Isekai Office Worker: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter

Five days after my sudden move to Aresh-sama's estate...

When I told him I couldn't quite get used to such a lavish lifestyle,

he took me into the city to shop, saying I should replace things as I liked.

I mean, I'm not really wanting for anything...

THE OTHER WORLD'S BOOKS DEPEND ON THE BEAN COUNTER

I LET MY THOUGHTS WANDER

Commander Indolark, please allow me to welcome you.

What may I help you find today?

You see, I've just moved, so I'd like to look at some furniture.

You've moved?

I see. In that case, right this way.

See if there's anything you like.

Whoa! Hold on...

Just take a look.

That was so awkward.

Careful there!

Oh, my. You saved me. Thank you.

It's nothing.

What a refined lady.

Well, she must be a noble if she was wandering around here.

Seiichirou.

Did something unpleasant happen?

That's not it.

It's just that I feel so out of place here...

Out of place?

As a commoner, I can't help feeling intimidated somewhere so upscale.

But you work in the royal palace.

My work and private life are entirely distinct matters.

Well, I suppose you wouldn't understand, Aresh-sama.

After all, you're the young master of a marquisate.

Let's go.

Huh?

You can shop here comfortably, can't you?

He stands out no matter where he goes.

Well, he does have an outstanding face,

and he's the commander of a royal order to boot.

What's wrong? Are you tired?

No, I'm fine.

This place is...

A shop that sells magic tools.

Hey, welcome in.

What's that?

A heating device.

I'm surprised they have one in a magic shop for commoners.

A heater? This is a heater?

There's a magic circle inscribed on the base here.

You put a magic stone inside to activate it.

I see...

Shopkeep, I'll take this.

Pleasure doing business!

That's a high-quality item we just got in. I appreciate you taking it off my hands.

It will soon get cold in Romany.

He's right.

The temperature has definitely dropped since I first came to this world...

Time really is passing.

Right now, Japan should be...

Huh?

Don't you get cold at night, even in this weather?

Put this in your room.

Oh...

Thank you very much.

With a nice purchase like that, here's a little something on the house.

What's this?

Actually, I don't really know myself.

It looks a bit like a kaleidoscope.

Do you know how to use it?

No...

But it looks similar to something from my homeland.

We'll take it.

Were you just in the bath?

Come on, isn't it a bit rude to come in without permission?

Oh. I forgot to knock.

GRR...

Well, he does own the place. I can't complain too much!

That thing again?

What does the item it resembles from your homeland do?

What does it do? It's just a novelty used to see

strange and beautiful patterns when you look inside.

You just see patterns?

Yes. Well, no.

The patterns change as you turn it...

Hey, it moved.

It's engraved with ancient text.

Ancient text?

It's an ancient tongue used in the practice of magic.

It's often used for making magic tools and spellcraft.

Oh, so the language of your magic is different from the modern tongue.

No wonder I couldn't make any of it out

even though I can understand people's speech.

The summoning circle had a common language translation spell built into it,

but magic incantations themselves remain in the ancient tongue.

True...

If you summoned someone from another world who didn't speak your language,

communication would be very difficult.

I bet someone like the prime minister advised about that.

I see. So you can't understand what I'm chanting.

What does it sound like to you?

I thought it sounded like a song...

What is it?

Nothing...

So, what does this say here?

Oh...

No clue.

In the ancient language used for magic, this arrangement makes no sense.

Huh? This arrangement?

You have all the possibilities memorized?

Yeah.

Right...

I forgot. This guy is the youngest knight commander

in history and a genius sorcerer to boot.

As far as I can tell, it won't function as a magic tool without a magic stone.

So it's safe for you to keep.

Why don't you just use it for decoration?

Still, something about it is bothering me...

Huh? Kondu? What's going on?

What do you mean, what's going on?

Didn't I tell you I was coming to ask

about the detailed breakdown of the recent purification completion rates?

Huh? Really?

Huh? What's that?! Lemme see!

He only moves fast at times like these.

It's the ancient text inscribed on a magic tool we don't know the function of.

Aresh-sama says it's gibberish,

but I thought you might say otherwise.

Huh?! A magic tool?! Where, where?! Lemme see!

I thought you'd say that, so I didn't bring it with me.

What?

If I hand it over, I might never get it back.

He'd probably take it apart.

What kind of magic tool is it?

It looks like a cylindrical kaleido—erm, telescope.

But it was pitch black when I looked inside.

Hmm?

Aresh-sama said that sequence

of ancient characters doesn't match any magic spell.

Can you make anything of it?

Hmm. I haven't seen the real thing, so I can't be sure,

but I don't know of any magic sequences like this, either.

I see.

If Ist-san doesn't know, then I'm sure no one in the Romany Kingdom does.

Hey, are you sure there weren't any other characters on this magic tool?

There weren't.

It has no magic stone, so I was assured it wouldn't function whatsoever.

Not at all? Was the surface completely black?

Not completely black. It has a pattern on it.

A pattern! See?!

I bet there's a magic formula hidden in the pattern!

A secret code! What's the pattern look like?!

I-I don't remember something like that.

Huh? Why not?

Why, you ask?

Right... He's another variety of genius.

Regardless, that was useful information.

I'll have Aresh-sama look at it today to see if there are any hidden characters.

Either way, I wonder why it has this particular inscription.

Hey! How's it going?

Whoa!

Oops.

Ciro-san...

What's this jumble of ancient text?

It's inscribed on a magic tool of unknown purpose.

Aresh-sama couldn't decipher it, so I thought I'd show it to Ist-san.

And he couldn't crack it?

Indeed.

Ciro-san can read ancient text, too?

I guess that makes sense.

He's a medical director in a world where magic exists.

What's with that look?

Did you think that since it stumped a genius magic swordsman like Aresh

and a genius sorcerer like Ist, I wouldn't be able to figure it out?

No, of course not.

I may not look the part, but I've even dabbled in Egorova's magic before.

Egorova? Isn't that a kingdom up in the north?

That's right.

It's a nation where the development of magic tools is quite advanced,

partly due to their mines rich in magic stones.

My grandmother is from there.

I see.

So international marriages are a thing here.

Their approach to interpreting the ancient tongue differs from Romany's.

Huh? There are different ways to interpret the ancient tongue?

Then what do these characters mean according to Egorova's method?

Huh? No clue.