In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 10 Read online

  Elze, Yae, and Leen began chattering amongst themselves. Please don’t talk about weird crap...

  Xenoahs was still isolationist, despite the engagement, but they did agree to send individuals over to Brunhild as a show of good faith.

  There was discrimination against demonkin all over the world, but the envoys from Xenoahs would be able to work in Brunhild without any of that. I was a little worried about the overlord using the agreement as a convenient excuse to drop by whenever he wanted, though...

  ◇　◇　◇

  “This is where I was planning on building the school.”

  “It’s a good position. Not too far out of the town, so it’d be a good commute.” I was showing Fiana around the construction area. Old man Naito was there too, overseeing affairs, and Kougyoku was here to keep the peace.

  “We’ll make a small schoolhouse to start, and then add to it from there. Ms. Fiana, you’re the sole teacher for the time being, so we don’t need to start with a large class in mind.”

  “That’s fair. I’d like to start with around twenty students, though. I can handle that much, at least.”

  Naito nodded toward Fiana while making note of the small details. This was a crucial step in granting the children of Brunhild more freedom.

  Honestly though, I already had another school in mind. Namely, an Adventuring School. It was a facility where fledgling adventurers could come to hone their skills. This kind of education was a matter of life or death, and I definitely thought we should prioritize it.

  I decided to talk with Guildmaster Relisha about establishing such a facility in Brunhild.

  I waved to Fiana and Naito, then took my leave. The guild was busy as ever, since the dungeon conquest was still carrying on little by little. I was guided to Relisha’s office by the person working at the reception desk. And once there, I explained my plan to Relisha, and she went quiet for a while. Eventually, she spoke up.

  “Sounds like an interesting idea... We’d need to think a bit more about what would actually be taught there, but I like it in theory. It should reduce the amount of pointless deaths, and retired veterans should be able to teach the next generation.”

  “Plus, if a graduate from the school becomes a great adventurer, then that’s a solid endorsement of our effectiveness.”

  “You’re right. Even if it’s a little costly, the results should speak for themselves. Shall we say a typical course runs between half a year and a year?” Relisha began to scrawl notes down on a pad as she spoke. She was already working out the overarching details, it seemed.

  “We should divide the courses based on age and difficulty, as well. Let’s say one course is for people between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, one for sixteen to twenty, and then one for twenty and up. We’d also need to teach differently based on who’s experienced in adventuring and who isn’t.”

  “Makes sense. Let’s go with that, then.” I nodded in approval at Relisha’s suggestion. I mostly planned on the guild running the school anyway, so I wasn’t going to do much beyond being the idea guy. The teachers and staff would be handled by the guild, too.

  Only certain kinds of people would start adventuring after the age of twenty, at least in my opinion. It was likely for knights or soldiers to try their hand after retiring from army service, for example. Being an adventurer wasn’t consistent work, but had high potential for riches.

  “Very well, then. I’ll propose this idea at the next meeting.”

  “Thanks a lot. Speak to Naito when we enter the actual planning stage.” I was pretty relieved by how easily that had gone. There were a lot of things that could be taught in an adventuring school. Effective ways to fight magic beasts, standard things to take on an adventure, and so on.

  Learning through experience was the norm in this world, but that meant a lot of people died due to simple mistakes. Knowledge was power, and equipping them with it before they ventured out would help humanity on a whole.

  “Ah, that reminds me, Your Highness... You’re engaged to a princess from Xenoahs now?”

  “Guh... Word travels fast, huh?”

  Cut me some slack! Well, I guess the guild wouldn’t be the guild without its info network. This is crazy, though. I didn’t think they’d have a source as far as Xenoahs. Although Fiana never married the overlord, so Sakura technically isn’t a princess.

  “Well, I have a small request.”

  “What do you need?”

  Relisha was blunt. She wanted to open up a guild branch in Xenoahs. And she wanted me to help arrange it somehow... I wasn’t really a fan of having to meet the overlord again, though.

