Chapter 22

Ossan, unemployed again *DISCLAIMER: I DON'T REALLY KNOW j.a.pANESE, THESE ARE MACHINE TRANSLATIONS THAT I TRY TO PUT INTO PROPER ENGLISH. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

*I had quite a bit of fun translating this one, didn't think I'll finish it so soon. You can expect the next one on Sat.u.r.day… probably. *Also, would you guys be interested if I make a discord server to get notified whenever I post a new chapter and stuff? Additionally, it would really help me keep up my motivation if I get messages about it on discord. The comments on here also help a lot, so I appreciate them as well. Today, Zeros was sitting in front of his desk working on something. A complex magic circle was spread out on it.

On top of it, a palm-sized metal lump was placed.

"Alright, it's ready. Then, let's begin."

He mutters, speaking to himself. A habit he picked up after his many years of living as a bachelor. He begins to work in the room where there's no one but himself.

By pouring mana into the magic formula, the magic circle glows filled with light, and begins to execute its determined function.

The lump of metal floats above the magic circle, and each time Zeros taps on the console panel, it begins to change its shape.

What he's doing is the highest secret technique in【Alchemy]. It's used to process metals in any way the magician wants to without any additional equipment, but it's a highly advanced and difficult magic, that will fail if you don't fully understand the process of the thing you're manufacturing, as well as the technique to construct the magic circle. 

It's one of the ultimate magics, and requires a great ability in magic control, magic manipulation, having the knowledge of the smelting process of the metal you're working with, chemical refining knowledge, and so on. 

A terminal similar to a computer keyboard unfolds in front of the magic circle, Zeros' fingertips move rhythmically, swiftly gliding across the keys, as if playing a beautiful melody on the piano. The piece of metal in the center changes its shape accordingly, with every command entered.

In the end, he makes two rings and a bracelet.

They're made of mithril, a metal with a high mana conductivity*.

(*T.N: 魔力との相性が金属としては比較的に高い。RAWs say magic power affinity. I might change it in the future.)

Then, they are alloyed with ma.n.a.lite ore, which has a similar nature to mithril, to make up for its lack of strength and so they don't break apart easily, creating a new long-lasting magic medium. 

Despite mithril having such a high mana conductivity, it has to undergo this process because it lacks sufficient strength as a metal.

Magicians often prefer to use wands to amplify their magic, though, skillful magicians don't have the need to use wooden wands.

The reason behind their use is that plants, more specifically, trees, tend to acc.u.mulate mana more easily, but depending on the type of wood used, the strength and ability to acc.u.mulate mana will differ. Moreover, issues related to the invocation of magic may arise depending on how old the material is. 

Even magicians with the same level of ability don't stabilize magic according to their own inherent qualities. The difference in their spells' power varies depending on the wands' materials, which is their magic medium. And that, eventually leads to the difference in the ranking of magicians.

In fact, even at the Istor Magic Academy, an aristocratic magician will have a wand made of high quality materials, despite their abilities not being much different from the run-of-the-mill magician.

As a result, n.o.bles with a high quality wand rise to the top in terms of power, whereas the ordinary magician, who can only afford a cheap wand will always remain at the bottom of the pyramid.

Even though, there shouldn't be any difference in real ability, there's a disparity in their strength due to the wands they have at hand, and thus, discrimination is born from it.

However, a magic medium made out of metal is always stable, and in theory, there's not much difference in power, except for the natural fragility of wooden wands, in relation with the toughness of metal.

It's also because of it, that it could be said to be more reliable than a wooden wand. 

It's tougher and more durable, and with the exception of getting one of inferior quality, there wasn't a more reliable magic medium.

Both metal and wood deteriorate, and eventually, break down. But, in terms of total lifespan, metal is more durable and reliable than a wooden wand.

However, the magicians in this world almost exclusively used wooden wands, and few were willing to use a metallic magic medium. Metals were always in high demand, specially in the production of armors and weapons, so their prices were always high and few magicians were likely to buy any.

Furthermore, there's the widespread popular belief that metal repels mana, though, it's completely baseless.

(*T.N: RAWs say something about leaves and root, but I a.s.sume that's what it meant;　そこには未だに金属が魔力を弾き返すという、根も葉もない噂が蔓延しているからだろう。)

In the end, these rumors will not be dispelled and will remain as they are unless concrete evidence is presented about their practicality.

