"THE KITCHEN IS HUGE!" I screamed as I stood in the doorway with Grandpa Seamus and Yanis.
"Of course, we've had to expand the kitchen to accommodate the crew of the King's Glaive." Yanks replied calmly.
The kitchen car was now twice as big as it used to be, much like the control car. There were two floors to the car with the top floor mostly being the food preparation and dish cleaning floor and the first floor being where the food was cooked. There were about ten people running around the kitchen car working.
"The King's Glaive has a total of ten chefs working on duty at all times with twenty chefs working in rotation to feed the thirty-five crew members." Yanis explained. I nodded absentmindedly as I looked around, trying my hardest to not notice everyone pausing for a brief moment when they saw me.
"There are thirty-five crew members?" I asked. Yanis nodded then walked through the kitchen and over to the door to the next car.
"Yes, Five control car members, twenty chefs, five laundry members, and five porter crew members." Yanis said then opened the door to the next car.
My prior knowledge of King's glaive told me that my personal car was the next car. The idea of people going through and rearranging the things I had left in that car made me feel uneasy. That unease was quickly forgotten when I walked into the car.
"This is your personal Proprietor's quarters car. Master Craftsman MacClery made it known that you might have some reservations about outsiders touching your things so we had members of your original retinue come and box your things up and then went about the modifications." Yanis said as she motioned to the new space.
My eyes nearly bulged out as I looked around. The car was twice as wide as before and split into two distinct sections with the décor. One section was obviously a office with a crystal console tucked into a corner and an entire wall filled with holographic screens displaying data and information about the train's operations. The other side had much more personal touches and looked more like a living room, complete with a bookshelf that took up an entire wall. There was a winding crystalline staircase near the door to the next car that lead to the second floor.
"I know ya want to check the upstairs Starlight but we got a few more things fer ya ta see." Grandpa Seamus said then clapped my back. I frowned and didn't want to admit that he was right and just went along with Grandpa and Yanis.
As we went through the next few cars I realized that all the cars that used to be reserved for specific people or families when we traveled to Tsushima Island were now vacant and set up in a way that anyone could use the car temporarily. Each car now also had a larger bathroom thanks to the larger size of each car. There was enough room for a full sized bathtub, shower, sink and toilet.
The hydroponics car was now much larger and connected to the cargo cars which were reconstructed to be dual-tiered cargo cars that kept not only food grown in the hydroponics car but also cleaning and bedding supplies for the other cars. Basically everything needed to take care of the cars were stored in the cargo cars.
The cars that had once been for housing gestation tanks was transformed into a full shaping laboratory spanning two cars. Dual-tiered cars just like all the others only the functions of each tier is different. The bottom tier cars were a interconnected lab designed to create shaped evo mana crystal cores while the top tiers was filled with maturation tanks ranging from small to large sized tanks.
The biggest changes were to the smiting car that was set up for Jade. The car now had a massive two story furnace for melting down and shaping new metals and materials. Two walls were covered in tools, each one in pristine condition and ready for use. There were several machines around the furnace that I had no idea what they did, and did not have any desire to learn.
While King's glaive had ten new cars, I learned that five of them were living cars for the crew members. Two cars were made specifically for cleaning laundry. Going through the full tour with Grandpa and Yanis I could see the respect all the crew had for grandpa. Every person that we met either bowed or greet grandpa Seamus by calling him Master Craftsman.
"Well Starlight, what'd ya think about yer new mana train?" Grandpa asked with a broad smile on his face.
"It's incredible! I mean when you upgraded it before with Iris and Bo it was incredible as well but now it's just…just…incredible!" I exclaimed. Grandpa chest stuck out a little more when he heard my glowing praise.
"It is indeed incredible. A testament to Master Craftsman MacClery's skill and knowledge." Yanis chimed in as she opened the door to the control car.
All of the members of the control car's crew were inside and working furiously on their assigned consoles. Everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed respectfully once we entered the car. Yanis snapped her fingers then pointed a finger at Olithia.
"Have the rest of Master Kingston's retinue boarded King's glaive?" Yanis demanded.
"All but Princess Jane." Olithia replied. Yanis nodded contemplatively then turned to Zane, Eris, and Ruby.
"Are King's Glaive's systems ready to depart once Princess Jane arrives?"
"Systems are optimal and ready." Ruby announced.
"Navigation is ready and waiting. Only needs Master Kingston's command." Eris Replied. Zane looked to me and smiled sheepishly.
"While we can make small changes to the course set by you and Master craftsman MacClery, we cannot set a course ourselves. Meaning we need you to address King's Glaive directly and set a course." Zane explained.
"Ah! I see…" I replied then glanced down at my right hand where my void pocket enchanted ring and manacite communication ring sat on my pointer and middle fingers. They were the only enchanted items I've worn in the last six months. I channeled mana into my manacite communication ring and pictured Jane in my mind.
Jane growled.
Jane growled and I felt the connection get cut. I snickered then turned my attention back to Yanis.
"Jane will be here in fifteen minutes. I'm going to go wait with the others..." I told her then turned towards the door. "…call me back to the control car once she gets her."
***
"I'm going to strangle you!" Jane growled as she lunged at me. I dodged her death hands by rolling under a table and jumping to my feet. I quickly pulled Astrid in front of me and used her as a shield, much to her dismay.
"Don't use me as a human shield you dumbass!" Astrid snapped and tired to shake me off her but I held steady while Jane tried to rush around her.
"How about you act like a splicer worthy of a royal moniker instead of a blundering idiot!" Jane snapped.
"Make me!" I teased. Which was the wrong thing to say. She started casting an offensive ice spear spell which I canceled by channeling shadow attribute mana into my ring and pointer fingers and snapping them. A wave of dark element mana pulsed from my fingers and disrupted her spell sigil.
"Son of a…!" Jane growled as she felt the backlash of the spell failure.
"Starlight!" Grandpa Seamus said sternly. I stiffened and looked over to Grandpa, he leveled me with a stare then pointed to Jane. "Apologize, laddie."
I frowned and slouched slightly then looked at Jane. She looked like she'd rather eviscerate me than accept any apology I gave. Astrid probably did as well but I couldn't see her face since she was currently my shield.
"Sorry for rushing you and making you seem slower than you are." I apologized. Jane frowned at that but crossed her arms and looked away.
"Shoddy apology but it looks like the lass accepts it." Grandpa Seamus said.
"Reluctantly…" Jane growled. I let go of Astrid and jumped back to avoid the back hand slap she immediately swung at me.
"Stuff like this happening is why I didn't want to go!" Astrid growled then pointed a finger at me. "I swear to Odin, Zeus, and Tyr if I get pulled into another asinine cave adventure with you I am breaking your legs and leaving you to rot!"
She declaration hung heavily in the air until the youngest Sho'lajah member on the mana train pointed out the flaw in her plan.
"But Chase's legs can heal almost instantly…he wouldn't rot and would probably annoy you worse." Bo said in a matter of fact voice.
"Yeah…" Everyone else except Astrid and I muttered. Astrid groaned then ran a hand down her face and groaned.
"Stupid overpowered Star brat!" Astrid sighed.