episode_0035

“… … .”

Eri and I looked at each other awkwardly.

Since it was my fault for watching her enjoy her hobby without permission, I immediately returned the item she had in her hand.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ah, no, it’s okay… I was so surprised… … . Did you give them all to me? ”

“That’s right.”

After receiving all the drawings back, Eri put them on a bookshelf in a corner of her office.

“Eri Astra Nor. You’ve become the head of the household.”

“Uh, yeah…? Oh, no, not yet… … . This room was used by my father, but he went to the magic tower to do research… … . So I took over first. ”

I definitely heard the story about Eri’s father going to the Magic Tower when I entered the academy…

I just thought that wizards had a unique sense of time.

“So, this side is… … ?”

“My escort.”

“… … Libra.”

“You’re a commoner… … Yeah. I understand.”

Eri nodded as if she knew something.

Maybe it was when I met Beden.

Veden was a member of the Astranor family, and was always obsessed with people’s ‘ranks’.

It seems that while I was telling Eri that I had arrived, I told her about Libra.

Even though I didn’t hear it, I felt like there was some kind of conversation going on.

Most nobles look down on the commoners, but even among them, Veden is particularly bad at it.

“So…what brought Kane here?”

“Do you remember what I said last time?”

“Uh, so… …the slab of stone? Remember?”

“It is a shape memory stone tablet.”

“Ah… Yeah… … .”

“I don’t think you remember, so I’ll explain it again.”

I handed Eri a piece of paper with a rough sketch of the shape memory slab in my arms.

“What is this… … ?”

“I wrote it down so that it’s easy to understand. I’ll explain it to you, so please refer to it.”

“Ah, yeah… … .”

The shape memory stone tablet is an item created to solve the inconvenience of communication in the present era when the only means of long-distance communication is through letters.

The way I came up with to make the stone tablet was to follow what I saw in the game as closely as possible.

Split one slab in two and plant a magic core in both slabs.

This causes the magical energy to flow across the stone slabs, so that if you leave a mark on one slab, an identical mark will be left on the other slab as well.

If you apply this, you can communicate from a distance as if you were texting on a cell phone.

When erasing a stone slab, simply apply magic power to the engraved area.

As you do this, the stone slab will heal and the engraved marks will naturally be erased.

However, since magic power always floats in the air, if you leave the stone tablet alone for a long time, the mana will be absorbed automatically and the engraved message will disappear.

This part… well, there’s nothing I can do about it. I have no choice but to use it with caution.

Normally, you would have to recruit talents in magic engineering to create the stone tablets, and pour in money and time to unlock the blueprints.

Now, you don’t have to do it that way.

I have an idea of how the shape memory tablet works in my head, so Eri just needs to make it concrete.

I have summarized this content to make it as easy to understand as possible.

The story about cell phones that Eri couldn’t understand was told through letters and other means.

“What do you think?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… That’s an interesting idea… … .”

Eri trailed off.

It doesn’t seem to make any sense.

Eri Astranor is timid, but not a pushover.

If you treat someone carelessly because they seem to be weak in assertiveness, you will only end up damaging their favorability rating.

Most people looked down on her because she was a high-ranking noble who could only use magic and was unrivaled by anyone her age, and because she was small and looked weak and didn’t express herself well.

You might think that who would ignore the next head of a magical family among the five great families of the empire?

The people she met were also high-ranking nobles and people who were confident in their own fields.

So, you have to be careful about those parts.

The moment a person ignores someone, they tend to impose their own values or thoughts on them.

Here, you must solve Eri’s questions one by one and make her interested in the shape memory tablet.

Eri Astranor is a character who is very sensitive to being ignored, so she will immediately feel uncomfortable if you think that anything is being forced upon her.

Perhaps because she was timid since childhood, Eri’s desire for recognition has grown to a level that is incomparable to her body size.

The moment you feel ignored, things can go wrong.

“Is there anything you don’t like?”

“Ah, uh… This is… …you said it was like a letter, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then… wouldn’t it be okay to send a letter like this… … ? It’ll arrive in just a day or so… … .”

“You’re right.”

I first agreed with her words.

Unlike me, who is caught up in modern life, slow communication through letters is normal for her.

Since the letters were sent by servants within the family, they probably didn’t feel any inconvenience.

From Eri’s words, it seemed like she was thinking that if the letter was slow, she could just go herself.

