Jiro's turn

The day after I got lost in a demon fortress, and met General Wiz, I was eating breakfast with Lolisa.

After all that excitement I definitely hadn't needed a sleep spell the night before, which was nice since the last one left a hangover the next morning. Not that I had any experience with what one was like, but you know. So I've heard.

Anyway, as a guest of the Demon King I could've easily gotten my food delivered to my room. But there were races straight out of the DVDs I borrowed from Kazuma's apartment to get an idea of just what he'd gotten himself into. Mom and Dad had wasted no time closing up his new apartment once he was reported 'missing.'

Right, fantasy races. In easy walking distance! Who in their right mind would stay shut up in their room? So I asked to go to one of the regular dining halls, hoping to get the best cross section of the castle's population. Lolisa had tried to suggest one of the nicer ones that had more Japanese style food, but again what was the point in that? I could eat oyakodon or sukiyaki when I got home.

A fantasy nerd like Kazuma must have had his eyes bugged out for his first week straight, and even I was pretty excited. When we walked in there was even a dramatically black hooded type in a corner that was weirdly more shadowed than the others despite being next to a window.

Trying not to stare, I walked to the long window where we got our plates filled with what seemed to be the usual breakfast for everyone: beer, cheese, and a fried egg. Kind of a letdown, really. I could've gotten any of them back in Japan, except the cheese had more flavor than the artificial stuff mom bought once in a while and the egg was faintly green. There wasn't any ham, I asked.

"So, what's the plan for today?" I asked my hostess. Who was having the same as I was, though she traded an extra egg for the cheese. Demons could be lactose intolerant, who knew? I only nibbled mine, I wasn't as bad as Dad was with dairy but no point in pushing it.

"Welllll, we need to get your message to your brother sent as soon as possible, given there's going to be quite a bit of delay getting an answer. Other than that, I suppose we could go see the city itself depending on how much daylight we have afterwards."

"Any idea how long until we hear back?"

"Maybe weeks," she shrugged. "We don't really have any regular contact with Belzerg, so it's going to involve a bit more than just sending a letter. Whoever gets the job is going to have their work cut out for them even getting it to him without it being intercepted by Belzerg's security," she said grimly. "Royal agents don't play around."

"Really? The Demon King and Belzerg's Queen Whoever don't like…send each other politely worded insults as diplomatic messages while arranging prisoner exchanges or anything?"

"Queen Iris. And that would mean there were prisoners to ask about. The Crimson Demons don't leave a lot of survivors," Lolisa said bitterly. "But no, not that I've ever heard of. We've been doing most of our talking with steel and spells for a while now."

"The Crimson Demons being traitors?" I asked curiously, not having heard of them before.

"No, they're human. Sort of. Maybe. They're the most dangerous wizards alive, every one of them. And they have no mercy, and no problem playing with their prey. They compete to invent these uselessly flashy spells to kill with just because they think it's funny to hear the screams. If one sees you you're already dead. If you don't see any you might already be seconds from death," Lolisa shuddered. "The only good thing is they don't leave their village at the other end of the valley very often. Though that means you have to go past all of them, after you get through the high level monsters they keep in the forest around their village for target practice."

"And that's the best way in," I added, remembering what she'd told me back on earth. "So, if I'm going to talk Kazuma into leaving, and a letter is definitely hit or miss, how are we planning to do this?"

"We'll definitely send it, so first things first. After that, I don't think anyone is sure yet. The obvious next way would be to smuggle you through one of the frontier crossings that aren't as well defended and try to set up a meeting. We launch raids through some once in a while even if they can't pass through a real army. But the first problem with that is Belzerg has patrols of their own to stop us, and the Royal Cavalry aren't weaklings either. The second is that even if you evade the patrols, we sometimes lose raids just to the monsters roaming the countryside. Axel, where I lived before, is one of the safest places in the kingdom and we still lose enough livestock and sometimes people to monster attacks every year to need permanent protection from adventurers."

"People live in this hellhole? On purpose?" I asked in sheer disbelief. "And you're trying to conquer it? Where even the local wildlife takes out military units? Why?!"

