Kays Translations

Chapter 20: Teaching Old Magic and Preparing the Laboratory

The following morning, after breakfast, Anne-Marie headed to Eto's place, carrying a letter.

"Good morning. Is Eto-san here?"

As usual, the entrance was unlocked, and without hesitation, Anne-Marie entered.

"What's this, lass? Two days in a row, quite unusual. Isn't that Isamu from yesterday with you?"

Unlike yesterday, Eto came out immediately.

"My apologies for coming here consecutively. Today, I'm here as a messenger from the lord. First, please review this letter."

"I see... Hand it over."

Eto began to examine the letter Anne-Marie handed to him. However, his actions came to a halt at the end of the text.

"Hey, is what's written here true?"

Eto fixed a sharp gaze on Anne-Marie.

"Yes, it's true. But not everything."

"What?"

Eto's gaze became even sharper.

"Some things cannot be discussed here, and some things cannot be put in writing. That's all."

The letter, entrusted to Anne-Marie by Nicolette, detailed plans to establish a workshop directly managed by the Klauffeldt family. It proposed appointing Isamu as the chief researcher and Eto as the workshop director. It also hinted at the possibility of a new activation circles being found.

While this was already astonishing, there was more to come...

Anne-Marie's words made Eto grin mischievously.

"Very well, I'll entertain this discussion. However, I can't just drop everything and go right away. Can we agree that, for now, I'll show up to my workshop in the morning and then come over in the afternoon?"

"Yes, of course, that's fine."

"Great. I'll be heading over there this afternoon right away. There shouldn't be much equipment or anything, right?"

"You're quite perceptive. Thank you."

"Considering the developments from yesterday, I suppose this was decided hastily last night, right? Is there anything else you need me to bring?"

"Could you provide us with several functional circles from yesterday's magic lantern? And a few other magic devices as well, if possible."

"Understood. We can discuss the purpose once I'm there. I'll start the handover right away. See you this afternoon."

Eto promptly returned to his workshop.

A few seconds later, there was a remarkable chorus of "Eeeehhhh!" from his apprentices.

Anne-Marie chuckled and left the workshop.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Isamu, who was practicing magic, was also instructing members of the elite squad of knights with magic aptitude in old magic.

Liddell and Marcella, who had been assigned as guards from the capital, were among them.

"So, Wind Cutter goes like this: 'Invisible blade, cut with the wind.' Got it?"

"Understood, I'll give it a try!"

Wind Cutter was one of the basic wind-attribute attack magic. It was often used because it had less impact on the surroundings compared to fire or water magic.

"Invisible blade, cut with the wind. [Wind Cutter!]"

Liddel listened to the meaning behind the words, envisioned the magic in his mind, and cast the spell.

An invisible blade surged forward with a gust of wind and inflicted deep wounds on the target.

"Hey, for real...? It seems about 30% more powerful."

Liddell, who had cast the spell himself, stroked the target with surprise.

"How was it, Liddel-san? Did it become more powerful?"

"Yes, Isamu-sama. It definitely became more powerful. This is amazing."

"That's good to hear. I was a bit worried if it would work for others too, as I had only tested it with Anne-Marie."

Isamu said with a relieved expression.

"Isamu-sama! It's my turn next!"

Now, Marcella wanted to give it a try. A loud voice echoed from her shooting position.

"Sure, I'll step back a bit."

Isamu responded with a loud voice, moved to a safe distance, and signaled Marcella.

“Invisible blade, cut with the wind. [Wind Cutter!]”

A powerful swing sent an invisible blade toward the target.

The surrounding wind felt stronger than Liddel’s.

With a resounding "zan," the target was diagonally cut apart.

Marcella, who had cast the spell, was frozen in amazement.

"Incredible. It's probably about 1.5 times more powerful."

"Hey, Marcella! How did you imagine it when you cast the spell?"

Liddel tried to get some insight from Marcella since she seemed to have achieved better results than he had.

"Well, you see, it's like an invisible scythe that flies with a whooshing wind and then cuts with a zubaa! feeling!"

"...I was a fool to ask you."

"Eeeeh! What's wrong with that? It's really easy to understand!"

It seemed that Marcella was quite a sensory-type magician. While it might not be a complicated method, it could be very effective.

For now, Isamu decided that today's experiment was a good one because it turned out that it had more than a certain effect even on the theory-oriented Liddel, and that it would be amazing for the sensation-oriented people if they got hooked.

