“W-What? A blackout?!”
While everyone else didn’t really make a fuss about such a thing, the dining hall was literally pitch black.
Did someone mess up and cause a disconnection?
More than that, my eyes quickly adjusted, and I could make out my surroundings.
Well… from what I could see, it looked no different than before the lights went out.
“S-Senpai… what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Oh, right, I completely forgot to ask, where did the electricity here come from anyway? I always assumed it was self-generated or something… The lights outside went out too, didn’t they?”
Indeed, as Okura said, the lights for the outdoor seating beyond the windows used for illumination had also gone out.
“Actually, like the internet, the electricity was also delivered from Japan via some mysterious hyperspace connection… but we’ve never had a blackout before. If this is the case, it’s probably a disconnection in the power line to the dining hall… The thing is, the wiring was haphazardly done by Doran and the other Dwarves, and the breakers seem to be at their limit capacity… Maybe a wire came loose, or someone snagged a wire again. Or perhaps someone used the microwave too much at the convenience store, or did something else.”
“Well, even just light, we can create it with magic… For now, it’s a problem to be in complete darkness, so I’ll turn on the lights first!”
As Lansia calmly summoned a “Ball of Light,” illumination returned instantly.
This is essentially magic that embodies light spirits, but frankly, it’s also called a household magic used as a substitute for lighting.
As other magic users similarly summoned “Balls of Light” and floated them near the ceiling, the dining hall returned to its former brightness.
“Truly, magic is convenient… My apologies, this has happened before, so I’ll go take a look at the wiring.”
“Ah, I’ll go too. I even have a Level 3 Electrician’s license, so I know more about electrical wiring than you, Senpai. I haven’t touched electrical wiring for a while, and I don’t have any instruments at hand, but it’s an old skill, so I should be able to tell to some extent just by looking and palpating.”
Come to think of it, this guy… he’s a bit of a license enthusiast and had all sorts of licenses.
He apparently had a towing license, hunting license, and various construction-related licenses, but he himself said that he only got them and never actually used them…
Incidentally, he said he got the hunting license because he wanted to try shooting a real gun, but he only shot a shotgun at a shooting range and never actually hunted animals with a gun…
“That’s reassuring. Just like a license enthusiast! For now, everyone wait here. I think it’ll be fixed soon!”
As I said that, Kirika and Lansia nodded with smiles, but somehow, Aage looked uneasy.
“Aage? What’s wrong? This isn’t a big deal, is it… Did you get scared because it suddenly got dark? You have your cute side too!”
“Y-You idiot… Don’t tease me! No, it’s… how should I put it… The moment the power went out, I had a strange sensation, as if something passed through my body. And, I have a strange premonition… this might be serious! Lansia, I’m sorry, but please accompany me… I’m worried about Kuroie… I’m going to go check on things!”
“Understood! Well, at times like this, the safety of Kuroie, the First Wife, is paramount… Seriously, when attacking enemies during an encampment, the standard procedure is to turn off the lights first, so there’s a good chance this could be an enemy attack.”
“Yeah… there are still remnants of the terrorists Rain’s group led, and even though we’ve had a ceasefire with the Empire, there might be hotheads in the field who cause trouble, and no one knows when anything might happen. For now, what should we do? If you want, I can go with Kentaro?”
Just a blackout…
I recognized it as such and thought it would be restored immediately.
A unprecedented problem occurred in a place where nothing had happened before.
Aage and the others seemed to be assuming that a serious situation had already occurred.
…Frankly, I was made to keenly feel the difference in our sense of crisis.
But now that I think about it, the mana balance does feel different than usual.
When I activated my magic eye, I could see that in the area around the convenience store and this whole area, which should have been almost entirely colorless mana of no attribute, the wind and earth mana were rapidly becoming denser.
No, in the forest, this is actually the normal mana balance, so what was abnormal is returning to a normal state.
That’s how it should be… but even at that point, it could be considered an abnormal situation.
Even I realized something was happening and switched my mindset…
“Kirika, go to Radcliff’s place. Aage’s intuition is not to be underestimated, and I’m starting to think this might be serious. In any case, inform Radcliff to raise the alert level immediately! …After that, wait at the guardhouse! I’ll be heading to the guardhouse after I finish checking all the wiring.”
