Kays Translations

Chapter 222: One Hour a Day

The production of mass-production parts for the magic-powered scooter, using Metal Leach molds, progressed at an astonishing pace.

As Zarid had predicted, most of the molds were completed within a single day.

Since none of the parts were particularly complex in shape and Metal Leach was incredibly easy to process, the molds were completed one after another.

Even handcrafted components like seats and tires were being skillfully assembled by the designated craftsmen.

By now, magic-powered vehicle manufacturing had become a major industry in Klaufendam, and the artisans involved had grown highly proficient at their craft.

Meanwhile, alongside the research and production of the magic-powered scooter, another initiative was underway: a training session.

“Well, to some extent, the system automatically adjusts itself, so as long as you don’t place anything fragile nearby, you don’t have to be too cautious.”

“I see. That’s good to know!”

This training session was aimed at knights who had volunteered to learn how to operate and utilize the Magic Giant Scribe Golem Writer, which had also entered production.

These Golem Writers were first being deployed to nobles within the faction, but they required transportation, installation, and testing at each noble household.

If Isamu were to handle this every time, it would interfere with his research and development of new magic tools.

While he could dispatch Eto or Willem, that would leave him without his crucial assistants, and they would also need bodyguards for the journey.

Transporting more people meant higher logistical costs and complexity.

Thus, they decided that it would be more efficient if knights—who could protect themselves—were trained to handle installation and setup.

This led to the creation of a new role: “technical knights”, and training sessions were held for interested participants.

At first, Isamu worried there might not be enough volunteers, as knights already had to balance their regular combat training with this new study.

However, his concerns were unfounded.

Not only would they gain exclusive knowledge of a world-first magic tool, but they would also get to ride magic-powered vehicles as part of their job.

When recruitment opened, there were so many applicants that a lottery was needed.

Additionally, several knights from the Bisseling and Jansen noble houses participated in the training.

If they relied only on Klaufendam’s knights, it would spread their forces too thin for their usual duties.

Thus, they requested reinforcements from allied noble houses.

In exchange for free access to the technology, these knights would temporarily work in Klaufendam as technical knights—similar to modern-day secondments in corporate settings.

Since these knights would be guaranteed positions upon returning to their own domains, and they would gain valuable experience, the program became highly popular.

Furthermore, training was also provided to mercenary knights from the Eriksen family, who had recently stationed themselves in Klaufendam under the pretense of conducting combat training.

The soon-to-be-established exchange station would be a crucial facility, not only for Isamu’s faction but for the entire kingdom.

Since the Eriksens would play a role in its operation and security, they needed some level of technical knowledge.

Originally, their stationing in Klaufendam was meant as a countermeasure against Duke Yadelud’s northern faction, but it ended up providing an unexpected benefit.

With all these efforts in motion, preparations for mass production continued in parallel.

And then—just three days after starting—the first mass-production unit was rolled out.

“…That was fast.”

“Hahaha! Zarid and the others were eager to get this done!”

“Gahaha! I got carried away like a kid, I must admit.”

As Isamu marveled at the speed, the crafting duo of a gnome and a dwarf laughed heartily.

They had barely slept for three days, yet they were bursting with energy.

When Isamu had expressed concern on the second night, they explained that, being descendants of the Earth God, their bodies retained strong earth-elemental traits.

This meant they had excellent night vision and could store up sleep in advance, allowing them to work long hours without fatigue.

Chuckling at their high spirits, Isamu turned his gaze toward the completed mass-production unit.

The major difference from the prototype was that, instead of being almost entirely made of Metal Reach, the new version only used Metal Leach for the plated sections requiring friction control.

By substituting iron, the structural strength was lower, but this was compensated for with reinforcement magic circles, ensuring sufficient durability.

“Huh? This front section…”

Noticing that the fork supporting the front wheel was a different color, Isamu leaned in for a closer look.

“Ah, you caught that? I had an idea and swapped it out for mithril.”

“The ride was too stiff. We replaced it with highly elastic mithril to improve shock absorption. It raises the manufacturing cost, but since these are for Klaufendam’s internal use, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

Since coil springs were still in early development, suspension systems weren’t an option yet.

And incorporating leaf springs into a bicycle-like frame wouldn’t work either.

Instead, they leveraged mithril’s flexibility to absorb impacts.

“Oh, this makes a huge difference! Thank you!!”

“I don’t understand magic circles, but I do understand metals.”

Zarid grinned as he accepted Isamu’s gratitude.

After half a day of test runs, the units were deemed problem-free, and the first batch of three mass-production magic-powered scooters was completed.

“Alright, everyone, I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, sir!”

