Water Magician-Chapter 623: The 1024 Character String

Editor: Tseirp

In the Forbidden City within the Imperial Palace, on the plaza in front of the Taiji Hall.

There, led by Prince Ryun and Princess Shio Fen, their retinues and maids, together with Prince Ryun’s Yulin Guard and supporting officials from the Ministry of Rites, two hundred people stood in formation.

A ceremony was held to see off Prince Ryun and his party, who were departing to attend the Eastern Countries Joint Conference, now that Emperor Tsuin’s health had somewhat returned.

Incidentally, Ryo and Abel stood close to the Emperor as well.

They were participating as observers.

This was because they had received a formal invitation from the Grand Duchy of Atinjo, the conference host, independent of Darwei.

Of course, they would travel to the Autonomous City of Kwebasa by riding along with Prince Ryun’s delegation.

“It’s reassuring that Duke Rondo is accompanying them.”

“Your Majesty, Prince Ryun’s growth has been remarkable. He will surely return from the conference with excellent achievements.”

Ryo replied with a smile to Emperor Tsuin’s words.

Just as Prince Ryun and Princess Shio Fen were present at this ceremony as a couple, the pair would attend the conference together.

This was Emperor Tsuin’s consideration for diplomatic optics, since Princess Shio Fen’s homeland, the Bosuntar Kingdom, would also send representatives.

Prince Ryun himself welcomed that arrangement.

Frankly, he had not forgotten the attack on his Royal Residence two months earlier.

At that time, he had almost given up hope for Princess Shio Fen’s safety as she had remained behind in the Residence…

Not because he didn’t care.

But because he could not immediately return…

Thus, being able to attend the conference together removed that lingering worry.

Perhaps the Emperor had kept that in mind when making the arrangement.

This time, ten public vessels and twenty ships of the Darwei fleet would depart together for the joint conference.

Prince Ryun, Princess Shio Fen, their retinues, and maids would board the first public vessel.

Naturally, Captain Myun commanded the first ship.

From the first to the seventh ship rode Prince Ryun’s retainers; the eighth to the tenth carried personnel from the Ministry of Rites.

Incidentally, Ryo and Abel were aboard the tenth ship.

Of course, Captain La Wu commanded the tenth ship.

When they boarded, the tenth ship’s deputy captain, chief navigator, and the official vessel combat commander were introduced to the two.

Deputy Captain Sun Ma and Chief Navigator Mian Ma were people they had met during the princess’s earlier escort.

Both were roughly Ryo’s height, solidly built, and likely in their late twenties — perhaps brothers.

Their faces were very similar.

Sun Ma had his hair almost entirely shaven; Chief Navigator Mian had slightly longer hair.

But with the official vessel combat commander, Lin Shin, it was a first meeting.

Probably a woman in her late twenties, with short black hair and a kindly-looking face.

A kindly-looking woman as a combat commander?

Ryo did not fully understand the role of an official vessel combat commander in the first place…

“What does an official vessel combat commander actually do?”

Not knowing, Ryo asked straightforwardly.

Better to ask briefly and be ashamed once than remain ignorant forever.

“When an official vessel becomes engaged in combat, I take command.”

Commander Lin Shin answered with a smile.

Even so, Ryo could not quite form an image, but Deputy Commander Lena of the Suje Kingdom navy’s Lone Dark, who served as the female deputy commander, came to mind. ṛÅΝö฿Ɛş

Looking sideways, Abel seemed to picture the same person.

Deputy Lena had been the sort to leap first onto an enemy ship in boarding actions, and her bearing conveyed a crisp, dignified beauty.

But Commander Lin Shin in front of them had a decidedly gentle air.

Still, Ryo and Abel both knew.

They knew better than to judge by appearances.

“Lin Shin is excellent. Even if this ship is drawn into battle, you may board with peace of mind.”

Captain La Wu said with a smile.

Originally, Ryo and Abel had been invited to board the first ship by Prince Ryun and Princess Shio Fen, but they had politely declined.

They were observers separate from Darwei’s official envoys, after all…

Besides, there were various things they wanted to try.

Ryo and Abel stood on the first deck of the tenth ship.

The sunlight pouring down was dazzling.

After leaving the capital and reaching offshore, Abel looked at his wrist and reported,

“It seems we’ve left the ‘Chuo Chuang’ region.”

That was a new feature added to the Flight Ring they wore.

It let them know whether they were inside or outside ‘Chuo Chuang’.

Why was such a feature added?

Of course, Ryo had added it.

“Then Abel, try it out.”

“All right.”

Abel touched the Flight Ring on his left arm with his right hand.

At that moment, a part of the ring flashed red for an instant.

“It flashed red. That means it switched for use outside ‘Chuo Chuang’, right?”

