Chapter 19: Chapter 18: Eli Wants to Work!

“We’re going to install several magic tools. Alicia, you’ve been assigned to install them,” Rodrique announced the very next day.

“Hm? Alright! What magic tools?”

“We have five mana water pumps, a new forge, a refrigerator, and a flying balloon.”

“Flying balloon?”

“It’s a military device used for scouting. We use balloons to lift a single soldier into the sky, then he reports back what he sees once he comes down. Ah… you’ll also need to work on the mana heaters in the barracks.”

“I just need to charge them, right?”

“That is correct. You may start once Sir Jadenbale arrives,” Rodrique said.

Now that Alicia had completed her studies, Count Shadowstep wasted no time in putting her to work. There were few mages and a lot to do. These pumps, for example, had been sitting inside the storage room unused in Shadowstep for years to conserve mana due to the mage shortage.

Alicia was excited. It was time to prove her worth. The vain Alicia already imagined the poor villagers kneeling before her, showering her with praise and gratitude as she gave them water.

“Greetings, Miss Alicia. Where shall we begin?” Sir Jadenbale arrived with an entourage of five soldiers. It seemed excessive to guard a single girl inside a town, but in a world like this, anything could happen. If Alicia were to perish, the loss to Shadowstep County would be tremendous.

“I want to charge the balloon first!” Alicia said as she carried a basket filled with breakfast, lunch, and one very fluffy living ball.

“Will there be monsters?”

*Chirp chirp

“There might be monsters, Miss Alicia. But relax. There’s no way they’ll breach our walls. You won’t even see them,” Jadenbale assured her.

“Eh… but I want to see them…” Alicia pouted as she traversed the dirt road toward the wall. Shadowstep Town was poor, so only certain areas were paved—like the plaza, mansion, town hall, and eastern border.

“Um… Well, I apologize. But I can’t let you go to the top of the wall. My head will literally fly off if anything happens to you, Miss Alicia. Moreover, you’re important to Shadowstep County.”

“Sir Jadenbale, you’re a noble, right?”

“Yes. I’m the fourth son of Baron Ludenbale,” Jadenbale said. “But you don’t need to be overly stiff with me. As I said, I’m merely the fourth son of a baron. Once my brother takes over the barony, I’ll just be a mediocre knight.”

“Really? I thought you were above average. You’re a knight captain, right?” Alicia turned to the other soldiers, wondering if nepotism had played a role.

“Don’t sell yourself too short, Captain. You’re a good captain! You might not be the best with a sword or bow, but you’re awesome! Especially in logistics! Our salaries are safe thanks to you!”

Since Jadenbale was a noble, he’d received an education above that of common soldiers or knights. As a result, he was adept at clerical work. Most knights couldn’t detect clerical errors and would be in trouble if their salaries were short. Some unscrupulous officials—or even their own captains—might shave off some pay to fill their own pockets. Jadenbale made sure that never happened within his unit. Of course, such things were rare to begin with. If something like that were to happen, they would be either demoted or fired outright. But since most of them were uneducated, clerical errors always happened.

“Yay!” Alicia grabbed Jadenbale’s hand and pumped her fist. “Clerical work is important!!”

Clerical and boring jobs like an accountant were Alicia's dream jobs in the previous world after all.

“You’re quite a unique kid, aren’t you?” Sir Jadenbale said.

“Of course. I’m a hero! I’ll become famous! And everyone will praise me!”

Jadenbale looked at Alicia with respect… only for it to be ruined moments later by Alicia’s remark. She had unknowingly blurted out her inner desire, and the soldiers couldn’t help but feel that Alicia had already fallen too far into the sin of vanity.

They soon reached an open field behind the wall, a few tens of meters from the gate. There, a deflated air balloon was laid out.

“Is this the new mage that caused a ruckus a few weeks back? You sure didn’t waste any time employing her, did you?” a grumpy old soldier said. “Charge this magic tool, girl.”

“I’m a maid! You need to call me Miss!” Alicia declared. “Only Lady Elidranthia can be called a lady.”

“Young Miss…” Alicia blinked as the old soldier took her retort seriously. She then walked to the air balloon silently, an awkward atmosphere hanging in the air. She climbed into the basket and inspected the device up close.

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“Is this the arcane stone?” Alicia asked, pointing toward a device that looked like a giant stove hanging overhead. Four wind arcane stones were embedded at the corners of the device.

“Yes. This machine is an old model, so the arcane stones can’t be removed,” the grumpy soldier said.

Alicia didn’t say anything else. She placed her hand on the device. The wind began to blow from it, raising the crumpled leather balloon into the air. It didn’t fly yet—there was a knob beside it that controlled the wind power.

“I think that’s about it?” Alicia said. She knew how to charge mana devices, but not how to operate them. The grumpy old man then motioned for an engineer to handle it.

Alicia wanted to ride the balloon, but she was kicked out, as Jadenbale knew there might be some danger. Besides, the balloon could only hold one person. So she could only watch with envy as the engineer turned the knob and the balloon floated higher and higher.

“It won’t fly away? I thought there were supposed to be long ropes anchoring it so it wouldn’t drift around in the wind…” Alicia asked, finally realizing what had been bothering her the whole time. It wasn’t the balloon, the lack of sandbags as ballast, or the device itself—but the lack of ropes anchoring it in place.

“No. It was not needed. There is no mention of any ropes whatsoever in the maintenance guides,” the old soldier said.

