The AI Archmage - Chapter 51

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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 51

 

Basically, craftsmen’s workshops are divided into five major levels.

 

From 1-star to 5-star.

 

However, practically speaking, it was more like four levels.

 

The owner of a 5-star workshop was, in the past, now, and perhaps even in the future, only Altair.

 

Anyway, for that reason, officially at this point in time, the ‘highest-grade workshop’ was a 4-Star Workshop.

 

And even the 3-star level below that was a high-class workshop recognized by most mages and nobles.

 

And Dute was the owner of that 3-Star Workshop.

 

Especially opening a 3-Star Workshop in his mere thirties meant he was born with truly remarkable genius.

 

And that genius was now.

 

“Haha, you’ve come!”

 

Running over without even putting on shoes at the visit of a boy much younger than himself, and smiling.

 

If anyone who knew Dute normally had seen this sight, they would have been utterly shocked.

 

– No way, that arrogant bastard is groveling like that?!

 

…they would have said.

 

In reality, Dute had tremendous pride as a craftsman.

 

So much so that he wouldn’t even treat most craftsmen as fellow craftsmen.

 

That same Dute was chuckling and warmly welcoming Sion.

 

“I mentioned it before, but I didn’t expect you to come this quickly.”

 

“I was interested too. After all, Ate is full of skilled craftsmen, isn’t it.”

 

Sion also appropriately responded to Dute’s words and looked around.

 

[Well, it’s reasonably clean.]

 

Akasha’s evaluation was very plain.

 

From the beginning, for Akasha, the standard for workshops was Altair’s workshop, so it was natural.

 

[The quality of the tools existing in the workshop isn’t bad. It’s definitely 3-star level.]

 

‘Right, it’s at least that level.’

 

[Of course, the tools themselves aren’t a big problem. What’s important anyway is the level of the craftsmen who utilize those tools.]

 

Tools are naturally important too, but from a certain point, what matters is ultimately the hands that handle those tools.

 

And from Sion’s perspective, the level of those ‘hands’ in this workshop was certainly not bad either.

 

Hard to call excellent, but still decent enough to be worth watching.

 

“As it happens, I was just having a conversation with other craftsmen about this project you improved!”

 

“How was it?”

 

Since it was part of his original intention, he didn’t particularly stop that.

 

He was curious about what kind of reaction the craftsmen would show after seeing his improvements.

 

‘3-star level craftsmen are the core talents responsible for the future.’

 

And Dute would be a craftsman with high standing even among those 3-star craftsmen.

 

Naturally, looking at the craftsmen working with Dute would give a good understanding of current Ate.

 

“Everyone couldn’t keep their mouths shut. No, beyond that… some showed reactions of disbelief.”

 

“…Hmm.”

 

[That’s a reasonable reaction.]

 

Akasha affirmed.

 

[The original Human aside, the current Human is a boy not even twenty years old, and a ‘mage’ belonging to the Blue Tower at that.]

 

That was true.

 

Objectively speaking, the fact that Sion possessed such knowledge and skill as a craftsman was close to impossible.

 

It was quite reasonable for the craftsmen not to believe it.

 

Of course, Sion knew that too.

 

‘So what am I supposed to do about it?’

 

…He just knew it.

 

Anyway, without revealing that thought, Sion smiled brightly and said.

 

“Where are they right now? I was actually hoping to meet some other craftsmen besides Master Dute.”

 

“Ah, fortunately they’re all gathered together in the work room right now! Would it be… alright if I guide you there?”

 

“Yes, by all means.”

 

That was the purpose he came here for in the first place.

 

Dute smiled brightly and guided Sion to the work room.

 

When they arrived at the work room, seven craftsmen were putting their heads together in deep conversation.

 

“…He fixed this error by himself? That doesn’t make any sense?”

 

“No matter how I think about it, it seems like Dute is hiding something from us…”

 

“You think so too?”

 

The craftsmen were each voicing their opinions, absorbed in analyzing the Virtual Crafting Table.

 

But no clear answer emerged, only growing questions.

 

Then, when Sion entered, everyone’s attention focused on him.

 

“Uh, um…?”

 

“Wait, don’t tell me that’s…”

 

Sion quickly examined the craftsmen.

