By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 18

Chapter 3 Episode 18: Prototypes and Evaluations

I was walking through town with Serge after we weathered Dinome’s bragging about his grandchild. Serge successfully changed the subject, so we managed to get out while the sun was still up.

“He quite liked you, Master Ryoma,” Serge said. “That was an impressive display.”

“I mostly just tried not to offend him. You, on the other hand, really know your way around a conversation,” I replied. It sounded like we were complimenting each other on a successful heist.

“What are you going to do with that, by the way?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. I was holding a small box containing a gear. Dinome gave it to me saying it was the first creation of a soon-to-be-famous magic item craftsman, but I didn’t know what it was actually worth. “How talented do you think his grandson actually is?”

“Well, there are examples of young children who imitated their parents and learned magic naturally. It’s rare, though, and may imply some talent. But whether he’ll continue to display such talent in the future is a mystery.”

“That sounds about right.”

“Well, he may have gone soft now, but the old Dinome was hard to satisfy. That was just how seriously he took his work. He was hard on his disciples, too. Even through the eyes of a grandfather, if he sees potential, then I’m sure there’s potential,” Serge said. I prayed that the high expectations wouldn’t weigh down his grandchild in the future.

“By the way, Serge, I was wondering why you don’t have any bodyguards. Isn’t it dangerous to walk around by yourself? I thought this city had a lot of crime,” I said. I thought the head of a big company would have at least one guard, but I didn’t see anyone. It didn’t seem like any were hiding anywhere either.

“I’ve stayed in this city more times than I can count, and I’ve found that there’s hardly any danger before dark. Security is enhanced during the markets, and there’s no real threat of physical violence on the busy streets. If any pickpockets happen to catch me off guard, that’s my fault. Besides, some of the people I’ve been visiting would hate if I dragged too many guests along. But in the event that something does happen, I’m prepared,” Serge said and tapped his belt buckle. It looked like a classy, but otherwise ordinary belt.

“Is that a magic item?”

“Indeed. It’s part of my collection. By sending magical energy through it, I can instantly deploy a defensive barrier. And this bracelet can produce a smokescreen. Not only would it hide me temporarily, but it would draw a crowd who’d fear it was a fire. I have no way to fight, but plenty of ways to protect myself. Don’t worry.”

“I see,” I said. I wasn’t worried about walking around alone either, so it made sense.

“What will you be doing now, Master Ryoma?”

“First, I’d like to reserve a room at an inn. As long as I’m in town, I’d like to see tomorrow’s market before I go home.”

“Then I can tell you about the inn I’m using. It’s safe and it faces the main street, so if you go by carriage, you shouldn’t get lost.”

Now that I had that information, I headed to the inn. Serge still had people to greet, so we parted ways. But he did agree to show me around for dinner and for the market tomorrow.

■ ■ ■

Thirty minutes later I successfully reserved a room at the inn, but now I had nothing to do. Nothing was especially urgent, and the magic items would have to wait until tomorrow. I waited for Serge to get back so we could go to dinner. I had already fed my slimes too, so I was bored. I didn’t want to be away when Serge got here, so I couldn’t go anywhere. This trip made the convenience of cell phones that much more apparent. If only there was a magic item that worked like one.

Speaking of magic items, I decided to kill time by trying to make one. That spinning gear was still in my Item Box, and there was iron in my Dimension Home. I could use alchemy to reshape it to some extent. I didn’t know what I could make out of these parts, but hopefully something useful for everyday life. After thinking about it for a bit, plenty of options came to mind: a fan, an electric drill, a lawnmower, and more. I knew how to make an axis from my woodworking knowledge, since that included how to design a wheel. That meant I just had to prepare the other necessary parts and add the gear in. The gear itself revolved using magical energy, so it would be easy to use as the core of a machine. I started to work on that, thinking about what else I could make as I did.

“Master Ryoma, are you here?” Serge asked upon his return.

