TWEM Vol. 2 Chapter 19
Chapter 19 – New Items and Battle Preparations
We proceeded to have lunch and trained again in the afternoon: it was a rather active day.
Because the previous day was so busy, I decided to take a rest the next day.
Everyone had free time in the morning, then we gathered at noon to have lunch together.
I used the opportunity to talk to everyone about the trip to the elf village.
“About the scheduled visit to the elf village, Ephyr has recovered completely, and Lyla and the others have taught her the basics of self-defense. I’m thinking we could leave as early as tomorrow. It’s going to be me, Finne, Iris, Ephyr, Asha, Suzuno, Tendo, Mogami, Asakura, and Shinonome. Tendo’s group still needs training, so I plan to take care of that as we go…does anyone have any questions?”
“It’s not a problem to train as we go, or rather, I’m thankful for that, but we’re leaving tomorrow. Isn’t it pretty sudden?”
Tendo asked the question, and I nodded in response.
“Well, I did plan to leave in a few days. We won’t need a lot of time to prepare, but more than anything else, Ephyr probably wants to see the state of the village as soon as possible, I thought.”
I turned towards Ephyr, who thanked me and bowed.
“Don’t mention it. I’m interested in it too…so anyway, I’ll go report about it to Dillan later. There’s only one thing that bothers me.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, about taking care of the residence.”
I answered Finne’s question, then looked at the servants. The reason why I bought Ephyr in the first place was that the residence was too large for Asha, Lyla, Mia, and Sebas to take care of on their own. If I took Asha and Ephyr with me, the problem would return, worse than before.
I was considering such things when Sebas bowed his head to me.
“I believe we three will be able to maintain the residence without trouble, milord. Please do not concern yourself with that.”
“That is correct, please leave it to us.”
“There is nothing to worry about, milord!”
Lyla and Mia seemed to agree with Sebas.
“If you say that, Sebas, then I believe you. I’ll inform Dillan about it just in case, so if you need any manpower just let the royal palace know.”
“Very well, milord. I am deeply thankful for your kindness.”
Sebas used to be Dillan’s butler, which probably made it easier for them to communicate…it’s highly likely he applied to my job offer because Dillan asked him to, after all.
Well, if anything happens I can just teleport back, anyway.
— wait.
I just noticed something very important…
“Is anything wrong?”
Finne noticed my expression and asked about it.
“I was just thinking about how we could communicate…”
Even if “anything happened”, I could not do anything if I didn’t know about it.
“Can’t we just use letters? There are magic tools for communication, at least in the royal palace.”
Iris proposed a solution, but letters would be too slow…wait…
“Iris, what did you just say?”
“Eh? I said that we could use letters.”
“No, after that.”
“About the communication magic tools? I know that they’re used to communicate with other countries, but there’s only one per country and only kings can use it.”
So that’s how they held the meeting about my promotion…but that wasn’t relevant right now.
If such magic tools existed in this world, I could probably create them too, thanks to the skill “Magic Engineering”.
I immediately tried activating the skill.
Just like that, the ingredients needed to craft the communication magic tools appeared in my head.
Good, looks like I can make it with what I have in my dimensional storage.
“There’s only one per country, huh…I guess we should make ours, then.”
“That’s easy to say, but…can you do that?”
“Wait and see.”
I clapped my hands and started talking again.
“…here we are, ladies and gentlemen! Today’s magic engineering lesson consists of the creation of communication magic tools!”
“…who are you talking to?”
I put up a bit of a show, talking to an imaginary audience, and Iris looked at me with suspicion. Finne, Ephyr, and the other denizens of this world seemed confused as well.
Tendo and the others laughed, at least.
“Our first ingredient is this Magic Mineral.”
I then took out the mineral from my dimensional storage. It was the same item I had used to craft my Black Katana.
“Heavens, I have never seen a mineral infused with so much magic power…”
That figures, Sebas. I didn’t dig this from a mine, but made it myself, after all.
The next item I extracted from my dimensional storage was Mithril.
“We shall now add a small dose of Mithril…”
“M-mithril…? Such quantity could be worth more than one million Gould…I wonder when and where he dug it out…”
Finne, I’ve been doing that quite a bit when we camped outside, actually.
“A gemstone decoration would fit quite nicely as well.”
“Is that a Skyhigh? Even nobles would have a hard time getting their hands on one…”
So whispered Asha, while looking at the gem in my hands.
Oh, I didn’t know that. A bunch of them popped up while I dug for minerals, so I think I still have a decent amount…
“…and voila! All our ingredients are at the ready! Add a touch of Molding and presto, Mithril becomes a fanciful necklace. Make sure you create the spaces to fit the mineral and gemstone.”
As I spoke, a deep red thunderbolt changed the shape of the Mithril.