However, that didn't matter to Zeros, given that the person in question didn't intend to take on that task.

"Next is… to engrave the magic formula, right? It's my first time doing it, I'm a bit anxious."

Once the shape and ornamentation of the magic medium are decided, the magic formula must be engraved. It enhances its mana efficiency, the power and efficiency of the spell, and, reduces the burden on the caster by a drastic amount, to the point of being almost nonexistent. And, if the burden is reduced, then the magician's ability and, consequentially, their own strength, will greatly improve.

This process is essential in the production of magic tools, and the amount of mana saved serves as a proof of the artisan's skills. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's the determining factor in whether the creation of the magic tool is a success or not. 

Although, it doesn't really matter if the magic medium is only going to be used to practice magic. However, Zeros was a production maniac, who would be thoroughly concerned with every little detail in the process of making magic tools.

The magic formula disappears from the surface of the bundle of magic paper, and the magic characters then flow onto the created accessories, engraving themselves in them.

To give an example, it would be the kind of visual effect when a character in an anime is playing an instrument, and the musical notes are visually represented coming out of it.

Nevertheless, the magic formula is definitely being engraved onto the ring and bracelet, leaving a complex pattern on them. Even if the process was interrupted, the magic formula would remain engraved.

It's uncertain how much time had pa.s.sed. However, it's clear that it's an awfully grueling work.

In fact, sweat is trickling down Zeros' forehead, and even though he's fatigued, he continues to hit the magically-made console panel, engraving the lengthy formula into the bracelet and the rings.

Though, the work is completed before long. 

After confirming that the entirety of the magic formula has been engraved, Zeros released the magic circle and heaved a deep sigh.

"… I struggled more than I thought. It's a lot more difficult compared to when it was a game."

The process in itself isn't hard, but it takes quite a bit of time and effort to prepare and engrave the magic formula.

In the same way, healing and other magic potions can be refined, but in that case, a container such as a vial is required. It's not possible to create both at the same time.

Due to that reason, Zeros reuses the wine bottles he finds here and there as containers for his magic potions.

It looks bad from an outsider's point of view, even if it's just recycling for the person in question.

"… Well, I found out I can perform magic refining, but this… what do I do with these exactly…?"

There are two silver rings and a bracelet in front of him. Although they were the products of his magic experiments, Zeros had no use for them.

Because he already has the best possible equipment he could get, there was no need to use a magic medium meant for an intermediate magician.

He thinks about it for a while, but eventually he decides to put off the issue for now and go to bed.

He seemed to be mentally exhausted after the experiment, and so, he falls asleep almost immediately.

He often gets really excited and fired up about things he considers to be fascinating at the time, but quickly loses interest in them afterwards.

And, after some time, the sleeping breath of a middle-aged man could be heard.

His actions seemed to be meaningful, but that couldn't be further from the truth…

Celestina and Zweit will return to the dormitory life at the Istor Magic Academy after their holidays are over in a couple of days.

They are currently making their preparations for that, though they're not excited in the least about returning to the Academy.

Their vacations lasted two months, and the next one will be the Winter holidays, four months later.

Until then, they won't be able to receive Zeros' magic lectures, and so, they will return to their monotonous and depressing days. Because of that, their hearts felt heavy.

Even so, their level of confidence in Zeros, who teaches them what they really want to know about magic, has risen, and now, they're even working on the concoction process of magic potions. A field somewhat different from what they initially wanted to specialize in.

Zeros said: 'Don't think you'll always be prepared for each and every situation. In some cases, you may end up stranded and already had used up all your potions. At that time, if you can make a simple magic potion, it will greatly increase your odds of survival.'

He said such a self-important sounding thing, but inside the mind of the person in question, the moment he said that, was akin to a barren prairie with bunches of rabbits-sans running around.

After their usual combat training, a.k.a Crazy* Golem Mania', they set up in an unused, vacant room and kept staring at the test tubes and breakers. 

(*T.N: It uses the kanji for depression[凹] as in concave, sunken and hollow. I realize it would sound kinda weird but I couldn't find anything that made more sense. I dug up a super obscure meaning of the kanji.)

They're investigating and recording the ideal, most effective, concoction method for magic potions. They test the drug to ascertain its efficacy, record it, and then compound it a second time.

