Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 215: Gain Through Loss
The completion of the Magic Giant’s Scribe Golem Writer was immediately reported to the lord and his wife.
“You finished it already, just from yesterday to today…?”
“Didn’t this just become even more extraordinary than before?”
The couple, upon hearing the report, could only react with a wry smile.
“Haha, we’ve been making only combat-related items lately, so this might be a bit of a reaction to that.”
Isamu responded with a laugh.
“It’s great that we can improve production efficiency now that it’s human-sized. We’ll make a few sets right away.”
“That’s appreciated. So, where will we deploy them first? The front lines, I assume?”
“Yes, we’ll urgently send a set to the front lines at Plazzo.”
Isamu nodded in response to Selfers’ question. Being able to communicate almost in real time about the situation at Zun was not just a small advantage—it could fundamentally change the nature of warfare in Ethersia.
“By the way, how far are you planning to expand this?”
“First, we’ll deploy it within the same faction, and then we’ll offer it to His Majesty the King.”
“Considering its usefulness, it’s probably essential to present it to His Majesty…”
“Once it’s deployed in various places, the whole concept of national defense will change…”
Selfers and his wife murmured in agreement with Isamu’s words.
“Afterward, I think we’ll sell it to friendly noble families and neutral ones, and offer it to allied countries.”
“What about hostile noble families?”
“Personally, I absolutely don’t want to give them any. However, His Majesty will likely want a means of communication for all the nobles, so I’m considering compromising by limiting it to only the receiver side.”
“Hmm… Well, that’s probably the middle ground. It’s frustrating, but I can’t defy His Majesty’s orders.”
Selfers said with a grimace.
Considering that he had been imprisoned unjustly, it was understandable that he felt that way.
“Fortunately, it won’t work properly unless it’s in pairs, so we can differentiate them.”
“True. By the way, how will you handle the exchange station?”
“I was thinking of building it in Klaufendam due to its central location in the kingdom.”
The “exchange station” that Selfers referred to was similar to the telephone exchange stations once found on Earth.
The Magic Giant’s Scribe Golem Writer developed by Isamu and the others was limited to one-to-one communication, so they needed to carefully consider how to operate it.
If those who wanted to exchange information simply deployed the magic tools without thought, it could lead to chaos.
For communication between two parties, one pair of devices would suffice, but for four parties, six pairs would be needed, and for six parties, fifteen pairs would be required.
In this case, to facilitate communication among the major noble families of the same faction, there were seven people, which would require a total of twenty-one devices.
Moreover, if a new member wanted to join the network, every existing member would need to add a device for the new member.
Even though they had downsized the devices to human size, managing this was far from practical.
That’s where the exchange station came in.
Instead of a direct exchange between individuals, a third party (the exchange operator) would always be involved.
This method attempted to replicate the star-shaped communication system widely used in modern Earth, manually.
In this system, if A wanted to send information to B, the steps would be A → exchange operator → B.
The exchange operator would read the message sent by A and then rewrite it and send it to B.
Those who wanted to send information would simply address it to the exchange operator, and the information would always come from the exchange operator.
While it would require the exchange operator to be literate, this system would allow each noble family to introduce just one set of magic tools, and no matter how many members there were in the network, no additional sets would be necessary.
If a new member joined, they would only need to introduce one set of magic tools, and the seven families would only need seven sets of magical tools in total.
Additionally, as a secondary effect, pseudo one-to-many communication could also be possible.
The reason the messages were rewritten by hand was because the magic tools used to read movements only responded to humans.
Originally, Isamu had planned to install movement-reading magical tools into the arms of the magic giant golem and create an automatic scribing system, but this turned out to be impossible.
By contrast, in modern Earth, this process is almost entirely automated, with devices such as routers (often integrated with modems and hubs) serving as the exchange operators.
However, even with the exchange station in place, there were naturally some issues to address.
The most immediate concerns were information leaks, system overloads, and vulnerabilities.
Information leaks are very easy to understand.
Since a person is involved in the process, at the very least, that person will have full access to the information.
Encrypting the messages can help prevent leaks to some extent, but the fact that someone is trying to communicate information will become known.
For things that need to remain truly secret, other methods will need to be considered.
The concentration of load is also a significant issue.
Since all communications will be centralized in the exchange station, the more members there are, the more the load on the exchange station will increase.
Vulnerabilities are one of the problems caused by this centralization.
When everything is routed through the exchange station, if a problem occurs there, all communications will be disrupted.
