Kays Translations

Chapter 82: Material of Metal Leech

The day after returning from a sponsorship request to Count Bisseling, the lord, Isamu and the rest of Team Orihime were preparing to leave for frontier count Innocenti’s territory.

"Is the Innocenti Frontier Territory at the southwest end of the kingdom? Is it far from here?" 

Isamu, who only had a vague understanding of geography, asked Felix, the vice-commander and leader of Isamu’s escort team, who had come to decide on the departure date.

"Yes, that's right. In terms of distance, it's a bit more than twice the distance from here to the capital."

"More than double!?"

Isamu was surprised at the much greater distance than he had imagined.

"If you go through the capital, it will probably take more than ten days. Although the terrain is flat to the west of the capital, the distance is still considerable."

"I see... Are there alternative routes that don't pass through the capital?"

"Yes. From a central region like Klaufendamm, it's more common not to go through the capital. Especially going there is much faster."

"Oh, not going through the capital is faster?"

"We'll go down the river. There's a large river flowing southwest from near here. If you go down that river, you can reach near the capital of the Innocenti Frontier Territory."

Felix explained while drawing a simple map on paper.

Klaufendamm is located in the almost central part of the kingdom. There are several rivers originating from further north, and around Viscount Jansen's territory, these tributaries converge to form the main river with sufficient depth and width for navigation.

This river flows southwest in a large arc and merges with another major river near Inotia, close to Innocenti Frontier Territory's capital.

Since it's just going down the river, it's a commonly used route for traveling southwest.

After the merging, whether you go upstream on the merged river or take a land route, the time doesn't seem to differ much.

"With this route, it will take about half a day to reach the river, about four days to go down the river, and then two days after that, so you can arrive in about seven days."

"Oh, that's quite a time reduction!"

"Yes. During winter, the upper stream of the river freezes, and the water level decreases, so it's not usable. But during this season, there's no problem."

"You can't use it in winter. Can you board a ship with a carriage?"

If you don't have much luggage, you often don't load the wagon.

“If the luggage is small, we often don't load the wagons. It is lighter and, above all, much less expensive. On the other hand, if you have a lot of luggage, you can often load the entire carriage. That way, I don't have to transship the cargo, and the cost isn't much different.” 

Whether to load the carriage seems to depend on the case. This time, there are items for exploring ruins, so it will probably be a case where the carriage is loaded.:

"This time, with many people and luggage, they'll probably charter a special ship."

"A special ship! You can do that?"

It turned out to be a charter ship. There seems to be a shipping company sponsored by the Viscount Jansen's family, and they will be flexible in gratitude for the recent monster incident.

Pity helps people, and Isamu thought it was a good saying.

Afterward, led by Annemarie and Silvio from the Zambrotta Trading Company, they planned the itinerary, and it was formally decided to depart in five days.

Isamu himself had originally thought of going for a site visit, but since the entire team was going, and with ruins exploration included, the unexpected event required some flexibility in the preparation period.

During this time, Isamu, leaving the preparations to the experienced knights and Willem, tried to investigate the characteristics of Metal Leech with Eto.

"I remember that you can process it by flowing magic power through it, right?"

Taking one of the four divided Metal Leeches in his hand, Isamu looked at it closely.

"Yes, that's right. It has the property of softening only during the time when magic power is flowing through it. If left as it is, it's hard, making it difficult to process."

"How much magic power do you need to flow to make it soft?"

“In principle, the more magic power you flow, the softer it becomes, but it's enough to flow it lightly. Flowing too much can make it excessively soft, making it difficult to work with. Well, even if you use it to fix the magic circle, it will become quite soft.''

"Wow, it's an unusual material."

"Yes, indeed. It's a rare material that I've only touched a few times, and there are still many mysteries about it. It's a bit lighter than iron but harder than iron, and it has elasticity, making it difficult to break. Above all, this unique luster is splendid, so armor made from this material is popular among the royal family and high-ranking nobles. Well, the price is eye-popping, though."

Eto explained with laughter.

"However, it's not particularly suitable for weapons, especially blades."

"Huh? It's hard and not prone to breaking, right? It seems suitable at first glance, doesn't it...?"

While it might seem suitable if it's hard but not brittle, if it's too hard to be sharpened, it may not be suitable for blades. Isamu considered.

"It's too hard to be sharpened. No matter how hard it is, if you can't sharpen the edge well, it's just like a lump of clay."

"Oh, I see... But wait? If it's hard, couldn't you sharpen it by flowing magic while sharpening, making it softer?"

