Book 7: The Engineer Village
Chapter 103: Sudden magic tool idea
Translator: Tseirp
We reached a place that was slightly over a dayâs travel from the borders of the Saint Schull Allied Nations.
âWithout the sensation of pulling a carriage, horses sure can run considerably fast.â (Luciel)
âItâs the first time Iâve seen a carriage with this amount of gravity mitigation.â (Lionel?)
âReally? Nevertheless, weâre only a day from the national borders but this has been the first time a year felt so long to me.â (Luciel)
âThatâs how it goes when youâre doing something youâre not accustomed to. Well then, weâre heading left along the wall after the pass the border right?â (Lionel?)
âYeah. I made sure to confirm the location and Dolan and Paula said so as well so thereâs no doubt about it.â (Luciel)
âIt would be great if there are settlements like villages nearby though â¦â (?)
âWell, even if there arenât any ⦠rather, ha~ there are a lot of monsters here as well.â (Lionel?)n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
In front of us were large monitor lizards and huge snakes that were obstructed the way forward and were intimidating each other but I could tell that they noticed us and were beginning to be wary of us.
âMaybe they came from the valley that spans to the left.â (Lionel)
As Lionel calmly analysed beside me, I took out my holy dragon spear from my magic bag and readied myself.
âWell then, maybe Iâll try fighting with a spear on horseback according to your lecture. Iâm relying on you, Fornoir.â (Luciel)
âIâll have the honour of being the vanguard this time as well.â (Lionel)
A voice came from my side along with the figure of a cat beastwoman dashing out at considerable speed.
âIâm bored so Iâll be joining in nya.â (Cathy)
Lionel and I exchanged glances before we chased after Cathy and joined the battle.
Grasping onto the reins with my left hand, I change the grip on my spear to both my hands the instant I pass by a monster and firmly fix myself on top of the horse by sandwiching it with my knees.
Since Fornoir can read the opponentâs attacks, I solely concentrate on a single point of the monster and thrust with my spear.
Even if the timing is superb, as expected, it is still far more difficult compared to fighting on foot so I passed by the monsters without being able to defeat it.
And by the time I steered back around, Lionel and Cathy have already slaughtered them.
âBurururu.â
I stroked the slightly disheartened Fornoir to apologize before I returned to where the 2 stood.
âI understand because Cathy boasts of her speed but why is Lionel so fast too â¦â (Luciel)
âEven like this, I was once a general as well. I began jousting from the age of 10 so I already have a career(experience) of more than 30 years.â (Lionel)
Instead of showing a bashful expression, Lionel gave a slightly smug look and began laughing.
âLionel-sama has never made a blunder on horseback before nya.â (Cathy)
Cathy, with her quick movements, pierced the brain of multiple large monitor lizards with strikes at single concentrated points and was currently burying the monsters.
âI see ⦠and so, why did you jump off the carriage?â (Luciel)
âI was bored nya. I stayed on it the whole time for the first day so I got off to come and get permission nya.â (Cathy)
â ⦠Or perhaps you were sick of the magic discussions?â (Luciel)
â N, no thatâs ⦠not wrong nya. Theyâve been endlessly chanting some weird incantations nya. Iâll be defeated mentally if I stay there nya.â (Cathy)
âThen wouldnât it be fine if you swap with Kefin to be the coachman?â (Luciel)
âLook at Kefin properly nya. Regardless of being the coachman, his eyes are looking off into the distance nya.â (Cathy)
Hearing that, I looked over to Kefin and his eyes were certainly gazing off into the distance.
âWhat about Dolan?â (Luciel)
âHeâs pleased that his granddaughter made a friend so heâs completely become a good-natured old man nya.â (Cathy)
â¦â¦â¦ Itâs true that itâs difficult to find a friend to talk about magic tools even if you try to look for one.
âI wonât change our pace you know?â (Luciel) (TL: Cathyâs running on foot.)
âNo problem nya. If Iâm tired, Iâll return to become the coachman or return to that devilâs cave.â (Cathy) (TL: Her devils cave refers to the carriage)
Cathyâs tension has gradually been dropping so I gave her permission to stay outside.
Around the time we spot the highway after running on horseback for about an hour, the canyon slowly faded away and a forest began to spread across our left.
âMonsters live in forests like these so we better stay vigilant.â (Luciel)
âWell, this is already part of the Saint Schull Allied Nations so there probably wonât be any strong monsters that appear.â (Lionel?)
âIâm troubled because thatâs not absolute â¦â (Luciel)
Monsters arenât restricted to being above ground after all.
