Chapter 641: Future
"Your Majesty, Mr. Trin has an urgent report to make."
Hearing the news brought by the maid, Amalia gave Astrid a look, communicated the situation with her, and then left Elizabeth Academy of Magic.
Watching the white-stockinged girl wearing a pure white Lolita dress walk out of the pavilion, Astrid narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and her fingers lightly touched the arm covered in black tulle.
"Your Highness Astrid... I heard that the main inspiration for this hair dryer was provided by you?"
Turning around, she saw her friend and little fangirl, the second young lady of the Minister of Finance’s family, Lydia, stopping to watch at the counter.
In private daily communication, they could use their friend status and address each other by their first names, but considering it was a public occasion, Lydia still chose to add an honorific, addressing Astrid as Your Highness.
"I just raised the possible needs of the noble young ladies in the capital, including myself, and the corresponding functions that need to be implemented."
"The key core is still handled by Vice Dean Charlotte, including the specific spell array construction and magic rune engraving, which are all done by her alone."
Seeing Astrid talking with Lydia, Lyra simply greeted the latter and followed the two to stroll around. Within her line of sight, she happened to see Theresa standing in the corner, listening to the staff introduce the functions and some principles of the magic device for cooking.
"This is a magic device jointly invented by Professor Rowen and the honorable Regent Astrid; the latter is responsible for providing the concept and design drawings, while the former is responsible for implementation and engraving."
"The black disc you see is a slice of Lake Light Stone with extremely high thermal conductivity. It is hard, wear-resistant, and high-temperature resistant. You can place utensils on it to heat them for potion refining or cooking food."
"The touch button at the bottom corresponds to several output modes of the fire attribute crystal stone, used to adjust the temperature to a heating mode desired by the user and keep it stable. The Lake Light Stone disc can also ensure even heating, allowing the bottom layer of potions and food to be heated comprehensively."
Theresa listened seriously, unaware of the light sound of leather shoes landing beside her, and spoke softly.
"A very interesting invention. It isolates open flames and cooks food by heating stone slices."
After all, Theresa is a knowledgeable blue dragon, and her own strength has reached the mid-tier Arcanist Mage level. Her understanding of magic spell arrays is quite deep. Compared to other high-tech magic devices, this simple and convenient cooking device, just listening to the staff’s explanation, she roughly understood its principles.
Human creativity is indeed strong. When dragons were in the stage of drinking blood and eating raw meat, they already used fire to roast meat and vegetables to make them more delicious.
Although the dragon race now rarely eats raw food, simply heated meat, without spice seasoning or sauce accompaniment, ultimately lacks a lot of meaning.
To be honest, the meals Theresa ate in Capital City were much more delicious than the so-called delicacies she used in the Holy Dragon Main Hall.
It’s just a pity that this magic device named the Magic Energy Stove exhibited is too small in model and emits too little heat, which is fundamentally insufficient to satisfy the appetite of a single dragon for one meal, in fact, the breakfast and lunch Amalia invited her to have were barely enough to line Theresa’s stomach; the desire of the palate was satisfied, but the stomach was still very hungry.
If... this magic device could be enlarged according to a certain proportion...
Theresa propped up her cheek with one hand, carefully thinking about the possibilities.
The blue dragon race is different from the red dragons who are good at using fire. They are close to water and weak in fire, and their ability to control flames is very poor. If they are not careful, they will burn the meat, or simply cook it half-raw and swallow it into their stomachs.
Using a tool that conveniently controls temperature is easier than directly spraying fire to roast. As for fire attribute crystal stones, with their strength, casually hunting a few high-tier magical beasts is basically enough.
"Miss Theresa, are you very interested in this Magic Energy Stove?"
Seeing Theresa come out of her thinking state, and her deep blue pupils, which were much deeper than her own sky-blue eyes, return to clarity, Lyra spoke softly.
"I also have a slight understanding of its operating principles... If there is anything Miss Theresa wants to know, you can ask me..."
Back then at Liya Tower Fortress, besides the small warm stones personally gifted by the Regent to the garrison soldiers, there was also a similar invention by Charlotte used for indoor warmth.
