Trapped in Another World With No Magicc
Chapter 168: Echoes

Rikuto walks through the castle of Mornistae on one of the upper levels of the main palace. He is departing for Castle Northwall soon, and he needs to check in one last time with his long-term guest.

The Imperial Guards look at Rikuto as he approaches, and he asks politely, “Is the Grand prince in?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” replies the senior of the two guards.

“Please allow me in to see him.”

Rikuto remains polite, but as the sovereign of Mornistae, he has the authority to simply walk in without even addressing the guards. Grand Prince Yaulander is visiting from the Empire, and after what happened, it’s unlikely he wants word to reach Empress Sundenelle.

The guard cracks the door and informs those inside, “King Rikuto is here.”

Whatever the specific response is, the guard opens the door and says, “As you may, your Majesty.”

The Japanese man nods, walking into the room with one of his most trusted guards, Larravu, a female gatonine. She is quiet and presents a discreet presence that is often easy enough to forget she is even present. She’s not the strongest, but she is agile and deceptively unintimidating, meaning she is among the closest things to a ninja in this world.

Plus, Rikuto will never admit it out loud, but he is partial to cat-eared kemonomimi girls, and being in this fantasy world was like a dream come true.

Inside his guest room, there are a handful of servants on standby, including Yaulander’s usual lightly-dressed eye-candy maids, a butler, and ladies in waiting scowling lightly towards the balcony.

There, seated in one of the chairs as a young maid continues to treat his face is Yaulander. He has an eye patch now, and the scabs for his cheeks are mostly healed. The maid is applying ointment carefully.

During this, or rather, seemingly ignoring her work in his own ponderings, the blond man is brooding with his gaze aimed blankly at the horizon over the balcony of his room.

Before Rikuto can announce himself or get Yaulander’s attention, the Grand Prince remarks randomly, “Do you think the gods have some sort of… unique sense of humor? Two of three so-called Divine Summons have the mannerisms of beasts and failed to know their place.” He waves his hand dismissively, and the maid who was tending to his cheek bows and quickly cleans up her tray and scurries away.

The Grand Prince looks over his shoulder partially to make eye contact with Rikuto. The deep reddish-black scabs forming claw-marks across his face and around his eyes look worse than they actually are, though the eyepatch now hides the milky-grey eye that was destroyed by the canister’s pressurized spray.

The mages with healing magic strong enough to recover his eye were also among those that partook in the summoning. The small handful of survivors are still unconscious, and all of the more known healers didn’t make it.

Rikuto thought of refusing the peace conference that’s about to be held. Daniel likely has no interest in yielding any of the ground he has captured, and with his weapons, he could launch a devastating attack at any time. It’ll be difficult to defend Mornistae, but he somehow escaped with his closest allies from the void artillery. Trying the same thing again would undoubtedly fail, and Rikuto doesn’t have any mages or magic artisans to recharge the magic crystals of the void artillery. He can’t afford to be sloppy with engaging Daniel directly.

“I can’t speak about the woman, but from what he told me, Daniel was rather minimally educated by Earth standards. He also comes from a country of different cultural standards from mine.”

Yaulander scoffs. “That’s an understatement.”

He finally stands up, fixing his cuffs as he approaches Mornistae’s king. “Now then, what can I do for you, King Rikuto?”

“As I mentioned last night, I’m departing for Castle Northwall in about an hour.”

“Yes, I recall. If you’d like, I do not mind acting as regent during your leave.”

“Much appreciated, your Grace, but I’ve already designated a regent. You’ll be welcome to convalesce here while you recover. I apologize for not being able to meet with you for the next week or so.”

“No matter,” replies Yaulander confidently with a reassuring wave of his hand. “I understand the game of politics better than most. I have sent for a healer from the Empire to come here, so I’ll wait until they arrive. I can’t be seen out and about looking like this.” It’s brief, but Rikuto notices a ring on Yaulander’s hand that has a small emblem on it, but he only caught a glimpse of something that looked like a person’s head.

Given Yaulander’s personality, it’s a cameo of himself.

“I understand, your Imperial Majesty. I hope to keep my attendance at this conference brief and will return as swiftly as possible.”

Yaulander bows in a fairly elegant, European-like manner, “Thank you, your Majesty. Your generosity knows no bounds.”

