Chapter 87: Hometown of Prodigal Sons (part four)
Ultra-wide area magic Cursed Sword of Fire aside, I decided to start with the confirmation of the prerequisites concerning our future task.
If something was off the point, everything could be ruined.
From here on, I couldn’t afford making any mistakes.
“First off, Harold. Is it alright with you?”
“……What is it?”
I asked Harold who replied after staring at me carefully.
“Substances created from nothing by alchemy materialize only for a short time in this world.
Can this be applied to our current situation as well?”
“Aa, precious metals and precious stones, especially those with big masses, are about five minutes at most.”
“Five minutes. So it’s five minutes after all.”
“Lava is about five minutes, but the flames that have burned will remain in this world for a longer time and will cause a vicious calamity.”
“Right. I understand.”
That was good.
I felt relieved after hearing Harold’s answer.
If this was the case, I would be able to do it in the way I planned.
Next, I asked Tirnanog.
“Then, when do you think that Cursed Sword of Fire will fall?”
『It is such a huge magical construction spell, but the composition speed is fast.
Based on the description of the literature, that’s right……it will be around forty minutes from now to its completion.』
It would be difficult to evacuate the citizens with that time.
Even if they escaped from beneath one cursed sword, they would get caught in the fall zone of another cursed sword.
So that was the reason Tirnanog unusually hesitated to say it, huh.
“……I mean, why are you asking such a thing now!”
Harold hounded me with a frustrated appearance.
Alright, I felt glad that he seemed to be healthy enough to get angry.
Harold was going to have plenty of works from now on, so it was really good that he was not in a lethargic condition.
“Harold, you, no, we might be able to save this town.”
“……What……do you mean?”
“That Cursed Sword of Fire cannot be touched, dismantled or dispelled, but there is one way.”
“W-what is it. Don’t put on airs, just say it quickly!”
Harold who was impatient urged me.
Auguste and Tirnanog were gazing at me quietly, waiting for my words.
“We cannot prevent the completion of the cursed swords, but we can prevent the finished cursed swords from falling to the city as lava with wide-area magic.”
“That’s absurd! In order to deploy a city-wide area magic, we will need dozens of Hafan’s mages.
Such a great number of people, where can we get them from!”
“What if I say that the three of us……me, Harold, and Auguste-sama are enough?”
Harold became silent as if he had forgotten his words.
Auguste and Tirnanog were staring at me, looking as if they were taken aback.
“Harold, you will have to do mass filling now.
The spell that you need to charge is Levitation. The number of charges is 990 times.”
Harold’s facial expression changed slowly from astonishment to calm.
It seemed that his technician brain was stimulated.
I saw Harold’s change and my mouth formed a smile.
“Can you do it?”
“……I can. I will do it. I have never made it, but I know the composition of that spell.
But, by Levitation, what do you……ah!”
Harold’s eyes widened.
It seemed that Harold who had become familiar with magic and wands from an early age already understood.
“I see, the duration of lava’s materialization time is five minutes, and the effect time of the normal Levitation is about the same.
Levitation is also characterized by a rise in efficiency as its amplification increases.
If we extend the range of the effect with Wand Alteration and wrap it around……!!”
“Correct. As it will need to be used 60 times per cursed sword, we will need 990 for all 15 cursed swords.”
『I see, that’s a unique way to extend the power of a wand without limit.』
“Extension……it’s like the signature move of Duke Aurelia……yeah, I think it’s a good idea.”
Tirnanog and Auguste also nodded.
But actually this alone was not enough.
And it was Harold who was the first to notice it.
“Wait……how are you going to aim at them? Simultaneous aiming to 15 places, and around the entire Knot Reed no less.
It’s impossible for us to just aim at them in the regular way, so maybe Raptor Sight……no, that’s useless.
I don’t have time to charge two wands in large quantities.”
“That’s why we need another person.”
I nodded slowly, and gazed at Auguste.
“I see, aiming……that’s my role, huh.”
“I’m saved since this conversation will be quick. Of course you will participate in this plan.”
“You don’t even consider that I will refuse, huh. That’s fine. I will place my bet on you.”
