I was in my home, lying down on the ground, with my hands under my head. It was late in the night, but I wasn't feeling sleepy at all. My eyes were focused on the ceiling while my mind was lost deep in thought until sensei interrupted.
‘That’s strange sensei. You normally don't talk to me unless I ask you something?’ I felt bemused.
‘For some one inside my brain, you should already know what the problem is, right?’
‘Gufu! Sensei, you are absolutely prohibited from that. Absolutely. Got it?’
‘Hou! For an AI that doesn't even have a body, you have the nerve to call me a virgin?’
‘Eh?’, immediately I felt a chill run down my spine hearing those words.
‘Please forgive this fool for being disrespectful, O great one.’ before I finished speaking, my body fell to the floor as I did a dogeza to apologize to the all power sensei.
‘Haaa!’, I involuntarily let out a long sigh before I started talking. ‘The channel in itself is not the problem. I already have a vague about what to do, where to dig the channel, how to cover it up, the dimension of the tanks and all. But..’, I stopped and sighed once again.
‘Of course not. You know that all of the men are participating in the war that’s going on. The ladies here are not even sure if they will return or not. Be a little considerate sensei’
‘I know. When you first told me that I had the affinity for all the elements, I was so excited that I was literally jumping around in joy. Damn it, to think those gods only gave me so little mana. How am I even going to use magic?’
I know, I know, at this point, you guys might be wondering why sensei is getting all worked up, right? For that, let me rewind the time a little. It was right after I had explained the procedure to built a channel from the river.
“So we dig a narrow path towards the village and the cover the path with earth. We will use slabs made of earth to cover the path and fill any gaps with clay. This is to prevent from water from leaking out. This path will connect to the tank which will be near to the village. Did you get the gist of it?”, I asked Euthe who was eagerly listening to my words.
He nodded his head a few times. “But with just me here, I think this will take weeks to complete”
It was then I realized that I had failed to take into consideration the main factor for any sort of job, people. After a moment’s pause, I turned towards Euthe and asked, “Euthe, what if I were to help you with it? How long will it take then?”
“Soma-sama can use Earth element too?”, he asked back with a surprised tone to which I replied as I scratched my chin.
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“I can use all of them apparently”
And I saw his eyes widen up. For the next few minutes, his reaction remained the same before he started spouting something like, ‘Ahaha, of course. For a wise-sama, that must be the norm, ahaha’
“Oi! Get a hold of yourself. Even though I have affinity towards all of them, I have no idea how to use it.”, I tried to calm him down with my words, but it had an opposite effect.
“What are you saying, Soma-sama. You have affinity but you can't use magic? Please don't joke around”, he practically growled at me.
“No, I am telling you. I don't know how to use magic. I don't even know how it is that people are able to use magic.”
“Even though you are a wise?”, those words of his carried a heavy load of sarcasm which for some reason stabbed deep in my heart.
“Fine, fine. I am not good with words, but I will try to explain it in simple words.Do you know what mana is?”
“I know enough, I guess”, I replied timidly.
“Mana is the energy that powers magic and it is distributed throughout the body by our blood. All the living being, animals or humans or even monsters, inhales mana with the air which then mixes with your blood. But the mana that is inhaled is small so in most cases that it just dissolves. But some chosen ones are born, with a body that is more sensitive to mana than the others. These people are thus able to store the mana in their blood, unlike the normal humans. It is said that only one in a hundred or so are born with mana aptitude. In every duchies, people with mana affinity are regarded highly. They get various privileges like exemption from taxes, the chance to learn trades in the capital, and many more. Anyways, to use make use of mana, one has to know his elemental affinity. And then you make a clear picture of that element, its effect, shape, power and then exert your mana. If everything goes ok, the elemental will take shape in your hand. But be careful, if you invoke it for too long, then the side effects will kick in.”
“Side effects?”, I asked curiously.
“Yes. In mild cases, you lose consciousness for some time, maybe for a few hours. But if you are unlucky, your consciousness escapes completely, never to return”
‘Oi, oi, sensei! You didn't tell me anything about a coma. What’s this all about?’
‘So in the case of these ‘unhealthy ones’, due to some reason, the mana gets leaked into the blood vessels in slight amounts. And as time passes the concentration increases to a point where it can invoke magic is what you mean, right? Maybe the presence of mana in the blood acts as a catalyst in the initial stages when invoking magic. So, these people can use magic easily when compared to others.’
‘I see, then all I have to do is feel the mana moving throughout my body and then have an image of the effect of the magic I want to use. And from what Euthe said, if I can feel the mana flowing to my hands and exert it, then the next thing to do is simple. Just think of the action I want to execute, like shaping the earth or creating water or anything that is specific to my element.’
“Haaa”, hearing all those things, I sighed involuntarily which prompted Euthe-kun to put forward a question.
“Is something wrong?”
“Eh? Ahhh, I was just thinking about the channel. Guess, we will have to put it on hold for now.”
And that’s what had transpired. Now, I am thinking of a solution for the lack of people. An easy solution might be to teach the ladies to use magic. For that, I have to master the use of magic myself. Sensei said that he or she, wait, I actually have no idea what sensei’s gender is, let’s go with 'she' since she sometimes nags like a certain woman back in my old world. Anyways, sensei said that she is going to analyze magic a little more and then find out how it actually works. Maybe that could help me use it better. But for now, I will have to practice on my own.
Another solution is to bring in people from neighboring villages, you know, paid labor and all. But that too has many problems, first is how these people will be paid. Right now the only thing that is of any worth in this village is just the iron. But the number of ores this village is able to produce a day is not that high. There are 7 furnaces in total, and every day we are able to produce just 14 ingots of iron. We normally immerse ourselves in iron smelting for 3 to 4 hours a day because the process in itself is so tiresome that the except for Euthe-kun all the others get fatigued heavily. Anyways the village doesn’t have anything but iron to pay for the people if we were to hire some.
The next problem is we don't have tools. I mean, if we have to dig a channel, we need tools after all. And this village doesn’t have tools, maybe because they never felt the need for one. The only tool I have seen is a sickle, used by farmers to harvest the wheat. Other than that, there is nothing at all. For a person like me, who came from a world that made use of tools even for the simplest of the task, the lack of tools was something really shocking.
The third problem is food and accommodation for those who agree to come. In case people agree to come and work for us, we have to provide them food and accommodation. Building the channel is going to take at least a few days even if he had ten or twenty people. Also, the nearest village is almost a day’s walk, so without a doubt, these men are going to depend us on food. And we will need new and large houses for these guys. The houses here are the result of earth elemental magic and currently, we only have Euthe-kun with us. While there are a few others small problems, these are the major hurdles we have now. In the end, the solution to all these problems is once again ‘more people’.
‘I know, I know. First I have to talk with grandma and get her permission. And if she agrees the problem that arises is whom to send. The only option is Euthe or me. Actually, I want the two of us to go, but I am a little uneasy about leaving behind the ladies all by themselves’
‘Ahhh! The number of problems just keep rising. Dammit’
All I could do was listen to sensei’s advice, but the frustration I had refused to let go of my heart. It took a while, but my exhaustion soon forced me to drift into deep sleep.