Foreigner Volume 7, Chapter 108

Volume 7 Chapter 108, Magic Sword ~ 16

　Satoru, who had left a hollow, laid out the leather appropriately and sat down on the floor. In his hands were a goblet and a jug. Inside, however, was a cup of tea. It was something Rico had stocked up on yesterday when she and Solor went shopping, and yerba mate tea was probably the closest thing to it.

　He poured some into the goblet from the jug and drank it in one gulp. He wanted to quench his thirst first because he had a lot of things to talk about.

「I'd like to start with Kasahara Satoru-sensei's lecture on modern knowledge.......but I don't know where to begin.」

「Let's see, ......let's start with a general history」

「History, huh」

　At Leia's urging, Satoru began zipping through history, recalling memories, and quickly stumbled over them.

「Are you saying that man is a different creature that evolved from apes? No, my Lord, that's strange.」

「Even if you say it's strange.」

　The moment Satoru mentioned the theory of evolution, Leia interrupted him to object.

「Man and ape live in the same world, right? Then why are there no creatures in the "in-between state"?」

「Now that you mention it, that's true, but...... Well, there are many kinds of monkeys, so I guess it's fair to say that there are creatures in between. I'm not a scholar, so I can't answer that question. What's going on in this world when you put it that way?」

「Defined by the soul. The body is formed according to the form of the soul. To begin with: ......」

　Leia, who was about to speak about the common sense of this world in a heated manner, stopped moving her mouth. She looked apologetically at Solor, who was standing beside her.

「....... I'm sorry. It's time for Solor, and it's no use if I'm too heated.」

　Solor shook her head from side to side without expression. She seems to be imitating Leia, a parchment and quill pen in her hand.

「Don't mind. I'm asking, "Why?" It seems that I am not very good at grasping the beginning of the question. In that sense, I needed Leia-sama to be there, so I asked you to be present.」

「I see.」

　Hmmm, Satoru strokes his chin. Solor seems to be able to analyze herself properly. Why? Because of differences in common sense. In some respects, it is doubtful that we can start at the beginning of the question, Leia can complement that.

　For now, he put aside the theory of evolution and prefaced rebuttal with the story of the birth of the stars, which he will discuss later.

　When he told them that the earth was born 4.5 billion or 4.6 billion years ago, Leia's face turned into a look of dismay, but she kept her promise to refute his argument later and listened patiently.

　He wondered what kind of concepts ruled in this world, but that would come later. Since belief in the earth's mother goddess is taken for granted and sorcery has developed, it is no wonder that their world's common sense is fundamentally different.

　Next, he talks about the birthplace of human culture. Even though she has a hazy recollection of it, Leia's eyes roll back in her head when she hears how long it took for human beings to develop their culture and carve out their history.

「A-a ten thousand years?」

「As I recall, that's about right. If I had to guess, I'd say this world is about 1,000 years before the level of culture I was at.」

　He remembered that 10,000 B.C. was the Paleolithic period and 5,000 B.C. was the Neolithic period. He only remember that the cradle of civilization was in the Neolithic Age. This is correct, though rough.

　With or without magic, Satoru sees this world as a culture similar to medieval Europe. That is why he said roughly 1,000 years ago. Although this world has a somewhat developed monetary economy and a unified written and spoken language, the level of architecture, clothing, and medical care is truly that of the Middle Ages. The level of technology is far from modern.

「......1000 years, huh. That's a lot of time for a difference in technology」

「But, well, as I've said many times, there is no magic in the world I was in.」

　Satoru explains that science was developed instead. Gradually, he gets more and more passionate in his explanation, and both Leia and Solor listen silently, occasionally writing notes on the parchment in their hands.

「Science has exploded in the last 100-200 years. Historically, there is a lot to be said, but the first stage is said to be printing technology, compass, and gunpowder. I don't remember what year it was, ......, but I think it was a little later than 1000 years.」

　What Satoru is trying to say is the Renaissance. Actually, it is the 15th century, so it is quite a bit later. We'll talk about gunpowder later and talk about printing and compasses.

　This world was in the transitional period from parchment to paper, and although there were books and other publications, they were basically manuscripts. It makes quite a difference if the handwriting is good or bad. He heard that the Academy of the Wise has taken pains to collect manuscripts that are as close to the originals as possible. The general public rarely reads books, partly because of the low literacy rate, and the main means of learning about anecdotes and stories is through oral tradition and bardic narration.

