Oslo saw how Althea's beautiful emerald eyes brightened at the mention of building special effects and he couldn't help but smile a bit.
"I will sponsor the first drawing. It's the least I can do for you, milord."
Feelings aside, the information she shared with him that led to his upgrade was invaluable. To be honest, before knowing Altera, he thought he'd stagnate at Class D—like pretty much every other Architect out there.
The lord's kindness was immeasurable and he was sure his family would agree for him to spend a bit to repay her.
Of course, he'd try to get a lot more, but he didn't want to raise their hopes up too much. Blu was, after all, an increasingly scarce resource, even for them.
At the very least, he'd fight to get twenty sets at least so he could—hopefully—create two aether buildings. To be honest, giving away 1600 gold still felt stingy.
But… what else could he do?
When he came back from his daze, he realized that the others were looking at him, impressed. Even the Lord's husband was appreciative. He knew this because he felt decidedly not freezing all of a sudden.
Oslo held back a smile. This was actually more than enough of a reward.
Back home, he never had such a feeling of accomplishment. Although his family loved him, they never expected anything of him.
"Are you sure this is alright, though?"
"I… this is nothing. I would do more if I could. Again, what Altera had given me is invaluable knowledge, some of which is probably inaccessible to even the most powerful cities."
He smiled, deep blue eyes fixed on them. "I want to do this, please don't be burdened."
"Thank you," Althea nodded and didn't reject his kindness. She knew the transfer of knowledge in Xeno was extremely stringent. This wouldn't have been an easy decision to implement and it was impolite to question the gifter too much.
So, instead, she gave him a beautiful smile. "I'm looking forward to your work."
…
Later that day, Oslo already asked for leave, which was usually taken every month, to be renewed at the lord's prerogative.
He also gathered some materials to bring back to his family by the way. So by the time he finished packing up, not only was his space filled, he also had a large backpack.
If one didn't know him, he really looked like someone who was about to run away from home—with all the furniture he could carry.
Seeing this, a certain redhead couldn't help but feel really reluctant. "You better come back!" Ansel told him; placing an arm behind his neck so they could speak more closely.
It was rare to find someone to jive with so much. "The things I told you I'd build? I guarantee you would love them."
He was referring to the entertainment industry—something Oslo was really curious about.
At this statement, the blonde laughed good-naturedly. "Of course. I love it here, how can I not come back?"
Ansel nodded, very seriously. "There's still so much you haven't seen."
Oslo smiled, "Yes! I know that."
To be honest, two charming young men so close together made a few women's imaginations grow wild.
Some distance away from Althea and the others, there was a group of women biting handkerchiefs to stop themselves from squealing too loudly.
A new pair name emerged that day: Sunset Pair, the glorious combination of red and gold. When paper and pen became commercially available, fanfictions would flood the territory.
When Ansel found out about this much, much, later, at first he was aghast (with Winona laughing at his face for a long time) but then he decided to get a great share from whoever was making money using his goodness.
None of the core people knew of this, however, and even if they did, they'd probably just laugh it off.
At this time, they were busy sending the blonde off to even notice their audience had grown.
They looked at Oslo who was so well-equipped and even brought backpacks with him. They looked a bit worried.
"Can't you use the teleportation array in the village center?"
Oslo shook his head. "It's only one way." It was also very expensive, but money wasn't a problem for Oslo.
Anyway, this meant that Oslo had to go back home by himself, and he would also have to return to Altera manually as well.
Knowing this, everyone felt a bit of pity and gave a few more things to increase his convenience.
Just… a little more to carry, but Oslo didn't mind it at all.
For instance, Althea gave a few bottles of energizers and Harold gave more of his special biscuits. They also gave him a special waterproof cloth using waxed fabric (mass release currently under development) in case of rain.
He felt extremely touched and had he not been habitually suave, he'd have shed a couple of tears.
He once again expressed his gratitude and successful return and finally turned away.
