Chapter 475 – Big Brother Is Watching.

“First a geothermal generator and now a magic gate? Are you planning to establish a magical academy here?”

“I suppose that’s possible, but I don’t think I’m good at teaching…”

“That’s a shame…”

Two men were talking while sitting opposite each other. They were outside inside a gazebo, taking in the sun while enjoying some black tea. Near them was a maid with orange cat ears, placing cake onto the plate of the man with whitish hair.

“I don’t think the city could afford it. There’s a reason why these institutes are usually old and backed by mages who have lived over a hundred years.”

“You’re probably right, my friend. But thanks to you, we’ve attracted quite a lot of investors. Albrook is beginning to turn heads.”

“…”

Roland nodded at Arthur, who was ecstatic about the prospect of developing the city. The two were opposed in this ambitious endeavor, with Arthur driven by the desire to transform Albrook into a prosperous hub, while Roland focused more on his runesmithing innovations and personal life. Nevertheless, their fates were now intertwined. Without Roland, the city could not continue prospering, as it needed his runic inventions. On the other hand, Arthur made all of this possible by providing the city’s runesmith with resources and free rein. Without his backing, Roland wouldn’t be able to accomplish half of his projects.

“So, you’ll be leaving again?”

“Yes, but with the gate, I should be able to return at a moment’s notice. So, if there are any issues with your brothers, just use this.”

The two men were discussing some issues before Roland headed back to the institute. With the assembly of the teleportation gate, it would be possible for him to make the jump back. He was now a high-ranking member of Xandar’s Institute of Wizardry, which allowed him to use almost any teleportation gate within the kingdom.

Even without those gates, a device that allowed him to return was possible. It had not been completed yet, but in theory, he would always be able to return to his own magic tower by tethering the coordinates to a separate artifact. However, without a steady location on the other end, separate calculations were required.

That’s why mages usually connected through some more publicly accessible teleportation gates, ones that required a steep fee but were easily accessible. As long as he reached such a waypoint in his travels, he would be able to quickly return home. Roland eventually reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, rune-inscribed medallion, handing it to Arthur.

“Take this. It’s a direct line to me. If there’s anything urgent, just press the center rune, and even if I’m at the other end of the kingdom, you should be able to contact me or one of my associates named Arion.”

“Oh thank you, I’ll be sure to use it but I think it won’t be necessary.”

Arthur placed the medallion into a side pocket before glancing in Mary’s direction. The woman brought up some papers and handed them to Roland. His eyes quickly scanned through the contents prompting his brows to furrow.

“Having trouble flushing out the rats?”

“Yes, my dear brother has made a move.”

“Good, I think before I leave we should activate ‘that’.I think we have enough runic cameras in the city now.”

“Quite so, I can’t wait to see that artifact fully at work!”

After finishing with the first issue, the three moved away from the treats inside the gazebo. They quickly headed over to the secret underground chamber beneath the mansion, where one of the biggest runic city projects would be activated. It was not quite finished, but with some help from the union dwarves who produced most of the parts, it could be assembled into a working console.

The underground area was separate from the skill training facility and the underground dungeon where they tested the runic prosthesis. Right in the middle of it was a giant table made of metal with many runic symbols etched through runesmithing onto it. It looked to have been produced from several parts and later assembled to fit this place. There were no chairs around the table; instead, a large, thick panel of something resembling glass was attached to the wall.

“Alright, let’s get this started. Everything seems to be in order.”

Arthur and Mary took a step back while Roland approached the nearby console, situated between the big table and the large glass screen. As he placed his hand on it, various runes began to glisten, and he was greeted by a welcome screen resembling something from old-day computers. The interface was quite basic and lacked any graphics, but eventually, after it finished loading, he was able to enter a few prompts. Below the console were letters representing the alphabet in a fashion similar to keyboards from his world. After a few inputs, the large table started buzzing with energy.

Arthur and Mary stood to the side, watching with anticipation as blue lights began flickering atop the table. A rectangular shaped area appeared above it and was divided into several smaller squares, each one dividing the area into smaller zones. If someone leaned in closer, they would notice that this table had the current Albrook map on top of it, with a hologram projection on top.

“Fascinating, I didn’t know magic could be used in such a way”

“I suppose not many put that much detail into monitoring a whole city. Now, if you forget something, consult the guidebooks”

Roland had provided Arthur with a detailed manual about using this new device. Arthur, along with the maids and his personal knights, would have access to this area, which represented the entire city. Roland had hoped to turn the entire map into a working hologram, but for now, it would remain a collection of squares and dots. Once he had cleared up everything at the institute and got things in order with his family, he planned to reconstruct this into something more functional.

“Can I try it out?”

Arthur asked and Roland replied while nodding, his tone rather casual as within this place they were equals.

“Sure, go ahead.”

The young lord smiled and approached the map. He had read the instructions and began typing on the keyboard. Roland peeked over his shoulder to ensure he was applying everything correctly. Although people in this world had never interacted with anything similar to computers, Arthur was doing rather well. However, his typing form started bothering Roland immensely, as Arthur continued to poke at the keys with one finger instead of using both hands.

After what felt like an eternity of poking at the roughly produced keyboard, the holographic map over the table reacted to the input. One of the squares started blinking and then expanded, along with a few others around it. The enlarged squares revealed more dots inside, which moved every so often.

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‘It would be better if he could just click the square by hand to enlarge the area instead of putting in long coordinates, but for now, this will do’

Roland watched as Arthur continued to navigate the holographic map in an awkward fashion. The system, though rudimentary, provided a groundbreaking way to monitor the city. Each dot represented a person or significant object within Albrook, thanks to the numerous runic cameras and tracking devices Roland had discreetly installed throughout the city. Arthur finally managed to zoom in on a specific area, one of the marketplaces. The dots moved around and represented the city inhabitants there.

“This is incredible, we can track everything and everyone just from this room.”

Arthur said in awe of this groundbreaking technology. Roland approached while contemplating why others never developed anything similar. He could only assume that with so many people that had discovery magic and tracking skills, there was no need for something this intricate. There were various other spells that could be placed around a lord’s mansion to keep assassins and villains away. People could also train beasts or take in guards with specialized skills.

“This is just a part of its use. I divided the city into sectors and while the runic cameras don’t cover all of it yet, it is possible to access the camera from here.”

He explained while bringing up a direct visual feed up to the marketplace that Arthur had highlighted. The holographic projection didn’t change as the camera image was produced on the large screen that was in the room with them. There was no sound but they could cleary see all the people that were in the marketplace moving around. While the camera quality wasn’t too great, it would be enough for what they needed.

“Remarkable, you have truly outdone yourself with this. What do you call this new invention?”

“Name? I guess… we could go with ‘Big Brother’ “

“Big brother? Ah, I think I understand, quite the naming sense as always my friend.”