I Don’t Care About the Story, I Want a Cat ～Transmigrated into an Otome Game～ - Chapter 22

The Prince vs the Director of Magical Technology

… and so the battle against the Kraken was a success. Fortunately, there weren’t any casualties or major injuries.

I thought the Kraken was humongous when I first saw it. But then someone told me that it was on the smaller side for a Kraken and I was so surprised to hear that! Maybe the reason creatures that live in the sea get so big is because the sea itself is so big. Do you know the reason, Ed?  

It was also surprising to find Sir Dion had also boarded the battleship in the fight against the Kraken. But I’m glad he’s here because now I can continue practicing magic. You’re always working hard in your studies, so I will also do my best.

Sincerely,

Amy.

Edward read over the letter that the roodle had brought, once again, before putting it carefully inside his drawer and leaving his room. He still had some time before the appointment but he didn’t want to take any chances of being late. 

Even if he showed up unannounced, without setting a prior appointment, he knew he wouldn’t be turned away since he was Royalty. However, he had no desire to abuse his status in such a way. Moreover, he really wanted to make a good impression on the person he was visiting. 

He walked down the hallway flanked by two guards as usual. It was the same hallway he had always walked down, but today, for some reason, the colours looked different. 

He wondered if maybe it was because of his nerves.

He was usually very level headed when he performed his official duties. Even when he was meeting officials from a foreign kingdom, or overseeing an official ceremony, he kept his cool. He had never felt nervous like this before. 

He arrived right on time at the Bureau of Magic. He proceeded without hesitation to the Department of Technology. The clerk announced his presence and opened the door in a fluster when he arrived.

Standing in the middle of the Director’s office, awaiting his arrival, was Count Joshua Northland himself. He was the Director of Technology at the Bureau of Magic, and also Amy’s father.

“Welcome to the Bureau of Magic, Prince Edward.”

“Thank you for accepting my request to visit, Count Northland.”

Joshua looked a bit surprised when Edward leaned forward into a polite bow, but he didn’t say anything. They moved silently to sit on the sofa and, once seated, Joshua broke the silence by speaking. 

“I had no idea you were interested in magical tools and equipment, Your Highness.”

“Is it surprising for me to be interested in them?”

“The Royal Family has never taken an interest in technological progression except during the time of war…… I am just a humble subject; you don’t have to speak politely to me, Your Highness.”

(TN: Edward is using keigo/polite Japanese to talk to him)

“Think nothing of it, I am currently here as your student after all.”

The Count couldn’t help but smile at Edward’s shameless acknowledgement that he was using the precious time of the busy Director for personal, one-on-one lessons.

It was the day after the tea party when the Prince had reached out to him about wanting to learn more about magical technology. It had taken some time to begin while they adjusted their schedules to match, but it had been decided to conduct these lessons 2 to 3 times a month. 

The Count had offered to visit him for the lessons but Edward had rejected him saying it was the student who should go visit him which brought him here today. Besides, it allowed him to learn about the products practically by watching the actual manufacturing process, or seeing the prototype products in development. Joshua had to concede at this point. 

“If the Prime Minister found out he would surely be surprised if he heard you now.”

“I don’t think he’ll be able to do much about it … So, what should we do? We can talk in this room if it’s not a problem.”

Joshua raised an eyebrow when Edward said that without even batting an eye.

“…….As you wish, Your Highness. Then let’s start right away. We should look at the basics first; it’s your first time here after all. Perhaps we should start by talking about something familiar to you.”

Saying that, Joshua pulled out a small, metallic round object from his breast pocket. He opened the lid to reveal three different coloured needles inside. It was similar to a pocket watch, except the needles were all the same length, and they didn’t move with time like a usual watch.

“That’s a magical tool for communication. I’ve seen my head maid and knights use it before.”

Edward glanced up at the guard who was standing watch in front of the door. The object in Joshua’s hand was like the tool carried by the knights and his head maid, Hannah, but it seemed a little different from theirs. Joshua nodded satisfactorily when Edward made this observation. 

“You’re right, the ones in the market only have two needles in them. You can say this is just a prototype, purely for research purposes, so I did not think you’ve seen it before. Can you see this notch on the bezel?”

Joshua pointed to the frame that was attached around the edge of the surface. Numbers from 0 to 9 were laid on it, along with patterns of stars, the moon and the sun were engraved on it at various intervals.

“It was designed so that the wavelength of the magical energy released by the magic stones inside changes according to the place specified by this needle. So, if the needle points to the number assigned to another of these tools, or in other words if the same magic wavelength is used between two tools, then communication will be possible.”

The combination of the two needles, that were usually attached on such tools, could help to finely narrow down the scope of the communication range. This allowed people to get in touch specifically with the person they needed to contact.  

