Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter 6

Retraining 

Satou here. I always loved ridiculous, over-the-top training scenes in anime and manga. Something about them really appeals to my inner child. 

“Master Satou!” 

When we stopped at the southern island on the way to Bolenan Forest, the first person to greet us was Yuuneia, a young girl whose black hair ended in red tips. 

“Sister! Come quickly!” 

After throwing her arms around me in a hug, she turned back to call her older sister, Rei. 

A very small girl with blue-tipped white hair came running over as fast as her short legs could carry her. 

At a glance, Rei looked younger than Yuuneia, but she was actually older than me or even Mia the elf. 

She was a half-ghost—an extremely rare race—as well as the final surviving member of the ancient Lalakie dynasty. She had lived for more than two thousand years. 

“Welcome back, Satou. Good to see you, everyone.” 

“You too, Rei.” 

Rei’s tone was calm as usual, but it looked like she had been lonely on the island. 

Further proof of this included how her little hand wrapped around mine and refused to let go. 

Yuuneia, incidentally, was no longer clinging to me, having been dragged away by the iron-wall pair. 

“Can you stay awhile this time?” she asked. 

“No, we’re on our way to Bolenan Forest, I’m afraid.” When I saw Rei’s smile fade, I quickly continued, “Why don’t you come with us? We stopped by to ask you to accompany us on a tour of the elves’ forest.” 

“Are you sure the elves won’t mind uninvited guests in their territory?” 

“It’ll be fine.” 

I had already gotten permission from Aaze—Aialize the high elf of Bolenan Forest—and the elf elders to invite the two along after the Lalakie incident. 

“But…” 

“Don’t worry. Miss Aaze is in the elf village, and the World Tree’s spirit light purifies miasma.” 

Rei was probably nervous because her body was very susceptible to the negative effects of miasma, which tended to gather in populated areas. 

“Yuuneia, will you come, too?” 

“I’d follow my big sister anywhere!” 

Yuuneia was obsessed with her sister, so I knew that would be her answer. 

The two sisters joined us, and we resumed our journey to Bolenan Forest with the help of multiple Return spells. 

“Okay, we’re here.” 

Including the stop at the island, it took eight Return spells to arrive in Bolenan Forest. 

Unlike the advanced Space Magic teleportation spells, my Return spell was limited to about two hundred miles per use, so it couldn’t get to the forest in one shot. 

Because having more people along also increased the amount of magic required, it ended up using almost the same amount as a single Meteor Shower. 

When we arrived at our tree house in Bolenan Forest, someone else was already there. 

“Hello, Miss Lua.” 

Lua froze, looking startled. 

She was the elf priestess in charge of taking care of the high elf Miss Aaze. 

“Welcome back, Mr. Satou. You’ve got quite a crowd with you this time.” 

She was accustomed to my teleporting in, though, and she returned my greeting calmly. From the look of things, she was airing out our rooms today. 

“We were hoping to do some training, so we’ll be staying for a while, if that’s all right.” 

“Of course. You’re always welcome.” 

“‘This time’?” I heard the sharp-eared Arisa repeat behind me, but I ignored her, even when she went on. “Come to think of it, didn’t Rei say ‘can you stay awhile this time?’ too?” 

“Mm.” 

Nope, I’m not getting roped into this conversation. I’ll just let it flow right past me like the wind. 

“I’ll contact Hiya and the others, then. Oh, and Nea was saying that she’s managed to make vanilla extract.” 

“Yes, Miss Aaze told me that yesterday over Telephone.” 

Behind me, I heard Arisa and Lulu going over our schedule from the day before. 

Their memory wasn’t deceiving them. All through the previous day, they were fighting monsters in the labyrinth, and I was standing nearby researching golem magic. 

“Stop! In the naaame of love!” 

Why are you singing? 

“Stoppp?” 

“The naaaame of love, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi started imitating Arisa, as usual. 

“What is it?” 

“Question: Why did she say ‘this time’?” 

“Why, because Mr. Satou comes by every ten days or so.” 

Before I could come up with the best way to gloss things over, Miss Lua blew my cover. 

I had been back here only maybe seven or eight times since we started out toward Labyrinth City. 

“When in the world…?” 

“Mrrr.” 

Arisa and Mia looked up at me accusingly. 

“I just came back to share when I found some new ingredients or recipes.” 

That was the truth. The labyrinth was a treasure trove of rare ingredients, with monsters like moss crab bees, dungeon fungus, monster pumpkins, ancient land beasts, and bloodred turtles. 

I had also visited Nea to discuss methods for extracting vanilla from monsters called “vanilla stalkers.” 

So I definitely wasn’t coming back with the sole intention of seeing Miss Aaze. 

“That doesn’t add up…,” I heard Rei and Yuuneia murmuring to each other. 

Depending on how much time I had, I didn’t always stop by the island on the way. 

But why did I feel like a husband being accused of infidelity? 

“Oh yeah? Question two: What’s this about Telephone?” 

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you?” 

I tilted my head, combing through my memories. 

…Okay, maybe I never mentioned this. 

“My Telephone and Miss Aaze’s World Phone work well enough over the distance between Labyrinth City and Bolenan.” 

“Mrrr.” 

“We didn’t know that!” 

Mia and Arisa fumed at me. I had just assumed that they’d figured it out and were being nice enough to let it slide. 

“Oh, that’s right. Nea’s prototype is cooling in the refrigerator. Take a look when you have the chance.” 

Possibly sensing the awkwardness, Lua generously changed the subject. 

“She finished it already? Thank you very much. I’ll definitely take a look.” 

“Prototype? You don’t mean…!” 

Heh-heh-heh. Yes, the thing I found on the sugar route. 

Because Nea and her team were great cooks, I had them research ways to make it taste even better. 

“You’ll find out soon. We can have some after dinner tonight, so make sure you don’t eat too much.” 

“At last! Ahhh, I wish dinnertime would come already. Don’t you know the Song of Time, master?” 

“Of course not.” 

I understood her excitement, but even if I knew how to do that, it wouldn’t make time go any faster. 

“Mr. Satou, I’ve contacted Lady Aaze as well as Mia’s parents. They’ll be here soon.” 

Lua was using Spirit Magic to send a magical messenger bird out the window as she spoke. 

“Satou, is Lady Aaze the high elf you mentioned?” Rei asked in a small voice, tugging on my sleeve. 

“That’s right.” 

“Oh.” Her expression held mixed emotions as she responded. 

Uh-oh. Maybe my affection for Aaze came out in my voice. 

Rei looked up at me. 

“Satou, could I have some magic, please?” For whatever reason, she was wearing a forced smile. “I’d like to be in formal dress when I meet the high elf.” 

I nodded and used my hand to siphon some magic into her. 

She grew as she received the magic, changing from an elementary school–age girl into a beautiful, well-proportioned woman, all in the blink of an eye. 

This wasn’t a spell. Because of Rei’s unusual half-ghost nature, she normally stayed in little-girl mode to conserve magic, but this was her true form. 

Rei’s clothes also changed into the traditional garb of a Lalakie priestess. 

Her clothes and accessories were made out of ghostly material, just like her body itself. 

“Thank you, Satou.” 

Rei smiled bashfully. 

Her priestess outfit was a bit revealing. I wasn’t sure where to look. 

Suddenly, Miss Aaze came flying into the tree-house room. 

“Lua! What’s this urgent business you—? Satou!” 

As soon as she turned toward me, a smile bloomed on her face like a beautiful flower. 

Yeah, she’s gorgeous as usual. 

“I’m back, Miss Aaze.” 

“Welcome b—” 

Suddenly, she froze mid-sentence, and her smile faded. 

…Huh? 

“Welcome…back…Satou.” Her speaking turned slow and stilted. “Erm, is this girl…your lover? Have you come…to introduce…your wife to me?” she asked hesitantly. 

…How do you figure? 

“No,” I responded plainly. 

“B-but…!” 

Miss Aaze looked at my right hand doubtfully. 

Rei hadn’t let go of my hand after I used it to provide her with magic. 

I tried to draw it away, but Rei hung on tightly. 

“…Um, Rei?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Satou.” 

Rei hurriedly withdrew her hand, then held it sorrowfully to her chest. 

Um, if you keep looking at me like that, people will think you’re in love with me. 

“Miss Aaze, this is Rei. The girl behind her is Yuuneia.” 

“Oh, Rei and Yuuneia? The girls from Lalakie, right? I remember!” 

I had told her about them before, but this was her first time meeting them in person. 

“B-but I thought you said she was a much smaller child…” 

Confused, Aaze looked at Rei’s formidable bust with dismay, so I explained Rei’s nature to her. 

“It’s an honor to meet you, O Holytree of Bolenan Forest. I am the last queen of the Lalakie dynasty, Reiaane Tuuwa Lalakie—or Rei, resident of Paradise Island.” 

Rei knelt in front of Aaze and introduced herself. 