  That being said, if we could install a guild in Xenoahs, we’d have the ability to detect the Phrase over there.

  It wasn’t like they would avoid attacking Xenoahs, so this would be beneficial for all.

  I accepted her request, but said to wait a bit, since I wanted to take Sakura too.

  Eventually, I ended up taking both Sakura and Relisha for an audience with Overlord Zelgadi. It was approved easily, because I told Sakura to ask her dad directly.

  Then, the overlord started talking for a while, but Sakura cut him off by calling him a bother, and he started sulking.

  I looked at his depressed face and felt a little worried about having my own daughter in the future. Thinking that the cowering man before me could be me someday? Well... that was real terrifying.

  I tried talking to Sakura about being a little nicer to him, but she just replied with, “I’m being as nice as I can be.”

  Women, man... Women are terrifying.

  Chapter II: Babylon Rising

  “Heh, that’s a unique way of using your divinity...” Moroha was looking over at me with crossed arms. Evidently, she was impressed.

  I was currently in the middle of exerting my own divine power. The other Gods seemed to do it as easily as breathing, but using such power left a grave toll on my body.

  Due to that, I started wondering if there was a way for me to draw out my power a little bit instead.

  I concentrated on my arm, and gradually a blade composed of divinity shrouded the area up past my wrist.

  I was practicing in a wooded area, far from prying eyes.

  “We don’t usually have to suppress our power when we activate it, so I never thought about trying it that way.”

  “Frankly I just don’t want to get another haircut soon...” I was honestly a little anxious about hair sprouting out of my arms, or a beard coming out of my face... So I was glad it worked out.

  “It’s hard to maintain its form, though. I gotta focus.” There was effectively a beam saber extending from my arm, but as my focus waned, so too did the weapon.

  “It’d probably be easier if you applied it to a held object.” Moroha tossed a twig over in my general direction.

  I caught it in my hand and began to channel divinity through it. Oh... Wow! I managed it quickly. I didn’t have to concentrate so hard about maintaining it either.

  I swung it around, and, with the finesse of the least dexterous man in the world, chopped down a tree with the twig. ... What the heck?! This thing’s stronger than a phrasium blade!

  I let go of the twig and picked up a nearby rock. I broke it into little bits with a squeeze of my empowered arm. Then I tried to crush another one with my de-powered arm. It hurt a bit, and obviously didn’t work.

  Hmph... My whole right hand is like it belongs to someone else. I decided to punch a nearby tree. Painlessly, my hand sank into the structure, cracking open a massive hole. The divine power wrapped around my arm had simple bored open a hole into the tree. I was pretty sure that if I kept pushing, the tree would keep relenting.

  Divinity was never a power designed for use in mortal realms. That’s why my sisters hadn’t used it for anything other than dealing with the servile god. But I wasn’t necessarily limited in that sense, so I thought I’d better get used to it.

  Frankly I didn’t want to have to use it. But I knew there wer
e more Dominant Constructs like Gila around. That’s why I needed it. Only that kind of strength seemed like a good enough countermeasure.

  I headed back to find Sakura and Linze chattering in the courtyard. It was nice to see the two of them getting along so well. They had a lot in common. Both were quite shy, but in different ways. Linze was passive and more cowardly, while Sakura was generally just indifferent to stuff.

  “What’s up?”

  “Ah. Grand Duke...”

  “Ah, Touya... Sakura here told me she wanted to learn magic, so I was testing her magical aptitude.” That explains the spellstones over there... That’s how I did it, back in the day.

  Demonkin typically didn’t employ magic. It wasn’t that they couldn’t on a whole, it was just that they normally didn’t. Their subspecies had evolved in such a way that specialized their bodies and made them less reliant on magic. Ogres, for example, were remarkably powerful compared to a human. Alraunes could manipulate forests, and harpies could fly at great speeds.

  From what I understood, this lack of magical usage actually made them less magically adept through the generations. I knew of some demonkin species that had no magic potential at all.

