After the meeting, I made Zara and Alara the spell rings that I promised them. I designed Zara's fireball spell ring so that it always produces softball-sized fireballs in front of her hand, and more magic just increases the temperature of the heated air inside. The fireball is always launched towards the direction her palm is facing, so I think aiming will be a bit harder for her than Alto and me, but that's the limitation of a spell ring.
When I was done with the spell rings, Zara and Alara asked to be dropped off at Nina's old nest to spar. I was surprised to hear that request from Alara, who doesn't really strike me as the type to spar with a wolf-kin as though they're equals, but I guess Zara has earned her respect.
I've just teleported back into the family room at the mansion, and I'm surprised to find Alto waiting patiently. She's giving me a probing stare.
"So, Mizuki, what interesting plans do you have for the day?" (Alto)
"Uhm…what makes you think I have interesting plans?" (Mizuki)
Alto smirks.
"Answering a question with a question…I'm certain now that you're hiding something. You were far too eager to get through this meeting just now. You're excited about something, and if it involves magic, you better include me." (Alto)
That's incredibly creepy…I'm starting to think she has a sixth sense about these little research plans of mine. So much for it being a surprise.
I sigh defeatedly and nod.
"Alright, alright, calm down Alto. I had every intention of including you, I just wanted it to be a surprise. You're correct…I have something in mind that I want to do today, and it involves a new magic item. I've been considering it for a while, but with the Empire's looming hostility, it's finally time to make it a priority." (Mizuki)
Alto gives a delighted smile and stands up from the couch eagerly.
"Fufufu…I knew it! So, what does this magic item do? If you're rushing its development because of the Empire...does that mean it's a weapon?" (Alto)
Alto looks slightly nervous following her question about it being a weapon, which is an understandable reaction. She's only partially correct…the magic item is for information warfare.
"No, at least not a weapon in the sense that you're thinking. Let me ask you something. How long would it take us to respond if one of our friends elsewhere in the Elven Kingdom was harmed? What if the Empire were to invade Elmesia or the wolf-kin territory, how would we find out?" (Mizuki)
Alto looks puzzled for a moment, then turns thoughtful.
"Well, if it's from Avalon, or soon Wellick, the fastest way to receive urgent information would be a messenger on your train. From elsewhere in the kingdom, it'd be by carrier pigeon to Avalon then by train. Lady Alara is preparing a building on Eden's outskirts to facilitate carrier pigeon rearing for direct messages, but it will be a long time before we can utilize it like other territories. Outside the Elven Kingdom…we're completely dependent on you teleporting there for updates." (Alto)
I nod approvingly.
"Excellent assessment, Alto. Without me, it'd take probably half a day or more from Avalon or Wellick, multiple days from other Elven Kingdom territories, and be practically impossible elsewhere. I wasn't aware of Alara's efforts to prepare a carrier pigeon facility, but that's still only a modest improvement. So, I want a magic item that sends messages between distant places instantly, which people with normal magic power levels can use." (Mizuki)
Alto's eyes go wide.
"You think you can do that!?" (Alto)
I smile in amusement.
"I know I can." (Mizuki)
Alto looks off, mulling over the information.
Nope…it's not a phone or radio. I really want to make them, but I just don't see how I can. I'd need to take soundwaves, which are just oscillations in the air molecules, encode them into radio waves, which are a type of radiation, and then convert them back into soundwaves without losing any information.
In Earth's devices, this is done by using something that vibrates measurably when hit with soundwaves, and its oscillations are converted into similarly oscillating electrical impulses. Those electrical impulses can be used to generate radio waves that carry the soundwave information.
My main issue is that I can't think of any way to magically mimic this conversion process – magic can't interconvert or create matter and radiation. Even if I could make up for magic's limitations by replicating some of the electrical components in Earth radios, I worry how introducing such technology would affect my deal with Azazel. I'm not willing to risk a god's ire.
I could easily make a magic item that functions like a basic telegraph and pair it with Morse code, but that's a lot of work to teach people how to use. Fortunately, I have a much simpler idea…one that I'd discounted until recent events made me rethink how plausible it is.
"Okay…consider me officially curious. How does this magic item work? Did you finally figure out a way to use magic to make those 'cell phones' from your home planet that you told me about?" (Alto)
I sigh deeply and shake my head…she really knows how to rub my failures in my face, huh?
"Tch…sadly, no, that's still full of problems that I'm falling short on solving. This is much simpler…I'm going to make a magic item that teleports written messages and letters to other locations." (Mizuki)
Alto's face contorts in confusion.
"Doesn't that spell use way too much magic? Ilina has probably a hundred times more magic than the average elf, and just teleporting across a room a few times drained her magic. More importantly, I thought it was too complicated to enchant items with? Isn't that why you couldn't put it in spell rings for us?" (Alto)
As usual, she's been paying attention.
"Well, kind of. My enchantments have to function relative to the item. So, the best I could do with a teleportation spell ring is make you always teleport a specific distance in front of your outstretched hand…it's not particularly useful. If we're just sending messages, though, it's no problem for each enchanted item to remain in a fixed position and only teleport messages to one location." (Mizuki)
Alto nods thoughtfully.