Following her sister’s example, Yuuneia knelt as well. 

Tama and Pochi tried to follow suit, but Pochi lost her balance and fell on her face, and the two of them rolled away to the far side of the room. 

“Please raise your heads—there’s no need to be so formal. The pleasure is all mine. I am Aialize, high elf of Bolenan Forest. Any friend of Satou’s is a friend of mine, so please feel free to call me Aaze.” 

Miss Aaze introduced herself in a friendly tone, prompting the two of them to stand. 

“Nice to meet you! I’m Yuuneia, a homunculus.” She turned to Rei. “Sister, is this person Master Satou’s lady friend?” 

“…Yes, that’s right.” 

When Rei confirmed this, Miss Aaze turned bright red and pressed her hands to her cheeks. 

She was probably flustered by the use of the phrase lady friend. Frankly, it made me want to hug her tightly. 

“Mrrr. Just friends.” 

“That’s right! She totally rejected master already!” 

OOF. 

“So she’s not his ‘lady friend’!” 

Mia and Arisa forcefully dissuaded Rei and Yuuneia from their choice of words. 

Sometimes the truth cuts deeper than any knife. 

I wouldn’t have been surprised if my log said something like Satou took 3,000 points of damage . 

“You don’t like Master Satou, Lady Aaze?” 

“Of course I do!!” 

Aaze’s emphatic response to Yuuneia’s innocent question was a welcome salve for my emotional wounds. 

Ah, I could live off those words alone for the next ten years. 

It was rare to see Aaze’s face look so frantic. 

I snuck a photo with the Light Magic spell Picture Recorder and put it away in the Pictures folder of my Storage. 

“You’ve all grown quite a bit.” 

After the initial chaos of Rei’s and Yuuneia’s introduction, things finally calmed down enough for some friendly catchup. 

“Wait a minute, Lady Aaze.” Miss Lua flapped her hand in front of her face. “This sudden growth isn’t nearly so trivial, don’t you think?” 

“Really? Since they’re with Satou, I think it’s only to be expected that things might be a little out of the ordinary.” 

Miss Aaze, I appreciate that you trust me, but you’re sort of talking like we are lovers. 

Nearby, Mia’s parents had arrived and were wasting no time in praising their daughter. 

“Welcome back, Mia. You’ve grown ever so much! Why, that’s terribly amazing! You must have worked very, very hard. You’re a hard worker, you are! Did you hurt yourself at all? You’re all right? You will stay awhile now, won’t you?” 

“Good job.” 

“Mm. Worked hard.” 

Mia looked pleased as her parents patted her head. 

Her childhood friend Goya showed up, too, but once he heard about Mia’s rapid growth, he ran off somewhere. 

Hang in there, kid. 

Technically, the boy was far older than I was, but I still sent him some silent encouragement. 

“Yo! I heard Satou and friends are back!” 

“It’s master, sir!” 

“Heya, Pochi! You’ve gotten awful strong since you’ve been away, haven’tcha?” 

“Hee-hee, sir.” 

The elf teachers had arrived, led by Pochi’s teacher, Miss Portomea. 

In contrast to her brash manner of speaking, she was a beautiful girl with wavy shoulder-length hair and a doll-like face. 

“Have you been well, Tama?” 

“Aye-aye!” 

Shishitouya, the elf samurai, patted Tama’s head. 

He was definitely male, but his long hair and soft features were very feminine. 

“‘Spellblade.’” 

“Yes, Master Guya.” 

Gurgapoya, the helix-spear user, inspected Liza’s “Spellblade” usage. 

“Good.” 

“Thank you very much.” 

His short but sincere compliment put a proud expression on Liza’s face. 

“Excellent ‘Spellblade’ form. If you can just shorten the time it takes to invoke it and eliminate any magic leakage, it will be perfect.” 

“Agreed.” 

Liza’s other teacher, the spriggan short-spear user Yusek, discussed the finer points of “Spellblade” with Guya. 

“Praise.” 

“I am proud to receive my teacher’s praise, I declare.” 

Miss Gimasarua, a Magic Swordsman, praised Nana with a single word, similar to Mia’s speaking style. 

Nana’s other teacher, the dwarf shield user Mr. Keriul, didn’t seem to be around at the moment. 

“Hey, Satou. You’ve all grown quite a bit.” 

Finally, Hishirotoya, the wordy elf who was in charge of the teachers and had lots of connections, arrived to compliment us. 

“Have you learned to do chants, too, Satou?” 

“I’m sorry, not quite yet…” 

“Ah-ha-ha. No need to apologize.” Hishirotoya, or Hiya for short, smiled. “Are you practicing, though?” 

“Yes, every morning and evening.” 

“Well, all right, then. Humans grow quickly. Keep it up for ten years or so, and you’ll be able to do it in no time.” 

I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere with chants, but Arisa and Mia both said it was the kind of thing that just suddenly clicks one day. I put my trust in them and continued to practice. 

“Miss Nea, I’ve learned lots of new dishes during our travels!” 

“I can’t wait. Let’s make some later, shall we?” 

“Yes, please!” 

Nea taught self-defense to Lulu and the other rearguard girls. But she also loved to cook, so she and Lulu were always chatting about food. 

“I want a teacher, too,” Arisa grumbled. 

“Mm. Aaze.” 

Mia pointed at Miss Aaze. 

She was Mia’s Spirit Magic instructor, but she was also capable in all the other kinds of magic, including Space Magic. 

“Mm, I dunno. Miss Aaze seems like the type to ignore theories and stuff and just use magic based on feelings or whatever, don’t you think?” 

“How cruel!” 

When Arisa’s harsh assessment appeared to hurt Aaze’s feelings, I pulled her toward me to comfort her. Eeexcellent. 

“You are much too close.” 

Before the iron-wall pair could move, Lua the priestess pulled Aaze and me apart. 

“You should speak to one of the elders about Space Magic. They love magic theory, so they’ll talk to you about it for years if you let them.” 

Wow. I guess elves live so long that their lectures are on another level. 

“Miss Lua, could you introduce me to a Fire Magic teacher, too?” 

“Any one of the elders can use the four basic elemental magics well enough to teach others. You could have them help you with that along with Space Magic.” 

“Hooray!” 

Arisa pumped her fist triumphantly when Lua agreed to introduce her to the elders. 

“Satou, candy!” 

“Gimme candy!” 

Little winged fairies landed on Rei’s and Yuuneia’s head and shoulders. 

I gave the sisters two small sacks of candy so they could hand them out. 

“W-wait a second!” 

“Hurry it up!” 

“I want candyyy!” 

Unwilling to wait for Rei, a few particularly rude fairies stuck their heads in the sack. 

“S-Satou!” Rei called for help, and I assisted her in calming the fairies down. 

One of the particularly lucky—erm, that is, disgraceful—fairies sat on Rei’s chest, so I moved it to my shoulder. 

“Wait your turn, or none of you gets any more.” 

“I’ll line up!” 

“Yeah, me too!” 

“Candy puh-leez!” 

The winged fairies quickly fell into line. My “Education” and “Animal Training” skills might have had something to do with that. 

Although it could’ve just been their appetites. 

“Cut that out!” 

“Master Satou, are these little things people?” 

“That’s right. So be gentle with them, please.” 

Yuuneia was pulling on one of the fairies’ legs until I quickly stopped her. 

She was frighteningly innocent about it, like a child playing with a doll. 

“Yuuneia! You must handle larvae with great delicacy, I advise.” 

Nana had also come running over when she saw how Yuuneia was handling the fairies. 

“Delicacyyy?” 

“It’s like a food, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi repeated after Nana. 

Their mixed-up vocabulary was nothing out of the ordinary, so I didn’t bother correcting them. 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

Looking forlorn, Yuuneia let go of the fairy. 

Freed from danger, the winged fairy fluttered over to land on my shoulder. 

“That one’s crazy, mister.” 

I handed it some extra candy for its troubles. 

“Dinner is ready, everyone!” 

A group of house fairy brownies arrived carrying food, along with Nea’s crew of elf chefs. 

The long table was soon lined with seven kinds of curry, assorted vegetables and meat for toppings, and a wide array of side dishes. 

It seemed that the curry craze I had started in the elf village was still going strong. 

“Whoo-hoo! Chocolate parfaits!” 

As soon as she saw the assortment of chocolate desserts that came out after dinner, Arisa’s excitement shot off the charts. 

“There’s cake, too.” 

Nea smiled at Arisa as she placed a chocolate cake on the table. 

There were also bite-size pieces of cut chocolate. 

Unfortunately, the lava cake I had requested wasn’t ready yet. Nea said they were getting close; hopefully they’d be able to make it while we were here for training. 

“Hoo boy, I’m gonna gain weight…” 

“Squishyyy?” 

“So round, sir.” 

Looking at the buffet of chocolate desserts, Arisa slumped so that her gut deliberately stuck out. Tama and Pochi immediately lined up at her side and imitated the gesture. 