The two have improved enough to be able to make lower grade 【Potions]and  【Mana Potions]. And, even if they're sold for less than the market price, they'd still get a reasonable amount of money for them.

Due to their way of thinking, the two, these past two months have been doing brutal combat training in the morning, and after that they would seclude themselves, like hikikomoris*, in the makeshift lab, researching different kinds of magic potions.

(*T.N: In case you were not aware of the term-> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori)

Although, it was different from the way healthy teenage people spent their holidays, during these two months, each day has been rich, fulfilling, and fun.

But, they're almost over, and soon they'll return to the monotony of their previous routine.

"Haaahh…"

"What's with the sighs? Well, I get you, but it can't be helped that we have to return to the Academy, after all."

"I know, but I still can't get around that… it's depressing."

"That's right. Why would we want to go back to that place? There's so much to research and discover here."

"Yeah. I wanted to keep studying the multi-layered formula technique."

"When I ask them about something I don't understand, the teachers at the Academy just say 'figure it out yourself', and that's it. I just end up with the same doubt."

"The teachers are graduates from the Academy. They only know what they were taught…"

In the Academy, they teach that each of the 56 magic characters and 10 numbers is represented by one distinct sound, and that they have a meaning on their own, which is, in actuality, not incorrect. However, it's unknown the exact meaning of the characters, and they can't seem to a.s.sociate it with any modern writing system either. 

(*T.N: take the paragraph above with a grain of salt. I'm confident that its broad meaning is not wrong, but I had a lot of trouble trying to translate it.)

They have endlessly repeated the method of disa.s.sembling the traditional magic formulas, incorporating back the characters one by one, and checking what effect it has.

This doesn't mean that current day's magicians are incompetent. The cause of the drastic decrease in the level of the study of magic rests in the Evil G.o.d War, where all the excellent magicians were sent to the battlefield, and it resulted in them being wiped out with a single blow of the Evil G.o.d.

Neither the warriors hailed as heroes, nor the sages who accompanied them would've been able to seal the Evil G.o.d without the artifact given to them by the G.o.ds.

The battle ended at a great cost, and the lack of human resources became a serious problem afterwards.

The remaining magicians were only at the level of apprentices, merely youths without much experience. And they, who didn't get any special training other than the standard curriculum at the time, naturally, couldn't inherit the original magics of their masters.

Well, in reality, there were some talented magicians who survived but were decimated afterwards due to the outbreak of a plague. Its cause was the dead bodies that were left in the battlefield. The epidemic rapidly spread because no one buried the corpses after the battle took place.

In need, many magicians became alchemists instead. It was only hundreds of years later that the first movements trying to decipher magic formulas appeared.

They had the genuine magic formulas of old, but when they actually started to decipher them, they could only fumble their way through. No one understood the meaning of the magic characters, so naturally, it was an incredibly laborious task.

Unfortunately for them, the research never progressed much. Every few years, a war would break out between the countries, and they couldn't ask for cooperation from them due to the ever increasing strain in the diplomatic relationships with each other.

The magics that were successfully completed by chance were powerful, but in the end, they were an imperfect subst.i.tute limited only to a select elite group. Eventually, the situation evolved to the point where only a few could actually use magic, culminating in the birth of the aristocratic magician as it currently is.

The families that inherited these powerful original magics, generation after generation, became the protectors of the country and the ancestors of the current n.o.ble houses.

The treasure-cla.s.s magic 【Infernal Dragon Destruction], handed down to the Duke of Solisthea, is one of the magics that had been transmitted in this way.

"Our secret heirloom magic seems to be a defective magic, huh?"

"It consumes a lot of mana, and places a great burden on the caster. I'm trying to improve the efficiency, but it looks like it will be really difficult."

"It's a problem to solely rely on the caster's mana capacity. The magic conversion is unsteady, and even though the power is great, you'll completely run out of mana if you cast it three times, right?"

"If you don't increase the efficiency of mana consumption, you'll soon fall on the battlefield. It's not a multi-layered magic formula, and the idea of increasing its efficiency with only one magic circle is a bit…"

Because it's a wide range attack magic, the formula is complex and requires a large amount of mana to activate. The problem is that, it consumes a large part of your magic in a single use, effectively rendering you unable to fight in case of an emergency.

