Chapter 11: Four Years Later

"Hm…"

Spark-!

Buzz-!

A long broadsword was placed on top of a metal table. Various wires are connected to it, leading to the monitors that indicate its overall performance. Its huge dark blade shook before being converted into readable data.

"Failed."

I turned off the oscillation device connected to the blade.

It has been the 26th trial. I could not get the "oscillation device" to work stably for some reason. I already used a chance for my cheat, yet I could not finish it. I am already in the final hurdle after solving more than a few hundred. This oscillation device surpasses my previous high-speed vibration blade.

My weapons will become stronger with it.

"Ah."

I saw something. It is the part that makes it more stable. It is a safety device that I placed in so that the experimental weapon would not explode right in front of my face. Its magic circles included a dozen such as 'Mass Reduction', 'Harden and Solidify', 'Robustness', 'Reduce Friction', 'Swiftness', 'Mana Disruption', and so on.

These circles serve to increase the base power of its wielder, making its focus on enhancements. They are more efficient to use as they would not require the user to cast those spells. All I have to do is to apply a "thought".

This is the essence of magic tools.

The oscillation device serves many purposes. It can disrupt mana, act as an anti-magic weapon, and inflict additional elemental damage since the vibrations around the bladed weapon would pierce through the enemies more easily. It can also mess with the enemies as the oscillation can make the blade appear illusory. With it, they won't be able to approximate its correct dimensions, making it suitable to use for swordsmen and magicians alike.

These experiments are made possible with the money in our pockets. After acquiring the necessary funds, we decided to spread it to other rising companies. Moreover, it did not prevent us from creating our own companies and entering some industries.

One of those companies that belong to the technological field. Of course, it is more or less my private workshop at this point. Tou-san and kaa-san know I am now interested in 'technology' just like my little brother, Ryuu. He is just nine, yet he's way ahead of his current age. As I had expected, he is the true prodigy of the Akasaka family.

In my estimates, he would be able to achieve a graduate's knowledge proficiency in computer engineering by 12 or 13.

I can do these estimates thanks to being soaked in this field.

Four years had passed since that fateful day. Kaa-san scolded us for a few hours before stopping. Many things have happened since then.

Spreading our wealth to paper companies, studying magic, integrating technology, and so on.

After deciding to focus on combining science and magic, I used up most of my chances in it.

My body gradually became stronger, which made my limits higher. Now, I could absorb more than 200 volts every day. This makes my cheat refresh every 46 days.

In total, I had 25 chances. That makes it less than two centuries worth of learning or practicing something. It included experiments and combat experiences.

It is important to note that combat experiences refer to my future knowledge of fighting against dangerous beings. That included the 'preparations' before the fight as well as its aftermath. Demons, apparitions, curses, youkais… So many dangerous entities are present in this world after being able to use mana. There are also close encounters with exorcists, "sorcerers", and the Holy Inquisition.

But precisely because of those memories did I learn the dangers of this world. I was made aware that such beings exist. Even so…

"Heh… Am I an old man at this point?"

I refuse! My accumulations might be worth more than a hundred years, but they are all knowledge. I still have not enjoyed my life to the fullest yet! I haven't experienced high school life, too…

Too bad I got absorbed in magic and economics which resulted in me not going to school. Still, my current knowledge would suffice if I wanted to go back to school. I can be considered a college graduate with a doctorate in different fields of engineering.

"I'll just come back once I achieve that goal… or when I am at the age of high school."

Recalling that nigh-impossible goal for the current times, I let out a smile. After all, I want to turn the current nanotechnology, the ones used for working with microscopic experiments, into a working practical tool. I could then use it in different fields.

If I achieve that, then I would be able to do something I aimed for many years.

Shaping, restoration, practicality… There are simply too many desirable factors that it has. Unfortunately, I saw how far it is with my current achievements. I keep on persisting.

If I could not make it, there's no way I would be able to break the deadlock. That, or finding a corpse of a certain somebody would do.

"Done."

I corrected my musings. This safety device is set to limit the output of the oscillator. But, it is also the one that severely restricted its progress. Now that I fixed it and made the restrictions looser, I adjusted a few more components to better suit its new restrictions.

Spark-!

Buzz-!

I saw the black blade vibrating at higher intensity once more. After ten seconds, it surpassed its previous duration. At the same time, the blade's durability began falling.

"As expected… Passing the problem to the blade's components is much easier to solve than the restriction's."

An entire minute later, I turned off the device. Cracks can be seen all over the blade's body. The scanners imbued with 'Correspondence' (Analysis Magic) showed me its durability which dropped by 32.58% since the activation. In a sense, the blade would collapse after 3.5 minutes of usage.