The otherworldly ruler bows with his practiced 45 degree angle, saying quietly, “I look forward to our continued cooperation.”

The Grand Prince smirks, dipping his head once in confirmation before returning to his chair. “Maids, bring me something to eat.”

Rikuto leaves the room, making his way with Larravu to the stairs to head for the staging area of the royal caravan.

Larravu doesn’t say a word until they reach the stairwell, where she seems to silently wave off the other guards escorting the young king. “Your Majesty,” whispers the gatonine woman. “Permission to speak?”

Rikuto looks at her, studying her face briefly. When he first saw potential in her as his silent guardian, he gave her some pointers on basic stealth techniques believed to be used by the ninjas of history, rather than the stereotypical black-garbed shadows or cartoonishly-garish counterparts of the same from media. Even Rikuto loves both of those latter styles of ninjas in their own right, ninjas were meant to be masters of disguise, and while likely effective at night before the advent of night vision technology, pitch black or red-black clothing would stand out in broad daylight.

Instead, he asked her to conceal her armor and backup weapons with somewhat loose casual-looking clothing and even instructed her in the basics of martial arts with a tenugui, which is little more than a versatile hand towel used in modern Japan from wrapping and carrying simple things like bento [lunch] boxes and bottles to decoration or practical wear like a headband. As with a ninja, though, it could be used to hide Larravu’s face, a defensive weapon for melee and grapples, and would even be a quick and easy tourniquet if nothing else is available.

And, specifically because Rikuto did like most young boys do and became a bit obsessed with ninjas after a certain anime began airing, he has been able to define many innocuous things, including the tenugui, as ‘weapons’ for his secret skill, weapon mastery, to take effect. With it, he essentially has the equivalent of ‘Improvised Weapon Proficiency’ from a tabletop RPG dice game, where he can make weaponized use of almost anything. It’s still not as effective as using an actual weapon, but he was able to at least give Larravu some pointers, which she has been practicing in her spare time to become good at on her own.

Rikuto does try to make time to practice using his skill, but if he makes it too widely known, he loses one of his edges. The other one; the one he hopes to use on Daniel or the American’s demon-kin allies was discovered by accident when he used it on Ahok. She has no memory of it, and Rikuto was terrified it would get out, which is why he sent her with the void artillery mission to Fort Twilight.

After pondering his feline guard’s potential motives and her appearance, which doesn’t appear to be in preparation for attack, the Japanese man replies to her finally, “Please go ahead, Larravu. I assume it must be important for you to give us privacy. All alone. Just me and a potential suspect…” Just because she seems to want a serious discussion doesn’t mean it has to be all doom and gloom. He hopes.

The gatonine woman gives a small, restrained smirk before hiding it just as quickly, which gives Rikuto a small feeling of triumph. “Yes, your Majesty. I… Forgive me for bringing this up, but… Are you sure it’s wise to leave that man here?”

“The Grand Prince?” asks Rikuto, matching her volume.

She nods once, adding with a quick glance over her shoulders, “His interests are not the same as Mornistae’s. And, something about him just seems… off.”

“I don’t trust him more than needed, if that’s what you’re getting at,” replies Rikuto. “And, King Father Greydald will be serving as regent for any decisions requiring a decision from the royal family.”

“If I may, I think you should have the guard doubled around his Majesty, Sire. We shouldn’t take chances.”

Rikuto nods. “You’re right. I don’t know Yaulander very well, but after that summoned woman defensively attacked him in her flight from the castle, he has been a bit more temperamental.”

Larravu nods in agreement. “Thank you, your Majesty.”

“Thank you. I’ll be counting on you during this conference as well.”

“I won’t underestimate the demon wands. I’ve learned that rumors are most often based on a grain of truth larger than people give them credit for.”

Rikuto chuckles. “In this case, I think the rumors may fall short. Daniel’s people are making careful use to ensure minimal word of their effectiveness leaves the battlefield, but a decent rifle can pick off an enemy through foliage at several times the range of an archer.” He adds a little distantly, “In the right hands, you’d never even know where the shooter was.”

With that said, they are on a schedule so that they can arrive in time for the conference itself. “Now then, let’s inform the captain of the guard and depart as soon as possible.”