"We're not trying to conquer it, we're trying to hold what we have. And even so, it's better than here," Lolisa replied sadly. "At least things grow. You haven't seen outside yet. It's dry on this side of the mountains, but you can farm some things. Go much further north and it's scrubland or marshes mostly," she shrugged again then lowered her voice and gestured me a little closer as she leaned in. "The fact is we've got nowhere else to go. From what I've heard, we probably couldn't build another Exile Fleet even if we had a place to send it. It's here or nothing, so we hold what we have. And hope for something, anything, that can turn the tide." She said the last staring me in the eyes, willing me to have that answer.

Coughing, I looked away. I was no miracle worker, I was a kid from Nagano! My idea of an adventure was going to college on another island in a bigger city! The kingdom's leaders apparently thought I was a long shot, and they were only willing to spend so much on me. They might be right. Expecting Kazuma to drop everything on the basis of a letter was asking a lot, leaving aside how much freedom he had to begin with. Probably not much if just delivering the thing was going to take some kind of fantasy ninjas to manage.

But we had to start somewhere, and this was as good a plan as any. The thing was, I had a schedule of my own too and sitting here for months wasn't on it. There's a latin phrase that always sounded cool in spy movies, quid something. If I could sweeten the pot a little, I bet I can get a better deal out of them in return.

"How long would you say it takes a courier to take a message from the further border forts to here?" I asked after some thought.

Lolisa sat up, caught off guard by the change in subject. After thinking for a moment, she offered, "Not teleporting, of course? Several days at least if they change mounts or set up a chain of flying couriers. Sometimes a fortnight depending on the road's condition, if not."

"If I told you I had a way to make that trip almost instant, without a Teleport spell or any magic," I asked in return, "Do you think I could get that letter sent by the express route?"

Lolisa's turn

I've never liked swimming, though a fair number of my clients ask for dreams near, or in, the water. Something about water tends to interfere with my illusions, for one thing.

But even with as little experience as I had, the pressure of magical might and authority from the woman across from me holding a delicately enameled teacup made me think this was what it was like to be at the bottom of the sea.

I very, very carefully sipped from my matching teacup, decorated with painted black cats and bats. "I'm glad you could join me," General Wiz said brightly, apparently pretending that refusing an invitation from one of the most powerful people in any kingdom was somehow an option. "So many exciting things are going on with you and Jiro these last two weeks! Could you tell me more about them?"

There was a loaded question, like a crossbow pointed at my heart. Translation: What under the spheres is he up to, and why has he been asking for tools that are basically made of money? Not expensive money, just copper, but still. His request for several dozen meters of copper wire and another kilo of it and zinc in coin size discs had been good work for the city's jewelers and alchemists, though they'd been more than a little confused about why he needed any of it.

"Of course, milady General. How may I serve?"

The lich brushed away my attempt at a safe level of politeness. "Oh no need for that, Wiz is fine! It's just us here, nothing official."

That was reassuring, I guess. "Of course…Wiz. I don't totally understand the details myself, but Jiro says he has a way to send messages across long distances without magic or a messenger."

The general's eyebrows seemed to rise to her hairline, and I couldn't blame her. Powerful magic users could of course Teleport a messenger, and had a way of sending each other short messages directly too. Meanwhile, courier beasts and familiars had been around for practically all of history, as had signal fires or smoke signals. But the first was rare and expensive, and the others were either slow and/or had a real chance of being lost. If his idea could sidestep even some of those problems, it could change everything.

"That's amazing, I can't wait to see how he does it!" Wiz exclaimed. "Do let me know if there's any way I can help."

"Thank you, I'm sure he'll meet your expectations," I replied. He'd better, for both our sakes.

Wiz set down her cup and took a cookie from the tray between us. "I'm happy to hear he's keeping busy, how are you both settling in?"

"Well enough. He only needed a sleep spell on the first night, and we've both learned the castle layout much better." There was not going to be a repeat of our first day together, no matter how well it worked out in the end.

"Oh my, so he asked for dreams from you already?" Wiz asked, faintly blushing. I almost believed she was flustered until I remembered who she really was. Generals didn't become generals if they didn't have both raw power to spare and political skills to match.

That said, I had been hoping he would ask by now, which hadn't helped my professional pride any. I cleared my throat and looked away. "No, just the sleep spell. I know he's attracted to me, even after I explained how we work. But I'm not sure he's comfortable enough for more. I hope he does soon."

