Chapter 102

It had been a few hours since we started waiting for the mayor.

Clearly, it was already past lunchtime despite arriving in the morning.

This… is he intentionally ignoring us? That must be it, right?

Pfft… Should I just knock down this tower entirely?

“Hold your horses.”

“What did I do?”

“You had that look on your face like you were about to destroy the entire tower and flatten everything.”

What’s with the detailed expression analysis?

But listen. The Temple of Life is supposed to be super renowned, right? It sends pilgrims all over the world to care for life everywhere… essentially functioning as some kind of global charity organization?

A place filled with children striving hard to protect life beyond race or country borders?

And they’d leave someone important from such a place waiting like this alongside a hero and their party?! Without even proper food?!

Food!!! Properly!!! Not Given!!!!!!

That crosses the line. Whatever scheme is at play here, this won’t slide easily. Let the heavens rain judgment!

“Would you stop already? They might just be swamped, you know.”

“Is the city’s profit more crucial than a hero and the Temple of Life? That doesn’t sound right.”

The hero sometimes seems unaware of their own worth, don’t you think?

I grumbled loudly while opening the lid of a small wooden basket I conjured through creation magic.

Let’s eat something first. They say dying ghosts have good color, after all.

“Let’s eat then.”

Today’s menu: sandwiches—simple food consisting of various vegetables, meat, and sauce stuffed between bread slices.

Of course, this world hasn’t seen sandwiches yet.

Add some tasty milk, and voila! A complete lunch without lacking anything! Simple but excellent!

Whoever this mayor guy is, I’ll give him a piece of my mind when we meet!

Though I acknowledge his skill in transforming what used to be a small mage village into this massive city and building such a tall tower, breaking contracts can’t just be forgiven!

After devouring a few sandwiches with the hero,

“Hmm, looks like I’ve kept you waiting too long.”

At last, the culprit behind our long wait appeared.

“I heard someone came from the Temple of Life and wondered who it might be… It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Ho, I thought the mayor seemed familiar… Your face rings a bell.”

This young man who stood beside me when inspecting the town’s mana stones back in the day was now standing there.

Of course, time has passed, so he appears middle-aged now.

“It’s been quite some time, yet you haven’t changed a bit.”

“Hmm. There are elves who live for a thousand years; staying unchanged for a few decades isn’t exactly impressive.”

Just a few decades…

“I deeply apologize. I should have come immediately, but external inspection duties couldn’t be skipped. If I had known, I would have sent word asking you to come later in the afternoon.”

“I was a little upset, but it’s fine now that you’re here.”

Of course, my anger hadn’t dissipated.

I merely held it in.

The once-young man, now grown into a mayor of Babel, sat on a chair in the reception room and spoke.

“Since you’re from the Temple of Life, I assume there’s only one matter at hand—the mana stone imbued with something…”

“Yeah. There’s no other reason for me to be here.”

The mayor nodded in understanding.

“I sincerely apologize, but we ourselves don’t know the reason.”

“Hmm…?”

“That’s because we don’t produce those mana stones directly, do we?”

Indeed. Mana stones aren’t made by human hands—they’re extracted from hunted monsters.

Still, isn’t this too much? It feels like they’re just showing off by giving us scraps!

“We’re also troubled. With the city expanding and the influx of mana stones increasing, it’s difficult to sort out problematic ones. To the point where people are directly trading with merchants and buying mana stones outside our control.”

“Directly?”

“Yes. We manage all mana stone transactions from this tower, but some ignore that and purchase them privately.”

The mayor began grumbling heavily.

“To begin with, the reason this tower grew large was to thoroughly examine incoming mana stones and sell problem-free ones to mages. Yet they don’t understand its importance, complaining about costs and demanding staff increases while making plenty of money themselves. Ugh.”

The mayor complained quite a lot. Hmm… He seems to have endured quite a bit.

“We’re doing our best, but checking these problematic mana stones takes time. Initially, we didn’t have many tools, and some got damaged along the way… Now, we’re managing with just three.”

Three…?

Didn’t I make around ten originally?? Are they all broken??

