Chapter 86: Jewels

"Huh? Crafting? What do you mean by that?"

To say that I managed to take Ayda by surprise would be a gross understatement of my achievement. With her eyes widening as she pushed with her hands against my chest in an attempt to take a look at me from a different, wider perspective, I could tell that this change of topic was just as sudden as I wanted it to be.

"You know, I'm sure you guys have a lot of useful stuff that uses magic to achieve its wonders. For example, your clothes from before… The fabric that those straps were made from was just too fine for it to be woven by hand. Or to get something else…"

I looked around the room, searching for something that could serve as a good example.

"Look at the bed. The way the wooden parts were cut… There is no way for a human to be able to split wood so evenly! That is, without using some kind of tools or methodology."

This was an idea that was looming in my head for a while already. In a world where magic was pretty common, it would be strange if some sort of magical crafting never appeared. Knowing human nature, as long as there was a way to profit from something, people were bound to find any possible opportunity to achieve it. It wasn't my imagination of how the world should look like, but rather a logical consensus of how it had to work.

"Ah, you meant the scribblers?"

Seeing how Ayda suddenly understood what I meant, I realised that I most likely just hit the jackpot. Even though this matter wasn't as urgent as one could think it was from the way I introduced it, potentially adapting the crafting of this world into my lands on earth would quickly establish my position not as a local sect leader, but a true powerhouse with both strength and finances to back my position.

"Would you mind elaborating on what those scribblers are?"

Intrigued by the name itself already, I couldn't help but want this damned girl to stop increasing the tension with a stupid grin on her face and just tell me already. But as soon as Ayda noticed those slight variations of my emotions, her smile blossomed even further.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Sure. Let me tell you what those scribblers are."

After a long, staring contest, Ayda finally gave up while bursting out in laughter before moving to the big drawer on the other end of the room. Picking up some items form her bag there, she sat down on the bed before inviting me to sit beside her.

"This is the book of runes. It outlines about two hundred basic functions that a rune can be used for, along with five types of connections. Once you find a core capable of storing the energy, then all you need is a proper processor connected to it in order for the magic to do the work for you. What, you don't have something like this in your own world?"

Noticing my surprise, Ayda took a guess and… managed to land only half of her salvo. Because I wasn't surprised by the methodology of using the runes or anything like that, but with the way that this strange translation ability conveyed her words.

Did she really name those units a core and a processor, or was this my translator attempting to use the words I was familiar with?

As quickly as this moment of surprise came, it disappeared just as fast. Because ultimately, it didn't matter.

"Tell me, what kind of items can be turned into cores? I mean… I can hardly see anything that operates on its own… Or rather, propelled by magic. Are they super-rare or something?"

Leaning my head to the side, I looked at Ayda's adorable face. With the light of the morning sun shining gently through the covers on the window, the delicate rays of light only turned her face to be even more enchanting. Especially now, with how she was focused on the book that she held on her lap.

"Well, it's not like they are inaccessible… But there is no doubt that they are quite pricey. Most people don't use them because it's pretty hard to make them do something better or harder than what most humans can accomplish. After all, with only about two hundred basic functions, your ability to influence the world is quite limited. And don't even get me started at how the difficulty of carving those runes grows exponentially the more of them you add…"

Going on a short lecture, Ayda's tone changed a bit. For the first time in a while, I got to experience her teaching side, something that I assumed she was quite close to. Given how nearly all of the allies that gathered in the area called her master, I had a hunch that she was more of a teacher than what I expected.

"So, to sum things up, you can create sequences of orders that the magic power from the core will fulfil once activated, right?"

With how it seemed to be just too good to be true, I had to make sure that there was no misunderstanding here.

"Yeah, that's generally right. As for the cores… I happen to have a small one. It's just for absolute emergencies, but it can create a strong barrier once crushed."

Seeing the girl pull out something that I didn't expect to see in a long time, I felt my breath stagnating within my lungs. If the item she just brought was what I meant it was…

"Tell me, is this by any chance a precious stone? Rubin, diamond, topaz or something like that?"

Just thinking about it made me excited. If my guess was true, then I could already see how the entire land that was given to my church on earth would turn into a great industry that earth has never seen before!

"Precious stones? Well, some like to use it in jewellery making, but it's quite a waste considering how much does the craftsmen pay to get them."

Shaking her hands to show how little did she care about this topic, Ayda placed the book with the runes on my lap.

"Hey…"

Starting off, I took a moment to gather my thoughts before properly formulating the question within my own head.

"If I could bring you copious amounts of those stones… Do you think you could get some of those craftsmen to work for us? I might've just found the solution to the entire witchhunt thingy!"