While I was boasting to the Demon King about my Flying Carpet, he informed me that a certain clan in the Demon Kingdom specialized in making them.
Apparently, they made a vocation out of creating Flying Carpets, though their methods were a closely guarded secret. It was a hereditary art passed down through their lineage. Despite their long history, however, the number of carpets they actually produced was quite small.
"If they create them using the method you described, Village Head, that would certainly explain the low numbers," the Demon King remarked.
Is that so? It seemed to me that if you just gathered enough people to talk to it, you could mass-produce them.
"First of all, preparing an unused carpet and the core magic stone is a massive undertaking," he explained.
That made sense.
"Furthermore, you mentioned 'speaking to it'... but that is actually a form of magic."
Magic?
"To be precise, it's the stage immediately preceding magic. Thus, it’s utterly meaningless unless the person doing it possesses a significant amount of magic power."
What? Does that mean all my talking was a waste of time?
As I stood there in shock, the Flying Carpet brushed against me as if to comfort me, conveying that wasn't the case at all. It seemed that even if I couldn't imbue it with magic, the act of speaking to it was still vital.
Well, thank you.
"Er... well, if the carpet says so, then perhaps the words of someone without magic do provide some benefit," the Demon King conceded. "However, to actually bring it to life, the magic power of the speaker is essential."
I see. So Lu’s immense magic power was the key factor.
"Precisely. If it took Lady Lu twenty days, an ordinary member of the Demon Race would likely take several decades. Mass production is simply impossible."
Even Lu had struggled to maintain her focus toward the end of those twenty days. Expecting someone to do that for decades? That was indeed impossible. Still, the fact that there was a clan out there actually doing it was impressive.
"However," the Demon King added, "the carpets produced by that clan aren't nearly as expressive as this one. Perhaps your constant talking actually did have a positive effect, Village Head."
At those words, the Flying Carpet drifted closer to the Demon King, appearing quite pleased. It even seemed to be inviting him to take a ride. It was nice that the carpet wasn't shy around new people.
Wait. Where did it plan on taking him?
Ah, it wanted to show off in front of Lu, didn't it? It was a nightmare whenever Lu started sulking, so I really wished it wouldn't.
Good grief. I truly hoped those two would reconcile soon.
Later, I sat in on a consultation with Dos and Draim regarding the holes in the ancient barrier.
"Re-casting the barrier is out of the question," Dos declared.
His reasoning was simple: there was no one left who possessed the knowledge to cast it. Even if they dug through ancient records to rediscover the technique, it would take centuries to master.
Dos predicted it would take roughly a thousand years. Since that was the case, it wasn't a job for Dos, but rather a project for his grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Naturally, he didn't want to saddle his adorable descendants with such a tedious task, so the plan to re-cast it was rejected. Instead, he wanted to find a way to patch up the existing barrier and keep it running.
I understood his perspective, but I wondered if that would be enough.
"The purpose of that barrier is to prevent the monsters and magic beasts of this region from escaping," Dos explained.
Yes, that was what I’d heard.
"Consequently, the barrier isn't a single construct. It’s a complex weave of multiple layers."
"Multiple layers?" I asked.
"Indeed. To put it simply, there are several layers each for Large-sized Class Barriers, Medium-sized Class Barriers, Small-sized Class Barriers, and Very Small-sized Class Barriers."
I hadn't realized it was such a massive, multi-tiered operation. I suppose that was why starting over was so difficult.
"The issue we’re facing currently is with a Small-sized Class Barrier, which happens to be the outermost layer. While there is a hole in that one, there are still other Small-sized Class Barriers further inside. It shouldn't lead to any major incidents."
I see.
Wait, hold on.
If that was the case, how did the Inferno Wolves manage to slip through the barrier in the first place?
"Father... I find this difficult to say, but..." Draim, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke up. "There are holes in the inner barriers as well."
Dos stared at him.
"They're only in the Small-sized Class Barriers, but they form a nearly straight line... I suspect the breach was actually made from the inside about two thousand years ago."
"How much of the repair work have you finished?" Dos asked, his voice low.
"Only the outermost layer."
"And why didn't you handle the inner layers?"
"The daikon harvest was coming up..."
"..."
"..."
"Repairing the barrier is far more important than a daikon harvest!" Dos roared.
"But Small-sized barriers are only meant for things like Inferno Wolves, so the priority seemed low! Besides, almost all of them are living in this village now anyway!"
Well, I was pretty sure there were still plenty of wild ones out there.
"Draim," Dos growled. "Surely you haven't forgotten your duty as the Gate Guardian Dragon?"
"I haven't forgotten! That's why I went and did the repairs!"
"Gunu... Once the daikon harvest is finished, you are to go back and fix every last one of those inner barriers."
"Of course. That was always the plan," Draim said, puffing out his chest.
For my part, I really wanted those barriers to be functional. Dealing with unexpected trouble was the last thing I wanted. I made sure to add my own request for him to finish the job.
Still, I wondered what had happened to the monster or magic beast that broke through from the inside all those years ago.
"Draim, looking at the state of the barrier, exactly how long ago was it breached?"
"I would estimate roughly two thousand years ago."
"Hmm. If it was that long ago, it would be faster to just ask Gucci," Dos mused. "Where is he?"
"Actually, he’s been away on personal leave for a bit. He had an uncharacteristically serious expression, claiming he needed to 'protect his dignity,' so I gave him permission..."
I’d already heard from Yoko that Gucci was busy with something involving Versa in Village Five. I’d have to ask him for the details once he was free. Still, if it happened two thousand years ago, it probably didn't have much to do with me.
Outside, a cart was currently hurtling down the village road. It appeared to be an improved version of the specialized cart the Mountain Elves were developing for the Intelligence Boxes. It wasn't just going straight anymore; it was successfully navigating turns.
Since the boxes could only open and close their lids, I wondered how they were steering.
Ah, I see. They were signaling their intentions through the angle of the lid. If the lid was closed, the cart stopped. A slight opening meant a right turn. Halfway open meant straight ahead, and fully open meant a left turn.
Was the speed constant? Apparently, there was a magic stone inside the box to regulate speed, and the maximum velocity was determined by how wide the lid was flipped open.
Impressive. But was it actually working well? It seemed there were still some kinks to work out.
With the current design, the cart apparently had a tendency to veer slightly to the right whenever it tried to stop. If they tried to fix that sensitivity, it made normal steering much more difficult.
"And there is one more flaw..." a Mountain Elf added.
"There's more?"
"It seems that if the speed gets too high, the air resistance makes it impossible for the box to keep its lid at the halfway point..."
The cart in question was currently accelerating, veering sharply to the left. Eventually, it began spinning in a complete circle.
"Once it hits that point, it can't stop on its own!"
Because of the wind pressure, the box couldn't force its lid shut, which meant it couldn't signal the cart to stop.
"Abort the experiment! Activate the External Stop Device! Security team, use the nets!"
The Mountain Elves stationed nearby rushed toward the runaway cart. By the time they stopped it, the box inside seemed to have passed out.
How reckless. I wondered if Box No. 4051 had known about these flaws before it volunteered for the test.
"It insisted it would be fine this time," the elves reported.
I could admire its spirit, but I really wanted them to stop trying to solve technical engineering problems with raw guts. Personally, I thought it would be better to let a Golem handle the driving while the box just showed it Command Cards.
Village Head: "If it happened two thousand years ago, it probably doesn't have much to do with me." Dragons: (That's a flag.) Residents: (Definitely a flag.) Golem: "It seems my time has come." Box No. 4051: "Using a Golem just feels... wrong." Mountain Elves: "We totally get it."