　They were honestly impressed with the compass. It is said that in this world, people still know the position of the sun and moon and the direction of the stars. The map of this area given to Satoru by Sheryl was reasonably solid, but it fell far short of what Satoru was looking for, which was probably due in part to his poor surveying skills.

「As for modern technology, I think the most important factor is the development of electricity and internal combustion engines.」

　*flinch*, Leia responded. She is very interested in the convenience of electricity, as she has heard about it from time to time. Satoru strokes his chin and takes off his favorite automatic watch. The watch, which has been ticking precisely since his grandfather's time in this world, is placed in front of the two of them.

「Both of you try to see through it... or was it 【Clairvoyance】? You can do it, right? Try on this watch first.」

　Leia and Solor used 【Clairvoyance】 as they were told. Solor's eyes narrowed, and Leia's head fell back and she moaned after just a short look.

「I-It's a fine work of art that makes me dizzy. ......」

「This watch has been used since my grandfather's generation, so it's about 60 years old. This one doesn't use electricity. Just the mechanism.」

　Automatic wristwatches are powered by a spring. Thinking that it may be a miracle that it has remained unbroken even after all this physical exertion, he put the watch back on and take another one out of his backpack.

「And this one.」

「Keitai Denwa(phone).」

　Leia, who has seen the actual product many times, raised her voice as if to say, I know this. He urged them to use 【Clairvoyance】 the small electronic device on the floor, too. Their eyes widened.

「Wh-What on earth is this?」

「.........」

　What they're looking at is probably the infrastructure and the chips, but it's a fine mechanism that would be almost impossible for a human hand to pull off with a wristwatch. Satoru took out the 4GB micro SD that has been stuck in there for a long time and told them that he could store a lot of things in it. They just seemed dumbfounded. However, Satoru turns his chin, unable to fully explain the concept of digital.

　He took out a calculator and did a few arithmetic operations. The two of them rolled their eyes at this as well.

「I told you before about the program.」

　Satoru was at least able to understand that the basis of digital technology is to treat everything as a series of numbers 0s and 1s, but he could not explain it any further than that, and Satoru was stuck. He spoke at length, using an individual named Solor and a calculator as examples, though he was at a standstill.

　After talking through the whole thing, taking questions, answering as many as he could, and receiving some degree of understanding, Leia groaned as she rubbed her temples.

「I-I'm getting a headache,...... Not to put it in my Lord's terms, but I'm tempted to say, what the heck. It's nothing short of a pipe dream.」

「However this is reality. Of course, this calculator and cell phone can be used without the user's knowledge.」

　A sip of tea here.

　Satoru thinks that the flexibility of these two people, who readily accept common sense and knowledge from other worlds, must be a rare thing to have.

　For example, if he went back in time to the original world and arrived at a historical background equivalent to medieval Europe. It would be difficult to explain to the people of that time what digital technology is. They would just assume that it must have been the work of the devil.

　However, both of them know that Satoru is from another world. They also know that there is a different common sense there. This is a big advantage. If he told the same thing to the people he has known so far who are not so close to him ― for example, the owner of the inn in Aletta, Rico's brother-in-law Jim in Galhassan, Rico's brother Kai, Sheryl at the Academy of the Wise, and Bauers, Hermela and Arne at the World Tree Village ― at best he would get a question mark across their face. It would not be easy for them to accept it.

　When Satoru was asked by Solor to elaborate on the subject of electricity, Satoru groaned and stroked his face.

「I can't explain the flow of electricity and radio waves well in words. ...... That reminds me, lightning is classified as a wind on this side of the sorcery, right?」

　First, give them a quick rundown of the properties of electricity. He takes a piece of wood and a piece of iron out of Leia's shadow and teaches the idea of a lightning rod by generating lightning from an equal distance by Leia, explaining static electricity and the ease with which electricity passes through it.

「Basically, it's energy. But it's so useful, so it's used in so many places.」

「Energy, huh? I've heard it before, power, right?」

「From there?」

　When he talked to them about replacing energy with magic power, they readily accepted the idea. This is a familiar story in the world of sorcery, where it is commonplace to reduce arts and organize chanting in pursuit of more efficient consumption of magic power.