“Yes?!” I yelped, so immersed in my work that I was startled by his voice. “Welcome back, Serge. It’s dinner time, right? Sorry, can you give me a minute to clean up the room?” I rushed to put everything away. I didn’t want to make him wait too long, so I just stuffed it all in my Item Box. “Done.”

Serge led me to a bar full of muscular men. Most of the customers seemed to be physical laborers. I expected Serge to recommend some classy restaurant, but I seemed to be far off the mark. Maybe he was trying to pick something more to my tastes.

“The meat here is quite hearty,” Serge explained. “It goes great with beer. Every time I come here, I end up overeating.”

“Oh, Serge! Want to sit in the usual place?” a waitress asked. It sounded like Serge was a regular here.

“Yes, please.”

“Got it. Oh, who’s this adorable little boy? Is he your son?”

“His son?!” I exclaimed.

“He’s a client,” Serge said.

Maybe I did look young enough to be his son, but to actually hear someone point that out felt awkward. Serge looked sort of uncomfortable too.

“Then come to the second floor, please!” the waitress said.

We followed her up the stairs. When we opened the door, a refreshing gust of wind rushed through. The second floor had no walls or windows, just a roof and pillars. Through the gaps in the pillars, I could see the busy streets. That and the boisterous atmosphere made it feel like a beer garden. But the tables were divided by partitions made of tree bark, so there was some privacy.

“Do you know what you want to order?” the waitress asked.

“The usual for both of us, please,” Serge said. “But before that, what beer is available today?”

“You’re in luck, Serge. The head chef says we got some especially high-quality ale today.”

“Then I’ll start with some light appetizers and a mug of ale. Master Ryoma, do you want anything to drink?”

“I’ll have what you’re having,” I said.

“You want ale? Would you like that in a glass?”

“No, a mug, please. Don’t worry, I have Tekun’s protection.” I proved it by showing my status board.

“That means you get the first mug on the house!” the waitress said.

“Really?” I asked. It felt like I was getting a free drink just for showing my license. That didn’t seem right to me.

“I can’t believe someone with the God of Wine’s blessing came the day we got some great drinks!”

“Restaurants live or die on the quality of their alcohol, and many of them have superstitions around this, you see,” Serge explained.

“Then I’ll be happy to accept the offer,” I said. I could always pay later if I felt the need to.

“Thanks! I’ll be right back,” the waitress said, then walked off.

“It’s beautiful up here,” I said.

“This view gives you a good look at all the activity in this town, yes,” Serge agreed.

“And I don’t know if it’s because the one light here is so weak, but I can see all the stars in the sky. It’s like it naturally complements the artificial light.”

“That’s an interesting way of looking at it.”

“Here you are!” the waitress said upon her return. “Ale and appetizers.”

“That was fast,” I said.

“This restaurant is quick about these two items in particular,” Serge explained.

“People order these all the time!” the waitress said. “Enjoy, you two!” This restaurant seemed to be pretty efficient.

“Then let’s begin with the drinks, Master Ryoma. Cheers!” Serge said, and we raised our glasses and drank the ale. The instant it touched my tongue, the taste spread through my mouth. It had a fruity sweetness complemented by some sort of herbs. Tasty foam covered my tongue as the ale flowed down my throat. It wasn’t that bitter and the alcohol didn’t seem too strong, so I could keep guzzling it down.

“This is delicious!” I said.

“Indeed!” Serge agreed. “And it goes perfect with the appetizers. These are good too,” he said of the salted nuts that came as appetizers. They were lightly roasted and tasted a bit savory. The sweet taste of the ale combined with the salty, savory taste of the nuts was exquisite.

“I bet this would be great after a long day’s work.”

“This is only the beginning. Wait until the meat gets here,” Serge said. I needed to make sure I didn’t drink too much before then. “By the way, were those magic items that you had in your room?”