'Good. The next direction would be about magic alloys, huh?"

With this, my research was concluded for the day.

*****

It is yet another bustling day for Kyoto. As the city where most of Japan's traditional culture was preserved, there is no lack of foreigners here. It is one of the places to go to Japan–only being topped by Hokkaido, the region most frequented by foreigners.

"Shimokita seems like a nice place." Nobu mumbled as he recalled today's date. "I'm thankful that I would not forget such an important day."

It is currently February 20, 2017. A single day away from Bocchi-chan's birthday. Right now, Nobu is headed to buy her a present.

That's what they have done to each other whenever their birthdays arrive. He's also well-acquainted with the Gotou household at this point due to his repeated visits to her place. As their friendship deepened, they are no longer limited to the playground.

"A les paul should be good. I should buy her the deluxe one."

Being overloaded with money, he did not think of the cost as a problem anymore. It would not be a big problem if he changes the logo, too. With some modifications, the expensive guitar would be able to slip under her father's eyes–one from a former professional band.

While he is caught in his thoughts, he did not notice the eyes of others. As he grew up with years' worth of training, it was converted to make his body stronger. This resulted in his body developing to its full potential early on. He is only a twelve-year-old yet his height is 158cm already. His build is also noticeable with his well-trained body.

Suddenly, his musings came to a halt once he sensed an abnormal amount of mana appearing in Kyoto.

"This is..! It's the same as that time."

Nobu promptly looked up at the sky. There, he saw it. The familiar crack and the two moons. One of them is blue while the smaller one is red. But then, his heightened vision saw something more shocking.

"Humans..?"

Inside the crack, he saw two humans. One is wearing a long-sleeved blue jacket while the other is wearing something reminiscent of the ancient magicians' attire–without the oversized hat.

"These mana signatures…"

Judging from what he saw without using any kind of magic, the presence of these two people is strong, to say the least. They are the kind of guys who could annihilate an entire army with ease.

"He… He's carrying an entirely different element around him."

Nobu walked around his memory palace, only to discover that these humans are not part of the future that he knows.

That future, one which is dreary, is something that entangled his entire body like chains. In those future iterations, he lost everything. It's only due to his mind selectively ignoring those memories that he could retain his sanity.

'My interventions must've affected it.'

In a split second, he made a decision. Nobu pretended not to see the crack and continued with what he have been doing before.

'..!'

Suddenly, he felt a surge of relaxation in his body. He knew that it is his cheat activating–absorbing energy–and focused more on his previous chances. While he is preoccupied, the unexpected "visitors" started to have a "fight".

"Is it just my imagination?"

"Partner?"

A deep voice rang in the man's mind. It is the ego of his sword speaking. The man–Saitou–had his eyes wandering below, to the city of Kyoto. They used a [Dimensional Door] to arrive at this place. Their destination will mostly be random and only their rough location would be right most of the time.

"Saitou?" A pink-haired girl beside him spoke. "Don't tell me you're…"

"It's not like that!"

He immediately defended himself and told the girl, Louise, that he felt a gaze pass through them. As someone who had slain a dragon and survived the siege of 70,000 soldiers, he is very sensitive to these.

"A gaze? Does your world have magic?"

"My world does not have magic… or at least that's what I knew."

"Your guess is right. Your world has a good mana density."

"I see…"

Facing the shock that his world is not as simple as he thought, he became alert more than anything else.

"Let's get out of here first. We will use the mana concealment spell later."

"O-okay."

Seeing his serious side, Louise was briefly surprised. On top of that, she felt that Saitou is a lot cooler just now…

*****

Five chances. Out of nowhere, an oversized pie fell from the sky. I could tell that I benefitted from the leaking mana beyond that crack just like in the past. Also, I sensed the surrounding mana density reached a peak that was not recorded in this City. Of course, this mana started dissipating back to its origin, leaving Kyoto with a slightly higher mana density than before.

"It increased by 5%. What is that crack anyways..?"

If I decided to use 'Correspondence' back there, I could have scanned it and the phenomena around it. Though, this will break my usual caution and put me at risk.

Well, there is no use thinking more about it. Now that it is outside my grasp, it's no good to keep regretting it.

Over the years, I encountered similar situations. There are times when I was forced to use magic outside, but I made sure to clean up every single trace. Still, there are close shaves that forced me to use my specialized escape techniques. Most of them are based on void spells, making me extremely proficient with them.

Since my combat power should be around the strongest B-ranks at the very least, I can stay away from danger better.

"Oops."

Looking at the time, I hurried to the train. It is already 3:30 PM and coming back from Tokyo takes another 45 minutes. Picking a gift would also take a long time too. It seems that… a scolding is inevitable.

"Well. It is what it is."