Chapter 363

Lumite Star Tiara
A new month arrived, marking my second autumn in Vardmoi.
That also meant it had been a full year since Spider’s Cotton Cloud first opened.
I considered holding a sale to celebrate the anniversary, but since my shop already had relatively low prices, doing so would probably cause complaints from various people.
I've matured enough to know better.

Setting that aside, I received word from Alizée that my new magic vehicle had arrived.
The Trade Guild had even pulled some strings to have it prioritized for production.

Well, it was odd in the first place to be using the Lumite Grand Wing, a transport vehicle, as my personal ride everywhere.
Normally, people would start with a more common passenger car.
Probably. Maybe.

Anyway, the car was delivered directly to my shop by the dealership and Alizée.
Its name: Lumite Star Tiara.
It seemed to be a concept car packed with cutting-edge technology developed independently by the same manufacturer that made the Lumite Grand Wing.
Of course, safety was well accounted for.

“So, this is my custom Lumite Star Tiara…”

“Yes. Originally, it was an eight-seater, but since Talat will be riding with you, one seat has been removed. Additionally, the engine and suspension have been reinforced, and the chassis and panels have been replaced with an alloy made from the bones of Metal Giants and Metal Skeletons. Instead of regular glass, the windows are made of hardened crystal with enchantments for added durability.”

“Hmm… Wasn’t this expensive?”

“It still cost less than the Lumite Grand Wing. And since you supplied the Metal Giant and Metal Skeleton bones yourself, that helped reduce the cost.”

I see.
Well, let’s just leave it at that.

As for the appearance of the Lumite Star Tiara, it strongly resembled an SUV.
An eight-seater SUV, to be precise.
It had three rows of seats, but the middle seat in the second row was missing—probably Talat’s designated space.

Its color was a deep blue, the shade I had specifically ordered.
The silver emblem of my shop was displayed on the body, along with the golden crest of Marquis Vardmoi.
I had gotten permission to include the crest at the start of production.
Since Marquis Vardmoi agreed that requesting approval after the vehicle was completed would be inefficient, he had allowed it to be added once it arrived in Vardmoi.

Oh, and on the roof, it was equipped with a triple-barreled mana convergence cannon for defense.
The Lumite Grand Wing lacked any weapons, so whenever monsters blocked my path, I had no choice but to get out and fight.
But with this one, I could engage from within the vehicle, which would make things much easier.
Using it required processed mana stones, but I needed to spend some resources anyway.
I was well aware that I had been hoarding too much money.

Afterward, I took it for a test drive outside the city, and as expected, it was faster than the Lumite Grand Wing.
It was probably unfair to compare a transport vehicle with the Lumite Star Tiara, which was designed primarily for travel.

In any case, I now had another way to move between towns.
The first long trip… would be delivering the Kiblinki Saltas.

What do you think about this chapter?