Due to the fact that the two have actual combat experience now, they've realized the flaws in their family's treasure-cla.s.s heirloom magic during deciphering practice, and they were now working on improving it.

Old man Creston gazes merrily at the two youths. Looking at his grandchildren growth makes him immensely happy.

(Ahh… my cute Tina. She's gotten so strong in these past two months, I'm really glad… Ugh, I think I'm going to cry now…

However, if she becomes so excellent, some bug will come and try to marry her. My Tina!! Over my dead body! I will send those wild beasts to h.e.l.l with these very hands!!

Yes, come. Try to seek an engagement with my cute Tina. I'll kill you aaaalllll!!)

… Well, maybe not.

No matter where he went, the old man was obsessed with his granddaughter. And he was releasing killing intent for a suitor that hadn't even appeared yet.

"Ah, Creston-san. I've completed what you requested the other day."

"Hm? Ah! As expected of Lord Zeros. That was fast."

"It's a splendidly wasteful magic, so it was quite troublesome, but I tried to optimize it as much as possible. The burden on the caster should be almost nonexistent."

"I'm sorry about that. I would've wanted to do it with my own hands, but as the years go by, the memory starts to fail."

"But, is that really okay? Showing your treasure-cla.s.s heirloom magic to outsiders?…"

The two turn around with Zeros' words. Improving the efficiency of the heirloom magic was the issue they were facing at the moment. 

Even so, they never thought that their grandfather would ask him to improve it.

"With this, the bugs will… kukuku…"

The eyes of such grandfather were terrifying.

""Grandfather!?""

"W-What is it!? Don't scare me like that, I thought my heart would stop!"

"What are you doing!? Showing our family's heirloom magic to shishou! It's supposed to be a secret magic, you know!?"

"Then, what we've been doing…"

"Isn't Zeros-dono's magic leagues apart from ours already? I don't think it matters much at this point."

It's a magic that's handed down to the four Archdukes, who protect the Solisthean royal family. It's not a good thing to show it to others.

Seeing Creston easily revealing it to Zeros, the two doubted if he even had any common sense left.

"S-Sensei, this magic is… really…"

"I understand. I didn't get carried away this time and recklessly increased its power. Well, I'm not going to teach it to anyone in the first place. It's quite the dangerous magic after all…"

"You… what the h.e.l.l are you doing!?"

"The increased power… this magic is, in a bad sense, constructed with exquisite balance. The incomprehensible magic formula seems to have an important role in the magic's foundation, for some reason…"

"W-With this… with this I can finally exterminate them…fufufu!!♪"

""Grandfather!? Who are you going to kill!?""

Zeros has just given a knife to a dangerous person.

The old man, who has finished engraving the magic into his mind, has a demented smile on his face.

n.o.bles seeking an engagement with his granddaughter is no longer a far-fetched possibility. No, wouldn't it be like adding more fuel to the fire if it happens?

Nevertheless, this old man was willing to kill.

"So, is the color of the medicinal herbs changing? Add the magic crystal's liquid ether and Mandrake's powder."

""Changing the topic!?""

"I don't really care about this old man trying to squash some roaches. It's better to incinerate those bugs sooner rather than later, they're rotten to the core anyways."

"Fufufu, yeah! I'm just cleaning up all the filth hahaha!!"

It seems almost as if sparks were coming out of Creston

Zeros was clearly irresponsible. 

To start with, magicians were indifferent to the world, and only cared about their research. Though Zeros seems to have the same disposition. 

Well, he was feeling a bit guilty now…

Creston gave the impression that he could go on a world-destroying conflagration* any time now.

(*T.N:劫火 [gouka]; It's apparently some cataclism-like event in Buddhism. I couldn't find any concrete reference in english, but the point is to sound like it would be a catastrophe of biblical proportions.)

For the sake of his beloved granddaughter, he would become a Demon King or even an Evil G.o.d.

"It's better to take it out of the fire early on, right? If you let it boil more time than this, it will be incredibly bitter."

"… Let's just forget about that. Here, it's by the fire."

"Grandfather… just what are you doing…?"

He grabs the beaker that has been over the fire with heat-resistant gloves, and places it on the table. 

The clear yellow liquid starts to turn green as it cools down. 

"Add the Mandrake powder now…"

"Ugh, Mandrakes… I don't want to think about it."

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"… I agree."

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