by Hiro Ainana
My thoughts were wandering off track, so I had Arisa continue her explanation.
“Nobody’s heard of new City Cores being made since the age of the Flue Kingdom, and they’re kept very firmly under wraps.”
“Wouldn’t wars break out all the time in that case?”
“They do sometimes, but since large battles tend to attract the attention of hell demons or curious dragons, most of them are limited to small skirmishes.”
I see. So the existence of hell demons and dragons served as a deterrent for wars between humans.
I apologized for veering off topic again and asked Arisa to go back to explaining City Cores.
“Let me see. I believe they have other functions like Conferring, Reward, Verdict, Acquittal, and so on. Conferring is used for appointing knights, promoting nobility, and so on. Reward is used to bestow honors. I heard it can give the recipient a buff effect. Conversely, if someone has crimes in their bounty column, they get de-buffed.”
I asked how effective these were but didn’t get a clear answer. Arisa didn’t know, either.
“Does Verdict punish criminals?”
“Certainly not. Criminals get their heads chopped off, and that’s that as punishment goes. When Verdict is used on someone who’s been accused of a crime, it determines whether they’re guilty and adds the crime to their bounty accordingly.”
Oh, what a great system. No room for false accusations there.
“But Acquittal can blot out crimes from the record, so rulers and royalty can make it like the most inconvenient ones never happened.”
Which was why it was so important for statesmen to be rigorous and fair.
Apparently, the original purpose of Acquittal had been to erase the crime of murder from knights and soldiers in war.
“Say, Arisa. Do you have any idea why I didn’t get the Assault crime when I hit someone in Seiryuu City?”
“That only happens when there are serious injuries, like lacerations or bone fractures. People get into fistfights at bars all the time, after all. In cases like that accident earlier, I believe the use of Assault is determined mutually by both parties.”
Maybe that man didn’t get the Assault bounty because the farmer and his wife thought they were at fault themselves, then?
Right, when I essentially helped Zen commit suicide, I suppose it didn’t count as murder because Zen himself didn’t think of it that way.
Upon close consideration, it did seem like I’d killed a person, but I didn’t truly feel that way. Perhaps his unearthly appearance had made me feel more like I’d sent a spirit to heaven.
Either that, or my high mind stat was just reassuring me that it was only a game. I wasn’t the kind of person who liked to hem and haw about things, so I just left it at that.
Ah, I killed those lizardmen and dragons, too, didn’t I…? Why didn’t I get the Murder bounty then, either? Maybe because it was self-defense?
“Arisa, are there situations where someone commits murder but it doesn’t show up in their bounty?”
“Of course. Poisoning or assassinating someone without being found out, for example. I think there are exceptions like self-defense and duels and things like that, too.”
Hmm, maybe that applied to using Meteor Shower and fighting off that lizardman, then.
Though the lizardman had attacked me first, I had definitely wronged the dragons that I killed with my godlike power. Opening the Graveyard folder in my Storage, I once again prayed for the souls of the fallen. After I’d finished my loop of the Shiga Kingdom and come back to visit Seiryuu City, I decided I would construct a proper grave site in the Valley of Dragons.
While my thoughts were elsewhere, Arisa supplied an additional tidbit.
“Oh, and if a king or duke kills someone in his own territory, it isn’t considered a crime.”
That was pretty awful. With that level of privilege, it’d be no surprise if corrupt rulers threw their weight around like gods of their regions, like the marquis Zen had defeated.
At the time, I was so overwhelmed by the deluge of information that I forgot to ask why someone who’d been baptized couldn’t make a contract with a City Core. And it would be a long time yet before I found out.
Perhaps because of the incident earlier, I had the urge to practice the alchemy I’d been putting off for a while when we took our afternoon break. If I learned how to make potions myself, I could give them out more freely.
With a sidelong glance at the rest of the group, who were playing a game with the study cards, I set up the beginner’s alchemy set.
“Now he’s doing alchemy? How can one person be so multitalented?” With my “Keen Hearing” skill, I heard Arisa muttering about me somewhere.
Paying her no mind, I set up camp on a corner of the waterproof sheet and continued my preparations with the help of one of the books I’d bought from the old gnome. A lot of the instruments looked like tools for science experiments.
I browsed the textbook by using the menu without taking it out of Storage. This would come in handy for experimenting, since I would have my hands free.
The book was titled Rudimentary Alchemy. The old gnome had insisted I read this first. Actually, it was more of a pamphlet than a book. The thin volume had only twenty or so pages.
The book began with descriptions of the tools. It also included illustrations, to ensure that even a complete beginner wouldn’t get confused about which was which. Now I understood why that old fellow wanted me to read this first.
To begin, I took out a mortar and pestle. Instead of familiar white porcelain, this mortar was pale pink. With my “Analyze” skill, I discovered that it was made of agate. I thought agate was a gemstone…
Following the book’s instructions, I took out some dried herbs from the bag labeled Reagent One and ground them down with the mortar and pestle. Then I added water to a small bowl and whisked the mashed herbs into it with a small metal tool.
