Chapter 17 (part 1/2) - Commission

  After his dangerous encounter with the hero, something very important had slipped past him. Prototypes created by someone who perfectly retained their memories were stored in that warehouse. But for now, there were more pressing matters.

  The urgency to generate money drove Vincent to jump straight into manufacturing his fabrication circle. After gathering a few more crystals, he went to help out at the circle workshop, using it as an excuse so he could later be left alone with the machinery.

  When he arrived, and to add salt to the wound, the workshop’s artificers were casually chatting about the hero’s adventures as they worked, completely unaware of Saito’s furtive nature.

  If only they knew… their hero isn’t as good as they make him out to be.

  At first glance, everything they said sounded positive… yet also irresponsible. Stories of how the hero had ended wars by launching surprise attacks on the enemy, doing so with his small group of companions and lovers. To Vincent, the lightness with which they spoke about the massacre of hundreds of people was madness, as if it meant nothing at all.

  That person, that hero, apparently came from roughly the same era as Vincent. His real age was a mystery, but even if he were someone advanced in years, he should still retain modern sensibilities regarding death, justice, and slavery.

  By digging a little deeper, Vincent learned that the hero had not hesitated to use slaves during his early years as an adventurer, under the excuse that “he couldn’t trust anyone else,” as his followers justified it. Vincent found it hard to accept that someone from modern Japan could resort to such means without scruples.

  Other acts by the hero, such as taking along a princess low in the line of succession and causing trouble in a neighboring kingdom, seemed like expected behavior from a teenager. But the hero’s sixteen years had to be added to those he had lived in his past life… Vincent simply couldn’t find a coherent explanation for the immaturity of his actions.

  Everyone here seems to love him… even if I told them that his first instinct upon discovering his secret was to kill me, they wouldn’t believe me.

  And so, Vincent continued assisting his coworkers in the production of calculation circles until closing time. Lily would probably end up looking for him in the workshop sooner or later, and that would be for the best. If he had seen her earlier, he surely would have told her what had happened with the hero, and for both his own safety and Lily’s, it was better to keep it secret.

  “Are you going to stay a bit longer?” Dodoon asked as he put his things away. “Are you going to tell me what you’re working on, or are you going to keep me in the dark?”

  “I think it’ll be more fun if you stumble onto what I made on your own. When you see it, you’ll know it was me.”

  “Hmmm…”

  Dodoon gave Vincent a worried look, hoping he wasn’t doing anything that could land him in trouble. Even so, he trusted the boy; he was competent, and because of that he could leave him to work alone without too many concerns.

  Finally alone… time to work.

  The fabrication circle was far simpler in terms of logic. The instructions were straightforward and direct, though tedious to write, and crafting something complex required an enormous amount of information. The conclusion Vincent reached was clear: if this kind of circle had never been made before, it wasn’t due to a lack of mathematical knowledge, but because no one had the ability to reduce and optimize the number of instructions needed to make it practical.

  Through the use of functions and prepared formulas, Vincent was able to move the rotating sphere far more efficiently, instead of relying on a long list of coordinates, and he also possessed the mental capacity to conceptualize the product to be manufactured without the aid of computers.

  For the vaporizer, three fabrication circles were required: one for the casing, another for the pipe, and a third for the internal engravings. Even so, each circle ended up measuring between fifty and sixty centimeters in diameter, and also required considerable thickness to make them easier to handle.

  As tedious as it was to make them, they were finished in a couple of hours, just in time for Lily to arrive asking why Vincent had disappeared.

  “There you are! I need an easier way to contact you, it can’t be that I have to walk all over the tower just to see you…”

  “You don’t have to see me every day, I’m fine,” Vincent replied. But the phrase seemed to hurt Lily a little, which made him immediately correct himself. “N-no, that’s not what I mean. I appreciate your company… I’m just worried about monopolizing your time. I don’t want to worry you.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “It’s not because I’m worried…” Lily replied, a bit embarrassed. “It’s just that now that you can answer me, it’s a lot more fun to be around you… but if it bothers you…”

  “It doesn’t bother me at all! Actually, you’re here just in time. I can’t turn these furnaces on with my magical capacity.”

  Somewhat offended at being used for such pragmatic purposes, Lily helped Vincent finish firing the circles, on the condition that he would later accompany her to a late dinner in the dining hall.

  “How come you're not starving to death? How can you work so many hours without your stomach rumbling?

  “When I’m working I lose track of everything else… but now that you mention it, yeah, I’m starving.”

  Vincent replied as they headed toward the dining hall. Only a few husks occupied the tables, since it was quite late and the kitchen was closed. Even so, thanks to Lily’s connection with the cook, they managed to get a couple of loaves with butter, cheese, and legumes to eat.

  “I suppose meat isn’t easy to come by…”

  “The tower tries to include protein in the diet… but like everywhere else, it’s the most expensive.”