Ah, now that I recognize it as an abnormal situation, I actually feel calmer.
Ever since I was young, the more dangerous I thought it was, the more I grew calmer…
“Understood… Well then, I’ll head out first!”
“Kentaro! After I confirm Kuroie’s safety, I intend to wake him up too and head to the guardhouse! I don’t know what will happen, so be careful!”
“Until I wake His Majesty… No, I should wake him. Indeed, this is strange in many ways. You be careful too! Lansia, please take care of Aage!”
“Yes! Leave it to me! Ah, the Elf Special Forces have also been roused and are on high alert, and Lishia-nee-san is already moving too! Amazing!”
As expected, everyone is efficient.
I see, Lishia-san was already moving too.
If that laid-back Lishia-san moved immediately, the situation is quite serious.
That person, though she may look slow and steady, is a top-class combatant…
She naturally has influence over the Elf Special Forces and can also mobilize the magician squad stationed here, so she’s actually like the boss of the magicians… in other words, she’s super reliable.
After seeing the three off, I issued initial orders to each department via far-talking crystal and began checking the dining hall’s electrical wiring with Mr. Santos.
Thanks to the “Balls of Light” everyone released and the light from my smartphone, I looked over everything, and there was no problem.
Okura, who has an Electrician’s license, also confirmed it, so it was good to assume there was no problem.
Well, the fact that the streetlights outside also went out already suggested it wasn’t a problem here.
The basic principle of troubleshooting is to “secure the outer perimeter”… and Okura didn’t seem willing to compromise on that.
“Well, it seems like something happened at the main convenience store… The outdoor lights also seem to be out… Mr. Santos, do you have any lights?”
If I go to the convenience store, I’ll have LED flashlights in stock, but I want to check the outdoor wiring too.
And if the convenience store is also experiencing a blackout, it’ll be quite a hassle to pull out a flashlight from the warehouse in complete darkness… I should have taken care of it all at once if possible.
“Well, in times like these, this is its turn to shine. Take it!”
Saying that, Mr. Santos lent me his well-worn, old-fashioned oil lamp.
He sometimes uses this oil lamp, which emits a lot of smoke if you mishandle it, for lighting in the dining hall, saying that LED lighting is too unstylish for him.
In times like these, this kind of low-tech lighting is more useful.
“It’s not like I’m bothered by complete darkness, but Okura is human, so he doesn’t have night vision… Frankly, it’s a lifesaver.”
“I appreciate your consideration. It’s impossible to do anything if I can’t see my hands, after all. But, it’s strange enough that electricity is coming here in this world… And, to suddenly have a blackout when there’s never been one before… it does feel a bit unsettling. Let’s go outside… and while we’re at it, I’ll check the wiring along the way.”
When we went outside, as expected… the streetlights near the dining hall were all out.
However, most buildings don’t have electricity anyway, so the streetlights are only between the convenience store and the dining hall.
And around Kuroie-sama’s residence.
The main street has lanterns hung here and there, lit at night, so it’s reasonably bright.
So, even if there’s a blackout, it’s not much different from usual.
As Okura checked the wiring buried at the edge of the road, we reached the front of the convenience store, and sure enough, the sign was off, and it was completely dark inside.
Today’s shift includes the Manager and Rana-san, and given the time, they were probably doing the daily settlement…
Of course, if the electricity goes out, there’s nothing they can do.
“Oh, Owner-san! Thank goodness! I’m so sorry, all the lights suddenly went out while we were doing the settlement… Everyone was having trouble!”
Rana, uncharacteristically flustered, rushes out from inside.
Well, this must be unexpected for her too.
“Nyaaa! Master, you’ve come at just the right time, nya! The lights went out and it’s completely dark, nya! The register stopped working, and the screen for stock control also went dark, so I can’t place tomorrow’s order, nya!”
The smartphone signal is also out of range… Given this situation, the 4G antenna and WiFi are both down…
Both were powered by the convenience store’s electricity, so naturally, they would go down in a blackout.
Moreover, with the internet line down because the router went out, it means it’s not connecting.
