‘Why am I not surprised?’

  I was pretty deep in the Aesira Empire territory, so I didn’t expect to find the floating isnds close to the borders with the empire, but it didn’t mean that I wouldn’t find those close to the border with the kingdom of Talimor.

  A few weeks had passed since the start of this new weird journey. I made some good progress with my tools and my creations as well. Thanks to the two engines that I had, the vehicle could now move as fast as when Gcien pulled with all her might, which was close to sixty miles per hour. It consumed a lot of mana cores, though.

  ‘It should be a bit more risky, but with the camoufge effects, this should be possible… the real problem is this one.’

  When I was on the driving wheel, Alissandra would make a fuss when she wasn’t in my arms… so I tried to only drive it at night, but heading to the border while only relying on Gcien would be difficult. For one, she makes a lot of snow when she is dashing. For another, she had her smell too. It would be better to use the engines and keep everyone inside the wagon.

  Thanks to my adjustments, I could drive without exposing myself outside and the interior could keep our smells inside too… the real question was if Alissandra would get quiet if things got tense. Once the harpies hear the sound of a baby crying, then they would connect the dots… they could have bird brains, but it shouldn’t be that bad.

  ‘If things get dangerous, they will chase us even after the border… that would bring some chaos and destruction to the Kingdom of Talimor… Even if they are welcoming to half humans, they won’t welcome me if I bring death to their doors. That would make things difficult for Alisandra as well. Who would look after her afterwards?’

  When it rains, it pours. When my problems start to come, they won’t stop until I am almost drowning in them. We didn’t get lucky enough to find other dungeons or byrinths along the way, so we couldn’t just hide somewhere and wait for those guys to leave. I had to come up with a pn.

  The most obvious solution would be to head north or south and find some holes in their formation in the border. Still, that could take a very long time. There is no guarantee that they aren’t doing the same everywhere else. I didn’t know about the current situation in this area, after all.

  I could try to be cautious and cross the area slowly… but the people on the other side of the border might find it suspicious if we arrive there while camoufged.

  Perhaps I could transform the carriage into a giant digging machine and then cross the border while underground. That will probably take a while too and it would be dangerous.

  “I don’t have time for any of this… Sorry, Gcien, but our ears will have to suffer a bit instead.”

  “Awoo?”

  I started working on the wagon with a clear goal in mind, not to make it sturdier or more durable, but to soundproof it as much as possible. The thought of traveling with Alisandra, who was still a baby, brought its own set of challenges. Babies cry, babble, and make noise; that’s simply how they communicate and express themselves. Expecting otherwise would be unrealistic. But while her fussing was natural and unavoidable, it could also be problematic during this part of the journey.

  Even in less dangerous situations, I didn’t want her noises to disturb others we might meet along the way, potentially leading to hostility or discomfort. So, I focused my efforts on creating a safe and quiet pce within the wagon. I inspected every panel and joint, sealing gaps where sound might escape. I lined the interior with soft, dense materials to absorb noise, testing each area to ensure its muffled sound effectively.

  I had plenty of tanned leather, so that helped a lot… the magic heater that I created became less necessary as well, thanks to it. Since I was using it, I decided to use them to make the tires for the wheels. That should increase our speed and stability as well.

  ‘The next version of the vehicle should have a better design for aerodynamics. I can’t make something like F1 cars since I need to keep enough room for my forge and boratory, but I should improve it as much as possible.’

  I decided to write down the ideas and then add some schedules to when I should start working on that as well. Otherwise, I would never put those pns into practice. I had dozens of ideas forgotten on my notes thanks to that, and I only put a few of them into practice tely… and only because I wasn’t looking for byrinths, but heading into another territory. Still, that change brought enough benefits to my life since I had my tools ready to be used and that would speed up my crafting and poison crafting process.

  It would be fun to create the fastest vehicle in this world… the type that could out speed even people that can move insanely fast. It would be difficult, though. Given that some people can specialize in a single parameter for whatever reason.

  In any case, I confirmed that the wagon was sound proof enough after working on it for a full day and then decided to move on. The terrain around was covered in snow, but it didn’t have many elevations to get in the way, so it would be fine when it comes to moving… at least for now.

  “Get inside, girl. There is a chance that we will be attacked, and we can’t waste time with that.”

  “Awoo!”

  “You are big, but you aren’t big enough to be as tough as the two of you. If the worst comes to the worst, you can fire your magic at the enemies.”

  Gcien stopped compining and then got inside the wagon… maybe I was being too lenient on her since it wasn’t the first time that she objected to direct orders. She got around the basket where Alissandra was like a curling ball and then waited patiently. It would take a while for us to reach the border given the distance to the floating isnds, so she did the right thing in using this chance to rest.

  I began to drive the wagon using only one engine… I could see the surroundings retively well thanks to windows that I added on the sides and the front. I could also close all of them with a single pull of a lever on my right side. That would decrease my visibility a lot, but when things start to happen, I will just need to focus on the path ahead and with the small holes at the entrance of the vehicle.

  “Be a good girl, and don’t make any noise, all right?”

  “Da-da!”

  “I was talking with Gcien, but at least it looks like you understand this as well.”

  “Awoo?”

  Maybe I could add some automatic defenses for the vehicle… since the Elven arrows had simir effects and even I had created arrows that adjust their trajectory, this shouldn’t be impossible to make. The question was how I could make the weapons work when enemies approached… I had no idea how.

  As the floating isnds became closer, I couldn’t help but get a bit nervous… flying enemies were truly a pain in the ass and to achieve all my goals, I had to avoid any kind of conflict. My goals were to find someone appropriate to look after Alissandra, and fast, too.

  ‘Damn it… why does this have to be so hard?’

  The vision ahead began to get worse since it began to snow… I was pnning to cross the area through the night in order to be able to pass without being noticed, but with the snow, even I would have a hard time seeing anything.

  I let out a sigh and then decided to focus… I still had my ear accessory that would help me hear better the approach of possible enemies. The snow would muffle such sounds and the wind was against me, but it was still better than nothing.

  ‘The next time, I will get the Seer css in one way or the other and then create a radar with those skills.’

  As the wagon moved forward, the weather quickly took an annoying turn. What had begun as a light snowfall now intensified, swiftly transforming into a full-fledged snowstorm. The sky darkened, and snowfkes whipped through the air like sharp needles.

  The wind howled with increasing fury, biting at exposed faces and making each step feel like a battle against the elements. Despite this, the wagon, with its sturdy build and the engines, kept its pace, maintained its speed, cutting through the snowdrifts as if they were mere inconveniences.

  It was hard to imagine anyone in their right mind willingly setting out to fight in such an unforgiving storm. The freezing temperatures and the near-zero visibility would put even the most experienced warriors at a disadvantage. Yet the harpies would be fine against it. To them, the storm was just another part of the environment they had long learned to navigate. Their leathery wings, adapted to cold climates, could cut effortlessly through the wind as if they were born to soar in these conditions.

  Before long, night had fallen and then the wagon began to cross the terrain… we were right below one of those floating isnds. The idea of one of those falling and then crushing us made me feel shivers, more than the cold in the area.

  I fed the engines with as many mana cores as possible in order not to worry about the fuel anytime soon. Thanks to that, the vehicle kept its pace without any issues. The tires that I made using monster leather truly made the vehicle move a lot more smoothly. With this much, I probably could create two more engines to gain more horsepower…

  Still, just when I thought about that, I heard screeching sounds in the sky.

  “Why? Just why?”

  WritingMachineGun