In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 13 Page 19

  Hrmm... Should I really be giving a phone to a kid like her? Wait, I already gave one to Sue and they’re similarly-aged... Smartphones have handy apps like the notepad, too... The mass-produced ones also have handy dictionaries. You know what? Yeah, she deserves it.

  I opened up my [Storage] and pulled out one of the white mass-produced smartphone models. I also handed over a little user manual. If she read it through, she’d be able to have a good grasp of how the device worked.

  “Th-Thank you so much, bruv!”

  “Sure, but here’s a word of advice. You can’t take it to school. Also, if you lose it or somebody takes it... Tell me right away. I won’t get mad, okay?”

  “Okay!” Renne happily took the smartphone, and I gave her a pat on the head.

  If she brought it to school, that would cause complications. It could get stolen, or she might end up being ostracized for having something so unusual. Renne was a good kid, so I didn’t see her getting bullied... But it was always better to be safe than sorry.

  Even if it was a child that ended up causing trouble for Renne, we’d still have to scold them. She was our precious maid, after all.

  I registered everyone’s numbers into the phone, excluding the numbers for the other world leaders. That meant she’d be able to call me or Sue whenever she liked.

  “Good luck with your exams, just don’t overdo it, okay?”

  “Mhm! Thank you so much! I’ll look after it, promise!” She turned and began to trot away, but paused for a moment before putting the books back on her head and beginning a graceful walk.

  Oh, crap. I got held up... I need to eat before my meeting! I smiled on at Renne before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

  “Hey there, sorry to keep you waiting.”

  “Ain’t a bother at all, milord! I’m thankful fer yer audience.” A small group was gathered in the training grounds outside the castle, and their leader smiled before giving me a nod.

  He spoke coarsely, and he had a rough, bearded face. His muscles were positively rippling, he was absolutely a prime specimen of his race.

  Each member of the group had to have been one and a half meters tall at the very most. They were all men, too... At least I thought so... But I’d heard rumors that even the women of their species were bearded, so it was hard to tell.

  They were dwarves. A robust, mountain-dwelling people. A noble race of warrior miners, and craftsmen blacksmiths.

  This dwarven group had brought with them a letter from the king of Ryle.

  The king of Ryle, Burstra Durga Ryle, was descended from a dwarven bloodline. Apparently, Ryle was largely composed of Dwarven settlements. The delegation before me was a group from one of those hamlets.

  “So, what did you want to show me?”

  “Ah... It’ll be quicker if we show ya... Here.”

  The dwarves had a cart behind them. Whatever was on it was covered by a tarp, but they wanted me to see it. At their leader’s command, the dwarves began to pull the tarp away, exposing the object to the sunlight.

  “Oh...!” I recognized the thing under the tarp. It was a short and stout machine with long arms and short legs. It didn’t have anything above the neck area, and the cockpit area on its back was empty.

  It looked like one of the Steel Battalion, the knock-off Frame Gears built in Yulong. They’d been used to attempt an invasion of Felsen.

  Wait... Is that really one of those? It doesn’t look right... It kind of looks a lot cruder, actually.

  It was shaped like a car that had been cut down the middle, with the front half refitted into a torso, and then massive limbs coming out of the side and bottom... It was a rough construction.

  Regardless of what it was, it was clearly robotic. And it definitely seemed like one that could be piloted. I’d seen similar Gollems in the Reverse World, but they moved autonomously and just carried people. They weren’t things that could be piloted.

  “We call it the Dverg. We’ve been usin’ them fer engineering and ore haulin’. We ain’t really got any plans to sell them or make ’em en masse, though.”

  Dverg, huh... In this world, that was the name of the Dwarven ancestor species... I guess that’s a pretty appropriate name.

  But man... They made something like this? Those dwarves are something else.

  “It’s nice, but what are you showing it to me for?”

  “You got a giant warrior’ve yer own, right? I wanted to compare my Dverg here to one’ve yours.”

  Huh. Compare, huh? Should I...? I kind of hope they don’t get too disheartened...

