The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley” - Chapter 360

Ah, I just remembered… I did plop Pochi right into the Storeroom right after we were back in this era. Yup, that sour face she’s making is totally warranted.

“Master… you’re thinking about something dangerous, aren’t you?”

“No way. Here’s the thing — the Storeroom can be used as an excellent attack magic if edited properly. Which is not without its risks, I guess.”

Even after listening to my explanation, Pochi did not stop staring at me.

“Are you sure you can use it safely, then, sir?”

She’s still having doubts about this. Is she being paranoid, or is she worried about me… or is it both of those? It’s quite rare to have a Familiar that doesn’t trust her Master like this.

“So, this Instant Transmission spell… it’s basically a method of moving from one Storeroom to another as many of them are deployed at once. It’s made possible with the use of two magecraft in particular: Ground Spell Delivery and Air Spell Delivery — the latter of which has largely been out of use due to the convenience of Remote Control. They’ll connect everything together in one big network.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to use only the Remote Control, sir? Why would you add magecraft into the mix as well?”

“It’s too easy to externally interfere with the operations of the two relevant magic spells, you see. For example, if I were to invoke a Remote Control to make a straight connection with a Storeroom behind you, your body would get in the way of the spells. To avoid this issue, I’d have to make the Remote Control go around you somehow. The relevant magecraft have one property that Remote Control doesn’t: the ability to pass through obstacles. Remember, what Ground Spell Delivery does is send whole magic and magecraft formulas by running them on the ground. Air Spell Delivery is, well, the same thing but through the air.”

“…! Oh, I see! It’s faster to send them in straight lines than having to manage the Remote Control’s directions to avoid obstacles!”

“EXAAAACTLY!”

I pointed at Pochi, affirming her point.

Taking into account the speed at which the Arcane Circles were drawn, it turned out that using the two magecraft was overall faster than operating Remote Control.

“Now that you’ve explained it, I feel like you might actually pull this off, Master!”

“Ah, the spell’s formula is almost complete, actually.”

“Huh!? Then let’s try it out now, sir! Or are you still missing something important?”

Pochi asked, tilting her head.

“In THEORY it IS doable, but the compatibility between Ground and Air Spell Deliveries is so bad that, when I add the second one to the formula, it… starts exploding.”

“…Hmm? Now that you mentioned it… do you even have to put both magecraft into the formula, sir?”

“I mean, it’s supposed to be INSTANT, and I’ll be using it in battle, you know? I won’t have time to choose whether to use the ground or air variant of it. Putting both of them in there and letting it adapt to the situation is obviously faster, isn’t it?”

Pochi widened her eyes, seemingly confused by the logic of my explanation. 

Hehehe… Is she surprised that I was speaking intelligently for once? Aww, don’t give me that look, Pochi. I get embarrassed sometimes, too, you know.

…Wait a second. She’s gradually changing to the look she’d always give me — like, the exasperated look she’d give to a fool.

“Hah…”

Okay, why would she sigh like that?

“Master, isn’t this technically a short-ranged spell? Shouldn’t just the Air Spell Delivery be enough to cover all its functions, sir?”

“W-what!?”

“I mean, moving right on the ground and a few millimeters above it shouldn’t make much of a difference, right?”

…………Oh.

Holy shit, I was such a fool.

“…Heh! Hahahahahaha! Pochi! That’s a NICE idea! I’ll use that! Now I see an innovation coming right up!!”

Forcing my trembling body to stand back up, I pointed at Pochi.

But she kept giving me the same look — the same exasperation.

Why would she do that? This is an unprecedented discovery I’m dealing with here!

“Good luck, sir…”

Doggo, weren’t you showering me with praises just moments ago?

　◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Rise, A–rise, A-raise… A-rise! Instant Transmission!”

“What the– now you’re right behind me!?”

“Not quick enough…”

Pochi chuckled upon hearing me grumble.

“Ah, right, you needed to spend time drawing the Spell Circle. That makes it hard to call ‘instant,’ yes.”