"Oh that's adorable, I wish you both well. He seems like such a nice boy, it would be a shame if you let him get away."

I stiffened despite myself. I didn't need anyone to tell me how important this assignment was, and I'm a very good succubus, thank you! If I needed to I could have him wrapped around my fingers in one night, and he'd never look at another woman again! But I wouldn't, because we also needed him to be functional, not a useless addict, and that took time! And I wanted him to be more than just 'functional' because he deserved better than getting his mind broken over someone's knee for being willing to help us.

Some of my frustration must have leaked out though, since Wiz gave me a sympathetic look. "Men are so contrary. I had my share of troubles as a younger woman too. There's nothing for it except to keep trying," she shrugged sadly, taking another sip of tea.

"So true, Wiz. And when you live as long as we do it's even more true. So few options." I wasn't acting when I sighed in disappointment at the way of things. If not for quite the same reasons.

'Understood, general,' I grumbled to myself. As if I wasn't trying to turn him to us already! Well it could be worse. I had been trying to maneuver him into taking the lead, since it would make him less suspicious, but I could be more aggressive.

Men generally liked a little chase, but not many of them were that attached to the idea.

Jiro's turn

I, Jiro Sato, am a man with problems.

The one I'd been grappling with for over a week had me leaning against the stone wall behind me, eying the table in front of me with a frustrated growl. The tangle of wires, cloth squares soaking in dishes of saltwater next to stacks of zinc and copper discs, and the wooden contraption hooked to it all didn't seem to care.

Given this was a world where vegetables walked or, ancestors preserve us, flew. Where some fish (but not all!) grew in fields. And where monsters that shouldn't exist roamed the land, I couldn't help feeling a little grateful for that.

I pushed off the wall and started tinkering again. If I could rig one of the piles into the middle of the line somehow, maybe with another electromagnet that worked a switch…?

Someone knocked on the door, followed by Lolisa sticking her head in.

"Do you mind if I duck work with you for a while?" she asked. "I just came from meeting with General Wiz and I could use a break."

"Sure, too much lace and pastels for one day?" I chuckled, looking up from my project. With all the kindness in the world, the general decorated like somebody's grandmother.

Lolisa flinched. "No…well just between us that too. But I'm just not used to dealing with someone that important. Before I met you the closest I ever got to anyone that high up was seeing her highness at the head of her army leave the castle once, along with everyone else in the city." She sighed. "It's exciting, actually being someone a little bit important and all. But it's exhausting too."

I nodded absently, still winding wire around the iron core. "They picked you for the job for a reason though, right?"

"Yeah, I'm good with people. Humans I mean," she said, her tone not so much a boast as a statement of fact. "I even like most humans, at least when the priests aren't trying to burn me," she chuckled nervously. "I spent enough time living in Axel to know they're no worse than anyone else."

I might've asked if that had really happened, though it seemed like something I probably shouldn't pry at, but she strode over.

"Come on. You can't stay in here all day," she said, taking my arm and guiding me out of the workshop. "Want to try that orcish stuffed pepper stand by the west gate I told you about?"

I allowed myself to be towed out the door. Not least because she was probably right and staying in here stewing was going to be a waste of a day, and a change might shake loose an idea. And also because, being honest, a cute 'girl' wanted me to go out with her. Why argue? Though going out might be a stretch, playing a good hostess for me was her job after all.

"Won't say no to that. You know, I wonder if that's what orcs really eat, or if it's like the spaghetti napolitan back home and real orcs wouldn't touch the stuff?"

Lolisa frowned in thought. "Actually? I don't know? I never thought to ask."

"You think there might be a secret menu if you want the real thing, otherwise you just get the outsider trash?" I chuckled as I closed the door behind us.

"I think if as a couple of non orcs we asked we'd probably still get the outsider version, just maybe dressed a little differently to mess with us. But let's ask anyway, it'll be a fun memory for when you go back."

I paused for a moment, then shook my head and kept walking. "Yeah, it would be. Nobody would believe me, but what the hell?"