  They commented back and forth while taking small bites of the food. Even in this magical world, food was still scarce, Vincent thought.

  “As I was saying, this can’t go on like this. I need an easier way to contact you. That’s why I bought this.”

  Lily pulled a small statuette carved from green wood out of her pocket. It was light to the touch and somewhat worn, with red coral at the ends. It was made from driftwood and shaped like an old fisherman.

  “Pay attention, because I’m going to show you another type of magic. One coming from another world

  Lily held the statuette with both hands, between her fingers, as if preparing to split it in two. Then she pronounced an unintelligible mantra, in a strange language, charging the statuette with energy up to its physical limit. Carefully, she split it into two almost equal halves: one contained the lower part of the body, and the other the torso and head.

  “Here, this part is for you. It should absorb more energy, since your half has more detail.”

  Lily handed Vincent the upper half of the statuette. On it, the carved face of an old man could be seen, holding a harpoon in his hands.

  “What did you just do? What is this?”

  Vincent asked, examining the detailed piece in his hand.

  “That is a demonstration of Empathy, a magical technique from another world.”

  Lily replied, showing the other half in her hand.

  “Empathy is capable of linking physical properties through two objects that share an apparent bond. This statuette carries a great charge of energy and sentimental value. Its wear and its design make it unique… which makes it an ideal catalyst for empathic bonds.”

  Lily tapped her half of the statuette lightly with her finger. At the same time, Vincent felt those same taps replicated on the piece he was holding.

  “Whoa…”

  Empathy, this new magical system, could connect objects that shared kinship. The more evident and unique that bond was, the more effective the empathic connection became. As Lily explained, the statuette held great sentimental value, likely a carving of a father or grandfather. The wood was beautiful, the coral gave it character, and it was fragile enough to split cleanly, which made it ideal for this kind of bond. There was only one half that could fit with the other, and together they attracted enough spiritual energy to function.

  Those taps… she transferred the movement between both halves… it’s like with the twin particles.

  This opened up a world of possibilities. How was it possible that one of the most remarkable magical systems he had seen could be replicated so simply? What were its limitations? Was it something he could learn?

  “Lily… that was incredible.”

  Lily’s smile spread from ear to ear. She was becoming smug, and she was clearly enjoying Vincent’s praise.

  “And you haven’t even seen everything yet… watch.”

  With a snap of her fingers, Lily generated a small flame, like a lighter, and then slowly brought it close to the statuette.

  “Ah!”

  Vincent shouted as he felt the heat on his half, instinctively dropping it to the floor. The sudden movement made Lily drop hers as well.

  “It transfers heat too?”

  “And mass as well. Empathic bonds, or at least the one I imbued into this statuette, allow the transfer of practically all properties from one part to the other. It’s probably drained now from constant use, so hand me your half so I can recharge it.”

  “Can’t I charge it myself?”

  Vincent asked, somewhat disappointed at adding yet another thing he couldn’t do. Lily took his half and joined it back together with hers.

  “You can, but it will take you quite a while. Besides, I need to modify the empathic enchantment so it only transfers certain types of interaction, otherwise it would be very inefficient.”

  Lily began reciting another mantra while pressing both halves together between her hands. The chant was much longer and took several minutes, during which Vincent tried to decipher the language she was using.

  This girl is incredible… does every magical system require studying a different language?

  “Ah… there we go. This way it’ll last much longer. It’s now only linked to transfer light touches. That way we can communicate at a distance. There are other methods, but this is the cheapest one I can think of, considering your level of skill.”

  Lily handed the half of the statuette back to him, and Vincent asked,

  “Communicate? How, like Morse code?”

  “What? No, that would be unnecessarily complicated. Let’s use something simpler. One tap to meet in your dormitory, two in the study hall, three in the workshop…”

  Lily continued defining the system casually.

  “If you feel it losing magical density, charge it with energy so we can keep communicating. The farther apart we are, the more energy it’ll require.”

  “Got it.”

  Vincent replied, giving the statuette a light tap. For him, it was time to get back to work… for Lily, on the other hand, it was already time to go to sleep.

  After saying goodbye, Vincent carried his freshly made circles to the abandoned bathroom where he would produce the vaporizers. He wasn’t going to make them right now, it was too late, but if someone saw him carrying such complex circles, questions would start.

  If the hero is still around and sees me carrying something this complicated, I’m dead. Better leave my things and continue tomorrow.

  So, after leaving the materials in the bathroom, Vincent finally headed to the dormitories. He needed to check whether his sellers had been working during the day. When he looked for them in the barracks, he found a couple of empty beds. They weren’t there, nor in the common room or the dining hall. After a while, Vincent gave up. It was time to go back to his room.

  And that’s where he found them.

  The three husks were camping right outside his door. They were sleepy from how late it was, but they also had huge smiles on their faces when they saw him arrive.

  Fun fact: Empathy actually refers to the magic used in Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, called Sympathy. Highly recommended.