“Excuse me! I’m not really that chunky!” 

“Nyah-ha-ha…” 

“Run for it, sir!” 

“Run away!” 

“She’s gonna eat us!” 

Arisa pretended to be furious, and Tama and Pochi ran away giggling, followed by the winged fairies. 

“Go ahead and dig in.” 

At Miss Nea’s prompting, everyone started reaching for the desserts. 

“Bittersweeeet?” 

“It’s bitter but sweet and tasty, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi appeared to have eaten the dark chocolate, which was for more mature taste buds. I pointed them toward the sweet milk chocolate, which earned even higher praise like “Yummyyy!” and “Delicious, sir!” 

“It’s very good.” 

Liza was chewing on a thick, uncut chunk of dark chocolate with a satisfied look on her face. 

It was probably pretty hard, but she was crunching away at it instead of letting it melt on her tongue. 

“Master, the chocolate cake is delicious, I report.” 

Nana was sharing pieces of her cake with the winged fairies as she ate. Judging by the unusual speed of her fork, she must have really been enjoying it. 

“Sister! This is delicious! Almost as much as that strawberry cake.” 

“It really is. This is wonderful, Lady Nea.” 

“Hee-hee, thank you.” 

Yuuneia’s eyes sparkled as she praised the chocolate cake, and her sister, Rei, thanked the baker Nea with her eyes equally round and shiny. 

“It really is delicious. Can you show me how to make this later, Miss Nea?” 

“Yes, of course.” 

Leave it to Lulu to already want to learn how to make it. 

“Cake.” 

“The parfait is delicious, too. It has a nice, crispy texture on the inside.” 

“Gimme.” 

When Mia leaned over, Aaze fed her a bite of her parfait. I was a little jealous. 

The “crispy texture” she had mentioned could be attributed to the cornflakes. 

I took a bite myself, enjoying the delicate sweetness with a slightly bitter touch that melted in my mouth. 

It was smooth and delicious, far better than it had been when I taste tested it last time. This easily compared to the high-quality chocolate that you could normally get only during Valentine’s season. 

Hmm? 

A speck of chocolate had wound up on Aaze’s cheek as she enjoyed the parfait. 

“Excuse me, Miss Aaze.” 

I wiped the chocolate away with my finger, then cleaned her cheek with a handkerchief. 

I almost brought the chocolate to my mouth, a habit from taking care of the younger kids in my party, but wiped it off with a handkerchief instead when I remembered the chicken rice incident. 

“Guil—” 

“Why, y—” 

Mia and Arisa were all ready to scold me, but they stopped mid-sentence when they saw my course of action. 

Heh-heh-heh. You won’t catch me making the same mistake twice. 

“Grrrr…” 

That growl didn’t come from Arisa. 

“I’ve made a grave mistake.” 

“If we’d just held off on that last helping of curry…” 

The elf teachers appeared to be too full to properly enjoy the chocolate dishes. 

You guys eat way too much curry. 

“So have you come back to relax for a while?” 

“No, actually…” 

Mr. Hiya asked about the nature of our visit, so I explained the situation. 

“Hmm. Retraining, eh?” 

“Would that be all right?” 

“Of course.” 

The elf teachers agreed to my request right away. 

“First, could you show us the results of your training in the labyrinth?” 

Lined up in front of Mr. Hiya and the other elf teachers, my group nodded. 

We were in a wide-open wasteland outside Bolenan Forest thanks to the forest fairy Dryad’s fairy ring teleportation. Miss Aaze and Lua had come along, too. 

Once the girls gave their affirmation, Mr. Hiya turned to Aaze. 

“Lady Aaze, produce a spirit for training, please.” 

“Is a behemoth all right?” 

“No.” 

One of the taciturn elf teachers rejected Aaze’s choice. 

A behemoth was a pseudo-spirit that looked like a cross between an elephant and a hippopotamus, but it was level 50 and the size of a destroyer ship. It was probably a bit too strong for a practice battle for my party. 

“If you’d prefer one with a physical body, perhaps a spirit of the wasteland or the sand?” Lua suggested. 

“That sounds more like it.” Hiya nodded. “Could you, Lady Aaze?” 

“Of course! ?…” 

Miss Aaze began the long Spirit Magic chant. When it was finished, rocks and dirt from the wasteland gathered together to form a giant golem-like monster. 

It certainly looked more like a living creature than the golems I’d made with Create Earth Servant. 

This spirit was level 40, so it should be about the same degree of strength as the areamaster. 

“I’ve transferred command to you.” 

“Thank you.” 

Taking over the wasteland spirit from Aaze, Hiya tested out his control for a moment before having the spirit face my group. 

“Are you ready?” 

“But of course!” 

Arisa responded on the others’ behalf. 

I stepped back with Aaze, Rei, and the other spectators to watch the fight with the elf teachers. 

“A-amazing…” 

“Were they always this strong?” 

Rei and Yuuneia were surprised. 

“They’ve been training hard in the labyrinth.” 

As I responded to the sisters, I peered over at the elf teachers. 

Hmm? 

For some reason, their expressions were a little strange. 

At first, they looked as impressed as Aaze, Rei, and Yuuneia, but as the battle approached its final stages, they were beginning to frown a little. 

Just as I was about to ask about it, my party’s fight ended. 

The wasteland spirit turned back into clumps of earth. 

“Victoryyy?” 

“Sir!” 

The girls lined up in front of the teachers again, looking eager for praise. 

“You’ve gotten a lot stronger…” 

Pochi’s teacher, Miss Poa, stepped out from among the teachers. 

The girls began to smile at her complimentary words. 

“…but it’s a dangerous kind of strength.” 

At her strongly negative tone, my kids’ faces froze. 

“Do you understand why?” 

“Because we’re too focused on offense, perhaps?” 

Liza ventured to answer the question from Mr. Shiya, Tama’s teacher. 

“No. Because you’re depending too much on Satou.” 

“B-but we…” 

Arisa started to protest but trailed off. 

“If worse comes to worst, Satou will step in. You don’t have to be too careful, because you know he’ll protect you. That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?” 

The girls hung their heads at Shiya’s accusation. 

“Don’t look away.” 

Poa started to scold them further, but Hiya stopped her and continued. 

“Of course, it’s not a bad thing to be able to fight calmly because you know Satou is behind you, but you shouldn’t go into every fight assuming that. Do you understand?” 

I see. So my overprotectiveness was the reason they’d been focusing on offense too much lately… 

It made sense. Even if things weren’t at their worst, I’d always stepped in if it looked like someone was about to get seriously hurt. 

“That might be all right when Satou’s around, but what if you had to face a challenge without him?” 

“Then we’d—” 

“Fight? Are you sure? Would you really be able to act with the assumption that he won’t be there to rescue you?” 

Hiya’s tone was gentle as he interrupted Arisa. 

“Well…” 

“I don’t think you could.” 

Arisa trailed off again, so Hiya answered for her. 

To be honest, I thought he was right. 

“It seems like you might need to distance yourselves from Satou a little.” 

“And the opposite is true, too.” 

Miss Gia followed up Miss Poa’s statement, suggesting that I should fix my overprotective habits, too. 

“So now that we know what the problem is, shall we begin training in earnest?” 

“That’s right, you lot! Think you’ve got what it takes to handle some real training?!” 

Poa attempted to fire everyone up with a yell. 

“Of course.” 

“Aye-aye!” 

“I’ll do it, sir!” 

“I am ablaze, I declare.” 

“Mm. Retraining.” 

“All right, you guys! Let’s do this thing!” 

“Let’s do our best, everyone.” 

The girls all cheered with eager expressions. 

“That’s what I like to hear, indeed.” 

“Lady Aaze, could you produce a spirit spider next?” 

“Certainly!” 

With that, the elf teachers began retraining the girls. 

Confident that I could trust them and Miss Aaze to take it from there, I took Rei and Yuuneia away from the wasteland battlefield. 

“Welcome back, Lord Satou.” 

“Thank you, Gillil.” 

At the entrance of a white mansion amid a sea of trees, the house fairy brownie Mr. Gillil came to greet me. 

I was here to borrow the house of Trazayuya the elf sage to develop some new armor for the girls as a reward for all the hard work they had been putting in with their training. 

Rei and Yuuneia seemed to have been inspired by my group and were in the plaza outside our tree house, learning self-defense from Miss Nea. 

“I hope our Lelillil isn’t causing you too much trouble.” 

“No, she’s a great help.” 

Gillil was Lelillil’s grandfather. It was only natural he wanted to know how she was doing. 

I guess even long-lived fairy races still doted on their grandchildren. 

“Crystal sculptures? Are you making golems?” 

“Just to serve as mannequins.” 

I made likenesses of my party members out of crystal and turned them into golems using Create Earth Servant. 

I intended to put the new armor on them to test out their endurance and range of motion. 

“So you’ll be making armor, then?” 

“Hmm, I think I might start with making tools to simplify the process first.” 

