Chapter 6
Chapter 6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: S0. Modern Civilization Tour -3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Isn't it just common sense that the world is made of elements...?"
That was the reaction from a grand archmage who'd spent her entire life in a medieval fantasy world.
"Listen, that doesn't make any sense. If the smallest units of all things aren't elements... then what about elemental magic? Fireballs and ice spears? Why can some mages handle fire magic with ease but couldn't wield earth magic even if their lives depended on it?"
My response to that was, naturally, "I don't know."
Magic is just a concept that existed only in imagination back on Earth, after all.
Unless I'd been a former physics PhD, there was no way a regular office worker like me could leverage modern science to gain insights into the fundamental principles of magic—neither then nor in the future.
The Violet Magic Tower Master, looking like she'd just been told the world was actually made of chocolate, countered softly.
"Besides, physics could differ between worlds. Even the spirit realm operates on completely different laws from the continent. Couldn't our world be the same?"
That was a sharp point.
"In my universe, things fly." Famous line, right?
Various common knowledge from Earth might not apply in this other world. Magic existed here from the start.
Gods and demons seemed real, with priests and demon summoners receiving direct power from them.
The ground might be flat unlike Earth, or the universe could be small and cozy rather than absurdly vast.
I saw it as possible and refrained from jumping to conclusions.
So I'd run some experiments to see how far Earth's scientific common sense applied in this world.
"Almost everything checked out."
"Really?!"
"Of course, I'm not really into... research, so I only tried simple stuff."
The famous experiments from science textbooks. Figuring out if the planet is round from a stick's shadow. Detecting cosmic background radiation. Making crystals grow on a stick.
A few took effort to gather materials for, but the funding flowing into the Magic Tower was invincible and divine.
Excluding things involving magic like mithril, scientific common sense won every battle.
We even confirmed the continent was on a round planet.
"So the continent isn't flat after all...!!"
"Calculations put the radius around 7,500 km, but it was just for fun, so not super precise."
"There aren't cliffs and endless voids at the ocean's edge...?"
Back when I was reborn in this world and farming potatoes with my parents in the countryside,
I'd heard such tales from the local priest while receiving bread handouts.
The God of Darkness and God of Light creating humans by dividing them or whatever.
Midway through, it mentioned the land being flat, so sailing out to sea would send you plummeting into the void.
The Violet Magic Tower Master clutched her head, groaning as deep thoughts swirled. Her common sense was under direct assault, leaving her flustered.
Temptation rose to flood that little head with modern knowledge and corrupt her into a science convert, but I held back. I'm a fantasy mage who loves TRPG, not a scientist.
Truth be told, whether Earth was flat or round wasn't the key issue.
We needed to focus on a different angle.
"Nothing's certain—maybe I'm wrong—but isn't it fun anyway?"
"...Huh?"
Illusion magic here summons butterflies.
The illusion from a kid who's never seen a butterfly differs vastly from one crafted by an adult who's raised them for decades. The adult's wins.
An illusion's power grows with its detail and the caster's belief in it.
Even summoning a single knight's illusion proves it.
A vague "knight guarding the gate" loses to "gatekeeper knight with a childhood friend from his hometown he's known forever; currently flirting with the miller's daughter, but his childhood friend just moved next door after heading to the capital, causing headaches."
In short, backstory matters.
"Can't you use this for illusion magic?"
"Ooooh..."
The more thought invested, the stronger the illusion. My pioneering uncharted illusion spells as a fantasy mage might stem from this broad backstory enabling.
The whole world is material.
Even raindrops on the window yield TRPG fodder.
A neighbor's knock sparks everything from thrillers to romances.
I wanted that "You don't know? Well, it's like this—" modern knowledge high, sure.
But more than that, I wanted to gift the Violet Magic Tower Master fun conversation fodder.
"Instead of grimacing like your head hurts, think of it as gaining fun material."
"S-Still, the universe being that huge is kinda scary, makes life feel pointless...?"
"Doesn't it thrill you that humanity has endless places to explore? Come on, next up: biology corner. I've got tons to say."
This damn medieval world's filth was the biggest problem.
Ignoring germs meant bathing sporadically, eating carelessly...
My family back then ridiculed me endlessly for bathing daily by the stream, calling it excessive.
But now was payback time.
I'd unleash hygiene management poison into this medieval fantasy.
"This is a microscope. Lets you see tiny things big."
"...And?"
"This is the Violet Magic Tower Master's underwear. How often do you use Clean magic?"
The Violet Magic Tower Master looked torn between shredding this irreverent illusion with the world. But seeing my shamelessness, she figured there was a reason.
Blushing yet confused why, she answered.
"...O-Once a week, for now."
I smacked my forehead at that. Set the panty on a slide, urged her to witness her own sins.
She tilted her head to the eyepiece, then jolted like a cat spotting a cucumber.
"E-Ew... gross, what are these wriggling slime blobs...?"
"Ah, you don't know? That's—"
"S-Speak properly."
She gathered terrifying power on her fingertip; I turned polite.
"They're microorganisms. Literally 'tiny lifeforms.'"
"...Y-You're not messing with me. These exist out there too, right?"
"Yes. Colds, itchy skin, runny nose, fevers—anything not a curse but making you sick is germs. Bad microorganisms."
"Germs..."
"They breed in filth. Unwashed skin, unlaundered cloth, unclean labs..."
"...!!!!"
She startled violently, brushing her clothes like bugs were on them.
But invisible things wouldn't fall off.
"You use Clean magic when clothes start smelling, right? By then, they're swarming. Swarming."
"Don't say it like that...!!"
"That's why you need to bathe daily. Wash hands often. I'm not overreacting—you're all filthy—"
"Got it, I said!"
The Violet Magic Tower Master grimaced genuinely. She fidgeted constantly.
Like realizing your breathing and obsessing till you forget.
Now aware of tiny crawlers on her skin, it bugged her endlessly.
I was certain. One more clean-freak recruit for the Magic Tower.
"B-Better not knowing."
"Ignorance would've kept you filthy."
"D-Don't call a lady filthy!"
"Next: war weapons."
Hooked up a computer to a theater screen for video footage.
Guns.
"...Usable without learning magic? Seems like it'd spark fights among commoners..."
"Not threatening? Imagine every peasant in a territory armed with guns, declaring war."
"One Golden Magic Tower Metal Distortion turns them to scrap..."
Guns didn't seem that scary, as expected.
In a world where effort turns people into walking tanks.
What about missiles, then?
"Mages stationed could defend, but mass-produced on purpose..."
Nukes.
"...Was your old world full of crazy mages itching to destroy everything?"
"Uh..."
"Logically, a weapon that could accidentally turn everything to ash? Same as black mages reviving evil gods."
"Right?"
"But... the neighbor might revive an evil god, so just in case, we prepare too... That's how it escalates?"
"Y-Yeah...?"
"Was your old world full of crazy mages itching to destroy everything?"
Pondering, I couldn't deny it.
Humanity's madness was so bad, otherworlders called us "your crazy mages."
"If science progress leads to this, maybe ignorance is bliss..."
The Violet Magic Tower Master muttered like she'd spotted a colossal horror squid.
Before pro-illiteracy policies spawned in the grand archmage's mind, I guided to the next segment.
"Finally, my old home."
"Your home?"
"Yeah. Last one's my backstory, probably. Wanna hear?"
She nodded.
I double-checked, just in case.
"Skip if it sounds boring."
She ladled an illusionary ladle and bonked my crown.
Seemed like "Spill it all." I laughed.