Science Shall Prevail Over Magic

(Helium) 5th Chapter | The Town of Wide

Ruminating over the path Shin had learnt of from the village chief, he set foot into the forest and trod on. In the whilst, he pinched the silver coin from before between his fingers and analyzed it.

He activated the Device and extended the radius of field to 1 meter. If the extended range were narrow, the material of the coin could easily be ascertained. However, that the range of field could be set to a minimum of 1 meter, it couldn’t be helped.

Shin fixed his gaze on the Device and went through the list of elements.
The supplementary elements in the field were displayed in the order of highest concentration to lowest.
N, O, H, C, Ag, Si, Mg, Fe, Rb, unknown1, unknown2…………a multitude of elements. There must be many other elements; however, if their concentration in the range were adjudged low, they wouldn’t be displayed.

“The appraisal is difficult even in the radius of 1 meter, huh……but the metals are there.”

Silver had high concentration; hence, the coin was adjudged to be made of Silver.
As for the others – Silicon and Magnesium – whether they were residue present in the coin or minerals present in the earth, it couldn’t be concluded from the analysis.

“Even Rb, huh……is it present in the silver coin? Then, is such a color due to oxidization……”

However, the minerals present in the earth would have many uses.
Whatever the case, nothing could be ascertained through this appraisal technique but the Silver content.

That aside, what he was more interested in was the transcription ‘unknown’ which was also displayed during the confrontation with the Blue Ogres not long ago.
Whether the Device had a function that could supplement unknown elements was questionable.

The development of science made the discovery of new elements easier, indeed; however, presently……on the Earth of Shin’s time, the discovery of a new element could be considered an impossibility.
Perhaps- no, undoubtedly; it might be another star system, but the discovery of an element would be a great discovery nonetheless.
That said, it had no relation whatsoever to Shin who had no way of returning.

Anyways, his next objective was going to the town he learnt of from the village chief.
Thereupon, guising as much a local as possible and obtaining information.
If the population were larger than the earlier village, there would seldom be people questioning his origins, Shin thought. He vowed in his heart that he would not use the Earth-based technology tactlessly from now on.

“Acceleration System.”

Under moderate speed of the Acceleration System, the setting of which had previously been changed to 1.3 times, he dashed through the forest.
Incidentally, he directed rebound stress toward the surface. Piercing through the trees, he jumped 20 meters into the air at a stretch.
A luxuriant sea of trees unfolded as far as an eye could see. Momentarily, the setting sun robbed Shin of his vision. He averted his eyes and squintedly confirmed the surrounding situation.
He could see a several kilo(meter) long line. It was most likely the river which the village chief mentioned. Under the gravity’s pull, Shin’s body began to fall.

“That direction……Gravity Operation.”

Airborne, he reorganized his posture and calmly operated the Device. He set the gravity to 0.1 times within the range of 1 meter.
Shin’s body landed on the ground as slow as a leaf falling off a tree.

◆

The town, or so was it called, in the span of which houses and structures could be seen lined up in a row, and people could be seen moving to and fro, was a place that reminded Shin of an isolated part in the outskirts of a metropolitan.

“……Wide Town, huh?”

The town was so small it could entirely be viewed at a quick glance; while entertaining such an opinion, he gandered at the name of the town engraved on the two pillars at the entrance and set the foot in.
Surrounded entirely by meadows, it felt as if houses were somehow carried here whole and lined up in order to form the town.

The distance from the village to this town called Wide seemed to be considerable.
Assuming there were several such towns in this world with each being small and distant, the development of this world would lag far behind.

Nevertheless, seeing the same humans as him walking hither and thither gave Shin, albeit only slightly, a sense of security. However, no one gave Shin more than a fleeting glance before they averted their eyes and moved on.
In his opinion, these rather uneasy gazes had to do with his attire. With everyone around him clad in grayish or brownish leather outfit, his alloy boots would certainly feel out of place. However, if only the top were concerned, nothing more than an ordinary black shirt would be visible.

In actuality, it was an anti Android Killrer battle purpose Mesh Armor made of a special compound. However, because people here didn’t know that, they wouldn’t notice it.

Thus, Shin marched on amidst the inexplicable gazes as he toured the town.

The town hardly had any pedestrian traffic. The humans whom he occasionally came across were engaged in the work with a devoid of life expression.
Nothing but one to three storeyed wooden houses could be seen. Sporadically, iron signboards with readable letters, which Shin found reassuring, could be seen. For the time being, he searched for crowded places.

And then, he chanced upon a log house styled building with a signboard which had ‘Bar’ written on it.

Upon abrupt appearance of Shin, the clatter inside came to a sudden stop. The several humans inside simultaneously turned around.
Barrels and glasses were scattered inside. It was reeking of a peculiar smell of alcohol. Brawny men were glaring his way with a sharp glint.
They were in a stark contrast to the lifeless humans he met thus far outside. In an instant, a bizarre air of anger ensued.

Moreover, amongst those men were some who had a shining sword on their back. They looked just like a knight from medieval Europe.
Shin was once again reminded that it wasn’t the same world.

“……You——”

When Shin stepped in, a man stood up and tried to say something; however, he was stopped by someone else. He, who had a shining silver breastplate esque object put on, approached Shin.

“Haven’t seen your face before……are you an Adventurer?”

Shin was unable to answer the sudden question. However, the man, as if he had a change of mind, said.

“From your weapon……you seem to use magic power (Mana)……if you are looking for lodging, a two storeyed house further down is vacant. Go and relax.”

Saying so, the man turned his back to Shin once again, put his feet on the disorderly table and shook the glass.

The surrounding lot, too, after shooting a glance at Shin, quietly grabbed the glasses in the jockey on the table as if nothing had happened.

The bar, that had turned quiet, felt out of place compared to a while ago. Without hearing another word, Shin decided to leave for the inn he learnt of from the man just now.