In a Different World with a Smartphone

Chapter 403: Albus, and Memories of Time.

“My name is Mochizuki Touya. I am the king of this country… Brunhild. You are the sibling model of Noir, the white Crown ‘Albus’ right?”

“Exactly.”

Albus answered me while looking this way. Seems like we can properly communicate with each other.

“What is the name of your current master?”

“Arthur Ernes Belfast. The Belfast king.”

“Wh…!”

Belfast!? Oi oi oi, a huge name came out the moment I asked!

“What’s going on? Is that Belfast king the master of this child?”

“No, that’s wrong. The current king’s name is Tristwin Ernes Belfast. They’re different people.”

I replied to Norn, who folded her arms and tilted her head in thought. He’s someone who’ll be my father-in-law before long, so I obviously would remember his name. I think.

And that Tristwin has only one brother in Duke Ortlinde… Suu’s father, and no one else.

Right now, the number of people who holds the Belfast name in this world number only four… Only Yumina’s family, to speak it simply.

The father, Tristwin; the mother, Yuel; the daughter, Yumina; and the son, Yamato. I’ve never heard of some guy named Arthur before.

“You sure that Arthur dude is your master?”

“Exactly. The same master as [Black].”

“Negative. My master, Norn Patolaqshe.”

“… Is that so.”

Noir denied Albus’ statement. Towards that, Albus only returned a single sentence.

If what Albus said is to be believed, then that person called Arthur was the master of both the [White] and the [Black] crowns. If so, how did [White] end up at the bottom of Lake Palette, while [Black] was abandoned in a mine in the Reverse World?

No, in the first place, why are golems made in the Reverse World here in the Surface World… Damn, this is a mess.

“Yes, the Belfast royal family did have a king named Arthur before. I believe he lived a thousand and nineteen years before our time.”

1019 years ago…

The Belfast king had found a person with the name I’m looking for in his family records, and conveyed that to me over the phone. If we’re comparing it to Japan, 1000 years ago would be the Heian period. The time of Fujiwara Michinaga, huh.

When you think about it, the development speed of the civilizations over here aren’t that fast in comparison… Is it around half the speed on Earth? This world might be lacking in that part due to the lack of wars, but then again, they do fling magic at each other all the time… The lacking parts might be made up for in their magical development.

It’s probably not smart to compare this world to ours, which doesn’t have spirits or magic. You won’t need to use a lighter if you can use a small amount of fire magic, and if you can use the light magic’s [Light], you won’t need to buy a flashlight ever again. But this world still has stuff like lanterns, doesn’t it… Well, Japan has been using lamps until mid-Meiji era, so I guess it’s something like that.

“And is there anything you know about that Arthur person?”

“Right. Remember that… That old ruin Touya-dono found before. He was the king who moved the capital from that old site to the current one.”

“As I thought.”

“However, the records related to Arthur only has events to that level, and regarding [Crown]s or the Phrase invasion, nothing was mentioned at all. What is going on here…”

The Belfast king groaned with a “Mumumu…” Why had Arthur, who was both the master of the [Crown]s and the king of that time, decided to not pass down what had happened to future generations? He must be wondering about the reason for such an action.

I thought that it might be because of a “reset” for a moment, but… If the Phrase invasion was made to “become nothing”, then the old capital wouldn’t have been destroyed either. There must be another reason.

For now, I thanked him and cut the call.

“How is it?”

“I’ve got confirmation. There really was a king named ‘Arthur’. He was alive a thousand years ago, though.”

“I see. That means, your master should be long dead right now. As long as he isn’t from a species with long lifespan, that is.”

The professor turned her eyes towards Albus, but it only responded with a single “… Is that so”, and did not offer any other reaction.

“Exactly what happened a thousand years, and five thousand years ago… Can you tell us about that?”

“Without permission from the master, I cannot answer that request.”

“No, isn’t your master dead since a thousand years ago? It’s impossible for him to give you permission, you know.”

“Then it is impossible.”

The professor shrugged and looked at me. Is she giving up? This guy, he’s surprisingly stone- headed for a golem; or could it be that he doesn’t understand the concept of death for a human? Hmm, guess that can’t be.

As a bleak mood drifted around us, Dr. Elka opened her mouth.