I stopped Gillil from preparing the magic equipment and described what I was thinking of making. 

If I kept having to rely on Mia’s Water Magic and Arisa’s Space Magic to create magic tools and weapons, it would be imposing on them and make it difficult to create as many prototypes as I wanted. 

Putting it all together at the end would probably still rely on them, but I wanted to make it so that I could do simple tests and prototypes on my own. 

Running experiments in my imagination could only go so far, after all. 

Using the ample equipment available in the mansion, I started making development tools one after another. 

“Lord Satou, it is nearly sunset. If you wish to stay the night, shall I prepare dinner?” 

“Oh, is it that late already? I didn’t tell anyone I’d be away, so I’d better go back to eat at home.” 

I went to the tree house, telling Mr. Gillil that I’d return for dinner. 

The girls were exhausted and their equipment was a wreck, but they looked determined as they scarfed down food. 

After showering the hard-working girls with encouragement, I asked Miss Aaze and Mr. Hiya to introduce me to anyone who could use the magic I needed to create magic equipment, like elf elders and engineers. 

From the next day on, I started making equipment with magic-circuit creation and transcription functions. And so I managed to complete the prototypes in just a few days with the help of the elves. 

That was only the first step, but it still went faster than I thought it would. When it comes to magic, the wonders never cease. 

“Gillil and Aea told me before, but I’m still surprised by how quickly you develop spells.” 

At the feast we had to celebrate finishing the equipment, one of the engineer elves came over to speak to me. 

“Do you think so?” 

“How many spells did you make during the development of this equipment alone?” 

“Three or so, maybe?” 

“No, you made eight.” 

Did I really make that many? 

“Don’t look so surprised. You made three brand-new spells and five revised versions.” 

Ahhh. Come to think of it, I did remember making offshoot spells five times or so. 

Do those really count, though? 

“Even we elves and the Holytrees cannot make them so quickly.” 

“Impressed.” 

“Agree.” 

Some of the other elf engineers and elders came over to praise me, too. 

Why did this feel a little awkward, though? 

“Still, to think that you could actually set coordinates and teleport after making a magic circuit…” 

Gazing at the prototype magic equipment, one of the engineers murmured in what seemed like admiration. 

“There have been some of us who thought of such a thing before, but none was ever able to complete it. Most of them gave up partway or were satisfied when they finished a single prototype and left it at that.” 

“This has far too many settings, though.” 

One of the other engineers let out a sigh. 

Sorry, but it has to have a lot of different parameters. 

“No sensible elf would ever attempt to make such a thing even if the idea crossed their mind.” 

That’s rude. 

Everyone was being quite blunt, maybe because they’d been drinking. 

Besides, they were complaining about the amount of data, but it was still less than a gigabyte at best. 

That’s only a quarter the amount on a DVD. It shouldn’t be too hard to input by hand if you put your mind to it. 

I manually input some simple data, since this time was just a test. When I actually made the next prototype, though, I planned to use Menu-related linking spells, so they didn’t have to worry so much, in my opinion. 

I had used some of these linking spells to set it up to load data files from Storage, which meant manual input was required only the first time. And if I converted the functional modules into a library, then I could use those preexisting assets like activating a spell, lightening the workload even further. 

Incidentally, I had gone to the scroll workshop in the old capital earlier that afternoon to get the scrolls of three linking spells I’d already requested from Viscount Siemmen. I was pleasantly surprised to find them completed sooner than expected. 

I visited them in the guise of my merchant alias, Akindoh, but brought a letter with the Pendragon family seal, so it was fairly simple to earn their trust. 

One afternoon, a few days after the prototype equipment was completed… 

“So they’re facing off against spiders today?” 

I went to check in on my group’s training and have them test out the prototype. 

However, due to the prototype being capable of inscribing only cuboid magic circuits, it was less effective for weapons and armor. 

Blue was difficult to keep stable. It was hard to use it to make overly large and complicated mechanisms, too. It would probably still be a while before I could implement functions to make God-given Holy Sword–class weapons. 

“Hey, Satou. Welcome.” 

Mr. Hiya gave me a friendly greeting and beckoned me to his side. 

The girls were fighting spider-shaped pseudo-spirits of various sizes, created by Aaze. 

Fighting spirits didn’t seem to grant much EXP, so they were all still level 42. The experience bar hadn’t changed much since the training started. 

As the elf teachers and I looked on, my group fought hard in a white arena made from the spiders’ thread. 

There were a lot of enemies, and they could attack from any direction using the thread hanging across the arena. Thanks to that, the vanguard and rear guard alike were struggling. 

“That thread comes in a few different varieties. The elastic kind can be broken only by magic or ‘Spellblade,’ but if you use them too recklessly, the other thread will absorb your magic.” 

Hiya explained the difficulties of fighting the spiders. 

The vanguard was indeed on the verge of running out of magic, and they were struggling to maintain “Spellblade.” 

“The small spiders move so quickly that it’s difficult to defend the rear guard, and the large ones have thick hides that can be pierced only by magic or long-handled weapons. And since they’re pseudo-spirits, there aren’t any organs to aim for, either,” Hiya added. 

The only way to fight these enemies was with strategy and good use of support and de-buff magic. 

“Electromagnetic Barrier!” 

Arisa warded off a small approaching spider with a spherical Space Magic barrier. 

It wasn’t even remotely electromagnetic, but there wasn’t any need to point that out. 

“Take this!” 

Lulu aimed her Fireburst Gun and shot down the small spider while it was still in midair. 

“… ? Create Snow Wolf Hyousetsu Shouryou Souzou.” 

Mia invoked Spirit Magic, creating four snow-covered ice wolves. 

Their lower bodies were transparent, trailing swirls of fog as they ran through midair. 

“Cut thread.” 

On Mia’s order, the ice wolves attacked the spider thread that hung in the air, freezing them and breaking them to pieces. 

“I’m going to restrengthen you!” 

“Thank you.” 

Now that she’d fended off the small spider, Arisa used “Body Strengthening” on the vanguard instead of just attacking. 

There was a considerable distance between her and the vanguard, so it cost a large amount of MP. Before the retraining started, Arisa probably would have jumped straight to attack magic for maximum effectiveness in this situation. 

Maybe I should add staffs that improve the range of magic to my list of things to develop? 

“Hi-yaaaa!” 

A small spider flew on the wind to launch a surprise attack at Lulu, but she smacked it away with the stock of her Fireburst Gun. 

“Shurikeeen?” 

Tama finished the flying spider off with a throwing star. 

She had been taught how to use these by the female samurai Ayaume in the old capital and was continuing to study under her at night in Labyrinth City now that they’d been reunited. 

I’ll have to make some kunai that return to the user’s hand for Tama, too. 

I couldn’t make weapons that flew around in the air and attacked enemies on their own like the Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis just yet, but a boomerang-like function shouldn’t be so hard. 

“Carefuuul?” 

Then, instead of gloating about the spider she’d defeated, Tama used another throwing knife to stop a spider that was about to attack Nana from her blind spot. 

Meanwhile, the giant spider Nana was fighting spat a glob of poison at her from a distance. 

“Shield, activate! I declare.” 

Instead of using Flexible Shield, which consumed a lot of MP, Nana used the Foundation technique Shield to deflect the poison. 

The Shield dissipated as soon as it blocked the poison, but since it was lower cost and a little faster to activate than Flexible Shield, it was probably the most effective choice. 

The giant spider jumped at Nana, trying to wrap its four front legs around her. 

“Flexible Shield, mobile defense mode, I announce.” 

Nana shouted with her “Taunt” skill while creating three Flexible Shields, blocking the spider’s attack. 

One of the legs got past them, but she blocked it using her real giant shield. 

“Let’s go, Pochi.” 

“Attack, sir!” 

Liza and Pochi were darting around the giant spider, scattering smaller ones as they closed in. 

“Thunder Rod rifle, activate!” 

Nana used a Thunder Rod rifle hidden behind her large shield to attack the giant spider head-on. 

According to my AR, it didn’t do a huge amount of damage, but it was enough to hinder the spider’s vision. 

“‘Blink’! Sir!” 

Pochi had been approaching with a regular dash, but now she used the “Blink” skill to close the last few feet in an instant. 

Right before the jump, she applied “Spellblade” to her Magic Sword and plunged it into the giant spider’s torso as soon as she arrived in reach. 

But the spider’s HP gauge still didn’t go down much. 

Twisting around, it grabbed Pochi and tossed her aside. 

She went flying with a good deal of momentum, but Arisa used Space Magic to slow her down, and she landed right in a giant spiderweb, so she didn’t seem to be too injured. 

“O ‘Spellblade,’ fill this spear of mine!” 

The red light gleaming from Liza’s Magic Spear wrapped around her entire body as she ran forward. 

In response, the giant spider shot some poison at her. 

“‘Blink’! ‘Triple Helix Spear Attack’!” 