“Yes. Abel, slowly…”

“Okay.”

Abel nodded with a serious expression.

He closed his eyes once.

Then, opening them wide… he floated.

“Oh…”

Ryo couldn’t help but let out a sound.

Even if one expects it to work in theory, seeing it take shape is moving.

Abel did not merely hover; he began to fly slowly.

Across the deck from bow to stern, stern to bow.

He flew up toward the upper parts of the mast and leapt to another mast.

Compared to when they were in ‘Chuo Chuang’, his speed was slower, but the handling seemed unchanged.

“When you first asked for permission to fly over the deck, I wondered what you meant… But so you really can fly.”

“Yeah, Captain La Wu. Thank you for granting flight permission.”

Captain La Wu of the tenth ship came over, impressed as he watched Abel fly.

“I’d heard about rings that let you fly within ‘Chuo Chuang’… but I never imagined one could be used outside of ‘Chuo Chuang’. Did you remake it, Ryo-san?”

“I touched the internals a little, but the main body is basically unchanged.”

Indeed, Ryo had only altered it slightly.

He had examined the Flight Ring’s magical formula from corner to corner.

He could say he had thoroughly investigated it.

From the parts Ryo could understand, there was no restriction on allowing flight only within ‘Chuo Chuang’.

That meant the restriction was located in the part Ryo could not understand.

There was only one such inscrutable part for Ryo.

The infamous 1024-character segment.

Like a sequence of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs suddenly appearing within a Japanese sentence—incomprehensible, meaningless—that 1024-character string.

That portion was the only part he couldn’t grasp.

He understood that the 1024-character amplified magic power.

But it also apparently imposed a restriction that made the device work only in the ‘Chuo Chuang’ region.

Ryo discovered that the 1024-character string was used repeatedly as part of looping mechanisms within the alchemical constructs.

In other words, it was a very significant section.

Therefore, Ryo created a bypass that did not pass through that 1024-character segment.

From activation to termination, he made a magic formula route that avoided the 1024 characters.

The Flight Ring Abel now used was the result.

Of course, not using the 1024-character string likely had major drawbacks.

Those effects would show themselves soon enough.

After flying for about ten minutes, Abel descended.

“How was it, Abel?”

“Ah, speed drops considerably, but handling is the same. Still…”

Abel looked somewhat fatigued.

“I’m not a magician, so I can’t say for sure, but I think the mana consumption increased. The fatigue is intense.”

“As I thought…”

Yes—that was the concern when bypassing the 1024-character string.

Without the mana-amplifying sequence, the device would consume a great deal more mana…

“Abel, when you unleash martial techniques or sword arts, how would that compare?”

“Hm… about the same as one use of an advanced Sword Technique: Absolute Shadow.”

Sword Technique: Absolute Shadow is a high-level skill that evades all long-range attacks, whether magical or physical.

Ryo considered martial contests and sword techniques to consume mana, so he asked Abel to convert it for him… and one use of such an advanced technique is considerable mana expenditure.

“The 1024-character string… it really is exceptional.”

Ryo nodded repeatedly.

At that point, Abel seemed puzzled and asked Ryo something.

“The 1024-character string you mentioned increases mana and makes it usable only in ‘Chuo Chuang’, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Didn’t you say the same string is used in Captain Lu Yao’s gauntlets for the magic artillery corps? Does that mean those gauntlets can only be used within ‘Chuo Chuang’?”

“Good question, Abel.”

Ryo nodded several times at Abel’s query.

“Actually, when I compared the strings in the Flight Ring and the gauntlets closely, there was one character that differed.”

“For real?”

“And when I asked Captain Lu Yao, she said her master once told her: use the Flight Ring variant for things strictly for ‘Chuo Chuang’, and use the gauntlet variant for things that might be used elsewhere. That said, the mana-amplifying effect in the ‘Chuo Chuang’-exclusive Flight Ring version is overwhelmingly greater.”

Hearing that, Abel nodded repeatedly.

“So that’s why. Ryo, you were asking around everywhere about the whereabouts of Luyao’s master… Lord Rowon, right?”

“Yes. I wanted to ask many things. In the end, we couldn’t find him. Captain Lu Yao said he belongs to Prince Kouri’s faction, but he may not be in the capital.”

Finding someone hiding from the world is apparently extremely difficult.

Even when you know what camp they belong to, you may still be unable to locate them.

“Captain! Flag signals from the first ship!”

“Hm? ‘Can the two of you come over’?”

Captain La Wu read the semaphore and looked over at Ryo.

“Two, they mean me and Abel, right?”

“Yes, probably.”

“Tell them we can make it.”

“Should we launch the ship?”

“No, we’ll fly over.

After that, Ryo and Abel flew through the air to the first ship.

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