It hasn’t been several decades yet… Ah… Hmm…

Upon reflection, I didn’t cast any anti-damage spells on them.

Hmm. Well, if that’s the case, it makes sense. Even iron-made hand trowels wear out and break after digging soil for decades.

“So, could you prepare new examination tools for us?”

“Hmm. Sure, if that’s the case. I wasn’t aware of these circumstances.”

I didn’t realize they were sorting through mana stones using just three hand trowels day and night.

Speaking of which, they somehow managed to amass enough wealth to build such a tower.

“Fortunately, we contacted the Temple of Life regarding this matter, but having you come directly is a blessing. It feels like the Goddess of Life herself is aiding us.”

Hmm. Since I’m helping, it’s not exactly wrong! Indeed!

“By the way, about those examination tools. Can we perhaps create something more efficient?”

“More efficient tools?”

“Yes. Sorting each one manually takes too long. Could we find a way to speed it up?”

Faster, huh? Hmm…

“How about this?”

I conjured a large metallic box, adding a wide input slot on top.

Then I created an output port on the side and another one below, constructing long legs underneath to hold boxes, embedding the mana stone examination function within.

The machine quickly inspects the inserted mana stones, ejecting those containing fragments of darkness through the side port while finishing with a power switch and a mana stone installation slot for energy supply.

“For now, let’s adjust while testing. Can you bring about a box of unexamined mana stones?”

“Yes, I’ll have them brought right away.”

The mayor briskly left, gave some instructions to someone outside, and returned.

“So, how does this box work?”

“Hmm. Do you remember the tools I made before?”

“Of course. Didn’t you show us how to use them personally?”

I chuckled slightly before speaking.

“This one is entirely different. Showing you directly will be faster than explaining.”

Together, someone entered the reception room carrying a box.

“Well, let me demonstrate. Oh, before that…”

I created a box under the lower output and made a small space beneath the side output.

Adding small baskets completes the setup. Alright, let’s go…

“Put the mana stones into the input slot above.”

Following my instruction, the mayor directed the person holding the box to insert the stones one by one.

“Will inserting them one by one take forever? Just dump them in!”

After all, I made the input slot spacious! Fill it up until it’s nearly overflowing, and it’ll handle automatically!

Its internal structure is very simple, so there’s no worry of malfunction! Made entirely of solid iron, it’s bound to be durable!

Especially since I paid attention to durability and inspection speed while crafting it!

Following my words, the person holding the box poured the mana stones into the input slot as if shaking them out, and I inserted a clean mana stone into the slot I had and pressed the power button.

As a result, the mana stones filled in the input slot began pouring out through the bottom exit.

“Wow… So, how does this detect those specific mana stones?”

“Just watch.”

After roughly half a box went through the bottom exit,

BEEP!

A short sound rang out, and one mana stone was ejected through the side exit.

“Hmm?”

“Good. It seems to be working properly.”

I handed the ejected mana stone to the hero.

“Place it against the diamond embedded in your sword.”

“Ah, yes.”

The hero, standing still like a scarecrow, looked slightly surprised upon receiving the mana stone from me, then placed it against the diamond that absorbs fragments of darkness.

SWISH.

The fragment of darkness residing within the mana stone naturally absorbed into the diamond.

“See? Now, just dump them in from above, and it’ll automatically sort out the problematic ones. This should suffice.”

With the performance improvement, it can already process an entire box of mana stones.

Though two problematic stones were found among the whole box.

“Amazing! With this, we can swiftly handle the backlog! Excuse me, but could you make several more?”

“Hmm. Let’s make two more, totaling three. That should be enough.”

“Five! Please make five altogether! The influx of mana stones is too high, so even three wouldn’t be sufficient!”

Grrr… Five?

Well, nothing can be done.

I quickly duplicated the original box I made, creating four more.

“However, the mana stones sent to the Temple of Life must not lack. Understand?”

“Ugh, is there even a question about that?”

Thus, I handed over the newly crafted examination tools to the mayor of Babel.

With this, the mana stones imbued with darkness should be well-managed! Hmm!

But…

That turned out to be merely my wishful thinking.