New chapter of Control Engineer is out! (2/2 chapters)

Magical Bag

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It was the middle of November. Two months had already passed since I had moved to the royal capital. Perhaps because my daily routine of attending the university had settled in, the days seemed to pass quickly.

It was Sunday today. I had gone out hunting Almirajes, but recently I had begun to grow tired of it. The dismantling took far longer than the hunt itself. As dusk came early in late autumn, I returned to the city before four o’clock.

I went around the Adventurer Guild building and arrived before the purchasing counter. Just as I was about to join the line, I nearly collided with a group of young men and stopped short. They appeared to be a party.

I gestured with my hand to let them go ahead. It was still early, and the line was short, so it would not matter.

“This is quite rude of us. As an apology, how about some tea after the appraisal?” (Unknown Adventurer)

Tea?

Another man switched places and stood before me.

“My companion was rough. Forgive him. But tell me, why would such a beautiful young lady be here alone?” (Unknown Adventurer)

A young lady?

My head ached. I regretted letting them go ahead.

“I am a man.” (Leon)

“What?” (Unknown Adventurer)

“Surely you jest.” (Another Adventurer)

Persistent flirts, these fellows. Did they think I was pretending to be male to avoid unwanted advances? My magician’s robe conceals my figure completely, after all.

“Hahaha. Leon really is a man.” (Herman)

It was Herman-san, the appraiser, laughing as the adventurer ahead of them left and his hands became free.

“You must be joking.” (Unknown Adventurer)

“No, Herman-san never lies.” (Another Adventurer)

“I see. So, you are indeed a man. My apologies. I am Harkon.” (Harkon)

Ah, so Herman-san is quite trustworthy.

“Forgive me. I am Griffith. If you say you met the Silver Chain Sword Clan, you will be understood. I shall buy you a drink next time.” (Griffith)

So, they are not as bad as I had first thought. The Silver Chain Sword Clan, is it? I do not know them, but perhaps they are a well-known group.

“Hey, hurry and show what you have for appraisal.” (Herman)

“Wait a bit.” (Harkon)

Now that I look again, they do not seem to be carrying anything notable. They each have a small bag hanging at their side, but are they having only their magic crystals appraised?

Harkon opened the clasp of his bag, and Griffith thrust both hands into it.

What.

From inside emerged the head of a magic beast larger than the bag itself. It was a Grey Boar, an Arsh Boar. However, it was not only the head that appeared. The entire body followed. The size was clearly disproportionate to the bag. The space warped as the contents passed through the clasp. The interior expanded greatly.

“Heave-ho.” (Griffith)

A heavy thud echoed as not only the head but the whole corpse was placed upon the appraisal table. It must have weighed over one hundred and fifty kilograms. The strength required to pull it out was impressive, but even more astonishing was that such a large object had emerged from a small, hand-held bag. The difference in volume was unbelievable.

I saw it with my own eyes, yet I still found it difficult to believe. And it was not just one body. A second and third soon followed. Normally, there was no way all that could have fit.

The magical bag. So, this is it. Its interior must be connected to a subspace. Amazing.
I want it. I want it badly. With that, I no longer need to go through the tedious work of dismantling. I can simply store the carcasses as they are and bring them back.

However, when I asked Duncan-ojisan about it before, he said that one would cost several thousand Cecils and that they were rarely sold to begin with.

Several thousand Cecil. How many Almirajes would I need to hunt to afford one?

That was why I had decided to make one myself. It had been difficult to obtain information, but during the second retrieval, I had managed to record the activation and manifestation symbols.

“And also, the magic crystals.” (Griffith)

He drew out several large magic crystals from the magical bag.

“Hey, Harkon. We promised to deliver those directly to the client.” (Griffith)

“Ah, right. Sorry. No appraisal for the magic crystals, then.” (Harkon)

He returned the crystals into the magical bag. When he did, both the activation and manifestation symbols appeared once again.

—

“That will be 21 Cecils and 30 Dalk.” (Clerk)

My own appraisal was finished, and I received payment at the cashier’s counter for the Almiraje magic crystals and other materials.

“Confirmed.” (Leon)

Good. I would go home immediately and analyze the data.

“Ah, Leon-san, please wait a moment.” (Clerk)

“Eh?” (Leon)

I turned back toward the counter.

“Congratulations. You have accumulated sufficient contribution points. Your guild rank has been promoted to Basis Third Class. May I have your guild card again, please?” (Clerk)

I took it from my pocket and handed it over.

Until now, I had been a Novice, but I had now advanced to Basis, the general class. Above that, there was apparently the Superior class, but I had no particular interest in rising through the Adventurer Guild ranks.

