Fairy Tail: Jinchuriki

After waiting for a few days, Alex finally gets a real job befitting of a Mage. He is tasked to escort Layla and Lucy to Hargeon Town. It's a Port Town where a lot of things are coming in and going out of Fiore.

Layla is going there to find a shipping company to export their products. It should be Jude who does this, but he suddenly falls ill because he has been overworking himself. So Layla decides to do it instead and she takes Lucy with her.

Alex knows that she takes him there just to be Lucy's playmate because it will be boring for the little girl when Layla is doing her work. He's sure of it because there are some guards who go with them.

Layla sure doesn't trust his abilities as a Mage yet, but it's not a problem. At least now he is doing a Mage job even if it's just a pretense. He surely hopes nothing will happen, but if it does happen, then he'll do his job well.

Their trip to Hargeon is peaceful and fast because they ride the train. There's not much to do on the train, so Alex just watches the passing scenery. He doesn't remember much of his past life, but he remembers about the trains on earth that were much more comfortable and faster than this one.

"Steam engine, huh? I wonder how long it will take for the technology to develop and change." Alex just mumbles, but Layla hears it.

"Ara? You know about the steam engine?"

"Eh? Well, I just heard about its name."

"I see, but what do you mean by how long it will take for the technology to develop? Do you have something in mind?" Layla is interested to know if Alex has a good idea in his mind.

"W-well, I just think that if we can use magic to power up the train, then it would be much quieter and maybe it can move even faster. But I doubt it can happen soon because even our magic vehicles are still not good either." Alex seems to be saying too much.

"Oh? Why are they not good." What he says really piques Layla's interest even more.

"That's because, you know, they use Mages' magic power to move, right? I mean why can't they just use lacrima? Won't it be bad to use Mages' magic power, especially if the Mages are in a rush and need to fight. They will run out of magic power before they can even fight. However, I've seen Magic Council's Airships. They are actually powered by lacrima. Why don't we just use the same technology in small vehicles? Then even normal people can use them. Also, if it can move airships, it can surely move trains."

Those are just Alex's thoughts since he realized how strange Ishgar's technology distribution is. They can use lacrima to fly airships, but they can't use lacrima to move small cars, trains, or even sea ships that still move using wind.

"Well, you know, the lacrima in the airship is enchanted with spells to make them fly. We still haven't found the enchantment suitable for land vehicles that can be installed in a lacrima without using too much energy. I think there were some experiments to do that, but all of them ended up with the lacrima having too little magic power to travel in a long distance. It will need a giant lacrima with full magic power to fuel a small vehicle and make it able to move from town to town." Layla explains the problem to Alex.

"So the problem is efficiency? Hmm, is there another source of energy? Maybe you can change coal to oil to make fire? And do we really need to use the fire to make steam just to move the machine? Why can't we just use the fire directly to move the machine?"

Though Alex doesn't understand how modern engines work, he surely knows that it's possible to use the oil combustions to move the engines directly.

"You sure have an interesting idea, young man." A middle-aged man who sits near them suddenly responds to Alex, which makes him frown.

"Ah, don't worry, I'm not a suspicious person."

"But you sure look shady."

".... I won't deny that. But it's true. I'm just intrigued by what you say about the engine because I'm a scientist who also works on engines and has tried to develop them."

"Oh, ok." Alex isn't interested.

"Hahaha, well, I just want to say that your idea isn't new. Many scientists have also thought about that and tried to use that concept. But all of them fail. Their engines always explode because using fire directly to move the engine will make too much power that the engine can't hold for too long."

"Sigh, then use less fire to make less power."

"But then the engine won't be able to move the heavy vehicle."

"Why does it matter? Isn't your first goal should be making the engine work? You can think about making them usable on a vehicle later after you improve it. Just make it work first because then you will understand it more and find out how to make it more powerful."

Alex looks at the so-called scientist as if he is looking at an idiot. After all, he thinks that it should be normal for something new to not work as intended. But if it can work, then it's already good for something newly made because they can always improve it later.

The middle-aged scientist feels like being slapped in the face by what Alex says. He and the other scientists are always trying to make something that works as good as the steam engine immediately, so they always deem their experiments with direct combustion to be a failure.

They forget that it's normal to start from scratch because they make something new. As long as it works, then it's fine because they can always improve it later as they gain more understanding about how it works.

"Y-you are right, young man. A thousand mile journey starts with a single step. HAHAHA! THANK YOU, YOUNG MAN! NOW I KNOW WHAT I NEED TO DO."

The middle-aged man hugs Alex before starting to dance happily. He doesn't care about others' strange gazes and just dances like a kid. Alex thinks that it's a mistake for talking about technology now.

Luckily, they arrive in Hargeon not long after that and get separated from the happy scientist who wants to quickly do the experiments that he has just thought of.

"Sigh, that sure is more tiring than fighting magical creatures."

"Fufufu, you're right. Even Lucy fell asleep when he started to talk about his ideas. But I really hope he succeeds in his experiments so it will be easier to go from town to town. Transporting goods will be much easier and faster if everyone can use land vehicles."

"Sigh, you really are a businesswoman. I only think about riding those vehicles for fun. Like racing with other people."

"Fufufu, everyone thinks differently. Alright, now let's go to find an inn for us to stay before doing our business here."

They find a good inn easily and then go to look for shipping companies after putting their luggage. There are quite a lot of shipping companies here, so it will take a while for Layla to find a good one that can be their business partner.

Every time she meets and negotiates with the companies, she always does it with just a maid and a guard. Alex and Lucy always wait outside with the other guard. Maybe it will look unprofessional to bring children for serious talks.

But now Alex understands that it will surely be very boring for Lucy if he's not there. After all, the guard won't really play with her because his job is protecting her. Besides, he doesn't know how to play with a little girl.

Because it's boring to just follow and wait for Layla all the time, Alex decides to take Lucy for a walk around the town. Layla allows it and of course, the guard will follow them, which is not a big deal.

So they walk around the town to sightsee and try some cheap local food. Alex always does this kind of thing every time he visits a new place and has time to play around. After all, it's fun to see and try new things.

Then after walking for some hours, Alex suddenly senses a familiar presence. He checks on a restaurant where he senses the source of this familiar presence and he finds someone unexpected there.

"Master?"

"Hmm? Oh, Alex, so you are here."

The one he finds is none other than Makarov.

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Ch. 91: The Beast Elfman