“Guess there’s no choice but to do a sub-master registration.”

“Sub-master registration?”

The heck is that?

“Golems generally do not obey anyone except its master. However, what do you think would happen if the master dies in a battle while the golem remains in one piece?”

“Etto, the master is dead right? And if the registration stays that way… The golem wouldn’t listen to anyone?”

A wild golem like that is pure trouble, isn’t it. In order for it to not become like that…

“Yes. The method to prevent that is the sub-master registration function. When the golem itself recognizes the fact that its master is dead, someone related to the original master by blood can undergo the registration process to become the golem’s temporary master. Golems are part of a person’s assets too, if you think about it. There are people who want to pass theirs down to their descendants.”

“Ah, could it be that Blau who’s with Robert is…!’

“The Panashes royal family’s blue [Crown], right. If a compatible person emerged from within the family, they can become a true master instead of a temporary one, on a side note. While Robert is the true master of Blau, the previous master was his great-grandfather. Both his grandfather and father were sub-masters.”

I see. By passing the golem down in their line through sub-masters, one day, a true master might emerge from within the family again, is it.

“Of course, this only applies to special golems. Normally, most golems can be passed from a father to his son easily without bothering with extra things like having to be compatible. It’s the usual thing to delete the registration of the former master after a golem has registered a sub-master, and make that sub-master the true master of the golem.”

That sounds natural. If the father is dead, then the son would inherit the father’s golem. Something like the golem refusing that probably wouldn’t happen normally.

“So what’s different between a master and a sub-master?”

“You can’t use the golem’s golem skill. Also, its performance would drop by a grade.”

“So, for example, if Norn died and Noir was passed to her daughter, if she’s a sub-master, then she wouldn’t be able to use Noir’s skill that requires ‘compensation’?”

“Don’t raise ominous-sounding examples like that. I’ll hit you, you know?”

Norn glared at me with her eyebrows twitching. Oops, my mouth slipped.

But wait… If we want to register a sub-master to Albus, that means it would have to be someone who’s related to the king of Belfast from a thousand year ago, King Arthur by blood…

“… You want Yumina to do it?”

“Correct. I can’t guarantee anything since I’ve never seen a case where someone tries to register as a sub-master a thousand years after the previous master died, but it’s the best possibility. Since they’re a royal family, I don’t think their bloodline would be thin anyway.”

Just like Dr. Elka said, if it’s within the royal lineage, things like cousins marrying each other isn’t uncommon to preserve the royal blood.

If I remember correctly, Yumina’s mother, Queen Yuel also descended from a marquis line that has royal blood in their family. I guess it’ll work if the bloodline hasn’t diluted too much? Still, it’s over a span of a thousand years, after all. How many generations even is that?

“There’s no danger, right?”

“None. Even if Yumina-chan is someone compatible, as long as she doesn’t undergo the proper master registration process she’ll be nothing more than a sub-master. She won’t be able to activate the ‘compensation’ skill.”

Then it should be alright. Let’s call Yumina over and explain the situation to her. It’d be good if we can understand something with this…

“Open.”

Again (if we include the time before the “reset” then it’s the third time), Albus’ chest portion opened up to reveal the G-cube inside.

“Is this alright?”

Yumina, who had applied magic power onto Albus’ chest and opened it, turned back towards Dr. Elka for confirmation.

Normally, only the master can do something like opening the internal hatch of a golem that’s not in sleeping mode. Otherwise, the golem’s self-defence system would activate. In layman’s terms, it would resist the hell out of that.

However, there are two exception to that. The first is an opening done by the Meister, the creator of the golem. The second is an opening done by a blood relative of the master in a state where the golem recognizes that its original master has passed away.

That means, at this stage where Yumina successfully opened the chest hatch of Albus, it already signifies that Albus has recognized the fact that its master had died a thousand years ago, and that Yumina is qualified as a blood relative of that master.

“E, to. What should I do now…?”

“Put a strand of your hair into the G-cube without taking it out. The sub-master registration would finish with that.”

Following Dr. Elka’s instructions, Yumina took a strand of her golden hair and placed it into the transparent ball surrounding the G-cube. The strand of hair was sucked into the G-cube without resistance, and the latter’s glow brightened.

“… It wasn’t rejected. With this, Yumina-chan is officially the sub-master of Albus.”

