Kays Translations

Chapter 140: Return and Development After Send off

The return journey from the capital, due to the larger group and more uphill sections, took seven days, one day longer than the outbound journey.

Along the way, they encountered some monsters, but with both the Kingdom’s top knight order and the perennially top-ranked knight orders competing, the encounter was easily overcome.

Without any major weather disruptions, they safely returned to the capital city, Klaufendam, on the nineteenth day of the first month, exactly seven days after departing.

Word had already spread about their victory in the preliminary match, and with the renowned Margrave Zabadak Knights accompanying them, crowds had gathered at the main gate to catch a glimpse of them.

“”“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooohhhh!!!!”””

“Welcome back, Selfers-sama!”

“Congratulations on your victory!”

“Orihime-chan look here!”

“Felix, over here!”

“Mizeloi’s onii-chan, good job!”

Amidst the cheers, they paraded through the main street like triumphant heroes, eventually arriving at the Lord’s Manor.

Waiting for them at the manor was Nicolette, accompanied by the household staff and knights.

“Zabadak-san and Bisseling-san, thank you for your hard work on your long journey. Daffyd-san, and you all, welcome back. I would like to hear from you soon about the good news, but first, please take your time and heal the fatigue of your journey.”

“Apologies for the sudden visit, Lady Nicolette. We will be in your care for a few days.”

Zvar Zabadak apologized for his unexpected visit and stay, which was not part of their original plans.

The Zabadak territory was located even further north than the Bisseling County, sprawling at the foothills of the Great Mountains. The area received heavier snowfall, and some sections of the roads had been closed due to snow accumulation in the past few days.

Fortunately, the snow had stopped, and with the improved weather conditions and efforts of the road maintenance teams, it was expected to reopen in a few days. 

Since they could easily travel to Bisseling County at present, Maraine had suggested they stay there instead. However, since they were already in Klauffendam, they decided to spend a few days there to explore the area.

Maraine and his neighboring lord, Daffyd, were planning to stay only for the day and depart the next morning.

“Oh, not at all. If it’s the visit of Your Excellency, the protector of the North, you are always welcome. We can’t offer much hospitality, but I hope you can at least relax and enjoy your time here.”

Smiling, Nicolette responded and led the guest to the reception room.

Having received a report that the frontier lords, including Zvar, had formed a faction, she had made preparations as soon as she heard the news of the visit.

“Well, it’s finally tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’ll be interesting to see the faces of those who watched the Klaufeldt family win the tournament when they find out the reason… It’s a shame we can’t see it firsthand.”

Maraine and Zvar were talking while sipping from glasses filled with amber liquid.

After dinner, the heads of the family, along with Isamu, Nicolette, and Annemarie, were all gathered in the salon.

Zvar had brought along a dwarven secret distilled spirit, almost impossible to obtain in this world of Ethersia, as his travel companion. They were enjoying it with ice made from Isamu’s specially crafted powerful refrigerator box.

“Whether they’ll observe, cozy up, or antagonize… Either way, I doubt anyone would resort to drastic measures after seeing that tournament.” 

“That’s true. We made a clear statement with our alliance with the marquises. Still, anyone who does make a move now is someone to be especially wary of.” 

Isamu replied, nodding at Maraine’s words.

The conversation revolved around the letter the Klaufeldt family would send to all the nobles starting tomorrow.

The letter’s content, of course, was a corrected report on Isamu’s abilities. It would finally convey that Isamu could see magic energy, read magic languages, and understand some magic circles. To avoid making the initial report of “efficient magic use” seem like a false claim, they framed it as a discovery made during later investigations.

They could have announced this during the annual festival when most of the nobles were gathered in the capital, but it would have caused a flood of visitors and possibly some uninvited guests. Therefore, they decided to distribute the letters from the capital on the 20th of the first month when most nobles would have returned to their territories. Nobles with estates in the capital or nearby would receive the letters as early as tomorrow, with the rest following suit.

“The ones we need to watch out for first are the intelligence agents. As for brute force, unless they come in large numbers, we should be fine. But intelligence agents are a real nuisance.” 

“Indeed. Luckily, this mansion is surrounded by steep cliffs, so we only need to keep an eye on the front.” 

“I never thought living in a cave would come in handy.” 

Selfers responded with a wry smile at Zvar and Maraine’s advice.

“Regarding security, we should consider doubling the number of guards to prevent intrusions. But leaks of information from within pose the greatest threat… If you agree with my proposal to have my people stationed here, I will ensure they are trustworthy. What do you think?”

Maraine inquired, to which Selfers responded with a nod of agreement.

“Absolutely. If you agree to restrict access to the laboratory, I’d be grateful. It would serve as both a precaution and a means for regular status updates.”

After considering for a moment, Selfers replied.

“Well… Maraine, what kind of personnel will you be sending?”