  It was far too late to think about, but looking at the machine in front of me made me realize that their inventor, Bowman, must have actually been a legitimate genius. Still, he was an arrogant fool... Doc Babylon was enough of a moron, anyway... And she had more brains than him.

  I popped open a [Gate] and called down a Chevalier from the Hangar.

  It thudded on the ground, causing shockwaves to rumble out along the ground. The dwarves looked, slack-jawed, as it descended. I’d certainly caught them off-guard.

  “This is my mass-produced Frame Gear, the Chevalier. It’s the easiest one to handle out of the bunch. Oh, right. This is a slightly outdated model.” I couldn’t tell whether the dwarves had heard me or not. They were still silently staring, mouths agape, at the Chevalier before them.

  I wasn’t too surprised, though. Their Dverg was about four meters tall, and my Frame Gear was fifteen meters tall. It was like comparing a little kid with an adult.

  “Wh... Did... Didja unearth this machine underground’re somethin’?!”

  “Only the first few. The others, this one included, were created by my country. There are also a lot of other models we’ve developed since then.” Oh, whoops... I’m speaking a little casually here... I don’t want them to think I’m bragging... But I hope they got what they wanted.

  “...I’ve a request fer ya, Grand Duke. Please introduce me ta whoever made this thing. Now I’ve seen it, I can’t possibly take me fellows back without meetin’ that inventor.”

  “Hm? Ah... I mean, I guess so, but...” I think that’ll just make you guys feel worse...

  “Th-This little lassie is the one what made these?!”

  “Pfft, you guys aren’t one for manners, huh? But I guess I’ve heard all dwarves are like that, so it’s fine.” The dwarves were all standing, mouths agape, as they stared at Doctor Babylon.

  Their surprise was understandable. From an outside perspective, she looked like a ten-year-old girl.

  The leader of the dwarves exhaled softly and began to speak.

  “Are you maybe from a race with a longer lifespan than most?”

  “Mm... Something like that. Let’s put that aside for a minute, though. Did you invent that thing behind you?” Doc Babylon shoved her hands into her lab coat pockets before gesturing toward the Dverg with her head.

  “Hmm... It’s certainly rough around the edges, but I sense a lot of pride in its craftsmanship. It’s far superior to that miserable Frame Gear copy I analyzed a while back. As for the core... You’re using a mana kiln? That’s clever... You’re drawing from the atmosphere and using a magical core in the middle as a catalyst for fuel efficiency...”

  “Y-Y’figured that much out jus’ by lookin’?!”

  The dwarven leader was taken aback. Don’t be deceived, she just used her [Analyze] spell covertly.

  “But I don’t think it’s as efficient as it should be. The magic power you’re extracting isn’t being utilized properly. I think each move it makes is expending excess magic power, so you’re operating at a magical loss.”

  “Guh... You ain’t wrong... But we’d need higher output to get the magic juices flowin’ through the whole thing. Even if we got leakage, that’s just because we ain’t got a strong enough system yet. Unless y’got an alternative?”

  “I do, actually. Engrave the magical conduits into the frame of the machine itself with Ether Lines, and use Adamantite as th
e base material.”

  “Ohh... Of course!” They started an in-depth conversation and left me in the dust.

  I thought up a little idea so I whipped out my smartphone and made a call to someone up in Babylon.

  “Hey, Rosetta? There’s an interesting conversation going on down here that I’m sure you’d love to be part of. Yup, Doc’s here too.” I think having her join would be a good idea.

  After a while, the overall-wearing fiend appeared. She suddenly began to rattle off a bunch of improvement ideas for the Dverg.

  After a shorter while, the dwarves walked over and began tinkering with the Dverg. I was surprised they weren’t waiting until they got home.

  While Rosetta argued with the dwarves about which parts to use, Doctor Babylon came over to me.

  “You’ve shown me something interesting, today. As an inventor, I enjoy seeing new concepts from other creators.”

