The Vampire Empress.

 

After Helesta had left, the feeling of several dozens of people watching over us was tingling all around me. It was like we were being watched all the time by people scattered all around the streets. I understood that those people didn’t have any malicious intentions, in fact, they were watching as if protecting us which made me think that they were Helesta’s people.

 

“Mama, I want to see!” Ayaka pointed towards the area where the device was, it was indeed flashy and showed some unusual parts which attracted a lot of curious people including children especially because of how water was splashing down and coming back up.

 

I also wanted to know how this person came up with such an invention that could be marked as revolutionary, though the most likely answer is through playing around since I could tell from a glance that the person isn’t sensitive enough to mana to detect the short pulses of energized mana.

 

“How about you two, do you also want to watch?” I looked at Felice and Iona who both nodded as I looked up with a smile, “Let’s go then, afterward how about we go on a little adventure since it’s been a while since we’ve left the town, right?”

 

“Adventure?” Ayaka tilted her head adorably which struck me a bit as I lifted her up in the air while walking towards the display.

 

“An adventure is where you go outside of your comfortable spot to explore the unknown, Ayaka. For example, have you ever wondered what a field of roses would feel or smell, have you ever wanted to experience different kinds of food that you never tasted before like cooked squid?” I smiled at her, “Then that’s what you will do, you will adventure to experience them. Do you understand?”

 

Her eyebrows frowned a bit before shaking her head as she replied, “I don’t understand…” leaving me and the others sighing in defeat. I instead gave up explaining to her and went over to the display where we got to see the device in full scale.

 

It looked really complex for someone like me who isn’t well-versed in technology. I do know a bit but that’s only a bit. I wasn’t the intelligent kind, but I was still knowledgeable to know what piece is a gear, what piece is a shaft, and all those other stuffs.

 

Being close to the device really made me understand what Helesta was talking about. Remember how watermills work by having the weight of the water drive the mill which in turn creates mechanical energy that could be converted into electricity. This world’s fundamentals are actually a bit too different.

 

The water splash creates a bit of mana which actually causes the mill to move, the machine can create energized mana by literally smashing mana onto mana which requires an intense amount of precision and timing that this device actually achieved. To the eyes of the normal citizens, the water mill looks like it's flowing normally but if your eyes are good, you would be able to notice that it isn’t actually flowing.

 

It’s dropping water at a super extreme speed which brings up another question to my head, where is the energy to push the mill at such high speeds coming from? Is it because it’s mana that is pushing the mill that it is actually faster than normal or is there some other factor coming to play.

 

As curious as I was, I wasn’t too knowledgeable in this section of life. It was probably better for me to leave it to the professionals like Helesta to experiment on since it really is not my expertise. I’d probably lend little to no help to them even if I tried anyway.

 

“Mama, what is that?” Ayaka questioned.

 

“It’s a machine,” I answered while patting the little girl’s head. Her eyes were sparkling as she looked at the thing. It reminded me of a crucial thing that seems to be missing in the daily lives of children right now. Looking at all the children around here, there really is one thing that is missing and that is TOYS.

 

From what I have seen in the town, the children are all playing outside and doing random stuff. I still need to investigate thoroughly first whether there are actually any merchants that handle toys and see what kind of toys they produce and at what price point.

 

I’d bet the toys are mainly for nobles though and if that is the case then I could try bringing in toy ideas from the modern world onto here… but of course, I don’t want to add more risks to the lives of the people I care for…

 

“A proxy…” a thought crept into my mind.

 

That’s right, having someone be the proxy for the entire business thing. While it still contains risk, especially if the proxy is forcibly interrogated, it would still be safer than having them attacking me straight. If the proxy is tight-lipped, it’d be even better but that’d be cruel.

 

I might need help with this proxy thing though since I have literally no connections to go to in this world, there were Felice’s parents and I do know how honest her parents are which allows me to trust her a bit, but I don’t want them as a proxy since that would involve bringing risks to her family.

 

The only person I can rely on right now is probably Helesta, her connections as the Queen of a Kingdom really makes her the best choice but also a horrible choice in a sense since I’d be locking myself to her and will be owing her a lot of favors if this continues on.

 

“Mama… are you there?” Ayaka waved her hand in front of me several times as I snapped back to reality, smiling at her before flicking her adorable forehead, “Ouchies…!”

 

She started pouting adorably which made me giggle, “Are you hungry, my cute little chibi or do you want to go somewhere else?”

 

“I want to adventure!” she said in a loud voice.

 

“You have to ask Auntie Felice and Iona first,” I looked at the two with a grin as Ayaka immediately turned on her cute filter switch and stared at the two with her head tilted a bit to the side, sparkling round eyes and little teardrops.

 

“Can I?” she asked in a sad voice.

 

The two were immediately taken aback by the cuteness and blushed before nodding unconsciously which made me laugh super hard. Ayaka really is great at seducing people her way, seducing may be a bit too hard of a word, more like influencing people. She can persuade them in her own way which is a great ability to have.

 

“Mama! Let’s go adventure then!” she said with an excited voice that made me smile.

 

“Let’s adventure then, let’s head to the guild as our first stop, shall we?” I looked at the two before the two nodded with a serious gaze as we started walking our way towards nowhere. The town was expanding at a rapid pace which was good for me overall. Taxes were being paid properly and there were no signs of corruption so far.

 

The people were smiling, and a joyous atmosphere flowed around the town, children played around and ran carelessly. Small merchants even local merchants or little family businesses were blooming everywhere. It was looking like the town that I first envisioned when I came here. A town where everyone could smile happily.

 

After a little short walk, we soon neared the guild where Iona and Felice suddenly reacted and took out their weapons as the door to the guild blasted open to the sight of an armored beautiful blonde with a ponytail with two floating swords around her, pointing towards two bulky men who were laying down unconscious on the ground with bubbles forming on their mouths.

 

The blonde knight turned towards our direction before laying her eyes at Ayaka that made her eyes go wide as she looked at me with even wider eyes, “Aya?!”

 

‘Who the f*** is this blonde?!’ I instinctively thought inside as chills started creeping up my spine.