You Can Just Make a Charger

Chapter 16 — You Can Just Make a

Charger

They were now sitting in a corner of the lobby. Yogiri and Tomochika were

across from the concierge, with a map spread out on the desk between them.

"My name is Celestina, and I am working as a concierge for this hotel."

"Ah, nice to meet you." Now that Tomochika had arrived, the concierge was

explaining everything to her as well.

"From the city of Quenza, where we are now, the capital city of Valeria is

about one hundred and forty kilometers as the crow flies. In more familiar terms,

I'd say it's roughly the same distance as Osaka to Nagoya."

"In a way, this is so easy to understand that I'm getting more confused!"

Celestina's Japanese was flawless. Maybe it was to be expected that she would

also have a thorough knowledge of Japanese geography.

"Osaka and Nagoya, huh? I wonder which is the capital."

"Takatou! Could you please avoid saying things that sound like they'll start a

war?!"

"There are numerous routes that could take you to the capital, but it appears

your classmates have departed on foot. If they are intending to build up combat

experience along the way, it is highly likely they will be passing through the

Haqua Forest."

Yogiri looked at the map. If one walked in a straight line to the capital, they

would pass through the Haqua Forest, Garula Canyon, and Meld Plains, in that

order. But they had no way of knowing where their classmates were within those

areas.

Celestina placed a number of sheets of paper on the desk before them.

"This is a distribution of the monsters that are currently within the Haqua

Forest, and this is a calculation of the probability of encountering each one,

taking into account their individual properties and behaviors. Even at a low

level, Sage candidates are stronger than ordinary soldiers. Factoring that in, plus

combat and rest time, we can surmise they will be around this area," she said,

pointing to a spot on the map.

A symbol was marked in the middle of the forest. It was a spot about ten kilometers away from their current position in Quenza.

"After a whole day, they only made it that far?"

"That forest is particularly dangerous. All things considered, they are actually

moving quite fast."

"So, there are a number of routes we can take to catch up to them, but

Celestina recommended going by steam engine."

"Yes. The tracks take a wide detour around the forest. Hanabusa Station is

between the Haqua Forest and the Garula Canyon, so it should be possible to get

ahead of them. It is also possible that they have taken an entirely different route,

but even in that case you should be able to reunite with them at the capital itself.

Chasing after them would probably be quite a nuisance."

"That's awfully frank of you..." Tomochika muttered.

"How long would it take them to reach Hanabusa?"

"It's impossible to give a precise calculation, but assuming they continue to

train as they travel, I would expect it to take them a week at the bare minimum."

"So we need to get to Hanabusa in less than a week. Sounds like that should

be no problem if we're going by train." Once again, Yogiri looked at the map.

He didn't know exactly how fast these steam engines traveled, but given the

distance, he thought it would only take them a matter of hours.

"Unfortunately, I would advise you to leave as soon as possible. The train

schedules are fairly irregular. If everything runs smoothly, it will only take three

hours. But there are instances where the journey can take multiple days as well."

"That's quite the range."

"This world is very dangerous beyond the city walls. The existence of

monsters does a lot to hamper the running of the trains."

"Well, regardless, we should leave as soon as we can, then. I'm fine with

that."

And so the plan was set.

Celestina placed two slips of paper on the table. "Here are tickets to the

capital, departing at noon."

"Wait, you can just pull something like that out of your pocket at any time?!"

"Our hotel maintains guaranteed seats on all trains."

Perhaps if they asked for companions or equipment, she could pull those out

as well.

With their discussion of travel plans concluded, Celestina pulled a pair of

necklaces off a shelf right behind her and placed them onto the table. "Mr.

Takatou mentioned that money is no issue for you, so although it was a little expensive, I've managed to prepare these necklaces for you. They are magic

items that should handle the problem of translation. I cannot recommend relying

on them too much, however, so I suggest that you also make use of these."

She placed two books onto the table beside them.