The transmission itself is instantaneous, but the process of invoking it is NOT. Damn it, this is another problem I have to solve…

…Hey, hol’ up a minute…

“I know!”

“I have an idea, sir!”

“I’ll use Swift Magic!”

“You could use the Ultimate Limit, sir!”

Okay, we got out different ideas — which both work, but why do I feel that this is highlighting how bad the compatibility between us is?

“Your weapon is THE Drynium Rod, Master! What would you do if it was stolen!?”

“Well, it’s not like anyone can use it so easily, you know.”

“…So it consumes a lot of energy, sir?”

“Yes, it’s about 7,700 per cast — checked just now. And remember, the other big stuff like Gate Eater and Pochi Pad Breath are quite exhausting for me to use — especially when I’m in the Ultimate Limit state. Still, it could work if I do things quickly. Activate the Ultimate Limit, use Instant Transmission to place myself in the enemies’ blind spots, then instantly dish out whatever magic or magecraft I need…”

“Then you should give it a try, sir!”

“No, in terms of practicality, that’s close to impossible… or rather, I wouldn’t try it unless I was THAT desperate.”

With me saying that, Pochi thought about it for a while and seemed to be convinced by the time she was done.

“…Fair enough, sir.”

If I were to use the Ultimate Limit here, none of the monsters of the Scarlet Devil Wetlands would dare to approach me from tomorrow on, because they’d fear the sheer magnitude of my arcane energy.

At any rate, I won’t be able to test that out while we’re training here.

Still, I’ve made a ton of progress today thanks to Pochi. The invocation of the spell itself went without a hitch, so it will most likely come in handy in the upcoming battles against the Devil King and Gaspard.

As we proceeded to discuss things further, the night started to dawn.

In the end, only a few monsters approached the Teleportation Spell Circle, but that did make me realize that this spot wasn’t as safe as I had initially assumed.

After all, those monsters still dared to approach us.

In the morning, Blazer was the first one to teleport over here.

“Oh, you’re hunting today, Blazer? Who’s staying behind?”

“No one — we’re going with the whole team. Natsu, Adolf, and Reyna all passed the trials, by the way.”

“Ooh, that’s good to hear! But who’s going to take care of the kids?”

“Some of Faltown’s former residents came over to help us with that, thanks to Itsuki’s suggestion. We’re paying them, of course.”

“Damn, Itsuki’s doing a great job as always, huh?”

All right, the people of Faltown can be trusted, so there’s no problem. They’re all tough people, and some of them already are acquainted with some of the kids, too. They may have to go through some T’oued culture shock at first, but Ryan is here as well, so surely at least a few of them would be happy to move here.

Pochi and I turned to each other and smiled a little.

“So, how are the monsters here?”

Blazer immediately asked me for my opinions.

“They have exceedingly high physical strength, but they all have basically the same fighting style and weaknesses. From the few that I’ve fought, I felt like their skin kinda… burns, too.”

“Hmm, I see…”

He’s probably already heard everything from Bruce and Ryan, yet he asked me again — must have been to make sure that he wouldn’t let his guard down.

The next person to arrive was Adolf.

“Hey, Adolf! Congratulations!”

“Thank you! Now I’m S-ranked just like everyone else! It’s thanks to all the advice you gave me, Sir Asley!”

Adolf bowed to me, his eyes sparkling.

Oh, I almost forgot — I’ve been meaning to ask something about the trials. Might as well ask Adolf now.

“Say, Adolf…”

“What is it, Sir Asley?”

“Who are the people running the rank-up evaluation trials over here, anyway?”

If there are capable people here in T’oued, then I’d like to know about them.

“Oh, it was the vice leader of a high-ranking team of adventurers. They’re apparently pretty well-known around here.”

A well-known team of adventurers?

“Interesting. Who are they?”

In response to my question, Adolf tapped his temple with his finger and tried to remember.

“Hmm… they’re called the ‘Eddo Boars’… if I remember correctly?”

Huh, strange.

I feel like I might’ve heard that name before, but at the same time, maybe not.

And why did the image of fava beans suddenly appear in my mind?