“Yes, your Majesty. Thank you for hearing me out.”

“Of course. You’re one of the few people I can rely on, Larravu.”

“You flatter me, Sire.”

The two continue down the stairs, and the gatonine gives a low whistle to signal the others that they’re moving again.

Rikuto does his best to steady his nerves. Daniel has rifles, tanks, and atom bombs, while the Japanese man has only this world’s version of a rapid fire ballista, a small handful of working Minié rifles, which are, in simple terms, fancy muskets, and his only counter to Daniel’s nuclear weapons are the void artillery pieces.

At best, Daniel doesn’t have another atom bomb after the two he used already, given the waves of weakness. America didn’t have any more ready following the two dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, but Japan had no way of knowing that at the time they surrendered.

Of course, Rikuto also knows that Japan and the United States teach history of the time from their own perspectives, placing different emphasis on different events. It’s likely that Daniel knows that same little tidbit, especially now that several months have passed since his first uses of the deadliest weapons of Earth.

This will be the first time since Daniel was shipped off to Fort Twilight, only to end up at Fort Peony, that the two will be meeting.

The otherworlder king has a lot on his mind, but a small part of him does wonder how much Daniel’s journey has changed him.

***

Daniel and his group meet up with the shuttle as it finally returns, bringing with it Wenlianna and Kera’tai, who are fresh and ready to go with clean clothes and well-rested expressions.

“Did we miss anything?” asks Kera’tai cheekily, and Gwenesphia retorts playfully, “Nah. Just Treia nearly being eaten by a giant tentacle monster and Neith proving once more that the rest of us are pretty much unnecessary.” The gatonine’s family and Treia, with exception of Gwen’s second eldest brother, Kuboen, all chuckle softly at the joke.

Veranoei says a little happily, “But, the Fievegal’s weapons truly are effective…”

“Indeed!” cheers the Chi’rinnis mage. She stands proudly with her hands on her hips, and she boasts, “I, myself, narrowly survived a brutal attack from the Harbinger of Calamity.”

“If I remember correctly, you were knocked unconscious by the drake exploding,” replies Daniel.

“Yes! And, it was your Dragonslayer that did it, my darling Daniel.” She grins at him, positively reminiscing on their rocky first meeting.

“I’m sorry…” interjects Wenlianna suddenly, and everyone’s expressions soften to look at her.

“What for?” asks Gwenesphia gently.

“I… Because I’m… not a combatant, Hekate had to evacuate me…”

“Don’t worry about that,” replies Daniel. “She made the right call. If you were with the main group, we might have been able to keep you safe at the center, especially once Senn established her spell.”

Treia snaps her fingers. “You missed that part, too. Daniel almost died because he’s apparently pure evil.”

“Wh-What?” asks Wenlianna, now worried about what she just heard more than her own perceived burden on the mission.

Senn explains, “I’m not entirely sure what went wrong, since I excluded humans along with everyone else, but Daniel was being repelled by the field like the monsters.”

Kuboen, standing near the Honeydip family with his arms crossed, blurts out sarcastically, “Doesn’t that mean he’s some kind of imposter, then?”

“Kuboen!” snaps Gwenesphia, but Daniel simply scoffs.

“If I was, I shouldn’t be able to use Nemaisol.” He draws the sword in question, which doesn’t resist him. True, Kaeralegier relaxed her requirement of ‘no mana’ once she decided Daniel was less problematic than letting Brosjak kill him, but he’s still the only one who can draw the sword.

The gatonine man licks his teeth and looks away in irritation, still not warming up to Daniel yet.

Baron Goelselmo focuses on the mission, saying, “Your Graces Wenlianna, Kera’tai, please allow me to welcome you back.”

“Thank you,” reply both women. He continues, “If I may, is the mana detector still intact?”

“Yes, Lord Goelselmo,” replies Wenlianna, turning her body to show the device slung at the back of her waist. “I made sure it’s still reading variations while we were at the airship, and there are even distinct differences even in the air while flying.”

Vaergraes offers the point, “Perhaps it would have been faster to scan from the air, then.”

Daniel shakes his head. “If we were sending a golem, maybe, but there are a lot of creatures that the shuttles aren’t able to withstand, and we’ve encountered a lot of them in the last few days. On the ground, we can take advantage of our heavy hitters and their abilities. In the gunship, we’re all locked in a metal can that provides a juicy target.”