  “Isn’t this just the same as the situation with the Steel Battalion, though?”

  “That’s a matter of perspective, if you ask me. There’s no doubt that both machines have clearly made use of Frame Gear technology, but the Dverg isn’t entirely derivative. It has original dwarven tech in there too. It’s not just an imitation of the original, so I consider it something new.”

  That made sense. They’d built something entirely new based on the Steel Battalion, and what was known about Frame Gears. I didn’t really know much about the dwarves being talented magic engineers, but it made sense. They and the Elves were species that had long lifespans. It wasn’t strange to assume that they’d have inherited some knowledge from the ancient civilization.

  I’d actually heard that some of the engineers working on the upcoming magic train in Felsen were dwarves.

  “Is this safe, though?”

  “Again, that’s a matter of perspective. We can hardly halt progress, nor the rise of technology and civilization. Unless of course, you plan to confiscate this Dverg, murder all these dwarves, and send back their bodies to Ryle as a warning.” Doctor Babylon grinned wide toward me. Hell no would I ever do something like that!

  “This machine would’ve been invented no matter what. In a sense, they’re late to the party. Since the Frame Gears are already five-thousand years old. It’s simple scientific advancement.”

  “I guess so...”

  “I suppose it’s more of a revival, though. Right now this Dverg could be destroyed with a single magic blast, and isn’t ready for domestic use.” That was true. It didn’t really seem like much of a weapon, either.

  In the future, it could become something similar to a Frame Gear, though.

  Compared to the Reverse World and its Gollems, magitech just wasn’t on the same level in this world. Mr. Sancho’s crab bus was a lot more advanced than the Dverg.

  Still, it got me thinking. If the engineers of the Reverse World could somehow collaborate with the ones of this world, they’d probably be able to make something immense. Though that would be too hard to arrange.

  Still... I couldn’t help but wonder about the possibilities if I could bring two worlds together as one. I shook my head and turned back to the dwarves.

  “I’d like to see how this thing moves. Can I pilot it?”

  “Aye, even a greenhorn could! Y’wanna give it a shot?” I sat down in the cockpit that protruded from the back. Unlike the Frame Gear, the Dverg couldn’t read the intentions of its pilot, so everything was manual.

  “Right... Pour yer magic into the spellstone near the control stick. That’ll fire up the kiln... Then make it walk slow.”

  “Alright... Step one, then... Gonna pour in my magic...”

  “Ten-hut! Stop! Sir, yes sir! You gotta stop! Master’s magic power is a little...!” Rosetta tried to warn me, but I just casually poured my magic in as usual.

  A moment later, the Dverg began to make some weird noises. Then it exploded.

  “WHAAAAAT?!” Shrieked the dwarves.

  “What the...?” The armored portion of the Dverg’s abdomen was blasted clear off, and smoke began to rise from its insides.

  I freaked out and hopped out of the cockpit. The dwarves were standing there, mouths agape, as they stared from the Dverg to me.

  Did I do that?

  “Master, sir... No magic kiln can handle your level of magic without compression, sir! It’d be like trying to light a candle with an advanced firestorm spell!”

  “...Touya, your magic power is far more than the limits of the furnace. You poured in enough to make it overflow... Then the excess simply detonated, with nowhere to go.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?!” I didn’t know what to tell the dwarves. I really, really hoped that they’d believe me when I told them it was an accident.

  I stared quietly at the poor dwarves, who were still staring in horror at their wrecked machine.

  I quietly arranged for several barrels of booze to be given to them as an apology.

  ◇　◇　◇

  Brunhild, like most countries, had an area dedicated to medical care. In layman’s terms, we had a clinic. A standard facility where people who were ill or concerned went for medical checkups.

  Medical technology was definitely far behind Earth’s standards in this world, but they also had restoration magic. In fact, most treatments were performed using this kind of magic.

  Restoration magic was an umbrella term for magic that cured injuries, recovered vitality, removed curses, sucked out poisons, and so on. There was also resurrection magic, but that was sort of a field of its own.

