Chapter 71

Approaching to within arm's reach, he observed the door. The display embedded in it seemed to be some kind of liquid crystal, but it looked more like a black metal.

Words were floating there. They seemed familiar, so he checked each character, and they turned out to be the factor letters used in making magical tools.

"Your Highness, these are factor letters."

"Hmm, what do they say?"

The prince also directed his gaze at the factor letters. However, since he lacked knowledge of factor letters, he couldn't read them.

"The top line seems to mean 'choose.' It might be suggesting to choose from the items written in the square below."

"Then, what's written in the square?"

"I can't quite make it out. They are definitely factor letters, but I don't know the words... Wait, there's one I recognize."

"What is it?"

"This word is 'telepathy.'"

After discussing with the prince, they decided to choose 'telepathy.'

"But how do we choose?"

There were no buttons, so he thought it might be touch-sensitive and extended his finger to touch the word 'telepathy.'

"Visitor, you may enter."

A voice echoed in Ricardo's mind.

The door lifted like a shutter, revealing the entrance.

Ricardo, Monta, and the prince entered. The soldiers and the four members of the Silver Ridge Corps hesitated, and the door slowly closed.

"Ah!"

Ricardo and the prince exchanged glances.

"Is this a trap?"

"I don't think so. I believe it's a door that closes automatically after a certain time."

"Proceed down the corridor."

Again, a voice echoed in his mind. The voice was telepathic, but no one was visible.

In front of them was a corridor. The ceiling was lined with circular lights that illuminated the passage. The walls were white and showed no signs of deterioration. Following the instruction, they walked down the narrow corridor and arrived at a small room.

"Perform cleansing."

At that moment, strong winds blew from all four walls, and a blinding light bathed Ricardo and the others.

"What is this?"

"Too bright, Monta, I don't like this."

The prince and Monta were displeased. Ricardo imagined that this might be a device to prevent bacteria from being brought inside, but he wasn't sure.

The cleansing ended, and the wind and light stopped.

A hole opened in the opposite wall of the small room, as if a door had opened automatically.

"Who are you? What is this place?"

The prince spoke sternly.

"I am the research assistant of the Crebles research area. This is the Point 4 Research Institute."

Crebles was supposed to be the name of a magical realm. Could the magical realm be a research area? Ricardo muttered to himself as he thought.

"You said this is a research institute. What do you research here?"

"We study the physical and mental aspects of living beings. We need your cooperation."

The prince spoke loudly.

"Wait, what do you mean by cooperation? Why must we cooperate?"

"We only need you to undergo an examination. If you cooperate, we will provide a gift and let you leave."

"What? You won't let us leave unless we cooperate?"

The prince's voice began to carry a hint of hostility.

Ricardo thought that defying them might lead to bad consequences and tried to calm the prince.

"Your Highness, we should comply here. It might be the only way to get out."

Ricardo advised this, but he would later regret it.

The two of them and Monta were led to another room. In that room was a device that looked like an oxygen capsule, which seemed to be for examination.

The entity calling itself a research assistant instructed them to remove their coats and accessories and enter the device.

Ricardo undressed first and entered the examination device.

The physical examination was not much, but as soon as the mental examination began, he felt uncomfortable. It felt as if someone was caressing his brain, and nausea rose up.

Pain like needles piercing his heart ran through his mind. He understood it wasn't actual pain, but the suffering didn't go away.

In response to the pain, various memories surfaced in his mind. His life in Japan, the death of his wife and daughter, the politician's son he killed, the meteor, the Sea of Chaos, Ricardo flowing down the river, the first time he defeated a magical beast, his research in magic, becoming Alessandro's disciple, and his life in the capital—all these memories flooded back, causing confusion.

This isn't an examination; it's torture. Ricardo felt angry at himself for deciding to undergo the examination.

His mind was being torn apart and reassembled, causing immense pain. After that, his mind was regenerated, but it came with great suffering.

Despite the strong sense of regret, this process of mental disintegration and regeneration made Ricardo's mind incomparably stronger.

When he was finally released from the examination device, Ricardo crawled out.

He felt mentally drained.

The prince was looking at Ricardo with a pale face.

"You were screaming terribly."

Ricardo had been unconsciously making sounds.

"My mind was being torn apart and reassembled. It was painful, really painful."

The prince stepped back from the examination device.

"I'm not afraid."

It was an unnecessary excuse. Ricardo put on his clothes, took a deep breath, and calmed down.

In the end, the prince also entered the examination device and experienced it, screaming loudly.

Monta also underwent the examination but came out with a calm face. When asked if it was painful, he replied,

"Just tickled."

It seemed the mental processes of humans and wise beasts were different.

To the exhausted Ricardo and the prince,

"Thank you for your cooperation. The gifts are prepared."

The voice of the research assistant echoed in their minds.

At that moment, the door of the room opened, and a strange entity entered.

It looked like a golem. However, it had intelligent eyes and dexterous hands holding something. It walked on two short but sturdy legs and placed three items in front of Ricardo and the others.

These seemed to be the gifts mentioned by the research assistant.

"Are you the research assistant?"

The prince asked, but the golem didn't respond.

"That is my master's servant."

"Who is your master?"

"The owner of this planet, a traveler among the stars. You don't need to know."

Hearing this, Ricardo was stunned. On the other hand, the prince, who didn't understand, looked puzzled.

Thinking that the research assistant wouldn't provide more information about the master, Ricardo asked about what happens every 90 years.

"I don't know. The central tower's administrator must be doing something."

It seemed there was a central tower in the magical realm in addition to this building.

