Chapter 45: Chapter 45
Chapter 45 - A Commoner’s Sample
"I’ve been thinking about confiscating every single ring."
The morning at the Grand Duchess’s Castle began with Luri’s complaint.
She approached Ferda with an expression that clearly showed something was bothering her.
Since Ferda was in the middle of breakfast, it caught him off guard.
"I see."
So Ferda answered absentmindedly.
"The workshops you invited don’t listen to a single thing I say. Is it really that difficult to tell them not to spill even a single drop of blood inside this castle?"
"I wouldn’t know."
"Fine, let’s say a little blood gets spilled. But those idiots never clean up after themselves."
"Is that so?"
"If they knew how terrifying a dragon could be, maybe they’d finally learn some manners. What do you think?"
"Do as you see fit."
Luri, who had been rambling nonstop, suddenly fell silent.
Glancing up at him, she stared at Ferda with a sullen expression.
"You’re the worst one of all, Lord Ferda."
"Am I?"
"Even at this very moment, you’re still giving me half-hearted answers."
"I see."
"Is this because I scrubbed your back just once?"
"What a petty man."
She muttered it so quietly that no one should have heard.
But Ferda did.
It would be a lie to say he held no grudge over that day.
Since he had already gotten his revenge, he decided to answer her properly this time.
"Refining Mana Stones is originally a time-consuming process. Research is never something that finishes overnight."
"You reached the Third Circle so quickly. Can you really understand something like that?"
"I practiced seeing things from the perspective of ordinary people."
The Ferda of the past would never have understood.
But the current Ferda, who remembered his former self, recalled what he had felt while rapidly breaking through the Circles.
That allowed him to understand, at least to some extent, the perspective of ordinary people.
"I see."
This time, Luri replied absentmindedly.
"So postpone the punishment for a little while longer. Once I have good news to share, then—"
"Ahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha!"
Before Ferda could finish speaking, the laughter of a madman echoed throughout Valdrova Castle.
The sound grew closer and closer.
"Ahahahaha! Finally! I finally did it! I never have to roast these damned Mana Stones ever again! Ahahahaha!!"
The madman was none other than Vernel Marquis.
His hair was greasy, and his robe was hanging half off his body.
As he ran past, both Ferda and Luri instinctively followed him with their eyes.
Taking a sip of his tea, Ferda said,
"They say speak of the tiger and it appears. It seems he’s finally produced results."
At last, the moment had arrived to prove why he had brought Vernel here.
***
After running around like a lunatic, Vernel did nothing but sleep.
He had sacrificed his sleep and even shortened his lifespan while researching Mana Stone refinement.
When he finally stood before Ferda, however, he was neatly dressed.
"I thought today might be the day... and it really was! Hahaha!"
"Now, explain it to me."
"Ah, yes! Of course! So, the way this works is..."
Vernel immediately launched into an enthusiastic explanation.
For an entire hour, he rambled on about his research, eventually filling an entire blackboard before placing the final period.
"You understand what I mean, right?"
After listening to the entire explanation, Ferda asked,
"Do you?"
"I-I do, of course. I’ve already organized everything to some extent. I even tried to simplify it as much as possible before explaining it like this..."
"Hmm."
Ferda thought to himself,
’It seems I’m not particularly intelligent.’
’So reaching the rank of Grand Mage was purely the result of hard work.’
As he listened to Vernel, he couldn’t understand a single word.
About thirty minutes in, it felt as though he was staring into the depths of the universe.
His mind wandered for a while before snapping back only when Vernel finally reached the end.
Ferda quietly glanced toward the assistant researchers.
Their eyes sparkled brightly.
Those were not the eyes of people who actually understood the research.
’Looks like none of them understood it either.’
Stephan Pascal had personally selected them, claiming they were among the brightest.
If Stephan truly was an outstanding merchant, then he would naturally have sent only the very best in hopes of obtaining the technology.
’At least there won’t be any risk of technological leakage for now.’
Ferda looked on the bright side.