The idea of going back to Japan…I didn't know what to think about that. Not that I hated my life there, besides being more than ready to move out of my parents' house. But I had friends, if not a girlfriend, since Kaname and I wouldn't be going to the same college after all. Hobbies, and generally things I'd like to get back to. A life, basically, even if it might be a lot more boring than my fantasy world vacation.

Of course, once I was out in the world on earth I'd have to figure out what to do with my life for real. Watching my parents gave me a good idea of what I didn't want, but besides that…

A nudge from my hostess brought me back, I looked over to find her looking up at me in concern.

"It's nothing, just…"

She pouted up at me accusingly, and I reminded myself even if she couldn't actually read my mind, she could come close.

I shook my head. "I hadn't actually thought much about it. I guess I do need to figure out what to do with myself. Not what my parents have done with their lives for sure, but besides that…" I shrugged. "I wasn't lying in the interview with the generals as far as what I plan to go to school and study. But where do I go from there? Stay in Japan? Work for a big company overseas? Go for broke and try to build a startup?"

Lolisa frowned herself, still holding my arm but looking away as she spoke. "Not to make your decision any harder, but you would have a place here too. It doesn't sound like you're particularly excited about any of the options you have in your world." She paused again in thought, then tugged me to a halt by the side of the road. Fixing me with a serious stare, she said, "What if you were able to see how all your choices play out?"

I gave her a confused look. "Like fortune telling?"

"No, we do have some diviners here but I'm not one of them. I mean you could live out a day in each of your choices in a dream."

"I…" I wasn't quite sure how to say 'I thought your dreams were all fetish porn', but she slapped my arm with another pout.

"I don't have to get you off, a dream can be about anything! Just write down as much as you can about each choice and I'll let you live it out. Though…if you want to add a little spice that's fine too!" she said with a cheerful grin.

"Glutton," I sniped back. "You know…let me think about that." I hummed, turning over the idea as I started walking again.

Once we got away from the palace, the streets leading off the central square were arrow straight to each of the main gates. Lolisa had explained the first day that during an attack the garrison would muster in the square, and then could be dispatched to whichever gate or part of the wall was threatened by the shortest route. Off of those main streets were more the twisty warrens I halfway expected from a fantasy city. Not too narrow, apparently the standard was that a pike or lance held level had to be able to clear the walls of the buildings to either side. But I'd hate to drive a freight wagon down them with this many people walking with us. I knew that by Japanese standards this city was tiny, but they packed in tight enough to remind me of videos of Tokyo.

We went most of the way to the west gate along the artery street, then cut over onto the smaller one leading to the plaza where several food carts were parked. Around the plaza were several businesses, I saw a tailor's and a leatherworker's as I glanced around. Given the sheer number of body types and unusual body parts in the city, those poor guys must have had a terrible time trying to keep people clothed.

"Two Belzerg's tongues with lemon and rice!" Lolisa called as we walked up to the stand, I jerked back to her, belatedly noticing the line had moved up while I'd been rubbernecking. "And could you answer an argument for us?" she asked in a quieter voice as she handed over the coins. "How close is this to what you'd have back home?"

The orcish woman wrinkled her snout at us, "Well, my grandma made this for me as a sprig, so it's just about exactly what I have at home! At least when I can stand to smell one more pepper after a day of cooking them!" she laughed, motioning us in closer as she handed them over, she whispered "But my mother always said grandma got the recipe from a Belzerger when she was on the Arcanretia campaign as a sprig herself, and that's where the name comes from. Make of it what you will," she chuckled, and motioned us off to serve the next person in line.

We unwrapped the wax paper as we walked, just enough to take a bite of the definitely tongue shaped peppers, oozing a bit of cheese and some sort of chopped meat from inside. I'd decided when I got to this world that as long as the meat was good I didn't need to know exactly what it was, so I kept eating as we walked back towards the arterial street.

"Good pick," I said after swallowing. "Is it me or are the peppers kind of meaty too?"

Lolisa grinned back, wiping a bit of cheese from her lip. "Right? I heard about this place from one of the chambermaids and had to try it. My thanks for escorting me, good sir." She did a neat half turn to bob a curtsy towards me on the move, which took a little doing on cobblestones.

I laughed. "Milady is too kind. If she talks about anywhere else let me know, that was good."

We went back to the workshop, where I found my project waiting for me just like I left it. Seeing that, I gave a grim sigh and started fiddling with some bits of wire and an iron rod to see if I could get another magnet made.

