Chapter 496: Calling For Help

The afternoon of the same day, Jin promised Shion to do as much as he could.

He had returned to the room where Shion and Lucas were resting.

“Sorry for coming back so soon, but I had something I really wanted to ask you.”

“Sure, what is it?”

After having her magical power greatly restored by the Pelshika juice and a hearty lunch, Shion seemed to have completely regained her vitality.

“It’s about the kind of magic the demons can use.”

“Ah! …There are many secrets not even I know about.”

Jin could understand that well. It would be foolish of them to play the game with their hand completely revealed.

“Ah, but maybe you can tell me more about what I already know. I know about Gravity Magic, Explosion Magic, Transfer Magic, and Enslavement Magic.”

“W-What!?”

The one who had raised their voice hadn’t been Shion, but Lucas.

“That’s top secret! How do you know about these things!?”

“Lucas, you’re being rude. I’m sorry, Jin.”

Shion quickly calmed the agitated Lucas and apologized to Jin.

“No, it’s fine. The reason I know about them is because the demons I met used those types of magic.”

“…I knew it…”

Shion nodded as if finally understanding something.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Eh, ah, yes, according to our legends, ‘Not a single hint should be given to the Magi Craft Meister, no matter how trivial it may seem’.”

In short, it seems to be a passage born out of concern for the Magi Craft Meister’s analytical power and ability to apply knowledge to new situations.

“The Magi Craft Meister, when given even the slightest opportunity, will be able to put the whole picture together.”

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that maybe that was a bit too much of a stretch, but on the other hand, looking at Jin, they were probably not that wrong about him.

“Well, I’m not so sure about that, haha.”

Jin scratched the back of his head.

“…And there are only a handful of clans that can actually use magic. I… can’t use it. Lucas is the same as me…”

“Young lady! That’s a bit too much!”

“No. How do you expect to earn this man’s trust if we hide such important details from him? Let’s talk about the things we came here to discuss.”

They wouldn’t talk about the total number of demons because it didn’t concern Jin directly, but they were open about talking in regards to their personal magical abilities.

Shion was the only one in the room who knew what was the basis for that logic, but Jin decided not to pursue that.

“And… About the remuneration for your help…”

“Yeah.”

Jin wasn’t planning to be made use of unilaterally. He was hoping there would be some kind of repayment from Shion.

“If you’re interested in… slaves… I can get you 10 of our people… myself included…”

“I refuse.”

Jin’s reply was as sharp as a knife.

“I have no need for something so troublesome. Or is it customary for your people…?”

Slavery in this world was a thing of the past. Jin wasn’t sure about the underside of society, but as far as the general public was concerned, that was the truth. One of the reasons for that was that the population had decreased too much.

People preferred to have employees instead of slaves to serve as their workforce. But that wasn’t the only reason. There would be no economic development with slavery.

In other words, the economic wheel turned whenever people bought things with their hard earned money as employees.

When money circulates, it can be said that the economy is in a good state. But when money is simply accumulated without it ever being spent, the economy becomes stagnant.

The politicians of this world seemed to have understood this quite easily at some point in history.

“T-Then, how about monster materials…?”

“Yeah, that’s more like it.”

Jin was more interested in getting some rare materials. However, Reiko’s face looked bitter.

“Father, if it’s materials you want, we can get them ourselves. Perhaps we should ask for something else?”

Lucas stared at Reiko, but her expression didn’t change at all.

“T-Then…”

“How about showing me some of your secret magic or artifacts?”

“A-Artifacts? Well, there are a few…”

“Really!? What kind of artifacts? Is any of them something you can talk about?”

“Um…”

Shion thought about it for a little, then started talking.

“There’s a machine that can show pictographic images. It’s a magic tool that transcribes landscapes and portraits into paper.”

(…Like a camera?)

If that’s what they were talking about, it was something that Jin had yet to recreate in this world.

“What else…? Um, there’s a magic tool that tells you the current time.”

(A clock! …How didn’t I think about making clocks before?)

“And there’s a magic tool that magnifies really small things so that we can actually see them.”

(A microscope, I wonder? Well, I’ll probably use that as a reference.)

Shion was staring at Jin’s, who was simply nodding silently after hearing each of her suggestions.

“Um…?”

“Hmm? Ah, sounds good. But can’t you show me some of your weaponry?”

Jin asked that just for the sake of asking. He understood why they didn’t seem too eager about disclosing anything related to their military power. But he had nothing to lose by asking.

“Um… Yes, I think.”

“Alright then. Just think about one or two things you can tell me about. That’ll be all for now.”

“Huh? T-That’s it?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

Actually, he wasn’t just being that much of a simple guy.

In terms of topography, Kaina Village was relatively close to the Great Isthmus of Pazdext. This meant that if an invasion of demons were to occur, there was a possibility that they would be attacked first, and even Jin couldn’t overlook such a situation.

Of course, Jin was planning to add even more surveillance and security to the area north of Kaina Village.

“T-Thank you very much!”

Shion kneeled on the floor and brought her face close to the ground. It was similar to the posture of dogeza that was common in modern Japan.

“Oh, don’t mention it. I was hoping to get some kind of reward out of this either way.”

With that, Jin asked Shion to stand back up.

＊　　　＊　　　＊

“Well then, let’s talk about the concrete part of your request.”

Jin glanced at Shion.

“How are you feeling? Can we keep talking for a bit longer?”

“Y-Yes! I’m okay. Please, go on!”

Shion waved her hands cheerfully to further indicate that she was fine. Seeing that, Jin continued talking.

“So, stop the radicals, huh? Do you have any specific plans for that?”

“Yes, though it is the opinion of our tribe’s patriarch… My grandfather.”

Shion started talking.

To stop the extremists, all we need to do is eliminate their reason for wanting to fight.

At the end of the day, their reason is nothing more than a food problem.

First, we should secure food for the time being, and then find a continuous source.

And if we can become self-sufficient, even better.

“…That’s what my grandfather said.”

“Hmm, I understand. But will that be enough?”

“Um, I beg your pardon?”

“Well, they are a radical faction. Will that really be enough to make them stop threatening humans? In fact, there was a demon named Lardus who seemed to be doing it just for fun, and many humans died because of him. Marchosias, too. He was mere steps away from killing the leader of an entire nation.”

Upon hearing Jin’s words, Shion seemed to have become even tinier than she already was.

“W-Well…”

“Their actions didn’t cause me any direct damage. But they attacked the Klein Kingdom and the Shouro Empire. Ah, yes, the Celuroa Kingdom might have suffered some damage from them as well.”

Jin explained to Shion that seeing each of those countries’ situations really made him wonder if a simple “Sorry about that, we won’t cause trouble here anymore” would be enough to settle things.

“When it comes to getting food, I think buying from the Klein Kingdom would be your best bet.”

“…”

At this point, Jin had thought of a plan, but he believed it was still too early to talk about it.

“Oh, one last thing. About this matter, what position do you occupy in demon society?”

“The young lady is the granddaughter of the patriarch of the Shinra Clan, the largest clan of the moderate faction!”

Lucas, who had been silent up until now, blurted that out loudly.

“You! You’re quick to promise to help us even though you have no real abilities, aren’t you?”

“Lucas! You’re being terribly rude!”

“No, young lady. Please let me continue. …You, let’s have a duel! If I win, you’ll have to admit that you’re powerless to help us!”

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