Chapter 578

Magi Craft Meister 578

17 Resolution With The Demons Arc

17-27 Clarification

A chilly wind began to blow on September 17th.

By this time, the demons had calmed down for the most part. However, there was still some anxiety left due to the fact that the whereabouts of both Lardus and Alciel were still unknown.

Since Laojun already knew Lardus magic pattern, he would have been able to find him with his Magi Radar, but

I cannot find Lardus magical reaction.

This was a most abnormal situation.

Either he is in a place where magical waves cannot pa.s.s through, or

Or he is no longer in this world, said Laojun.

In any case, now that he had accomplished what he had set out to do in the demon lands, Jin returned to the s.h.i.+nra clans abode.

And this time around it wasnt the Subst.i.tute Doll, but the real Jin himself.

Reiko and Laojun had finally given him the OK to be there himself since a pact had been struck, and there were no further signs of danger.

Of course, he had used Capricorn 1s Warp Gate to switch places with the Subst.i.tute Doll.

Jins main motivation to come to the demon lands at this moment was so that he could see their artifacts with his own eyes, and touch them with his own hands.

Oh, look at that

Now free to investigate to his hearts content, Jin was amazed by an artifact named photographic machine.

Its structure was simple. It was basically the same as a camera. The light that pa.s.sed through the lens would hit the film and form an image on something. Of course, it also had a shutter.

It was similar to those old-fas.h.i.+oned large cameras that used a gla.s.s dry plate.

Rather than the structure of the camera, Jin wanted to know more about the film, that is, the photosensitive agent.

It was old and deteriorated, degenerated, but the photosensitive agent seemed to be something similar to Magi Crystal powder.

A dry plate is a reactive plate that is made by flattening a crystal and coating it with a photosensitive agent.

Jin had come across some ideas about this photosensitive agent, so he decided hed talk about it with Saki and Toa later.

Next was the time display device. It was similar to a table clock, but it had no minute or second hands, only a single hand that would tell the hour. Still, it was quite practical.

Hmm? The power that moves the hand? And whats this?

Father, is there something you dont understand?

Ah, Reiko, have a look at the relations.h.i.+p between this Magi Device and Ether for a bit.

Jin pointed at the Magi Device, which seemed to be the heart of the time display.

Understood.

Trace

. This looks like its following the stream of Ether.

As I thought. I still have some questions but thats okay. This clock has a Magi device that seems to track the movement of the sun, so the suns position in the sky is displayed as the time.

The clocks core was able to detect the Ether emitted from the sun and turns in that direction, which in turn moves the hour hand.

For the purposes of telling the time, it was definitely a method without mistakes. However, if the device would be turned over, it would throw the display in disarray.

In this way, Jin was allowed to examine the artifacts of the s.h.i.+nra clan, and finished a.n.a.lyzing their structure.

Have you finished, Jin?

s.h.i.+on came into the room, saying that the tea was ready.

Oh, thank you. Ill be right there.

s.h.i.+on, Istalis, and their mother Lorona were waiting for Jin.

I brewed some of that tea you gave me, Jin. I wonder if I did it right?

The tea that Jin had brought was the leaves of the Tea Tree of Kaina Village, also known as Perhya.

He had also brought some seedlings with him so that the demons had their own homegrown tea leaves. s.h.i.+on and Istalis seemed to like it, so Jin recommended cultivating it in this continent as well.

Yeah, its really good.

After taking a sip, Jin shared his impressions.

Oh, Im glad.

As Jin started to feel more relaxed, s.h.i.+on turned towards him.

Hey, youre going back home soon, right, Jin?

Yeah. In 2, maybe 3 more days.

I see

s.h.i.+ons face revealed a hint of loneliness.

Though Jin was for the most part unaware (actually,

very

unaware) in regards to romantic feelings, he was still sensitive to the feelings of younger children.

But hey, Ill come visit from time to time.

How?

s.h.i.+on was glaring at Jin with doubtful eyes, as if suspecting that Jin had said that just to make her feel better.

I can fly here.

Ah, right, you have a blimp. You can definitely use that to come here now that its safe for you to do so.

s.h.i.+ons mood improved instantly after understanding that Jin wasnt lying to her about it.

Oh, is the tea cold?

Ah, no, I cant really handle hot food or drinks that well, so its better like this.

After saying that, Jin drank about half of the tea in one go.

At that moment, he remembered the question he had been planning to ask them.

By the way, s.h.i.+on, Istaris, and Miss Lorona I have a question for the three of you.

Yes, what is it?

Lorona answered for the three of them in representation of her two daughters.

Well, I heard from s.h.i.+on that Lucas and Netros come from a race of servants. But I havent seen any other clans have servants like you do.

Ah, thats right.

Before Jin had finished saying everything, s.h.i.+on nodded and began to speak.

Just like Jin said, we of the s.h.i.+nra clan are now the only ones who have servants. It seems that most of the clans used to have them, but

Compared to us demons, servants have a shorter lifespan, so the only clan that still chooses to keep having them to this day is ours, the s.h.i.+nra clan.

Istalis took over s.h.i.+ons words and finished her explanation.

