After watching for a while, the advanced mage who had spoken earlier suddenly asked Roken, who was enthusiastically introducing the surrounding factories, "The factories you've shown us seem to make ordinary household magic machinery, don't they? Where are the factories that produce military magic machinery?"
Roken and Sarah both froze, and the other mages in the vehicle turned to look at him in astonishment.
Something as important as military magic machinery was naturally a secret of the Xinfei Merchant Guild. How could its factories be built somewhere so conspicuous?
Besides, why had this fellow suddenly asked about something like that?
Roken frowned slightly. After a pause, he managed a smile and answered, "The military magic machinery factories are elsewhere, not here."
"Oh? Really?" the mage asked again. "Then could you take us to see them?"
Roken's frown deepened, and he slowly shook his head. "Sorry, the military magic machinery factories are confidential guild facilities. No one may enter or leave without authorization."
"All right, I understand." The mage did not press the matter. Instead, he turned toward the window and pointed at an enormous cylindrical building in the distance that was emitting bluish smoke. "What's that place?"
Roken looked in the direction he indicated. "Oh, that's one of our guild's steelworks. The main purpose of a steelworks is..."
Roken was just about to explain what the steelworks did when an unusually brilliant speck of light suddenly appeared on the tip of the mage's finger, which was still pointing toward the distant facility.
The other mages in the vehicle all looked utterly shocked. They turned toward his fingertip, their eyes filled with terror.
A moment later, a cloud of fire suddenly ignited in the sky above the distant steelworks. An enormous fireball emerged from it and hurtled down like a meteor,