“I’ll send a competent butler and maid from my estate.”

Maraine responded, prompting excitement from Isamu, who wondered if they would be getting more battle butlers and maids.

“In that case, I’ll send a somewhat experienced cook and a tutor. The conditions will be the same as yours Maraine-dono.”

Isamu’s excitement only grew as he inwardly remarked, “Who do you think you are, Steven Seagal?”

Zvar proposed, offering additional personnel for their mutual benefit.

“If that’s the case, Eleanora and the others, including Nazario and Lubindah, will want to send people too. I’ll inform them beforehand.”

“Thank you. We’ll need to expand our personnel, so your assistance is much appreciated.”

Selfers bowed his head in gratitude.

“I benefit from this as well, and protecting Isamu’s ancient magic and magic tools from unsavory characters is the primary duty of our faction. It’s only natural.”

“That’s true.”

They had come to a conclusion about immediate personnel reinforcement, but they recognized the urgent need to train future personnel. However, they were also aware of the inherent risks of relying solely on loyalty and morality for counterintelligence, so both physical and rule-based measures were urgently required.

The next morning, people gathered at Klaufendamm’s main gate to see Maraine and Daffyd off.

“A bath is always good, especially in this cold weather. Having one here makes me want to stay a couple more days… Oh well, lord Zvar, I’m really envious of you.”

“Haha, I’ll send you a carriage with a kotatsu soon, so please wait a little longer.”

Isamu chuckled, feeling slightly bemused by the reason for Maraine’s reluctance to leave.

“I’m looking forward to it. Sel, once I’m back, I’ll make arrangements for the personnel as soon as possible. I’m more interested in the reactions from today onwards… How many ‘hawks’ will be flying around…”

Maraine smirked knowingly.

The term “hawks” referred to a high-performance messenger bird similar to a pigeon in this world, Ethersia.

Normally, in areas where humans are absent, monsters roam the skies, making conventional messenger pigeons unreliable. As the distance increases, the risk also escalates, making it effective only up to nearby towns.

To solve this problem, they use creatures similar to hawks, which can fly at high altitudes and speeds, almost never encountering monsters. However, the fact that not even monsters attack them means that capturing them is incredibly difficult for humans.

For this reason, it is extremely rare for anyone, even a noble, to own their own “hawk.” Only a handful of people might have one. One reason is the exorbitant cost, but more importantly, it’s because they are simply not available for purchase, no matter how much money you have. This highlights the remarkable stature of the Zambrotta Trading Company, which owns its own hawk.

Therefore, when most nobles need to use a hawk, they have to rely on the only specialized service provider in the world of Ethersia. This service, run by elves for generations, requires a high fee to send a hawk.

Naturally, this service can’t deliver directly to private residences. Instead, the hawks transport letters between major cities’ branches, and from there, the letters are delivered by regular means. 

Near Klaufedamm, there’s a branch in Bisserichen, where Maraine resides.

Technically, these are not real “hawks,” but the difference in speed compared to normal delivery methods is clear.

By the way, how they catch and tame these hawks is considered one of the deepest secrets among the elves.

There were, of course, those who tried to steal or coerce the secrets out of them in the past, leading to swift elven retreats from those nations, never to return. The news of the elves’ sudden departure spread to neighboring countries, and they were swiftly invaded and destroyed.

Therefore, refraining from interfering has become an unwritten rule.

“If there’s any contact, I’ll let you know. Or rather, do you think a request will come to connect with His Excellency’s place?”

“Indeed, that’s possible. It seems wise to wait a little while and then share information and assess the situation.”

“Understood. We might need to use our ‘hawks’ as well.”

“…Indeed.”

Maraine and Selfers said so with serious expressions.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave here. Lord Zvar, please do visit us on your way back.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure to drop by. I’m looking forward to some good wine and cheese.”

“Have a safe journey.”

With that, Maraine and Daffyd left Klaufendamm.

That afternoon, Isamu began his actions immediately.

The first task he tackled was strengthening the defense capabilities of the mansion and the town.

While it was said that it wouldn’t be easy to breach their defenses, there were still monsters around. Strengthening their defenses would not be in vain.

“Let’s start by trying physical and magic defenses at the main gate first.”

“Right. Since the defensive wall covers a wide area, we might have to prioritize it later.”

Isamu and Eto discussed with their arms folded in front of the main gate.

“So, how are we going to apply both of them? I remember the original armor was divided into physical and magic parts, right?”

“Yes. But that’s because it’s armor.”

“Because it’s armor?”

“It’s narrow, physically. Don’t you remember? That unusually intricate magic circle…”

“Ah!! Right, I remember… It was indeed an incredibly intricate magic circle.”

Eto recalled as prompted by Isamu, showing a strained smile.

By the way, when it was actually put into production, many unnecessary parts were eliminated, such as parts that couldn’t be nullified but were still being assessed, and lengthy memo-like sections. As a result, it became much easier on the eyes.

