I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 59

"You will not last long as you are now."

I shuddered as Ferguson shouted down the hallway.

Man, I was not expecting to see him so soon.

The ogre who I had just beaten in the last battle phase was standing right outside of the bathhouse door when I opened it to leave.

He almost gave me a freaking heart attack.

Being stared down by an almost 7-foot-tall meatball was not a fun experience.

He's definitely mad.

It was the only conclusion I could reach from the situation.

And the last thing he said... he's clearly threatening to invade me again, right? Forget the toad guy, what the heck am I supposed to do if Ferguson invades me in the next battle phase?

During the conversation, the ogre blatantly claimed he could beat me.

I managed to beat him this time, but can I really expect my humans to deal with an invasion like that every battle phase?

I couldn't help but shiver at the thought.

"So you really did beat him..."

A certain elf's voice cut through my analysis.

"Huh? Yeah, I told you that I did, didn't I?"

"Well you did say it, but I didn't actually confirm it until now."

"What!? You didn't believe me!? I even gave you a whole run-down of the battle!"

Julia shrugged, "You could've made it up. It's hard to believe you could win against someone so strong."

I could feel a vein throb in my head.

"I am way stronger than him! I literally just got a Tier III win against him!"

"Then why are you being so nervous about fighting him again?"

"Ah-"

My mouth subconsciously opened as I looked at the smug elf girl beside me.

"... You really knew exactly what I was thinking," I couldn't help but mutter embarrassedly.

"After all the time I've spent with you, it's not that hard to do," Julia said proudly, "Anyway, he's probably just mad after you beat him, he might not actually invade again. Even if he does, I know you'll be able to beat him just like you did this time!"

"... You're sweet sometimes."

"Sometimes? I'm always sweet," Julia pouted.

"Taste-wise?"

"W-what!?"

I couldn't help but grin as she flusteredly studdered; the tsunami of unease in my mind quickly calmed to steady waves.

Man, I really missed her.

"Thank you, Julia."

"You're just gonna... hah," Julia started to say something but let it go with a sigh after seeing my content expression, "I'm glad I could help."

"Squawk!"

By the time we finished talking, a squawk from the small penguin in my arms alerted us to a door slightly ajar ahead of us.

"It looks like we're here," 

"...Do we just go in?"

"I mean, he invited us, so we might as well."

Knock Knock!

I slowly creaked open the door after briefly knocking, revealing a familiar purple-robbed figure sitting at a cluttered desk on the edge of the room.

"Ah- Jacob. Come in, I see you brought some company."

"I wasn't planning to, but this girl follows me everywhere."

I quickly dodged a sudden punch from a grumpy elf next to me and walked inside.

The three of us sat down on the three chairs he had prepared facing him at his desk.

He even gave Mr. Flippers a seat~

Tatton began speaking as I hid my smile at the sight of the tiny penguin casually sitting in a giant chair over twice his height.

"So, Jacob, you claimed you thought of a way to penetrate the domain boundary."

"... I didn't say that much. I don't even really know what this boundary is; all that I know is that you said mana can't cross it. I was just wondering if radio waves could, that way we could get the calling thing to work."

"A calling thing?" Julia tilted her head, "Are you trying to make something like that picture-making thing you have?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you why I came here," I took out my phone from my pocket, "Basically, Tatton has these crystal ball things that can communicate with each other in the Academy. I was trying to see if I could use them like my phone so I could talk to you from our domains during the battle phases."

"Oh..."

"Ahem!" Tatton coughed, bringing my attention away from Julia's flushed face, "May I see this 'phone'?"

With a nod, I handed the phone over to Tatton who began inspecting it from all sides.

"I do not understand. I specifically remember seeing it produce light, but it does not seem to be doing so even when I inject it with mana."

... Man, I really am dealing with a boomer, aren't I?

"I told you that it doesn't use mana," I sighed, "You just have to turn it on."

Seeing Tatton's blank stare, I reached out and pressed the power button on the phone's side. A glow immediately began emitting from the phone's screen and a familiar wallpaper of an elf girl holding a penguin came into view.

"Fascinating!" 

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. All of those square things are different things that the phone can do, but practically none of them work without the internet. Wherever this Academy is, it is way too far from Earth to have any, so I can really only use it to take pictures now," I explained as I pulled up the photo album to show Tatton.

After I swiped through a few, Tatton imitated me and began looking through the pictures. 

"... You sure made a lot of paintings of that small creature."

"Yeah~ he's cute, so I take a lot of him."

"Squawk!?"

"Don't worry, I usually tell you when I take them."

"Squawk..."

I looked over as Tatton continued swiping through the pictures.