I smiled at Auguste who understood all of the strategy.
We were ready now.
From here on, we only had to believe in Harold.
“Then, I will monitor whether there is any change in that magic.
When the magic is ready, Erica, I will share the eyes of the dragon with you.”
Auguste said so and stared at the sky.
I took out a wand from my bag that Tirnanog had brought for me.
The Wand of Levitation already had 100 charges in it.
I held the wand and presented it to Harold.
“I think you can do it, no, you are the only one who can do it, hey, partner. Isn’t that right?”
“……What the heck, that kind of crude trust as if leaving it all to me.”
Haah~~, Harold exhaled a long sigh, looking at me with serious eyes.
“But, I will not let you down.”
Harold’s eyes became slightly moist with tears.
He wiped them so as to conceal it, then he accepted the wand.
Harold squatted down on the stone floor of the tower and spread his work tools.
“Let’s get started with my work!”
Harold rolled his sleeves up and wore his black leather gloves.
He put on his goggles with a smack as the finishing touch.
“If we charge 1000 shots on a wand that originally contains only 100 shots, the burden on the wand will be more than ten folds.
First of all, let’s release all the magical powers inside and change the magical powers compression format from scratch.”
Harold loosened the ferrule and aimed the wand towards the ground.
He confirmed that everyone except himself had took a distance from the wand, and he released the magical powers charged inside the wand.
A strong flash of light like a camera’s flash.
The magical powers that were released all at once gouged the ground.
“Uh!”
A runaway magical power bounced back to Harold’s right cheek.
From the wound where the pale spark hit, fresh blood dripped down.
“Harold, are you okay?”
“Haha, that helped shorten the time. This level of injury, it’s nothing.”
As Harold made a frivolous talk, he reconfigured the wand with precise movements like a machine.
“Heeh, this is……”
『What’s wrong, Harold.』
“Well, to think that I can see the wonderful work of Visitor’s Clan in a place like this.”
『You…… unexpectedly, it seems you still have the composure to say something like that.』
As Tirnanog said so in amazement, Harold laughed unreservedly while baring his teeth.
“It’s because I rarely tinker with such an amazing wand.
Both durability and precision are different from ready-made items.
But, as expected, ten times as much content amplification was an unprecedented way of using a wand that hasn’t been taken into consideration when making this wand.
I will also take the other wands apart. I have to use everything usable in our arsenal.”
As he said earlier, Harold began to take apart the Wand of Leap and Feather Falling.
He broke one third of Griffin’s bone of Feather Falling wand and cut it into a hook shape.
Scraped off the wyvern bone from Levitation wand material into the same shape and combined it, then glued them without gaps.
Next he took out vellum papers and cut them into thin bands.
“I’m pretty sure that Long-Armed Ernst’s wands are carved with old poetries of Visitor’s Clan, right?
I don’t remember the poetry of Visitor’s Clan, but the poems of my hometown are supposed to have the same effect.”
Soaked a pen in a special ink mixed with several kinds of chemicals.
Wrote the poetry on vellum paper, smeared it with glue, and wrapped it around the shaft.
Certainly, this was quicker than engraving it.
Returned the amber on the wand head and yellow brass on the handle of the assembled wand.
Using the same material as the core material, he added the Feather Falling core material along the shaft.
Finally, he sealed the ferrule with magnetite which was used for the wand head of Leap.
“It has become boorish, but its durability is guaranteed. I will only have to believe and charge this guy, after that it’s a race against time.”
Harold looked at the wand with a serious expression and built the spells to charge it.
One, two, three—
As he built the spells with unparalleled accuracy, I had forgotten to breath before I knew it.
One hundred.
The magical structure was disturbed, and the released magical power grazed Harold’s right cheek.
The torrent of magical power burned his cheek in a way that it crosses the first wound.
“Are you okay, Harold!?”
However, rather than groaning in pain, Harold was immersed in charging the wand without blinking.
What an amazing concentration.
I applied a handkerchief to his cheek softly.
“That town is the place where I grew up, I absolutely won’t let you hurt the people in my city.”
While muttering, he kept on working quietly.
