After watching the fishermen at the harbour, we had to decide what to o next. However, we knew very little about Auria, the town itself. And so, we asked someone about sights worth seeing. And now, we were at one of these places: The Craftsmen’s Street.

“So this is where all of Auria’s craftsmen are?” I muttered.

It was a fairly long street, lined with one workshop after another. Blacksmiths, carpenters, tailors and many other kinds of craftsmen were supposedly doing their work here.

“That’s what they told us, at least,” said Karen.

Some of the workshops, most likely smithies, had large furnaces just outside their door and men were shovelling coal or whatever fuel it was that they used into these furnaces. Other workshops had large grinders outside that were moving without an apparent power source. No windmill attached to it.

And there were many more things to see.

“But I’m a little surprised you wanted to come here, Sis.”

That’s right, it wasn’t me who had suggested coming to this place, but Karen. I had to admit, I was a little surprised when she told me. I didn’t know she had an interest in this.

”Seeing the fishermen earlier I just realised that I don’t really know anything about these things. I thought it was a good time to learn about them. Or did you want to go somewhere else?”
“Nn? Nah, I didn’t really have any other idea so this is fine with me. I’m curious as well anyway.”

Craftsmanship like this wasn’t common anymore in my old world, so it was a bit of a novelty for me to see the more traditional craftsmanship, that didn’t rely on heavy machinery and factories. Although…

“... Hey, Sis, those grinders… are they moving with magic?”

After looking closely at the grinders again, I could see mana moving around it. In that case, it was likely a magic tool of some sort.

“It does look like it.”

It was different from the mostly mechanical crane earlier.

Just as we were watching one of the nearby workshops’ grinders, it came to a screeching halt.

“Oh damn it, again?!”

A shout came from inside the workshop and a woman clad in work clothes came out. She cursed loudly as she fixed the grinder.

Well, I guess even magic tools can have their problems and breakdowns.

As we watched from a distance, the woman pulled out a small contraption from beneath the grinder, likely the part that made it move. After a few moments of tinkering, she returned it under the grinder, gave it a fairly rough kick to start it and then returned to the workshop. Not without a few more choice words, though.

“Yumi, is it safe to just kick a magic tool?”
“Probably not.”

That kind of treatment was likely a reason it broke down in the first place… even though she could fix it, more or less.

“At the very least, it wouldn’t be helpful. So I think you’re better off not kicking it.”

Especially not with Karen’s strength. There wouldn’t be a tool remaining if she kicked it.

“Mmm…”

Karen looked at the grinder for a  few more moments before turning to me.

“Hey, Yumi. Are these things working differently at your old place, too?
“Huh? You mean those grinders?”
”Yes.”

That’s not a question I expected.

“Nn… That’s a bit difficult to say. If we’re just talking about the grinder, then there are similar tools at my place. Though, they aren’t run with magic.”
“How do they run them then? Are people pushing it?”
“Hehe, no, they aren’t. At least, I haven’t heard of that. There might be places where they did that. But where I was, they’re usually run with electricity.”
“Electricity? What’s that?”
”Nn… Well…”

How could you explain that…

“It’s a type of energy similar to mana in that it can power tools if properly controlled. I guess that would be the best way to describe it.”
“Huh… Energy…”

Karen returned her gaze to the grinder.

“Oh, but before electricity was a thing, they used wind- and watermills to power large grinders.”
“Wind and water?”
“Nn. They can be fairly strong and if you make use of them, they can move even those large stones. You know how when you spread your arms and turn towards the wind, it pushes you back a little on a windy day?”
“Uhhh…”
“Guess not…”

Did she never do that as a child? Sheesh…

“Oh, but I saw the wind push things down the streets when there was a storm. It also blew away my food… Like that?” she asked.
“Ah, that works too.”

I had to wonder why she was out during a storm and lost her food… or why she didn’t know the wind would push her back. You’d think that’d be obvious. Then again, she was the type to sink in water… Maybe it was her constitution…

A small Karen running after her food that’s flying away… Cute. I want to see that.

It was an adorable image. I couldn’t indulge for long, though, as Karen continued with her questions.

“And water works for that, too?
“Nn. With rivers.”
”Oh, with how things are carried downstream?”
“Yes, that’s it.”

