Tokyo IV-1

A low, resonant voice conveyed the thanks.

First, congratulations to both of you on completing the mission. Here is your reward.

He took the gold coins and jewels, saying so.

That's enough to live comfortably for several years. More than the initial achievement reward. Why would that be?

I spoke my doubt out loud without holding back.

It's more than the amount specified in the contract. What could this mean?

"That's the monster slaying fee. The Imperial Guild wasn't aware of the monsters' presence, so it includes compensation for that. It would be appreciated if you could settle it here and now."

I wasn't looking to blame anyone, nor did I wish to provoke conflict with the guild. Glancing at Alek, he seemed to share the same sentiment.

I accepted the gold coins without hesitation.

When we had stowed the coins away, Graham produced one more, placing it beside the others.

A piece of paper with writing on it.

"First, Taro. Acknowledging your victories over monsters and completion of daily quests, your guild rank is upgraded. Adventurer rank is now 3. Next, Alek. Similarly recognizing your daily accomplishments, your rank is increased. Rank is now 4. Congratulations to both of you."

Saying that, I took the document.

As your rank increases, you'll frequently receive better-paying quests and requests from important figures. You may even take on quests to clear difficult dungeons or defeat powerful monsters—proof of your growing strength.

I had risen in rank, but I couldn't feel it. Was I really strong? My abilities were just convenient—what if I didn't have them? I had too many memories of nearly dying without them.

I couldn't honestly feel happy, even when praised.

"By the way, Taro. Did you manage to investigate the Hero's Legend? You were meddling with that noble monk and lady, weren't you?"

"Well then, what's this about? I just played along with the teacher act, that's all."

As for William, that's a different matter, but I have no intention of spreading rumors about Miss Lina.

"Is that so... If you ever run into trouble involving nobles, just come to the Guild. The Guild remains neutral no matter where you are."

Graham's final words linger in my mind, but right now, worrying about them won't help. Or rather, I guess I'm already found out...

I returned to the lodgings I usually stay at today.

Now, what should I do next? I still want to look into the Hero's diary. The places the Hero must have visited are thoroughly documented at the Royal Library.

I know where to go.

If I'm to proceed next, it should be the Imperial Library here in the capital. It's the closest.

The Hero did visit the capital, so it's highly likely there are records of that visit at the Capital Library.

But I can't enter there. Only those with an introduction from an imperial noble or adventurers ranked 5, or ranked 4 and specially approved, are allowed access.

In this world, books are precious. They're difficult to duplicate and impossible to mass-produce. Most knowledge is controlled by nobles and other powerful figures. That's probably why access to such knowledge is restricted.

I don't meet any of those conditions right now. For now, I'll have to put it off.

If it's the next closest place, perhaps it's the ruin cluster located in the southern desert region? I've heard stories from adventurers who came from that direction. The ruins are within the territory of the Princedom of Petozhi, though they don't seem to be particularly managed or guarded. The desert might also be more navigable seasonally.

Alright! Next, I'll head to the Princedom of Petozhi in the desert region. Now that I've decided, I should start planning...

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But after making the plans, something unexpected happened.

It will take quite a few days to reach the desert, so we'll need a wagon.

We'll have to load it with food, various tools, and other supplies.

Since I'm a magician, I'll be carrying magic stones and related equipment.

Plus, I'll be bringing along documents I've gathered so far and magic stone devices I'm still working on. In that case, how will it be? The cargo platform will be completely full.

That's definitely too much.

I can't keep renting the guild's lodgings forever. If I don't renew by the deadline, they'll be seized.

Just considering the round-trip journey, it'll take quite a few days. It might even take over a year.

And then there's the matter of travel funds.

I did earn a decent amount from the previous job, but I still have to pay for horse feed, supplies for my own living, and other expenses.

Traveling alone to a distant place is going to be quite costly.

This time I managed to earn a large sum quickly, but I haven't been able to sustain it. It's difficult to travel while earning money. It's quite a troublesome matter.

In the end, although I made plans, putting them into action proved difficult due to high barriers.

If only I had a base somewhere, I could store my belongings and prepare thoroughly... But even that seems to come at quite a steep price.

Since pondering won't yield answers, I just went to sleep that night.

The next day, unable to come up with a good idea, I went to visit Emma's laboratory to seek her advice.

"Emma, how's the research going?...Wait, what are you doing?"

Upon entering the lab, I saw someone frowning deeply, hunched over and bent out of shape.

Well, of course, there's only Emma in this lab, so this person must be Emma...

She looked extremely troubled.

Emma noticed me and turned toward me.

"Oh, Mr. Taro, it's been a while. Sorry, I was just thinking... Anyway, please take a look at this."

A wooden wheel with one in front and two in back, an exposed seat and handlebars, a small basket attached behind the seat, and a kettle-like container mounted in front containing multiple magic stones.

It had three wheels, yet it was fully functional as a vehicle.

I've seen something similar in the original world—exactly the kind of shape you'd find in real car history.

Creating this all by oneself... incredible.

The kettle-like container mounted at the front functions as a steam engine, and while the rest of the vehicle is mostly wooden, only the kettle-shaped steam engine is made of metal and magic stones.

I was genuinely moved by how skillfully it had been crafted.

"Amazing! To have built something like this—it's truly incredible!"

"Aha, thank you! But it still doesn't run properly. I can't maintain a steady power output."

"Do you know what's causing the issue?"

"The heating using the fire crystal is stable, and steam is being generated correctly. The problem is that I can't reliably supply the right amount of water from the tank.

Of course, once it's running, it shakes. That vibration, plus the inevitable loss of moisture, prevents a steady supply of water to the heating chamber..."

Emma, as she explained, drifted into thought.

Just the right amount... If only there were a pump, it would be simple, but there isn't one, and even if there were, building it wouldn't help unless we could control it.

"There's one more issue—the only source of magical essence right now is human. If only we could store magical essence somewhere... For now, we can only use medium- to high-purity fire crystals in small quantities to generate sufficient heat."

"Storing magical essence... Maybe we could use degraded magic stones, but that would still bring many uncertainties..."

"I'd really like to hear about that."

Emma leaned forward, drawing close. Her eyes were bloodshot—quite intimidating.

I summarized the techniques I'd developed through this current mission.

Magic stones grown from people have no effect other than containing magical essence.

The magic stone can appear on the body's surface as a crystal when influenced by another magic stone from outside,

and once it appears on the surface, it can push against another degraded magic stone, causing a special kind of magical essence transfer.

While this allows for the recycling of magic stones, it comes with various complications and is simply not feasible right now.

Then, Emma said,

"True, if we use magic stones generated from humans, it might be possible to store magical essence. But even if that were achievable, it would amount to nothing more than using people as components. That's certainly not a choice we should make."

I agree. But there's a possibility that magical essence could be stored. Perhaps we could transfer magical essence into gems without requiring human effort. If we could find another plant, mineral, or method capable of doing this, storing magical essence would become feasible.

Yes! Still, using degraded gems to transmit magical essence is a novel idea. It should definitely be published as a paper and shared with the world. And please let me use it.

"A research paper, huh... kind of a pain, really."

I'll help too. There's another child already here to assist. Whether it's one person or two, it makes no difference. Shall we give it a try?

If you're going to put it that way...

Besides, I was working on my paper while attending Emma-san's lab. Since I'd only ever written a graduation thesis before, turning my ideas into a proper format proved quite challenging.

I went to Emma-san's lab that day as well. But something was different from usual. There was a student there who had come to help out.