When we finished breakfast and went out into the corridor, I told my maids to pack their things, for we were leaving today. Then Gralvin took me to the second underground floor, to an area that even the maids didn't enter. So whatever was here would be a surprise to me.

And when I entered the big hangar and saw some kind of military jeep, I was surprised. And when we passed further without stopping, I was surprised even more, because such jeeps were not a few, and not dozens, but hundreds! And there were people tinkering with them, fixing or changing things.

I didn't think that I would encounter such advanced technologies in the "empire" so early, mostly because such concepts in my head are not related to technology. It was in the history of my world, and confirmed by the worlds I've been to.

I certainly remember choosing a world setting that resembled the late 19th century in our world, but to me such machines are a bit more advanced than the first models of the famous Fjort.

— I didn't think you had the technology to produce such machinery. — as we walked and looked around the hangar, I spoke.

— As I thought you were familiar with such things. These wagons started appearing in our empire about thirty years ago, when mercenaries found the blueprints in one of the dungeons. But for the first ten years neither mages nor blacksmiths were able to create something working, because the blueprints used some incomprehensible materials, and some mechanisms even for gnomes were completely incomprehensible. — Looking at the rows of armored jeeps, he replied.

— However, when the mages of the imperial family were inspired by the blueprints to create a working carriage, albeit one that looked like a necromancer's worst dream, everyone stopped following the blueprints and started creating their own. Everyone's success has been different, but the only thing that hasn't changed until recently is the imperial mago-mover that spins the wheels and moves the entire wagon. True, not everyone has enough magic crystals to use it every day.

After I understood what he meant, I nodded smartly, pretending to understand the difficulties the pioneers of mechanical engineering had to face.

And even though I accepted the fact that here are machines ahead of their time, but when we entered the special hangar and saw quite modern looking armored truck I realized that there was something wrong with this world. Stop the planet, I need to get off.

(Approximate appearance made by the neural network.):

Well seriously, in whose damn bright head in the Middle Ages (albeit magical, but the Middle Ages!!!) will come the idea to create an armored truck of fifteen meters in length, seven in width and three in height not counting the height of the wheels!!!!. Ten wheels one meter in diameter (5 each side)! It's even lined with magical steel plates that are about 20 centimeters thick.

It's absolutely a monster. And given the hinged hatches that can only be opened from the inside, you can also attack from the inside while riding on it! This monster will be mine, I realized that before I even began to mentally resent the absurdity of this world.

— Well, you were right, Sir Edmund. The mere appearance of this variant has me overly interested. I can't wait to see what's inside him. - I've made no secret of my interest. No matter how much he asks, I can buy it anyway. At the very least, I can take it away.

— Well, since you liked him at first sight, then let me introduce you to "Sweetie", an experimental armored self-moving wagon for military use. Completely made of magical steel, with magic reinforced armor that even a High Mage (41-50) would have a hard to penetrate. And if you activate the additional built-in spells, then even an Archmage (51-60) would have to work hard.

While he was saying that, we were just going around in circles, and I scanned all the enchantments that are applied to the outer armor. And there's an inner armor + barrier that could probably withstand even a nuclear blast without any consequences. And the inside was even cooler.

— Initially inside was supposed to be a troop of strong fighters who can be quickly delivered to the center of the enemy and create chaos, but alas the new engine and all the enchantments in the active state absorb too much mana crystals, because of which the project was recognized as a failure. — Looking into the salon said the Margrave. — So our engineers decided to turn the interior of this carriage into something like a comfortable camping tent. As you can see, the interior now resembles the room of a middle-class aristocrat, albeit a little smaller.

(Warning, below the spoiler is a sketchy interior of the truck drawn by a tremor-stricken drunken crab. View at your own risk)

And he was right. We entered the salon from the side of the car, and what greeted us was a beautifully carved table surrounded by chairs from the same custom-made set. To the right, three couches surrounded a low coffee table, and behind them was a large bed four meters wide and about the same length. There was also a bar all the way to the ceiling completely empty, and to the right of it a modern looking kitchen.