The constant temperature warming heating furnace does not require carrying much wood, is convenient and easy to carry, has high power, and does not produce any smoke or dust, making it very convenient for marching in cold winter.
However, due to the shortage of magic crystal stones during the war, that kind of heating device was not used on a large scale.
Most of the time, soldiers relied on ordinary simple metal stoves and lit firewood to resist the severe cold, although the effect is much worse than crystal stones engraved with special spell arrays, and it cannot achieve smokeless secrecy, in the stage where both sides are facing off and there is no need to specifically hide tracks, it can be considered a reliable substitute.
Hearing this, Theresa turned her head to look at Lyra, and the latter spoke softly.
"When Astrid was drawing the initial design drawings, I was watching too. Besides the specific magic rune engraving, there are many ingenious designs."
"For example, the simple spell array that recovers the thermal energy emitted by the magic crystal stone at the bottom to the upper layer, and the fuse channel for emergency protection."
After all, Theresa came to the human empire alone as a single dragon. Astrid, who has a special status, still needs to socialize with other capital nobles, so the task of receiving the distant guest naturally fell to Lyra.
Fortunately, the first person Theresa met was Lyra. Their relationship is pretty good, so there isn’t a particularly strong sense of unfamiliarity.
"Then I will trouble you, Miss Lyra." Theresa replied.
Lyra shook her head. The pink and white skirt swayed as her small leather shoes moved, covering her smooth white-stockinged thighs.
"There is no need to be too polite; Miss Theresa is a distinguished guest."
...................
In order to hold this epoch-making magic device exhibition well, Amalia and Astrid prepared extremely fully. Just the exhibition hall of Elizabeth Academy of Magic alone had enough content for several hours of visits, for many nobles to understand and explore.
From kitchenware convenient for cooking, to geothermal air conditioners used to regulate temperature, to full sets of bathing equipment arranged indoors, a series of magic device that could greatly improve the quality of life for nobles were quietly placed in glass counters, like the substantiation of human wisdom.
When the guests had seen enough, Amalia returned to the exhibition hall surrounded by everyone. First, she stood on tiptoe and leaned on the Regent’s shoulder, whispering a few intimate words to Astrid who lowered her head slightly, and then asked the many guests to temporarily stop the tour and listen to her speech.
"I believe that after this small half-afternoon tour, everyone should have a deeper understanding of exactly what the pioneers of the empire are researching."
Possessing supreme power, even if she spoke softly, everyone around would prick up their ears and listen clearly.
Feeling the gazes of the capital nobles projected onto her, Amalia tapped her silver high heels lightly. The crown on her head looked even brighter under the reflection of the crystal chandelier.
"One day in the future, perhaps next week, or next month, or the second half of the year, these convenient and fast products of wisdom will greatly improve everyone’s lives and keep us away from barbarism and ignorance."
"Here, I am very grateful for Lady Fanya’s foresight. She is the creator of the magic device and the person who changed the entire empire."
After Amalia finished saying this, she looked at the silver-haired beauty beside her and spoke softly.
"And her daughter, Astrid Calliste, also my sister, has perfectly inherited her mantle and become another explorer seeking on the long road."
"This exhibition cannot be separated from her, Charlotte, Rowen, and the many other mages and craftsmen who participated in the research and construction of magic devices."
"I express my lofty respect as an Empress to them and will promulgate a series of welfare systems to reward their contributions."
As soon as these words came out, no nobles below raised objections. Smart people knew that Amalia’s ultimate goal in holding the magic device exhibition was to promote the promulgation of relevant reform bills; this little bit was nothing.
Hearing this, Astrid acted officially. She took a step forward, gently bent her knees, and knelt on one knee, letting the elegant black skirt with lotus leaf edges cover her slender and smooth black-stockinged legs, and placed her palm on her chest to thank her softly.
Amalia did not let Astrid kneel for long. She walked over with slow steps and reached out her hand to her sister. Astrid raised her hand to take it, representing the acceptance of the monarch’s grace and the harmony between the Empress and the subject.
Everything went smoothly. The nobles below bowed one after another to thank the Holy Grace. When Amalia asked everyone to rise, she continued speaking.
