Ben's expression darkened even further, shadows practically gathering around his forehead. "Just…exactly how much white gemstone did you use?"
Elvira hesitated, clearly avoiding eye contact as she desperately tried changing the subject. "Look! The mana circulation is flawless! And the interior space—it's at least five times larger than it looks from outside! It's a miracle of magical engineering, truly! All those new knowledge I get is very useful!"
Ben leaned closer, his tone dropping dangerously low, eyes twitching in disbelief. "Elvira…how much did it cost?"
Elvira swallowed nervously, her bright smile wavering. "Oh, you know…not much, just…a very reasonable…amount…"
Ben's voice turned even colder, "Define 'reasonable amount'."
She glanced away sheepishly, mumbling under her breath, "…around half of the stockpile."
She quickly raised her hands defensively. "B-but it's worth every piece! Think about it! You'll thank me later!"
Elvira practically sparkled with excitement as she grabbed Ben's arm, tugging him toward the carriage. "Of course, my beloved! Come, feast your eyes on the pinnacle of my genius!"
Ben let himself be dragged inside, still scowling about the absurd amount of white gemstone wasted. But the moment he stepped in, his irritation wavered. His eyes flickered across the interior, his expression shifting from mild annoyance to genuine surprise.
The inside was massive. The carriage itself was compact from the outside, but inside, it was something else entirely. The walls expanded in ways that made no logical sense, space stretching unnaturally far. Shelves lined with neatly stacked materials ran along one side, while a row of glowing inscriptions pulsed faintly across the walls, maintaining the spatial integrity.
Elvira pointed eagerly toward the center. "Behold!"
At the heart of it all sat a compact device—a scaled-down version of her talisman creation machine. Ben had seen the one at the main base. It was massive, taking up an entire space. But this one? It was a fraction of the size.
"It's not as efficient as the full-sized version," Elvira admitted, patting the contraption with pride, "but it does exactly what I need. With this, I can produce talismans on the move! No more waiting in one place!"
Ben narrowed his eyes. "You mean no more slacking off until the last second."
She cleared her throat, conveniently ignoring his remark as she moved to the next section. "And here—" she gestured to an area filled with arcane engravings, a hovering quill tracing magical symbols into floating slabs of stone. "—is where I conduct my research, Every mage worth their salt needs a proper workspace, after all."
Ben moved past it, his eyes landing on another corner of the carriage, stacked high with thick, ancient-looking tomes. Some looked older than the fortress itself. "Books?"
"Magic tomes," she corrected, lifting one with an air of superiority. "Containing lost spells, theories, and notes on mana manipulation I hoarded in all my lifetime. I'm learning, Ben. Refining my craft." She set the book down and pointed toward the storage area, where rows of carefully sorted materials filled the compartments. "And this is where I placed all the supplies you requested."
Ben's scowl had completely vanished. He crossed his arms, glancing around the interior with grudging admiration. For all her reckless spending, Elvira was a genius. Ben knew that. He had seen it in the way she fought, the way she handled magic, but looking at this—at the sheer intricacy of her work—he was beginning to grasp just how brilliant she truly was.
She twirled toward him, arms spread wide. "So? Am I not the most wonderful wife you can have? My beloved"
Ben let out a dry chuckle, shaking his head. "You're certainly the most expensive one I've ever met."
Elvira pouted but quickly switched back to excitement. "Oh! You have to see how I expanded the dimensions in here. It's not just ordinary space expansion magic—I layered it."
Ben raised a brow. "Layered?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! It's a complex process, but I essentially folded space within space. For example, this talisman-creation device? It's not just inside this carriage—it's inside an isolated pocket inside the expanded space. That allows me to compress it even further while maintaining functionality."
Ben frowned slightly, trying to wrap his head around it. "So… it's like putting a storage box inside another storage box?"
Elvira beamed. "Exactly! But the more layers I add, the more unstable it gets. Right now, I can only safely maintain a few, and it takes a ton of mana. I still need to refine the process. But if I perfect it…" Her eyes gleamed with ambition. "I could create infinitely expanding spaces within a finite object."
"Your regression ability… did that come from your own experiment, too?"
Elvira raised an eyebrow, lips curling into a smirk. "That would be both a yes and a no. My regression is the result of experimenting on a Traveler's artifact."
Ben's expression darkened with interest. "Wait… does that mean the Traveler could regress too?"
"Of course not." Elvira waved a hand dismissively. "You don't need to worry about that. As far as I know, I am the only regressor in existence. And when I regress, it's not like I pause the world and move it backward. I still need confirmation, but I'm fairly certain that every time I regress, I simply possess another version of my body in a different timeline."
Ben exhaled. "Multiple timeline theory, huh?"
Elvira blinked, caught off guard. "You actually understand that, my beloved?"
"Well, you'd know the answer if you just looked through my memories," Ben said with a shrug. "Parallel universes, multiple timelines—it's just standard sci-fi logic. I used to watch this stuff all the time."
Elvira narrowed her eyes, then suddenly stepped closer. "Oh yeah, that reminds me." Without warning, she reached out, pressing her palm against the back on his neck, her mana flaring as she tapped into the memory magic she had placed on him before.
Ben felt the familiar sensation, suddenly, she froze. Her expression twisted into a deep frown, eyes flickering with something between shock and confusion. "How… How is this possible?" she muttered.