Chapter 15: The Situation at Klaufendt’s Magic Device Workshop

After almost continuous training in magic energy manipulation for Isamu and training in understanding the meaning of magic spells for Annemarie since after lunch, they both ended up exhausted, teetering on the brink of magic energy depletion. 

Despite somehow managing to have dinner, they reached the limits of their physical endurance and soon fell asleep.

The next day, after a good night’s rest, they woke up refreshed at the sound of the morning bell. In Ethersia, every town and village had a church, and the time was told by the sound of the bells in the church. The morning bell rang at around 4:30 AM, and then bells chimed approximately every 90 minutes, with the noon bell ringing around noon. In the afternoon, the bells chimed at the same intervals, with the evening bell, marking the end of the day, ringing at around 7:30 PM. 

Just for reference, although he checked with his watch several times, a day in Ethersia was miraculously almost exactly 24 hours, which could be due to the clocks being optimized for Ethersian time.

After having breakfast together, they decided to visit the workshop for magic devices, which was something Isamu had been wanting to do alongside their magic studies.

Magic device workshops were clustered around areas that produced non-attributed magic stones. It was most convenient to make them near where the stones were dug up, which naturally led to the development of the “Deepest Layer,” a district of the city shaped like a mortar, as both a magic stone mine and a workshop area.

Isamu and Annemarie, along with guards, headed towards the Deepest Layer in a carriage. 

“Is the path down not a straight line all the way?” 

Isamu asked after they descended to the third level, exactly in the middle of the layers.

“That’s right. Originally, it was a straight road all the way, but there were quite a few accidents where carriages and goods rolled down at an incredible speed. It was considered dangerous, so they changed the road to what it is now.”

Paths and stairs connecting the levels were made to follow the circumference rather than directing straight to the center. Also, they were made to zigzag at each level to prevent them from being straight.

“Yeah, if you don’t stop and go all the way down, it seems pretty dangerous…,” 

Isamu shuddered at the thought of carriages speeding down the slope with cargo.

“Yes, and the workshop right in front of the slope often got severely damaged,” 

Isamu speculated, thinking it was something like a house at a T-shaped junction, and they recalled hearing news of occasional accidents.

They continued down the slope without incident and reached the Deepest Layer. While other layers had buildings lined along the mortar-shaped walls, this area was unique because the buildings were located on flat ground. It was normal in general, but once you got used to seeing buildings on the wall, it seemed fresh and unusual.

The buildings were about equally divided between stone structures and what seemed to be wooden structures, and none of them were particularly tall. In the center of the ground, there was an opening leading to the magic stone mine, which had a sturdy gate guarded around the clock to prevent unauthorized access. Despite being trash magic stones, they were still magic stones, so they needed security.

These workshops were mostly separated by area based on the type of work they did. In fact, the production of magic devices could be divided into three main steps:

1. Creating the casing and body of the magic device.

2. Creating the magic core, which was the heart of the magic device.

3. Assembling the core, the magic stones, and the casing to complete the magic device.

The magic core was made of a magic circle and magic stones. The magic circle was further divided into activation circles for starting and stopping and functional circles for the device’s operation.

The work undertaken by Klaufendamm mainly focused on drawing magic circles following the blueprints and setting non-attributed magic stones in them.

As Annemarie had previously explained, originally, they used to sell magic stones individually. However, this resulted in a high proportion of transportation costs relative to sales, leading to less profit. To increase added value and unit prices and reduce the impact of transportation costs, they started selling non-attributed magic stones along with magic circles drawn in magic ink.

On the other hand, there wasn’t much work involving embedding attributed magic stones or assembling completed magic devices. Nobles or merchants from lands that produced attribute magic stones had little incentive to transport their magic stones all the way to Klaufendamm for assembly. This was because they could use attribute magic stones in place of non-attributed ones, and in the end, it incurred transportation costs.

So, Klaufendamm’s business primarily revolved around selling sets of attributed magic stones and bases for magic devices to magic stone-producing lands or crafting magic devices for trading companies. With these trading companies, they originally bought magic stones from all over the country, so they didn’t worry much about transportation costs. They could purchase half-completed magic circles with attributed magic stones inexpensively, and because they didn’t have to transport magic stones, it was an efficient process. By purchasing only what they needed, they avoided the burden of maintaining unnecessary inventory. 

Due to these factors, over 70% of the workshops were involved in making magic cores. Consequently, the bustling atmosphere common in regions where town factories gather on Earth was almost nonexistent here, giving the place a calm and orderly impression.

“This whole area is where the workshops for drawing magic circles with magic ink are located. Over half of the workload involves drawing these magic circles,” 

“I see. What about the design of the magic circles?” 

Isamu asked.

“It’s more like creating a clean copy from the rough sketch or blueprint.”

“I see. Huh? But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be possible to steal the technology, like what kind of magic circle would have the effect?”

