Chapter 9

After walking 2 hours through the forest, the path opened up, revealing the plains and the bare earth. As we continued our way, a group of guards dressed in armor just like Hyuzu and the rest came to view.

When they noticed our group approaching, they placed a hand on their chest and greeted us. These people were probably acquainted with the duke’s family.

“Those people are?” [Ryouma]

“They are members of the Jamil Household’s private army. They regularly patrol the region to ensure the roads are safe.” [Elialia]

“Today they’re here to escort us. Yesterday I had them investigate the forest.”

Ojousama and Reinbach-sama said, but what did he mean by ‘investigate’?

“Ryouma-kun, did you know? These past few years, more and more reports of monster sighting and casualties have been coming.” [Reinhart]

“…? No, this is my first time hearing it.” [Ryouma]

“I see. There are highs and lows when it comes to monster waves, but lately, the trend has been leaning toward the highs, so we have to increase the frequency of the patrols to ensure the citizens’ safety. The reports from this forest are few as usual, but a few days ago, I heard about you.” [Reinhart]

Me?

“When I found out that you lived here and that you defeated the strongest monster in this forest, the black bear, I figured you might have accidentally culled the monster population. So just to be sure, yesterday, I asked the nearby village to investigate.”

Oh, so there was something like that… Is that the reason why he gave me so many gifts?

When I was about to ask that to Reinhart-san, a man dressed in an armor more extravagant than the others stepped out. He was probably the representative of the group. At that, Reinhart-san left with Sebasu-san and received the man’s report.

We didn’t want to get in the way of their work, so we distanced ourselves from them. Eventually, I saw Sebasu-san pull out a carriage out of nowhere with his dimension magic.

I knew they had a carriage, but who would’ve thought he’d actually stored it in his dimension space. I mean, you can actually store something that big?

As I peeked into the hole created by Sebasu-san’s dimension magic, I figured he was probably using the intermediate spell, Dimension Home.

It’s compatible with the Item Box and is a league above it in terms of space. You can even live inside it. I’ve heard about it from the gods, but this is my first time seeing one in person.

As I was thinking that, Sebasu-san pulled out one carriage after another. Just how much space does that magic have?

While I was being surprised, the ojousama seemed satisfied at my reaction and laughed.

“Those are only the carriages we will be riding on, you know? The ones for our luggage are still in Sebasu’s dimension home.”

There’s more!? I yelled internally as I did a self-tsukkomi.

After that the madam took my hand and we rode the carriage with the rest of the duke’s family. All-in-all there were 6 of us inside. There were four from the Jamil family + me, and after waiting a little, Sebasu-san rode too, which brought our numbers to six.

As for the slimes, they were placed on the tray on the carriage’s roof. Apparently, that was something usually used for liquor and snacks.

After ensuring that there was nothing wrong with the slimes on the roof and that everything was ready, we departed.

We were riding on the same carriage anyway, so I took this as an opportunity to ask Sebasu-san about the magic he used awhile ago. Apparently, Sebasu-san specialized in water and dimension magic, and was in fact, one of the leading magicians within the kingdom.

When I heard he could use advanced dimension magic, I asked him a question.

“Can you also use… ‘Another World’?” [Ryouma]

When I asked that, Sebasu-san looked at me with admiration.

“Oho, so you know even a magic like that?” [Sebasu]

“Tamed monsters, can still scare the villagers, so… I asked my grandmother about dimension magic, wondering… if I could use it in place of conjuration.” [Ryouma]

“Can dimension magic be used to teleport monsters?” [Elialia]

“It’s possible indeed, as monsters can live within the Dimension Home. The same is true for Another World. If you store your monsters there, they won’t be able to scare the villagers.” [Sebasu]

Thank goodness.. It would be really troubling if they couldn’t live inside.