"That's the tricky and interesting part about this material. It does become softer, but it doesn't get shaved off; it stretches like bread dough. So, changing its shape and forming it into a sword is easy, but the final finishing is challenging. Despite its metallic appearance, it's a material from monsters, so there are many mysteries."

I see, it seems to be quite an unconventional material.

After that, Isamu tried creating various shapes while adjusting the strength of the magic flowing through it. While it was possible to tear and stick it together to some extent, the sensation of touching it was smooth like metal, causing a significant sense of incongruity. It seemed possible to mold it into shapes using molds, and an idea struck him as he continued to flow and stop the magic..

"Eto-san, what if we flow magic power with an attribute? What would happen?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The magic power flowing now hasn't changed into any attribute; it's basically pure magic power, right? What if, instead of that, we flow magic power with an attribute, like when it's converted for water magic?"

"I see... If you maintain the state before activation, you should be able to maintain the attribute-converted magic power as well. If you can control that, it might be possible... I don't think anyone has tried it. Magic is usually activated by collecting magic power and then converting it. Controlling magic power in its attribute-converted state is not common."

Eto answered with crossed arms.

After all, few people who can use magic become craftsmen, and dealing with the rare material Metal Leech would make it even more unusual.

"No one has tried it before... It sounds interesting," 

Isamu said with a grin.

"I'll give it a try. Well... let's start with my best attribute, Earth!"

"Yeah. Don't flow too much magic power, alright? We don't know what might happen."

While Isamu looked excited and happy, Eto wore a worried expression. Despite urging caution, Eto slowly took a few steps back, subtly increasing the distance.

Isamu then began to imagine the magic of Stone Hail. In response, the magic power he had gathered thinly in his hand started changing to yellow in Isamu’s eyes.

Even though it was his first attempt, he could follow the flow of magic power with his eyes if it had been converted for magic activation. He quickly grasped the technique and could move attribute magic power.

Once he felt confident, he relaxed, releasing the concentration and letting his hands sway lazily.

"Maybe with this, I should be able to flow attribute magic power. Let me try."

Saying this, Isamu held the Metal Leech with both hands and, while converting magic power to the Earth attribute, slowly directed the yellow light he saw into Metal Leech.

Within seconds, a change occurred.

"Hmm? What's happening? It feels like it's getting heavier..."

As he poured magic power into it, the mass in his hands seemed to gain weight, as if becoming denser. Carefully and gradually, he continued to infuse magic power.

"Ugh... This is bad; it's getting incredibly heavy!"

The Metal Leech was growing heavier rapidly. However, its appearance remained unchanged.

"Hey, Isamu, are you okay?"

Seeing Isamu with a flushed face, Eto called out with a worried expression.

"I-I'm at my limit!"

Isamu shouted, abruptly stopping the flow of magic power.

In that moment...

"Uwaaaah!"

Clang!

The Metal Leech, which had suddenly become significantly lighter in an instant, was thrown forcefully.

"Ohh!"

It rolled towards Eto, and he instinctively jumped back.

"Ah! Sorry!"

"Oh, Isamu, are you alright? What happened all of a sudden?"

Picking up the rolling Metal Leech, Eto approached.

"No, when I flowed Earth magic power, it became heavier..."

"I see, heavier... Haaah!? It got heavier, didn't it!?"

This time, Eto shouted.

"Yes, it definitely got heavier. When I stopped the magic power, it instantly became lighter, though... Now, Eto-san, please hold it. If you do that, you should be able to confirm whether it's true or not!"

Saying this, Isamu firmly placed Metal Leech in Eto's hands and started manipulating magic power again.

"...Here we go."

Saying this briefly, Isamu lightly touched the Metal Leech in Eto's hands, flowing Earth attribute magic power once again.

“Here I go…”

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

"Whoa, it's definitely getting heavier!"

Eto quickly put strength into his arms, holding the Metal Leech.

After a few more seconds of flowing magic power...

"Isamu! Stop! I’m at my limit!"

With a shout, Isamu stopped the supply of magic power.

"Fuuuuuuuuuu..."

Eto sighed heavily, sweating.

"How was it?"

"It wasn't anything special. It definitely got heavier. This is an unbelievable discovery, isn't it?"

Wide-eyed, Eto spoke.

"Heavy-changing metal, I've never heard of such a thing... Now that it's come to this, I'm suddenly interested in what will happen if you flow magic power of other attributes!?"

"Yeah, right? Let's experiment by flowing magic power of various attributes!?"

With an excited expression, Isamu grinned, and thus began the unprecedented experiment of flowing attribute magic power into Metal Leech.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter