Can you lend it to me?"

"Are you in urgent need of money?" the elf frowned.

Vog took a deep breath and his eyes fell on Alec: "I'm going to send this kid to the star realm in the next few days. I've saved enough money for the ticket, just a little bit short, do you understand? The nearest star ship will be the day after tomorrow." He pinched his thumb and index finger.

"Ah?" Alec almost choked while chewing the dry food.

(End of this chapter)