“You saw that? How embarrassing. I wanted to try making some myself.”

“Oh! What kind of item, if you wouldn’t mind telling me?” he said.

I had no reason to hide them, so I showed Serge a few of the smaller items I created. “What do you think?” I asked.

“You always have some peculiar ideas, Master Ryoma.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Take these ‘fans,’ for example. They blow air, correct? There are plenty of magic items used for ventilating air, but I’ve never seen one that spins these blades around to blow air. You could simply enchant something with wind magic to achieve the same effect. Everyone who works with magic items knows that. That would cut the cost of production on these blades, and make the product easier to mass-produce. Some further alterations could be made for ease of use or aesthetic appeal, but few craftsmen would assemble mechanisms like this.”

“I don’t think this is dissimilar to how magimobiles are made, though.”

“I felt the same way, but the history of magimobiles began from a historically important memo. It was full of ideas for magic items, and while it offered no ideas for specific designs, many of them have now been successfully created, and more continue to be invented to this day. Heaters and air conditioners, for example, were first suggested by this book. Cooler boxes, the magic items we use when we need to transport food and keep it fresh, were listed as well. I’ve heard that your store uses barrier magic and ice magic to preserve food, and while the method itself is different, cooler boxes serve the same purpose. Perhaps your ideas are similar to those provided by that memo.”

Judging by the names used, it was probably written by somebody from Earth, but I knew I couldn’t say that. “Well, it’s not easy to produce inventions that great,” I said instead.

“One of these is clever, actually. This one,” Serge said and pointed to one of the magic items I set on the table. It looked like a bumpy toilet paper holder with a small comb stuck on it. Admittedly it looked pretty lame, but it was a music box of sorts. The gear inside the tube made it spin so the bumps on the outside would pluck the teeth of the comb part and play a nursery rhyme. But it was a simple melody, like hitting one key at a time on a piano.

“You really like this one?”

“Most definitely. As a collector, I have seen many magic items in my time, but a magic item that can automatically play music is fascinating. It has no particular use, but I think it would have plenty of sales value as a toy. There are quite a number of nobles who enjoy toys like these. If you simply made it look more appealing, I imagine it would sell decently enough,” Serge said, lowering his voice in a way that made him sound pretty serious about this.

On Earth, music boxes came to be what we know them as today back in 18th century Europe. But they were based on how church bells were rung to announce the time according to a college lecture I attended once, and that had been around much longer. They were operated manually at first, then they were made automatically, and clocks were added to make them into devices. That reminded me that the clock I received from the duke’s family was also a magic item, and that it didn’t have any complicated inner mechanisms.

“There are no magic items that can play sounds like this?” I asked. “I often hear church bells ringing, though. It would be an issue if those rung late. Don’t they use any devices to make sure that doesn’t happen?”

“Not that I can think of. There’s a magic item that will sound an alarm when a flute is played, but a magic item that performs music on its own? Commoners go to traveling entertainers and bards when they want music, and nobles employ musicians. Ringing the church bells is a job performed by monks and nuns, as part of their daily routine. They would never use a magic item instead. I haven’t checked every bell in the world, however,” Serge said. it sounded like I should assume there was no way to record audio, either. I considered the possibility of inventing the phonograph and records and seeing if that drew attention, but maybe some other time. Either way, now I knew that music boxes would be more valuable than I expected. “It didn’t seem like you were planning to sell this, but I think it would be a bit unfortunate if you didn’t.”

“How exactly would I go about selling these? I don’t think that’s something I’m capable of making enough to sell.”

“First, you would—”

“Your food’s ready!” the waitress announced as she walked over. “Here’s our specialty steak with herb butter.” The dishes were steaming hot, and the smell of butter, herbs, and meat made me hungry.

“We can discuss it after we eat,” Serge said.

“That sounds fine. Also, I’d like another ale, please.”

Serge ordered more drinks as I rushed to clear away all my magic items.