The “Blink” skill activated with an earth-shattering boom, and she moved forward nearly thirty feet in an instant. 

The blob of poison hit the empty ground where Liza had been just moments before. 

All the light around Liza, not only her spear, swirled with the helix attack. 

Liza attacked as if her body and Magic Spear were one, slamming her whole body into the giant spider as her spear pierced through it. 

That’s a pretty crazy move. 

The helix “Spellblade” around Liza bore into the giant spider’s body, tearing through its huge frame. 

Coming out on the other side of the spider’s body, Liza whirled around in case of a counterattack, but the giant spider dispersed into white snow and tiny spirit lights. 

The smaller spiders must have been a part of it, too, since they disappeared as soon as the giant spider was destroyed. 

From the looks of things, their battle styles were all starting to evolve. 

I was glad I had come to observe. 

“Amaziiing?” 

“Well done as always, Miss Liza.” 

“Agreed. A splendid attack, I declare.” 

The other girls gathered around Liza, gushing praise. 

Her last attack seemed a little dangerous to me, but it didn’t look like the elf teachers were going to scold her for it, so she must be practicing a new special move. 

“Liza, preserve strength.” 

“It’s perfectly fine to test out a special move, but you shouldn’t bet everything on one final attack unless you have no other choice. Make sure you still have some energy left for yourself and your comrades in case the attack fails.” 

Liza’s teachers, Guya and Yusek, gave her some pointers. 

The helix attack was powerful, but it spent a lot of magic power, too. 

“The spiders’ thread didn’t disappear?” 

“Mm.” 

Mia nodded at Lulu. 

“Spirit spiders’ thread is a good material for summer clothing.” 

“Breezy.” 

“But it is transparent even if dyed, so it must be weaved with other thread or worn on top of more clothing.” 

The elf teachers explained how to use the thread. 

It might be good for making some transparent outerwear. 

“Good job, Pochi.” 

After Pochi came trudging over covered in spiderwebs, I cleaned her off with Everyday Magic. 

“Master, I want a bigger weapon, sir.” 

It was rare for Pochi to make a request like this. 

When I asked why, she explained that in their fights against pseudo-spirits, her attacks with her one-handed Magic Sword often weren’t able to pierce the target’s hide even if it landed a direct hit. 

“What kind of weapon would you like?” 

“Something big and strong-looking, sir.” 

I took out some prototype weapons from Storage. 

“Lottts?” 

“So many big weapons, sir!” 

Pochi’s eyes sparkled as she sorted through the weapons and swung them experimentally. There was a longsword, a broadsword, a war hammer, a longspear, and a battle-ax. 

She was able to lift them all easily enough, but since Pochi herself was so light, she had difficulty swinging them without the inertia affecting her balance. 

“Masterrr? One more, pleeease…” 

Tama hefted a war hammer and asked me to take out another one, so I complied. 

They were light compared with the giant mithril alloy hammer I’d used in the dwarf village, but they were still much heavier than Tama herself. 

“Looook… A top…?” 

Holding one giant hammer in each hand, Tama swung them around and spun like a top. 

It was easy to forget, since she didn’t have as much physical strength as some of the other vanguard girls, but at level 42, Tama was still considerably strong. 

Arisa and Lulu giggled uncontrollably, muttering things like “Tama-top!” They were getting a real kick out of it. They were at that age where kids seem to find everything funny, so I guess it wasn’t too surprising. 

“Oooof, I’m dizzy, sir.” 

Because Pochi wanted to use a big weapon like a halberd or a broadsword, I had her tie some heavy weights to herself to keep the inertia from knocking her off-balance. I figured I could give her some heavy full-body armor to wear in battle instead of stone weights. 

“I’m not dizzy anymore, but I’m too heavy to move, sir.” 

I guess I added too many stones. 

Despite her complaints, Pochi was still dragging the stones around and moving well enough. 

She probably just didn’t like that she couldn’t move as quickly as usual. 

“Looks like heavy armor and weapons aren’t the right choice.” 

I crossed my arms in thought. 

“Satou, why not use an alloy of adamantite and bluesilver?” 

“What sort of alloy is that?” 

Mr. Hiya’s suggestion was a combination of two magical metals. If the alloy was supplied with magic, it could expand or shrink at will. 

That alloy was probably the source of Claidheamh Soluis’s size expansion feature. 

I learned that the weapons with size-adjusting functions that occasionally turned up in labyrinth treasure chests were usually some variation of this alloy, too. 

Leather and cloth products like the Flying Shoes were normally made with special materials that could be supplied with magic or weaved in a particular way. 

I already knew about the latter thanks to Kea, an elf from the textile studio. The special weaving pattern could also be used for the bands of underwear and things like that, but it was easier to just use elastic cord. 

“If you want to know more, ask Aea or her teacher,” Hiya suggested. 

He explained that Miss Aea the alchemist and her teacher, who was one of the elders, were both well versed in this alloy, so I decided to go ask them about it tomorrow. 

According to Hiya, it was also possible to fuse orichalcum and dark stones to make a metal that got lighter when provided with magic. 

I was embarrassed that I’d once thought I had mastered the art of magic metals by using orichalcum in alchemy. Clearly, there were still a lot of variations for me to learn about. 

> Title Acquired: Knower of the Unknown 

> Title Acquired: Eternal Student 

“By the way, Satou, didn’t you come here to show us something?” 

“Oh right. I almost forgot.” 

Miss Aaze reminded me of my original purpose in coming here. 

I produced some armor from my Item Box to show everyone. 

“Wow, a Floating Shield!” 

“It’s just a prototype for now.” 

The girls’ eyes sparkled as they gazed at my new prototype. 

This one was cast with mithril, but I was planning to make the final product with alloys of orichalcum, adamantite, and so on. 

It was able to float in midair using the same theories behind spells like Floating Board and Cube. 

“Pochi and Tama, can you combine those prototypes with this Magic Sword?” 

I had equipped these with a feature that leeched magic power from the opponent and supplied it to the wielder. 

This was something I’d designed a while ago, but the runes were complicated and I would have to get Arisa and Mia to learn new spells for it, so I hadn’t made a prototype yet. 

It hadn’t even succeeded until the fourth attempt. Even if I had asked those two to help me from the beginning, they would have gone through a lot of wasted effort in the process. 

Using “Spellblade” consumes the wielder’s magic; therefore, it would be impossible to leave the magic-absorbing function on all the time, but I thought it might be handy to strengthen the user through a long battle if it was used correctly. 

I wanted to include a health-restoring function, too, but adding a function that stole health from the opponent required a miasma circuit like a cursed weapon. Needless to say, I decided against it. 

According to the elves’ documents, it was possible to make such a thing without a miasma circuit using bloodstones or bloodpearls, but those are rare ingredients made only in the Bloodsucker Labyrinth in the Saga Empire, so I was saving them for now. 

“Lulu, here’s your new equipment. There’s a Magic Gun that fires real bullets and a laser gun made with Brightlight Pearls.” 

The former was meant for foes with a high resistance to magic, while the latter was for fast-moving enemies. Both were made with a simple wooden stock and had a long, rifle-like appearance. 

For the real-bullet gun, I learned from my previous failures and added an Explosion Magic element to Shooter Version II, massively improving its initial acceleration. 

I gave the former a red barrel and the latter a white barrel so they’d be easy to tell apart. 

Maybe for the next upgrade, I can make laser sights and a sniping scope? 

“Huh, what interesting weapons. Mind if I test one out?” 

“Of course, go ahead.” 

Mr. Hiya tested out the sniper and real-bullet gun I’d made for Lulu. 

“You might want to change the materials for the focus in this laser gun, no? You should ask Aea if she has any suggestions.” 

“I will, thank you.” 

I was already planning to stop by and see Miss Aea at the alchemy workshop, so I could ask her then. 

“These weapons are for Lulu, yes? Then I’ll teach her how to shoot. It would be best if she could use Wind Magic or Light Magic, but even Practical Magic can be helpful with aiming. She should study that, too.” 

“Yes, sir! I’ll do my best!” 

Lulu clenched her fist, agreeing to Mr. Hiya’s unexpected offer. 

I had already been thinking about asking him, but Hiya was always quick to pick up on these things. 

“Were you able to study magic alloys?” 

“Yes, I’m all finished.” 

Sitting in the tree house one morning, while eating a hearty breakfast to complement my group’s training, I answered Mr. Hiya’s question with a smile. 

Miss Aea had taught me about the major effects and combinations and even loaned me a huge amount of data from the elves’ experiments, so I figured I should be able to make a pretty wide range of magic metal alloys. 

“A-already?” 

“Well, I’ve only actually made five kinds so far.” 

This was my first day; I was still just getting started. 

Tomorrow, I wanted to pick up the pace, prioritizing the order more. 

“Five kinds?!” 

“You learn at a remarkable pace.” 

“Aea was impressed, too.” 

The elf teachers were good at compliments. 