In this world, there is a magic just like the magic I use to tame monsters, it’s called Conjuration. It’s a magic tree that contracts monsters just like Monster Taming, but the monsters are only summoned when needed. Because of that it’s a lot more convenient than Monster Taming, garnering it greater popularity. Currently, it is more mainstream than Monster Taming, but that doesn’t really matter.

I chose Monster Taming because I figured it should be possible to use Dimension Magic to summon monsters like Conjuration does. Though another reason is because I would be able to pick another kind of magic if I chose Monster Taming instead.

“Though it depends on the place, being a monster tamers does have a lot of inconvenient parts to it.” [Ryouma]

“There’s also a problem with using Dimension Magic as an alternative. One, you have at least use an intermediate spell. Two, only a magician who can use dimension magic can take out the stored monster.

Even if you hire a magician who can use dimension magic, if that magician dies, you’ll never be able to get your magic back regardless of whether it’s still alive or not. You also won’t be able to call your monster out if the magician can’t use his magic for some other reason. This holds true for all Dimension Magic spells regardless of class.

In the end, some tamers see dimension magic as useful, while some don’t because of the risks.”

…Come to think of it, I also ended up discussing this with the gods when I brought up the subject…

“Now, regarding your question, I can indeed use Another World, but it’s not a magic I can use as I please. It’s the most difficult spell of the Dimension Magic tree, so magicians who can use it are considered to be at the apex and are given much prestige… But that’s about it.” [Sebasu]

“What do you mean?” [Ryouma]

“It’s inconvenient. If I were to explain it in steps, Another World requires three steps to invoke. First, one must create a big space. The space will decide how big one’s Another World will be, but it’s completely reliant on one’s mana pool.” [Sebasu]

“…In other words, if you have a lot of mana… you can make a big world, but… if you don’t have much, you can only… make a small one.” [Ryouma]

“Precisely. Moreover, the first step would exhaust all of the caster’s mana, leaving him asleep for several days. And should the caster fail, he would have to do everything again.” [Sebasu]

So, if you fail, all of your efforts will go down the drain, huh.

“If you do succeed, the second step requires you to create an entrance where you are and connect it to the space you created. This would also take a lot of mana, and again, if you fail, you start over.

Everything up to the second stage is preparatory for the third stage, where you finally open the entrance you made. Generally, opening the gate would consume anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 mana points.

10,000 mana points is the minimum required pool for someone to become a royal court mage. That’s enough to make even the best magicians of the country to faint after just one cast. So Another World really isn’t something you can just pull out whenever you want.

Moreover, having to go through so much trouble to create such a huge space also leaves one with the question of what to put in it.”

After reaching this point, the ojousama asked a question.

“What does that mean? Since there’s a lot of space, wouldn’t you just put whatever you want in it?” [Elialia]

“You could put your belongings in, but normally, the intermediate, Dimension Home, is enough for normal furniture and one’s belongings.

The only things you’d need Another World for would be something on the scale of palaces or fortresses. At that level, the bigger question would be how to make something so big fit inside. In the end, there’s really not much point to making such a big space. It’s just a waste of mana.” [Sebasu]

“I see…” [Elialia]

Well, it certainly has its cons… But the small matters aside, I should first focus on being able to cast Dimension Home. My monsters are slimes anyway.

As I was thinking that, Sebasu-san spoke.

“If you have large-sized monsters, then there are some as big as castles. If you have those, then you might find Another World useful.” [Sebasu]

“I see… Thank you.” [Ryouma]

“It’s no problem. If you have any similar questions, just feel free to ask.” [Sebasu]

“By the way, Ryouma-san, what kinds of magic can you use? I heard you could use earth and dimension, and I also heard you heated the bath, so I guess you must have water and fire too?” [Elialia]

Telling them the attributes I can use should be fine. I honestly answered her question.