Wow, I forgot I took some of those! There's Mr. Fippers almost back when we first came to the Academy!

As I reminisced on those times, a feeling of unease washed over me.

Back near the start of the Academy... wait a second!

I immediately snatched the phone from Tatton.

"I-I think that's enough pictures for now," I stuttered as cold sweat dripped down my back, purposely avoiding the confused glance from the elf girl next to me that I saw out of the corner of my eye.

"This phone, as you called it, is an interesting tool, but you have not shown me how it communicates through distances without mana."

"Well, without another phone and a signal I can't really show it, but I'll try to explain how it works. I'm definitely not an expert or anything, so I might be missing some things, though."

"That is fine, just tell me what you know."

"Got it," I leaned back in my chair, "So, phones use radiowaves to communicate, which are basically movements in electric and magnetic fields."

Although I said this, Tatton just seemed lost.

"... Maybe I should start with the basics. You do know what electrons are, right?"

"I do not."

A simple denial!

"Shoot. This might take a bit to explain," I rested my chin on my palm, "Do you have a board or something I can write on?"

"Hmm... alright. I'll take you to my laboratory- follow me."

With those words, Tatton stood up and walked over to an empty area on his office's wall. As Julia picked up the penguin, Tatton placed his hand on the wall.

Hummm!

An ominous hum echoed through the room as an odd winding pattern began to glow on the wall he touched. After a few seconds, the wall split open like an elevator door, revealing a small room inside.

"Come in," Tatton called out to us after entering the room.

"... Is that really his laboratory?" Julia asked in a whisper.

"Probably not, but it'll I'm sure it will take us there."

Though skeptical, the three of us followed his instructions and entered the small room as the door closed behind us.

"What floor are we going to?"

"What?"

"Never mind."

Yep. It's not an elevator- just a weird small room that we're squeezed in.

I couldn't help but look around at the odd glowing symbols carved on the room's walls. Although it was faint, there was a weird rumbling sensation echoing under our feet.

"Squawk!"

"Mr. Flippers wants to know what this room is for."

"Squawk~"

"This is a buffer between my laboratory and the rest of the Academy," Tatton explained, "My job here requires me to constantly observe multiple realms, so there is little time for me to do my own research. My laboratory operates at mortal time to compensate for it."

"Oh, so this is sort of like an airlock but for time? It's like gradually slowing us down to match mortal time?"

"An airlock? I'm unfamiliar with the word, but it sounds like it fits the principle. It is more accurate to say that we are speeding up to mortal time, however," Tatton nodded, "Without this room, there would be a sudden change of speed as one entered the laboratory; having two parts of your body operating at drastically different speeds is not a fun experience, so this was made to avoid it."

Just as he finished explaining, the symbols on the walls lost their light and the rumbling stopped with it. At the same time, the wall opposite to the one we entered through opened up, revealing a large room filled to the brim with materials, devices, and carvings that were completely foreign to me. 

"Wow~"

"Squawk~"

Exclamations of wonder leaked from the mouths of the two behind me as we followed Tatton into the room. Julia practically sprinted over to a brown plate carved with a detailed circular pattern, encased and displayed on a table.

"This rune is amazing! There's easily thousands of different mana pathways around the circle! How were you able to make something so complex!?"

"Ah- that? It is one out of one thousand runes in a device I was attempting to make. Sadly, it did not work, but I kept it as a reference," Tatton dismissed her enthusiasm with a wave, "Please try not to touch anything; many of these are incomplete prototypes."

With that warning in mind, we continued walking until we reached the far wall over the laboratory where a large blackboard completely full of sketches of things resembling magic circles sat waiting. Not wanting to erase his work, Tatton flipped the board over to the other side which was left blank and handed me a piece of chalk.

"You now have a board- please teach me well."

I don't even have a teaching license! If I'm gonna anger the unions, I should at least get paid for this!

"... I'll do my best," I responded hesitantly despite my thoughts, taking the chalk from his hand, "Alright, let's start with electrons."

.

..

...

"Let me double-check to make sure I am understanding this right. When these electrons are traveling a wire and the current is alternated, they start to oscillate which generates an electric field?"

"Well, it generates a magnetic field, which induces an electric field, but yes."

"Okay. So these fields are oscillating with the electrons and this forms sort of waves in charges throughout the area. Those are the radiowaves you were mentioning?"

"Yep, exactly!"

I am so confused.

Julia sat on a chair nearby with her head buried in her palms.

"Do you have any idea what they are talking about, little one?"

"Squawk~"

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Julia smiled at the penguin on her lap.