 

Their hands and shoulders, and the magic tools they wore on their bodies…

 

And he reached a conclusion.

 

‘Mediocre.’

 

[Mediocre.]

 

It was a conclusion that Sion and Akasha reached simultaneously.

 

[Looking at the calluses on their palms and the magic tools they’re wearing, their skills can certainly be considered above average.]

 

‘That’s right.’

 

Objectively speaking, all the craftsmen gathered here were talented individuals with promising potential.

 

If judged by ordinary standards, that is.

 

Even decent 4-star craftsmen might have smiled with satisfaction upon seeing them.

 

Saying that Ate’s future was bright.

 

However.

 

[It’s insufficient.]

 

‘Right.’

 

In Sion’s eyes, they seemed lacking.

 

To be precise, it was overwhelming to follow Sion’s goals.

 

He shouldn’t be satisfied with such things or accept the obvious as obvious.

 

That’s why Sion decided to change his attitude a little.

 

“…Hmm.”

 

Looking at each person with an expression of complete dissatisfaction, he spoke bluntly.

 

“Trash.”

 

“…What?”

 

And naturally, the craftsmen glared at Sion with wide eyes.

 

But Sion remained calm.

 

No, rather.

 

“Oh, you seem to have some pride despite your appearance?”

 

He began provoking them to make them rage even more.

 

“This bastard…!”

 

And that provocation worked remarkably well.

 

* * *

 

‘This fucking bastard!’

 

Hanjar’s face, a craftsman from Ate’s 3-Star Workshop, was horribly contorted.

 

Though he didn’t own his own workshop, he possessed 3-star level skills as a craftsman.

 

His goal had always been just one thing.

 

The development of magic tools that would lead the era.

 

The reason he joined this project hosted by Dute was also simple.

 

He believed that the ‘Virtual Crafting Table’ Dute was researching could definitely change the current paradigm of magic engineering.

 

And his purpose was singular.

 

To create magic tools that even the Magic Council couldn’t ignore, bringing a new revolution to this world.

 

The revolution called ‘Magic Engineering.’ In fact, it was the ultimate goal of all craftsmen.

 

But now.

 

“…Trash?”

 

That young brat dared to utter the word ‘trash.’

 

He already had considerable antipathy toward mages, and being looked down upon by that mage made his eyes roll back.

 

“This bastard, how dare…!”

 

Dute said that young one possessed knowledge and abilities higher than all of them combined.

 

But how could that make sense?

 

Already filled with distrust, hearing those words to his face made it impossible not to explode.

 

This was the same for the other craftsmen besides Hanjar.

 

“Dute! Did you arrange this meeting just to introduce us to such a guy?”

 

“Right! Ha! At that age, a ‘mage’ has better skills than us?!”

 

And Dute’s reaction in the face of such strong resistance was.

 

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

 

…was an expression of understanding.

 

The craftsmen were flustered by that reaction.

 

They had thought Dute would get angry or be troubled.

 

“So, it really is like that?”

 

“I was the same way.”

 

“Huh?”

 

While the craftsmen wore expressions of confusion, Sion, who had been quietly observing, stepped forward.

 

“You there, what’s your name?”

 

“Me? It’s Hanjar….”

 

“Good, Hanjar.”

 

Sion said this while tapping his wrist area.

 

“That band you’re wearing on your wrist. It’s definitely an assistive tool to prevent trembling when cutting materials, isn’t it?”

 

“Th-that’s right, but…?”

 

Hanjar responded with a reluctant voice.

 

As Sion said, what Hanjar was currently wearing on his wrist was indeed a tremor prevention auxiliary tool.

 

Hanjar had one unfortunate flaw as a craftsman.

 

Namely, mild hand tremors.

 

Since work requires precision and delicacy, even ‘minor trembling’ plays quite an important role.

 

Hanjar was solving this flaw through this band he had developed himself.

 

“If you’re planning to belittle my efforts just because I use this tool in my work…!”

 

“No, that’s not it.”

 

Sion clicked his tongue briefly and extended his hand.

 

“Let me see that.”

 

“Uh, huh…?”

 

Not knowing what kind of mischief this was, but judging there wouldn’t be any major problem, Hanjar obediently handed over the tool.