“What advantages come with becoming Basis? I mean, besides being able to accept Basis-limited commissions.” (Leon)

I wanted to know if there were any practical benefits.

“There are several. The most notable are an increased discount rate at guild stores and the ability to enter labyrinths or common lands alone.” (Clerk)

“Common lands? Do you mean those of the guild?” (Leon)

Common lands usually referred to areas shared and used by the residents of a town or village. Being from a merchant house, I was not too familiar with them. Large trees were forbidden, but people could gather firewood, collect plants, or hunt small animals. In exchange, they were obliged to participate in community events. Outsiders were prohibited from using such lands.

“Yes. For instance, the southeastern forest falls under that category. It is national land, not guild property, but the guild has a partnership with the state. Guild members of Basis rank or higher may enter freely. The rewriting is complete. Here you are.” (Clerk)

By “rewriting”, she did not mean that she had done it by hand. The process was handled by a magical apparatus embedded in the table to keep the card steady.

Magic beasts were classified as harmful creatures, so hunting them was permitted anywhere. However, some areas were restricted, such as military zones, private lands, and certain public territories.

I had heard that hunting was allowed in the southeastern forest. The real reason must have been that by allowing free access, they could prevent the proliferation of magic beasts.

“Thank you.” (Leon)

So, that is it. Novices are discouraged from entering, but perhaps I will try hunting there next time.

—

After returning to my lodgings and enjoying a pleasant dinner with the landlady and Leah-san, I retreated to my room. It had grown a little chilly, so I turned the valve of the steam heater. With a hiss, the room began to warm slowly.

Sitting on my chair, I closed my eyes, and the scene at the Adventurer Guild purchasing counter replayed vividly in my mind.

There it was, the moment the adventurers opened the clasp of the magical bag. Two magical symbols appeared above the bag, one on the right and one on the left. The right-hand one, the activation symbol, vanished in an instant, while the left, blue one, the manifestation symbol, remained.

I launched Inspector Studio. The automatic extraction of magical symbols began. The right-hand symbol was isolated. Because the image contained perspective and angular distortion, it was corrected. The raster image, composed of pixels, was analyzed and converted into vector information, a set of points and strokes. Then, semantic analysis of the magic art commenced, and a progress bar began to fill across the dialog box.

50 percent. 80 percent. 95 percent.

My excitement mounted.

What scale of model would emerge?

The dialog vanished, and as usual, a block diagram should have appeared, but it did not.

What. An error?

Not an error, but a warning dialog. A message appeared.

A module corresponding to Prohibited Level 1.6, Prohibition Reason 2-15 has been detected in the analyzed formula. Under the current environment, viewing through SYSLAB_SimConnect is restricted. Semantic analysis data has been preserved. The loaded model will now close.

What, seriously?

Just in case, I tried analyzing the manifestation symbol as well, but the same message appeared.

Ugh. I have thought the path to creating my own magical bag is opening. No, I must not give up yet.

“Sysler AI, what is Prohibition Reason 2-15?” (Leon)

“Prohibition Reason 2-15 concerns low-level space-time magic arts.” (Sysler)

As expected. Since the bag transfers objects to and from subspace, it falls under space-time magic arts.

“Sysler, what does low-level space-time magic arts mean?” (Leon)

“It refers to space-time manipulation magic arts that lack safety mechanisms such as system stability control and garbage collection.” (Sysler)

Ah, just like programming languages. Low-level means greater freedom but also greater complexity, while high-level is more user-friendly for typical purposes.

That makes sense.

The first spells I had learned, Aqua and Breeze, had drawn water and air from subspace beyond the manifestation symbols. Even beginner magic arts involved space-time manipulation.

Which means that using such magic arts freely can be dangerous, hence the restriction.

“Sysler, what is a Prohibition Level?” (Leon)

“The Prohibition Level is a classification determining viewing or execution restrictions based on the creator’s intent and the user’s registered civilization level.” (Sysler)

Hmm. A classification for restriction. If it is a standard, that implies comparison. So, it is not absolute.

“Sysler, how can I avoid a restriction by prohibition?” (Leon)

“If the registered user’s privilege level exceeds the prohibition level, the restriction may be overridden.” (Sysler)

What.

“Displaying Leon-san’s account.” (Sysler)

Registered User: Leon (Reo Tōdō) / Human, Second Planet of the Soare System

Account: Governing Authority

Token Count: 32,767

Privilege Level: Senior System Operator (2)

System: Earth Emulation

Base Civilization Language: Cecilia

“Leon-san’s privilege level is Senior System Operator (2). Would you like to exercise your privilege?” (Sysler)

“I will exercise it.” (Leon)

Oh.

The warning dialog vanished, and the block diagram appeared on SimConnect.

—

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