It might have been mere lip service, but to me it sounded like they really were surprised. 

“That’s amazing, Satou.” 

“No, not at all. It’s only because Miss Aea is such a good teacher.” 

Miss Aaze joined in on praising me when she overheard the teachers. 

“Hey, master. While you’re making equipment, could you maybe make a fridge for the orphanage, too?” 

“Didn’t we install a spare one there already?” 

“Yeah, but that thing’s way too small. It’d be best to have a fridge and a freezer, and the fridge should be able to hold around five tons.” 

I checked my ice-stone stock in Storage to see if Arisa’s request was possible. 

“Hmm. I’m a little low on ice stones, but maybe I can use wind and water stones?” 

With my current supply, my only options were to freeze it directly with ice stones or use wind and water stones to vaporize the heat and keep things cool that way. 

The circuit for the latter was complicated, meaning the process was more of a pain and required a lot of magic. I was really hoping to avoid it. 

“Mr. Satou, if you have any wind stones to spare, would it be at all possible to lend us some?” 

“Sure. How many do you need?” 

According to the priestess Miss Lua, the finfolk—a mermaid-like race—who lived near Bolenan Forest were making a new undersea village, and they needed some wind stones to put on the site. 

Unlike the gillfolk, who were more like traditional mermaids, finfolk didn’t have gills, which resulted in their need for wind stones to create breathable areas in their villages. 

I wasn’t sure why mermaids who couldn’t breathe underwater would make their villages in the ocean, but if I gave them all the wind stones I had, that should be more than enough. 

I could just go get some more ice stones to create a refrigerator before my next round of crafting. 

The snow-covered Black Dragon Mountains were right near Bolenan Forest, after all. 

“Hei Long… Ah, he’s sleeping, of course.” 

On a sunny peak in the Black Dragon Mountains, Hei Long the black dragon was snoozing contentedly, letting out enormous snores. 

Even when I came closer, he didn’t stir. It seemed dragons really were fond of sleeping, just like the landlady of the Gatefront Inn in Seiryuu City had told me once upon a time. 

He was completely defenseless, though that was probably because there was no one around who could pose a threat to him. 

It made me feel a little guilty, but I used various resistance skills and my high INT stat to stay calm. 

“Guess I’ll leave him a message…” 

I left some casks of mayonnaise and mustard where he would be able to see them upon waking, along with a note saying that I would come back to visit soon. 

I’d also brought a goat I bought as a gift for him from the Ougoch Duchy, so I left it on a plateau that he should be able to see below. No wyverns or other monsters would come up there for fear of Hei Long. I figured it should be fine. 

Next, I used my map search to look for ice stones in the snowy east side of the Black Dragon Mountains. 

“Ooh, there’s a good amount. Looks like they’re in a frozen caldera lake.” 

At the bottom of the lake was a sunken mass of valuable ice pearls, too. 

I used “Warp” to quickly teleport to the eastern side of the enormous mountain range, then switched to regular “Skyrunning” as I got closer. 

“Now, that’s impressive. This tunnel could be one of the Seven Wonders of the World.” 

I entered an enormous wind tunnel that pierced through a vast mountain. It was so big that a jumbo jet could have probably flown straight through. 

Somehow, I couldn’t help but suspect that Hei Long had something to do with this. 

Aha. 

I found a few giant wind stones dotted throughout the tunnel. 

“I wonder…” 

Searching the area, I found that there were a few rare wind pearl crystals, too. 

I had gotten some wind pearl crystals from the queen forest cancer hornet’s wings, too, but they seemed useful as airship propellers, so I took half of these anyway. It was a simple task, since I was able to pop them into Storage with my Magic Hand. 

Pleased with my bonus finds, I passed through the tunnel and arrived above my destination, the caldera lake. 

“…Ooooh!” 

The frozen lake was so beautiful that I couldn’t help but gasp. 

The lake itself was splendidly transparent, but it was made all the more gorgeous by the cloudless sky reflected in its surface. 

I drank in the blue and white scenery as much as I could, then used the Light Magic spell Picture Recorder to save a few photos in Storage. 

While I could always bring my group here to see it someday, Miss Aaze couldn’t leave Bolenan Forest, so the only way I could share it with her was through recorded image data. 

“Whew. Guess I’d better get down to business.” 

I turned off the Air-Conditioning spell, which I was using to ward off the cold, and put on some extra layers instead. 

I didn’t want the heat to have a negative effect on the ice stones or the lake itself, after all. 

“…Oof, that’s cold!” 

Shivering, I stretched my Magic Hand through the thick ice of the caldera lake. 

There were ice stones littered amid the snow on the banks of the lake, too, but they were all very small, so I decided to target the ice-stone clumps and ice pearls beneath the icy lake instead. 

Since it was so cold, I quickly finished my task and used “Skyrunning” to run up into the air, where I gazed down at the beautiful caldera lake and the stunning wind tunnel before I used the Return spell to go back to Bolenan Forest. 

“Okay, let’s begin the test firing.” 

I sent an attack spell toward a golem, which was using the prototype umbrella-style shield I’d made for my companions’ new equipment. 

First, I tried using five Magic Arrows. 

Transparent, spear-size Remote Arrows appeared and zoomed toward the target. 

The surface of the umbrella buckled slightly, but it managed to withstand the attack. 

“Oh-ho, so it can resist the advanced spell Dancing Javelin, eh?” 

Miss Aea looked impressed. 

No, sorry, that was just the lesser spell Remote Arrow. 

“Next test.” 

Once the shield had been fixed up, I fired the next spell. 

This time, I used an intermediate Light Magic spell, Laser. 

“That got through. It did reduce the power, but I guess it couldn’t completely block an advanced piercing spell like Photon Laser.” 

Aea’s misunderstanding aside, the shield had to be able to hold up to attacks like this in order to do any good against an areamaster. 

After resetting the umbrella shield and testing it out several more times, I realized piercing attacks didn’t immediately break through, so I tried adding a function that would spin the umbrella and turn the attack aside. 

“That’s impressive. But won’t it require too much magic?” 

“True. It would probably be difficult for one person to use it multiple times.” 

It was originally intended for a defense wall to maintain position in battle anyway. 

“Which is why I’m considering adding a small Holytree Stone kiln to the armor to supply more magic.” 

“To the armor?” 

I showed the confused elf my design sketches. 

“I see. So you would attach a subspace to the armor just for the Holytree Stone kiln.” 

“Yes, the engineers from the Magic Bag workshop helped me.” 

I couldn’t make this with my equipment alone, so I had created only two so far: one for Nana’s armor and one as a spare. 

The Holytree Stone kiln could provide abundant magic, but it was too costly to use all the time, and I figured I would have them use it only against strong opponents like an areamaster. 

“You certainly come up with some interesting ideas.” 

“There were many tomes in my homeland that provided inspiration.” 

Mostly manga and anime. 

I had more ideas that I wanted to implement eventually, like strength-enhancing armor that could bust through the walls of a subspace like glass to come to the rescue or a magical girl–style transformation set. 

But of course, I would have to perfect my chanting for those. 

“Wow, so much equipment!” 

“Satou, we brought you a box lunch.” 

As I was inspecting some finished equipment, Yuuneia and Rei came to visit. 

“Ooh, so round… Is that armor?” 

“Yes, for Pochi and Tama. If you do this…” 

“Whoa, it got smaller!” 

Pochi’s and Tama’s special armor, which I was developing with the code name Round Armor, was made with the shrinkable magical alloy I’d learned about before. It came with two different modes: a round form to deflect impact from attacks and a slim form for high-speed battle maneuvers. 

This function wouldn’t work as well for the taller girls like Liza and Nana; their armor didn’t have the shrinking feature. 

“Wow, these boots are fancy—and these ones are so cute! Look at this, Sister!” 

“Are these for Arisa and Mia?” 

“I made some for you two, as well.” 

The armor I made for the two sisters and the rear guard was just sturdy leather armor, but the long boots for Nana contained spikes for digging into the ground as the tank and even anchors for reinforcing the surface beneath her feet. 

The beastfolk girls’ boots were equipped with a speed-boost feature to increase the acceleration speed of “Blink” movement. 

It should be helpful when they used “Blink” followed by a special attack, for example. 

“S-Satou, is this white spear…a dragon’s claw?!” 

Rei exclaimed with surprise when she saw the Dragon Claw Spear I made for Liza. 

It was made with the dragon claw spearhead I’d acquired a while back and a tough adamantite handle. 

I had a fang from Hei Long the black dragon, too, but I was waiting to use that until I mastered more technology for creating a strong handle. 

“Good eye, Rei. That’s exactly right.” 

“I saw them a few times on Lalakie.” 

Rei explained that the life energy of dragon claws was different from those of other living things. 

“Wow, so many guns!” 

“Yes, those are for Lulu.” 

This included an improved laser gun with a scope that made it look like a futuristic rifle and a prototype for a new bullet-shooting gun with the unrefined appearance of a hunting rifle. 

