Chapter 345 My Alicia Is The Best
"But I'm worried that there might be a delay in communication if the distance is too great."
"I don't know since we haven't tested it."
"Also, I'm concerned about how much the Sophia golem's functions will be limited if it loses communication with Magi."
"What do you mean?"
Alicia tilted her head in confusion.
"I mean, are all the golem's movements controlled by Magi, or is the golem itself pretty advanced and just asks Magi when it needs to?"
"Is Sara worried that if the golem can't communicate with Magi, it will just become a regular doll?"
"That's right."
"Well, the reason we have multiple large, high-purity magic stones in the golem's unit is to make it work like a small Magi. Although, unlike Magi, there's only one wise scholar. We also have a lot of memory space. It might take time for complex analysis, but it won't have trouble with conversation."
"--Alicia, you're so amazing it's kind of scary. You can easily build up my random theories in no time. I really wonder what my 300 years were for lately."
"Grandfather, that time was necessary for basic research. Without your theories, we wouldn't have Magi."
"My Alicia is seriously the best!"
Rihito had entered grandfather mode, but it was too much trouble, so Sara ignored him and continued talking.
"And I'm also planning to look for a place to keep a backup of Magi."
"Yeah. Choosing the right location is important."
"Don't talk about it like it's someone else's problem. Rihito, I need you and Alicia to hurry up and make the relay device. I also want you to build a backup for Magi."
"I can make the relay device quickly, but the backup system will take more time. At least wait until the fever outbreak is over."
"Of course, I understand. If we're going to have a backup, I think we need a building for it. Also, I'm thinking of setting up a place for the relay device that could serve as a break area for the Sophia Merchant Guild in the future. I might even prepare spare horses."
"Are you planning to improve the distribution network of the merchant guild?"
"Yes, that's right. Good job, Rihito. Logistics is the foundation of business. Well, to be precise, I think supply chain management, including logistics, is important."
Sara spoke excitedly, but Alicia and Rihito looked confused.
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what Sara is saying."
"It's okay. I don't know all the details either. I get the meaning of the words, though."
"Well, that's true. Just like Rihito and Alicia have their areas of expertise, I have mine too. I've done a lot of research, and the Silt Merchant Guild has one of the best distribution networks in this world. Meyer must be a natural-born merchant. It's frustrating, but it seems like I can't compete with the scale of the Sophia Merchant Guild yet."
It's understandable that Sara is feeling frustrated. It's a characteristic of the Coastal Union, but the Silt Merchant Guild is a huge merchant guild that also runs shipping businesses. Being able to transport goods by both land and sea is a big advantage.
"But you're going against such a powerful group, right?"
"That's how it is."
"Are you sure it's okay, Sara?"
"I have no choice but to do this. This is a real war. And I think my biggest weapon for winning is communication. It's all about information."
"Wow, so you're saying you can't win without some kind of cheat from a past life?"
"I won't deny that. This plan has been carefully set up for years, you know? It won't be easy to break it apart. If I'm not careful, their financial power could just crush us."
"For you to say that, Sara, Meyer must be an amazing person. I don't really understand why you feel that way as an alchemist."
"Yeah. I think Meyer is a monster."
"A showdown between a dragon and a monster? I never really liked monster movies in my past life. Is it okay if I just hide?"
"Of course not."
"Yeah, I thought so."
Rihito scratched his head while taking notes.
"For now, what Sara wants is a relay device, right?"
"Yeah."
"Making it is easy, but the problem will be the magic power supply. Right now, with one magic stone that's part of the golem unit, it can only operate for about ten days. A relay device needs to be running all the time, right?"
"Wait, Grandfather. Why does it consume so much magic power? Show me the magic circle."
"Oh, okay."
Rihito reached into the space storage and pulled out some papers with the design of the relay and a magic circle drawn on them. Alicia spread the documents on the table and looked at them carefully.
"Ah, I knew it."
"Huh? What is it?"
"There's the same waste as in the Magi prototype. Look closely at this part; you can see there's a big loss in magic power conversion."
"Isn't that how it's supposed to be?"
"You don't get it. We need to rewrite this part like this."
Alicia started to quickly draw a modified magic circle on another piece of paper.
"Whoa, I didn't know you could do that. The world has changed while I was asleep for 40 years!"
"And about this part, since the magic stone Sara made has high purity, we don't need to do this. We can just connect it directly. Even if you accidentally fit the magic stone wrong, this part will act as a safety device, so there's no worry about it breaking."
"Oh, I see. Then, we could change the design like this, right? If we draw the magic circle this way, we can reduce magic power consumption even more."
"Ah, that sounds good."
Sara couldn't understand what the two alchemists were discussing in front of her. Although she was confident that she could draw magic circles up to an advanced level, the discussion was on a level so advanced that her basic knowledge was completely useless.
"Um... Rihito, you're lucky. You have such a talented great-great-granddaughter."
"Seriously, my Alicia is the best. She's got amazing talent."
"Eh, no way. I'm not that great."
'This is bad. I've completely turned into a doting grandparent. It's true that Alicia is talented, but did I just say "my"? If Alicia gets a boyfriend, it's going to be a huge deal.'
"How much can we reduce the magic power consumption?"
"I still need to think a bit more, but maybe one magic stone can last about 3 months, grandfather. If we want it to last a year, we'd need 4. Including a spare just in case, we should use 5 magic stones."
"That's quite an improvement. If that's the case, we might as well create a dedicated golem to pour magic power into the relay device. I'm imagining a situation where we pour liquid magic power to refill it."
"Exactly like refueling."
"Also, figuring out how to prevent theft is a challenge. Magic stones are so valuable that they can't even be priced."
"Yeah, that's true. What should we do?"
Then Alicia looked puzzled.
"Why not just make it self-destruct?"
"Destroy the magic stone?"
"Not so much destroy it, but if someone tries to steal the magic stone, it should release all its magic power. It's easy to set up a trap like that, and all that would be left is an empty magic stone."
"But what if they steal the empty magic stone?"
"Only we know that an empty magic stone has no value. I think a thief would just see it as having the value of graphite. Even if they use appraisal magic, it should show up as graphite. We could even secretly set up a container nearby to store the released magic power. It's not hard to solidify the liquid magic."
"I-I see."
"Well, I think it would be good to set up a way to send various information to the main Magi before releasing the magic power. Like recording their voice."
"We can also record video!"
"Let's leave the details to the two of you, Rihito, Alicia. For now, I want a lot, but... are you busy right now?"
"Hmm. I think I can design it, but I'm not sure if I have time to make it."
"Grandfather is probably busy, so I'll do it. I've been a bit bored just helping out at the Alchemy Guild. When do you need it done by?"
"It's better to have it done quickly, but it should be at a level that's not too hard. I'll come back now and then using magic."
"That magic really makes me jealous."
"But if I can't clearly imagine the place, I won't be able to open the gate well, so it's more reliable to go there in person at first. I've memorized the map of the capital, so I can open a gate to most places."
"You're really amazing."
"Then, how did you open a gate to the library at the Academy, where you've never been, Sara?"
"I asked my father about it. He told me the layout and details."
"I see."
Rihito nodded in agreement, but he was secretly planning to ask Sara to take him to the Academy's library later. There were still many materials there that he had never seen. Plus, if it was Sara, she might even be able to get into the restricted section.
Of course, it was no surprise that Alicia was thinking the exact same thing as Rihito. They were really similar.
After the 3 finished dinner, Rihito was about to head back to the Knight's dorm when suddenly, there was a commotion outside the tower.
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