The AI Archmage - Chapter 45

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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AI Archmage Episode 45

 

“I told you. Lord Altair’s…”

 

“So you’re saying that in 20 years, not a single craftsman has created something that surpassed the performance of inventions made by that great Lord Altair himself?”

 

“You call that reasonable?”

 

Rather, Dute was dumbfounded.

 

Wasn’t it obvious?

 

This was Altair.

 

The creator of Ate!

 

And the being who laid the foundation of current Magic Engineering and created its future as well…!

 

Altair’s genius remained unmatched even now, 20 years later.

 

The VC-32, still in active use today, was a symbol of that.

 

There was no other system that could identify a person’s details so precisely and screen incoming visitors.

 

“Of course, we continuously maintain the interior using the blueprints he left behind. But… there’s no need to remove this Magic Tool that’s practically a Sacred Relic.”

 

“No, we should remove it!”

 

But Sion shook his head in apparent frustration and continued speaking.

 

“Does it make sense to still use a 20-year-old Magic Tool in active service with logic you’d expect from some religious cult!”

 

“It does make sense!”

 

In real time, Dute’s evaluation of Sion plummeted rapidly in his mind.

 

Of all people, to insult Altair’s work like this in this city!

 

This showed a basic lack of courtesy.

 

So Dute suppressed his anger and advised him.

 

“You’re still young so you might not understand, but sometimes geniuses who overturn the natural order appear in this world.”

 

“And that’s Altair?”

 

“That’s right. We don’t continue using Lord Altair’s Magic Tools simply because he created this city.”

 

“You’re doing this because Altair’s Magic Tools are still efficient?”

 

“Exactly.”

 

This should be enough for him to understand.

 

Altair’s genius.

 

And the city of technology maintained ‘efficiently’ upon that genius.

 

But Sion was not easily swayed.

 

“Ah, so you can’t surpass that…”

 

Instead, he shook his head as if frustrated and muttered.

 

Eira, who had been quietly watching from the side, broke out in a cold sweat.

 

She could practically feel the steam rising from Dute’s head beside her.

 

“T-Teacher, even so, saying such things about Lord Altair in Ate is a bit…”

 

“I didn’t speak carelessly about Altair.”

 

Sion said firmly.

 

“I just hate the lack of progress.”

 

“I, I, I’ve been listening to this from the start…!”

 

Eventually, Dute’s face turned red as he exploded.

 

“Don’t make such rash statements when you can’t even properly understand the design of this magic tool right now!”

 

“I do understand it, and it’s not even difficult to reproduce in the first place.”

 

“Right, of course you couldn’t possibly understand… Huh?”

 

Dute’s eyes widened.

 

“Y-you understand it? And you can even reproduce it?”

 

“Showing you wouldn’t be that difficult, so shall we visit your workshop first? You should have equipment there too, so making a simple version wouldn’t be hard.”

 

“Uh, yeah…?”

 

Dute was somewhat flustered by the answer given without a moment’s hesitation.

 

‘What? Is he bluffing?’

 

Right, it must be a bluff.

 

No matter how he looked at it, the guy didn’t seem more than a few years older than the young lady.

 

Could such a young fellow truly understand the great Altair’s magic tool and even reproduce it?

 

Of course, he too understood the design.

 

However, the problem was reproduction.

 

The reason Altair’s magic tools were so valuable was not only because the designs themselves were high-dimensional, but because the precision of their parts was unparalleled.

 

“Ha!”

 

Eventually, Dute snorted and mocked Sion’s arrogance.

 

He hadn’t planned to head straight to the Alliance Headquarters anyway.

 

He wanted to show this arrogant mage the greatness of a craftsman.

 

“Fine! Let’s go to my workshop! I’ll correct your arrogance!”

 

He would show this cocky pup that there are heavens above the heavens!

 

With that, he proudly headed toward his workshop.

 

And Eira, who had been quietly observing the situation, clicked her tongue.

 

“Tsk… This feels ominous.”

 

She couldn’t express it in words, but she had that kind of feeling.

 

However, since it was difficult to decide how to intervene and resolve this situation, she decided to naturally go with the flow for now.

 

Besides.

 

‘This way, I can delay seeing that damn father a bit longer too.’

 

With that thought, Eira followed Sion.

 

* * *

 

Fortunately, Dute’s workshop was nearby, so it didn’t take long to arrive.

 

“Oh? Workshop Master, you’re here already? You said you’d be late today because you had business…”

 

“Something came up!”

 

Dute answered and walked briskly inside.

 

And the place he led Sion to was in front of his crafting table.

 

“It’s not my style to boast like this, but this crafting table is one of the few 4-star grade crafting tables in Ate.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

Sion looked at the crafting table that Dute was proudly showing off and thought to himself.

 

‘The completion quality is somewhat disappointing compared to what Belusian had prepared.’

 

Of course, even though Sion didn’t care much about others’ opinions, he didn’t bother saying that out loud.

 

However, if there was something he was somewhat satisfied with upon arriving, it was that the city was functioning properly.

 

At the very least, the city itself hadn’t become obsolete, and he was quite satisfied to see that there were parts that had developed, even if only partially.

 

The problem was that everything else was unsatisfactory.

 

Dute, who had proudly shown off his crafting table, continued speaking.

 

“Besides, you said earlier that the city you saw had no development, but that’s wrong.”

 

“Oh?”

 

At those words, a glimmer of interest flashed in Sion’s eyes.

