That Time a Shut-in for 300 Years Continued to Make Antiques , but All of It Turned out to Be Cheat-Level Magic Tools - Chapter 4

“I’m not convinced. Why must one wear such a thing?”

“I apologize, Master. However, it is at Butan-sama’s instruction and to avoid unnecessary trouble.”

Mei, gripping the steering wheel in the driver’s seat, spoke with a stern profile that was admittedly excellent as my own creation, although she tended to be inflexible at times like these.

Apparently, elves are still treated as rare beings today, and revealing their true nature can lead to troublesome encounters.

It’s worrisome how such discriminatory prejudices don’t vanish even after 300 years.

Reluctantly, I wore a self-made magical ring that disguised my appearance, changing my hair color to blonde and my eyes to blue.

And, of course, it also hid my long elven ears. In my opinion, just hiding the ears would be sufficient, but apparently, having heterochromatic eyes of gold and silver and white hair at my age tends to stand out.

What an annoying ordeal. After all, it’s been 300 years; humans should have the technology to freely change their hair and eye colors by now.

“If you dislike it that much, shall we go back?”

“Don’t be silly. Of course, we’re going. My complaints aren’t serious; they’re just to vent.”

“That’s good to hear.”

As Mei continued to drive with a gallant expression, it was frustrating how she seemed more natural at driving than I.

Well, because of my appearance, I must move the seat all the way forward to reach the pedals, which looks awkward from the outside.

Besides, if someone says I lack driving skills, I can’t argue back.

Still, the roads really should have been expanded. It’s off-road capable, so it can travel even on paths not meant to be driven on. The sight of it weaving between trees is quite intimidating, or rather, a bit frightening.

Looking at the speedometer, it’s effortlessly hitting 120 km/h. I made it myself, but why can this high-level driving even happen at this speed!?

Mei’s handling of the steering wheel is almost frighteningly skillful. It’s divine, and it seems she’s even enjoying the driving a bit.

However, on an off-road path, especially descending a mountain slope—

“Ugh…”

“Are you alright, Master?”

Yes, I asked her to stop the car, and when she did, I hurried outside and threw up. Then Mei kindly rubbed my back, a sight I’d rather not have anyone see — I didn’t have the strength to refuse.

But, well, Mei is an andmaid I created… It’s natural for her to function for my sake.

“Phew, I’m settled now.”

“That’s good.”

Somehow, I ended up with my head on her lap, drinking water from a magic bottle. It’s thoroughly pampering, albeit embarrassing.

But even if I say she was created by me — to be accurate, I designed her and asked the Overdwarf Benz to handle the material processing and body formation.

However, Benz really did a great job. It feels like touching a real woman, not that I have much experience, but it somehow feels comforting.

“But we can’t keep doing this, right?”

“I’m fine staying like this until you’re fully recovered, Master.”

Well, I am recovered enough now. So, I release Mei from the lap pillow and return to being a mage.

“Let’s get going then, shall we? Huh?”

When I opened the passenger door to prompt Mei, the magic field map installed in the car reacted.

This magic device displays a transparent map of the surroundings, marking dangerous entities as red dots, animals as yellow, intelligent species as white, and high beings as blue.

The dangerous entities are those in an extreme state of excitement or seeking prey due to hunger, and there were eight of them on the screen.

Additionally, there was a group of yellow and white dots. Judging from the movement of the dots, it seemed that this group was being chased by something among the red dots.

Since there were white dots among those being pursued, it’s likely they are a species capable of communication.

This might be my first encounter with another species in 300 years if I help them out.

While Mei immediately acknowledged the command and pressed the accelerator, her exceptional driving skills came into full play as we sped towards our destination.

Since the MFM also reflected the surrounding terrain, finding the shortest route wasn’t too difficult. However, if we continued straight, we would end up at a steep slope, almost a cliff.

“That’s it,” Mei pointed out as we reached the nearly cliff-like area. From here, the condition of the highway below was clearly visible.

Ah, so Mei first wanted to confirm who was chasing whom.

Nodding to myself, I also checked the situation.

“What is this, some kind of joke?”

I couldn’t help but blurt out those words. The pursuers were Black Wolves, true to their name, resembling black wolves but with mouths grotesquely split to the jaws.

Skilled in dark magic, they could launch long-range attacks called Dark Bolts and mid-range ones known as Dark Fangs, resembling fangs. They also imbued their claws with dark attributes to slash at their prey.

These creatures are typically nocturnal, but their hunting during this hour suggested they had been unable to find food for a while. In such cases, they would attack regardless of it being day or night.

The problem lay with those being chased. Surprisingly, they were using a rather old-fashioned mode of transportation—a carriage. Surrounding it, presumably, were guards trying to protect the carriage by riding horses.

It was indeed a shock. Carriages, a common mode of transport about 300 years ago when I was last absorbed in my research, were still in use.

Carriages, needless to say, relied on horses for power, unlike my magitech vehicle which used magic energy. Comparatively, carriages were a much simpler mechanism.

Of course, the speed of a carriage depended on the horses’ capabilities. Normally, a horse’s speed averages around 5-8 km/h, with a maximum effort of about 15 km/h.

However, since horses are living beings, a significant drawback is their fatigue from continuous running. Hence, employing multiple horses to pull a carriage was a common practice to reduce individual strain.

“50 horses…”

The carriage in question was pulled by 50 horses, equating to a horsepower of 50.

With such a setup, the load on each horse would be reduced to 1/50, which could somewhat improve the speed, but not enough to outrun the carriage’s structural limits.

On the other hand, Black Wolves, looking much like wolves, were significantly faster. Capable of maintaining a pace of 80 km/h for over an hour, they would inevitably catch up to the carriage if the situation persisted.

Even the guards’ horses were struggling to keep up.

“Mei, if we don’t hurry, the damage will increase. Let’s rush.”

“Understood, we will descend now.”

“Right, let’s go—wait, descend?”

“Proceeding.”

With that, Mei steered the magitech vehicle down the almost cliff-like path.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! We’re going to die! We’re really going to die!”

“Master, please close your mouth unless you wish to bite your tongue.”

Despite her warning, this was terrifying! We were practically falling! Yet, incredibly, the tires clung to the cliff! We were still driving! Mei’s driving skills were unbelievably superb!

Thanks to this bold shortcut, we quickly touched down on solid ground, burst through the forest, skidded sideways onto the highway, and with the sound of brakes screeching, the body spun around once—my head spun!

When the vehicle finally came to a complete stop, I felt something rise from the depths of my stomach again, but I forced it down, opened the door, and leaped out.

“Phew, thought I was going to die… Ugh, I feel sick, but why are they using such an old-fashioned carriage? They could never escape using a magitech vehicle like this.”

“…Huh?”

I let out my genuine curiosity as my first remark, but what reached my ears next was a bewildered voice—