Jacob and the robbed figure had been talking for what seemed like an eternity, though it was likely just a few hours at most. Despite her attempt to follow along with whatever they were talking about, she got lost at some point between gathering electrons and getting them to move through wires.

"Okay, I understand the theories so far, except for one thing. I do not see how these radiowaves can be used to talk from a distance."

"Well, on their own they're kind of pointless, but you can basically encode information into these waves," Jacob explained to Tatton, "I guess it makes more sense to talk about talking for this. When someone speaks, you hear the vibrations they make in the air. If you convert these vibrations into an electrical signal and then send it through the wire, the electrons will move accordingly. Basically, the radiowaves will sort of mimic these vibrations."

"Ah- so if a device observes these radio waves, they can do the inverse and hear the sound!" Tatton spoke as if having an epiphany.

"Exactly! Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the general idea!"

"This is fascinating!"

They sure look like they're having fun...

Julia's cheeks subconsciously expanded into a slight pout as she watched the two's eyes sparkling.

It's not fair. I waited so long to see Jacob, but he can't even talk to me...

A small sigh escaped the elf girl's lips.

Well, I guess this is better than nothing. Plus, since this place is at mortal time, I'll still have a while with him in the Academy before class~

"I will grab some supplies to try to make a model. I'll be back soon."

Tatton's voice cut through her thoughts as he swiftly made his way to some bins and boxes on the opposite end of the laboratory, shuffling through them enthusiastically.

"Sorry about all of this," Jacob smiled wryly as he seized the moment the robed figure left to sit down next to her, "I just couldn't pass up a chance like this."

"You're really doing all of this so we can talk during the battle phases?"

Jacob nodded resolutely, "Mhm. There's no way I'm gonna be spending potentially hundreds of years training in there without talking to you."

Ba-dum ba-dum.

"A-anyway," Julia studdered as she tried to distract herself from her own beating heart, "I couldn't understand anything you were talking about..."

"Oh....sorry. I'd try to explain it better but I honestly don't know this stuff too well myself. I'll leave figuring out the details of everything to Tatton," Jacob stuck out his tongue.

"Do you really think he'll be able to figure it out?"

"That's a good question," Jacob let out a sigh as he leaned back into his seat, "I guess we can only hope that he does."

Julia's head subconsciously nodded at his words, putting a smile on Jacob's face.

Talking to Jacob in my domain would be nice...

"But what will you do if he can't make it? Or what if your idea doesn't work?" Julia tilted her head, "Will you still do that long training?"

"... I guess I'll have to, but I won't be too happy about it," Jacob groaned, "I think I said it before, but I honestly don't know how long I'd be able to last just talking to Mr. Flippers and training. It's kind of hard to have endless motivation when I don't have any idea what I'm working toward or how I'm even supposed to train."

Julia nodded in understanding.

I should probably train, too. I set up some targets in my domain, but I can only grow so much from shooting at them.

The elf girl quickly found herself facing the same wall that stood before Jacob.

"It does sound difficult..."

Tatton's steps echoed closer while she muttered, lost in thought. 

"Maybe he'll tell us more?" Jacob turned toward the approaching sound and called out, "Hey, Tatton! Could you tell us any more about what we're training for- or at least how we're supposed to... train?"

Huh? Why did his voice trail off at the end there?

Confused, Julia followed his gaze, her eyes locking onto what looked like an obscured, purple creature with 6 long, twisting arms emerging from behind some jumbled equipment.

"Kyahh!?"

A startled scream escaped her lips as she jolted backward, falling out of the chair.

"Whoa!"

Jacob dove onto the floor, catching her barely before she hit the ground.

"That's the second time I've heard you make that noise today~"

Julia ignored his teasing grin as he lifted her up in a princess carry, instead using her energy to point toward the 6-armed creature.

"What is that thing!?"

The creature spoke before Jacob even had the chance to reply.

"What is this commotion about?"

"You scared her, Tatton. The heck is with those arms?"

Huh? Tatton?

Julia's face reddened as she noticed a familiar hood from behind a box the purple creature was carrying in its arms.

"Oh, my apologies. This is just an artifact that I built a while back; extra arms are sometimes needed in my work."

Each of the additional arms carried a box full of various tools and materials, which were gently placed down onto a nearby table.

"There we go, this should be everything we need," Tatton nodded in satisfaction at the pile of boxes before turning toward the Seedlings, "As for your first question, like I said, I'm not allowed to give an answer just yet. That being said, my previous advice holds true. It does not matter how you train or what you train with; as long as you are doing your best, you will be at an advantage. Hard work never goes to waste."

That doesn't sound very helpful...

A sigh escaped her lips as she looked up at Jacob who was still carrying her in his arms, "... Are you going to keep holding me?"

