The carriage sped along the dirt road, surrounded by mounted guards in armor carrying various weapons.

Numerous steeds galloped at high speed, passing through roads of flying dust and muddy water, until they reached a smooth street.

The sound of hooves pulling the carriage gradually became sparse, until it stopped.

Aurelianne was a bit confused. She asked Lady Cassandra:

"Aunt, why have we stopped?"

Cassandra reached out a hand and slowly pulled back the curtain of the carriage.

"Because we've arrived."

Aurelianne looked out through the carriage window.

It was a scene that would astonish anyone who came here.

Countless tall buildings rose from the ground, with magic-powered street lamps on both sides, and huge chimney-like structures spewing out magical power of various colors.

The flow of vehicles on the street seemed to be enchanted as well. Aurelianne couldn't see a single horse-drawn carriage.

There were only mechanical devices emitting white smoke, moving at high speed.

Some pedestrians were even equipped with strange mechanical prostheses as they walked down the street.

Mechanical eyeballs swiveled back and forth in eye sockets, and it was unclear whether they could actually see people or not.

There were also some cats and dogs with rotating gears scurrying about the streets, seemingly adding a touch of vitality to the entire mechanical city's ecosystem.

Aurelianne looked at the scenery outside the window, her eyes wide, observing everything like a curious child.

"Let's get out," said the guard outside as he opened the door and set up footstools for the two of them.

The two alighted from the carriage one after another, their movements equally graceful.

"Report back. You don't need to continue protecting me," Cassandra calmly ordered the surrounding guards.

This was Reiser family territory; there was no need for these guards to accompany them.

They nodded to Cassandra in unison and dispersed in an orderly manner, well-trained.

Only Elsa remained, continuing to stay by Cassandra's side.

Lady Cassandra turned around and looked at Aurelianne.

"Next, we need to change our mode of transportation."

Aurelianne was a bit puzzled, as she had spent most of her life in the capital and had never seen cities outside of it.

The last time she had this feeling was when she went to Endymion with Teacher Viktor.

That experience had given her many new sensations.

And this time, the advanced city before her eyes equally filled her with wonder.

However, unlike the Mage City, which felt magical,

This place gave a sense of order and coordination.

In this mechanical city, even the air seemed to become a bit heavy, accompanied by a hint of seriousness.

Suddenly, a car flickering with magical power slowly approached them.

At the rear of the car was a rather large magical power storage tank.

Compressed, concentrated magical power was stuffed into it as a power source.

The magical power on every part of the car body was strictly controlled by steel, distributed very precisely on it.

Seeing this "carriage" that could drive automatically, Aurelianne was quite surprised.

This carriage had no wheels; the body seemed to be enchanted, hovering slightly above the ground.

Four seats were arranged in two rows front and back, but there was no one driving it.

"A new product of the Reiser family. You can think of it as an automatic carriage that doesn't need horses to pull it," Cassandra explained.

Aurelianne blinked, couldn't help but think of Teacher Viktor's magical carriage that also didn't need horses.

However, it seemed to be somewhat different from the thing in front of her.

Elsa stepped forward first, opened the door of the back seat, and bowed to indicate the two to get in.

"Get in."

After Cassandra spoke, she sat down in the inner position first.

Aurelianne, with a nervous heart, sat in this strange 'magical carriage'.

Elsa sat in front, serving as a bodyguard.

The vehicle slowly started moving. Because it was floating in the air, the ride was very smooth.

As they gradually went deeper into the city,

The appearance of this city also revealed itself more to Aurelianne.

Countless towering buildings flashed with strange colors.

The rotating gears in mid-air constantly combined to form various signs, seeming to advertise some content.

The vehicle drove to the city center. As if sensing something, she couldn't help but look up.

That was the highest point of this mechanical city.

In the vast sky above, several powerful magical channels were connected at one point, and a huge magical barrier covered the sky above the city.

An awe-inspiring clock hung on the high tower, shaped like a gear.

Its two hands, one long and one short, emitted red and blue light.

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"Is that... magic?" Aurelianne asked.

Lady Cassandra began to introduce to Aurelianne:

"This is the place known as the 'City of Progress' - Tiebo."

"It's also where our Reiser main family is located."

If one only looked at the surface of this place, it might even make people feel that it was more prosperous than the capital.

But...

"Aunt, why haven't you popularized everything here to other places?" Aurelianne inquired.

Cassandra just rested her head on her hand, looking at the mechanical scenery around.

"Not enough energy."

"Energy?"

Cassandra didn't respond to her question, but continued:

"These things are very convenient, right?"

"But they require too much energy. We can only use them in this one city of not-so-large scale."

The area of Tiebo, of course, couldn't compare to the capital, or Blaiston under the rule of the Kravina domain.

Blaiston had an extremely large population and conducted a lot of commercial trade relying on its seaport and harbor.

Its maritime territory was very vast.

Because of this, Blaiston could become the second most prosperous economic city in the empire.

Strictly speaking, the area of the City of Progress established by the Reiser main family was not even one-tenth of Blaiston's.

Not to mention the capital.

To popularize it in these two places would be an enormous expenditure in terms of both manpower and financial resources.