After all, as long as Vernel himself understood it and could demonstrate it, wasn’t that enough?
"Show me what it does."
"Yes, sir!"
Among the many magical devices, Vernel picked up one.
It was an apparatus called a Mana Stabilizer.
When infused with mana, it used a Fifth-Tier stabilization spell to fix a certain amount of mana within a designated area in midair.
"If we place the corpse of a magical beast inside this and stimulate it with a small amount of Lightning magic..."
Mana began flowing out of the dead body.
It was coarse and unusable junk mana, floating through the air like contaminated mist.
"Then, if we heat it to a certain temperature, compress it, and cool it like this..."
It was burned, compressed, cooled...
After passing through a complicated series of processes, a crystal emerged while releasing white vapor.
A faintly glowing blue stone had been created.
"This... is a Mana Stone!"
Vernel proudly presented the finished product.
Like a crystal infused with mana, it emitted a soft blue glow.
It was an astonishing moment.
But Ferda felt very little emotion.
’It’s rather impure.’
Ferda had already seen this item in the future.
Compared to what he remembered, however, its color was much paler and it looked considerably cruder.
Just to be sure, he asked,
"How efficient is it?"
"Uh... well..."
The Vernel who had effortlessly explained incomprehensible theories suddenly froze.
"Vernel Marquis."
"Y-Yes!"
"Didn’t I ask you something? I asked how efficient it is."
"W-Well, the thing is..."
Breaking into a cold sweat, Vernel answered with great difficulty.
"It takes the mana equivalent of seven Mana Stones to produce one."
"Then the efficiency is about fourteen point two percent."
"If you round it, it’s fourteen point three percent. But even then..."
Apparently there was still more.
Judging by his hesitation, it wasn’t good news.
"Since some mana leaks away while increasing the stone’s capacity... you should assume it loses about half again..."
In other words, it required fourteen Mana Stones worth of mana to produce the effectiveness of a single original one.
"So roughly seven percent."
"If we’re keeping the first decimal place, it’s seven point one percent... Ah! S-Sorry."
Without thinking, Vernel corrected him.
Then he thought to himself,
’Ah... it’s over.’
’My research ends here.’
’At this rate, it’d be cheaper to just hire more mages. Who would ever use something with only seven point one percent efficiency?’
He had already begun mentally going through the five stages of accepting his own death sentence.
Ferda stared silently at the Mana Stone for a long moment before finally speaking.
"About the efficiency."
"Yes."
"Can it be improved?"
"...What?"
"I asked whether you can raise its efficiency."
Ferda had already decided this when he first recruited Vernel.
As long as the man never gave up, Ferda had no intention of calling the project a failure.
Vernel nodded.
"O-Of course. It’s possible. I’ll definitely accomplish it."
"Good."
Ferda stood up.
"Then continue your research."
Vernel blinked as he watched him leave.
Just as he thought that was the end, Ferda added,
"I’ll gather the people who need to hear this. Until then, organize your research and demonstration once more. Understood?"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Leaving those words behind, Ferda walked outside.
He believed in this research despite having no certainty himself.
All he could do was his utmost.
Unlike the anxious Vernel, however, Ferda thought differently.
’It was used quite effectively.’
Ferda knew.
Magitech Engineering would inevitably advance.
And he roughly knew just how difficult that path had been.
When Vernel first presented it, people only laughed.
Who would use something like that?
Why would anyone need it?
It lacked dignity.
Those were the kinds of criticisms people made.
But what happened later?
’The mages became the ones who used magitech the most.’
Because it provided a level of convenience far beyond manually calculating and constructing Magic Circles.
The age when mages monopolized the mysteries of magic would eventually come to an end.
Knowing that future, Ferda had every reason to trust Vernel.
***
Ten days later, distinguished guests arrived.
The old lord, Count Ulvera Consilus, and the manager of the Pascal Trading Company, Stephan Pascal.
Just as he had done before Ferda, Vernel demonstrated his invention and explained it in detail.