  Sakura had never formally studied magic due to her age. She knew [Teleport] but didn’t know how to control it. Even so, that meant she had Null aptitude at the very least.

  “So, what are her elements?”

  “Null, water, and darkness.”

  Oh my. Three? That’s pretty good. Null magic is personal though, so she only really has two elements.

  “She has a vast amount of magical power, too. Not quite as much as Leen, but definitely more than me.” Well, she’s from the Overlord’s lineage, that makes sense. I’m not surprised she has a lot... But I am surprised that Leen has more. Still, Leen was clan matriarch of the Fairies, so that’s a given.

  “I can teach you water spells, Sakura. But the null magic is something you’ll have to figure out yourself. As for darkness... Touya or Yumina should be able to help you out there.” Oh, right. Leen can’t use darkness.

  In total, our magical aptitudes were:

  Touya - All Attributes

  Elze - Null ([Boost])

  Linze - Fire, Water, Light

  Yumina - Earth, Wind, Dark

  Yae - None

  Lu - None

  Sue - Light

  Hilde - None

  Sakura - Water, Dark, Null ([Teleport])

  Leen - Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light, Null ([Program], [Transfer], [Protection])

  And that was that.

  Wait, didn’t Leen mention she had four null spells? Guess she neglected to tell me one. If I remember right, every Fairy has at least one null spell.

  “Hm? What’s everyone up to?” They said speak of the devil and he shall come. That apparently applied to Leen. Paula was there too, wobbling along with a carefree gait.

  Paula held her arm up in the air as if to say “What up!” She seemed full of energy... As full of energy an animated bear could be, anyway.

  “Leen. You have four Null spells, right? I know the three obvious ones, but what’s the other?” I asked what was on my mind right away. I doubted she had anything to hide.

  “Oh, right. It’s a spell that works a bit like your [Search] one. It’s called [Discovery].” Huh... Wonder what it does.

  “You use it while imagining an object, and you’ll get a vague idea of where it is. Though if you can’t picture the object clearly, you’re not gonna get far.”

  “Huh. Sounds useful for finding stuff.”

  “Let’s say I wanted to find an apple that I left laying around. I use the spell, right? But if someone came along and took a bite out of that apple, its image would’ve changed a bit too much for me to accurately locate.” Wow... It gets rendered useless that easily? Apparently the spell didn’t account for things changing form.

  “In the case of apples specifically, it might also lead me to a similar-looking apple. So it’s pretty hard to find generic things. I only really use it to track Paula when she goes too far.” Heh... Like tracking a lost kid. Sounds like a rough bit of magic, though. If this was the old world it probably would’ve been used to find car keys or the TV remote. When you think about it like that, it sounds a lot more useful.

  After that little mystery, we went back to prepping Sakura for a crash course in magic.

  In the modern era, dark magic was synonymous with summoning magic.

  Lizardmen, silver wolves, and countless other creatures could be drawn from the void and made to do the bidding of their summoner.

  Kohaku and the others told me that most summoned beasts lived in another world that I decided to tentatively refer to as Beastworld. The Heavenly Beasts were called by chance every ten years or so, but they’d never been called by anyone tough enough to forge a contract before me.

  My current hypothesis was that the magical beasts that roamed the world were likely offspring of summoned creatures from Beastworld.

  If a silver wolf, for example, bred with a regular wolf, and then returned to its world... Then the offspring would be a completely different species. That was probably the root cause of such strange monsters. Summoning magic affecting the ecosystem.

  I didn’t really have any way to prove that, though.

  Dark magic also had other aspects to it.

  “There are spells that mess with the mind like [Confusion], [Sleep], and [Temptation]. These are offshoots of dark magic. Those spells were lost to time, but I’ve managed to revive them a little thanks to the grimoires in the Babylon’s library. They won’t work on people with high magic power, though.” Sakura looked at me with a disappointed face. I knew it... She wanted to charm me! Truth be told I’m plenty charmed by her and the others already, but... Th-That’s a little embarrassing to say out loud.

  “How about we try a test summoning?”