If this is the case, it’s highly likely our means of communication with Japan have been completely severed…
I don’t know what happened, but this might be a bit of a problem.
“Rana-san, what about the water?”
Electricity is out… the internet is out, now let’s see if the water is working…
“That’s the thing, even when I turn on the tap in the sink, no water comes out at all. Well, we can use the water from the well and the pipes from the river outside, and those are supposed to be the main sources, so I don’t think there will be any significant problems…”
Rana’s report.
I see, so the water is out too.
The water and electricity are on separate systems, but with both out…
Next, I enter the store and operate the built-in telephone, but when I pick up the receiver, it’s completely silent.
These kinds of telephones are powered by the phone line itself, so even during a blackout, if the phone line is alive, at least a call should be possible…
I’ve heard that even during blackouts, phones often work because they are on a separate system from electricity, but our root is the same… With the water out and the phone line cut…
And if the public water supply is out, then the sewage… this situation is also suspicious.
…Well, the toilets at the convenience store will have to be temporarily closed, and we’ll need to change the sewage connection to the general one.
In any case, in this village, there are also simple flush toilets that collect water with a manual pump and flush into the sewage, and there are bucket toilets everywhere, so this won’t be a significant problem either.
After all, even in Japan just 20-30 years ago, train toilets just dumped waste onto the tracks, and bucket toilets were common.
Now, washlet toilets are commonplace anywhere in Japan, but as a consequence, if the water and sewage systems stop due to a disaster, the toilets overflow in no time. It’s ironic, and it’s only happened relatively recently.
“This is troubling… It means the lifelines are completely wiped out. Perhaps something happened in Japan.”
The gas is propane, so I think it’s fine… but if there’s no water, we can’t even boil water, so we can’t use the bath or shower.
Well, there’s also the open-air bath behind Kuroie-sama’s villa, and I don’t mind just washing with water…
“Hmm… I don’t understand the details, but… this convenience store, it seems to have been equipped with lifelines, including water and sewage, electricity, and the internet, adhering to Japan’s standards. How was it actually connected to Japan’s lifelines in the first place? It’s hard to believe that electricity, water, and phone lines are connected across worlds.”
“Hmm, regarding that, it’s a miracle of the Goddess… I can’t explain it any other way. Up until now, those lifelines have been usable without any problems… For them to suddenly cut off all at once… Surely, something abnormal is happening… that must be it.”
“For now, I’ll check the main wiring. Ah, do you have any blueprints or anything for this store?”
“Ah, I think this is it…”
Saying that, I handed over a thick binder that was placed under the register.
We used it before when a small, mouse-like animal got in, chewed on the wiring, and half of the store’s lights went out, so Okura should understand it if he looks at it.
“Okay! Then, I’ll take care of that side… Excuse me, may I borrow some light?”
For now, it’s best to leave it to Okura, who has an Electrician’s license.
As I watched him peer here and there with the oil lamp in hand, my radio in my pocket suddenly crackled to life.
If anyone could break in, it would be Zero One… maybe he knows something?
“This is Owner Takakura, is that Zero One?”
“Yes, Commander! An emergency has occurred, and the internet connection with the home country was suddenly shut down. We have judged it necessary to request the owner to investigate the cause of the line disconnection and have made this emergency contact.”
“…I’m currently checking the electrical wiring at the convenience store. I’ve confirmed the internet is down here as well… The cause is the power outage. The antenna and the WiFi router also won’t work without power. By the way, is there a problem on your end if the internet connection is down?”
“Due to the disconnection of the network line with the home country, the linkage with the mother system has temporarily failed, and the mutual link network has also been severed. However, we are currently creating a temporary alternative network through direct mutual connection, and there are plans to restart as a collective network with mutual supplementation. Currently, all units are on standby on the ground in maintenance mode, so the surrounding alert level has temporarily decreased, so please be careful.”
I guess what he means is… they usually connect to a server network that goes through Japan, but now they’re changing it to a star-shaped network structure with direct mutual connection.
They probably anticipated situations where the connection with the home country might be interrupted due to radio jamming… It’s well-designed that they can operate without issues during temporary disruptions, even when disconnected from home country control.