Meanwhile, Lolisa stayed, letting the door swing shut behind her as she stepped lightly around some of the scraps on the floor near the tables. I'd need to sweep in here it looked like, again. Now that I thought about it, I wasn't actually sure what she did when she wasn't with me. Checking in with her superiors once in a while was part of it I'm sure, but I'd been getting more curious over time since I couldn't seem to find a pattern to her visits. She seemed to come and go on some schedule of her own, sometimes for a few minutes, others for over an hour. Though I was always sure to see her if we were going somewhere or for meals.

"You've been busy, any luck?" she asked, brushing off a space on a bench against the wall to sit before looking around once she was comfortable.

I shook my head, trying not to take out my frustration on her. For heaven's sake, building a wet battery and a telegraph was practically grade school science fair level, it shouldn't be that hard!

"About where I was. Which is to say it works fine if the person you're talking to is already in shouting distance," I admitted, tilting my head at the clicker hooked to the other end of the wire on the far side of the room. "Anything more and I need either way more power, or some way to boost it in the middle." Frowning down at the table for a minute, I made a decision I'd been avoiding. An idea I'd discarded before was coming back to me now, and I was frustrated enough to try it.

"Say, you have magic, right?"

She nodded. "A little. Mostly illusions, some of the Intermediate spells, and of course my innate skills."

"Have you got lightning?"

She tilted her head curiously, probably wondering where I was going with this. "I do, but I'm not very powerful. You need a lot of practice with a spell to be an expert, and my people aren't much for combat. Why?"

"That's perfect. I think I need to come at this from the opposite direction. If we want enough distance to be more than a cheap trick I need either a way bigger set of batteries, or just give up and use magic." I gestured her over to the sending key by me as I unhooked the battery leads, at first about to wipe them dry then thinking better of it and handing them over still damp.

"Hold these, then channel just the tiniest bit of a lightning spell into them."

Nodding nervously, she took them and frowned down at them. There was a loud 'clack!' from the clicker at the other side of the room as the magnet energized.

"Ok, stop and wait a second." There was a click as she did and the magnet arm swung back down, and I hastily tied in more wire, more than doubling out the amount between them.

"And again."

She did, and the clack sounded.

"One more time," I said and tied in everything I had, scraps included.

And once again, the receiver clacked strongly.

I let out a 'HA!' and raised my hands up like I'd scored a goal. "That's way further than I've managed with the batteries! I think we're onto something. I was hoping to build something you didn't need any magic for, but at this point to hell with it! I didn't think anyone could hold back attack magic enough to not blow up the whole rig, or I'd have tried this ages ago!" I turned to her and bowed. "I owe you an apology. You might have just turned this toy into an actual tool."

She grinned back, still holding the wires, and did a little happy shimmy standing there. She opened her mouth to say something, probably at my expense for doubting her. But then the wood around the wire contacts started smoking, and small flames licked out as I got a whiff of scorched wood.

'Lightning' quick, the succubus squeaked and dropped the wires, hastily conjuring a stream of water onto the clicker across the room while I doused the key with the bowl of saltwater, scattering zinc ore and copper discs across the table as I knocked over the battery pile by accident.

"Ah…" she said, blushing and bending over to retrieve the wires, handing them back while refusing to meet my judging gaze. Smoke and steam drifted around the room. "Maybe I'll just get us a mop…"

After we cleaned up the mess, she took me out for celebratory beers at a tavern just outside the palace.

"So Lightning works, but now we have the opposite problem," I said glumly after we toasted our partial success. "It's attack magic after all. You want as much power in as short a time as you can get, not a long, steady stream. Can you rewrite it?"

She started shaking her head as soon as I said it. "No way! Lots of people know a little magic, but it's all pre-made. The number of people who can make brand new spells...even Archwizards don't build their own spells," she said slowly, clearly thinking something over. "Most of them anyway."

I was pretty sure I knew where she was going with this. "You're thinking about General Wiz, right? You did say she was some kind of legend once. Think she knows how to build spells?"

"Maybe. If she doesn't I'll bet she knows someone who does," Lolisa said firmly. "I'll send her a message tonight. Let's say she does. What then?"