The whole process took about five minutes from start to finish. Well, since it was the first recipe in the introductory manual, it was bound to be simple.
> Skill Acquired: “Formulation”
I immediately invested the max amount of points into the new skill and activated it.
The aqueous solution I’d made was called an “antipyretic medicine.” When I analyzed it, its name read Antipyretic Medicine [Quality: Lowest], described as a liquid medicine that reduces fever. It has an extremely weak soothing effect. This was my first time making medicine, so I guess a low-quality product was only to be expected.
I also noticed that the name of the person who produced the item was listed in the item’s description.
When I appraised Liza’s spear, it contained the information Creator: Satou. This field didn’t show up in the AR display, but I was able to toggle it on by fiddling around with the settings in the menu. It was hidden by default.
I was glad I noticed this before I made any items or medicines that could get me in trouble. I decided to start blanking out my name when I made items in the future.
The next page of the pamphlet read, If you have a Transmutation Tablet, proceed to Chapter 2. Otherwise, turn to Chapter 4. This was beginning to feel like I was playing through a branching story rather than reading an introductory guide to business software or what have you.
Chapter 2 concerned the basics of the Transmutation Tablet, used for making potions.
According to the explanation, medicines created normally and potions made with the Transmutation Tablet were considered different even if their effects were similar.
Potions required MP and a magic catalyst called an “elixir,” but in return they had the advantage of taking effect immediately.
I proceeded to follow the instructions for creating a potion with the Transmutation Tablet.
The first step was preparing the tablet. It was a black board with a highly textured surface, possibly made of bituminous coal. The surface was engraved with shallow grooves in a black magic–esqu
e pattern. On top of the tablet were six metal rods, finely engraved with designs like those on the tablet.
After I finished setting it up, I placed my hands on the corresponding marks and spoke the key word to activate it. All I had to do was say, “Transmutation Tablet activate” in normal Shigan, and magic was sucked from my hands as the grooves shone with red light. It was beautiful.
I could operate the Transmutation Tablet by moving my fingers along the indentation. In a way, it reminded me of the touch screen of a tablet computer.
I set up the Transmutation Tablet as the book instructed and placed a metal beaker in the center of the six metal rods. Then I poured the medicine I’d made earlier into the container. This would serve as the base of the potion.
Next, I gradually added the ready-made elixir, Reagent Two, while stirring the mixture. Then magic had to be added before the reagent settled on the bottom.
Placing a hand on the tablet, I transmuted the potion.
The metal rods radiated a bright red, and the reagent powder in the beaker lit up. It wasn’t reflecting the light of the rods—the powder itself was glowing. When the light faded, the process was complete.
> Skill Acquired: “Transmutation”
Of course, I maxed out the “Transmutation” skill as well.
The completed potion was the lowest-quality antipyretic. It would be a waste to just toss it, so I put the liquid into Storage without the beaker.
Now it was time for the real deal.
Since I had three elixirs for stamina recovery potions, I began transmuting them according to the steps in the textbook. The practice helped, of course, but my new “Formulation” and “Transmutation” skills had enabled me to make high-quality recovery potions.
Once I put my techniques into action, I gained the titles Doctor and Alchemist.
According to the pamphlet, potions had to be kept in dedicated vials or the magic would seep out along with the potion’s efficacy.
The vials had simple magic circles drawn on them with special ink to prevent any leaks.
Since I had the “Analyze” skill and my AR display, this part didn’t really apply to me, but the book said that ordinary people used the magic circles to determine what type of potion was inside.
Though this wasn’t in the textbook, I discovered in Trazayuya’s documents that it was possible to create up to five potions at a time by adding ingredients in bulk.
There was an added note that producing multiple potions at once required twice the MP and led to a slight decrease in quality, which was probably why it wasn’t in the textbook.
I made another stamina potion, followed by a pain-relief potion.
As I put away the Transmutation Tablet, I thought about what I’d like to concoct next. Maybe antidotes and anti-paralysis potions and others like those.
Each kind of poison required a different antidote, so the beginner set didn’t include any premade elixirs for them. Dragon stone could make a handy all-purpose remedy, but since I was missing a few ingredients, I couldn’t make it right away.
Paralysis potions, like antidotes, came in all varieties for different kinds of ailments.
The main components of the elixir were monster cores and a stabilizer. Because I had plenty of cores and a little bit of the stabilizer, I could theoretically keep mixing up potions, but I wanted to wait and try creating a wider variety.
I decided to buy a bunch of ingredients when we reached the next town.
Quite pleased with the unexpected success of my alchemy experiments, I returned to the horse-drawn carriage to resume our journey.
I felt bad about ignoring everyone all day, so instead of researching spells, I spent the rest of the trip to the campsite playing with them.
Since I was far too musically disinclined to join in on the anime song chorus, I proposed a classic game of word chains instead.
Arisa loved the sound of her own voice, so I let her explain the rules, and then the game began.
