Chapter 468: Registration (2/2)
This kind of advice was only possible thanks to Jin having transferred his knowledge of modern-day Earth to Reinhardt.
“Ah, that sounds great. It would also make it easier to identify its holder, and to prevent misuse by a would-be-impostor.”
The empress pictured its effectiveness and quickly approved of the idea.
Thus Stearleana became officially recognized as the first registered foreign citizen living in the Shouro Empire.
＊ ＊ ＊
The same day, on Hourai Island…
“My Lord, I have several things to report.”
Laojun spoke while Jin and Elsa were thinking about what kind of weapon would be a good choice for Edgar.
“Alright. Tell me.”
As he had been stuck in his thoughts, unable to decide what to do for a while, Jin decided to listen to Laojun’s reports for a change of pace.
“Very well. First, about Lardus’ short sword, which we have recently obtained.”
It was the short sword used by the demon that had called himself “Lardus the Jester”. Deneb 30 had been able to snatch the blade after being slashed at by it.
“My Lord had theorized that it had been made using materials from a monster, and it turned out to be that way. It was discovered that it was extremely close to Giant Centipedes.”
“I see…”
Back then, Giant Centipedes were a monster that Jin knew nothing about. It was no surprise that he hadn’t been able to notice that at the time.
“Though it was very similar to a Giant Centipede, it could also have been some kind of falsely similar creature. At any rate, there is no doubt that it was some kind of arthropod monster.”
“Something that has some kind of an exoskeleton, then. Like a mantis’ sickles or a stag beetle’s jaw.”
“That’s right.”
Jin assimilated that information while thinking about how terrific a creature’s must be to have an exoskeleton that was tougher than aluminum.
“Ah, should we try to use that for Edgar’s equipment, Elsa?”
“…That? You mean the Giant Centipede’s carapace?”
“Yeah. It’s light and very durable. How about we make a knife and a hand guard, and also a pair of gauntlets for him?”
Jin and Elsa had returned to the topic of Edgar’s equipment, but Laojun still had something else to report.
“My Lord, I haven’t finished with my reports.”
“Ah, right, sorry… Please continue.”
“Very well. The second topic is about the ‘Mole’.”
“Mole”?
Jin didn’t really understand what he was talking about. Laojun quickly began to explain.
“It’s a magic tool for underground exploration. Based on the situation from the other day when several Giant Centipedes came out of the mine, I thought that it would be better if we were able to conduct an investigation before going underground.”
“Oh, that makes sense. So?”
“I would like to ask you to create a certain Magi Device, since I cannot do so due to my restrictions.”
There were some things that Laojun couldn’t do without the permission of his creator, Jin. One of them was the creation of a magic tool that had never existed before.
“These are the plans for it.”
Jin confirmed the conceptual drawing that Laojun projected on the Magic Screen.
It had a cylindrical body and was furnished with a hyper-adamantite tip, which would be used to burrow underground.
The excavated rocks and sand would be then transferred to a designated spot using the warp gate installed inside the cylinder.
Its cylindrical body would be able to move forward and backward using golem engine-driven caterpillars installed on its sides.
“Yeah, it’s very well planned. So, what is the Magi Device that you’d like me to use?”
Jin felt that it was functional enough.
“A magic tool that can use ‘Dig’.”
“Ah, so that’s what it was.”
Jin nodded.
Jin had used “Dig” when he created the hot springs. This was classified as a beginner earth attribute spell, and was originally used to dig a pitfall for an enemy to fall into. Jin had also used it to dig underground tunnels.
Originally, it would be very difficult for an average, or even an advanced mage to dig a hole 5 meters deep into the ground. This was because the magical power of the caster would weaken as the volume of soil and rock extracted from the ground increased. Jin, however, was an exception among exceptions.
Also, the soil and rocks removed by “Dig” are discharged as if they were ejected from a hole. Since this also consumes magical power, the easier it becomes to imagine that the deeper the hole, the more difficult it would become for the average mage to handle the spell properly.
“If there’s a foreign object underground, you can probably detect it without destroying it using ‘Dig’.”
“That is correct.”
During the Giant Centipede incident, a mysterious Magi Device was found while investigating the hole they had crawled out of. But they weren’t able to identify its name or purpose from its outward appearance.
“Got it. I’ll make it right away.”
Upon seeing Laojun’s intentions, Jin quickly vouched to make the requested Magi Device.
“The third topic is regarding a proposal to equip the entirety of Hourai Island with Lightweight-inducing magic tools as a countermeasure against eventual attacks from demons.”
It was a measure against the use of gravity magic. Since it had been a great help during the incident with Androgias, Jin quickly agreed to Laojun’s proposal.
“Then we shall prepare it so My Lord and his family, Reiko, the attendant automata, the Covert Units, the Quinta, and every golem in Hourai Island are equipped with such countermeasures, in that order.”
“Yes, that’ll do just fine.”
In this way, further enhancements were planned for Hourai Island’s defense.