There was probably no need to ask if she had issues with the currents in rivers before…

“That’s amazing. I never thought you could make use of those things.”
“Nn… But it’d surprise me if there were no windmills around at all. Or watermills for that matter.”
“You think so?”
“Nn.”

Though it was true that I hadn’t seen either of those so far. Still, when it came to energy, water and wind were among the most accessible. Not to mention that they incurred basically no additional costs.

”Well, if there are any, we’re probably going to see them at some point. They tend to be conspicuous.”
“Mm…”

Karen was lost in thought. A few moments later, her gaze wandered away from the workshop with the grinder towards the smithies.

“Yumi, what about blacksmiths? Are the furnaces run with that electricity stuff too?
“Nn, the furnaces? Uhh…”

Furnaces, huh…

“I don’t know for sure. Some might, while others might still use fuels like coal. But I don’t really know much about that. All I can tell you is that the furnaces are really large and get extremely hot.”
“Large? How large?”
“Several times as large as these, at the very least. Nn… Now that I think about it, I guess the mana smelters might be comparable, actually. The ones we saw in Melfin.”

I couldn’t say for sure that they were similar since we only saw things from a distance. Plus, they blew up before we even got to see anything.

“The mana smelters, you say… Then what about the blacksmiths? Do they all use those furnaces?”
“Uhhh… Traditional smithing isn’t as common anymore over there. Most tools were made with the help of machines and other advanced tools.”
“Really?”
“Nn, really.”

It was probably hard to imagine. And honestly, I had no idea how to convey those things either. If I hadn’t seen a factory before, I probably wouldn’t believe it either.

“Does that also affect other craftsmen?”
“Nn? What does?“
”That the people in your world make things with those machines. That means their craft became obsolete, doesn’t it?”
“That’s… In some cases, yes. I think there were some trades that were completely lost due to that. Though some trades, like blacksmithing, still exist. Just not as prominent anymore.”
“... That’s a little sad, isn’t it?”
“Nn, it is.”

It certainly was sad but unfortunately, it had been unavoidable.

“Do you think, that a similar thing will happen here?”
“I wonder. I guess it depends on how much of a difference magic makes.”

Magic was amazingly convenient. And while magic tools could do a variety of things, I had to wonder if they could replace magic itself. If they couldn’t, then a skilled Earth magician would always be needed.

“... But I guess that also limits it to magicians, huh?”

Not everyone had the aptitude for magic, after all.

“Either way, it’ll be hard to predict how things will progress.”
“Mmm…”

Personally, I thought it would be nice if these traditional trades remained to a degree and didn’t die out…

“Nn? Now that I think about it, there are many races with long lifespans, right? That should also make a difference.”

A long-lived person who knew the trades would have an easier time preserving that knowledge. There might be a limit to that as well, but hopefully, it would help a bit.

“You mentioned before that the people in your world didn’t live as long.”
“Nn. It was amazing if someone reached 100 years. Ahh, the years are a little bit shorter over there too, so it’d be even less here… Not that it makes much of a difference.”
“That’s short.”
“Hehe, in a way.”

Before coming here, I didn’t really think about whether it was short or not. In the first place, I couldn’t really call myself old enough to have a real opinion about that.

“For the people in my old world, they’d be shocked to hear that a human could reach 120 years without a problem here. I was, at least. When I heard the captain is already close to 70, I thought my ears were broken.”

Seriously, it had been a huge shock to me. By the standards of my old world, he looked to be around 40 maybe. But seventy? No way.

“And humans are already quite short-lived compared to most other races….”
“Well for you they might be, miss ageless demonkin.”
“Oh, is someone getting a little grumpy? I don’t think you have grounds to complain, miss ageless monster girl.”

Karen snickered at me, a grin on her face.

“Hey, things used to be different.”
“But now, it’s not something for you to worry about anymore either.”
“That is a little worrisome by itself.”

There were plenty of stories about people becoming unhappy because all their friends passed away before them. I didn’t even want to imagine that kind of future.

“Hey, Sis.”
“Yes?”
“At least we’ll have each other, no matter how much time passes.”
“That’s true.”

I stepped closer to Karen and hugged her arm, instead of holding her hand like usual.

“Yumi?”
“Nn, let me stay like this for a bit.”
“As long as you want.”

We continued walking down the street, passing dozens of busy workshops.

