Point Of View: Christopher Roosevelt

I entered through the door, and the room had walls decorated with swords and armor. At a counter on the opposite side, a man was resting his head. His ears were rounder than usual, and he seemed short—perhaps ten centimeters shorter than me.

'I imagine this is the first time in your life you've seen a dwarf,' Magnus spoke in my mind.

'I must admit, it's a bit different from what I imagined—less fat and chubby,' I replied.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly with the intention of waking him up. He murmured something inaudible that Magnus didn't bother to translate, but I had a feeling it was an insult. The dwarf lazily opened his eyes, bringing his index finger and thumb to the space between his brows. When he saw me, his eyes widened completely, and I noticed a slight tremor in his hands, which came together in a placating gesture. He said something again that Magnus didn't translate. Growing impatient, I commented, 'It would be nice if you started translating.'

"S-Supreme Mage? To what do I owe the honor?" Once Magnus translated for me, I took the improvised pouch of crystals, placed it on the counter, and untied it. Immediately, I told Magnus mentally to focus on simple communication.

"@#*$#@..." I uttered something incomprehensible, trying to repeat the sounds Magnus projected in my mind. I immediately felt an irritation that wasn’t mine.

‘Not like that, idiot, it sounds like you’re insulting every generation of this poor dwarf.’ Magnus told.

"I-I don't understand, S-Supreme Mage," he said, clearly frightened. I raised my hand in a placating gesture, and he flinched.

'Magnus, simple language, please. Let's settle this with a few words.'

"Sell... crystals..." I pronounced, doing my best to repeat what Magnus projected. The dwarf looked at me and quickly nodded. I think he understood.

The dwarf moved back. "Please wait here, Supreme Mage. I will fetch a proper price for you." Then, he entered a door behind the counter.

A few minutes passed. I looked at the weapons on the walls. 'Should we buy something? A dagger, maybe?' I asked. The response came almost immediately.

‘That’s a good idea. That way, you can get rid of that stick with a rock on the end.’ I had forgotten I was carrying a spear—perhaps it could be mistaken for a staff. I picked up one of the daggers from the wall just as the dwarf returned.

"S-Sir, here, everything I have." A pouch the size of a child's head was placed on the counter.

I had the feeling I was robbing the poor dwarf. ‘And does that matter?’ Magnus echoed, amused, in my mind. I pointed at the dagger in my hand while looking at the dwarf. There was a small engraving near the handle—a signature.

"You may take it. It’s a gift," said the dwarf, exasperated. Feeling completely guilty, I thought to myself:

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I will repay you, poor dwarf. This is a promise.

I took the pouch and walked out the door. It was getting dark quickly, and the streets were becoming quieter. 'Magnus, there are some things I want to buy: paper, ink, a backpack, clothes,' I directed my intention toward him.

‘I was beginning to think you were a naturalist. We’d better hurry,’ he replied.

Point of View: Magnus Bridge

After purchasing the items Christopher requested—which felt like communicative hell, whether due to his lack of language knowledge or the fear his cloak instilled—we fed the vessel with a meal at an inn near the port. The amount of paper and ink the idiot bought took half of our resources. Additionally, we bought a book from a local bookstore. Although I wanted an illustrated book that would make it easier to teach him Calyndor's language, the fool insisted on a book about theoretical magic: Runic Language: Basics I.

'It's going to be excruciating to teach you the kingdom’s language using this book,' I said irritably. The vessel was looking at himself in a metal sheet placed in the room. He wore a simple long-sleeved white shirt, brown leather pants, and dark shoes. His short, slightly messy dark brown hair was swept to the side.

'If I'm going to learn to read, it might as well be something useful,' he replied. ‘By the way, paper in this world is outrageously expensive. I don’t fully understand this kingdom’s monetary conversion, but it took half of everything we had.’ That comment annoyed me.

'Why did you buy so much? There are nearly fifty sheets here. That was a complete waste of resources,' I let my irritation seep into my voice. Well, perhaps the first thing to do was to teach him about Calyndor’s currency. I mentally sighed. 'Take some coins and place them on the table. I’ll teach you the differences and values of each one.' He sat at the desk, separating a handful of coins and placing the different ones apart.

'The coins of this kingdom are called Lyndors. Fortunately for us, this system hasn’t changed since I was gone. The gold coin is worth 10 Lyndors, the silver one 5 Lyndors, and the copper one 1 Lyndor.' Without needing further prompting, he started counting the coins in the pouch.

"We have 370 Lyndors. One night in a inn costs a silver coin. The meal we bought cost a copper one, and the amount needed for thirty days is 180 Lyndors," Roosevelt spoke aloud. His thoughts seemed clouded as if he were thinking about many things at once. 'Magnus, is there a mineral in this world that looks like gold but isn’t? In my world, it’s called fool’s gold.'

What was he planning? 'Give me a moment to look through your memories.' I spent a few seconds searching. ‘We do have this metal in our world, but it has no value and is completely useless. What do you have in mind?’

"You’ll find out, oh great Supreme Mage," he replied sarcastically, storing the coins and grabbing the paper, ink, and quill. A drawing? He spent a fortune just to draw? I was irritated.

"This will do. I’ll also need to turn it into powder. We’ll need to go back to the dwarf." He stopped and looked at the drawing. 'Magnus, do you think we could find a craftsman to make a clay pot in this shape?' It was a pot with two chambers: a lower and an upper one. The lower chamber had a side tube; he drew a cork, possibly wooden, and a hole connected both chambers. The upper chamber had a lid.

'It’s possible, but if you don’t tell me what you’re planning, I won’t help you waste our resources,' I said, demanding an explanation.

"We're going to make gunpowder, Magnus. You’re really annoying, you know that?"

I searched through his memories. 'But this is... don’t tell me you plan to commercialize this? It’s dangerous; it could cause uncontrolled changes in the world,' I said, my mind filled with concerns. The relationship between mages and non-mages would definitely change, not to mention the potential wars this could cause.

"Don’t worry, I understand the consequences. It’s funny, isn’t it? In my world, gunpowder was discovered because the Chinese were searching for the elixir of immortality. You wanted to extend your life and found someone who will produce gunpowder. Almost comical." His thoughts seemed distracted. "Anyway, we need to make money. And what makes more money in this world than greedy people wanting to blow up their enemies?"

Roosevelt continued making plans while drawing objects on the sheets. I didn’t ask any more questions.