A downpour had just passed. Although the early-summer air still carried a trace of heat, it was far damper than usual. It slipped through the gap in the open window and brushed against them, instantly banishing the heat and leaving them comfortably refreshed.
Freeman let out a long breath, looked up at the road stretching into the distance, and gestured for the driver beside him to slow down.
"We're carrying precision equipment here. Be careful not to jolt it around. If even one or two pieces get damaged, we'll have to go all the way back to the Stantin Duchy to buy replacements."
Bobic, a dedicated cargo driver for the Ireland United Merchant Guild, nodded and reduced the Large Cargo Magic Locomotive's speed from nearly seventy kilometers per hour to around forty, slowing it considerably.
Yet Bobic looked even more focused than before, with a hint of tension as though he were facing a formidable enemy.
It was not just because Freeman had reminded him that the cargo compartment was full of high-end precision Magic Machine Tools. The road ahead was also atrocious.
"Say, President, the Malo Empire is one of the continent's two great empires. I always thought they must be something special, but now that I've seen it... forget everything else, these roads aren't just worse than ours in the Lampari Kingdom. They're much worse than the Frank Kingdom's, too."
Freeman rolled his eyes. "Obviously. That paved road we just traveled along was only the first one in the Malo Empire. How could it compare with the Lampari Kingdom, where we have paved roads everywhere?"
"That's true..." Bobic laughed. "Who would've thought? Our Lampari Kingdom is so much smaller than the Malo Empire, but our roads are far better."
"All right, watch the road. Enough chatter," Freeman interrupted.