We headed upstairs, where we were met with a small reception area by the elevators that had some vending machines and a few places to sit. When the girls saw the vending machines, they looked as if they were looking at some kind of alien artifact. "What is it!? What are the things inside?"
Surprisingly the vending machines had packaged food in them. But this was also good. I was hoping that maybe just maybe, I could get a sell by date. I walked over to the machine and put my fist through the glass, causing the others to stare at me in surprise. "Faith!?" Adel was the first to cry out.
"Just checking something," I said as I grabbed what looked to be a package of cookies. I looked at the back, and even though the print was slightly faded, I was still able to make out a date: Dec. 6, 2022.
Staring at the date, I couldn't help but wonder why what seemed like a city block appeared in a dungeon with so many things from Earth. "Faith? Is something wrong? You have been acting strange."
"Ah… Ummm… Well…." I looked at the girls in front of me, who were all my closest friends, and sighed. "While Adel already probably has some ideas, the rest of you do not know, but before I tell you, what is about to be said needs to be kept to the utmost secrecy. Even the King has forced me to keep my lips sealed, but I can not keep it from the people who are always at my side. And you all have signed a blood seal contract that will keep you from speaking about it anyway. So I will just explain myself."
It seemed that Adel understood what I was getting at. "Faith, these are from the world you lived in, in your past life?"
"Huh? Past life!?" Sophie cried out in confusion.
"To answer your question, Adel. Yes. This machine here is called a vending machine. The items inside are foodstuff, but they are not edible now, or at least I wouldn't eat them. Sei, you can try eating them to see if you get sick." I said in a teasing manner.
"Hey! Don't use me as a test dummy!" Sei yelled out.
I chuckled and held out the package in my hand. "Surprisingly enough, this package comes from the year I died. It is a package of food called cookies. This building is some kind of office building, and the things on the street down there are called cars, which are basically horseless carriages. Everything you see here is something from my past life, and it has been bothering me….. Why is this all here?
"Why did these things appear in a world where they should not belong? What exactly are the dungeons, and why was I born with a system? And now, suddenly, anyone can get one as long as they dive into the dungeon.
"Where I come from, we have a thing called video games. They are a form of entertainment that allows a person to kind of become another person in a story where they are in control of the character's actions to a certain extent which has these kinds of systems in the game. The world I come from is not a world of magic but a world of science, like the novels that are in the library. The so called fantasy world you create is a true reality.
"But the dungeon seems to be mixing the two worlds' ideas of fantasy. First, we had a dungeon full of goblins. They are a fantasy kind of monster from the world I used to live in. Then there is this dungeon that has what this world would see as a fantasy. But at the same time, it is all things from my old world.
"This is why I have been taking objects from the dungeon and storing them in my space. Any clues I can find that will help me figure out why things are the way they are will allow me to understand just what is going on. Although having some of the things here to use as a means to advance our own civilization is also not a bad idea." I explained as I stored away a vending machine.
"So the reason you knew about the hatch in the metal box was…." Sei began putting two and two together.
"Because that is an elevator, and that was an emergency hatch in case it gets stuck," I explained.
"Now I get it…. So they can not work as they are? Is that why we took the stairs?" Grace asked.
"They run on electricity, something similar to lightning magic. But it is generated in a different manner that does not require magic." They then began bombarding me with question after question. I was starting to become overwhelmed with their curiosity. The only one staying out of it was Adel, who was watching things with a warm smile on her face. I guess she liked the idea that everyone was so open to my explanation. In a way, so was I. No one was looking at me in a strange way which made me feel that no matter what I said or did, they would never see me in a different light as long as I did not go too far.
After about thirty minutes, they calmed down. Sei came over to me and put her arm around my shoulder, and asked: "So do you plan to make anything with the stuff you are taking?"
"I can only hope to recreate things with our current power sources and abilities. If we can advance technology to a higher level, our kingdom will never have to worry about being taken over, and we can have many, many years of peace." I answered with a smile.
"You know Faith, I know you love this kingdom, but I think you should think about yourself for once. Do not give up all this technology, as you called it, to the kingdom. Save it and secretly work on it until it is ready and then claim all the benefits for yourself. You keep saying you do not want to be a ruler, then act like it by keeping the things you wish to create for your own well being. This way you can at least be the richest person in the world."