“Yes. We know what kind of effect it has. But we can’t learn it as a technique.”

“Huh? The magic power extracted from the magic stone is materialized in a magic circle, right? Isn’t there any meaning or law to the magic circle? ”

“The problem is, although we’re drawing magic circles and installing magic stones, we can’t understand what effects a magic circle has until we set the magic stones in it and activate it. So, even if you draw a lot of magic circles, we can’t create new magic devices ourselves,” 

Annemarie explained with a hint of sadness.

According to Annemarie, it’s impossible for people today to create magic circles from scratch. They typically use magic circles exactly as they are, often taken from a small number of ancient artifacts that are occasionally found in past records or ancient ruins. Generally, they use everything as-it is, and while they do combine magic circles, there is little to no customization.

In the past, many people tried to modify magic circles to enhance their effects or to achieve different effects, but all such attempts ended in failure. Even making the slightest alteration or omission would often cause them to cease functioning entirely, which is why most people eventually stopped trying. New magic devices put up for sale are either copies of newly excavated artifacts or items that only differ in their casings from existing magic devices.

On extremely rare occasions, combining multiple existing magic circles might produce a new magic device, but such occurrences were limited to instances where people stumbled upon a combination that happened to work by chance. In light of this situation, if someone wanted to sell a magic device using unknown magic circles or artifacts, they were obligated to report it to the government, and keeping such knowledge secret was considered a serious crime. If a noble committed such an offense, their family would be disbanded, which was a very severe punishment.

In return for this, the creators were granted exclusive rights to use the magic circles for ten years and could collect usage fees for 100 years afterward, similar to the patent system on modern-day Earth.

“Ah, I see… So, there are these kinds of circumstances,” 

“Yes, indeed. Aside from using well-known magic circles, it’s quite rare for things to be produced elsewhere… Even here, there are some magic devices that incorporate attributed magic stones, but most of them are low-cost magic devices designed to compete with their prices, and high-priced items designed for nobles with unique casings. It’s a situation where you have two choices between products.”

It felt somewhat like the situation in China or Southeast Asia on Earth, where copying technology was prevalent, but the risks of doing so here were incomparable to Earth, making it challenging to turn the situation around.

As Isamu contemplated this, Annemarie opened up, seeming apologetic. 

“I’m sorry, Isamu-sama. It’s just that I can only share these kinds of stories even though you’ve shown interest in magical devices.”

“No, no! Such a simple story wouldn’t be expected in the first place! Moreover, there are many ways to improve the tools for drawing magic circles, to enhance the efficiency of assembly, and various other methods, right? We can’t start without actually seeing the process!” 

Isamu reassured her, responding to the impression that she had been downcast. He followed up, waving his hands in a panic.

“Thank you… You’re right! There are indeed many ways to do it! In that case, let’s quickly guide you through this workshop. It’s one of the few workshops that has gone through the entire process of creating magic devices, so you’ll understand what making magic devices is like.”

Annemarie’s expression brightened a little, and she led Isamu to a relatively large stone workshop.

A sign reading “Mayer Workshop” hung above the entrance to the workshop. The door was unlocked, and Annemarie opened it without hesitation.

The immediate entrance appeared to be a reception area, but no one was around. It had a space of about four and a half tatami mats in size, a small counter, two counter chairs, a round table in an open area, and four chairs.

“Hello! Is Eto-san here?” 

Annemarie called out to the back without worrying about there being no one there.

Is Eto the person in charge of the workshop?

After waiting for a while, there was no response, so Annemarie called again, and this time a response came back.

“Who is it? Honestly. There’s no need to keep calling so many times. I can hear you, you know.”

While delivering lines that could hardly be considered pleasant, a diminutive figure emerged from the back.

“Sorry, Eto-san. You’re not too busy, are you?”

“What, missy? No, sorry, there’s no need for apologies; it’s not like I’m particularly busy. In fact, it’s no problem at all. If anything, I’d say you’re welcome anytime.”

Once it became clear that the visitor was Annemarie, Eto’s demeanor changed, and he turned into a very amiable person.

However, even more noteworthy was his appearance. He was even smaller than the petite Annemarie, appearing to be about the height of an elementary school student. Nevertheless, his facial features were mature, and his way of speaking had quite a gruff touch. Additionally, his ears, which were about two sizes larger than those of a regular person, were slightly pointed.

“Isamu-sama, this is Eto-sama, the workshop manager. Eto-sama is a member of the Halfling race, and despite his appearance, he’s over 100 years old.”

“What do you mean by ‘despite his appearance’? No matter how you look at me, there’s nothing but dandy vibes here. Hey, you there, don’t you think the same way?” 

Annamarie explains while giggling and Eto asked with a chuckle.

Isamu, who had been watching the exchange, was immediately addressed when the conversation turned in that direction.

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