A mid-level (middle-aged) office worker's laid-back industrial revolution in another world - Chapter 133

Translator: Jasper Kadowaki | Editor: NovelMultiverse

The test firing of the New Rifle 1 was concluded, and the three people present returned to the magical goods store.

“I have brought us some tea,” said Shopkeeper Taylor, and walked over to the table where Takeo and Alice were sitting.

After putting cups of tea before Takeo and Alice, he went over to his workstation and began tinkering with the rifle.

“Now, I expect someone will come for their coat in the evening, so let us wait for them, here,” said Takeo, and Alice sipped from her tea while nodding.

“Oh, by the way… Mr. Taylor, have you finished strengthening the coat?” asked Takeo.

“Yes. I had been thinking that the coat would arrive around noon, but it was delivered to me first thing in the morning, so I was able to finish it up quickly,” said Taylor, still tinkering with the rifle.

“So, it would be fine to pick up at any time, now,” said Takeo.

“Yes, that’s right,” said Taylor, participating in the conversation while seeing to his work.

“Oh, yes! Mr. Taylor, I have a question about my ring,” said Takeo.

“Yes, yes – What is it?” asked Taylor.

“It’s been configured in such a way that I can give repeated non-verbal magical commands, correct?”

“Indeed.”

“Right now, the maximum number of commands it can handle is 15, but would it be possible to raise that upper limit?”

“Hmm… Well… That ring has powdered magical jewels forged into it. The number of commands you can give is determined by the effectiveness of that powdered jewel, and so, for that ring in particular, I’m afraid the upper limit must remain at fifteen,” said Taylor, “If you were to choose a ring with a larger surface area, though, I’m sure you could raise the upper limit.”

“Where are your rings?” asked Takeo.

“Uhh… It’s drawer number four on that small shelf behind you, Kitamizato-sama,” said Taylor, “You can take out the entire drawer if you’d like.”

“I see,” said Takeo.

Takeo pulled out the drawer that Shopkeeper Taylor mentioned and brought it over to the table. Takeo and Alice then proceeded to look through the tens of rings within the drawer.

“Looking through these, I can see that the width of my ring is actually quite thin,” said Takeo, in admiration. The ring he was wearing was about 2 millimeters in width.

“Well, you got it for free, after all,” said Alice.

“Mr. Taylor – Do all of these have powdered jewels forged into them?” asked Takeo.

“Yes. However, I’m unsure about whether they all have the same content percentage,” said Taylor, “The makers are probably all different, too. If you want to raise your upper limit, you’d probably want to choose the widest ring, to raise your chances of success.”

“I see… I suppose the rest is up to my intuition,” said Takeo.

“Indeed,” said Taylor.

“Maybe I’ll take this slightly wide one…” said Takeo.

“Takeo-sama, you don’t want to take this widest one?” asked Alice.

“This one has… a very rugged design, don’t you think?”

“Yes, that’s true, but if it will raise your chances of success, you should take this one, no?”

“Hmm… I just think that design-wise, the simpler one with nothing carved into it would be the best choice. What do you think about that, Lady Alice?”[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“If you say you prefer a simpler design, perhaps this one with the jewel cut in this way might be a good choice, too,” said Alice.

“Ah, you’re right about that. The width isn’t too wide or too thin, either… I will buy two of these,” said Takeo.

“What? Two?” asked Alice.

“Yes. I wear two, right now, after all. One is thinner, and one is wider… It has an irregular feel to it. So, I thought it might be better to have two of the same style.”

“I see. What color will you choose? There’s an identical one over here, but in a different color, you know?”

“It may be good to have two different colors, but… I think two silver ones would go better with most clothes.”

“I see.”

“Will you buy a ring, too, Lady Alice?” asked Takeo.

“What? Because of the effects of my Demon Eyes, my ‘physical strengthening’ and ‘weapons strengthening’ occurs without me even conscious of it,” said Alice.

“Hm? But that means that you can’t control when it’s on. Perhaps it would be better to use a ring to keep it on automatically?” asked Takeo, “For example, it may help with automatic and continuous healing… or something. However, it may be better to be able to turn it on and off on your own. Would that be possible, Mr. Taylor?”

“Yes, it’s possible. In that drawer, there should rings with the jewel embedded directly into the ring, so please use those,” said Taylor, “Also, Lady Alice may be a misunderstanding. The concept isn’t quite ‘weapons strengthening’, but ‘weapons and clothing strengthening’.”

“I understand,” said Alice, “Well then, I would like the ring that can allow me to continually use my healing magic.”

“What? That’s what you want?” asked Takeo.

“It was you who suggested it, wasn’t it?” asked Alice.

“Well, I had just thought of it on a whim,” said Takeo.

“Well, why did you think of it?” asked Alice.

“Lady Alice, your level of offense and defense make it quite difficult to harm you with regular attacks,” said Takeo, “However, it’s possible to tire you out by having you exert energy and accumulate fatigue. That’s one strategy for defeating you.”

“Yes,” said Alice.

“So, in order to cover your weaknesses, I thought it would be helpful to have something that applies healing magic to you at all times,” said Takeo.

“Yes. I don’t disagree with that train of thought,” said Alice, nodding at Takeo’s words.

“Words spoken by Kitamizato-sama take on a certain weight, don’t they?” asked Taylor, “You two just keep getting stronger and stronger.”

“What? Mr. Taylor – we have clear weaknesses, you know?” asked Takeo.

“Oh, ho! What would those be?” asked Taylor.

“At the end of the day, we can only deal with obstacles that are visible and above ground,” said Takeo.

“…No one can defend against attacks that are otherwise, though, no?” asked Taylor.

“Usually, no one would be able to defend against them… But would it be possible, for example, to have something that would sense a magical attack within one meter of my body, and after sensing it, deploy a “Shield” automatically?

“…Even if we used the simplest solution, I think it would take more than 10 jewels,” said Taylor.

“Ah, so it’s possible?” asked Takeo.

“Please don’t just decide that on your own, Kitamizato-sama,” said Taylor, “But, yes. It’s possible, in theory… I’ve never seen it done before, though, so I have no clear evidence that it would work.”

“…”

Takeo’s face turned serious, and he was deep in thought about Taylor’s response.

“Kitamizato-sama, is something wrong?” asked Taylor.

“Well… It’s possible that information like that would be kept under control, isn’t it?” asked Takeo.

“What?” asked Taylor, with an expression that begged for an explanation.

“Well, perhaps we should speak hypothetically,” said Takeo, grinning.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]