Volume 15 Chapter 7 Discovery
The next morning, Al, who had no special tasks, visited the research tower.
As Doris had told him, Baroness Tabasa was already at the research tower before him. She was in the first-floor workspace, sorting through fruits, nuts, tubers, and other forest treasures, as well as shellfish, fish, shrimp, and crabs from the sea with Patricia.
Many of the forest treasures included things they had gathered, and there were several items Al had never seen before.
"Good morning. How is it? Did you find anything tasty?"
Patricia frowned slightly at Al's question and shook her head.
"We're trying the fruits now, but they're mostly bitter or sour. They might be better once they ripen a bit more. After this, we plan to cook the nuts, tubers, and the sea treasures Sir Al brought yesterday. There might be some tasty fruits if we cook them too."
"I see. You won't know until you try them."
"Yeah, that's true. But Riana remembers a lot and helps me out, so it's a big help. Otherwise, this work would be really tedious."
Right now, there seemed to be about 20 different types of fruits and nuts on the table. There were also several kinds of tuber-like items. Many of the fish were brightly colored, which Al hadn't seen much before.
Riana, the assistant device, probably remembered the shapes of leaves and flowers for the forest treasures, as well as the shapes of heads, fins, and tails for the sea treasures.
There might be similar items, and if they wanted to properly distinguish and document each one with pictures and descriptions, it would be a huge task.
"That's true. But we don't need to check everything. Just the common ones are fine. We're not struggling to find food. It's enough to find things that taste good. And please be careful of poison."
"Sir Al, you really worry too much. Thank you. Everything for today has been checked. I confirmed that none of them harmed us when we applied juices or body fluids to our skin or fed them to the pigs."
She continued, her tone turning serious.
"I was surprised when I touched a bulb of a plant that made my skin red and swollen, but that's the only time so far. For the fish and shellfish, I've been careful about the fins and organs, and I've been able to identify the poisonous ones."
Patricia took a deep breath, her confidence growing.
"Snakes and bugs were scary at first, but I'm fine now. Riana finds those first, so I feel safe." She hesitated for a moment before adding, "A few pigs have been sacrificed, but please forgive that."
Glee was also good at noticing various things. Riana's assistant device was probably similar.
Using pigs for the final check on whether the island's ingredients are safe to eat is unfortunate, but it can't be helped.
"I see. I'll buy more pigs. By the way, do you know where Malachi is?"
Patricia tilted her head. It seemed she didn't know.
"He said he was going to the composting facility next to the pigpen."
Al thanked Baroness Tabasa for the information and headed toward the composting facility.
* * *
"Malachi, have you finished organizing the contents of that magic bag?"
"Yes. The basic processing is complete. The things that seem valuable are about this much..."
As Malachi the Golem said this, he pointed to a dirty workbench. On it were coins covered in rust, 2 stick-like objects about the size of twigs, and a small pile of various metal parts, rusty weapons, and armor.
Next to the workbench, there were 2 buckets filled with shiny black stones, likely magic stones.
"The coins add up to just under 8 gold coins. I washed them, but they didn't get very clean. I believe these stick-like objects are writing magic tools."
He continued, considering their options.
"For the metals, I was thinking we could have Sir Al use the 'Extract' spell to turn them into ingots or nuggets for reuse. The black stones are definitely magic stones."
"Yeah, using 'Extract' is totally fine, but... a writing magic tool?"
When Al asked, Malachi the Golem nodded. Al had heard about it before, but this was the first time he saw one in person. It was a pen-shaped magic tool that never ran out of ink.
He didn't know the price, but it probably wasn't too expensive. He picked it up and held it like a pen. He touched the tip to a wooden board he used for notes and moved it smoothly.
A black line appeared where the tip touched.
"Wow, it's different from the 'Spray' spell. It's convenient that you don't need to refill ink, but..."
Al might not use it much. Maybe Patricia would. He would ask her later.
A magic stone is a mineral that can refill the mana of a magic tool when pressed against it. He remembered that stones about 5 centimeters (2in) in diameter were sold for around ten silver coins.
Al himself had the 'Magic Power Control' spell, so he didn't need it, but it might be good to keep one just in case a magic tool ran out of mana when he wasn't around.
"Thanks. Now, before using the 'Extract' spell, let's check how much this magic bag can hold."
Al examined the magic bag he borrowed from Guildmaster Levy, just like before. He first stored a small stone that he made glow with the 'Light' spell into the magic bag. Then, he created an eye with the 'Floating Eye' spell and stored that in the magic bag too, peering inside.
The space inside the button-shaped magic bag was quite large. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of stone, and the floor area was about 20 square meters (215 sq. ft). The height to the ceiling was about 5 meters (16ft).
Compared to the previous one, it was about ten times bigger. The floor was covered in something white and icy, and there were a few rocks scattered around.
There shouldn't have been any rocks inside the magic bag. Looking up, he noticed part of the wall near the ceiling had collapsed. Beyond the collapse, he could see a stone wall that had likely been worked on by some hand.
This meant there might be a passage beyond that point.
"The wall is collapsed... I see. That's a bit unexpected; there might have been an earthquake or something."
When he talked about what he saw, Malachi the Golem said this.
"I think I mentioned before that this magic tool can use the 'Transport' spell to move various items, including living things, in and out from a special storage space."
He continued, his voice filled with admiration. "Even back then, it was a hard-to-get magic tool, but Sir Tempest had a few of them. Also, depending on how you use this magic tool, a door can be set up to that storage."
"A door?! So, it means you could also move things in and out of the storage. Isn't that like using a 'Teleport' spell?"
Al asked without thinking. He was surprised to learn about that use.
"That's right," Malachi the Golem confirmed. "While it's often used like a magic bag, the 'Transport' spell is originally meant to send people or items to a specified location. You should be able to go to the space defined as storage without any issues."
He paused, ensuring everyone understood the implications. "However, if something goes out of that space defined as storage through a door or something, it will no longer show up in the list of stored items and cannot be retrieved. Please be careful."
Beyond the broken wall, he could see something like a passage. What could be there?
Right now, the 'Floating Eye' spell he sent could not be moved and could only send images back. But if Al went to the storage himself, he should be able to move the eye and check the situation in the passage without leaving the storage.
Still, thinking of the worst-case scenario, maybe it would be better to take a teleportation magic tool with him.
"This is... I have to go check the storage! But I can't just go by myself. I need to consult with Patricia and the others... Malachi, let's go back to the tower."
Al said that and started running.
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