  It wasn’t easy to bring someone back from the dead. There were certain conditions that needed to be fulfilled, and even risks to the caster.

  For the most part, resurrection magic wasn’t carried out as a normal procedure. Not to mention the fact that the magic wasn’t even guaranteed to work. If it went wrong, it could even kill the person casting it.

  Still, that was neither here nor there.

  The point was that Brunhild had itself a clinic. Doctors and nurses were employed there and were often on call. Brunhild’s castle town was a relatively small capital, but the clinic still handled injuries every day and night.

  And it just so happened that I was visiting the clinic on that day.

  I wasn’t really there to formally inspect it or anything, I guess I just wanted to check the place out.

  “Come forth, Light! Soothing Comfort: [Cure Heal]” A soft light came out of Sue’s palm before wrapping around a child’s injured arm. The damaged skin was restored to normal in the blink of an eye, and the open cut was now nowhere to be found.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Not anymore...”

  “Good. Be careful not to play in the forest alone, okay? Your mommy might get upset.” The child’s eyes were wet with fresh tears, but he sniffed and nodded toward Sue. His mother smiled and thanked us before walking out of the clinic with him, hand in hand.

  Even though restoration magic existed in this world, not everyone could use it. It also still required magical power. That meant that the number of times someone could use it to heal someone else per day was set in stone.

  That’s why we tried to avoid using magic unless it was really necessary. Which was also why healthcare could get pricey, depending on the injury or magic supply. If we treated every reckless cut and scrape with magic, then our staff would quickly run out of magic. Our treatment costs were still fairly cheap compared to the other nations, though.

  “Good work. You’re getting pretty good at this, Sue.”

  “Ah, I’m not all that... If I could use [Area Heal] like you, Touya... I’d be a lot more efficient.” Eh... It’s not that simple. That spell’s a super advanced one from the light school... In my case, the fact that I can use it is more thanks to god than anything I did...

  Sue liked to come to the clinic to help out now and then. Her butler, Leim, always accompanied her during her visits.

  She had a good aptitude for Light magic, so she enjoyed using it to help peop
le out.

  The child mortality rate was pretty high in this world. There weren’t just diseases and accidents to worry about, the threat of monsters was pretty high in some regions too.

  The little boy Sue had just gotten done with healing had wandered around in the forest and been scratched by a Lone-Horned Rabbit. Children who grew up in urban environments didn’t have too much experience with magical beasts. Because they weren’t familiar with such creatures, they didn’t realize how careful they needed to be.

  We’d hunted down the monsters in the vicinity of the town, but they had a habit of breeding fast and were on the rise again. I considered using my smartphone to target every beast in a wide vicinity in order to destroy them all, but Guildmaster Relisha asked me not to.

  She said that if we killed every low-tier monster, then there’d be no reason for adventurers with a lower rank than Red to come around Brunhild too often. She raised a fair point, so I erected a barrier around the castle town to prevent monsters from coming into the city itself.

  The barrier prevented monsters from coming in, but it didn’t stop people entering or exiting. The little boy was only injured because he left the town and was caught in the forest.

  There happened to be an adventurer in the forest at the same time. If he hadn’t come along, the boy might’ve died. I decided to have Fiana, the headmistress of our town’s school, teach a special lesson on safety.

  “Touya, can I get a top-up? The magic in my engagement ring is nearly dry.”

  “Already? Goodness... You’ve really been working hard.” Sue and my other fiancées all had engagement rings enchanted with the [Transfer] spell, allowing them to draw from the deep pool of magic power I’d stored into it. This allowed them to tap into my own magic reserves and cast more spells than they’d ordinarily be able to. However, the reserves weren’t infinite. The rings would eventually run out, so I had to refill them now and then.

  But man... Sue really used it all up already...? I guess she’s been working pretty hard in the clinic, but I bet she’s been practicing magic a lot at home, too... I’m pretty sure I put enough reserve magic in these things to last a ton of time, so she must be really going at it.