“We are currently allocating these numbers to each department in the Bureau.”

“So if all you need is for the needles to point to the right place, does that mean anyone can join the communication with you as long as they have the right number?”

Joshua seemed to puff up in excitement at Edward’s question.

“So you did notice that, huh? Yes, it is possible to do so. Someone else can join the call and just listen in without participating in the conversation. I didn’t add a privacy function on purpose.”

“…… Is it so that it wouldn’t be used for ill purposes?”

Thanks to this tool, people could communicate directly without having to meet each other, and it didn;t leave behind any evidence like a letter did. So it would make sense that some people would try to use it for evil deeds…… or so Edward thought, but Joshua just smiled as if he’d said something funny. 

“If we do add that function the size and weight of the tool would be unsuitable for carrying it around with you. The portability would vanish. Besides you would need magic stones of quite a high quality for it; it’s a problem of cost and technicality.”

Edward blinked in surprise at his technical answer. 

“Well, there are some people who would agree with Your Highness’s thinking. Currently we do have a department that specialises in monitoring the tools…… we do explain everything to the users who buy these tools but, for some reason, many of them don’t even realise what you yourself have noticed at your young age.”

“I-I see.”

Recently, there had been some aristocrats who had suddenly been stripped of their titles without any public explanation. Edward wondered if it was because of the monitoring of these communication tools, but he didn’t say it out loud. He felt like the Counts countenance right now looked very similar to his childhood friend, Alex, when he’d participated in some mischievous prank. But he kept this thought to himself as well. 

“I heard you were the one who came up with the idea for these communication tools, Director.”

“That’s right. There was someone I wanted to talk to, but it took too long with a messenger bird. So I designed these.”

Joshua said it as if it was of no particular importance, but he had actually made the first one when Isabel was pregnant with Harold. 

She had suffered heavily from morning sickness in the earlier days, and had often collapsed as well. It had worried him and he wanted to be able to contact her even during work so he had made this tool. When the officials had seen it, they requested it be mass produced and so he had made a simpler version of it which was now in circulation. 

This special magical tool was specially convenient for use in the Royal Palace to communicate with the staff, however no one could have guessed the reason behind it’s production was the Countess of Northland. The Count was now working on developing a camera on the request of his beloved wife and daughter…… though progress had been slow due to the problem of finding a suitable lens.  

“Well, as you can see, the usage of magical tools like this can change greatly depending on the person using it. As for the origin of these……”

From there on, the conversation turned into a lecture about the origin of magical technology. 

Edward found the talk about magical tools surprisingly interesting and he soon lost track of time. Joshua also took great care to answer when the Prince raised some questions at various points in the lecture. 

If it wasn’t for the knight interrupting hesitantly to remind them of the time, they would have continued talking all day.

“It turned out to be a very interesting talk. I look forward to next time as well.”

“Of course, Your Highness. Your understanding of magical tools is quite good. It would be my pleasure to talk to you again about them…… although my daughter is a different matter altogether.”

Edward was taken aback when the Count suddenly mentioned his daughter, Amy, a topic they had successfully avoided talking about until now.

“I beg your pardon, but I have no intention of giving my daughter away in marriage until she is 18 years of age. No matter who her potential husband may be.”

“18?”

18 was a little late considering girls in this kingdom were considered of age when they turned 15. It was a different matter if they went on to study abroad, but usually girls got married at the age of 16 or 17 after attending school for about a year. 

“Rather, I want her to keep the Northland surname until 20 if possible.”

If that was the case then it really would be a very late age for marriage. If there wasn’t a valid reason for the delay then the young lady in question, and her family, will have nasty rumours spread about them. Joshua must be aware of that but he still seemed completely genuine when declaring his intentions.

“……. Is there a reason for that?”

“It is difficult to explain by words alone but please understand that I do not want to give her up as a father.”

18 years would be the age she would have graduated from high school in their original world.

However the Joshua of this world couldn’t tell anyone about his feelings from his past life.

The two looked at each other with serious expressions for a brief moment, but the tension was broken when Edward suddenly smiled.

“So, in other words, you want to see if I will wait for the next 8 years.”

“……. Isn’t it necessary for Your Highness to get married soon?”

“I’m not in any hurry. Besides, I don’t want to make Amy my fiancee.”

“What do you mean?”

From all the ladies that had gathered during the tea party, Amy was the only one he had continued to keep in touch with.

Joshua frowned at the Prince’s words, not understanding the real meaning behind them. Edward smiled brightly as he replied, “I want her to like me. I want her to choose me. That is why I will also work hard to become a suitable person for her.”  

With that, the 13 year old Prince walked out of the room. Joshua thought his back looked broader than when he’d first walked into the room.