Read Novel Full Chapter 115, What One Has, What One Lacks
Chapter 115, What One Has, What One Lacks
Translator: Barnnn
“You two… I must’ve said this the first time you came, too — but would it kill you to show a little restraint?”
Paula’s lilting drawl trailed off at the end, a habit common to those from Adoghan. It hadn’t stood out before — thanks to Ize and Hal’s automatic translation of non-Earth languages — but according to Fieda, she occasionally lapsed into pure Adoghan mid-sentence.
“That miso soup from that day was unforgettable,” Ize said dreamily, paying no mind to Paula’s admonishment. “It’d been so long since I’d last had white miso, too…”
She cast her mind back to their first visit, recalling the steaming bowl with genuine reverence. Hal, for his part, had charged up to the door and shouted “MISO SOUP!” before bursting through like a gale, much to Paula’s alarm.
“It really was good,” Hal chimed in. “The onions and potatoes were the perfect pairing.”
“Would you two shut up and let Miss Paula finish a sentence?” Fieda muttered, picking up a piece of dried fish with chopsticks.
As with every visit, Hal now examined Paula’s latest meal with the scrutiny of a royal taster.
“Not as burnt as last time,” he noted.
“I tweaked the settings for the standby phase,” Paula replied with a smug grin. “But if you leave it to sit too long, it turns all dry and crumbly.”
“Can’t you just make it shut itself off automatically?”
“Hmm… magical tools are generally designed to keep running constantly until manually shut off. Ones that stop on their own are rare, honestly.”
Hal mulled over the magical tools he’d encountered — like the mechanical core beneath their container house, the air cooler said to reside in the royal castle, and the electric fan they’d bought for themselves. He’d also seen lanterns affixed with Magicite lighting up homes. But they all required a manual shut-off; once switched on, they stayed on until someone intervened.
“No timers, or tools that deactivate at a certain temperature?”
“I feel like one of the Sages might’ve done something like that… but I can’t remember who,” Paula said, getting to her feet and wandering toward the back shelves. She scanned the spines of her worn collection — Sage Encyclopedias, no doubt. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about Sages, being from Adoghan and all…”
“Are Sages not famous over there?” Ize asked, glancing at Fieda, who was currently waging a war with a particularly stubborn piece of dried fish.
“Adoghan doesn’t have any Rank-1 Dungeons,” Fieda reminded. “So their people don’t value Sages the same way.”
“Exactly,” Paula called out over her shoulder. “That’s why we hardly have any magical tools over there.”
She returned with a few books, placing them on the table with a gentle thud before easing herself back into her chair.
“Why’s that, though?” Ize asked.
“If you don’t have Sages, you don’t have Sage knowledge. No Sage knowledge means no development of magical tools. And what little there is ends up hoarded by merchants and sold at outrageous prices.”
“I see,” Hal nodded, popping a piece of sweet potato tempura into his mouth.
His gaze drifted to the nearest book spine — and his brow furrowed. Some Sage’s name there must’ve struck a nerve.
“When it comes to magical tools, Tajellia still leads the way,” Paula continued.
“Because they have more Rank-1 Dungeons?” Fieda asked.
“That’s right. More Dungeons means a steady supply of Magicite. And people here understand magical tools — they don’t treat them like forbidden objects.”
“Forbidden?” Ize parroted, frowning as she finished her small bowl of pickled turnip.
The word unsettled her a little. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she found herself apologizing silently to Sato.
“I can just imagine someone in Adoghan scoffing at a rice cooker,” Paula went on. “Saying it’s lazy to use a tool to cook rice every day, that it’s unbecoming.”
“Wow,” Hal muttered.
“WOW,” Ize parroted, louder.
They both sounded genuinely taken aback. In a region with a rice-based cuisine, the rejection of rice cookers felt almost sacrilegious.
“Is Adoghan really that closed-off?” Fieda asked, placing his chopsticks neatly beside his plate.
This was the perfect chance to learn more about the nation they were soon to visit — straight from a native.
“You could say that,” Paula replied. “It’s made up of lots of islands, right? Each one tends to cling tightly to its own traditions. That’s not inherently bad, of course, but they’re also slow to accept new ideas.”
“What about outsiders?”