When I tried using an eye lens from a giant monster fish to make a new ray gun for Lulu, the power improved exponentially. From now on, I figured she could use the Fireburst Gun for regular battles and the high-magic-consumption laser gun for finishing moves. 

The real-bullet gun had improved, too, but it wasn’t as convenient as the Fireburst Gun or laser gun and was less powerful than the latter; it would probably be useful only against foes that were impervious to magic. 

“This one’s pretty.” 

“It’s an automatic frost cannon I made with ice pearls.” 

It looked cool, but it was more for show than anything useful, so it would probably be stowed away in Storage indefinitely. 

“Is this short thing a gun, too?” 

“Yes, it’s a pistol for self-defense. I made some for you two, as well.” 

I had made a few different varieties of pistols, smaller than the kind I’d acquired from the Valley of Dragons. 

They looked like guns, but they were actually Thunder Rod rifles for stunning targets within a fifty-foot range—in other words, basically magical Tasers. They had one mode that would only shock the target slightly and one that could knock out a grown man. 

“Is this a cannon?” 

“It’s a small Magic Cannon for golem soldiers.” 

Rei answered Yuuneia’s question this time. 

I was developing this for Lulu, since she had the least firepower of the rear guard. My long-term plan was to make a floating battery with a coaxial-mounted Magic Cannon, like the kind on airships. 

“What are these? A short sword and…?” 

“That’s a knife called a kunai and a throwing star called a shuriken.” 

I’d made the shuriken for fun. I didn’t bother giving it any special qualities, but the kunai employed a function similar to Magic Hand to return to a corresponding glove after it was thrown. 

“Watch this…” 

I put on the glove and threw the kunai at a target. Partway through, I flicked my wrist and the kunai returned to my gloved hand. 

“Whoa, it came back!” 

“Wanna try?” 

“Yeah!” 

I handed Yuuneia the glove and let her play around with it. 

The glove was made with orichalcum thread, so it would protect the thrower’s hand from being cut even if they messed up, and because it attracted the knife like a magnet, there was no risk of dropping it, either. 

“Are those big swords just normal?” 

“No, those have various features, too.” 

Tama’s and Pochi’s swords had the magic alloy that let them grow up to three times bigger with magic, and Nana’s sword included electric- and shock-projection mechanisms. 

I had made a few other prototypes when I was testing out blue and orichalcum, like a handful of orichalcum longsword-size Holy Swords, but they weren’t very useful. 

I already had plenty of extra mass-produced Holy Swords to use as magic power batteries, so I figured I could test these next time I was out and about as Nanashi the Hero. 

“These, um…clothes? Armor? I’m not quite sure what to call them, but they’re cute.” 

“That’s equipment for Arisa and the rest of the rear guard.” 

When I saw Rei and Yuuneia taken with the cute designs, I decided to make them visually similar equipment as a gift sometime soon. 

After showing them the new staffs I’d made for Arisa and Mia, we moved to the warehouse with the non-battle items I’d been working on. 

“What is this, Master Satou?” 

“It’s an artificial leg.” 

While testing out the equipment, I had made this artificial limb for Mr. Kajiro. Its improved jump power and running strength were all well and good, but I shouldn’t have given in to Arisa’s requests to add a rocket that shoots out of the knee and even an emergency barrier. Giving this artificial leg as a gift to anyone would be a problem. 

I decided I would do more research on what kinds of functions I could add before remaking a leg for him. 

“The devices next to it are a mixer and a juicer. And the big ones are freezers and a vacuum freeze-drying machine.” 

“Juicer?” 

“Freeze drying?” 

The sisters basically had question marks floating above their heads, so I did my best to explain. 

The freeze-drying machine was a prototype I’d made with the ice and wind stones I’d acquired, thinking it might be useful for preserving vegetables long-term or making powder for smoothies. 

“We’d love to have cooking tools like these on Paradise Island, too. Right, Sister?” 

“Yes, they do sound useful, but…” 

“I made some for you as well, of course.” 

Rei didn’t seem to want to impose, so I reassured her with a smile. 

I was planning to make more of these cooking instruments for Miss Nea the elf chef and the brownies, too. 

Once I’d shown them around, we left the warehouse. 

“Ah, so that’s where you’ve been hiding.” 

“Did you need something?” 

When we stepped out of the building, we found Miss Aea looking for me. 

“You’ve got guests, right? I can just come back after lunch or something.” 

“Um, excuse me. If you’d like…” 

Aea started to leave, but Rei called out to stop her. 

Apparently, they’d made more lunch than was really necessary for the three of us. We wound up inviting Miss Aea to join. 

“Seafood today, huh? Very nice.” 

“Try the soy-boiled fish, Master Satou! Sister made it.” 

“Y-Yuuneia…” 

Since the sisters had become friendly with Miss Nea while she taught them self-defense, she’d started teaching them cooking as well. 

“Mm, it’s delicious.” 

The sweet and salty boiled greenling was very tasty. 

It went well with rice, but I would’ve liked to try it with some dry Japanese sake, too. 

“Really?!” 

“Yes, I mean it. It’s really good.” 

I responded earnestly, which made Rei’s cheeks turn pink as she smiled shyly. 

“Master Satou, try a rice ball, too. I made those!” 

“Oh? Let’s see…” 

…Why is it so heavy? 

She must have squeezed it pretty tightly when she made it. 

“It’s got just the right amount of salt,” I remarked. 

“You like it? Go ahead—have another!” 

“Don’t mind if I do, thanks.” 

It was a little dense, but not nearly as hard as the rye bread and biscuits that were so common in this world, so I was happy to enjoy their homemade box lunch. 

Miss Aea seemed to prefer the deep-fried crab and the salt-boiled shrimp rather than the intense flavor of the greenling. 

For some reason, I was the only one eating the rice balls, but I wasn’t going to complain about that. 

Most of all, I was fairly relieved that Rei and Yuuneia, who hadn’t been here long, seemed to be enjoying themselves in Bolenan Forest. 

“So what brings you here today?” 

After having some post-lunch tea, I asked Miss Aea what her original business was. 

Rei and Yuuneia had left, smiling on their way to study herb-growing with the house fairy brownies. 

“Oh right, I forgot. You were asking about magic potions that can restore a lost limb, right? We had an extra one in the workshop. I thought I’d bring it over for ya.” 

Miss Aea put a large vial of potion on the table. 

This meant the artificial leg I’d made would go to waste, but I was sure Mr. Kajiro would prefer to grow his own limb back than get this artificial one with a bunch of weird gimmicks. 

“Are you sure? This must be really valuable.” 

“Yeah, it’s fine. We’ve got Holytree Stones thanks to you, so once they’re done repairing the light ships and stuff, Lady Aaze can make plenty more.” 

Wow, really? 

Judging by her tone, she seemed to be telling the truth. 

“Well then, thank you very— Wait. A greater recovery potion?” 

In the middle of giving thanks, I blurted out the information from my AR display in my surprise. 

“Yeah, one large vial of that is enough to restore a lost limb.” 

No, it isn’t… Is it? Shocked by her words, I searched through the documents I had on hand. 

Just as I had remembered, it said a greater potion or a lesser elixir can’t restore an entire lost limb. 

“What’s wrong, Satou?” 

I produced the book in question from my Item Box and showed it to her, explaining my doubts. 

“Oh, that’s a misprint,” she responded casually. “From when they first transcribed the book. I didn’t know there were still copies out there with the error.” 

I see. So the person who was copying it by hand must have mixed up can with can’t. 

I used a pen to correct that part and made a note of the date and the name of the person who’d given me the information, Miss Aea. 

“If you want to restore a human’s lost limb, all you need is a large vial of a greater healing potion or a small vial of a lesser elixir or above.” 

Well, in that case, I could’ve healed Mr. Kajiro’s leg a long time ago, as thanks for keeping the mansion secure, with the lesser elixir I’d found in that treasure chest— No, wait. 

If it weren’t for this mistake, I would’ve been able to fix Kajiro’s leg already, but then I couldn’t have healed Tifaleeza’s eye when she was on the verge of death after that fire. 

This potion would heal Mr. Kajiro’s leg now, so maybe that misprint worked out for the best in the long run. 

“Sorry, Satou. I didn’t realize we gave you a book with a misprint.” 

“No, no, not at all.” 

I explained what I’d just been thinking and how it had all worked out for the best, and the two of us laughed together. 

“Well, that’s good. Now, restoring a lost limb takes a lot of magic and stamina, so if the person drinking the potion doesn’t have much MP, you should make sure they eat tons of meat and bread with powdered bone. Otherwise, they’ll be so exhausted that they’ll end up bedridden for a while.” 

I thanked Miss Aea for the warning. 

“Still, I’m surprised you didn’t see through a misprint like that right away.” 

“You’re giving me too much credit.” 

As I responded, I realized why it hadn’t occurred to me to doubt that information. 

