49. Racing Tournament's Info

The day after he defeated the robbers, Ben goes to Oshibana Town. He wants to get information about the racing tournament. He needs to know what kind of race that will be held. It can be a road race, rally, or even a drag race.

Ben takes Wendy & the cats with him like usual. They will have a little holiday now because it's Sunday while Ben search for information.

In Oshibana, they search for information first before walking around. It's better to finish their business first before playing around.

Ben goes to Joseph's merchant company. Joseph is his ex-client who changed the job from package delivery to human delivery when his son was about to get married.

His son, Arthur has married shortly after that job. Ben & co were invited, but they didn't come because they have a job. That was when they became teachers for the first time.

Team Ben gets inside the company and meets with Joseph. He looks calmer & more relaxed than when they met him before Arthur's marriage. It looks like many of his weights have been lifted off from his shoulder.

"Oh, it's you guys. It's been a long time," Joseph greets them.

"Yeah, it is. You look better than last time, old man," answers Ben.

"You're right. Many problems have been solved after that, so my stress level has dropped. I can enjoy my life better now without too many worries," says Joseph.

"That's good then. Hmm? Where's your other mage guard?" asks Ben when he realizes that there's only 1 mage guard.

"Sigh, he was the spy sent by my brother. He disappear after my brother was arrested, and later we found out that he sided with my brother. He is a wanted man now with 100 thousand jewels bounty," says Joseph with a sour face.

"100 thousand? He is that weak?" says Ben nonchalantly.

Joseph & his mage bodyguard have dark faces when they hear Ben. Sure that mage isn't a strong one among mages, but he is not that weak. However, to only got 100 thousand jewels bounty means that he is weak for Ben.

"Well, let's stop talking about that. I come here for another reason. Do you have any information about Fiore's racing tournament?" asks Ben.

"Racing tournament, huh? A magic guild should know about that more than a merchant like me though. Why don't you ask your guild master?" Joseph asks back.

"If that old man knows, I won't ask you about this. We are a small guild and live deep in the forest, so information doesn't reach us most of the time," says Ben.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. Well, I know a little about that. I have some connection with the Kingdom, so I have some information," says Joseph.

Joseph then explains that the racing tournament won't be held on the circuit. It has a route that goes through the forest, desert, road, mountain, or any place that the Kingdom chooses. It's never held on a circuit because they don't have it.

So this is a rally race with a route that has been decided by the Kingdom. No one knows the exact route for every tournament until race day. It is to keep fairness among racers, so the route won't be announced until race day.

Surprisingly, the race isn't limited to four-wheel magic vehicles. It allows 2 wheels, 3 wheels, or other types of magic vehicles. There's no size rule too, so they can use small or big vehicles.

Ben understands that the reason is that they still use the old model vehicle as standard. The old magic vehicle's speed is decided by a mage's magic power. So if a mage has low magic power, they can't run their vehicles faster.

Ben grin when he knows this. His magic car has high capacity lacrima, and it is very efficient in energy usage. His car can get 10 times speed & distance with the same amount of energy used by the old model.

As for speed, Ben won't be worried too by that. His car has high performance and the top speed is high too. He has tested it on a wide empty area, and his car can reach around 600 km/h, or around 373 mph. It's a lot faster than the fastest car on Earth.

That speed is possible even though his car's basic weight is a lot heavier than something like Bugatti Chiron, because of the fuel and magic. Ethernano is a lot more effective & efficient to be used as fuel.

He also uses magic to control some important aspects like aerodynamic, downforce, etc. He also added some magic that can help his car run faster with Roubaul's help. Normal car logic can't be used fully on the magic car after all.

His car is also ready to be used on any track. So it seems he doesn't need to prepare too many things before the race. He just needs to do some normal maintenance to get his car in perfect condition.

Joseph then explain that to participate, Ben need to register a week before the race. He doesn't need to pay anything too because the Kingdom makes it free for the racers. It is free to make many mages participate and make the race merrier. Only the audience will pay a fee to watch it.

Ben gets even happier now with the free registration. Even if he has a lot of money now, but he still likes free things. His poor soul just can't leave even when he has become rich.

After Joseph tells him the exact date for registration and race, Ben & the girls leave the building. The car race preparation doesn't seem to be a problem for him. He just needs to train more before the race day.

He is never a racer before, so this is a new thing for him. Even though he knows his car can be faster than the other racers, but they have more experience.

In a race, a vehicle's speed isn't the only thing needed. Racers need to have skills. Even if he has a very fast car, but if he can't control it well, then he won't be able to win a race against more skillful racers.

Ben leaves the thought about racing and he focuses on his task now. His current task is to accompany the little girls walking around the town and buy many things.

Ben & the girls walk around the town and visit many places. They go to a small park, a zoo, buying things from shops, and lastly, they go to a public pool. They have a lake in the village, but this pool has some attractions that make the children want to visit it.

'Maybe we need to build some playing stuff on the lake like slides or pedal boats. Hmm, I'll ask Gramps to consider making these kinds of stuff. Those guys in the village are free most of the time. So it's better to make them work on this,' thinks Ben.

Ben & the girls enjoy the pool and play around until 4 PM. Then when return to their village and the girls sleep in the car. They've got very tired after playing all day long and have fun.

Ben smile and drive slowly to not wake them up. This is really a good day for them. It makes Ben decide to do this more often when they have time.

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