- How much and why? - I turned sharply and asked Gralvin, who was pleased with my reaction. - How much is it worth, and why do you want to sell it Sir Edmund. I want to know the answers to those two questions, and if the first one is not important to me, the answer to the second one is interesting to me.

- Let me answer the second question, if it interests you so much. The problem is that it's hard to get as many mana crystals as you need for a single combat outing with the support of all enchantments. And unfortunately, like all enchanted items, this wagon can only work on crystals from monsters. - Edmund said sadly.

Hm? I don't see what the problem is with charging an artifact with the mage's own mana. Maybe it's a peculiarity of the world? But I've been using enchantments on my clothes without any crystals, so it's not that. Another mystery that needs to be solved.

- That's it. It's basically no surprise that it takes so much mana. This whole room is already full of dirty mana that's leaking out of that armored car. I think it would be deadly for non-magically gifted creatures to be in here. And the weak mages won't feel good in here either.

- Unfortunately, that's another disadvantage. And price is another problem, because I can't for less than a million gold pieces sell this, as you put it?

- Armored car? - I asked.

- That's right, armored car, interesting words, unusual. Well, according to the terms of the contract, if the tests fail, I can sell it, but only for a price not less than a million gold pieces. You understand, it was very expensive to create this prototype, and the empire wants to return at least part of the amount spent on the creation of this armored vehicle.

- Alright, I don't mind the price, but I think it will be better to get it out of this hangar, otherwise my future maids won't even be able to get near it. - I said with a little impatience in my voice.

- That so? - He was slightly surprised. - Then I will order to prepare the way out so that we can leave. Who will drive, me or you?

I instantly took a predatory glance and looked at Edmund. This will be my first time driving a car I bought (well, almost bought), and I'm not going to miss the chance. It's like luring a tiger with a tasty treat and then showing him the middle finger to eat it all by yourself.

Obviously realizing that I was not going to give in, he showed me how to start this "Sweetie" and how to control it. It was simple, one lever and a steering wheel. You move the lever forward and the car goes forward, you move it backwards and it goes backwards. That's easy. And what is not simple is a bunch of different buttons and switches that are responsible for the different enchantments and functions of this baby.

But most importantly, the charging socket was right between the two pilot seats and resembled a cup holder in ordinary cars. And it could hold crystals about the diameter of my head. Taking out a level nine hundredth monster crystal, which like many others I had in my inventory, I tried to put it in, but I failed. It was exactly a centimeter larger than the hole in which to insert it.

Putting it back in the inventory, I took out another crystal extracted from an ice elemental of level seven hundred and sixty-three, and it scratched against the walls and managed to get inside, and then began to slowly melt, and my little monster for a couple of seconds shook finely starting the engine and all other systems.

The margrave watched all my manipulations with dazed eyes, and only when I turned to him with a question in my eyes he came to his senses and went to give orders. And I began to roll around in a circle in, as it turned out, a very small hangar, sometimes crashing into the walls and leaving dents in them. There was not a scratch on my baby by the way, I checked it.

And when I was tired of driving around and stopped kissing the walls, the hangar doors opened and right in front of them stood a slightly annoyed Edmund inspecting the destroyed walls. Somewhere you could even see rock through the large holes. What about me? I'm nothing. It's not my fault that their walls are so weak that even "Sweetie" can break them with a single snot.

I_H_I

Hey, everybody.

I'm very sleepy so I just ran this chapter through auto-translate without any editing on my part.

I will edit the chapter and replace the text tonight, but a little after the chapter is out (fuck, it's two in the morning).

You can hit me with sticks and slippers, your humble servant will accept it, because he realizes he fucked up. Maybe even this chapter will be worse than all the previous ones, because about half of it I wrote in a not very adequate state (and I don't mean alcohol or drugs).

And if you want to beat me, here's a link to my Discord server, where I answer most questions, as well as where I post references for chapters.

Have a good day everyone, and sorry again for the poor quality of the chapter, I'm just not up for another two hours of computer time.

Midday upd: I've edited the chapter, and inserted pictures to better understand what I'm writing about. w(°ｏ°)w