“The mainland’s fine — plenty of merchants and even a national council. The big islands have strong ties to the continent, too. But when you get to the smaller ones… that’s where things get dicey. Some of them have forbidden zones — step foot inside, and you could be killed on the spot.”
Hal choked on a mouthful of rice.
Adoghan, officially a republic, spanned a strip of the continent’s eastern coastline and a wide scattering of islands. And if each island held its own customs, laws, and taboos, that spelled real trouble for travelers. He, Ize, and Fieda exchanged glances and, without speaking, silently agreed: “Let’s avoid the islands.”
After clearing the table, Paula poured cups of Adoghan-grown oolong tea — bought at no small cost from an import merchant company.
“I think it was this Sage,” she said, flipping open the stack’s topmost book. “But honestly, there are so many who dabbled in magical tools.”
Ize craned her neck, reading the spines of the remaining volumes aloud.
“Development, Invention, Trickery, Eccentricities…”
“The first two make sense,” Hal said. “But those last two sound… off.”
“Sage of Trickery’s stage plays are famous in the big cities,” Fieda explained. “He’d make objects appear from thin air, or put someone in a box and stab it without leaving a scratch. I saw one of his shows in the Lazulseed Capital once — flawless execution.”
“So basically… a magician?” Ize asked.
“From the sound of it, yeah,” Hal nodded. “Not sure how that ties into magical tools, though.”
“Well,” Paula chimed in, “from an engineer’s point of view, it felt like some of his tricks could’ve been made with hidden magical tools.”
“Right… so,” Hal said, turning to Fieda, “what about the Sage of Eccentricity?”
“Don’t know much about that one,” Fieda replied, picking up the corresponding volume and flipping through the pages. “From the name, I’d guess they were odd, sure. But did they leave anything useful behind…?”
“Magical tools can be dangerous if you leave them unattended, right?” Ize asked.
“Oh, absolutely,” Paula replied. “If the Magicite overheats, it could explode.”
“Scary!”
“There’s a record of the Sage of Circuits — the one credited with creating the foundation of magical tools — losing a finger in a failed experiment.”
“That’s even worse!”
“Whew…”
Ize and Hal instinctively leaned back from the table. Understandable, given that Paula’s still-unfinished rice cooker prototype currently sat there.
“That’s why the idea of shutting off at a certain temperature is a good one,” Paula said, nodding thoughtfully. “Hal, you’ve got a good eye. Ever consider becoming an engineer?”
“No thanks. I’m fine being a mage,” Hal said, raising both hands.
“Shame. We need more people with potential, especially since engineers don’t develop skills the way most others do.”
“Wait — what do you mean, they don’t develop skills?” Hal blinked.
“It’s something of an open secret among magical tool engineers,” Paula said, sipping her tea. “Apparently, if you rely too heavily on knowledge brought over by the Sages — on technology from other worlds — skills just don’t manifest.”
Ize and Hal turned to each other and tilted their heads in unison, completely lost.
“Are there any other professions where skills don’t appear?” Hal asked.
“Other than magical tool engineers?” Paula tilted her head thoughtfully. “Let me think… There are also the successors of certains Sages — like the Sage of Explosions and the Sage of Games.”
“Explosions, huh?” Hal mused. “That probably has to do with gunpowder or something like that. Not really necessary if you’ve already got other combat-oriented skills.”
Ize frowned slightly. “Games… as in playing games?”
“Yeah,” Fieda said, nodding. “From what I’ve heard, it’s mostly gambling with cards or tokens, so their activities involve sleight of hand and psychological manipulation.”
“Ah, I see. So, no gambling-related skills either.”
That made sense, in a way. If gambling skills actually existed, whoever had them would win every time. It would ruin the whole point of the game.
Ize couldn’t guess how the Goddess determined these things, but it was clear there were some abilities she simply refused to grant as skills.
“Well,” Paula said, smiling gently, “knowledge can be developed over time. So even if your skill isn’t particularly strong, the fact that you can still learn and grow from it is a good thing.”
The absence of magical tool-oriented skills meant that anyone could try their hand at the craft, regardless of what skills they already had. Because of that, it wasn’t unusual for magical tool engineers to be people with so-called “useless” skills — those seen as unblessed failures in their own families or communities.
“A Skill might be perfectly useful from another perspective,” Paula added, brushing her fingers lightly over the half-finished device before her, “but if it’s not what a particular household or Guild is looking for, they’ll call it worthless.”