"These are dictionaries for translating between Japanese and the language of

this world. The pronunciation guide is written in Japanese as well, so you should

have no trouble using them for studying purposes. While it is certainly possible

for me to teach you myself, it would take a considerable amount of time, so I

believe this will be more effective. My apologies."

"You don't have to apologize for something like that!" Tomochika was

flabbergasted by the deep bow that Celestina gave them.

"Next, these rings can be used to conceal your Status. I have customized

them to display fairly harmless results." As she spoke, she placed a pair of rings

on the table. They were unadorned bands of silver. "Ordinarily, their only

function is to display a fake Status to those who look, but considering your

situation, I've prepared this double fake option for you. Normally, they will

display the Status of an ordinary person. Should someone see through the first

layer of that disguise, they will then see the Status of a Sage candidate."

"I see. So it looks like we're Sage candidates who are trying to blend in. If

someone sees through the first layer, they should be satisfied upon seeing the

second."

"Of course, penetrating the first layer of the disguise will be no easy task,

either."

"When you say it like that, it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to see

through the first layer anyway..."

"It is also possible to change the displayed Status at will. If you tap the ring

three times, it will flash red for a moment, indicating a switch to Sage candidate

mode. Repeating the action will cause it to flash green, returning to the Status of

an ordinary person."

If they came up against someone who was deeply suspicious, that person

could potentially see through both layers of the disguise, or just make them take

off the rings. But if they were under that degree of suspicion, their cover would

already have been blown, so they would need to think of a potential response to

such a scenario regardless. The main selling point of the rings would be the

ability to avoid getting wrapped up with problematic people around town.

"Finally, this." Celestina placed a cube on the table. It was a box about

fifteen centimeters on each side, with a small metal lever along one edge.

"Unfortunately, design is not my specialty, so it looks rather unseemly. My

sincerest apologies."

"Wow, are you saying you made this, Celestina?"

"Indeed. When you turn this lever, the device will produce electricity. Please

use this cable to attach it to your game console."

"You can even create charging devices..." Tomochika's amazement

continued to grow.

"Magnets are easy enough to come by, so producing electricity in and of

itself is not particularly challenging. The primary difficulty is adjusting the

output level to match the necessities of the individual device. This size is the

best I could do in a single night." Celestina spoke with an air of frustration, as if

she could have made it even more compact if she'd only had more time.

"What about this cable?" It was, by all appearances, premade. No matter how

amazing she was, expecting her to make a cable with all the appropriate

connectors in a single night was too much.

"Although rare, goods from other worlds occasionally make their way into

ours. Acquiring a charger itself would have been best, but unfortunately I was

unable to do so. Instead, I collected a number of other objects and used their

parts to create this. Is it not sufficient?" Despite the device seeming perfect in

every way, Celestina suddenly seemed uneasy.

"It's way too perfect. Thank you."

Sensing Yogiri's heartfelt gratitude, she gave a small smile. Last night,

Yogiri had decided to speak to the concierge on a whim, just to see if she could

offer any help at all. He had never imagined that she would provide them with so

much.

"Back home, I heard that concierges can never say no, and I guess it's the

same in this world..." Tomochika's shock had turned to admiration.

Yogiri immediately picked up and put on one of the rings and one of the

necklaces. He then went to put the charger in his backpack, only to find it full of

money and jewels. Without hesitation, he began removing some of the contents,

making enough space to put the charger inside.

"Um, Takatou. What are you doing?"

"Well, it didn't fit. Oh...Celestina, could you take these for us?"

"Understood. I shall take responsibility for these." Despite the rather

impressive amount of money, she seemed entirely undaunted.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, I know I've got some too, but..."

"I didn't give her all of it, don't worry. Oh, hey. Could you actually invest that for us?" Yogiri asked as the thought suddenly occurred to him. He figured if

it was left in her hands, it would work out somehow.

"Are you sure? I can't guarantee that any investments will bear fruit."

"If you end up losing it all, that's fine. I'll leave everything to you."

"Takatou, even if she's a concierge, asking that much is kind of —"

"Understood."

"You still can't say no?!"

Even Yogiri was surprised when she agreed to do it.