"Wait," Ansel stopped him and took something out of his space. It was relatively big and definitely filled up his small space.
Oslo wasn't exactly certain what contraption Ansel took out at first.
It was made of wood, metal, and something else. Ansel pulled one side to reveal its whole form from its contracted state, transforming within a couple of changes.
This was the first time Oslo saw such a contraption.
He watched as Ansel let the wheels touch the ground and rolled it towards him.
"Although I know people of your level can sprint fast, I also know it takes a toll on your energy.
"I'll lend Barbara II to you. Anyway, we already used rubber for this, so it should be fine to use outside."
"This is?" And…Barbara? II?
"Barbara II is a bike. It's a new Alteran invention. Only a few has been released, though," he said, pointing at the middle of the so-called Bike. "You remember that chain?"
Oslo blinked and followed where he pointed. His blue eyes ended on the smallest but most intricate permanent chain he had ever manifested.
Not that he manifested a lot of them, of course.
"This—" he created this himself, taking him a day's worth of mana due to its relative complexity. He didn't know what it was used for.
Seeing it now, it seemed to be part of some mechanism in this contraption.
But in retrospect, he had heard of the term bike many times before. It was just that in his mind it was a type of carriage.
Ansel climbed up and showed him how to use it. "You just sit over here. Swing your leg over this crossbar. Hands on this place. When parked, keep your feet on the ground."
He lifted his feet and Oslo almost stepped forward to stop him from falling. Only… it didn't fall at all and even started moving.
"Find your balance and relax. Anyway, you've probably ridden a beast monster before and this is much easier because you're in control."
Oslo watched as Ansel pedaled expertly and glided along the path. Oslo was very interested, determined to learn to use this two-wheeled contraption.
Ansel stopped and hopped down, gesturing for Oslo to try. "Try it—"
Only Oslo was already sitting down.
"..."
Ansel kindly repeated the instructions, a bit slower, and pointed at each part that worked in each step.
"Understood."
"Really?"
The blonde nodded, immediatly starting to try it out. He lost balance a bit, but he was quick to recover. It was a bit wobbly at first, but he eventually managed to glide for a longer period of time.
Soon, he got used to it and became increasingly stable. The slight worry of losing balance was gone and he began to feel the exhilaration of movement.
The wind hit his face as he glided, making him feel refreshed. Oslo smiled at the nice feeling. "This… this is amazing!" He yelled as he pedaled farther, gathering more attention than they already were.
"It's a bike!" One said and another nodded.
"Our research team is too awesome, right?!"
"I bet people outside all struggle by walking, and we—we will soon have bikes!"
The discussion outside did not affect their little group. In fact, there was still a question that had been bothering Althea.
"Why can't it be two-way?" She asked him. Oslo knew her well enough to know she was referring to the teleportation array inside the village center. He knew it would bother her a lot.
The lord cared about every one of her people. She naturally was never comfortable with sending them out to danger, even if it was a necessity.
Oslo calmed down his childish fascination and climbed down his bike. "Teleportation is very expensive. We actually had to deposit 1 gold before submitting as fee for the one-way teleportation.
"This is already shared costs. The normal arrays would cost two to three more times."
Althea caught on to his words. "There are other ways to teleport?"
"Yes, cities have this building type."
Althea and Garan, who were habitually holding hands, looked at each other in surprise.
Because Garan had never been in the city, he hadn't encountered this yet. It's generally not something discussed in towns either, due to its accessibility.
Teleportation arrays…
How magical. This unique world lacked the luxuries the Terrans enjoyed, but it also had luxuries they could not have imagined.
What were cities here like? She heard of some descriptions, but what did they really look like? What did they offer, what kind of people lived there?
Althea was very curious.
Garan saw his wife's eagerness to travel, and felt a bit sad. Except for family trips and that honeymoon cut short… they seem to have never really travelled for leisure before?
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "We'll go on a trip someday," He told her, very seriously, "I promise."