 

“Hmph, nothing will change just by looking at it like that. You can’t possibly know just by looking at it right away….”

 

“There’s about a 3mm error. Even if it’s not a significant figure, problems arise when work gets lengthy. When work gets lengthy, doesn’t your fingertips ache a little?”

 

“…?!”

 

As soon as he heard that, Hanjar’s eyes widened.

 

Because it wasn’t wrong.

 

But Sion’s words didn’t end there.

 

“It’s an assistive tool that functions well enough, but it would be much more efficient if you just corrected the margin of error a little. Why didn’t you do that?”

 

“Uh… that’s….”

 

He understood that the tool wasn’t perfect.

 

And he was also aware that improvements were needed.

 

However.

 

“It’s… difficult to specify such minute errors?”

 

He couldn’t be certain exactly what values to input for optimal results.

 

If done wrong, even larger errors could occur.

 

Sion did something on the spot, then returned the band to Hanjar.

 

“Please try wearing it.”

 

“There’s no way it would change much… Huh?”

 

Hanjar’s eyes widened greatly as he put on the band.

 

The moment he wore it, he could immediately tell.

 

That the trembling had definitely decreased further.

 

Of course, the change wasn’t enough for others to notice.

 

But Hanjar knew.

 

That the very ‘minor’ error he had felt in his daily life had been resolved.

 

For Hanjar, that was a bigger change than anything else.

 

“Huh, huuh…”

 

Hanjar looked at Sion with trembling eyes.

 

‘This is real!’

 

He realized why Dute had made such an expression.

 

“So that’s how it was…”

 

Hanjar glanced around cautiously, then quietly moved next to Dute.

 

The other craftsmen weren’t completely blind either.

 

They too understood that something unusual was happening.

 

Though they didn’t want to admit it, the craftsmen’s reason was telling them.

 

…That Dute hadn’t said anything wrong.

 

And Sion, seeing such craftsmen, smiled slightly and said.

 

“Please take your seats.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

The craftsmen quietly sat down at Sion’s words.

 

* * *

 

[Human, wasn’t it unnecessary to provoke them like that?]

 

Akasha presented an extremely reasonable argument.

 

And Sion confidently refuted it.

 

‘Originally, with things like this, you need to firmly establish dominance early on to make things easier later.’

 

[…Is that so? From what I can see, it’s just human’s petty nature…]

 

‘Hmm, there’s a possibility I might downgrade the reward I had in mind…’

 

[Come to think of it, how could a mere artificial spirit like me possibly fathom human’s grand plan? Please continue, human.]

 

Akasha quickly switched sides.

 

Of course, having grown accustomed to such behavior, Sion brushed it off and looked at the craftsmen as he spoke.

 

“Now, some of you may have felt uncomfortable with what I said earlier, but I have no intention of retracting it.”

 

“…”

 

An uncomfortable atmosphere flowed among the craftsmen. After all, no one would be happy to be called trash.

 

But this wasn’t the mood to bring up such complaints.

 

“Um…”

 

One of the craftsmen quietly raised his hand and asked.

 

“Why have you come here….”

 

“Ah, I’ve brought a task that would be interesting to any craftsman.”

 

At those words, curiosity sparked in the craftsmen’s eyes.

 

The humiliation they had just suffered was one thing, but they were curious about the task Sion mentioned.

 

Hanjar, who changed his attitude next after Dute, quietly raised his hand and asked.

 

“Um, excuse me… could we know what this ‘task’ is?”

 

“Just, I thought I’d try to solve one of the ‘difficult problems’ widely known among craftsmen.”

 

“…Difficult problems?”

 

At those words, the craftsmen exchanged glances with each other.

 

There were countless difficult problems that immediately came to mind.

 

After Altair’s death, technological development had stagnated, but people’s dreams continued to grow.

 

Then, everyone’s eyes widened greatly at the identity of the difficult problem that came from Sion’s mouth.

 

“Automaton.”

 

“…!”

 

Literally a doll that thinks and moves on its own like a ‘human’.

 

The ultimate goal of golems.

 

That was truly called the realm of dreams in magic engineering.

 

Sion looked at everyone who was shocked and smiled slyly.

 

“Anyone interested?”

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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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