Whether she was speaking about herself or someone else, Ize couldn’t tell. But there was a faint sadness in her eyes.
◆
A few days later, they visited The Ark’s Dove one more time to check in on Paula’s progress, then returned to their inn.
“There were a lot of Sage names mentioned today,” Ize remarked.
“Yeah,” Hal replied with a grin. “The museum we went to last time was cool from a historical angle, but learning how that legacy’s actually being carried on today — feels like a different kind of fun, doesn’t it?”
He looked satisfied, cheeks faintly pink with warmth and a belly full from dinner. Wiping the sweat from his brow — the outdoor heat still clinging to his skin — he switched on the fan they’d bought here in the Capital. A soft, lukewarm breeze began to circulate. With a sigh, the trio settled into their usual spots — either bed or chair.
“Anything else you want to do while we’re still in the Capital?” Fieda asked.
Hal thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Not really. Miss Paula’s project still needs time though, so we’ve got to come up with something…”
“Problem is, we’ve kind of seen all the tourist spots already,” Ize said.
“Yeah…” Fieda agreed, nodding a few times, then looked directly at the two of them. “I’m thinking, instead of waiting idly for Paula to finish her work, maybe we should head out to a Dungeon.”
“A Dungeon?” Ize blinked.
“Yeah. Not too far — just about two days away from town. It’s a Rank 4 Dungeon with Undead.”
“Undead…”
Ize remembered someone mentioning that such a Dungeon existed not far from the capital, but she hadn’t expected they’d actually go. She shivered slightly at the thought.
Fieda noticed, but continued calmly, “It’s been over two months since we left Jasted. We’ve fought some Mystic Beasts along the road, but nothing serious. It’s time we shook the rust off…” He glanced at Hal. “…And I want to see how much stamina Hal’s built up.”
Since they’d started traveling, Hal had been running alongside the horsebus instead of riding in it, matching pace with the horses. Every morning, he trained with Fieda in swordsmanship — not just for combat proficiency, but also to preserve his magical energy and give him options in close quarters.
Fieda turned to Ize.
“And you, Ize.”
She jumped slightly when her name was called.
“…Are you sleeping okay?”
“I am,” she answered quickly.
“Hmm…” Hal narrowed his eyes at her. “Hey, you want some Sato soup?”
“N-no thank you!” she yelped, flailing both arms and shaking her head furiously.
Grinning, Hal turned toward the sunbathing Sato and called out to it.
“Sato, you love baths, don’t you?”
“Gekyo!”
“You take lots of baths every day, right?”
“Gekyou!”
“Gone from looking like a sad radish to a shiny little turnip now, haven’t you?”
“Kekyon!”
“Just brimming with nutrients these days!”
“Kekyooo!”
Ize glanced back and forth, eyes darting around like a bear in mating season, clearly at a loss.
“O-okay… Maybe I’ve had a little trouble falling asleep,” she admitted at last.
“Thought so,” Fieda murmured with a slight nod before continuing, “I want to try a real fight — see where you’re at. Whether you can handle combat, whether you and Hal can coordinate… and whether you can handle Undead in the first place.”
Fieda hadn’t forgotten about Ize’s trauma. In the heat of battle, she might be too focused on Hal and lose her sense of self-preservation.
“It’ll be fine,” Hal said casually. “I’m stronger now, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ize replied quietly.
“So,” Fieda said, tone softening, “can you do it? If not, we’ll wait. And we won’t go to the Sooryab Dungeon.”
“I want to go. I WILL go,” she said, lowering her head and pressing her lips together in frustration.
Hal gently reached out and ruffled her hair, then looked at Fieda.
“I’ll talk to her more later,” he said. “I think she’ll be okay, though.”
“Got it.” Fieda gave Ize’s head a gentle pat of his own before rising to his feet. “Don’t push yourself, Ize. Your goal is to enjoy this world — to travel, eat good food, and have fun. The Dungeon is this kingdom’s problem. It’s not something you have to shoulder if you don’t want to.”
He stretched and headed toward the door.
“I’m going to check on Hiro and Take. Also, this time we’ll try to ride the horses for most of the two-day trip, so keep that in mind.”
“Aye-aye,” Hal called after him, waving lazily as Fieda left the room.