I am back – Chapter 159

“Phew…”

“Are you nervous?”

I asked my older sister, who let out a big sigh.

“Yeah.”

She answered simply, without trying to hide it.

“It’s understandable to be nervous. The first time someone crosses a Dimensional Gate in Irrelaysia, it’s nerve-wracking.”

Dana, who was having breakfast, said that.

“Actually, there’s no real reason to be nervous. It’s just like passing from one room to another. The spaces are connected, so you won’t really feel sick or anything.”

I recalled my first experience using the Dimensional Gate.

In Irrelaysia, Dimensional Gates are more commonly used for sending supplies than for sending people. Opening the gate accurately and maintaining it consistently costs a lot. Especially, making a gate magically appear in a specific location is genuinely difficult and requires an incredibly skilled mage.

The problem is that the magic these mages use isn’t limited to Dimensional Gates. There are moments in battle when their area attack spells become absolutely necessary.

So, a normally open Dimensional Gate is usually sized to fit something like a large box rather than allowing a person to pass through completely. If the gate is about waist-height, it can send supplies quickly. They pack everything in standardized boxes and send them hundreds at a time along the rails laid on the ground.

A Dimensional Gate that is large enough for a person to pass through freely almost never opens unless there’s an urgent need to send troops. In the case of nobles, there are times when they have direct mages open such gates… but as the war escalates, those mages usually head to the battlefield, so unless a noble has something incredibly important, using a Dimensional Gate to move anywhere becomes quite difficult.

At best, it’s just about hunching down or crawling between the supply gates. Or maybe lying down flat to pass through like a tube.

And considering paying a hefty fee to the kingdom just to cross the gate in such a humiliating position, most nobles would rather use a carriage or ride a horse directly.

Given how difficult it is for even the high-ranking people, it’s no wonder that many have misconceptions about Dimensional Gates.

There are rumors that crossing through a gate leaves severe physical issues, or that you’ll be sick all day or have a fever… Well, we, who sometimes had urgent needs to travel from the battlefield to the capital city, obviously knew that a Dimensional Gate was merely a passage connecting spaces.

“Is that so…?”

Yet, even after hearing Dana’s explanation, my sister still looked a bit scared.

“And don’t worry if the gate closes while you’re passing through; you won’t get sliced in half or anything.”

Of course, there were such rumors.

Things like, someone was crossing through a gate when it closed mid-way, splitting their body in two.

“If the gate happens to close midway, you will end up safely on one side or the other. There’s no ‘middle’ space between spaces. It may look like a mirror leading to another space, but the thickness is ‘0’. From the side, it essentially doesn’t exist—how can you cut something that doesn’t exist?”

If space itself could cut matter, it wouldn’t just be used for logistics but in many other places too, like quarries… But clearly, that kind of magic can’t be used. The Dimensional Gate’s utility is strictly to move certain materials to the other side.

And even with that limited utility, it would still be said to be one of the most important magics among all kinds of magic.

“Right…”

My sister’s face turned a bit red as she answered Dana.

I could understand that feeling.

It’s embarrassing to be the only one who doesn’t know common knowledge that everyone else knows. The closer that knowledge gets to something everyone knows, the more embarrassing it feels.

“Don’t worry. Most ordinary people in Irrelaysia don’t know much about Dimensional Gates either.”

But at least, I didn’t have to feel ashamed about knowing magic compared to others.

The very idea of magic isn’t very familiar to ordinary people in the first place.

There are magic spells that are often used in everyday life, but almost no one, including mages, fully understands the principles behind them. Even mages don’t know much about areas of magic that don’t concern them.

It’s like how we know we use smartphones and that they contain semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries, but we can’t properly explain what semiconductors are or what lithium-ion really is.

Of course, if that mage were from all over the country, it might be a different story.

“I see…”

However, even such ‘common knowledge’ can be hard to grasp unless you experience it yourself.

“Well, you’ll understand when you see it for yourself. At least, it’ll be much easier than understanding this side of the world. All kinds of electronic devices here are made based on one principle, but magic often doesn’t follow any single principle. You can just think, ‘Oh, it’s magic, so that’s why,’ and move on.”

When Kalia shrugged her shoulders and said this, Dana frowned.

“What do you mean it doesn’t follow a single principle? Magic is definitely based on one law and spreads out in various ways. Plus, magic isn’t omnipotent either. An ordinary person with no knowledge wouldn’t understand it. But coming from a noble family, you shouldn’t say such absurd things because nobles and royalty think ‘magic can do anything’!”

“Not many can properly understand that, so they just think about it casually and move on.”

Kalia calmly replied, causing Dana to rub the back of her neck.

Hmm… well.

Honestly, for someone seeing magic for the first time, it just looks like a supernatural phenomenon.

Ah, of course, it is a supernatural phenomenon. After all, it’s something that goes beyond the laws of physics.

But at the same time, there are laws to that supernatural phenomenon. Just as there are things that science can’t achieve even as it progresses, magic is the same.

“… Hah, well. Anyway, it’s not dangerous, so you can relax. I’ll guarantee that.”

“If Dana says that, I’ll believe it too.”

It seems my sister felt a bit reassured after seeing Dana and Kalia talk, and she replied with a smile.

*

“Alright, are you all set?”

Dana said from the entrance to her room.

Most of the people waiting had relaxed expressions. After all, it was the way back home after several months.

Everyone was dressed the same as when they arrived.

Except they had almost no luggage.

They had packed a few items to bring from this side of the world, but left most of their belongings behind. While they didn’t have much to begin with, that doesn’t mean they had taken every item from their rooms.

They probably figured their companions would return soon as well.

I felt somewhat relieved at that fact.

It seemed like they were thinking they could come back to this world anytime, even if they were heading to Irrelaysia.

Well, I mean, I’m also crossing over to Irrelaysia right now.

“If we go now, we probably won’t be able to return for at least a few days to two weeks. It’ll be tough to come back for anything we left behind. So make sure to prepare well in advance.”

At those words, Pia showed a slightly anxious expression and lightly rummaged through her bag from this world before nodding.

The others nodded too.

My luggage was light as well. I thought it would be better to match the clothing of that side rather than wear modern South Korean attire in Irrelaysia.

“… Alright then.”

Dana grinned and opened the door.

There it was… a Dimensional Gate big enough for one person to pass through easily.

“I was going to shrink it to a size that would let us crawl through, but since everyone seemed to need more time, I enlarged it up to this point. Well, it’s better that everyone can step through comfortably, right?”

Beyond the Dimensional Gate…

There were people.

“If it maintains after we pass through, it should hold for a while… but then the Magic Stones on this side will be used up. That’s a problem. It’d be better to leave a bunch of Magic Stones in Irrelaysia after we pass. Plus, it’s always nice to have someone there to help instead of just rushing through without a word.”

“How many times have we gone back and forth?”

“That’s not the case. Every time something passes through, the lifespan of the gate decreases by that much. Instead, I tossed a note in there. And I yelled out too. Anyway, they heard it.”

Dana said with a smile.

“Well, even so, it will be bothersome for the entire time I’m living here if that person stays there, so usually, I send them elsewhere and block the warehouse door.”

Truly, she was a thorough colleague in many ways.