Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 124: The Storm Before Calamity

Rikuto meets Grand Prince Yaulander in the courtyard of the castle of Mornistae, bowing at a professional 45% degree angle. "Your Grace, I am King Rikuto Tachibana, ruler of Mornistae."

The Grand Prince has his left forearm across his chest, draping a portion of his cloak, and he dips his head politely with a proud smile. "King Rikuto Tachibana, I am Grand Prince Yaulander kos Strylaph of the Grand Zenkon Empire. I must thank you for hosting me on this most auspicious day."

"It is my honor and pleasure. Please, you must be exhausted from your journey. We have prepared a suite for your stay, and your welcome feast can be readied at any time."

"Yes, yes. Much appreciated. Have my luggage taken to the room. I have much to discuss with his Majesty."

"As you wish, your Grace!" replies the Grand Prince's equerry, as denoted by a simple fabric collar with a metal pin depicting the elemental symbol for fire on Zenkon superimposed over a man's forehead with the man looking down.

Yaulander then says, "Now then, King Rikuto; let us go to somewhere where two men can have a conversation in private."

"Very well." He nods at the chamberlain to take care of the entourage, and he escorts Yaulander to his office, where he sets up one of the book-sized devices Wenlianna developed, which creates magic noise that disrupts eavesdropping from outside of its effect.

Rikuto explains once it's on, "I bought this before the Grand Duchess turned traitor. It's a device her daughter built to create a secure conversation space."

"That's good. I wonder if I would be able to obtain one myself."

I bought a second one, just in case. Though, I can't give you any guarantees on service life, your Grace."

"It's no matter. My family has four magic artisans and seven artificers as permanent retainers. They'll be happy to reverse engineer and start producing these devices."

"I see. It would be convenient to have more of them on the market when needed. Artisans are often in short supply."

"Ahhh, yes. Mornistae has always been economically weak. At least, until you arrived."

"Among other things, improving our roads improved tax revenue from travelling merchants. It took a lot of negotiating with the various territorial lords. But, in turn, it made it safer and easier to travel our own goods as well."

"Indeed. And, I've heard some various farming strategies you brought over from your world."

"That's true. We don't have all of the equipment here, of course, but some of the basics were enough to improve yield and overall crop health."

"Excellent. And, that brings me neatly enough to the true reason for my visit."

Here it is. Rikuto was certain there was an ulterior motive, since he had no direct relation with Yaulander prior to his reaching out.

"Certainly. What can I do for you, your Grace?"

"I'd like to learn about the Divine Summoning that brought you and the other man to our world."

This is a little surprising, but not overly so. Sundenelle has strongly requested in the past that Mornistae turn over the documents and any apparatus of the ritual. Several other kingdoms have made requests as well, offering a great deal of gold and other treasures in trade.

Not that Rikuto is in any hurry to trade the mysterious artifact in the basement of the castle, but even if he wanted to, it appears to be impossible to move. It can't be dismantled and repels all kinds of magic, including magic intended to analyze the device, lift it, or even damage it. The only parts that are replaceable are the two glass orbs that perform the analysis on a person to identify the nature of their inherent mana. In fact, just with what little Rikuto has seen of the artifact, the orbs look almost like they don't belong.