“By the way, Sis.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you have the sudden interest in my old world?”

We had only talked a little about my old world before. Partly because my memories were unreliable and spotty at best.

“Because it was the place where you lived before. I always thought that it isn’t so different from here before. But when we were at the harbour, I realised that I don’t really know anything about it.”
“Is that why you wanted to come here?”
“Yes.”

So that’s why.

“Are you angry?”
“Nn? Why would I be?”
“Well… Isn’t it hard for you to remember?”
“Ahhh…”

I chuckled a little.

“It is. But that doesn’t mean I hate talking about it. I’m sure there were many good things as well. And talking about these things isn’t that hard anyway.”

This knowledge wasn’t as spotty as the memories of my own life were. I’d even say that I could remember certain things fairly well.

Although, whether that was because I had a particular interest in these things, I couldn’t say. At least, right now, I felt mostly neutral about it. I was more intrigued by the things right in front of me.

“So, there’s no need for you to worry about that, Sis. Rather, I’m happy to answer any questions you have. Provided I know the answer.”
“… Really?
“Nn.”

The worrisome expression on her face melted away replaced by a small smile.

“Okay. Then, I’m going to ask you lots and lots, Yumi.”
“Sure, go ahead.
“Then, then…”

Karen looked around, looking at the various workshops we passed by. After a while, she stopped in her tracks, looking at one house in particular. It was a small building, squeezed tightly between all the others.

“What’s that? Is that also a workshop?”
“I don’t know. Doesn’t look like it.”

Contrary to all the other buildings here, there were no tools or machinery outside that could indicate what it was. Rather than tools, there was a small flower in front of it.

My first thought was that it was just a regular house. However, there was a small wooden plaque hanging on the front door with ‘Closed’ on it.

“Maybe a shop or something?”

We walked over to the house stopping right in front of the yard. There were no signs or anything that could tell us what it was.

“It looks rundown,” said Karen.
“Nn? A little I guess…”

The flower bed aside—it was clear that they were very well cared for with all the colourful flowers—the building itself showed signs of age.

“I wonder what this place is. Nnn…”

I turned around, looking for someone nearby. The workshop next door didn’t seem too busy, so I asked one of the craftsmen taking a break.

“Excuse me.”
“Ha? What, a girl? We’re not taking apprentices anymore this year.”
“Err, we’re not here for apprenticeship…”
“That so?”

The man raised an eyebrow, looking us up and down. His gaze fell on the emblem on my clothes.

“What, you’re with those mercs?” he muttered.

Now his gaze was filled with even more suspicion.

“So, what do the merc girls want from me?”
“We just wanted to ask what is in that building here… We’re nott here for work.”
“What, you aren’t? Say that first, man.”

Sorry, but I didn’t expect him to jump to conclusions so quickly…

“That building, you mean the church?”
“... Church?”

My gaze landed on the rundown building.

“That’s supposed to be a church?”
“It is. Some kind of cult I’ve never even heard of before. Errr… What was its name again? Ugh, can’t remember… Not that it matters. It’s only run by one girl anyway.”

He shrugged his shoulders, clearly not very motivated.

“If you wanted to talk to her, you’re just outta luck. She left this morning for some errand and said she won’t be back until evening.”
“Huh…”

We hadn’t planned on meeting the owner anyway. We just wanted to know what this is. But now that I did, I couldn’t deny that I got only more curious. A tiny church about a faith nobody knows? Intriguing.

Okay, maybe not quite that intriguing, but if possible I would have liked to know more about it.

“I guess we can just come back another day.”

It was in the middle of the town, after all. Not all that far from the harbour either. If we had the chance, it might be interesting to come back here.

“Thank you very much for telling us.”
“Yeah, yeah.”

The man waved with his hand as if trying to shoo us away. Not very friendly, but he answered our questions, so I wasn’t going to complain.

“Now we know what it is, at least,” I said.
“I didn’t think it’d be a church.”
“Nn, neither did I.”

I could have thought of many things like a normal house, a shop or a storage or something. But a church? In the middle of the craftsmen’s street? To boot, it was a faith they didn’t even know. Not even her direct neighbour did. Though, it could be that he was just forgetful…

“We can come by some other time and take a look again. Maybe the owner is here then.”
“Good idea.”

And with that decided we continued our trip through the street.