A convoy of more than twenty Cargo Magic Locomotives and one Medium Mana Bus sped along a highway in the Lampari Kingdom's Northeastern Province.
Since they traveled far faster than horse-drawn carriages, the vehicles invariably jolted whenever they passed over uneven ground.
Bang!
As it passed over another deep pothole, the comparatively small Medium Mana Bus shook violently, throwing all dozen or so passengers up out of their seats.
Xu Yi landed hard on his seat. Although the specially made padded seats absorbed most of the impact, his backside still hurt enough to make him frown.
"This highway is built terribly..." Canby, seated beside Xu Yi, could not help complaining despite his sturdy dwarf physique.
"You call a road in this condition a highway?"
"Exactly. It's nowhere near as good as the highways around Bunta City. The Amli Merchant Guild really cut corners when they built this one."
"I wonder who commissioned this highway. With the road built this badly, I think they should bear most of the responsibility. It probably doesn't have much to do with the Amli Merchant Guild."
"How could it not? The Amli Merchant Guild built this road. Surely whoever commissioned it didn't specifically ask them to build it like this?"
"That's not necessarily true..."
Several other researchers from the Xinfei Merchant Guild's Magic Machine Tool Research Center who had accompanied Canby also rubbed their backsides and joined in the complaints.
Listening to their complaints, Xu Yi opened the window and leaned his head out.
His gaze swept over the road beneath them and the stretch ahead. His brow immediately furrowed.
One or two rough patches would have been understandable. After all, the Amli Merchant Guild's road-building techniques still could not compare with those on Earth, so their highways were bound to be inferior.
But