The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 123

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 123   “Librarian” + “Magician”

“That’s right. A librarian is someone who governs books, a ‘librarian.’ The skills should have been mainly related to that. So, I suddenly thought, ‘If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be possible?'”

“I have tried doing that before, but manipulating magic is difficult. After about ten minutes of starting to write, the flow of magic gets disrupted. If you stop halfway, the magic imbued in the magic circle dissipates. Ultimately, succeeding happens maybe once in ten attempts…”

Well, there’s no harm in trying. If it’s usable, it’s better than not being able to use it at all.

However, I think what this person is saying is related to not using the skill when writing. Probably, but I feel like it might not align with what I intended.

Anyway, magic, huh? It’s really intriguing. Even though they say manipulating magic is difficult, I’d like to try. I wonder what the sensation is like. I don’t hate the ‘farmer’ skill either, but I do have a fascination with magic. If I had a magic-related occupation, I’d probably be researching and training all the time.

“However, if you have succeeded at it before, why aren’t you using it this time? If you had used it when attacked by Fang Dogs, there’s a good chance you could have escaped without having to ask for help, isn’t there?”

As I imagined what it would be like to be able to use magic, Sofia asked that. Indeed, that’s true.

If it was a complete failure, there would still be some successful attempts, so I wouldn’t come to such a dangerous place without bringing a weapon.

“I used it. I did, but I only had two in my stock today… I was able to frighten them with one, but while I was struggling with the other, it got torn by their claws…”

…Well, it seems like she’s stumbling in the basics, so I can’t expect much in terms of power. And after all, it’s just paper. It can’t be helped if it tears.

However, she only had two of them. If she could prepare ten or a hundred, a bit of tearing or lower power wouldn’t be a problem.

The problem, as I’ve been saying, is the success rate and time to draw the magic circle. Regarding that, I came up with a solution.

“Hey, couldn’t you finish it in about thirty minutes using imitation writing?”

There should be a “Copying” skill in the occupation “Librarian.” I don’t exactly remember which tier of skill it was, but probably it’s the fifth tier.

The “Copying” skill allows you to create a nearly identical drawing or writing while looking at something.

So, with that skill, if you prepare the original paper, you can quickly copy it, probably up to the first tier—create a scroll.

If you can use the skill while channeling magic, I think it’ll probably take just about ten minutes.

“Huh? …Ah.”

“Could you try drawing it for real?”

The girl seemed puzzled by my words, but after a moment, she seemed to understand the meaning of what I said and let out a small sound as if she realized something.

Then, as if searching for something, the girl looked around and rummaged through her belongings. After a while, she took something out, but she seemed somewhat disappointed.

What is it? Is that… ink? I don’t know why she brought it with her to a place like this, but is she looking for paper to go with that disappointment?

Thinking she should just make it, the girl seemed to realize that too and began to gaze at the palm of her hand.

In the next moment, a small ball of light was born, gradually changing into a square shape, and eventually, it became a paper with a side of about forty centimeters.

Then, she dipped the ink she took out onto the pen and started drawing on the paper. Her movements were so quick, almost like flowing, that it was hard to tell from her seemingly hesitant demeanor.

And then, I realized something.

The “Copying” skill is strictly for imitation. It shouldn’t work without a base image or text to imitate, but she is drawing fluently without looking at anything like that. Why… ah, come to think of it, the ‘Librarian’ possessed the skill of remembering what had already been read. Is it that?

“Is that…?”

“About thirty seconds, right? Considering it was originally thirty minutes, it’s a significant reduction.”

Looking at the girl’s hands that had stopped moving after finishing the drawing, I could see an incomprehensible pattern and characters written. It seemed a bit smaller than the crappy noble’s lady magic I saw before, but that’s probably because of the difference in the chosen magic rank.

However, I had heard it takes thirty minutes to draw something this complex. Yet, judging by what I saw just now, it was done in just about thirty seconds, as Sofia mentioned. Quite a progress… or rather, it felt like she was somehow cheating. The question is whether this can be used properly, but if it can be, then that’s good.

However, the person who drew the magic circle seems to be tilting her head while looking at her own hands.

“What’s the matter? Are you surprised that you were able to draw it so quickly?”

“Oh, no, that’s part of it… But it seems like the flow of magic is better than usual.”

I didn’t know what ‘the flow of magic’ meant, but probably it’s because it’s paper created with her own skill, so there’s affinity. We need to confirm things like reproducibility and what conditions make it like that, but for now, that can wait.

“Anyway, if you were able to draw the magic circle, then there’s no problem. Just try using it for now. You need to confirm if it’s usable.”

“Oh, yes. That’s true.”

