Meikyuu Toshi no Antique Shop Vol 1 Chapter 4

Removing the glasses, Fujiwara puts them in his fore pocket and pulls out the usual tools.
First, a rubber-band.
To tie his hair, of course.

Next, a short tube monocle.
It magnifies the details so you can see the essentials.

Furthermore, white gloves. To avoid leaving excess fingerprints on the client’s treasures.
This is the full outfit of an appraiser.
After he was done, he lied out a dyed chamois cloth to set it on top of, and the workshop is set up.
“Now, please have a look.”
Fujiwara removed the fire sword from its sheath, giving Soarer the sheath, placing the drawn sword on the workbench.
First, Fujiwara traced the sword slowly with his index finger so that he could explore toward the gutter.
Fujiwara reached a carved seal where the body of the sword rises and murmurs something. It was an elementary incantation to release the magic from the blood to the outside, one that a magician uses.
He added the effect to make something that was concealed visible in addition to the magic he released outside.

“This is…”
“This technique is for generating a magic phenomenon without using magic.”

After saying this, the sword rang out with a small echo, and a pale streak to the center of the design looks like a blood vessel as it forms, floating, branching, spreading, and repeating. They look like an abstract line painting, but also like a myriad of magical characters.

“This is called a magical circuit.”

Some scholars say it’s like a mechanical contrivance that creates magical effects, such as the complicated and inscrutable gear that intertwined this blade.
A poet has also said it to be a complete form of poetry, with every word play packed in.
But the contract’s resemblance to anything is best to something a magician or appraiser would contract, such as Fujiwara.
After all, with magic and the world, nothing is free. It’s a contract.
The principle is that the contract is a conversation with the world by the intervention of the “Language” by a spell, gesture, or curse, and we get approval with the currency of magic, and that forms a magical phenomenon.
It is a magical circuit made on the behalf of this principle.
This is constituted by three provisions.
Qualification. Price. Reward.

“Qualification”, because it is party to the agreement. Who is qualified to use the tool? An example is “handle only if you fight in the battlefield” or “only thieves can use”. This is tied to the will of the creator, and lineage or age are also possible.

The “Price” is what you pay for the ability to be used. Rarely, money or even hair can be used, but typically users must pay magic in most cases.

If the magic phenomenon can be obtained, you must set up a “Reward”. The higher the degree of difficulty, the higher the “Reward”, needless to say.

In other words-

“What should you spend, can you spend it, and what power are you borrowing?”
“How does it know whether a flame can be taken out of the sword when paying?”
“It’s such a thing.”
Fujiwara continued talking while analyzing.
While looking through the Magical pattern, he scribbled down something using a feather pen occasionally.
It seems monotonous and unspectacular, but you need to use intelligence and nerve, despite the appearance.
It’s not easy to capture the intricate language of this labyrinth to an extent that you do not harm the item.

Fujiwara definitely didn’t hate his work.

The secret mark and jargon of the artifact are found and changed…

The conversion and replacement are done in accordance with an algorithm…
The word is relaxed, and the puzzle is cut and pasted and joined…
Deleting unnecessary modifications or the junction…

This repetition of tasks would drive Fujiwara mad, if he were a normal human, but instead a smile spills from his mouth.
He’s the type who enjoys these maddening things- “And that’s why he’s a monster!” cries Anemone.

Chapter end