A few hours later, in the front courtyard of Viscount Klaufeldt’s mansion, Isamu addressed three knights—the first to be assigned the new vehicles.

Behind the three knights, the newly completed magic-powered scooters were lined up, with cargo wrapped in what appeared to be monster-derived materials strapped to the rear seats and the front wheel sections.

Additionally, the knights, who saluted with slightly tense expressions, had large backpacks and other loads secured to their backs.

They were about to transport an entire set of newly developed magic giant scribe golem writers to the front lines of the war against Zun—using the just-completed magic-powered scooters.

“Are you really telling me they can make it there in four days? Didn’t it take about ten days even with a magic-powered vehicle?”

“Yes. These scooters move at about twice the speed of magic-powered vehicles, and the weather is favorable this time of year. That should be enough time.”

“…Seriously? That’s insane.”

The one speaking in disbelief with Isamu was Schmeichel, a mercenary knight of the Eriksen family.

As a company commander in the knight order, he was stationed as the field officer in charge of the garrison. Since one of the knights heading to the front lines was also from the Eriksen mercenary knights, Schmeichel had come to encourage them, much like Isamu.

Incidentally, the leader of the mercenary knights, Gascoigne, was currently on the front lines, fighting alongside their liege, Eleonora.

The battlefield where their liege and commander were stationed—the royal capital of Plazzo, Latcherio—was a journey of about twenty days by carriage.

The introduction of magic-powered vehicles had already cut that travel time down to ten days, an impressive feat in itself. But now, these new magic-powered scooters were expected to slash it in half again, making the trip in just four days.

Even Schmeichel, who had taken a few test rides on the scooters, found it hard to believe.

“No need to rush and run into trouble. Drive safely and don’t push yourselves too hard.”

“Understood. We’ll be on our way!”

“All right. Travel safely.”

“““We will!”””

With their usual send-off, Isamu and the others watched as the three riders set off.

However, the next day, just past noon, the magic-powered giant scribe golem writer installed in the research facility suddenly activated.

The ringing of small bells attached to its arm—a feature to indicate when the golem was writing—resounded through the laboratory.

“What? There’s no way they’ve arrived yet… Did something happen?”

The unexpected activation of the magical device caused everyone in the research room to rush toward it in a panic.

“Let’s see… ‘From Wizard to Trevor. We are currently in Felka. We have made contact with a messenger dispatched from a unit engaged in combat with wyverns and are reporting in accordingly. Send message.’”

Isamu read out the text written by the magic-powered golem.

“They’re already in Felka, just a day after leaving?!”

“Wow… I mean, that does check out mathematically, but experiencing it as reality is something else.”

“So, they really are moving at twice the speed of a magic-powered vehicle…”

Eto, Willem, and Annemarie were all stunned upon hearing the message.

Felka, the capital of the Felka Territory, was over 300 kilometers away.

A carriage would take five days, and even a magic-powered vehicle would need two to three days. But the new magic-powered scooters had made the journey in just one.

“All right, Anne, can you send this reply? ‘This is Trevor. Message from Wizard received. Proceed with your report. Send message.’”

“Understood.”

Isamu gave instructions to Annemarie, who was seated and preparing to use the magic device for transmission.

Communication via the magic-powered giant scribe golem writer wasn’t real-time, and the paper had size limitations. The number of characters that could be written at one time was restricted.

As long as a message fit within a single page, there was no issue, but when exceeding that limit, the pages had to be turned manually. For this reason, a standard operational rule was established to include a set phrase at the end of each transmission segment.

The phrase “Send message” was chosen simply because Isamu had seen it used in a military communication scene in a show and thought it sounded cool.

Additionally, “Trevor” referred to Isamu, “Wizard” referred to the transport team, and “Wyvern” was shorthand for Zun—codes that Isamu had taken from one of his favorite animated films.

A few minutes after sending their response, another message arrived from the transport team.

The contents, spanning several sheets of paper, were as follows:

• Full-scale combat has begun around Latcherio.
• The Southern Nobility Alliance, led by the Balsham and Margrave Innocenti was at a disadvantage.
• The tide began to turn when reinforcements arrived from the Zabadak Margrave, the Felka Marquis, and Count Kalenberg.
• Following an official deployment order from King Staleen, additional reinforcements from various noble houses were dispatched.
• The northern reinforcement army, led by Duke Yadelud, was also on the move, joined by Count Bisseling family.
• Duke Yadelud and his forces finally revealed their true intentions at Meraje.

“Wow… That’s just like Zval. I can’t believe he set up such a trap.”

Isamu let out a wry chuckle as he read the report.