“We shall now process the mineral. It is all quite simple, you merely need to engrave a magic formula with the Molding skill…”
“S-simple, he says…you need to have materials with enough capacity to withstand the necessary magic power, and it’s difficult to have enough skill to create the magic formula and magic power to actually transfer it…that’s why there are only one of those magic tools per country…”
Iris was dumbfounded. So that was the reason behind their scarcity.
“Lastly, we will place the gemstone in the necklace, and our communication magic tool is complete! It was almost too easy, wasn’t it?”
Despite my words, all the spectators shook their heads in response.
~
I then repeated the same steps and created another communicator, which I gave to Sebas.
“Okay then Sebas, I’ll entrust this with you. Make sure you or another servant always keeps it with them.”
“Very well, milord…though I must admit it makes me quite tense to carry something so precious.”
Sebas laughed wryly.
Well, there was only one of those magic tools in a whole country, so I could understand how he felt…most people wouldn’t even be able to see one in their lifetimes, let alone carry it. I should check how you use them, now that I think about it.
I looked at the magic tool in my hands and used God Eye to analyze it.
NAME: Guardian Stone of Magic Communication
RARITY: Phantasm
NOTES: Communication magic tool made by Haruto.
Infusing it with magic power makes it possible to communicate over a long distance, through the magic power in the air.
Er, Phantasm grade? For real?
The result was pretty unexpected, so I looked at everyone else’s reactions.
Tendo’s group probably used Appraisal too, as their faces were rather tense.
No wonder, I was pretty shocked myself.
I kept that for myself, however, and explained how to use it instead.
“Looks like it’s easy to use. Infuse it with magic power and talk: your voice will then be delivered to the other person. It lights up when someone is talking, so you just need to pour magic power then and you’ll hear their voice. It can be used anywhere, as long as there is magic power in the air…it’s Phantasm grade, by the way.”
I mumbled the last bit of information, but Sebas, Lyla, and Mia picked it up and reacted with surprise.
“Phantasm!? It’s really so high!?”
“Looks like it. Don’t lose it, okay?”
I meant it as a joke, but Lyla and Mia nodded fervently — though they looked a little pale — and Sebas earnestly bowed, while calmly saying “Certainly, milord”.
~
“ — time to go visit Dillan, then.”
After a thorough explanation of the communicators, we decided to go to the royal palace to see Dillan.
“Yes, let’s go. We should also buy clothes and foodstuffs too.”
I nodded to Finne’s proposal.
“Yeah, let’s make sure we have plenty of anything necessary for the journey.”
We thus headed towards the royal palace, leaving Sebas, Lyla, and Mia to take care of the residence.
We were shown to the guest room as soon as we arrived: soon enough, Dillan and Amalia joined us. The king looked quite exhausted, however.
“I’m sorry for making you wait, everyone. I finished my duties for the day just now…”
“Hehe, you heard that Haruto and Iris were coming and hurried up, didn’t you darling?”
“Y-you didn’t need to say that!”
Dillan blushed because of Amalia’s comment. As lovey-dovey as usual, these two.
“You don’t have to apologize, we came without notice, after all…we wanted to inform you that we will leave tomorrow.”
Dillan seemed perplexed by my words.
“You will leave? Oh, to go to the elf village you talked about last time?”
“Yes, we plan to depart from the capital tomorrow.”
“You did say you would leave in a few days, but it’s really sudden…oh? I believe I have never seen this young lady…”
Dillan noticed Ephyr’s presence and looked at her intently.
“She’s Ephyr, the elf princess I told you about.”
“P-pleased to meet you, sire.”
“The pleasure is mine, o’ elf princess.”
“Nice to meet you, Ephyr dear.”
Ephyr, Dillan, and Amalia exchanged greetings, the royal couple smiling warmly.
Dillan then turned towards me.
“With your strength, I am sure everything will be fine, but please take good care of Iris.”
“Yes, leave it to me. I will crush anyone that even tries to lay a finger on Iris. No matter what country they’re from.”
Dillan and Amalia reacted with a slightly stiff smile, then looked at Iris.
“Be careful dear. If anything happens, rely on Haruto.”
“I know! There’s no place safer in this world than being with Haruto, anyway!”
Dillan nodded, then Amalia gently admonished her daughter.
“Even if that’s true, you must protect yourself on your own. Haruto, please train Iris a bit too, okay?”
“Very well, let’s see…I’ll make sure she can easily defeat a dragon or two, at least.”
“I-Isn’t that a bit too much…?”
Dillan, Amalia, and Iris replied to my plan in perfect unison.
~
After leaving the castle, we headed for the city’s main avenue, to buy food, clothes, and other necessities for the journey.
Even in this world, ladies tended to take a lot of time to do their shopping. It took at least three times the time we spent buying food…
Towards the end, Tendo, Mogami, and I were pretty exhausted.
The shopping eventually ended, and we returned to the residence with a massive amount of bags.
“What do we even do with all this stuff…?”
