Technological allure

Everyone eventually reached the surface and made their way to the parked cars. Bewilderment quickly spread on the dwarves' faces with Steamly quickening his pace to reach the cars first. 

"Wheels? They're soft and large... and the carriage, it's like a mine cart," Steamly mumbled as he fixated on the jeep. 

"Uh, the keys are for one of the Teslas," Thorwall frowned as Steamly paid him no heed and hopped into the jeep. 

"Guess that's more his style. The keys, Col?" Nagako smiled as she held up the keys to the other Tesla. 

"A Tesla for a jeep's a bargain, the only problem is the generals will throw a fit."

"Over one old jeep? It's worth the court marshaling if it gets you an alliance." 

Thorwall sighed and handed over the keys to Steamly. "This thing's not as advanced as the others, but if it's more your style, allow me to show you how it works." 

Everyone watched as Thorwall started up the jeep and began driving it around with Steamly in the passenger's seat. Nagako smiled as she watched Durell and Borferd, glints in their eyes as they watched the demonstration. The moment Thorwall pulled back up, they instantly hopped in the back, demanding he drive some more. Thorwall obliged and after another quick drive, the dwarves were ready to put an alliance in writing. 

"What marvel. This thing can travel at great speeds, and runs without anything pulling it," Durell mused. 

"And the more advanced model has even more features, including Wi-Fi," Nagako smiled as she gestured towards one of the Teslas. 

Steamly pulled out the key and unlocked the car, fascinated by it's futuristic qualities. "If I could slap these things in that "jeep", we'd have a real ride on our hands. Rails are the primary travel for dwarves, but we can't use them in the city, nor are our mine carts this big. This could also help us get to places we've yet to lay rails above ground." 

"And better yet, if you learn how to mass produce these, you'd enter a new market. Currently, that jeep runs on a limited fuel source, which won't stand the test of time, while the Tesla is entirely electric. I imagine your engineers would have no trouble finding a solution to this problem which could lead to something completely new. And before I forget, let me show you something that was too big for us to simply drag along with us," Nagako smiled as she pulled up a video of a train on her phone. 

If the dwarves weren't already fascinated by human vehicles, they sure as hell were now after seeing the train. 

"Th- That runs on rails, and it's huge!? That could revolutionize everything! Forget the cars, I want 30 of those!" Durell proclaimed. 

"Seems we've got a deal on our hands. Would you like to come tour our city now? It's only a short flight away and we have room for plenty." 

"You humans can fly?" 

"Not with magic, but technology," Nagako smiled as DaVinci unveiled the plane. 

Rosa frowned and blinked as she watched the enamored dwarves follow Nagako to the plane. 

"This is a learning experience. You can't expect to bounce back just like that," Sana sighed as she patted Rosa on the shoulder. 

"I was hoping I could... I've wanted to ever since I lost to Takuto, lost to him and Kureha the year after too. It's just now, Nagako's clearly the outshining one. If an election were held between me and her, I'd lose in a landslide, that's just the difference between us." 

"You're more similar than you think. Are you aware of her electoral history?" 

"No... I only followed Usagi and national politics, at least until everything fell apart." 

"She's run for mayor of Ohana numerous times, yet always loses out to Machiko." 

"How? I get mayor Fuukuro's got charisma, but Nagako's on another level. Just look at what she's done already." 

"But Ohana wasn't looking for a leader like that. They fell in love with Machiko despite her flaws, and have continued to place faith in her to this day. When you get the chance, you should ask her about it." 

...

After a quick tour of the plane, Durell called together a delegation of his own to join him on his trip to Ohana. Totaling 33 including himself, Borferd, and Steamly, it was a far cry in size compared to the human delegation. 

"Booze in a can!? Should've started with this! I'd be dropping bags of minerals at your feet for this," Durell laughed as he chugged a can of beer. 

"Cheers are for celebrating and unwinding," Nagako smiled as she raised her own can of beer. 

"And you say your leader's tamed an elf!? That's a rarity! Far as I can remember, the elves hated the humans as much as they hated us. Hope they ain't trying to fool her though." 

"That woman's always had a habit for drawing people to her. I'd wager even if the elf did have malintentions, Machiko's personality would convert her to her side in an instant." 

Jenna frowned in silence as she held her phone up to her ear. 

"I hear it all. Looks like we scored the dwarves. Nagako actually earned a paycheck for once," Muki growled on the other end of the line. 

"And are you at ease, madam?" 

"Unlike that smart ass dwarf bear, these guys seem just like typical dwarves from fantasy novels. Puts me slightly at ease, but I'll always stay weary." 

"I see."

"Seems you've got fuel left, so I'm guessing you're gonna fly back." 

"Correct. We've left a Tesla and the American's military jeep behind, but loaded up the remaining Tesla to bring back with us. Mizata has also offered to use her wind magic to fly the entire plane, perhaps as a means to try and redeem herself for her earlier failure." 

"The more we can do ourselves the better. I'll keep monitoring you all from here, but when you get back, I'll come out and see these guys in the flesh." 

"Then we'll see you again in 3 hours." 

The plane took off seamlessly shortly after, with all the dwarves on board fascinated by the experience. The ride back was also uneventful, aside from another sky puma attack. Though unlike before, DaVinci managed to dispatch it the moment it leaped up to the window. 

As the city came into view, the dwarves all stared out in awe. 

"I was looking down at the terrain. We could easily build a rail from here to Buvaria," a dwarf spoke up. 

"That would be for the best. The fuel for the planes is quite limited, so we have to be careful with choosing when to fly. Speaking of which, do you by chance have a map of this place?" Nagako asked. 

"Oh certainly. I'm a cartographer after all." 

As for Jenna, a frown found it's way to her face as she tried to converse with Muki, but kept getting her messages sent to voice mail. "The phone is ringing, so why isn't she picking up?" she thought to herself. 

A little over an hour later, the plane landed back in Ohana. 

"Now first thing's first, we need to exchange currency. Follow me to the counter," Nagako smiled as she led everyone off the plane. 

Jenna watched as everyone headed out, lingering behind as she phoned Muki. "Madam isn't the type to just ignore phone calls. I hope nothing happened to her while I was away," she thought.