The gifts given to the prince and Monta by the research assistant were seeds in glass bottles.

"What are these seeds?"

The prince asked.

"You want a strong ally. So, I give you seeds that grow into strong allies."

The entity calling itself a research assistant seemed to be able to read their minds. According to the assistant, these seeds would grow into 'Dragon Tree Horses.' These were creatures the size of medium horses, combining features of horses and trees.

After growing for about ten years, they would root in their preferred land and start growing as 'Dragon Trees.'

Dragon Tree Horses were several times stronger than ordinary horses and had intelligence and obedience similar to dogs.

Incidentally, Dragon Trees bore fruit annually, but most were seedless, making the seeded fruits rare.

"Horses, if they become allies, they would be reliable, but being a type of magical beast is a bit worrying."

"A strong magical beast could be a valuable asset."

Ricardo's opinion made the prince nod.

"Yes, let's try growing them."

Monta, holding up the glass bottle given to him, asked,

"Big sister, what is this?"

The research assistant said it was a seed for a tree that bore delicious fruits. It could grow quickly even in wastelands.

Later, it was found that the fruit resembled corn in shape and taste, but it grew on a tree, which was a strange concept.

Hearing this, Monta was delighted and performed a strange dance, apparently learned from the neighborhood troublemakers.

Finally, the gift for Ricardo was explained.

It was a black plate about the size of a smartphone, made of a ceramic-like material. Despite being only about two millimeters thick, it had functions similar to an e-book reader.

The black plate, which would be called a 'Black Plate,' contained information about the planet and the scientific knowledge needed to understand it. It also included a map of the magical realm.

Ricardo, who wanted information about this world, was pleased to receive it, even though it wasn't exactly what he was looking for.

He hadn't expected to obtain scientific knowledge in this world.

However, the scientific knowledge in the Black Plate was only slightly beyond high school level, which didn't seem very useful.

The research assistant quickly escorted Ricardo and the others outside, showing no intention of guiding them through the building.

"What was that all about?"

The prince grumbled. Despite the intense suffering, they had only received seeds whose usefulness was uncertain.

Moreover, he didn't understand terms like 'owner of the stars' and 'traveler among the stars,' and couldn't comprehend the existence of the research assistant's master.

Ricardo also found it hard to fully understand, but he could tell that the master was an extraordinary being.

Outside, the Silver Ridge Corps and the soldiers were waiting.

"Your Highness, I'm glad you're safe."

"I apologize for the delay."

The soldiers looked tired, having spent an anxious time.

"Let's move on."

They decided to move away from the boundary between the middle and lower layers, where dangerous magical beasts appeared.

On the way, Ricardo said,

"Your Highness, may I make a slight detour?"

"Where do you want to go?"

Ricardo took out the Black Plate and showed the map of the magical realm.

"Interesting. Not only text, but images also appear?"

Ricardo, who had taken it for granted, realized it was extraordinary in this world.

"Our current location is this red dot."

The Black Plate had a function to show the current location, which appeared as a red dot.

"I want to check this place marked with a triangle."

There was a mark slightly west of their return path, and he wanted to verify it.

With the prince's permission, they followed the map to the marked location. The soldiers cut through the thick underbrush, and they arrived at their destination. It was a small hill-like terrain, and at the top, something was standing among the trees.

It was covered with weeds and vines, making it hard to identify, but it was a two-meter-tall object.

"Is it a dead tree or a rock?"

Amedeo of the Silver Ridge Corps spoke.

Ricardo started peeling off the covering vines, and the members of the Silver Ridge Corps joined in.

What appeared was a green cylinder. Its surface was inscribed with words, which seemed to be Optul letters and factor letters.

Ricardo recognized the Optul letters. They were definitely the magical words recorded in the Great Magical System.

"I believe the wise man Manuel is said to have studied magical words from relics found in the magical realm."

Ricardo spoke to the magician Maribella.

"Are you saying this is one of the relics Manuel discovered?"

"It's possible."

However, Ricardo had a significant doubt. How did Manuel analyze the information from just the Optul letters and factor letters?

Moreover, why was such a thing in the magical realm?

The prince was also examining the cylinder intently.

"We'll camp here. Start preparing."

He seemed determined to investigate thoroughly.

Ricardo set up a container house and prepared the camp, then took out his magical notebook and started copying the inscriptions on the cylinder.

The prince also began copying the inscriptions, likely to bring them back for further study.

After about an hour of copying, they started analyzing. The magical words written in Optul letters were almost identical to those in the Great Magical System.

However, there were about twenty magical words not recorded in the Great Magical System. They were probably the ones Manuel couldn't decipher.

The prince made Ricardo and Monta promise not to reveal what happened in the research institute.

He seemed to judge it as important, even though he didn't fully understand it.

He also ordered the soldiers and the Silver Ridge Corps to keep the cylinder with the magical words a secret.

"Ricardo, did you find anything?"

In response to the prince's question, Ricardo nodded.

"I found about twenty magical words not recorded in the Great Magical System. We might be able to develop new magic."

"I'm interested in new magic, but the magic you used yesterday seemed practical and powerful. Can we incorporate it into the magic cannon?"

"That's intermediate magic, so it might be difficult. Even if we could, the catalysts are expensive."

The prince frowned.

"You mean it's expensive to use and maintain?"

"Exactly."

"Never mind. The Cearato prophecy mentions a flood of magical beasts from the magical realm. We need to strengthen our forces in preparation."

Ricardo realized the prince was taking concrete steps to prepare for the disaster in a few years and felt the need to cooperate.

He felt the future of the country depended on the prince's leadership.