Despite being the one who’d proposed it, I had some trouble. I kept forgetting that the pronunciations of words translated into Japanese and words in the actual Shigan language were different.
I suffered defeat after crushing defeat, but along the way I started to get the hang of it and barely managed to preserve my dignity.
It was an unexpected failure on my part, but both the younger and older girls had a blast. I expected it’d probably become a staple on our travels.
As we all enjoyed the fun, the carriage brought us out of the hilly area and arrived at the campsite right in front of the mountains that bordered the county.
“This is tough,” I grumbled as I watched my arrow fly past the target.
Now that we’d finished setting up camp, Mia was teaching us how to use the short bows we’d procured in the town of Kainona.
After watching me shoot, the beastfolk girls, Arisa, and Nana all wanted to try it, too, so Lulu got roped into it, and we all ended up practicing together.
However, archery was harder than I’d thought.
On my first shot, far from flying straight and true, my arrow simply dropped to the ground.
“Watch.”
Mia showed me a test shot. Unlike in Japanese archery, here you were supposed to hold the bow parallel to the ground.
Everyone else took a turn, too, but they fared no better.
Surprisingly, Arisa was the only one who did well. She bragged inanely that she’d once joined an archery club for a single week in her previous life.
Nana managed to avoid snapping her chest with the bowstring, but Pochi nicked her hand with it, and Mia had to use Water Magic to heal the red welt.
In the end, Mia was the only one who could use the weapon at a practical level, and only Arisa and Tama succeeded in firing their arrows forward. Their accuracy was low, but they could probably bluff with it, at least.
Tama had more accuracy and power with throwing stones, and Arisa could use Psychic Magic without a chant anyway, so Mia would be the only one to use a bow.
I figured I probably wouldn’t touch it, either, at least until I found suitable prey and acquired the “Bow” skill.
After our practice session, I took Pochi and Tama with me to retrieve the arrows from the thicket behind the tree we’d been using as a target.
The arrows were marked on my map, so we could take a carefree stroll as we collected them.
Along the way, I found some medicinal plants that could serve for potion making.
“Herrrbs?”
“Yeah, they’re called russet wort. They’re used to make magic recovery potions,” I explained as Tama peered into my hand with great interest.
“Tama’ll pick ’em, too!”
“So will I, sir!”
“All right, let’s gather them on our way back, then.”
Once we’d recovered the arrows, the three of us picked herbs on our way back to camp. I wasn’t sure whether it was because of her “Collecting” skill or simply her sharp eyes, but Tama found the most.
After we returned to the camp, Liza asked me what the evening’s main dish should be.
There wasn’t much left of the venison Tama and I had caught, so we decided to use the mutton we’d bought in Kainona.
I took it out of Storage via the Garage Bag and passed it to Liza.
Since it had been in Storage, where the objects remained in stasis, it was just as fresh as when it had been butchered.
Liza was a little taken aback at how fresh it was, but she must have assumed it was a feature of the Garage Bag or something, because she accepted it without comment, cut out the parts we’d be using on the worktable I’d bought, and gave the rest to me.
Thanks to the eager help of the younger kids, preparation for dinner ended earlier than expected. The girls’ hungry gazes were boring into Liza, and out of consideration for her, I told them to play with the study cards until dinner.
Because we were waiting, I decided to challenge myself with an attempt to make a mag
ic tool.
I’d already read through the Foundations of Magic Tools book that I’d purchased in Seiryuu City.
Generally speaking, a magic tool was a device that allowed the user to produce a certain magical effect without a spell. The patterns called “magic circuits” within allowed them to do this.
Simple circuits could be made without any special equipment, but complex ones required a dedicated workshop. The simplest way to understand it was the difference between electrical circuits built from bulbs, batteries, and wire, and electronic circuits with semiconducting components.
In order to configure a magic circuit, one simply had to create a specific pattern with “circuit solution.” The book also called the solution “magic liquid.”
Circuit solution came in different degrees of magic resistance depending on the purpose, but I figured the orthodox approach would be fine for now.
First, I drew an ink circle on a thick wooden board I’d bought in Kainona. Then I carved the circle lightly into the surface of the wood with a dagger. Finally, I poured circuit solution into the groove I’d made.
I made the simplest circuit solution first, which required melted copper, monster core powder, and a stabilizing agent.
The stabilizer was the same one used in transmutation, so I’d purchased it along with the monster repellent powder before we left. It was surprisingly inexpensive; I’d have to buy it in bulk in the next town for making potions.
I used a melting pot and a magic tool resembling an alcohol lamp to melt down the copper. When I pressed the button on the lamp, it absorbed some of my MP and produced a high-temperature flame like a burner.
Only a magic tool could burn without fuel like that.
Incidentally, I’d found the burner and melting pot in my spoils from the Cradle. It had probably belonged to Trazayuya or Zen.
> Skill Acquired: “Metalworking”
Was melting metal the only necessary condition for obtaining that skill?