In addition to accidental problems, one must also be vigilant about human interference.
In short, there is a need to protect against sabotage by those who wish to disrupt communication.
However, Isamu believed that for the time being, these challenges would not be an issue.
In fact, Isamu thought that building their own exchange station would lead to immense benefits in the future.
“Regarding information leaks, we’re starting with just our faction, so at least ‘we’ don’t need to worry about it.”
“That’s true. Since both the magic tools and Isamu’s skills are already made public within our faction.”
Selfers replied.
“Yes, I believe the royal family will join us soon, but the personnel at the exchange station will be from our faction, so there shouldn’t be any problems. After all, it’s being built with our personal funds.”
“And what about the vulnerabilities?”
“We should be fine for now. First, the location of the exchange station will be kept secret. It’s similar to a military base, so it shouldn’t pose an issue.”
“Indeed… If enemy factions were to find out, it would be a huge problem.”
“Yes. I’ll also have Eleonora handle the security. Additionally, I’ll deploy a few magic giant golems for protection.”
“Well, that sounds like it will be an impenetrable fortress. It might become the most secure location in the kingdom.”
Nicolette smiled wryly.
“Probably. In the future, we might even consider establishing a location in Avalushi.”
Isamu said.
Due to communication delays, they initially planned to set up the exchange station in the area near the Klaufeldt territory, in the center of the kingdom. However, if the scale of the operation grows, they may need to relocate it to a safer place.
“That sounds like a good idea for added safety. Now, about the centralized load…”
Selfers continued.
“Ah, there’s nothing we can do about that. We need to trust the people in charge, so for now, we’ll rotate people from within our faction on shifts.”
“Well, I suppose that’s the only option. It’s clear that there shouldn’t be any major problems for the time being.”
Selfers said.
“Yes. I’ll contact the faction leaders soon and push forward with the plan. Even if there are some issues, I’m sure they’ll want to participate, even for free, as long as they can see the future potential.”
Nicolette added with a faint smile.
“That’s true. Any faction that can’t join this information network will fall behind in terms of information-gathering capabilities.”
Selfers said, closing his eyes in thought.
“Yes, and the moment they can’t get the magic giant scribe golem writer on their own, the game is already over. Even if they manage to get one somehow, if they don’t participate in this network, it’ll be wasted.”
Nicolette agreed.
A small-scale information network may be achievable, but it would be short-lived.
As overwhelming information disadvantages mount, it’s clear that they will be left behind.
This is what it means to monopolize infrastructure.
It’s like a single company or country controlling the internet or mobile phone services.
While it requires a significant upfront investment, the potential benefits far outweigh the costs.
In a world like Ethersia, where there are no anti-monopoly laws, it’s truly a game of “winner takes all” and “first come, first served.”
Thus, the birth of the world’s first communication magical tool coincided with the rise of Aetheria’s “information communication infrastructure.”
After requesting the adventurer’s guild to gather the necessary Serabim materials for mass-producing the magic giant’s scribe golem writers, Isamu was heading to the church with Orihime and Annemarie.
“So, what’s the reason for going to the church today?”
Annemarie asked, walking beside Yu and peering up at him.
“I’m thinking of planting Oriza, but it reminded me of what Meator said.”
“Ah, that’s the food from Isamu-san’s homeland, right? And Meator’s words… Oh, from when we were going down the river by boat!”
Annemarie recalled.
Oriza, as Annemarie mentioned, was a grain very similar to rice from Earth.
It was discovered by accident when they visited the territory of Margrave Innocenti, and Isamu had bought up all the paddy rice being sold and brought it back.
“Yes, that’s it. Meator said it would be good to offer it to the church before planting the seeds.”
Isamu explained.
“Yes, I remember her saying that.”
Annemarie agreed.
Previously, while traveling down the Meator River, Isamu had an encounter with a giant white serpent, which was believed to be an incarnation of the goddess Meator.
At that time, the goddess expressed her gratitude for Isamuu’s appreciation of rice, her symbol, and told him to offer it at the church as a token of thanks.
Isamu had forgotten about this due to various events, but when he found the paddy rice seeds in the warehouse yesterday, it reminded him.
In Japan, rice planting typically occurs in May to June, so the timing was a bit late. However, since this world, Ethersia, is quite different from Japan in various ways, Isamu decided to act on it now, taking advantage of the lull after the magic giant scribe golem writer project had reached a milestone.