Selfars, who had rushed over upon hearing about the message, nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. Lord Zabadak isn’t just powerful in direct combat—he excels at strategic deception too. The previous Duke Yadelud might have handled it, but the young current head… not so much.”

It seemed that Duke Yadelud’s blunder was a result of a scheme by Zval Zabadak, the Margrave.

While the captured first-generation magic giant golems had been secretly stored at the Zambrotta Trading Company in Meraje, Zabadak had ordered several of them to be stationed just outside the city.

As the northern forces under Duke Yadelud advanced, they spotted the golems, prompting the Duke to declare:

“Those are Zun’s magic giant golems! Attack them immediately!”

Given what had happened in Avalushi, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable to assume the golems were enemies.

However, the problem was that Yadelud had no way of knowing that they belonged to Zun.

The royal deployment orders had only stated that Zun had invaded. There had been no mention of magic giant golems being used.

Yet, despite this, the Duke had instantly identified them as Zun’s golems and ordered an attack.

His reaction made it clear that he had prior knowledge—something he was not supposed to have.

Additionally, the fact that they immediately recognized the first-generation magic giant golem as belonging to Zun was suspicious.

The magic giant golems that invaded the Kraufeldt territory had hardly been seen by anyone outside of Kraufeldt’s inhabitants.

Even if someone had seen them, they would have only seen the second-generation Avalushi models. Naturally, they would assume that all magic giant golems looked like that.

Without knowing that there were two types of magic giant golems, it would be impossible to identify the one in front of them as belonging to Zun rather than Avalushi.

Aside from Isamu and his companions, who had actually fought against both types, the only people in the Staleen Kingdom who would have such knowledge would be those who were privy to the behind-the-scenes information.

It seemed that Count Bisseling had pressed them on this point.

“None of this is conclusive proof, just suspicious circumstances. In fact, they apparently tried to brush it off with a weak excuse: ‘Based on the situation, I merely deduced that Avalushi had allied with Zun.’”

Selfers said.

“Well, that’s about the only excuse they could use…”

“Still, this gives us another card to play against them.”

“Indeed. While we continue the fight against Zun, we should also pursue this matter further.”

With that, Selfers and Isamu nodded firmly.

The rest of the messenger’s report described how the northern reinforcements had joined the front lines, marking the beginning of full-scale combat.

Late at night two days later, the sound of a bell rang through the laboratory, signaling another incoming message.

Awakened by Orihime, Isamu hurried to the lab to send a reply while also dispatching a knight to deliver the message to their lord.

Judging from the opening lines, the riders had pushed themselves to the limit, shortening the originally planned four-day journey by another day, arriving in the capital of Plazzo in just three days.

“Hahaha! It seems even Their Excellencies were completely stunned by the magic giant’s scribe golem writer!”

Selfers, who had rushed over, spoke cheerfully after exchanging a few messages with the frontier lords on the front lines.

“Of course they’re surprised. Who wouldn’t be when they can communicate instantly over a distance that would take twenty days by carriage?”

“They’re also incredibly interested in the magic-powered scooters.” 

Another knight, Diluc, commented seriously.

“Well, they are faster than the royal post horses… If we mass-produce them and combine them with magic-powered vehicles, it could fundamentally change the very nature of warfare. The impact could be as great as the magic giant golems themselves.”

The front-line reports stated that, although they were struggling against the enemy magic giant golems, they were gradually reducing their numbers.

A major factor in their success was the mass production of Isamu’s magic tools in workshops affiliated with the Zambrotta Trading Company in nearby towns, and the establishment of a supply chain using magic-powered vehicles to transport them to the front lines.

However, only about ten percent of the reports were about the war itself. The rest were overwhelmingly about the magic-powered scooters and the magic giant’s scribe golem writer.

During these exchanges, Isamu confirmed the plan to establish a communication hub and secured the approval of the frontier lords and Eleonora.

Rather than mere approval, they even begged for it to be built as quickly as possible, offering unlimited funds and manpower.

With this, the full-scale construction of a communications network using the magic giant’s scribe golem writer could begin.

The magic-powered scooters were also in high demand, with urgent requests to mass-produce and sell them.

Notably, Gascoigne, who suffered from severe motion sickness and struggled with magic-powered vehicles, was particularly desperate for them.

Thus, behind the scenes of the war with Zun, a revolutionary “Breakthrough Project” was set in motion—one that would completely overturn the common sense of this world, Ethersia.

Incidentally, as the frontier lords became more accustomed to near real-time communication, their conversations extended late into the morning, including casual chats.

Realizing there would be no end to it unless someone put a stop to it, Annemarie forcefully ended the session and immediately implemented a provisional rule limiting each use of the magic giant’s scribe golem writer to one hour.

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