Bonus chapter thanks to @Pop and @John, subscribing for Chief Magician Tier on Ko-fi
----------------------
Project: Sound of Music (2)
Silence Tower, Executive Meeting.
Since the Flower Garden incident, the meetings had always ended with only regular reports from the chief magicians without any major agendas.
However, this meeting was an irregular executive meeting convened by Reed.
The outline of the executives was simple.
Three chief magicians, excluding the two who had resigned.
Phoebe, acting as the deputy tower master.
And Reed, making a total of five attendees.
The chief mages glanced uncomfortably at one place and then opened their mouths.
"Tower Master, may I ask you something?"
"It's fine. It's not a world where you get your throat cut for voicing an opinion."
"Why is that woman in the executive meeting?"
"Wasn't it just for the executives?"
The person they were looking at was Kaitlyn Ramos.
It made sense for them to question her presence, as she was the lowest-ranking member among the Silence Tower members.
Kaitlyn had come when called, but she naturally felt intimidated by their gazes.
"First, let me apologize. I'm sorry to you all, but she knows more about <Magic Engineering> in this tower than anyone else. Although she entered as an apprentice, she is essentially our chief engineer. So I think it's only natural that she attends this Magic Engineering-related meeting."
"Still, there's a matter of status..."
"Of course, we won't always have her attend. And it's an irregular meeting, so please understand just this once."
"Hmm, alright."
"If the Tower Master says so."
There's nothing they could do since it's not like they would have her attend always.
The chief magicians moved on to an agreeable atmosphere.
"Since the Tower Lord has called us like this, it must be something that requires our consent or assistance."
"It's a matter that meets both requirements at the same time."
Reed snapped his fingers at Phoebe, and she distributed the project documents to everyone participating in the meeting.
- Project: Sound of Music
"Sound of music?"
"Is it a simple codename like the old Flower Garden?"
At the chief magician's question, Reed shook his head.
"The main focus of this project is music."
"What does music have to do with Magic Engineering?"
"Since it's an application of Magic Engineering technology, let's first look at the overview and then discuss it."
Seeing is believing.
At his words, they began to read the overview one by one.
"Well, this is..."
"Huh, well..."
The chief magicians all showed ambiguous reactions.
Reed wasn't shocked, as he fully understood their response.
Reed asked Kaitlyn.
"What do you think about this?"
"In a nutshell, it's about creating a magic recording device that even those who can't use magic can use, isn't it?"
Magic Recording Device.
As the name suggests, it was a magic device for recording specific content.
It was an item that they had seen a lot when the Tower Masters had presented gifts, handing over their notes and records.
The price was high, with even the lowest grade orbs costing over 5,000 UP each, making it hard to obtain unless you were a workshop or tower-affiliated magician.
"And so?"
"In my opinion... there is a magic recording orbs for magicians, right? I don't think it's particularly necessary... but it's not difficult to use either."
The use of a magic record orb was very simple.
If one could control mana, it was intuitive enough that even Reed, who first encountered magic, and Rosaria, who never formally learned magic, could use it.
"However, only one in five people have potential in magic, and even among them, half cannot awaken mana. Our goal is to create something that can be used anytime without the involvement of magicians."
"Hmm... If magicians hear about this, they might feel quite offended."
Surprisingly, it was Kaitlyn, who majored in Magic Engineering, who brought up this point.
Magicians are conservative.
They value progress more than anyone else, but the moment they step out of the box, many magicians resist.
In plain words, it was considered heresy among magicians.
Because of such issues, Magic Engineering was looked down upon, and many people were surprised when Reed used it as a last resort.
'All history has been like this.'
When cars first came out, no one knew that carriages would disappear, and until smartphones appeared, mobile phones were just machines for making calls.
As more convenient things emerge, people get swept up in the winds of change.
And now, Reed is trying to lead that wind of change.
"Our main goal is to capture voices. I think it won't be a big problem as long as we're not dealing with video. If they think their interests are threatened by such trivial matters, they are pathetic magicians and can be ignored."
"In my opinion, it doesn't seem like such a big deal either."
"If they make a fuss over something like this, as you said, they would be pathetic magicians."
The chief magicians agree with Reed's words.
"So, you mentioned capturing sound, what do you plan to do with that sound? Do you plan to record an orchestra?"
"It's not just about listening to the music of an orchestra."
"Then what?"
"We will record the songs of the best bards roaming around, the secretive songs of elves and druids, and even the songs of intelligent beings like orcs."
"Ah, now that you mention it, the term 'Sound of Music' makes sense."
"Even capturing the songs of elves and druids..."
A project truly dedicated to music.
It was somewhat unfamiliar to the chief magicians who had only been researching magic, but they seemed interested.
"Bards will gather if we announce it in the village... but how do you plan to deal with the elves and druids?"
"They can be quite exclusive to outsiders."
Elves born within the World Tree and druids who kidnap village girls to raise them as warriors.
Their commonality was that they were beautiful and had a sense of mission to protect their territory.
However, they were not unconditionally exclusive.
They were just picky about people because of their beauty.
"Do elves and druids like humans who handle mana well?"
"If you have the qualifications of a Tower Master, they will certainly acknowledge you."
"I won't be able to do that. I would only bring shame."
Read ahead by supporting me on Ko-fi. Access 2 advance chapters with the Apprentice Tier ($4) or 5 advance chapters with the Chief Magician Tier ($10). For every $15 collected on Ko-fi, I will release an extra chapter. Choose your tier by clicking the 'Support me' button! Rate and review this novel on NU to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters upon reaching specific milestones. Happy reading!