“Please don’t tell me that…” groans Veranoei. “It’s awful enough riding in those things…”

“Sorry,” apologies Daniel gently.

“It would be much faster, but Daniel is right,” agrees Peiburi. “We can’t spread out and avoid attacks if we’re in the vehicle. Ambush tactics that warriors learn are to focus on high value targets and clustered enemies. All the better if they’re the same.”

“I’ll ask Xyreko to start installing them on the shuttles once we confirm their usefulness, though, and we can have them search at the same time, helping map the area at large to speed up the process.” Daniel starts towards the direction of the hidden marsh, adding warmly, “Thankfully, we should be pretty close to finding our first major clue.”

“Right!” Wenlianna jogs into step alongside Daniel, and everyone falls back into formation again, with Helbeit, Resken, and Neith leading the way.

When they reach the area where the fog is starting to get thicker, Neith holds up his fist to halt the group, and he says, “How should we proceed, my Liege?”

“Are we assuming there’s another one of the pol’vapporr’s?” asks Vaergraes politely, scanning the group for opinions.

“Certainly safer to be ready for one,” replies Treia.

Daniel thinks for a moment, since his first idea is a bit simplistic, and he’d prefer to try something else. “Is there a spell that can… uh… Hmm… Oh! Are there creatures on Zenkon that use echolocation to hunt?”

“What’s that?” asks Treia, and he similarly gets a few questioning gazes.

However, one person quickly recalls the conjoined words. “You mean like sound radar!” cheers Wenlianna.

“W-Well…”

“There are night hunters that are believed to be blind. Like bats of Earth, right? Echo-location… So, they make a noise and can find things like that?” She excitedly pulls out her notebook, and Peiburi dryly remarks, “Um… For the rest of us, your Majesty?”

“Oh! Sorry. Daniel is asking if there’s a way for any of us to make sounds and determine what things are around us based on the echo. Hence; ‘echo-locate’.”

The others nod, understanding her explanation well enough.

Daniel corrects her on his full train of thought, though. “Sonar and radar are similar in that they look for an ‘echo’ of their own signal, but what I’m specifically wondering is if there’s a way to send out magic in a similar fashion. Neith could sense the mana of the monster before we detected it, but it was much more faint than the creature actually was, right?”

Neith confirms with a nod.

“But, if you send out mana that you then are ‘sensing’ for, you should hopefully be able to start identifying what the reflected mana represents… I hope.”

“Interesting…” muses Senn aloud. “The method I used yesterday on the glonvokaut sends out mana into the world’s mana, but I never thought to simply focus on the physical things around us.”

Vaergraes nods in agreement. “I can sense strong disturbances in the flow of the world’s mana, but on such a small scale… Is such a thing possible?”

“Kera’tai, please join Vaergraes and I over here,” says Senn as she stands a fixed distances away from the Uhl’tall archpriestess.

Kera’tai jogs over without objection, saying brightly, “Yes! I finally get to be useful!”

Everyone shares a brief laugh, and Senn positions Kera’tai in a specific spot, creating a triangle between the three of them a little further apart than their combined arm’s reach for each side.

“Now, we’re inventing a spell on the spot here, so I hope you’re both familiar with Zael’s therimoire.” While Senn is saying this, Daniel notices Wenlianna squirming in both excitement and a little disappointment.

“Therimoire?” asks Kera’tai blankly. “A-Are… you making that up?”

“Oh!” exclaims Wenlianna excitedly, but just as quickly retreating when everyone looks at her.

Daniel asks, “Does it have to be a demon-kin? Or, can Wenlianna assist?”

“You’ve read Zael’s therimoire?” asks Senn, a little surprised. “I’m surprised Mornistae still has a copy.”

The brunette shakes her head, happy that she might get to be part of inventing a spell alongside Senn. With the right research, she might be able to extend that spell into a magic device. “I’ve only ever heard of it before the Citadel. I’ve actually been reading it when I’m taking a break from working on the projects I’ve been trying to finish.” She looks at Daniel, saying, “Speaking of which! Don’t let me forget to test the one for you, Daniel!”

