Boundary Labyrinth and the Foreign Magician Chapter 60

"…I'm sorry, could you explain that to me once more?"

Alfred's gesture of placing his hand onto his forehead showed me that he was worried.

"Hmm. So basically,"

A small light glimmered steadily as I lit up a Spell on my fingertip. There were two kinds of signals --one that emitted light for a short period of time and another that lasted for a longer period.

"Although the Mana itself isn't specifically for producing light and can also be for sound, you can combine short and long flashes to create signals like this, and each corresponds to a letter. The sender will first need to input a letter through a tool that converts that into a signal, which will then be transmitted. The receiver will convert that signal into letters and display it."

In other words, this communication method was similar to Morse Code. It appeared that the scale of the technique could be reduced, since it was simple.

He had me go out of my way to explain the process of converting letters into signals, so that a wide range of people who didn't have the necessary background knowledge or ability could use it. The Magic Circuit that was used for transmitting and receiving the signals, as well as displaying the translated letters, could be independent of each other. There was no need to make it into an all-in-one package, but further optimizations could be expected to make that happen.

"Later on, you will need to think of ways to identify the receiver."

"About that… I think that creating a magical bond between two people through a Contract Spell or an Enchantment could work. That way, I'll be able to cast Spells onto the completed tools."

Alfred crossed his arms as if he was thinking about something and cast his eyes downwards in response.
Contract Spells were magic that bound a familiar or a slave to its master.
If this method could be used to identify communication partners, perhaps he could apply his own ideas on the process later, as long as he could bear with it.
Alfred would be the only one working hard on this, so I would have felt guilty if I kept throwing ideas at him.

Even though I gave that suggestion, I wasn't confident about how useful it was. He was, at least, determined, despite his common sense and the fact that he was behind schedule. Looking at the products that resulted from this world's Magic System, there were items that were impossible to make on Earth.

Besides that, although there weren't any created solely for long-range communication… if high level Familiars or Summoning Magic were utilized, it would be possible to transfer information back-and-forth between the two users.
A high level Familiar had to be prepared first, and it was necessary for the owner to form a contract with it. Since information transfer that relied on Summoning Magic required large-scale accommodations, special catalysts, and other similar things, there were higher hurdles to jump over. One of the drawbacks to this technique was that, since accidents could occur at even the slightest mistake, it required skilled Summoners to perform it.

As a common means of exchanging information, it appeared that people resorted to using outdated methods such as letters, signal fires, carrier pigeons, transfers that relied on dragon cages, and so on. Would this method be exceptional?

"Well…I was surprised."

Alfred, who had been looking downward, widened his eyes and looked up. His expression and tone were filled with pure amazement and curiosity.

"In order to handle the Mana, it gets treated as a simple signal instead without relying on techniques that could do various things, huh? Besides, if we can get rid of the useless parts of the signaling method…then–"

As far as I could tell from Alfred's reaction, it seemed like it was quite useful to reduce the number of necessary techniques. Perhaps, it was because this world didn't have Morse Code signals.

"Theo-kun…where did you come up with such an idea?…"

"Hmm. Even if I said where it was from…"

Since I couldn't say that it was from Earth, I spoke evasively.

As a result from my discussions with Alfred, it had become our direction to develop a Mana Communicator. (TN: 魔力通信機)
Even though it couldn't be completed within a short amount of time, it appeared that he already understood the principles of the mechanism and could visualize its finished form. Alfred uttered enthusiastically, "I'll definitely have it implemented eventually, and make it into a primary product of the Brightwelt Workshop!"
If communication technology advanced in ease and speed, it would have a great impact on society, so it wasn't like I didn't understand his enthusiasm.

Even if Brightwelt Workshop's plans and strategies were decided, it didn't mean that it would affect my life at present. Today, as well, we would be going around Twilight Forest to do some leveling and earn some money.

Just as I was about to enter the Labyrinth, a search party led by Fernand, with Jasper and several other Adventurers, caught my eye.
I would understand if they were quarreling, but a part of me doubted my eyes when I saw them smiling amicably at each other.