Afterward, Isamu continued to practice his magic control to improve his magic accuracy, but there were no visible improvements within a day. So, it was time for lunch.

After lunch, Anne-Marie, who had returned from Eto's workshop, joined Isamu. They decided to visit the separate building that would become the laboratory.

The building was a rare two-story brick structure in this town. While it looked somewhat old, it appeared to be quite sturdy. Despite being called a separate building, it had a total floor area of 30 tsubo (approximately 100 square meters), which would be a spacious and respectable house in modern-day Japan.

"Amazing... It's so tidy."

Anne-Marie, who knew the building's previously use as a warehouse, was amazed by how different it looked.

"That's true. It doesn't look anything like a warehouse."

Inside the entrance, there was a small hall with several stairs to the second floor and multiple doors.

Among them, the double doors led to a large room with a fireplace, which seemed to be intended for use as a living and dining area. Next to it was a room with a hearth that would likely serve as a kitchen.

"Should we use this spacious room on the first floor as the main workshop?"

"Yes, considering the need for shelves and equipment, a certain amount of space is required. So, this seems like the ideal spot."

Isamu’s suggestion was met with agreement from Anne-Marie.

"I think it would be good to use the large room on the first floor for the main workshop and the rest of the first-floor rooms as storage. As for the second floor, it could serve as your office and workroom, a break room, and a library, perhaps?"

"I won't be living here, so is that what you have in mind? Isn't that quite extravagant?"

"Well, it was used as a warehouse, and we hardly ever opened it. It's nice that we can make good use of it now!"

"In that case..."

As expected of a noble. He was amazed at the offer of such a spacious building, even if it used to be a warehouse.

"Considering how neat it was cleaned up, we need to bring in the equipment and materials right away."

"Well, about that, Eto said he would bring the essentials later. So, we can start with that. If we find anything missing along the way, we can always buy it as needed."

"Oh, Eto-san is going to bring them? That's very helpful."

"He seemed quite enthusiastic about it. He'll spend his mornings at his own workshop and come here in the afternoons for a while."

As they were discussing this, Eto's voice called out from outside the separate building, "Hey, lass!"

"Oh, here he comes."

Isamu and Anne-Marie went to the door to welcome him.

"Hey, Isamu. It's been a while."

"Eto-san, thank you for going out of your way, especially for bringing the necessary tools..."

"What's the fuss? They might be a bit old, but they should do the job. Besides, you don't need a full set of tools unless you're diving into the guts of a device."

Eto's tools were brought in with the help of a horse-drawn cart. The largest piece was a worktable, designed with a raised edge, presumably for securing circuit boards. There were also several chairs, magic lighting for working at the table, chests for storage, and various small items like brushes, pens, magic ink, and a number of magic stones.

"More importantly, is it true that you found a new activation circle?"

Unable to contain himself, Eto inquired impatiently.

"Um, it's not so much that he found it... Would it be better if we discussed it inside first? Let's start by bringing the tools."

Anne-Marie interjected, cutting off Isamu as he was about to answer.

"Well, that makes sense. Let's get the stuff inside quickly."

Prompted by the response, they quickly unloaded the equipment. It wasn't a large amount, so it didn't take long.

"I'm sorry, Eto-san. I'm not sure who might be listening, so..."

Once the unloading and setup were done, Anne-Marie apologized to Eto.

"Oh, don't worry about it. There are probably things you can't talk about."

"Business is business..."

After taking a deep breath, Anne-Marie looked at Eto and started speaking again.

"In the letter, I mentioned that we might have found a new activation circle, but to be more precise, it's not that we 'might have found' one, it's that we have found one, and we've already confirmed it."

"What?!"

Eto was utterly astonished by Anne-Marie's revelation. This wasn’t surprising; it had been a long time since a new activation circles had been found. New magic devices were occasionally discovered in ruins, and with each discovery, new functional circles were often found. However, for some reason, the activation circles used had almost always been the same as those already discovered.

"Wait, you're saying that you created it, not found it?"

"Yes, he made it. And Isamu-sama here created and completed the activation experiment all by himself in a short time last night."

"What the...?!"

Eto's reaction to this revelation was even more explosive. The sudden outburst of loud voices caused Orihime, who had been dozing off on Isamu’s lap, to jump up with her tail puffed up.

"Yes. Isamu-sama analyzed the activation circle that we received from you last night, along with another one from this mansion, and created it."

While comforting Orihime, Isamu took the activation array he had made and placed it on the table for Eto to see with his mouth wide open.

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