Having spent ten days organizing everything, his explanation was much clearer than the first time.
Even so, it remained extremely difficult to understand.
"Ohh, I see."
"I see. That was a very enlightening explanation."
Ferda quietly observed their reactions before asking,
"Did you truly understand it? Even I couldn’t, so answer honestly."
Only then did the two confess the truth.
He had thought their voices sounded completely lifeless.
He had been right.
"Haha... My apologies. I’ve simply grown accustomed to nodding along. This old man is completely ignorant when it comes to such matters."
"I didn’t understand either... but I thought it’d be embarrassing to admit it."
As expected, both of them had merely been pretending to understand.
Only Vernel, who had sincerely believed he’d simplified everything, looked utterly embarrassed.
"Still, based on what little I do understand, the conclusion seems to be that its efficiency isn’t very high. Is that correct?"
"That’s correct."
"Hmm... It truly is a rather awkward invention."
As Consilus stroked his beard and muttered, cold sweat poured down Vernel’s back.
Seeing Consilus focus on the negatives, Stephan hurried to emphasize the positives.
"From an economic standpoint, it doesn’t seem especially attractive right now. Still, isn’t it valuable simply because it can supply mana?"
"Ah... I explained that part already... It isn’t something that supplies mana directly to mages. Unlike potions or elixirs, it can’t restore or replenish mana."
"Ah... then that does make things rather awkward. Even if the research succeeds, if the efficiency remains this poor..."
Even Stephan, who had tried to defend it, ultimately backed down.
Both men had given answers that were, for all practical purposes, negative.
Vernel’s back became soaked with sweat.
That outcome was exactly what Ferda had expected.
"Don’t concern yourselves with the efficiency for now. Our Chief Researcher will take care of improving that sooner or later."
Ferda had anticipated this reaction from the very beginning.
The reason he had gathered these two here was not because he expected praise after revealing the invention despite its current shortcomings.
There was something else he wanted from them.
"I’d like to hear your thoughts on what should be created first using this."
"What exactly would you like us to discuss?"
Holding up the Mana Stone Vernel had created, Ferda said,
"I mean revolutionary devices powered by this—things that can perform tasks that only mages could once accomplish. Think about the jobs that required mages, and also the surprisingly mundane tasks that were entrusted to them."
What they needed now was ideas.
Count Consilus and Stephan were both experts in their respective fields.
At Ferda’s prompt, Count Consilus spoke first.
"If this item can imitate what a mage does... does that mean we could replace the infantry lacking on the front lines with mages?"
He was an old soldier to his very bones, having been raised in a count’s household.
Naturally, the first thing that came to his mind was something that could counter the threats of the Far East.
"It’s possible. If it’s fashioned into a weapon, using magic would be no difficult task."
Ferda gave them the name it would one day be known by.
"Magitech Infantry."
"Oh... Magitech Infantry."
Count Consilus’s eyes seemed to shine.
Mages were effective in almost every situation.
Among all their roles, they were especially invaluable when dealing with magical beasts.
The Far East was a land where magical beasts outnumbered ordinary monsters.
No place needed them more desperately.
Yet, as with every front line, it was little different from exile for mages.
The only mage there who possessed both skill and determination had been Teshalos Wolcher.
"Excellent. Just replacing the absence of mages already gives me hope. If the efficiency problem can be solved, I believe weapons should be developed first."
Count Consilus spoke with enthusiasm.
Like an old lord who could no longer bear to watch his infantry die, he clearly wanted that project to move forward as quickly as possible.
At that moment, Stephan objected.
"Count Consilus’s opinion certainly has merit. If ordinary infantry can effectively become mages, it would be a tremendous help. However... shouldn’t transportation also be considered?"
Stephan had already made his own calculations before investing in this project.
"Transportation?"
"Yes. Supply lines are always the most important element of warfare. No matter how overwhelming your firepower is, if logistics fail, it all becomes meaningless."
"That’s true as well. However, countless magical beasts are already dying in the Far East. If we focus on using those beasts to manufacture these here, that difficult problem can be postponed until later."
