I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 398
Chapter 398: Little Windmill, Ah-Hoo Ah-Hoo
Originally, I thought that Nida, whom I met by chance after arriving in this other world, was just a little lizard girl curious about magic, who liked to study historical relics and was a fan of Xiao Mo. Then I realized I was wrong.
This little one is genuinely unique among the lizardfolk.
“Ah! Mah-ha, Doso-ma!”
“I know, I know, I’m in charge here…”
Under the gloomy sky, the lizardmen, following the orders of the red dragon, began to busy themselves. Strong male lizardmen were moving crates of food and various living supplies into the basement, while the female lizardfolk helped organize the goods.
It was clear that, although they were curious about me, a “human,” perhaps because the village chief had already explained my presence, or because the lizardmen here were not much different from humans—just with scales on their limbs and a tail—they didn’t rudely crowd around to observe me, nor were they overly curious.
Only a few little lizard girls, looking like human girls of seven or eight, seemed to really like my Lolita dress. Several times they shyly approached, seemingly wanting to touch the hem of my skirt.
“They really like you, Diwu.”
Next to a brick house in the village center, different from the wooden houses around it, Nida said as she unloaded wood from a cart.
“When I first went to a human city with my dad, I was the same way. The girls there dressed so beautifully, and I wanted my dad to buy me a dress. Dad said that when I turned a hundred years old, and could be as independent and strong as the male lizardmen in the village, he would buy me one.”
“Later, on my hundredth birthday, Dad really bought me a little dress, a dark blue one, very beautiful. But it wasn’t very durable. I wore it out hunting, and within a few days, it got snagged by branches and torn. After that, I gradually became more practical.”
After unloading all the wood from the cart, Nida wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked up at the gloomy sky.
“This was made by me and some of the male lizardmen in the village. We cut down trees and then slowly shaped the wood. I remember the wheels were particularly difficult to deal with. Our village doesn’t have many tools, so making a perfect circle was really hard. I ended up grinding it down by hand, and I got some rubber from the city with my dad to protect the finished wheels.”
“And this.”
Nida took out a long, strange-looking crystal from the house.
“This is an earth-element magic device. Its only use is to create earth walls. For those who can use magic, it’s not very useful, but for a small village like ours, I can place this here as a wall to protect us from the wind and rain. It’s very sturdy, much stronger than wood.”
“I think this is the charm of magic and technology. In the past, if our village wanted to build a house, even if we cut down trees outside, it would take at least three adult lizardmen a whole day to drag them back. Now, with this cart, it can be done in a day.”
As if showcasing her achievements, Nida patted the wheel of the cart.
“Just making the wheels round can save so much effort. And this earth wall magic generator, you only need to inject a little magic into it, and it can quickly create a wall. It’s much faster than building it by hand and just as strong.”
“Huh?”
After hearing this, I hesitated a bit. “Aren’t these things common in human cities?”
“They’re quite common, but not here.”
“What I mean is… something like this, a cart with wheels and magic devices, isn’t there any interest in human cities?”
I organized my thoughts. “For example, if you install some wind-element magic devices on this cart to blow air backwards, wouldn’t it become a wind-powered vehicle that doesn’t need to be pushed?”
“Ah?”
My words caused the lizard girl to freeze in place. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Nida finally snapped out of it.
“Yeah, it seems… you really could do that? Find a magic device that can control wind elements and install it on the back of the cart. Then, with the principle of reaction force, the cart would move forward…”
“And to control the direction, we could modify the front wheels to allow for left and right movement.”
I tried to continue guiding her. “Set up a driver’s seat at the front of the cart, with the switch for the wind magic device and the steering mechanism for the front wheels within reach, so you can control the cart’s movement and direction.”
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Nida, whose hair and tail had just turned back to green, suddenly turned red again. “Why do I suddenly feel like… I’m about to change the world!”
“So no one here has thought of these things?”
I was amused and puzzled. “Logically, if people have needs, they should think in this direction, right?”
“Uh, maybe everyone’s way of thinking is different from yours, Diwu. I’m often called a weirdo in the village.”
Nida looked around, then lowered her head and voice.
“Take our village, for instance. If the carnivorous lizards can’t catch prey outside, they’ll just think they aren’t strong enough, because our ancestors always believed that. If you aren’t strong and muscular enough, you’ll either starve or become a meal for wolves.”
“If the herbivorous lizards aren’t agile enough and lack endurance, they won’t find good fruits outside and won’t live a prosperous life. When faced with difficulties, everyone just trains their bodies harder instead of… thinking about building carts.”
“The human world seems to be the same. If they have the opportunity to learn magic, when they encounter problems, they just think they haven’t trained enough. For example, with the cart, if humans need to transport wood, they’ll try to improve their magical abilities because only magic feels reliable.”
So you’re all limited by the framework of your world…
This world is really just like Xiao Mo described. While powerful magic brings convenience, it also blinds people to exploring other paths. Because everyone knows that magic has infinite possibilities, it’s like gambling—it gives you hope, but for some people, that hope is naturally out of reach.
Surrounded by examples of those who have become “superior” through learning magic, people, even without talent, will still try to learn magic. Those who can’t learn magic will train their bodies, never considering giving up magic or taking some time away from studying magic to develop “science.”
People here have always believed that magic is everything.
Just because it’s been like this for ages, does that make it right?
“I can’t take it anymore, I feel like I’ve discovered a new continent!”
After my “guidance,” Nida’s eyes were glowing red with excitement.
“Next time I go to a human city with my dad, I must research this… this self-driving wind-powered vehicle that Diwu mentioned!”
“……”
……