I, who was bracing myself in case another “reset” happened, felt strength leaving my body after I heard Dr. Elka’s words.

With this, the white [Crown] had been passed from its former master a thousand years ago to his descendant today.

When the chest hatch was closed, Albus reawakened together with a low hum.

“Crown Series, model number CS-01 [Illuminati Albus], reactivate. Please register the name of the temporary sub-master.”

“Etto, it’s Yumina Ernea Belfast.”

“Registration complete. Sub-master registration amendment complete. Transferring master authority temporarily from Arthur Ernes Belfast to Yumina Ernea Belfast. Restarting.”

Opening its camera eyes, Albus stood up once again. Its eyes were looking directly at Yumina. While Yumina isn’t that tall, Albus is even shorter. As such, it naturally turned into Albus looking upwards at Yumina.

After a while, it got down to one knee much like a knight, and spoke in a voice different from the one we heard during the registration.

“The white Crown, Illuminati Albus. From now on, I shall serve you as your servant. Your permission, master.”

“Yes. I don’t really know what’s going on yet, but please take care of me.”

“By your will.”

Albus nodded as it stood back up.

At that point, the professor clapped her hands once and spoke up with a grin.

“Now then! With this, Yumina-kun is basically Albus’ master now. Now that we’re done with that, please tell us what happened five thousand years ago and one thousand years ago, about both Albus and Noir, everything!”

“You just came out with it like that…? Don’t get too excited, okay.”

“You can’t say that, Touya-kun! This is the opportunity for me to get rid of the unease I’ve carried for five thousand years, you know? Why did the Phrase invasion force disappear that day, why did the world that was almost destroyed manage to hang on with a thread… Those answers are now right here in front of my eyes. It’s impossible to ask me to not be excited about this!”

Well, I guess that’s reasonable if you think about the professor’s circumstances. Just how did the [White] and [Black] manage to repel the Phrases…

“First… Right, what was the name of the master of Albus and Noir 5000 years ago?”

“Chrome Lanches. The Meister who created the [Crown]s, and the High Master who controlled both [White] and [Black].”

“As I thought.”

Dr. Elka had probably foresaw this already. The fact that five thousand years ago, the master who was controlling [White] and [Black] was actually the genius Meister from the Reverse World, Chrome Lanches.

“Just what was Chrome Lanches doing 5000 years ago?”

“Chrome Lanches had crossed worlds using the power of us [Black] and [White]. Afterwards—”

The truth that was conveyed to us by the white [Crown], Albus. I tried to sort the information it gave us out inside my head as best as I could.

First, using the abilities of the [White] and [Black] crowns, Chrome Lanches had crossed over the boundary between worlds, from the Reverse World to the Surface World.

This was apparently mainly done by Noir’s powers over spacetime. It’s something similar to my [Dimensional Transfer], I suppose.

It’s the opposite from the founding king of Primula Kingdom, Relios Palerius, who was sent to the Reverse World from the Surface World, isn’t it. Right, if he had met Chrome Lanches, then Relios might’ve been able to return to the Surface World…

Although Chrome Lanches succeeded in leaping across worlds, the compensation was huge. When he arrived in the Surface World, Chrome Lanches, who was an aged man, had his body reverted all the way to a young man’s. One step wrong, and he might have too many years taken from him, and lose his life as a result.

We do not know why he abandoned his own world and left for another one. Was he seeking new knowledge and skills, or was there some other reason… Not even Albus knows. I don’t think he only wanted to become young again, though.

In any case, Chrome Lanches had landed himself in the land which is now part of Demon Kingdom Xenoas.

“At that time, that region was part of a country called the United Kingdom of Piraisula. Although not to the level of Holy Empire Paluteno that I belonged to, it was a large country with a decently high technology level.”

The professor provided the above supplementary explanation.

And so, Chrome Lanches settled down in that country, and began learning from the wisdoms of the ancient magic civilizations. The golems were apparently recognized as something like the mini robots the professor used, and they were able to blend in without causing much fuss.

After Chrome Lanches spent ten years living in that place, becoming able to use magic proficiently in the process, sudden visitors arrived at the United Kingdom of Piraisula, bringing despair upon the world.

The arrival of the Phrases.

- Pixel