Chapter 98 - The Text Ends Here
“Hup!”
I figured reading it in the oppressive first floor or dusty second floor wouldn’t be ideal, so I went outside. As I sat on the stone stairs leading to the entrance, Lupi settled between my feet, demanding fluffiness.
“Good girl, good girl.”
Woof~
I took out the book labeled ‘Record’ from my inventory… a diary? I looked at it again.
This is actually pretty good paper, right?
The paper where Bell-buchou and the others are wasn’t this good, was it?
“Yeah. It was kind of brownish and dirty-looking.”
“Ah, that’s what’s called straw paper, I guess.”
Straw…?
Normally, you wouldn’t know. My grandpa taught me about it, but even he said, “Apparently, they used paper like this in ancient times.”
Well, I explained that it was apparently paper made by finely crushing and boiling rice straw, and then,
Shou-kun might be able to make paper too.
“Ah, that’s right. I might not have many uses for it, but… wait, thinking about coffee filters, it’s actually an option.”
I don’t have rice straw right now, but if I look, I should be able to find similar plants, right?
“Woof?”
“Sorry, sorry.”
My petting hand seemed to have stopped. Besides, the talk about making paper can wait, the contents of this are more important now.
“Alright, I’ll read it then.”
Okay.
“Um,
The fifth of the Flower Moon. I was demoted from the Central Advanced Magic Research Institute and became a monitor on this isolated island.
…”
That’s a really harsh beginning, isn’t it? Anyway, I continued reading. Apparently, the person who wrote this was a member of that magic research institute, but after objecting to the design policy of a new magic facility, they were banished (sent away) to this island.
How did they get here?
“Hmm, I’ll read a bit further…
The [Mana Recycle System] on this island, which utilizes the volcano, is quite old and inefficient, but its safety is high.
I was banished to a place that should only require annual inspections, but in terms of not having to see the faces of those central figures, it’s probably a good place.
…”
[Mana Recycle System]? Mana is MP, right? What does this mean…?
“Continuing,
The destination of the transfer from the center was the [Control Room], but that place was too bleak to live in. So, I moved the [Transfer Magic Circle] to the [Southwest Duty Hut].
…So, that means it teleports to what this person calls the [Central Advanced Magic Research Institute], huh…”
Where could that be? It doesn’t sound like a safe place.
Somewhere on the continent where Bell-buchou and the others are? Or maybe there’s a completely different island or continent.
“I guess that’s best sealed. I’ll keep reading.
The [Control Room] only requires annual inspection, so I locked the north and south protective walls. (4725).
…Is this the [Unlock Code]?”
It’s 4725, right?
“Yeah. I wonder about a four-digit number, but if this person was the only one here, it might be fine. No, I feel like it wasn’t even needed in the first place…”
It’s pointless to think about what this person was thinking when they set it. Maybe it’s simply a door that requires a four-digit number to be set no matter what.
“Alright, next.
Regarding food, it’s supplied once a month in bulk, so I moved the [Ancient Magic Storage] here too. Most of it is close to preserved food, so it seems better to cook it myself.
Hmm, but it didn’t look like anyone was cooking.”
You’re right. There wasn’t a kitchen either.
Maybe they built a [Stone Kiln] outside like me? No way that would still be there. No, before that,
“The [Ancient Magic Storage] felt incredibly heavy, though. How did they move that thing?”
It wouldn’t… fit in an inventory, right?
“I don’t think so. Maybe they moved it with magic…?”
It wouldn’t be strange if there was magic to expand one’s inventory. But if it didn’t require a lot of MP or have a time limit, the game balance would probably collapse. Wait, do NPCs even have inventories in the first place?
From that point on, it was mostly a diary. Occasionally, there were brief descriptions of the [Ancient Ruins]. The mining area and blacksmithing forge also seemed to be [Ancient Ruins] facilities, but their uses weren’t specifically mentioned. This person apparently couldn’t do mining or blacksmithing, so they left them untouched.
“They seemed to have done some hunting and fishing, but… they weren’t very good at it.”
So they were just someone who researched magic.
“Yeah. Even so, they seemed to enjoy their life here somewhat, reading books and all.”
Things like “caught a fish today, but didn’t know how to fillet it, so I just roasted it whole.” The diary continued with entries that made him feel a little connected to the writer, and then,
“Huh?”
What’s wrong?
“Yeah. It’s from here.
A former colleague appeared at the [Transfer Magic Circle]. Apparently, the director caused part of the facility to go out of control and then collapsed.
The forced shutdown device doesn’t seem to be working properly, so they’re urgently calling back anyone who understands the principles. What on earth are they doing…
It’s like, “the banished mage is called back to help a colleague in crisis, but it’s too late.” I guess I’ll go deal with it, saying “good grief” all the while.
…”
And the next pages were all blank…
That means they couldn’t come back, right…?
“Probably.”
It doesn’t look like the person who wrote this will be coming back, but conversely, going there seems pretty dangerous. It’d be fine if that “rampage” stopped, but if it hasn’t, it’s a one-way trip.
Ah, I have respawn, so I guess I’d be mostly fine…
But still, the death penalty—some item loss, character/skill experience loss (potentially a level down), and inability to move outside a Safe Zone for 2 hours—that’s too painful.
“I probably won’t use it from here. Unless someone else or a monster appears from there…”
The description for that magic circle said it “won’t activate if there are obstacles on it,” right? Maybe you should put something on top of it?
“That’s it!”
“Woof!”
Creating an obstacle is easy. I just need to make a 1-meter square [Stone Pavement] using [Stone Wall] magic to completely cover it.
I immediately went back to the first floor,
“It’d be bad if it activated by doing it directly, so I’ll create it over here first.”
Right.
I roughly envisioned the size: 1 meter square, about 10 cm thick should be fine. I don’t want it to break.
“〈[Stone Wall]〉!”
I made it, but can I lift it? Oh, it was easy, probably because of my STR.
I covered the [Transfer Magic Circle] completely with it.
“This way, it’ll be fine even if it shows up in the stream, right?”
How about putting a mini chest or something on top of it?
“Ah, good idea!”
Alright, then I’ll remodel this place into my main base!