"Ah- right."

Julia couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret as her feet once again touched the floor.

I shouldn't have said anything...

With no concept of her inner turmoil, Tatton called out to Jacob, "Let's get started on a prototype."

With those words, the many arms connected to a metallic circle on his back spryly began reaching into the boxes and pulling out various materials.

"Squawk~"

Jacob looked down at the penguin pointing over toward Tatton's working arms, "Oh? You like those things?" 

No way! He likes those creepy things!?

Julia couldn't help but look at Mr. Flippers in wonder.

"Squawk! ...Squawk?"

"Uhh... I guess I can ask," Jacob turned toward Tatton, apparently repeating the tiny creature's question, "Do you have another one of those arm things? Mr. Flippers wants to try using it."

Tatton's arms paused as he slipped into thought, "Hmm... I may have something. Give me one moment."

The purple figure retreated back into his laboratory's storage and soon emerged with what looked like a small box connected to some leather straps.

... That's way too big for the little guy.

As if hearing her thoughts, Tatton placed the box on the table and immediately began using his extra arms to make some adjustments to the box. Within a few minutes, he approached Mr. Flippers and gently strapped the box to his back before inserting a brightly glowing stone into a circular hole in the box's back. 

"Wow! Such a bright mana stone!" Julia couldn't help but exclaim at the sight.

"That's a mana stone?"" Jacob asked pointing toward the stone.

"Yes- I can feel the mana from here!" Julia marveled at the sight.

I never knew they could get so bright! I can't even imagine how much mana must be stored in that!

"You've heard of mana stones, Jacob?" Tatton chimed in, overhearing their exchange, "I'm a bit surprised considering you come from a world devoid of mana."

Jacob nodded at Tatton's question, "Julia mentioned something about them back when I first came to the Academy. It's my first time seeing one, though."

He remembers that!? I think I only mentioned mana stones when he first told me about his old world!

While she stared at Jacob in shock, Tatton began to explain.

"Not all mana stones look like this. I infused this one with my own mana, so it is much denser than what would typically be seen in nature, hense the bright glow," Tatton revealed as he continued making small adjustments to the box.

"In nature? So these things grow naturally?"

"In some cases, yes," Tatton explained, "There are two ways for mana stones to form- the first is through the natural collection of mana into materials. Of course, this usually only happens within mana-dense areas. and normally only to materials adept at containing mana. They more commonly form from the mana-storage organs that some advanced lifeforms possess. These mana-storage organs don't decompose, so they end up hardening and practically become small mana stones of their own after the lifeform dies."

"Squawk!?"

"Pffft-" Jacob started laughing at the penguin's sudden panic, "It looks like he doesn't want to wear a dead guy's organ on his back."

"This one was originally a naturally forming stone, so calm down," Tatton sighed, putting an end to the penguin's squirming.

"Your arm model thing doesn't use a mana stone, right? Does his really need it?"

"Yes, it does," Tatton continued fiddling with the device attached to Mr. Flippers, "Since this creature can't freely use the Academy's mana, he needs this mana stone to control the arms. Luckily, I had this old prototype that I made before I realized I could tap into the Academy's dense mana even in my laboratory."

Julia couldn't help but slip into thought at the explanation. 

Why is the Academy's mana so thick, anyway? It's practically impossible to use magic because of it.

Just walking through the Academy felt like wading through a pool of honey. Actually using this mana would take not only absurd mental strength, but also skill far above the realm of anything she thought possible. Even simply absorbing it was like trying to get tar to flow through a hole made by a needle.

I guess using mana from a stone instead of from what's floating around the Academy is the only real option here.

"That should be all," Tatton announced as he finally finished with his maintenance, "Please see if you can activate the artifact."

"Squawk!"

"Wow!"

After Mr. Flippers closed his eyes with a determined look on his face, the box attached to his back opened up sending four metallic arms springing out of it, wildly moving around as the penguin attempted to get used to using them.

It's somehow not as scary when he does it...

"Squawk~"

"Look at that, Mr. Flippers- you finally have fingers!"

"... Squawk."

Jacob stuck out his tongue at the penguin's glare.

"I would recommend starting with one arm until you get a better hang of using them," Tatton suggested, looking at the sight, "Once you got the hang of it, you can try to help Jacob and me with this calling device. With that out of the way, I feel we wasted enough time, so let's get started."

"Got it."

"Squawk~"

As the three began working at the table, Julia couldn't help but look at them in awe.

Even Mr. Flippers seems to understand it... maybe I'm the weird one here.

"Ow! Watch where you're putting those fingers, Mr. Flippers!"

No... I must be the only normal one.

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