「Electricity flows through living creatures as well. Everything we do, such as moving our fingers and seeing with our eyes, is a mechanism that sends electrical signals from the brain to various parts of the body.」

「My body is also ......」

「Probably so. Ordinary creatures don't use magic power in normal life because they have that function at the root of their being, but in Solor's case, she probably uses magic power to provide all of those things. That's why just moving around would reduce her magic power.」

　"Ohhh," Leia exclaimed, and Solor's eyes widened. Leia rustles around and pulls out a sheaf of parchment from among her shadows and writes something detailed on it.

　After saying it, Satoru also suddenly realizes. In this world, every living thing has a soul and magical power. Considering the fact that a person dies when his or her soul is broken and no longer produces magic power, he wonders if magic power is necessary for life in this world.

　He put that thought aside for a moment and added a little more about bioelectricity.

「Let's say, for an extreme example, there is a mutilated arm. Since it has been cut off, there is no soul in it, right? But if you apply electricity to them, the arms and fingers will twitch, even though they should not move because they have no soul.」

「I heard that story somewhere......... I think it was in a medical text or something. Oh yeah, lightning.」

「I don't know how lightning sorcery is used but doesn't it make the person who gets hit numb or something?」

　Leia nodded. Lightning sorcery is mainly about shock and heat, but it also has the secondary effect of paralyzing the opponent.

「Indeed. Lightning from the outside disturbs the bioelectric currents. That's why you get paralyzed.」

「That's what I meant.」

　Next, he explanation about gunpowder, which was once put away.

「Gunpowder......... is nitre, sulfur, and charcoal, I think. It's a powder that burns easily and explodes easily. In this world, sorcery can be used as a substitute, so it's probably a good thing that it's unlikely to develop.」

「Why not?」

「They can become tools for killing people.」

「Muhh......」

「Of course, there are other uses for it.」

　As for gunpowder, Satoru has no further knowledge of it. However, he did talk about guns. A weapon that can kill a man or beast at a distance with a single pull of the trigger ― perhaps it was inevitable that Leia was as reluctant as she could be.

「Also, yeah. When it comes to the connection from there, chemistry ...... that one is seriously weak. If I could explain it strongly, it would be water?」

　Satoru was only able to achieve almost total failure in science in both middle school and high school. It was a clear area of weakness, starting with the fact that he disliked his science teacher in middle school, who was simply a cramming class type.

　Pouring water created by sorcery into a goblet, he explains about liquid gas and solid, and talks about the elements of water, adding an explanation of the melting point and boiling point. However, although he remembered the term "Sailor Liebe" itself, he had completely forgotten to indicate which one it was. He managed to remember up to hydrogen-helium, but nothing more came up. While biting back the cruelty of the passage of time, he slowly taught them as much as he could understand by melting iron and various other demonstrations. [TLN: Sailor Liebe= a Japanese mnemonic for periodic tables]

「I-I was amazed!」

　Leia's voice is that of admiration. Even Solor, who has probably accumulated most of her knowledge in this world, is clearly excited on her expressionless face.

　It is no wonder. In this world, there is a convenient yet inexplicable great power called magic power. Small phenomena tend to be dismissed as a sorcery. Of course, there may be researchers who pay attention to such small phenomena, but the researchers of the original world, who were ignorant, would have had a much stronger spirit of inquiry. The situation is different from this world, where unexplainable phenomena are simply dismissed as magical power.

「The world is full of various elements, and people have created various things by combining them.」

「...... can you be a little more specific?」

　Satoru shook his head from side to side with a reluctant look on his face when Solor unusually interrupted him.

「Sorry, I'd love to, but it's not my area of expertise.」

　Solor, who withdrew with a hint of dejection in her expressionless face, drew on all of his knowledge to add an explanation, but there are limits to what he can do with his originally flimsy memory and knowledge. He regretted that he should have studied science a little more, but there was nothing he could do about it.

　I have no choice but to change the subject.

「Oil and coal exist in this world, right?」

　When he briefly explained to Leia, who tilted her head, what kind of things they were, she exclaimed, Ahh.

「Charcoal and stinky water, right」

「And there's one more thing, gas.」

　A loud "buoo" sound was heard. The source was Satoru's buttocks.

「Ah, my Lord ......」

　Leia picked her nose and fanned herself with her hand, Satoru looking at Leia, who looked at him in protest, not offended.

「Sorry, sorry. But it's just another gas.」

　He laughs and explains about coal, oil, gas, etc.

　What he teaches them is about burning energy.

「They are warmer than burning wood. They're energy-efficient, is how I would put it.」

　Solor's eyes light up with a pause, and Leia holds her head and groans.

　The modern knowledge lecture continues a little longer.

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