"Okay, that makes sense, I guess. Still, what about the magic power requirements?" (Alto)
That's the part I've had a recent revelation about. At first, all I knew for sure was that it takes more magic power to teleport larger things further. Once Ilina learned teleportation, and practiced with it some, I was able to infer from the drain on her smaller magic reserves that power requirements have a roughly squared relationship with teleportation distance.
I assumed this also applied to the size of objects teleported, until I moved our mansion to Alara's territory – the amount of magic that drained from me was well beyond my expectation. After some private experimenting, I'm pretty sure that power requirements increase with at least the cube of the volume of space teleported – the mass inside that space seems irrelevant.
Regardless, if I can keep the size sufficiently smaller than a person, the magic power requirements for a fixed distance should drop precipitously. At least a billion-fold for a D-cell battery, and million-fold for a mailbox. Based on my rough estimates, a power level 3 person should be able to operate a mailbox-sized teleporter within the country as a job, and virtually anyone could operate a battery-sized teleporter.
I give Alto a smug grin.
"Well, to make a long story short, you can fix that by only teleporting small items. The magic item I'll make will have a small version for sending messages like a carrier pigeon, and a large version for sending letter bundles. Any elf should have enough magic power to operate the small item. But the large one will need a more powerful operator, like for the trains." (Mizuki)
Alto hangs her head in exasperation and sighs, then looks up at me with an amused smile.
"Well, obviously I can't wait to see how Queen Elira reacts to this madness. Still, where do you want to start?" (Alto)
"First, I want to practice making the small version of the magic items and installing them in fixed positions. I also need to go ahead and make a receptacle for the messages that will be sent to us by others using these magic items. I think here in the family room of our house is a good place for us to start. We all frequent this area and can check for incoming messages." (Mizuki)
Alto nods her acknowledgement, then I walk over to a plain wall near our fireplace with her in tow. The walls in this mansion are made of solid stone, and are incredibly thick, so what I have in mind should be just fine.
Using my alchemy spell, I carve out a rectangular area in the stone wall – a meter wide, 20 cm high, and 8 cm deep. Then, on the bottom of the created 'shelf', I carve five equally spaced holes into the stone. They're such that I could neatly slide a D-cell battery about half of the way into them – holders for the small magic items I'll make to send messages to other locations.
Next, below the magic item shelf, I carve another 20 cm high, 30 cm wide, and 8 cm deep opening into the stone wall. On the back face of this bottom shelf, I carve out a small opening, such that one of the intended magic items could be fully inserted into the wall at an upward angle. Finally, I alchemize a glass plate that covers the bottom half of the opening to the lower shelf.
This is the shelf where I intend for messages to be teleported to from other locations. They'll arrive in the angled space I carved out at the back of the shelf, then slide into the general shelf area. The glass plate at the front of the shelf prevents the messages from falling out onto the floor, but we can still see when messages arrive.
I move back to the top shelf area, and I begin alchemizing five hollow aluminum-coated copper cylinders, about the size of D-cell batteries. The cylinders are open on one end, like an uncapped camera roll container. I turn the copper cylinders opening-down and slide them into the respective slots on the top shelf I created – it's a nice fit.
I step back and admire my work…it looks good. It's a fully functioning micro-mail center. Oooh...I'll call these MMCs, then. I catch Alto's gaze, who has been watching me work quietly until now, and it's full of curiosity.
I smile at Alto in amusement.
"Thanks for your patience, Alto! This top shelf contains the items that you fill with written messages. Once the messages are inside, you slide the items back into their receptacles and flow magic into them to send the messages – each item goes to one different location. On the bottom shelf, that's where our messages from all other locations arrive. I call this whole setup a micro-messaging center, or MMC!" (Mizuki)
Alto nods appreciatively.
"That seems easy enough to use. So, who are we going to send a message to first to test it?" (Alto)
"Oh, I haven't enchanted the items yet. I need to build another MMC somewhere else first, then I can enchant our items with their message box in mind as the destination. As for where we should set up another MMC first…hmm. Want to go bother the Queen?" (Mizuki)
I finish my question with a smirk, knowing that my flippant attitude will irritate Alto. To my delight, she rolls her eyes at me.
"Isn't that a given anytime you visit her? Also, I know manners are hard for you, but you should at least use your thought messaging to warn her that we're coming to see her soon. She's royalty, Mizuki." (Alto)
I just sigh with fake annoyance and nod. Then, I reach out towards Avalon with magic sense – Ilina's and Elira's signatures are so distinctive that I can always locate them. I home in on Elira's signature.
[Hey, Elira, it's Mizuki! I have a present for you that I think you'll like. Alto and I will teleport into my usual room at the palace, then we'll come find you a few minutes after that. If you're in a meeting when we arrive, I don't mind waiting. See you soon!] (Mizuki)
"There, I warned her like you asked. Ready to go?" (Mizuki)
Alto just smiles and nods in amusement, then I teleport us away.