 

It seemed like a new generation magic tool that would truly surprise him was about to appear.

 

And what appeared was.

 

“Look, I’ll show you! This is the magic tool that will define the new generation after Altair, the Virtual Crafting Table…!”

 

It was a wide board.

 

On the surface, it didn’t look particularly special.

 

However.

 

“Oh.”

 

For the first time, interest appeared in Sion’s eyes.

 

He examined the magic tool that Dute had presented from various angles and asked a question.

 

“Have you succeeded in commercializing it?”

 

“Ah, that’s not the case. This is currently a prototype of a magic tool that another craftsman and I are developing within the Union.”

 

Sion listened to Dute’s words and nodded, then lightly stroked the magic tool.

 

Then he examined it here and there while muttering.

 

“Ah, so it’s like this. The material seems to be an alloy, and looking at the strength… did you mix crystal stone and black stone?”

 

“…?!”

 

At those words, Dute’s body trembled with shock.

 

‘How did he know?!’

 

There was no possibility that Sion had known about the existence of this Virtual Crafting Table beforehand.

 

He wasn’t even from within Ate, but from the Blue Tower, which was quite far away.

 

It would be impossible for him to know information about the prototype being developed within the Union.

 

But Sion’s words were accurate.

 

Just as he had muttered, the surface of this Virtual Crafting Table was indeed an alloy of crystal stone and black stone.

 

“The finishing was done using the 3rd Generation Alken Method. It doesn’t seem like any new technology was incorporated into this part.”

 

“…Did you know about it?”

 

“No? It’s just that this much is visible to me. You can roughly guess the identity of materials by tapping them a few times and feeling the vibrations that come back, can’t you?”

 

“That’s possible?”

 

Dute looked at Sion with an expression of disbelief.

 

Certainly, just moments ago, he had been looking down on Sion like a naive puppy.

 

But somehow… the more words came out of that mouth, the more such thoughts diminished.

 

On the other hand, Eira just nodded at Sion as if it were natural.

 

If it were the first time, maybe not.

 

But he’d already seen such behavior countless times in the Tower to the point of being sick of it.

 

After all, when someone who isn’t sensible does something that isn’t sensible, that doesn’t necessarily make it a problem, does it?

 

While the two were lost in such thoughts, Sion began skillfully operating the Virtual Crafting Table.

 

“First, it should work if I press this Button. Hmm, the settings are… Ah, this part needs some improvement. The code is still tangled up too.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“Still, I think I can fix it to this extent on the spot…”

 

While Dute stared at him blankly, Sion corrected the errors in the Virtual Crafting Table.

 

As is typical with this kind of Prototype, if you handle it clumsily, it commonly becomes what’s called a ‘Brick.’

 

But Sion was different.

 

Like a conductor, the errors in the Virtual Crafting Table began to be corrected at Sion’s fingertips.

 

Keying!

 

Immediately, the Magic Tool lit up and operated normally.

 

“…Uh, huh?”

 

A problem that had been giving Dute and other fellow craftsmen headaches for several months had been solved.

 

“Now, let’s begin…”

 

“W-w-wait…! Wait! Waaaaait!”

 

Dute urgently grabbed Sion and asked.

 

“How, h-how did you do that?! That shouldn’t have been in a state where it could be optimized so easily!”

 

“…It worked, didn’t it?”

 

“No, it’s not supposed to work that easily!”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Arghhhhhh!”

 

Dute screamed while tearing at his hair.

 

Then he came to his senses again and checked the Virtual Crafting Table.

 

“It’s, it’s real…”

 

It was a completed result before Dute even had time to protest to Sion about what exactly he was doing.

 

But what was shocking was that Sion, who had accomplished this tremendous feat, was looking at him as if wondering what the problem was.

 

“It was quite excellent. Ah, that’s a compliment. I’m not being sarcastic or anything.”

 

“Uh…”

 

“However, I can see inexperience in code understanding here and there, so if you focus on that area, your skills will develop even further.”

 

Very naturally, Sion was advising Dute on the shortcomings of the Prototype.

 

What was funny was that Dute also found himself politely listening to Sion’s advice without realizing it.

 

“A familiar scene.”

 

Eira quietly nodded her head while watching the spectacle.

 

And then Sion spoke again.

 

“Now, it’s time to prove it. That what’s-it. Earlier, it was about reproducing that Spherical Model, right?”

 

“…”

 

“The reason you showed me this Virtual Crafting Table must have been to tell me to succeed in reproduction through simulation.”

 

Just as Sion was about to touch the Prototype and do something.

 

“…St-stop it. No, stop… let’s stop.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“No, I understand everything… Yes, let’s stop. I’m sorry. I really did wrong. Now that I think about it, it seems I made quite a lot of mistakes.”

 

Dute’s attitude had completely changed.

 

An incredibly respectful posture, as if facing a superior.

 

“…Would you like to see something else?”

 

“Is there more?”

 

“Plenty. Oh my, this is really something.”

 

Dute chuckled and said to Eira, who had been quietly watching from the side.

 

“Miss, go get another prototype under development from the C Shelf over there.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

Eira looked at Dute in disbelief.

 

“All of a sudden?”

 

“Hey! You called me uncle! A child shouldn’t talk back to adults! Right now Teacher Sion is here! And he needs it! So…!”

 

“…?”

 

Eira scratched her head.

 

Should she call it déjà vu?

 

She felt like she had seen something similar to this at the Tower…

 

Duthe’s current appearance was exactly like his.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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