It was a high-speed spell construction and charging that didn’t stop even for a moment.
Spells were built and the wand was charged at a rate that it was now a picture burned into my memory.
200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900.
The old wound in his right arm became visible as it was stained red.
That scar was like a torrent of a burning flame.
“Erica, Harold. Changes began to appear in the sky’s appearance!”
Auguste who was observing the Cursed Sword of Fire from the sky viewpoint raised his voice.
After checking the time, it was about three minutes remaining.
“Please wait, Your Highness. I will finish this in a minute.”
Listening to Harold’s words, I lined up next to Auguste and joined hands with him.
“Isn’t it painful?”
“I have become a little used to it. Auguste-sama, I would like to know the situation of the magic if possible, is it alright with you?”
“Aa, it’s fine.”
Applied Glam Sight on the current borrowed dragon’s eyes.
It would probably be a heavy burden on my brain, but right now it couldn’t be helped.
I used the Wand of Glam Sight.
Before my eyes, a group of huge flames illuminated the twilight town with abnormal brightness.
The sky of Knot Reed city where it started to be covered with fog at night was dyed with the fantasy flames and seemed to be stained bright red.
Looking from the sky, the Cursed Sword of Fire was a large magic circle that was composed of burning flame ribbons.
When exercising Glam Sight for the dual visual information of human and dragon, a fierce headache hit me.
Painful.
It was terribly painful.
Ah, but.
This was the town where people live.
I could see the geometric city composed of circular canal rings.
Buildings with vermilion roofs on top of white walls
Even at this time the city of Knot Reed was greeting the lively afternoon as usual.
The engraver who had finished his work was warming his eyes.
A hostess of a standing bar who was in the height of business was carrying the beers.
The shopkeeper whose face was sweaty as he cooked the processed meat at the storefront.
Worn out people that were heading towards the bar after buying anti-travel sickness potions.
I could see the sidewalk where the perfumer Bell was chasing the barrel.
A girl who seemed to work at the studio across the sidewalk entered the perfume store where a signboard with a lady on it was hanging down.
A little boy who was lost finally found by his mother.
His mother gently lifted the boy up and threw a honey-colored candy into his mouth.
The boy smiled happily.
The notary who got off from the carriage was staring at the sky in front of the guild hall.
I could see Turm Wand Store.
I wondered what kind of conversation Gilbert who finally went to see his father was having.
I wondered how Turm elder greeted his son who came home.
I hoped they were happy.
Water Palace was shining very beautifully in the dusk.
Inside, Earl Nibelheim was using Gilbert’s porcelain to advance negotiations into his advantages.
The view of a beautiful city that looked like a miniature.
Lots of people were living there.
And then, the Cursed Sword of Fire which was floating above all of them, seemed to be a beautiful flame art.
Yet, that was only the outside appearance of the detestable weapon.
“Alriiiiight!!! I did it, partner!!”
Harold’s squeezed out shouts reached my ears.
At the same time as he ran up to me, I held out my right hand quietly, and the wand was passed to me vigorously.
I clenched my hand over it.
This was the trump card.
『Erica, I’m sure you will save this town.』
“……Thank you, Tir.”
Tirnanog’s words were like a good luck charm; they relieved me of my worries.
Now then, I had to do my job this time.
This was the Wand of Levitation which Harold had work hard to build its spells and to charge its magic.
With nervous and cold fingertips, I directed the wand towards the sky.
I pointed the tip of the wand towards the center of the Cursed Sword of Fire.
I knew what I had to do.
The rest was to do it quickly and accurately.
While imagining what happened when I touched the Rainbow Strap, I brought up the magical power that was sleeping inside the wand.
At first it was pulled out as I wanted it to, but I immediately hit a strong resistance.
While paying attention so as not to let it go, slowly but surely I spun the magical power and unfastened it finely.
Picked a few of the selected threads and weaved it into another shape.
Into the same shape as the range specified part in Feather Falling.
Was this really okay?
There has to be a better way, I was driven by such anxiety.
My hand hesitated to shake the wand for a moment.
“Don’t worry, Erica, you can do it.”
