If You Don't Maintain It Today, You'll Have To Repair It Every Day!

The next day, Young Master Naiye came to the street alone.

Dark Knight Weiluxika was still in bed; this time Naiye didn’t wake her when he went out, letting her rest first.

As a knight, Weiluxika was physically stronger and far more enduring than Naiye, the noble young master.

But unfortunately, in terms of experience and technique she couldn’t compete with Naiye at all.

Young Master Naiye could handle her easily on his own.

However, it was her first time out alone with Young Master Naiye, and Weiluxika lacked experience in many ways.

For example, oversleeping this time was one thing; letting Young Master Naiye be out alone was already breaking protocol.

But knowing Weiluxika’s temper, she would willingly accept punishment even without Cassia’s reprimand.

Naiye had already arrived at this familiar-yet-strange academy street.

Even after several years apart, there was little change here; it didn’t look like it had borne the scars of war.

That was normal—the wars at the Auriel Knight Academy had been strictly controlled.

And the core purpose was conquest—combat and occupation—not senseless destruction.

Because of Naiye’s arrival, it was unusually quiet today; just a few days ago it had been wartime.

Whether Young Master Naiye had gotten up too early, or everyone was oversleeping now that the war had stopped, he didn’t know.

The street was empty now; there were hardly any knights or even students to be seen.

Young Master Naiye had a map and knew the way, but he had originally planned to find a female knight to lead him and ask about the condition of Train No. 1.

It seemed he’d have to go by himself now.

This time Naiye kept a low profile on the road.

He neither rode in a convenient, status-signaling carriage, nor did he call anyone along.

He simply wanted to see how Train No. 1 was on his own.

Clack! Dong dong, clatter!

Naiye took an orange juice from the vending machine.

He relaxed and took a few sips.

The vending machines at the station weren’t faulty; no, someone had been maintaining them.

Young Master Naiye had arrived at Train No. 1’s station; the architectural style here clearly differed from the Academy’s.

The station had vending machines, screens, tracks, and many technological facilities and buildings made of steel and special gems.

After all, it was the Train No. 1 station made by the Lycoris family, and it had been gifted to Queen Auriel.

Queen Auriel graciously accepted it and acknowledged Naiye’s father’s work in creating and advancing civil magical technology.

Queen Auriel’s acceptance of the train was important to Naiye’s father and the Lycoris family; it meant the Queen’s approval made people willing again to embrace the Lycoris’s magical technology.

His father had spent his life controlling and perfecting magical technology, and had produced many civil magical technology devices for the public.

“……………”

Young Master Naiye sipped his orange juice and stared with crimson eyes at the screen above that had gone dark.

Then he looked back at the vending machine.

The screen had no power, so there was no information—it was understandable.

Why could the vending machine still be used so smoothly?

A vending machine was still a machine, not some all-powerful automaton; all machines required maintenance.

And because the vending machine was overly simple and didn’t need a mana crystal as a power source, it could keep working for a long time even if left alone.

On the condition that someone was maintaining it—which indicated someone had indeed been maintaining it.

After finishing the juice, Naiye tossed it into a trash bin.

He strode toward the depths of Train No. 1.

After walking for a few minutes, Naiye entered and finally saw the long-unseen Train No. 1.

Train No. 1 was decades old; many parts inside were worn—after all, it was his father’s first manufactured train.

Its age and lack of upkeep were obvious; without maintenance it was prone to breaking.

Train No. 1 no longer belonged to the Lycoris family, so the Lycoris couldn’t be expected to handle daily repairs; usually Academy people used it freely.

At least when Naiye attended school four years ago he had only seen it a few times and had never even ridden it.

From its appearance, Train No. 1’s height was about three meters—much smaller than Train No. 3’s roughly five meters.

“How did it get so dirty and messy in just a few years? It seems nobody’s been tending to it.”

Young Master Naiye approached Train No. 1 and looked at its current condition.

Clearly it had been stationed here for at least a year with no cleaning or maintenance.

As a result, the carriages were filthy and chaotic, with many places visibly rusted.

There was a considerable layer of dust.

“Hm… sure enough it’s broken. It’s been stored for a year, so it ran out of power long ago.”

Naiye didn’t need to go inside; he drew a magic circle outside and, after a brief scan, learned the general state of Train No. 1.

The reasons it couldn’t be used now were simple.

First, the mana crystal should have been replaced long ago—Train No. 1 had no power and couldn’t even be started.

Second, its old age coupled with lack of maintenance—Naiye estimated it hadn’t been started for at least half a year—had allowed many internal parts to fail.

In short: it needed not just repairs, but an overhaul.

This was the truth his grandfather had left: “Maintain it today, or you’ll be repairing it tomorrow!”

Naiye sketched a new magic circle—it was spatial magic.

After probing and fiddling for a while, he finally extracted Train No. 1’s power crystal.

The whole crystal was larger than Young Master Naiye’s hand and extremely valuable.

“Hm… the mana was probably exhausted about a year ago. Recharging it now won’t help; Train No. 1 will need repairs first, then a new crystal replacing it.”

With the final inspection complete, Naiye took out his toolbox and put on gloves.

One hand held tools while the other traced a magic circle, and he began simple repairs.

The later heavy repairs would have to be taken back to the Lycoris family for comprehensive work.

Don’t assume Naiye, as a noble young master, knows nothing.

Being born into the family that created magical technology, Naiye had been exposed to magical technology since birth.

He had tinkered with machinery at an age even younger than Xiao Lu is now at ten.

Xiao Lu’s current problem was his lack of magical talent, which prevented him from fully mastering magical technology.

Otherwise, with Xiao Lu’s mechanical talent, he wouldn’t just be his godson—Naiye would have certainly taken him as his chief disciple!

“Who are you?! Why are you repairing the train?!”

After Naiye had been repairing for a while, an astonished voice came from behind him!

It was three female students, led by a female knight; all three held tools, wore white gloves, and carried toolboxes.

At a glance Naiye knew they were the ones who used to maintain the train and the station.

“I know! You’re from Lycoris! Did Young Master Naiye send you to repair the train?!”

Naiye recognized them by their tools, and they, seeing Naiye repairing, naturally assumed he was a Lycoris repairman.

Before Naiye could speak, they eagerly closed their mouths, unable to contain their excitement.

Young Master Naiye had intended to introduce himself, but he hadn’t expected such a direct and mistaken assumption.

Let them think that for now; it was a good opportunity to ask some questions, and he was too lazy to announce his identity.

“Yes, I’m repairing the train. Who are you?”