He smiles and replies warmly, “Sure. Just let me know when.”

“Alright!” The distracted magic artisan doesn’t get the small joke, and Daniel makes eye contact with Gwenesphia and Treia, who both keep their lips pressed together to hide amused smiles.

“D-Do you mind if I do it, Lady Kera’tai? Lady Senn?”

“Certainly, I might only be a hindrance if the therimoire is a factor.”

Vaergraes explains on Senn’s behalf, “Zael did a great deal of work researching the theory behind how and why complex spells work in the first place. It’s still not completely understood, but for creating spells, he created a reliable system of terminology and glyphs to be combined, which allow the creation of the activation circles needed to drive the enchantment.”

“Yes, and I think we’re on the same page with the design,” replies Wenlianna. “We’ll work as a three point receiver of the echo, and… Sir Neith? Would you mind acting as the pulse?”

“I’m happy to,” replies the grey dragon.

Senn also agrees happily, “Yes. From what you described, if the three of us serve as the ‘ear’, we should be able to create a rough map of what is returned. This might consume most of your mana, though, Wenlianna.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t need mine as much as everyone else. Apologies for putting the combat burden onto you, Kera’tai.”

“Not at all,” replies the Chi’rinnis woman politely. “It sounds like this is definitely your field.”

Vaergraes, still pondering options as that was being decided, finally says, “So, we’ll need the glyphs for mana sensing of course, but how do we determine distance?”

Wenlianna answers, “I think if we use our positioning as timing triggers, we should be able to get a reliable direction based on the order in which each of us detects the echo.”

“Similarly, for distance, we just need to mainly know the time passed between Neith’s pulse and our detection, so we’ll need to add in a locking glyph for that.”

“Linking the three of us together will be necessary, of course,” adds the human. She easily goes back and forth with the elven sage, while Vaergraes mostly lets them lead the design of the spell as they quickly jot down notes, and she helps fill the gaps with the parts that she remembers as well.

“Is… that the kind of stuff you did on Earth?” asks Veranoei quietly, watching the three work. Kera’tai is also watching the trio curiously, learning on the fly as a brand new spell is being invented on the spot.

“Me specifically, or Earthlings in general?” asks Daniel with a simple smile.

“Either one.”

“It was part of my studies for my actual job to learn some of the basics of electronics and electromagnetic waves, and I researched it further on my own. So, not exactly yes or no. As for how Earth’s detection systems work, what they’re doing is called triangulation, which is one of the oldest scanning and pinpointing methods on Earth. Just like Wenlianna said, it’s the simplest shape that allows rather pinpoint locating based on each ‘corner’ detecting only range. The point where all three overlap their detection distance of the target is the position of the target. It’s more effective inside the triangle, but can still work outside of the triangle as long as all three points can still detect the target.”

“I see…” murmurs the gatonine, her ears folding down in disappointment. It’s most likely because she doesn’t really understand the idea.

“If you can,” starts Daniel to get the trio’s attention. They pause briefly to look at him. “We don’t need to know where every tree and leaf is.”

“Right!” adds Wenlianna, realizing that they hadn’t accounted for that. That was a weakness of radar used by ships to detect other vessels on the water; in order to filter out waves, the radar’s reading is adjusted to minimize wave peaks while still finding ships. However, small boats that can fit under that ‘radar floor’, and the same is true of aircraft, the radar won’t detect them. Considering the massive noise from detecting the waves or trees and other terrain features, it could hide even large objects that normally would be seen with them filtered out.

The brunette magic artisan scribbles various things to add to her magic circle design, and Vaergraes asks for another sheet of paper while Senn simply uses holograms with magic to visualize her own work on the spell.

Daniel adds to Veranoie, “I understand the basic principles that work for the systems on Earth, but I don’t know how to make the precision electronics required for what I know. Plus, it wouldn’t be useful for us. We want to detect any possible threats using mana because it should be able to pass through obstacles. That’s why I’m happy to rely on my friends for help.”

Again, the gatonine nods, this time understanding the goal, at least.

And, it doesn’t take unreasonably long before the trio of mages eagerly declares their success.

“I think this will work!” cheers Wenlianna. “This is so exciting!”

“You both have a gifted understanding of magic,” replies Senn. “This was far easier than I expected.”