  “Okay... I’d like to try that.”

  Sakura gave me a little nod. Leen taught her how to deal with the summoning while Linze and I drew out the magic circle in the courtyard. Paula helped, in the best way she could. What a nice little bear.

  We finished the preparations and Leen helped Sakura pour her magic into the circle. Black mist began to pool around the summoning circle, gathering in the center.

  “I wonder what we’ll get...”

  “I’m looking forward to seeing what Sakura can summon.” Linze had picked up Paula and was holding her in a gentle embrace. The two of us whispered a bit. Sakura had an aptitude for music, so I wondered if she’d draw out a siren. It’d be nice if she could make a choir or something.

  Gradually the mist abated, and a small, crouching shadow was all that remained. It stood up, thrust a blade into the sky, and... Began to yell.

  “A cat that fights for the sake of mankind! Mankind that gives its lifeblood to a cat! The heavens cry! The earth cries! The cats cry! Bear witness to my kitty-cat chivalry! Meow!”

  Long boots... A feathered hat... Gloves... A cape... A rapier... A little belt... It was a bipedal black cat. ...What’s with this little fella...?

  “It’s a cat sith. A summoned catbeast.”

  “Don’t be kitten around! I’m a cat knight, got it?! A fur-midable, cathletic, cat knight!” The cat knight corrected Leen, and then began to make horrible cat-based puns. I hated it.

  It wasn’t much larger than a regular cat. I honestly doubted its ability to fight. A talking summon was really rare, though...

  “I wish to make a contract. Please tell me your terms.” Sakura turned toward the cat. He proceeded to remove his hat in an overdramatic fashion.

  “Are you fur real, lass? You know, I’ve got a pretty good feline about you. In the old tails of yore, knights served purretty young ladies, no? You already have my sword!”

  “What if a man summoned you?”

  “I would pawsitively reject him! With my claws!” The cat knight answered me instantly. Whew... And they said chivalry was dead.

  “You’ll be able
to fulfill the contract if you give him a name.” Leen nudged Sakura, who then turned to me.

  “A name... Grand Duke... Do you have any ideas?”

  The cat knight, on the other hand, began waggling its finger in disapproval. It went all “Tsk, tsk, tsk...” on me. It was kind of annoying, actually.

  “Let meow make one thing purrfectly clear. Paw-don my rudeness, but I can’t just be named by any old man. Despite my looks, you mustn’t furget that I am a cat of honor, a cat of integrity, a cat of-”

  “...[Gate].”

  I opened up a portal next to the cat knight, and out popped Kohaku.

  He froze in place immediately, clearly terrified. His teeth began to chatter and his form began to shake. All the hair on his body stood on end.

  “Y-Y-Y-You g-gotta be kitten me... Wh-Why is the White Monarch h-here?!”

  “My liege. Who is this little cat?”

  “He’s a little friend that Sakura summoned. I was thinking of giving him a name, but he doesn’t want me to name him.” Kohaku cast a glare toward the cat knight, causing him to prostrate himself and bow repeatedly.

  “You object to being named by my master?”

  “N-Now hold on! L-Let’s put this situation on paws! I’ll listen, sorry!” Well, that was a quick one-eighty. What shall I call you...?

  “...Mr. Mittens.”

  The cat looked absolutely mortified the moment that name passed my lips. He had quite a range of expression considering he was a cat.

  “We could call you that, or... D’Artagnan. Which do you prefer?”

  “I’ll take D’Artagnan!” The cat knight came out of the magic circle after Sakura named him, and he heaved a sigh. He was keeping his distance from Kohaku and me, but that was fairly understandable.

  “So, Sakura. How much magic power is Mr. Mittens eating up right now?”

  “Hm... Well... I think... Right now he won’t even last an hour, so quite a bit.”

  “Are your ears full of hairballs?! I’m D’Artagnan! Not Mr. Mittens!”

  Obviously I know it pisses you off, you cat brat! D’Artagnan’s a fine name, but you’re Mr. Mittens to me.