It was my turn to think, draining part of my mug. "In that case, it's really a matter of just scaling everything up. Longer wires, and thicker wires to handle the extra power, figuring out how to string them so they're out of the way. How to protect them so they don't corrode like bare copper will." I shrugged. "Nothing huge, or that needs any special knowledge. Just time, money, and work."

And after that, with my credentials established, maybe I could get enough freedom to get what I actually came here for done and get on with my life.

—-

Naturally, it wasn't quite that simple. Generals don't just pop in the next day to a random workshop on the word of someone with no achievements to their name to rain money on their science fair project. Even ones as seemingly nice as Wiz. In the meantime I got to work finishing the other part of what would make this more than a toy.

I do not, and never have, known Morse code. On the other hand, that just meant we had to make our own, and the next few nights involved a lot of scribbling on papers and the occasional argument.

On the appointed day, Lolisa and I packed up what we had so far, and set it up in a conference room at her convenience a few days later.

"Truth," Lolisa said firmly while we waited.

"- .-. ..- - …." I tapped out, and after checking it against the list we wrote up she nodded.

"Dare," I said in reply, picking up my own list.

"-.. .- .-. ." She followed suit on her set, and I grinned over the table at her. Testing done, I fiddled around nervously, rewetting the cloth squares between the battery discs and making sure everything was good and tight. Not that it wasn't after the last two checks, but still…

Not long afterwards, the general breezed in, trailed by an aide.

"Well, I'm pleased to see you both once again! I'm told you have something to show me?"

"Yes, general. This is a model of what we've been working towards. If you'd be so kind, would you please write out a short message? Any message will do." Lolisa asked, handing her a quill pen and a pad of paper. I'd need to see if anyone was working on fountain pen nibs if I stayed longer, quills were taking some getting used to…

Eyebrows raised, Wiz did so and handed the pad back. Lolisa then started working the key, and the clapper on my side began its steady tic-tack. I copied it down as it came over, then walked back with the completed message to compare them.

"How far does it work?" Wiz asked quietly on looking both over, for the first time I'd seen her grave, deadly serious expression matching what you'd expect from someone her rank.

"This model? Across a large room. That's what we wanted to ask you about, ma'am." I answered levelly, reminding myself to look her in the eyes. Not just for the two obvious reasons, I had noticed they were much more western in how they locked gazes with me than I'm used to. "The concept works but we need a better way to power it. We tried using a Lightning spell and it works, but it's way too finicky to be safe. And these," I gestured at the wet batteries, "would need to be gigantic. What we were hoping is you could design a spell that can do what they do, but bigger. A steady current over a long period rather than a big, sudden jolt all at once."

Wiz gave Lolisa an impressed look. "I wouldn't have thought Lightning could be cast gently enough to avoid turning this into kindling. Well done!" She turned back to me, and nodded. "Of course, it should be no trouble. I assume an Intermediate spell will be enough? Perhaps one hundredth of the Lightning spell but spread over several minutes to send the message?" At our nods, she said "I should have one ready in a few weeks."

"That should be perfect. Thank you," I bowed, and meant it wholeheartedly. Plenty of time to hand this off and let them get the logistics set up. I was just starting to think about how I'd phrase my request when Wiz started talking again.

"Of course I'll be delighted to see the finished project. When can you do a bigger demonstration? The other generals will want to see it in action I'm sure!"

'Well, that made sense, I guess. Still, I could…' I thought, slightly annoyed but not totally surprised.

"And of course you'll need an assistant to help oversee everything! Especially one who can fly, to check where the wires across the city need to go better…" she trailed off suggestively, glancing at Lolisa then clapping her hands in 'realization'. "But I'm sure your lovely assistant would be happy to stay on!"

Lolisa nodded and smiled, "Of course, General."

'Well, I guess there's no problem having her around as I put together a much bigger dog and pony show,' I thought a little more desperately. I liked her and she was the only other person who knew how to run this thing at all…

"And of course once that's done you'll both be the obvious choices to train people to use it! I'm sure you'll have plenty of time together!"

It was then, seeing my last chance to bail out of this project slip away, that I realized the true horror of Mom's frequent excuse for missing one event or another growing up. 'The reward for doing a good job is usually another job.'