Neither Count Consilus nor Stephan was willing to yield even an inch.
Each passionately emphasized the importance of what they wanted.
’As expected, asking these two was the right decision.’
Even simply watching them argue revealed exactly what each of them needed and where the real problems lay.
Stephan wanted to reduce transportation costs immediately.
Count Consilus wanted to increase the survival rate of the soldiers defending the Far East.
Neither side was willing to back down for very good reasons.
"It seems the two of us won’t be able to settle this ourselves. In that case, I believe the Regent of the Grand Duchess should make the final decision."
"Yes. I was thinking the same thing."
The arrow was pointed directly at Ferda.
"I think it’d be better to leave the decision to the Chief Researcher, who bears responsibility for all development."
"...What?"
And with that, Ferda immediately tossed the responsibility straight toward Vernel.
"Me?"
Vernel stared blankly with a foolish expression.
But just as Ferda had said, everyone was now waiting for his decision.
He had no choice but to choose.
"U-Um... well..."
Vernel was a pacifist.
Rather than creating weapons, he had always wanted to invent things that benefited people.
Carefully, he voiced the opinion he’d been holding back.
"I... I still think it’s better to develop weapons first..."
"I knew you’d say that."
"Of course, weapons are important as well. But think about it a little more. I’m the one responsible for supplying magical beast materials."
The victor chuckled, while the loser attempted a second round of persuasion.
"At first, I also believed we should develop something else first. But..."
"...After seeing the territory governed by Count Consilus, I changed my mind."
When he had first visited the Count’s territory, he had been on the verge of death due to Mana Overload.
There, he had witnessed the people living under the Count.
He had seen their grief.
He had seen the pain of families losing their loved ones.
"I believe we should first create weapons to stop the magical beasts that are trying to destroy our homeland."
"...Very well. If that’s how you feel..."
In the end, Stephan backed down.
His priority had been pushed back, but eventually he would still get what he wanted.
"So we’re already working on weapon development as well. We’ve also been researching the characteristics of magical beasts, so I’m confident we’ll have good news for you soon."
"Haha. Keep up the good work. Your research may very well become the light of our Far East."
The atmosphere seemed warm as the meeting came to a satisfying conclusion.
"Now then, about those weapons..."
Seeing the opportunity, Ferda casually continued.
"Will those weapons also be as difficult to understand as the explanation you just gave?"
"...Huh? Um... I’m not entirely sure, but... probably?"
"That’s excellent."
Ferda already knew.
Vernel Marquis.
His very first invention was notoriously complicated.
He could create miracles through complexity.
But he had never understood the value of simplicity.
"Fortunately, I have the perfect example for you."
"...An example?"
"That’s right. An example. Come in!"
At Ferda’s call, a man who had been waiting outside entered the room.
The moment everyone saw him, they froze in surprise.
The man was wearing armor.
And he was performing what appeared to be military drill.
When his left foot moved forward, his left hand rose with it.
When his right foot moved, his right hand rose as well.
He marched in with complete confidence, proudly demonstrating this utterly bizarre version of military drill.
The moment Vernel saw him, a chill ran down his spine.
"Malcolm of Peach Hill! Reporting as ordered!"
"Good. You’re here. I have a task for you."
"Please give the order!"
With one hand over his chest, Malcolm looked like an energetic young boy overflowing with enthusiasm.
It was not a pleasant sight.
"What is two times two?"
"Easy! It’s four!"
"Correct. Then what’s seven times six?"
Once again, he answered as if it were obvious.
"Thirteen!"
"Well done."
"Haha! You’re too kind!"
Malcolm wore a proud smile.
Everyone else in the room, however, felt an icy silence settle over them.
Their expressions practically said,
’Where in the world did he find someone like this?’
Patting Vernel on the shoulder, Ferda said,
"Make it simple enough that this man can understand it and use it."
"...What?"
"I believe you’re capable of at least that much."
"...W-What?"
Vernel felt his mind go completely blank.
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