“This time, the base is large. We’ll make one magic circle to handle both. Since the original magic circle already divides physical and magical at the very beginning of the assessment, we can just use it as it is.”

“Indeed, with this much space, we can draw whatever we want.”

“Yes. And then, I plan to divide the surface into several parts and incorporate multiple magic circles.”

“Divide it?”

At Eto’s question, Isamu nodded slightly and began to explain.

“First of all, as a premise, this magic circle, no, all magic circles are single-threaded.”

“Single-threaded?”

Eto tilted his head at the unfamiliar term.

“Well… It’s like… cooking with only one stove. You gather the ingredients, cut them in order, put them in the pot, and light the fire to simmer. You’re doing all the processes one by one in order, right? It’s like a single lane where you can’t do anything else while doing something else, that’s single-threaded.”

“I see…”

“In contrast, the multi-threaded method is when multiple people cook with multiple stoves. You can split the ingredients and even wash the dishes while someone else is cooking. You can proceed with multiple processes simultaneously.”

“So, magic circles are single-threaded?”

“That’s right. Strictly speaking, it might be different… But… If it’s just something that shines and gets hot like a candle or a stove, it’s fine. However, this one is different. It can defend against both physical and magic attacks, but it can’t do both at the same time.”

“I see… If it’s defending against physical attacks and then gets hit with a magic attack, it can’t do anything else because it’s busy defending, right?”

“Correct. Until the series of processes of dispersing and damping the attack is finished, other processes can’t be accepted. The processing itself is quite fast, so it’s not that much of a problem when used as armor or a shield, but…”

“Indeed, when attacking a gate or a wall, there are usually multiple people attacking…”

“Yeah. So, by dividing it into several parts, I thought it might be a little better.”

“I see. Since several people attacking one place at the same time isn’t that common.”

“Yes. But we shouldn’t divide it too much.”

With that, the creation of the unprecedented magic door that can defend against both physical and magic attacks began.

The application to the gate resembled attaching it to a large shield. The outside became the effective surface, and the inside became the magic circle surface.

The gate itself was quite tall, and since it didn’t seem likely to be attacked simultaneously from above, only about a third from the top was roughly divided horizontally rather than vertically.

Below two-thirds, it was divided vertically into four parts and then horizontally.

After dividing it, they started drawing magic circles on the back.

Since they were drawing something similar to the magic circles applied to shields and armor but much larger, the work itself was simple.

Zvar Zabadak, who was detained due to the snow, watched the work with great interest.

Orihime, who got bored of watching the work, followed the knights to play, and just returned after giving them some training.

Although Zvar returned with a cool face saying, “I worked up a good sweat,” when asked by Tiramisu, who carried Orihime on his head, he replied, “No way, Sir…” without the highlight in his eyes, showing his true nature as an active border Margrave.

By the way, he asked if he could help with something, but they couldn’t make the active border Margrave a mere servant, so they decided to have him cooperate in the strength assessment after completion. However, Isamu felt a little uneasy that it might be suddenly destroyed.

“Alright. For now, it’s complete. Shall we do the camouflaging with plating later?”

As the sun began to tilt, the work of drawing magic circles and installing magic stones was completed.

Since Eto and Willem had become accustomed to drawing new magic circles, the work progressed quite smoothly.

“That’s right. Since the iron plate, this is the first time we’re making a large magic item. But this one has a large magic circle itself, so it’s impressive.”

“Yes. From the inside, it really feels like a magic door.”

Isamu and Eto happily talked while looking up at the finished door with magic circles.

The iron plate Eto mentioned was the scorching floor created when monsters attacked before. It’s still buried secretly in front of the main gate.

That one was quite large, but the magic circle itself was not as elaborate as a magic stove, so it wasn’t that elaborate.

“Well then, shall we go outside and try it out? Diluc-san, is it okay to close the gate?”

“Understood!”

While Isamu with team Orihime, the lord and lady, and Zvar were waiting outside the gate, the gate began to close.

“Alright, let’s activate it!”

“Roger~”

The casual reply came from Ulysses. After the exhibition match, he had become something like a regular member of team Orihime.

With a *clang* sound of activation, the door flashed momentarily with a slight delay for each area.

“”OOOOooooooo!!””

From inside and outside the gate, there were involuntary voices of admiration at the sight.

By the way, there was only one activation circle. When I examined the magic armor more closely, I found that it was also divided into front and back.

Using the method of activating multiple functional circles on one activation circle, I reused it.

Magic power is needed for each functional circle, so the magic stones will be depleted after several activations, but since they won’t be turned on and off frequently, it shouldn’t be a problem.

“Well then, let’s start the experiment right away!”

Isamu’s voice confirming the activation echoed through the winter sky, which was beginning to turn red.

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