On the 9th, Jin and the others made a leisurely departure.
The reason for the delay was the sheer number of Hatata's residents who had flocked to offer their gratitude. The utility of the pump Jin had constructed and handed over to the Guild the previous day was so clearly beneficial that everyone who saw it was instantly convinced of its value.
The town mayor, the head of the commerce association, and the head of the innkeepers' union had come by one after another, pushing their planned 8:00 AM departure back to 10:00 AM.
In the midst of the hubbub, what pleased Jin most were the words of Atashi, the girl from the inn.
"Big brother, thank you very much."
With just those words, Jin had come to like the town. He knew he was being simple, but he truly did love children—not in any untoward sense, of course.
The group proceeded along the highway at a steady pace of about eight kilometers per hour. They stopped for lunch along the way.
Their destination for the day was Amberg, a journey of roughly thirty kilometers. At their current speed, it would take about four hours, meaning they would likely arrive around 2:30 PM. They had considered pushing on to Lindau, but Reinhard had argued that since they were back in his homeland, there was no longer any reason to rush.
"Honestly, I wonder who it was back in Astan complaining about wanting to leave as soon as possible," Mattheus remarked, sounding exasperated.
"Don't hold that against me. Now that I realize this journey is almost over, I’m starting to feel a bit sentimental."
"You certainly change your tune quickly." Despite his teasing, Mattheus eventually laughed. "Well, we still have Lindau, Fonde, Riale, and then Loizart. We’re due to report back in four days, so make the most of it while you can."
Jin stared blankly at the scenery passing by the window. Hatata had been arid, and this region was much the same. Aside from occasional succulents that looked resistant to drought, the landscape consisted mostly of rocks and sand.
When he mentioned this to Reinhard, the knight replied, "Ah, this is probably the most arid stretch of the entire highway. The road running north to south through Lindau, where we’ll stay tomorrow, is commonly known as the Trockenbahn—the Arid Highway."
"The Trockenbahn... That's quite a name."
"It is. But even that will likely be improved thanks to your pump."
Jin turned to Reinhard with a follow-up. "Does the Shouro Empire not build canals for irrigation?"
"Canals, huh..." Reinhard nodded, but pointed out the difficulty. "There aren't many reliable water sources around here. I’m not an expert on geography, but..."
That was a half-truth on Jin's part. Hourai Island possessed a very detailed topographical map created by the Sky units, and Jin already knew that there were no manageable water sources in this part of the Shouro Empire.
"It might be a bit much to ask. Though canals are well-developed near the capital."
The capital, Loizart, sat near two massive bodies of water, Lake Tosmo and Lake Shuju, and its water transport was highly developed. One reason Elsa had participated in the Golem Boat Race at Port Rock was that House Randol’s territory sat on the shores of Lake Tosmo, meaning she had been familiar with boats since childhood.
(I wonder if we could transport water using a Warp Gate...) Jin mused.
Currently, a Warp Gate could not continuously transmit matter, so the concept would require significant technical improvements.
(But it's a theme worth exploring,) Jin thought as he was swayed by the motion of the carriage.
As he looked out, a peculiar plant caught his eye. It bore a slight resemblance to bamboo, but the leaves were different—not thin, but shaped like the palm of a hand. The stalk was cylindrical, green, and smooth. The most bamboo-like feature was the presence of what looked like nodes.
"Reinhard, what is that plant?" Jin asked.
"No idea. I don't know the name, but they're common in this area," Reinhard replied. Even he didn't know everything.
"Hey, Mattheus! Could you pick one of those for me?" Reinhard called out the window.
Mattheus quickly cut one down with his sword and brought it over. "Is this what you wanted?"
"Yes, thank you." Reinhard took the plant through the window. "Here, Jin, take a look."
Jin inspected it closely. As he’d suspected, the center was hollow. However, the segments that looked like nodes weren't actually structural; they were merely bulges where branches sprouted.
If only they were proper nodes, I could have made canteens or piggy banks, Jin thought. Then a different idea occurred to him. "I wonder if these could be used for pipes?"
Reinhard immediately dismissed the notion. "Ah, no, that won't work. Those things shrink when they dry and swell when they get wet. The dimensions are completely unstable."
"I see..."
It was a less useful plant than he had hoped.
"It wouldn't even work as a water gun... Maybe a string telephone is about the only thing I could make."
As Jin muttered to himself, a flash of inspiration struck him.
(A string telephone!...A string telephone, huh...)
A string telephone was a toy where two cylinders had paper pasted over one end and were connected by a string attached to the centers. A voice would vibrate the paper, the vibration would travel along the string, and the paper on the other end would vibrate to reproduce the sound.
(If I did that using magic...)
"Jin?"
Reinhard realized Jin had entered one of his deep-thinking modes and fell silent. Seizing the opportunity, Jin began organizing his thoughts.
(If I use a thin mithril wire instead of string, I should be able to transmit vibrations of free ether. Ether vibrations do not diminish...)
Attenuation occurred because of resistance. Since ether particles were thought to be smaller than atoms, there was nothing to interfere with their vibration. Therefore, they wouldn't diminish—or at least the attenuation would be so negligible that it wouldn't matter even over a thousand kilometers. Furthermore, unlike the string of a toy, the wire wouldn't even need to be pulled taut.
(Converting voice into ether vibrations... that's easy. The reverse is also simple.)
Jin had just conceptualized an ether-based telephone.
(But if I’m making a phone, I’d want to be able to talk to various people, not just one specific recipient...)
The manacam used a method similar to frequency tuning to reach specific people. That was the basis of wireless communication as Jin understood it.
(How did landline phones work back home?)
The orphanage Jin grew up in had an old black rotary dial phone.
(Right... you dialed a number to select the recipient. A machine does it now, but in the old days, they had operators...)
Jin desperately tried to recall stories the Orphanage Director had told him about old technology.
(That's it! First you call the switchboard, tell them who you want to talk to, and the operator connects you!)
As long as he understood the general procedure, the technical details weren't an obstacle. From there, his plan advanced at high speed.
(The manaphones we distributed recently via Nostalgia could also work through a switchboard... no, that might be a bit too blatant.)
He realized that if Laojun acted as the switchboard, he would have total control over eavesdropping—then he chuckled as he realized Laojun was likely already doing that. Reiko, sitting beside him, gave him a puzzled look.
(...I'm getting sidetracked. Human operators would be fine, so... yeah, this is doable.)
By the time the carriage reached Amberg, Jin had already finalized the concept for his new device: the tele-talker.
Amberg was a city of similar scale to Hatata. The lack of fences or walls suggested the region was peaceful. They left the carriage at the station by the city entrance and were about to head into the streets when they were intercepted.
"Lord Reinhard, and Jin-dono as well, I presume?"
Several men appeared before them. Reiko instantly moved to shield Jin. Although the Secret Mobile Unit—the SP—were invisible to the naked eye, they had already moved behind the group, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Mattheus put a hand on his sword, and his subordinates followed suit, prepared to draw.
"My apologies, did we startle you? I am the head of the Magi Engineer Guild here in Amberg, Balt. These others are also Guild staff."
The middle-aged man in the center bowed deeply as he introduced himself.
"See, Guild Master? I told you it was rude to block the way with so many people," said a young man about Jin's age who was standing next to Balt.
"Yes, well, I simply had to meet the magi engineer who created that wonderful tool as soon as possible!" Balt told the young man before turning back to Jin's party. "I received a message via pigeon from Coats Roadite in Hatata. I was so eager to meet you that I came here immediately. Please forgive my lack of manners."