“I see.” Alicia didn’t want to be an inventor, so she didn’t question him further and continued. Thankfully, she was a dumb girl—otherwise, the author wouldn’t have any material to write for her school arc, where she and Eli improve or make magic items together.

Then, she spent her afternoon setting up pumps. It was a bizarre mana device by her standards, as it only incorporated a faucet attached to a wooden plank and painted blue. Several runic symbols were carved and drawn around the blue arcane stone in the middle.

“This is a water pump?”

“Yes. Thanks to this, we no longer have to dig wells. Moreover, the water in wells is dirty, unfit for consumption.”

“Ah… yes. Wells still exists…” The dumb Alicia had forgotten the well she used back in Chapter 3.

“It is common sense that water from mana pumps is for drinking, while water from wells is for washing and bathing. You’ve been staying at the mansion for too long…” Sir Jadenbale sighed at how spoiled Alicia had become.

As he said, mana was not cheap. In the past, only nobles had access to these pumps, but nowadays, thanks to their grace, commoners and peasants could use them. It was an unwritten rule that water from these mana pumps was only for drinking or cleaning wounds in a clinic.

Meanwhile, Eli who has been taking lessons diligently was surprised when Alicia was not around. Miss Laura told her that Alicia couldn't attend a lesson today to do her duty as a maid.

“Eh? Alicia has been putting wells in the territory?” Elidranthia said as she attended yet another lesson with Miss Laura. “May I ask why I am not invited? I do recall that I am a mage as well. While her levels might be higher, I should also be sufficient for the task, Miss Laura.”

“Well… you have lessons, Lady Elidranthia. Besides, you do not have an affinity for water.”

“I believe we have a magic tool for that, am I right? I can use the mana scale to transfer my mana to arcane stones.”

“...That’s not my place to answer.”

“Then we shall inquire with my father.” Eli stood up and walked toward her father’s office. The snake that slithered on a bowl jumped toward her neck. It then enveloped her like a scarf.

Eli was annoyed. She was reincarnated into this world so she could help people. And yet, Alicia, the clumsy girl, beat her to it. While Alicia helped give water for poor people to drink, watered their fields, and helped the military scout monsters, Eli was left rotting with Laura, learning useless etiquette lessons.

All she did was learn etiquette and math. She wanted to help people. She didn’t want to just dilly-dally around in luxuries. She had finally been given power by the goddess! The goddess had chosen her to be a hero, to help people in need, to punish evil, and to bring down justice!

(No she didn’t. Repeara didn’t say that. Eli was delusional.)

She was not reincarnated here to play house with Laura or learn math so she could become a rubber stamper or paper shuffler! She was given the power to bring happiness through illusion magic, to help the sick through her light magic, and to build houses and shelter for the poor with earth magic! She had learned together with Alicia, she had the same skills and graduated from the same teacher. How could Alicia be ahead of her?

“Father? May I ask why I was not allowed to fill magical devices but Alicia is?” Elidranthia knocked on her father’s office and asked her question politely.

“Of course! Why would I let my noble daughter do some peasant’s tasks?”

“Mage’s work is not a peasant's task, Father. They are honorable duties that help many. I ask that you allow me to perform my mage duty.” Eli tried to calm her rage.

This elitism. This arrogance. This entitlement. Eli couldn't help but glare at her father.

“Huh? What is it, my daughter? Are you angry about something?” Count Shadowstep asked. He didn’t even repent or feel guilty.

“My lord. If I may suggest, Lady Elidranthia might want to test her mage skill. She might want to help her citizens, just like a noble would. She might have some rivalry with Miss Alicia,” Rodrique said. Eli sighed in relief when she realized there was actually someone with common sense here.

“Huh? Rivalry with peasants? Are you nuts?” Shadowstep scoffed. “Who said that? Who dares to claim that witless fool is better than my Elidranthia?”

“There are none, milord. No one would consider that bumbling maid to be better than the elegant Lady Elidranthia. But the fact remains that Alicia has a higher level, and right now, she works more…” Rodrique said.

“I want to be of use to Shadowstep, Father.”

“You already are, my daughter.” Eli glared at her father once more. Even though Count Shadowstep had been dealing with arrogant nobles and bloodthirsty generals, he couldn’t help but sweat when Eli glared at him with her intimidating red eye.

“Rodrick! Was there any mage work for our mage?”

“My name is Rodrique, sir. We could ask her to fill the fountain’s arcane stone in the plaza. Should we install all of our mana pumps across the city?”

Eli couldn’t believe it. People had to walk from their homes and travel a kilometer just to get water to drink. They carried buckets to transport the water back. Moreover, there were times when the fountain ran out of mana.

And Rodrique just said they actually had more mana pumps but didn’t use them? This was such villainy!

“Yes! Tools need to be used! Why do we have mana tools stored and not used?”

“There weren’t enough mages before,” Rodrique said. Elidranthia calmed down when Rodrique answered logically. It couldn’t be helped if they lacked mana.

“We have enough now, right, Sir Rodrique? May I help Alicia install these pumps?”

“Of course, Lady Elidranthia.”

Eli finally learned that to do good things, she couldn’t be a passive and meek girl anymore. She had to be proactive. She had to be the one asking for it, or things wouldn’t change.

Such was the difference between the two. Alicia was given work without asking, while Eli had to plead to be given work.