“Let’s save our own praises for after we succeed,” counters Vaergraes a little playfully. She adds, “Sir Neith, do you think you can perform this part of the spell?” She hands over her completed note page, and the dragon studies it. Aoloan peeks over his shoulder as well.

“I believe I understand this. The words here are phonetic, yes? Specifically in Uhl’tall?”

“Ah! Yes, sorry about that.”

“Not a problem,” replies the dragon. “My accent is unimpressive, but I am fluent.”

“Shouldn’t we worry about those goofy-eyed monsters swarming us again?” asks Treia. “Weren’t they attracted to magic and noise?”

“Leave that to me,” replies Senn. “It will wipe out my mana for the day, but I’ll simultaneously cast Hallowed Ground and my portion of the detection spell.”

“You can do that?” asks Lyrtef curiously.

The elven sage nods. “Yes, I’ve been known to accomplish a few tricks.” She then looks at everyone else. “Are we ready?”

“Yes,” replies Wenlianna brightly, and Vaergraes gives a thumbs up, winking at Daniel.

Everyone else agrees that they’re ready, and Daniel says, “Do it. Whatever happens, we’ll stay in close and fend off or retreat.”

“Here we go then,” says Senn brightly. Kera’tai backs off from the trio, while Senn gives one last instruction to Neith, “Neith, wait until the signal from Vaergraes.”

“Understood.”

Senn then casts another spell on herself, though she continues to use a language Daniel has no understanding of. That said, the magic swirls around her, and she winces a little, as if she just got a headache.

Given what she said, and what is sometimes a concept in fiction, she just cast some kind of spell to allow her to treat her own brain like two separate minds for a time.

The three extend their hands into the center of the triangle, beginning a simultaneous chant while matching cadence with each other.

An eerie duplicate of Senn’s voice drifts off of her body’s voice, and a glowing aura seems to shed off of her body, taking form as a duplicate as the elven mage, though lacking her clothes or equipment. Thankfully, her spectral copy doesn’t have any of the elaborate features of her body, and it is linked to her via her own arm as it continues chanting the spell. While it does so, Senn’s physical body shifts to focus on her staff, and she begins chanting, which creates the circles around herself that Daniel saw before Hallowed Ground was finished.

Four voices chant their assigned spells, establishing their respective roles.

Knowing that they don’t have time to figure out why Hallowed Ground repels Daniel, he makes eye contact with the mage and releases Nemaisol. Seeing this, Senn nods, continuing to chant the Hallowed Ground spell with her physical voice, while her spectral voice stays in time with chanting the detection spell.

Magic circles overlap and turn, forming an appearance similar to the internals of a clock with the interlocking cogs rolling in tandem.

Once the receiving spell locks in, Vaergraes says, “Neith, now.”

The dragon had already started his own spell, though his doesn’t need to synchronize with the others in the way theirs do, so it takes significantly less time to cast.

A massive pulse like a misty shockwave races out in all directions away from Neith, and Daniel can feel it breeze across his skin like a static tingle.

That said, it also feels rather eerie, and he suddenly has a brief moment of anxiousness that gives him goosebumps.

And, that’s even with Nemaisol drawn.

Should I have felt that, Kaeralegier?

“{Normally, no… I don’t think it was the mana you were feeling.}”

The air moving, then?

“{I’m not sure… I wasn’t watching for it, so I’m not entirely sure what happened. Next time, I’ll be sure to pay more attention to you specifically to try to see what it was.}”

Thank you, Kaeralegier.

Just as Daniel is finishing his brief internal conversation with the sword-bound goddess, he notices Neith do a double take, as if something was looming over the human mechanic.

It’s not often that Daniel sees Neith rattled, but the grey dragon looks briefly afraid.

Something gripped at his instincts to trigger fight or flight, and his body locked up in a momentary discord between the two sides of that survival reaction.

The whole thing seems to cross Neith’s mind before he is able to make eye contact with Daniel, and the grey knight is certain something made him feel that foreboding terror.

It’s almost like he just saw laid eyes on a predator hunting him like he’s little more than prey.

Their mutual confirmations of the strange phenomena from two separate perspectives do nothing to ease either of their nerves.

And, something making it even more eerie is the fact that Luceniel has vanished.

***