Nodding to my words, the girl held up the paper with the freshly drawn magic circle, facing it opposite to herself.

“《Gather, Flames——Fire》!”

The moment the girl said that, flames overflowed from the paper with the magic circle, burning the air in front of her.

It disappeared in just about five seconds, and the paper with the magic circle burned, but I knew it could only be used once. The power was more than enough, knowing it could only be used once.

“Does something feels off?”

“No, it’s as usual. …Good. This way, I won’t be bullied anymore.”

Bullied? Well, with this person’s personality and grades, that’s bound to happen.

Even if she suddenly became able to use magic, this person’s approach is unorthodox. She’ll still be ridiculed, and bullying won’t disappear, but well, if she’s okay with it, it’s fine. Things will probably change in some way, and the situation won’t stay exactly the same.

“So, you can use as many sheets as you like, right?”

“But, I still have to process it in the end, so it’s impossible.”

“No, it’s fine to use them as disposable.”

“Huh?”

This person has a little misunderstanding. I’m not saying to reuse that paper. Since you wrote it on a disposable paper, just use it as disposable. It only takes about thirty seconds to write one sheet, so if you accumulate about ten sheets every day, wouldn’t that be enough?

“You’re a librarian, and you have the skill ‘Paper Generation’ like you used earlier, right? You can make an infinite amount of paper, and it only takes thirty seconds to draw a magic circle. Well, it’ll probably take longer for the higher ranks, but with at least an hour, you can prepare a decent number. Even with first-rank magic, if you can prepare ten, that should be sufficient as a force, don’t you think?”

In this person’s case, having first-rank magic like water or wind might not have much effect, but since it’s fire, if you can generate flames, you can treat it like a flamethrower even if you can’t shoot it as a ball or erupt it from a wide area. With a hundred of those, it should be sufficient as a force. Well, whether this person can use that effectively is another story.

“The only problem is whether using it in such a way would be considered using the skill. It’s a problem if the rank doesn’t increase. It’s up to you how to deal with that.”

“Huh… Oh, if that’s the case, there shouldn’t be a problem. It’s been reported that when using magical tools in the past, the rank increased, so as long as it’s a tool suitable for your own rank, it seems to be fine.”

What? So even using magical tools can count toward the skill usage? If that’s the case, for magic users, the rank increase might be… well, not faster. Magic has complicated elements like spells and magical power, so even if you can save some effort, the training efficiency is probably zero. Maybe even negative?

But if using tools still counts towards the usage count, then there’s no problem.

“In that case, if you create paper like this and draw magic circles on it…still? Isn’t that a bit of a hassle?”

If you draw magic circles on paper, you should be able to use magic, but no matter how much it’s shortened, it’s still a hassle. Since this is a newly thought-out method, I’d like to pursue efficiency if possible.

It would be nice if it could be used more casually… I wonder what could be done.

“No, I was someone who couldn’t even use magic properly, and you showed me how to use it! I don’t think this is too much trouble!”

Saying that, but honestly, my interest lies from here on. It’s more of an experiment, a curiosity about what would happen.

So, I ponder. How can I do this more efficiently? How can I strengthen it further?

As a result…

“Hey. For paper generation, is it possible to produce paper like this?”

I picked up a fallen twig from the vicinity, drew a square on the ground, drew a picture of a cat inside it, and pointed to it.

“Oh, cute.”

“Indeed. It’s the result of practicing drawing.”

“Practicing drawing? …Um, it’s a bit late to ask, but are you two perhaps nobles or something?”

“No. That’s not it. Neither I nor Lord Vesnar are nobles.”

While Sofia and the girl were talking about such things, I wanted them to focus more on the content of the picture than my drawing.

…Come to think of it, I was originally planning to leave right away, and I hadn’t asked for this person’s name yet.

“Just think of us as being somewhat well-off.”

Well, names don’t really matter. For now, let me continue the conversation.

“So, going back to the conversation, can it be done? The idea is to use ‘Copy’ while also using ‘Paper Generation.'”

“I-I think it’s probably possible.”

Saying that, the girl gazed at the picture I had drawn and extended her hand forward with her palm facing upward, generating a small light above it.

Then, the light transformed into a faint square shape just like before and extinguished. In its place, there was a piece of paper.

“How… how is it?”

“…Perfect.”

She presented the paper she held delicately in both hands to me, ready to show it to me. As I looked at the paper she showed me, it had a beautifully drawn picture that closely resembled the one I had drawn.

After confirming that, I picked up the paper the girl had drawn the magic circle on earlier, to move my thoughts to the next stage.

“Well then, try making a paper with the image on this one.”