The vehicle continued to move forward, passing through a dark mechanical tunnel.

As the light appeared again, they arrived at the Reiser family's main house.

Getting off the car, Cassandra spoke calmly to the guard beside her.

"Elsa, you can leave for now too. Come find me again later."

"Yes," the female guard called Elsa bowed her head in acknowledgment and quickly left.

Taking this opportunity, Aurelianne looked up.

She opened her eyes wide, not wanting to miss anything here.

The Reiser main house was very large, surrounded by huge solid stone walls, divided into several areas.

Numerous servants were each performing their duties in the courtyard. Aurelianne, standing outside the gate, could see them constantly shuttling between one room and another.

Those huge brown houses looked like mechanical high-rises, and there seemed to be some vague order between them.

This place didn't look like a home.

It looked more like a small, concentrated city.

"What you see now is the research and development area of the Reiser family. Without special permission, this place is forbidden to anyone," Cassandra explained.

"Over there, the area that occupies the largest space is the testing area. There will be dedicated testers here to conduct tests on some novel gadgets."

Cassandra led Aurelianne through the steel structures, introducing everything about the Reiser main house as they walked.

"This is the botanical garden."

Aurelianne peeked inside, where there were various common plants of sizes beyond common sense.

Even the fruits that had just formed were taller than a maid.

"Those botanical gardens are responsible for purifying the air here, as well as cultivating some vegetables and fruits, ensuring that these researchers can be self-sufficient."

Aurelianne listened in a daze, nodding confusedly.

Suddenly, in front of her, a robot with rotating gears wobbled past.

This thing that could move yet was like a puppet immediately startled Aurelianne. She hid behind Cassandra, trembling as she asked:

"What was that just now...?"

"Hmm, you can understand it as a brand new invention. They have a collective name."

"Magical technology."

Cassandra walked with Aurelianne while explaining.

"Everything designed here is for one original intention."

"That is, to make human life more convenient."

Cassandra said with her arms crossed.

"With magic as the basic support, but also detached from magic, allowing even ordinary people who can't use magic to enjoy the benefits brought by magic."

"That's... amazing," Aurelianne said, her eyes shining after Cassandra finished speaking.

Everything before her eyes brought her immense novelty, filling her with interest in this unfamiliar land.

But suddenly, she raised a question:

"By the way, Aunt."

"I heard those ministers say that you are suspected of luring elves... but why do you want to lure elves?"

Lady Cassandra's body stiffened for a moment, and she sighed:

"It was your father who asked you to ask, right?"

"I knew it. He's always been worried about this issue."

Aurelianne didn't answer, but Cassandra turned and changed direction, slowly walking away.

"Follow me."

Aurelianne was very obedient, quietly following behind her.

As they walked, Lady Cassandra arrived at the door of the research lab.

There was an extremely strong guard at the door. Seeing Cassandra's arrival,

He directly made way, respectfully allowing this lady to pass:

"Welcome back, Lady Cassandra."

Those guards were very respectful to the lady. In Aurelianne's view, this was Lady Cassandra's control.

A vague feeling rose from the bottom of her heart.

Perhaps, the Reiser family had always been under her aunt's control.

The mechanical door slowly opened. During this time, Cassandra wasn't idle:

"To realize the plan of allowing ordinary people to enjoy the convenience of magic, our researchers have been constantly experimenting."

"Later, we found that among human races, only mages can store large amounts of magical power as their energy source."

"And once this magical power leaks out, humans can't store it, nor can they transport it to other places to use as an energy source."

"So, we got inspiration from other races, and finally proved this possibility."

The moment they entered the laboratory, researchers were busy all around.

They wore white coats, busy in the laboratory, all carrying blueprints and documents in their arms.

Various precision instruments were placed on huge research tables, and many rooms were labeled with warnings to stay away.

"Don't mind them. They are all mages from Endymion who signed high-priced contracts with the Reiser family."

"We need the wisdom of the Mage City, so we invited many people to help us."

As Lady Cassandra walked, Aurelianne followed closely behind her.

Those researchers constantly passed by the two of them, as if they hadn't seen them, engrossed in their work.

And Cassandra didn't mind their rudeness at all.

Here, it seemed that everyone had something to do.

As the two walked, they came to a door.

In front of the door, there were also two guards, as if guarding what was behind the door.

When they saw Cassandra arrive, they bowed very respectfully:

"Lady Cassandra."

Cassandra said calmly.

"Open the door."

The man pulled out a card and swiped it in front of the door.

[Authority Accepted—]

Accompanied by a mechanical sound, the mechanical door quickly rotated its gears, and the light on top turned blue.

Cassandra continued to speak to Aurelianne:

"Actually, I don't know much about elves either."

"But I hope you can replace the word 'lure' with something else."

As the door opened, Aurelianne saw what was inside and stood frozen in place.

Before her eyes was an astonishing forest.

Dense jungle intertwined with vibrant vegetation, and a rich natural breeze blew in their faces.

Just being here could make one feel incredibly joyful.

In the forest, many elves were frolicking, shuttling back and forth between the trees.

Aurelianne stared blankly at those excited elves, while Cassandra stood in front of her with her arms crossed.

"This is the secret that the Reiser family has been keeping."