"Hmmph. Well then, we'll pa.s.s through these areas along the way, without stopping until we reach our destination."

"Yeah. Let this Jasper handle it, now that we have Fernand-sama to rely on."

…Jasper replied to Fernand with that. His manner of speech was quite polite, which was unthinkable in the past. Hmm. In the end, was it money that Jasper valued, above all else? Perhaps everything else was just secondary to him.

I didn't recognise the adventurers who were with Jasper. Perhaps, he had become alienated from his former group because of what had happened.
He might've become defiant with that, and Mercedia would probably get quite angry if she knew about this.

"Oi, brat. Do ya have a complaint 'bout somethin'?"

Jasper noticed me and glared at me.

"It doesn't really matter."

Jasper snorted as I shrugged my shoulders. Although I felt a bit listless, he hadn't really committed a crime, and his business here had nothing to do with me. I didn't feel like questioning him in detail.

"Ara~, are you guys acquaintances?"

"We aren't really… acquaintances…"

Although Fernand showed some interest, Jasper sulked and turned away.

"Fumu…"

Fernand shrugged a bit as he walked to me.

"…Can I help you? Do you not know about the promise with Sir Chester?"

"Although I do know about it, I have nothing to do with that man's promise."

…Well said. If his backer was Greg, he should have understood what this meant. Even though the matter had been pa.s.sed around to the point that everyone already knew about it, for him to ignore it and start a conversation with me was…

"Well, listen up. Just because my interests were in conflict with the Flying Dragon Unit's, doesn't mean that I will pick a fight with them. Instead, there's a better matter to discuss. Even though I'm being vague about this, since I don't know how much you know about the situation, if you provide information on what the Knights are looking for, they will buy it for a hefty price."

Although he whispered that into my ear…I knew that I had knitted my brows unintentionally.
I didn't know how he would interpret my expression, but Fernand didn't care at all, and only laughed.

"Don't be so pretentious. The Knights have been investigating your circ.u.mstances as well. You separated from your house, and you're going into the Labyrinth since you're worried about money, right? Perhaps the reward from before wasn't enough, but to have you here right now, I think this situation isn't particularly bad for you."

…What kind of line of thinking did this guy have?
When the Adventurers were asked for a map, or to be guides in the Labyrinth, the request would probably be delivered under the umbrella of the Knight's authority… and after the situation change, it had become like this? Although Fernand had a prideful look on his face, he wasn't the kind to give out money.

"Well, please think it over. I'm aware that my choice of words were bad, but we're definitely planning to hire Adventurers."

Fernand parted ways with me after saying what he wanted to say. Then, together with Jasper, they headed towards the stone stele and vanished into the Labyrinth.
Well, aside from his outward appearance, his inner workings were quite different from Chester.

…Even if he had spoken boastfully earlier, he probably intended to twist around some words with ill-will. I didn't want it to become an endless and pointless argument.

"If it was me, I would never want to be business partners with him."

Sheila spoke.
Although Fernand had intended to speak with just me in a whisper, it appeared that Sheila had heard.
Since she belonged to the Thieves Guild, it seemed that she really neither liked Fernand's speech pattern nor his att.i.tude.

"Needless to say, I'm not interested in it at all."

At my response, Sheila smiled and nodded.

"What was that conversation about?"

Irmhild asked Sheila. She looked at me in question, wondering whether it was fine to talk about it, and I nodded at her. Whether or not she was worthy of my trust, part of me thought that information should be reliably shared with companions.

But, well, that was that.
Although I thought that business and personal feelings should be kept separate, when it came to human emotions, I had decided that it was better to deal with people when I was in a good mood.

To begin with, I was a companion who skipped over the Knights and gave information directly to King Melvin or Prince Albert. There was absolutely no merit to being partners with that guy and negotiating with him. Rather, along with Jasper, he was someone who I didn't want to get involved with.

…Hah. I decided to go into the Labyrinth. Rather than thinking about people like Fernand, it was always more productive to fight some Monsters instead.