We occasionally encounter surprise attacks from the sky and there are monsters that appear from underground so I could not be at ease.
Thatâs when I had a thought.
If we have a monster detection device that can detect monsters, there wouldnât be a need for such worries?
During our noon break, I asked the 3 of them if it can be built and they were shocked.
âSo thereâs such a method!â (Dolan or Rician)
âGenius of insight!â (Paula)
âIf that can be done, peopleâs hope of living without fear of monsters may come true.â (Rician or Dolan)
They 3 of them said so and plenty of terminologies began flying about, I was completely chased out as an outsider.
â ⦠It wonât be strange if countries use that for military purposes one day.â
Lionel leaked out those words as he sighed.
âEven so, I think that it was conceived according to the need of the people nya.â
Cathy looked distantly into the future.
âWeâll prove that Luciel-sama made it for the sake of peace.â
Kefin said as he clenched his fist.
Lionelâs train of thought left me in the dust as I completely did not consider military use but this finally achieved a fresh restart. (TL: Donât know what restart the authorâs talking about, restart Lionelâs militaristic thinking/nature? or start a new direction for their journey?)
âHowever, Iâve surprised that Dolan can cook.â
When I murmured that, Dolan who was supposed to be having a magic tool discussion, was beside me without me realising and he told me the reason.
âIâve put in a lot of effort to properly raise Paula.â
âI see ⦠because of that, Paula never learned how to cook and dream of becoming a magic tool engineer huh?â
â â¦â¦â¦ Iâm reflecting on it but I only slightly regret it.â
So he does regret it slightly.
â ⦠It might be possible to develop a magic tool that can automatically cook vegetables that you put into it.â (Luciel)
â?! A genius of insight after all!â (Paula)
âIâll definitely have to make that!â (Rician)
Since Rician canât actually cook as well, the 2 of them were sold on the idea even more than the one before.
âDo you have any ideas on how to do it?â
âItâs alright even if it is something insignificant.â
âEh? Hmm~ ⦠Maybe if it could execute the steps in a recipe in sequence after you put in the ingredients?
Also, itâs slightly different, but if the water content in the cooking could be extracted via high pressure after rapidly freezing it, we may be able to create something similar to emergency rations that can be reconstituted using hot water.
Even now when making dried meat, they are prevented from going bad using salt and spices and used for soups and such, but if that technology can be established then people might be able to eat tasty cooking just by adding hot water?â (Luciel)
I spoke according to the explanation for freeze dried food products I saw on the television during my previous life. I donât know if it can be reproduced in this world but thereâs no harm in trying so I suggested to the 2 of them.
âMonster detection device and food preservation ⦠a genius after all ⦠or perhaps â¦â (Paula)
âPaula, in order to successfully make that, we have no choice but to combine our techniques.â (Rician)
âOkay. Even if a person canât cook, they can cook just by adding hot water. That is the dream of mankind.â (Paula)
âThe world will change.â (Rician)
As the 2 of them gestured with their hands, they exchanged a firm handshake and once again began their discussion of magic tools.
When I was freed from there, Lionel and the others had surprised looks on their faces.
â ⦠What?â
They all seldom stared so intently at me so I tried asking.
âTo use the miracle light at that young age, to come up with the idea for people to not get ambushed by monsters and to envision the magic tool to preserve food for a long period of time â¦â
Unlike always, Lionelâs voice became softer as he neared the end of his sentence.
âIâll also want to have them once either of them is completed nya.â
Cathy reacted like I had imagined so I inadvertently laughed.
âIâd like to hear if you have any ideas on weapons and armours.â
Dolan was hoping for any interesting ideas for blacksmithing.
â â¦â¦ â
Finally, only Kefin was left staring at me with a fervent look.
Is it that? ⦠When Kefin and the others failed in their attack on the Healerâs Guild, the magic bra and magic underwear that gave greater effect in a set that were peeled off by Dolan and Paula and passed to me?
âSorry but I donât swing that way.â (Luciel)
âHah?â (Kefin)
He replied with a straight face so it doesnât seem to be because of that.
â ⦠Why were you staring at me like that?â (Luciel)
âEh ⦠no, itâs because I realised that Iâve achieved one of my goals.â (Kefin)
⦠Goals huh.
I was having chills up my spine so Iâm glad I was wrong.
âThatâs good if thatâs the case. Work hard.â (Luciel)
âYes.â (Kefin)
Kefin nodded happily.
Thus, after we ended our noon break by exchanging such idle chats, we once again resumed our journey to the city of Rockford where engineers gather.
Authorâs note:
Thank you for reading