Auguste whispered, gripping my hands tighter.
I nodded, hardened my resolve and shook the wand.
“Levitation—”
A golden magic circle similar to that of Feather Falling was formed above the place near the center of the city.
It seemed that the range extension and shape change succeeded.
Anyway, I felt relieved.
Since the path of magical power was still connected, we could only extend the range.
Poured the magical power left inside the wand toward the magic circle.
Enlarged the magic circle appropriately by the amount of magical power poured, and continued to withdraw magical power from the wand at the same time.
If I rushed I would distort the spell and destroy it.
As if swelling two-dimensional bubble, I carefully and slowly inflated it.
Golden light covered the city.
Through the eyes of the dragon, I could see the people in the city were becoming noisy.
『Erica, it has started.』
Pointed out by Tirnanog, I focused on the Cursed Sword of Fire.
The materialization of lava was starting.
Was it earlier than we thought?
No, I concentrated too much and didn’t notice the passage of time, huh.
“It’s alright, partner. Believe in my wand. I also believe in you.”
I nodded to Harold’s brief words and pulled the magical power a little bit stronger.
As if screaming, the wand caused violent magical vibrations.
However, the wand managed to withstand the burden.
The completely materialized Cursed Sword of Fire started falling down.
Almost at the same time, the magic circle reached the predicted falling point of the last cursed sword.
While forcibly suppressing the recoil which had increased to the limit even with my own inhibitory constitution, I completed the magic.
“—launched!”
The moment the tip of the Cursed Sword of Fire came into contact with the golden magic circle, the magic circle shattered and turned into golden feather-like fragments.
At that moment, all the lava that fell down stopped mid-air as if time had stopped.
From stop motion it turned into slow motion.
Lava began to flow upward as if it went back in time.
Cursed Sword of Fire which shone in the burning heat became countless drops and rose in the indigo sky.
Like sky lanterns, those drops of lava scattered in the indigo sky were illuminating the city of Knot Reed.
The light fell on all canals.
Everyone was watching that sight.
I was not an exception, but I noticed it at once and immediately confirmed the detailed information using Glam Sight.
“Levitation started normally……duration, ten minutes……it’s a success.”
“We did it……we did it……, we did it……”
Harold cried on the spot as if his waist came out and burst into tears.
『Erica, you have worked hard. It was a wonderful magic.』
Tirnanog caressed my head with a big palm.
Auguste whose forehead was drenched in sweats, winked jokingly.
Somewhat unexpectedly, I felt as if the ground beneath my feet had disappeared.
I had no strength left at all in my feet, knees, waist, and my back.
I felt as if I had become a mollusk.
As I toppled over, Auguste supported me in a hurry and embraced me.
“Erica!?”
“Huh……somehow……my strength……?”
I couldn’t gather any strength, and at this time, Auguste was supposed to be tired too, sorry about this.
I meant to say such a thing.
However, only mutterings that didn’t make any sense went out of my mouth.
Everyone was looking anxiously at my face.
I am fine.
I guess it’s good that Harold doesn’t have a runny nose.
I wanted to say so, but I was already at my limit to even keep my consciousness.
My eyelids became heavy, and my sight was enveloped in darkness.
I fell into a deep sleep in the comfortable fatigue I got through.
Burden of seeing through the eyes of the dragon + Glam Sight (which is a burden on the brain because of the dual vision) + using wand alteration in a city-wide scale = exhausted-as-hell Erica.
15×60 = 900, but why did Erica ask for it to be charged 990 times? I think it’s because, as Gilbert said, if you use wand alteration, the spell inside become distorted and might not come out. So, it’s a room for errors, I think. Also, it’s only 15 because one of the cursed swords already dispelled by Ernst.
If you don’t get it: lava formed by magic can only materializes for 5 minutes at most, and Levitation effect time is 10 minutes. So when the lava gets levitated, before Levitation effect time limit is reached, the lava will already be gone. A simple solution that can only be done by someone with seven-rainbows inhibitory value, a genius wandmaker, and a powerful esper.
The crisis has been averted, but does this mean her death flag is destroyed? Let’s see.