The Tanaka Family Reincarnates
chapter-352

We Can’t Afford Seven Days of Fire [Part 1]

*bzzzz*

-One of the cabins in the Empire ship, Port of Simmons-

A pattern appeared on the parchment laid on the floor, and along with a blinding light, a human suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The light from the emerging pattern faded quickly, flickering intermittently with a buzzing sound, and turned dark as if it had run out of fuel.

“Tsk. We can’t use this anymore either…”

The one who appeared was Saint Joanna, who was supposed to be staying in the Royal Castle.

That pattern was the teleportation magic circle drawn with magic stones which had been ground into powder. This magic art was invented more than ten years ago, and Joanna was one of the people involved in its development. A magician alone could cast teleportation magic to make objects travel for several kilometers, but a magic circle drawn with this magic stone made it possible to teleport objects tens or even hundreds of kilometers away.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. The [Departure] magic circle in the Royal Castle has already turned into a scrap of paper too by now anyway.”

The teleportation magic circle consisted of a pair of patterns, and it was a one-way trip in principle.

The one in the Royal Castle was the [Departure] circle, and the one installed in one of the Empire ship’s cabins, the one right under Joanna’s feet right now, was the [Arrival] magic circle.

They were used in pairs, so they had the same lifespan.

“There goes another precious magic circle… No, if this mission is a success, we can make as many as we want.”

The Empire’s magic stones were almost exhausted. The Empire, which boasted the largest land among all inhabited countries, also had many magic stone veins. However, as a result of researching and developing various magic tools, including this magic circle, magic stones were depleted and consumed in succession. Even this magic circle alone used several hundreds of magic stones.

“Quite a late arrival, huh, Joanna-sa… Ah, you are now called Saint Joanna, ain’t you?”

The men greeted Joanna without trying to conceal their annoyance.

According to the plan, they were supposed to meet up the day the ships arrived at the port.

“We’ve agreed before to get this whole artillery thing done and go home quickly, remember? So what were you doing? How long do you intend to make us wait?! We’ve been here the whole day, and the sun is already about to set!”

The men who had been waiting in the room were all magicians.

They were white-collar workers who spent days and nights researching magic and, to be frank, not quite suitable for their current assignment of attacking another country.

Although they were assigned to obtain magic stones essential for magic research, they had never even gone to a territory with monster appearances to cast barrier magic.

Currently, in the Empire, the number of magicians was higher than the remaining unused magic stones.

The standard practice was for low-skilled magicians to go to borderlands, while high-skilled magicians took up research positions in the Imperial Capital. For this group of magicians, who had never set foot outside the Imperial Capital since they became magicians, they couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“Calm down. I was waiting for the sun to set.”

“Why?!”

Joanna slumped onto the sofa inside the room and pacified the men.

Joanna looked a little younger than them but was the one with the authority to command.

“The Kingdom hasn’t had any magicians for more than thirty years. Let alone 30 years, their magic technology is 100 years behind. In other words, even in the Royal Capital, people have to light the streetlights at night.”

“What a backward country it is…” Joanna shook her head sadly.

“They don’t use light magic stones for the streetlights?!”

In the Empire, magic stones charged with light magic would illuminate the surroundings automatically when it got dark. That applied to even the countryside.

“Water must be drawn from a well, and you have to burn firewood and start a fire manually when you want to cook or boil bath water.”

“I-It’s a world from the old tales…”