Then, now, the servant race is

Very small, yes. Only 10 of them remain.

Only 10, huh

It was a considerably low number of people for a race to even have a chance at survival, let alone thriving.

Ah, this happens very rarely, but there are times when a demon has a child with their servant. But in most cases, the newborn child comes out with the characteristics of a demon.

In the case of interracial reproduction, it seemed that the genes on the demons side would be the dominant ones.

Jin thought it was time to explain where he was trying to get to with his question.

Is that so? Actually, I was wondering where the servant race came from.

The ancestors of the demons were the so-called Originators who had come from the planet Hale.

Then, after arriving on this planet Ars, the Originators mingled with the natives, which gave birth to the ones known as the Fallen Ones.

Most likely, the ones with the stronger Originator blood eventually became the demons, while those with the weaker blood became what was known as the humans of this world.

But what about the natives? There were no known settlements of this native race in this world. That fact led Jin to believe that this servant race might actually be this planets native race.

Of course, this is purely out of intellectual curiosity.

Jin added that line after being done with his explanation.

I think your theory is correct.

After a moment of silence, Lorona finally stated her opinion.

According to the knowledge that has been pa.s.sed down among us, the servant race was brought from the south.

Jin nodded silently. The servants dark skin was not suitable for this northern land. He had also felt that the servants were a bit out of place living in such cold lands, and wondered if they werent better suited for the warmer, southern continent.

Then, if I ever visit the southern land, I might meet new people of the same race as Netros and Lucas.

Jin had set yet another goal for himself.

Whats this?

Jin had come to see the zirconia deposit.

When he investigated the ore deposits with Ground Search, Jin found that they were distributed in a rather neat and geometric manner.

(I think the closest way to describe it would be as if a dome had been buried underground.)

Just like the dome cities that Jin had seen in science fiction, an artificial dome could have ended up turning into a buried cubic zirconia deposit.

Thats what Jin thought, but he didnt say it out loud. He couldnt even prove it to begin with. But it still was a valid explanation regarding why there was cubic zirconia buried here, since it wasnt a formation that was known to occur naturally.

Then, he followed up with an additional speculation,

There may be something deeper in the deposit, or rather, deeper underground.

If it was a dome, it must have been protecting something.

However, thanks to his Ground Search, Jin had learned that one thing that was deeper underground was a formation of limestone rocks.

Jin theorized that it was probably the remains of a building that seemed to have been made out of something that resembled concrete.

At the current mining pace, this reserves should last for at least 50 more years.

Jin believed this would make for a fine commodity for trading. He also thought he would probably be able to synthesize it eventually.

Ah, now that Ive cleared some questions, I feel a little better.

Jin straightened up his back and looked up at the darkening sky.

The wind felt a little cold against his skin.

Jin.

As he turned around at the voice calling him, there he found s.h.i.+on. With her hair fluttering in the evening breeze, she looked like she was sinking along with the setting sun.

So tomorrow youre going back home, right?

Yeah. Thats the plan.

I see. Thanks for everything youve done for us.

As s.h.i.+on cast her eyes downward and her sadness became evident in her voice, Jin cheerfully patted her head.

s.h.i.+on, youre a very diligent student. Im impressed.

Huh?

s.h.i.+on was taken aback by the sudden compliment.

Well, you explained various things during the meeting, didnt you?

Ah, yes. But those were simply things Ive read from the books you have in your castle, Jin.

Even so, understanding everything to that extent after reading it only once is truly amazing.

This was Jins honest opinion. s.h.i.+ons face brightened after hearing that.

Y-You think so?

Could it be that this amazing learning ability is a characteristic shared by all members of the s.h.i.+nra clan?

I dont really know whats so amazing about it, but Ive heard that the name s.h.i.+nra apparently means something like

the knowledgeable

so it was given to our clan because we know a lot of things.

Jin took this chance to ask about something he had been wondering for some time.

So, does that mean that all the clan names have that kind of meaning?

Uh Hmm. You could say they do, but at the same time, not so much.

Before Jin could ask her what she meant by that, s.h.i.+on began to explain.

A long time ago Yes, when the clans were clearly divided, you would have been able to say that. Kugutsu means

the puppeteers

, and they are good with Enslavement Magic. Kyoran means

the frenzied

, and they are known for doing unthinkable things.

I see.

But now, there are marriages between different clans, so it doesnt make much sense anymore.

Jin understood that after all, as their blood thinned, the demons distinctive features seemed to thin out as well.

But you seem to be very worthy of the name s.h.i.+nra, s.h.i.+on.

Eh?

s.h.i.+ons voice escaped her mouth in a rather half-witted tone after being taken by surprise.

With your knowledge, you really look like someone who can lead the demons as a race once you become an adult.

s.h.i.+ons face turned completely red.

Wh-wh-wh-wh-whaaaaaaaat!? Y-Youll get n-nowhere by p-praising meeee!

Her reaction perfectly fit her girlish appearance.

Alright. Make sure to do your best, not for me, but for your fellow demons.

Having said that, Jin once again stroked s.h.i.+ons head.

Stars began to twinkle in the bright western sky, and the shortened autumn day would soon turn into night.