“Grandma says I can use, all attributes.” [Ryouma]

“All attributes, huh. That’s rare. Is there anything you specialize in?” [Sebasu]

“Earth and dimension mainly… Then fire and water… I’m mostly focusing on the ones I need for… my lifestyle, so… there’s no real specialization, I guess.” [Sebasu]

“Hmm… And on top of that, you still have Barrier Magic and Monster Taming. Those with all attributes tend to become jack-of-all-trades. Be careful.” [Sebasu]

“I will.” [Ryouma]

Come to think of it, the gods said the same thing, didn’t they?

“…Did I say something strange?” [Sebasu]

“Huh?” [Ryouma]

“Ryouma-kun, you were smiling just now.” [Elialia]

Huh, I guess it showed on my face.

“My grandma said the same thing, before… Especially, since I tried my hand at healing magic, and alchemy too.” [Ryouma]

“Oh, I thought it’s because I said something strange.” [Sebasu]

“But still… Alchemy, huh. That sure is another strange hobby you have there.” [Reinbach]

Now that he mentions it, there sure is little information regarding alchemy.

“Is it that odd?” [Ryouma]

“You won’t find a lot of alchemists these days. In the past, there were a lot who scammed people, saying they could make gold, so it’s become an unpopular profession. It is said that there was once a man known as the Alchemy King who made a killing through alchemy, but other than him, no one else has succeeded.” [Reinbach]

“One reason is because the Alchemy King used the original version of alchemy, while present-day alchemy is nothing more than something profiteers came up with in hopes of striking it rich.

Unfortunately, their version of alchemy is greatly inferior to the Alchemy King’s, and with it being used mainly for scams, both the art and the profession have found themselves in a precarious situation.” [Sebasu]

“Alchemists are secretive too, so they have a ghastly reputation. The other guilds are secretive in their own right, but the alchemist are in their own league.” [Elialia]

It seems the alchemists don’t have a good image. Well, it’s not that different from earth’s alchemists in the past.

“Would it be better… not to tell people I study… alchemy?” [Ryouma]

“That would probably be for the best.” [Reinbach]

“Alright.” [Ryouma]

When I said that, the ojousama asked.

“Ryouma-san, what do alchemists do?” [Elialia]

Well…

“I don’t know about the others… but in my case… the most I can do is purify rock salt.” [Ryouma]

“Rock salt? There should be some that could be mined near the forest, but it was deemed useless due to having poison mixed in. Can you make something out of that?” [Reinhart]

“The rock salt there has a lot of minerals… so it’s poisonous to humans… As long as you remove the minerals… It can be consumed… I use alchemy to… purify the rock salt from there…” [Ryouma]

“You can do that!?” [Reinhart]

“Yes. The food we ate at my house… all used the rock salt from there… I got it from the cliff.” [Ryouma]

Reinhart became excited when he heard that, but it didn’t take long for him to calm down.

“That’s amazing! If you can do that, then you can sell th… Ah, no. It’s no good. Word of the salt from there being bad has been spread for years now, so no one will buy it.” [Reinhart]

“Really?” [Ryouma]

“Yeah, in the past, there were adventurers who happened upon it and tried to sell rock salt without reporting the mine. You can hunt and forage as you please save for certain designated places, but when it comes to rock salt, some nobles lose their bearings and try to monopolize it. I’m sure those adventurers didn’t want that to happen, so they tried to profit off of it themselves, but people started getting sick when they sold it, so they were arrested and executed.

It was a huge incident, so everyone in the country already knows that the rock salt from the Jamil Territory’s Forest of Gana is poisonous. Well, we never had any salt to begin with anyway, so it didn’t really affect us, but still…”

I guess even otherworlds have counterfeit goods…

“That cliff isn’t very big anyway… So you can’t get much salt from it… anyway… Even if you sell it into the market… I think it’ll just lose out to other safer and more abundant sources… But if it’s just the village nearby… or the Jamil Household, I’m sure it would be useful…” [Ryouma]

“I see. That’s unfortunate.” [Reinhart]

After that I got more information regarding the world. I enjoyed the swaying of the carriage as I chatted with the others.