New chapter of Control Engineer is out! (1/1 chapter)

First Magical Tool

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

“Hey, isn’t that Leon?” (Rozel)

There was a shop located about 20 minutes west of our trading company, in the busy shopping district. The signboard read Magical Tools Shop. As I opened the wooden door, right in front of me stood the shop owner in his 30s. He was my father-sama’s youngest brother, Rozel Ojii-san.

“Ojii-san. It’s been a while.” (Leon)

“Oh, since New Year’s, huh? What brings you here? You’ve never been to this shop before, have you? It’s not business from the trading company, right?” (Rozel)

Right, while we’d met within the trading company, this was my first time visiting here. The shop wasn’t that large. Besides me, there were no other customers. As I glanced around, I saw large shelves set against the wall, with numerous slanted wooden boxes mounted on them.

“No, I was hoping to get something for myself.” (Leon)

“Something from our stock? Well, alright. Oi! Midia-oba! Your nephew Leon’s here!” (Rozel)

A surprised voice responded from the back.

As I stepped closer to the shelves and peered inside, I saw several magic stones lined up. This shelf was for magical stove heat sources. That one over there was for magical lamp light sources. At a glance, they all looked like clear, crystal-like stones. But their colors distinguished them. The former had a reddish tint, the latter a yellowish one.

“That’s right. Conan-kun said you were practicing magic art.” (Rozel)

“Yes, well, sort of.” (Leon)

“Wands are expensive, after all. They’re not on those shelves. Check the ones in the back. Want me to help pick one out?” (Rozel)

Wands were general-purpose magical apparatuses used to assist in activating magic arts. They were items for magic art practitioners, with cheap ones costing a few silver coins, and high-end ones going for hundreds of gold coins.

Using a wand made activating magic arts easier, but I’d heard that becoming too dependent on them would slow down growth, so they weren’t recommended for beginners. I hadn’t known that before, but for now I didn’t feel any inconvenience, so I’d never really thought of wanting a wand.

“No. Not today. I’m not here for a wand…” (Leon)

“Well, if it isn’t little Leon-chan. Long time no see.” (Midia)

It was Oba-san.

Ugh, I always get the -chan treatment from women, don’t I…

“Midia-san, hello. Hendil-kun, you too.” (Leon)

Oba, looking neat and tidy, came out holding hands with my cousin, who was barely as tall as her thighs.

“Come now, say hello to Onii-chan.” (Midia)

“H-hello.” (Hendil)

Apparently shy, he gave a small bow and quickly hid behind his mother.

Well, he probably didn’t even understand what it meant to be cousins.

“Sorry about that. This one’s very shy.” (Midia)

“Ah, no worries.” (Leon)

“Hey. Let’s play building blocks.” (Hendil)

It seemed like he was in the middle of playing when Oba-san pulled him out here.

“Honestly, Hendy. You can go back now.” (Midia)

“Okay.” (Hendil)

He scurried off.

“Well then, I’ll go make us some tea.” (Midia)

“No need to fuss.” (Leon)

Oba-san went back inside.

“He’s adorable, isn’t he? Hendil-kun.” (Leon)

He should be around three years old.

“Haha, I guess so. But Leon, you were just like that until recently too.” (Rozel)

“Eh, really?” (Leon)

I mean, I’m 14 now. Surely not. But come to think of it, I did used to trail after someone all the time. Not Okaa-sama, but one of my brothers.

“Yeah. Conan-kun and Hein-kun take after their father, but you really resemble your stepmother. You were adorable. When you were around Hendil’s age, if you kept quiet, you looked just like a little girl.” (Rozel)

“If I kept quiet?” (Leon)

“Yeah, but you’d never stay quiet for five minutes. You were quite the rascal. Conan-kun, who always looked after you, really had his hands full.” (Rozel)

Ugh… I really can’t argue with Conan-niisan.

“Well, putting that aside. Since you’re here, and not for a wand, what are you after?” (Rozel)

“Magic stones.” (Leon)

“Oh? What kind? Most of what we sell are for everyday magical tools, you know.” (Rozel)

“Yes. I’d like some of those as well…” (Leon)

For reference.

“…And also some unmarked ones.” (Leon)

“Unmarked? You mean magic crystals? Don’t tell me you’re trying your hand at magical technician work?” (Rozel)

Magical technicians were artisans who created magical tools and magical apparatuses. The former were for general use and the latter could only be used by magic art users. They were also known as enchanted tools.

“Well, I thought I’d give it a try.” (Leon)

I had long been interested in magical tools, and I had even toured some workshops of the artisans affiliated with the trading company. But precisely because of that, I’d assumed that carving techniques into a magic crystal required specialized tools and equipment.

However, very recently, while reading the documentation of my internal system, I happened to find a section called engraving magic art. In short, someone like me could engrave magic formulas even without anything special. I began to think, maybe I could do the same things as a magical technician without needing a workshop.

