Chapter 79
ranslator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
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Catalog of Relics
The librarian led Hikaru to a private room where one could handle precious, old books . It was spacious, yet bleak, its walls bare, and furnished only by a bookrest, a table and a chair at the center .
「Eating and drinking is not allowed inside . You can’t use quill pens as there is a chance you might spill ink . Use of pencil to take notes is allowed if you have approval . 」the librarian said, casting a glance at the principal who stood beside Hikaru .
「Do you need to take notes?」the principal asked .
「No . 」
「There you have it . 」
「Very well . 」
The librarian bowed his head respectfully then left . An armed guard stood at the only entrance to the room, perhaps to prevent people from taking books out or damaging them .
A book with a gorgeous binding sat on the bookrest, its size midway between an A3 and B4 paper . “Zubura Relics Catalogue Presented to Forestia” was written on it .
Hikaru opened the book to a preface . Apparently the book contained a list of all the relics that Zubura surrendered to the government when the Allied Nations was founded . There was no table of contents .
A detailed drawing of the item took up most of a page’s space, and written below it were the item names, descriptions, and owners .
「Pfft . 」
Hikaru almost burst out into laughter as soon as he saw the first page . A mask with glaring eyes and long nose . The drawing wasn’t colored but it was most likely red .
It’s a tengu mask!
He knew right away that the one who made the relics was Japanese .
Why make this, though?
Demon Mask was its name . The description read “A mask made of metal . Most of the paint had worn off, leaving behind a dull brown color . Application unknown . No monsters or races with long noses existed in the past . ” The formal description made him want to laugh even more .
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「Hikaru? Do you know what this is?」
「Uh, no . I just thought it looked funny . 」
He had to be careful since the principal was watching beside him .
「Why is this mask the first item on the catalog?」
「It’s the item they excavated the most . 」
「…What?」
「They’ve found about a hundred of these Demon Masks so far . 」
What are you doing, man?! Do you love tengus that much?!
「Um, are you sure you should be here? You must be busy . 」Hikaru asked .
「I am . But I have to provide hospitality to the one who saved my relative and an important person from my hometown . 」
「What do you mean?」
「Lord Silvester and League told me about what you did . 」
「Oh, is that so?」
He didn’t expect that at all . Those two stood almost at the top of their respective nations . Hikaru didn’t think they’d openly admit that an outsider helped them out .
「Hikaru . Lord Silvester and League are both great men . Even though they’re still young, they’re righteous and hold proper views . . 」
「I don’t think their type will survive in Forestia . 」
He knew how Queen Marquedo and Zofira were having a hard time dealing with politics . The center of the government was a place of lies and deceit .
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「Are you worried about them?」
「…Not really . 」
「You’ve changed . I wonder what happened . When you were applying for enrollment, you were like a thorn that pricked anyone who’d dare touch you . 」
「Am I a sea urchin or something?」
「Sea… archer?」
「It’s nothing . 」
There might not be sea urchins in this world . Hikaru had a vague idea of his sudden change . It was because he told Lavia everything . But does it really look like I’ve changed that much?
「…Let’s continue . 」
「Please go ahead . 」
She didn’t pry deeper . Hikaru went on reading . Items he thought were clearly from Japan included a statue of the Buddha, bell, and a tea cup . One item – its use unknown – piqued his interest .
It’s a radio .
It had an antenna and a knob used to turn to change frequency . Clearly not brought from Japan since it was made of wood and metal, not plastic . Its name was “Metal Box” . Well-made, it even had speakers .
Why’d they make this?
With the use of radio and radio waves, an information revolution would definitely occur . But a radio tower was necessary for them to work . In the first place, this world didn’t have “electricity” . Long-distance communication – almost like a telegram – was done through sorcery with the use of an expensive catalyst .
「Are you interested in that?」the principal asked Hikaru who’d been staring at the picture .
「Um… it says here usage unknown . What do you think?」
「This is a very strange relic . The weapons in the next pages are not as complex as this item . A magic item researcher in the academy had been studying this Metal Box, but they haven’t had any noteworthy results . 」
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「Where did they find this?」
「In the back regions of Zubura . Inside a tower where they found a lot of other relics . 」
A tower… It must be a radio tower, then . But that doesn’t make any sense .
「How old are these relics?」Hikaru asked .
「Eight hundred to a thousand years . Before Zubura was even founded . 」
Let’s say these things were 800 years old and the person who made them back then knew about radios . In Japan, eight hundred years ago would be the Kamakura period .
The time periods didn’t match .
Does that mean time flows differently here than on Earth? Or perhaps time periods are connected randomly? But that only raises more questions . If someone from Japan got sent here after me and ended up in the past, that would result in a parallel universe . The flow of time here is just different and irreversible . I think that makes the most sense .
「Hikaru? You’re not reading the rest? I thought for sure you wanted information on weapons and such . 」
「How is that?」
「Well, you came from Ponsonia . I don’t think you’re related to the army, but I heard you’re quite strong . It’s only natural for those who seek power to seek artifact-class weapons . 」
「I see . I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in them . 」
Hikaru flipped the page . Weapons and more weapons . Rifles, shuriken, pistols, and cannons .
「What makes these weapons superior is that they’re all magic items . 」
「Oh…」
「The blade of this sword extends when you pour mana into it . And this star-shaped throwing weapon disappears for a moment if you load it with mana . 」
The sword’s design was unfamiliar to him . It looked similar to the wakizashi he bought .
Maybe the one I bought is actually the real deal . I’ll check later .
「Are these magic effects really that rare?」
「They haven’t been replicated until now . 」
「Oh…」
Hikaru was genuinely impressed . Whoever made them must’ve worked really hard .
「What about this one? It says you need to load it with mana beforehand . 」
The weapons Hikaru wanted to see . Pistols and rifles .
「We believe this is a magic item that allows one to load magic in it and then shoot it out afterwards . We have plenty of things like this everywhere . 」
「Really?」
「Yes . We have items which you can use to “store magic in and use it afterwards” . It doesn’t have to be shaped like these . They could be rings or staffs . 」
「Ah, yes . I see what you mean . 」
「But that’s not what makes this weapon incredible . 」
「What makes it incredible then?」
「Normally, the magical power from magic items is weaker than when a magic user casts the spell directly . But these weapons… the power they emit is on par with an actual magic user casting spells, or even stronger . 」
Hikaru groaned . So basically the energy conversion is at a hundred percent or higher .
「Is that even possible?」
A hundred percent or lower made sense . But over that was just physically impossible .
「Yes . I thought it was strange too, but the researchers said this thing called “holy mana” makes it possible . 」
A familiar word came out of her mouth .