We gathered the bags in the entrance hall and Tendo commented about the size of the pile.
“Right…we can use my dimensional storage for the luggage, but the horse carriage is the real problem.”
Finne seemed to realize the issue as well.
“Oh, that’s true, we won’t fit in the carriage we used last time…should we buy another one?”
Our expedition party to the elf village was composed of me, Finne, iris, Asha, Ephyr, Suzuno, Tendo, Mogami, Asakura, and Shinonome — 10 people in total.
“It’s a pain to use two-horse carriages, though…I guess I’ll use my powers.”
“What powers, Haruto?”
Tendo looked at me, puzzled.
“You’ll see. Come with me, everybody.”
I then headed towards the residence’s rear garden.
When we arrived, I took my carriage out of the dimensional storage and opened the doors.
“As you can see, there is no way for 10 people to fit inside…but now, Haruto’s carpentering class will begin!!”
My sudden declaration was met with general stupor.
“We’re going to make a door today! To do that, we will need materials you can find in any household…wood and iron! Let us begin by cutting the wood.”
I took out wood from my dimensional storage, flung it in the air, and sliced it with my trusted katana.
“Just like that.”
“Just like what!?”
“…next, the iron.”
“Don’t ignore me, man!!”
Tendo was apparently saying something, but I ignored him and moved on.
“We will use Molding to shape the iron in screws, nails, and knobs. What’s left is just putting it all together.”
I then started combining the door parts. The result was going to be a bit drab, so I also added some decorations.
Soon enough, the thin wooden door was complete.
“Voila! How marvelous, that unassuming wood and iron turned into a quite fine door specimen! I encourage you to make your own, dear viewers! Tune in again for Haruto’s next carpentry lesson!”
Not that I had any plans to hold it, though.
Suzuno, who had stayed quiet the whole time, finally opened her mouth.
“It was all over so fast, I’m not sure I know what happened…”
“Oh no Suzuno, now you can easily do it by yourself.”
“No way!!”
Yeah, I actually agreed with her.
“The door is ready, so we should go ahead and attach it to the carriage.”
I then climbed on the carriage and attached the door to the nearest wall.
It was still a door-shaped decoration at the moment, so I infused it with a large quantity of magic power.
I continued my activating Time-Space magic and connected the door to the subspace I had created when I went with Finne to defeat the mutant wyvern.
I opened the door to check, and indeed it did not show the carriage cabin wall anymore, but a misty black void.
“W-what’s that?”
Judging from her tone, Iris seemed a bit frightened, but Finne eased her fears.
“It’s the portal to the subspace…am I right, Sir Haruto?”
“Very right, Finne.”
I nodded, then Tendo asked the next question.
“Subspace? What’s that?”
“A kind of parallel world I made. I created it some time before, now I just connected this door to it. I was thinking that those who don’t fit inside the carriage can stay in here while we travel.”
I considered creating a new subspace but then decided to save time and magic power by using the existing one.
“I’ll take a look inside, please wait.”
I then went through the door.
I found the same space as last time, with the house too, exactly as I left it.
“It’s a bit small for 10 people, though. Let’s add a few rooms…”
So I mumbled to myself, then expanded the rooms.
I increased the size of the dining room, added tables and chairs, created new bedrooms…
I was already used to the work from last time, so it was all over in a matter of minutes.
I returned through the door and found everyone looking at me with anticipation.
On behalf of the group, Finne spoke up.
“How was it inside?”
“It’s even more comfortable than before, you’ll see.”
“Yuki, come on, show us!”
“Yeah, I want to see too!”
“Me too.”
Mogami, Asakura, and Shinonome seemed especially excited, but…
“No can do.”
“Come ooon….”
Everyone groaned with disappointment at my refusal.
“They say to keep fun for last, right? Let’s rest today, so we’ll be ready for the journey.”
The group nodded, begrudgingly.
Oh yeah, I should feed Maguro before I go back inside the residence.
I created a door into the subspace in the garden and called inside.
“Maguro, are you there? Chow time!”
My faithful partner responded to my call and his head poked out of the portal.
“Good boy, good boy…we’ll be counting on you from tomorrow.”
“Whiiine!”
I had the feeling Maguro’s whine expressed a confident “leave it all to me!”
I rubbed Maguro’s mane as he happily munched on his carrots, then Suzuno timidly asked me a question.
“Er, Haruto? Is Maguro…”
“Hm? Yeah, it’s this guy’s name.”
I replied flatly, then heard the Hero group start whispering among themselves. I heard you say that my naming skills suck, Mogami!
Iris, Asha, and Ephyr seemed perplexed by the reaction of Tendo’s group. On the other hand, Finne knew that “Maguro” was the name of a fish, so she smiled wryly.
— they’re a ragtag group, but I am looking forward to the journey, honestly.
So I thought as I indulged in playing with Maguro a while longer.