The module for basic development of engraving magic art existed in the internal system, so I activated it right away. I then loaded the formula from a nearby magical tool, a magical lamp, into SimuConnect as a block diagram, and ended up crying out with excitement despite it being the middle of the night.

So, I decided to try modifying or even creating magical tools and came to Ojii-san’s shop. I could probably ask at the trading company too, and they’d give me some if I asked. But if word reached Okaa-sama, she would definitely grill me with questions.

“Hmmm. I see. I thought you’d become a merchant, but a magical technician is a good job. You’ll never go hungry if you have the skills. If you can get certified, it’s a solid profession.” (Rozel)

“I’m not thinking that far ahead yet.” (Leon)

“I see. But if you came all the way to our shop… Ah, got it. I won’t tell the trading company.” (Rozel)

He seemed to be thinking on my behalf, so I simply smiled and nodded.

“Alright then, Ojii-san will pick out some good quality magic crystals for you.” (Rozel)

Ojii-san sorted through the stock of second-grade magic crystals and picked out about ten good ones, selling them to me at wholesale price. After that, Oba-san served tea, and naturally, it turned into a session of reminiscing.

 

—

 

“Phew.” (Leon)

Back in my room, I immediately began analyzing the magic stones used for everyday magic art. I picked up a red, transparent heat-generating magic stone for the magical stove.

Walking to the window and holding it up to the sunlight, I noticed a faintly white portion.  It was barely visible to the naked eye. That was where the formula was engraved.

At the bottom of my field of vision, a progress bar appeared, indicating that analysis had started automatically. It advanced rapidly, and a new window popped up. The title was Engrave Studio v3.22, the module I activated last night.

Pronounced Engrave Studio, huh? Let’s call it EnSta.

But the information displayed was very simplistic. It was almost crude. There were two terminals and a resistor between them. A very simple circuit.

Well, that made sense. It was just a heating device. When magic flux flows through it, the heat generated per unit time is proportional to the square of the flux amount. Still, it was a good beginner’s project for trying out engraving magic art. The equivalent circuit was small.

Switching the display mode from block diagram to physical wiring diagram, the surface of the magic stone appeared in my view. The focus zoomed in on the white cloudy area I saw earlier.

“Heehh, so this is how it’s done.” (Leon)

There were three magic symbols, connected in series. The ends were terminals, and the large symbol in the middle was probably equivalent to the resistor. None of them were activation symbols, they were all manifestation symbols. No text but just patterns.

This must have been what the large engraving machine at the magical infrastructure workshop was doing. By using both EnSta and Possessor, engraving could be done through human magic rather than equipment. I’d already read the documentation on that last night.

Selecting New Engraving from the menu, a warning popped up.

Let’s see… “First time use. Would you like to run the tutorial?”. Very thorough.

I accepted, and a dialog box opened. In the center, a dashed square was displayed. “Place an unused magic crystal inside the square.”

Ah, I see.

I placed one of the magic crystals I bought from Ojii-san on the desk, moved my face so the crystal fit inside the square. The display changed: “Would you like to test engraving with the currently loaded formula?”

Test it? Well, alright.

I accepted.

Unintelligible messages began rapidly scrolling across the dialog window.

Oh, it stopped.

“Engraving skill level: 1.0 → Motif stone engraving rule: 0.03 … Engraving possible.”

A message appeared: Engraving will begin, and the magic crystal began to glow.

So, that’s how it worked. Whether engraving is possible depends on the user’s skill level. I’m glad I started with a simple magic stone. I’ll raise my level from here.

 

—

 

“What are you doing at this hour, Leon-sama?” (Ligas)

As I headed to the kitchen in the back, I was quickly spotted by the head chef, Ligas.

“Yeah, I want to try something out.” (Leon)

“Try something out?” (Ligas)

“I want to use the magical stove.” (Leon)

He looked at me with suspicion.

“The stove? We’ve already shut it down for the night. What are you planning to do?” (Ligas)

Well, it was already past 10 p.m.

“Um… Could you try swapping this magic stone in for me?” (Leon)

I handed Ligas a red magic stone.

“Huh. It looks normal to me. Alright then.” (Ligas)

He put on leather gloves, removed the trivet and the head part of the stove where the flame came out. Then, he reached in and moved his hand around in small motions. Eventually, he pulled out a magic stone in his hand, swapped it with the one I gave him, and reassembled the head and trivet.

“Replacement complete.” (Ligas)

“Alright, try lighting it.” (Leon)

“Yes.” (Ligas)

He held his hand over another magic stone in front of the stove. The flame ignited. As he moved his hand, the flame gradually increased in intensity, then finally extinguished.

“Hmm. It seems to work just fine.” (Ligas)

Inwardly, I shouted in triumph.

“Ligas, thank you. You can keep using that stone as-is.” (Leon)

“Huh. That’s fine, but… what was that about?” (Ligas)

“Fufufu. It’s a secret!” (Leon)

And thus, my first magic stone engraving was a success.

 

—

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