However, this is an inconvenience that anyone who has ever used a cell phone will immediately feel.

The key is to get this part right.

This is also the motivation behind the creation of the shape memory stone tablet.

“In normal circumstances, yes. But in a war that changes every moment, it would be different.”

“Ah… It was military supplies… … Hmm… That makes sense… … .”

“No. I don’t have a specific use for it. It would be good for people in long-distance relationships, and it would also be useful in situations where it’s physically difficult to get there.”

“Ah, I get what you mean. But it seems like it would cost a lot of money to make, so what do you think…? I think we’ll also need a mine to get the stone slab materials… ”

“Don’t worry about that part. I plan to receive outside investment.”

“Two, investment… …? Do you have a place you met?”

“The Aildarin family will help. It will be good news for Merhen too.”

“… … That’s what you talked about with Merhen, right…?”

What need is there for a promise?

It’s obvious that this is a good thing for Merhen too.

If she refuses to pay, she will return the interest she previously received and receive a mine to mine the slate.

“Don’t worry about that part. But you will have to shoulder some of the burden too.”

“Yeah… Let’s talk about the stakes later.”

Eri seemed to be pondering, looking back and forth between the paper with the image of me and the stone tablet containing the shape memory.

I think this explains everything from a business perspective, but… it seems like something is missing.

“What do you think?”

“That’s an interesting idea, but… why are you asking me?”

Eri asks why he came to see her.

It might certainly be faster to go to the palace magicians.

However, there is another reason why some people came to see her.

Eri Astranor. Despite her talents that were said to be comparable to those of a great wizard, she has not shown any progress in magic for three years.

The reason is simply her own problems.

Although she enjoyed using magic, she was not naturally fond of fighting.

She felt a sense of futility in using powerful magic such as lighting fires, freezing enemies, and destroying them.

As interest decreases, actions naturally decrease.

So it’s been three years since Eri gave up on magic.

There has to be some development to take over the position of the head of the household, but she doesn’t have much of an obsession with the position of the head of the household.

However, if someone other than Eri becomes the head of House Astranor, I may also feel uncomfortable.

So, I plan to use this event to boost Eri’s motivation.

She loves magic, but she’s just stuck in a rut.

“There’s no particular reason why I came to see you. You’re just the best wizard I know.”

“… Even though you praise me like that… … .”

Even as she said that, a smile spread across Eri’s face.

Even if it’s just lip service, it looks like he’s in a good mood.

“And… it would be good for you if you could finish this.”

“To me… … ?”

“Yeah. Just imagine. Everyone in the social circle carrying around the shape memory tablet you made.”

“… I don’t think it’ll be that bad… … .”

“Fashion spreads in an instant. And there are also secret methods.”

“A means of death?”

In response to Eri’s question, I took out another piece of paper that I had brought along and showed it to her.

It was something I had prepared for from the beginning, but seeing her picture made me even more confident.

“… … What is this?”

“It’s a cartoon. Don’t you like it too?”

“Wow, woah! Don’t tell me that… … !!”

Eri screamed as she remembered the previous incident.

“… Did you know you could make such a loud noise?”

“Ah, uh, sorry… … Anyway, why the cartoon?”

“I’ll put a cartoon on the plywood. A short 4-panel cartoon would be fine.”

“… … Is that possible?”

“If you hire someone to draw comics and place a workshop in the center of the empire, you will be able to transmit the stone tablets quite far away.”

“Hmm… I don’t quite get it.”

“Is that so.”

hmm.

I thought you liked comics, but not this one?

“Well… There are many uses for it. I haven’t tried it yet, but if you carve a magic circle on the stone tablet.”

“Huh… …? Then, is it possible that the magic circle is engraved on the stone slab on the other side as well?”

“Probably so.”

It’s not just a matter of exchanging words, but if you draw a magic circle on the stone tablet, you can create an identical magic circle on the other side.

If you pour magic power into it, the magic might work.

Because a magic circle is something that operates automatically as long as you have magic power.

However, when I played the game, there was no option to draw a magic circle on the stone tablet, so I never tried it.

“Yeah… It definitely looks like it would be useful in many ways.”

“Then shall I try making it?”

“… … Yeah. It sounds fun.”

“Yeah.”

Although I was anxious, I eventually succeeded in persuading Eri.

“But, the cartoon character you drew is definitely me and Merchen… … .”

“Ah, aaaah! Kane, please stop!”