"Those who have made contributions to the empire should be treated preferentially. Everyone present is also a pillar of the empire. In the future, I still need your assistance to make the glory of the empire last forever."
After saying a few simple words, Amalia shifted the topic and brought up the key point.
"You should all know that before the magic device exhibition started, I carried out a series of renovation works on Capital City."
Those magic energy street lamps standing on both sides of the street, and those fountains gushing with clear water sources, were all newly built later to beautify the capital and welcome distinguished guests.
"Coinciding with the vigorous development of magic devices, I intend to establish a new type of urban sanitary cleaning pipeline."
Gently touching the imperial scepter a few times, a maid on the side placed the prepared parchment on the blank display board, spread it flat, and fixed it with sharp metal spikes.
On the surface of the parchment was the sewer pipeline of a metropolis from Astrid’s previous life. By excavating the land and laying large metal pipes for sewage management, and then using small pipes to connect to the mansions of various nobles to help them clean up and discharge sewage.
"This pipeline system is a complete system planned out after I talked all night with Regent Astrid for several nights." Amalia raised the corners of her lips slightly, her emerald green pupils reflecting the lights.
"Using the original gravity and the kinetic energy provided by wind attribute crystal stones, the water flow is driven out of the mansion and finally flows out of the city along the wide metal pipes."
In name, this is for the convenience of the nobles. They do not need to send people specifically to handle sewage, nor do they need to set up a special water room for storage, and it also reduces the loss of transportation.
In reality, Amalia doing this is also paving the way for adding small pipelines later.
This underground pipeline system can not only optimize the city structure but also increase the population capacity of a single city, relieve the congestion in Capital City, and because of the characteristic that it will not be contacted by commoners, it can also avoid the breeding of dissatisfaction among nobles.
In the future, when Charlotte and Astrid overcome the energy problem and magic devices are used on a large scale, these existences buried deep underground can play a greater role.
"To this end, I have gathered a large number of craftsmen to forge sturdy metal pipes day and night, and at the same time established the position of Honorary Grand Engineer of magic devices of the Valeria Empire, specifically responsible for related development and construction."
"If graduates of the Valeria Empire are interested, they can also major in magic device Studies, then enter the Royal Research Team, and enjoy teaching subsidies and the tilt of teaching resources."
Unlike Astrid’s previous life where pipelines were laid first and then city construction was considered, the other world has the very convenient blessing of earth attribute magic. The implementation of Amalia’s vision is not necessarily more difficult than the high-tech construction of an information society.
As the voice fell, some nobles looked thoughtful and did not speak rashly.
This empress basically makes no secret of her intention to promote magic devices, but for now, everything she does indeed fits the interests of the general nobility.
It is not shared with commoners, nor has it caused large-scale social changes. In terms of safety and stability, heavy restrictions are also imposed just like the old Empress.
It’s just that... the next actions, no matter how you look at it, seem to be cultivating the soil...
As a member of a merchant family, Tristian, who had long guessed this, keenly smelled the business opportunity in it. He remained calm on the surface but secretly sighed in his heart that he was still far from his father.
Velmont Family established quite close commercial cooperation with the royal family as soon as Amalia took the throne. And after learning that Astrid, Charlotte, and Amalia had a very close relationship, they immediately concluded that promoting magic devices was the biggest political tendency of the future Empress.
On this basis, all of Amalia’s actions were basically within Velmont family’s scope. However, as the head of the family, they could not publish some insights and views too high-profile on the surface.
But as the future heir of the family, Tristian has always been clear that his father is considering the transformation of the family, or in other words, investing more funds and property in the future field of magic devices.
In doing business, how can there be no risk? What Cedric has always emphasized is whether the expected income matches the risk taken, and that sunk costs are not included in the judgment scope.
Thinking of this, Tristian took the lead in speaking.
"Your Majesty thinks far ahead. Once this great project is completed, it will surely be a merit for the current generation and a benefit for a thousand autumns."
If Amalia and Astrid have the ability to complete a large-scale empire reform, they can also profit from it and become the second nobles to eat the delicious cake after the promoters.
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