I’d assumed that even greater magic potions couldn’t restore a lost limb because when I met the elf Cyriltoa the Songstress in the old capital, she had an arm that had been replaced with an artificial limb. 

That gave me the impression that even the elves had difficulty replacing limbs. 

“Miss Aea, are you sure it’s all right if I take this potion?” 

“Yes, of course. Why, is there a problem?” 

I asked her if it was okay that they weren’t prioritizing the healing of Miss Cyriltoa’s arm instead. 

“Ah, you met Ciya, did you? …She’s just stubborn. You’ve heard about the incident where many young elves died in Labyrinth City, right? She’s one of the few survivors, along with Yuya.” 

Aea quietly told me about the past. 

The “Yuya” she referred to was Yusaratoya, the manager of the general store in Seiryuu City. 

“When the elves who had lost their children became emotional and exiled Traya, Ciya and Yuya felt like they should atone, too. So Ciya started using an artificial limb Traya created instead of restoring her arm and ran away. Yuya ran out after Traya and Ciya, too, and never came back.” 

She didn’t clarify, but this “Traya” person who was exiled must be none other than Trazayuya, the elf sage who had made the Cradle. 

There were similar events mentioned in the journals he left in the Cradle, so there was little doubt in my mind. 

But still…“atone,” huh? 

Once I learned to make magic potions that could restore lost limbs, I thought I would offer her one, too, but if that was her reason, it might be unwanted meddling on my part. 

I apologized to Miss Aea for making her discuss such a difficult story, then changed the subject. 

“So earlier, you said that once there are Holytree Stones to spare again, Miss Aaze can make greater magic potions…?” 

I was curious about this topic anyway. 

“That’s right. You would need at least four Ladies of the Holytree to create a Treespirit Pearl large enough and pure enough to make an elixir, but Lady Aaze can create the shards used to make a regular greater potion on her own.” 

And with these Treespirit Pearl shards, Miss Aea and her crew could alchemize greater potions. 

I found it a little strange that this would be described as Aaze making the potions, but if Aea herself saw it that way, then there was no need to comment. 

…Wait a second. 

An elf village with four Ladies of the Holytree—in other words, high elves—could make elixirs? 

Then if I asked the high elves from a village besides Bolenan, I should be able to get elixirs… 

I imagined Aaze lamenting her lack of ability but then weighed that sadness against the possibility of having an emergency measure in case anything happened to one of my kids. 

It was a little tough, but in the end, the latter was more important. 

While I didn’t want to hurt Miss Aaze’s feelings, I should definitely ask one of the other village’s high elves to make elixirs for me. 

If anything, I was ashamed of myself as their guardian for not making that choice immediately. 

“It might be possible with substitutes for the Treespirit Pearls and bloodpearls. But you can only get things like soul pearls and ghost pearls through mass murder, so I bet elixirs made with those would come out cursed.” 

Miss Aea sounded troubled. 

Yeah, that doesn’t appeal to me, either. 

It seemed like the kind of choice a powerful ruler would make that would lead to their own destruction. 

“…And you can use the dragon-strength stones and true-dragon pearls that ancient dragons and sky dragons create, but if you laid a hand on those, that would get your whole land set on fire.” 

Aea shrugged and smiled wryly. 

Ancient dragons and sky dragons? 

…No way… Right? 

I was doubtful, but then I remembered the time I’d found those bluecoins to be used in place of Holytree Stones. 

So just for kicks, I searched through the Valley of Dragons/Graveyard and Valley of Dragons/Spoils folders in my Storage. 

…Found some. 

Looking at the search results, I cautiously posed a question. 

“Miss Aea, are dragon-strength stones and true-dragon pearls acquired by killing ancient dragons and sky dragons?” 

“No, no. That’s how you acquire dragonheart crystals, since they’re crystallized from the hearts of lesser and full-grown dragons. But it’s said that dragon-strength stones and true-dragon pearls are created by crystallizing both mana from a dragon’s territory and the life energy of dragons themselves.” 

I see. In that case, I probably don’t have to refrain like with the bluecoins, right? 

I separated the dragon-strength stones and true-dragon pearls from the Valley of Dragons/Spoils folder into their own folder. It was a pretty large amount: tens of thousands of the former and hundreds of the latter. 

I had dragon god pearls, too, but those sounded a little intimidating, so I decided to leave them alone for now. 

“Miss Aea, do you know the recipe that uses dragon-strength stones?” 

I produced the smallest dragon-strength stone I could find from Storage to show her. It was a transparent blue gem about the size of a beach ball. 

Simply holding it felt like magic and energy were seeping into my hand. 

Not that I really needed that, since I already used magic-charged Holy Swords as batteries. 

“Wha—?!” Aea shrieked in surprise. “Where did you get that?! Have you been to a dragon nest or something?!” 

I wished she would stop contorting her pretty face into such ridiculous expressions. 

“You really are fearless, aren’t you? …Well, all right, then. The recipe is more or less the same, but I’ll give you a few warnings.” 

With that, the exhausted-looking Aea taught me how to make greater potions and elixirs. This meant I wouldn’t have to go to the high elves of another forest; I wouldn’t have to hurt Miss Aaze’s feelings. That was a relief. 

“Even lesser elixirs are fairly difficult to make, aren’t they?” 

“Well, yes, but…” 

Miss Aea kindly shared some already prepared ingredients with me, so it was fairly simple this time. But making it from scratch could easily take a month or more. 

“…Most people don’t make it without failing on the first try after hearing the recipe once.” 

She muttered this last part, but I heard it with my “Keen Hearing” skill. 

I had proceeded with extra caution, since I didn’t want to waste the ingredients she gave me. 

“Looks like I made eighteen in total. I’ll leave half of them in the village.” 

“No, no. Just two or three is fine, or even just the one.” 

Nine would be more than enough for my labyrinth-exploring party, plus a few to leave with Rei on the island, but Miss Aea refused to take any more than three. 

“Goodness. I’ve lived a long life, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a top-quality lesser elixir.” 

Appraising the vials I gave her, Aea let out a whistle of admiration. 

“Really?” 

“What kind of crazy training did you do to be this talented at your young age?” 

Sorry. All I did was put skill points into things with my Unique Skill. 

Miss Aea’s praise stung a bit, to be honest. 

“Will you be making regular elixirs next, I suppose?” 

“Actually, I’ve already…” 

“What? You made one already?” 

Well, the basic recipe was the same as lesser elixirs. 

I messed up the magic regulation a little, so it didn’t come out at the highest quality, but I was confident that I’d gotten the hang of it enough to make top-quality elixirs from now on. 

However, I was missing some of the ingredients and had only enough to make the one. 

Once I got more ingredients, I was eager to give it another shot. 

Incidentally, I left the creator’s name field blank in case these potions went around. 

I also used recognition-inhibiting techniques on the vials themselves, making it more difficult to analyze detailed information like the name of the creator. 

“I’d like to mass-produce some greater potions next. Could I borrow a bigger transmutation set?” 

“Go ahead. We don’t use the big one in the workshop that much, so you’re welcome to it.” 

I set my name to a blank space again as I started working. 

I had plenty of the ingredients for this and was able to crank out lots of greater health and magic potions with ease. The extra-large Transmutation Tablet was very handy for this mass production. 

“Honestly. He makes it look easier than making lesser potions… How does he even have enough magic for all this?” 

As I kept making greater potions, I heard Aea grumbling with a mix of shock and admiration behind me. 

I decided to donate around half these potions to the elves of Bolenan Forest, too. 

“It’s like a monster movie.” 

Before my eyes, a behemoth and a sand giant were locked in close combat. 

I would have liked to watch my kids fight them, but unfortunately, by the time I arrived on the training grounds by way of the fairy ring, the battle was already over. 

Sitting on the sidelines, the girls were receiving instructions from their teachers. 

“Don’t forget that feeling, Liza.” 

“Yes, sir!” 

Noticing my approach, Liza yelled “Master!” and came rushing over. 

“You won’t believe it, sir! I finally mastered it!” 

Liza proudly informed me that she had succeeded at the Spellblade Shot, a manga-like technique in which the user fired the energy cloaked around their blade at a target. 

“That’s amazing, Liza! I’ll make whatever kind of meat you want for dinner tonight.” 

“Thank you, sir!” Liza’s face broke into a huge smile. 

It was a rare expression, but it suited her well. 

Hot on her heels, Tama and Pochi came trotting over next. 

“Tama learned a dagger barrage…?” 

“Pochi learned a secret move, sir!” 

“Me too!” 

Both of them demonstrated the form for their new moves. The random flailing didn’t do much to explain anything, but no doubt they were excellent techniques. 

“You must work hard to master them.” 

“Aye-aye!” 

“You too, Pochi.” 

“Yes, sir!” 

Tama’s teacher, Mr. Shiya, and Pochi’s teacher, Miss Poa, gave words of encouragement, to which the duo responded with their trademark salute. 

Beyond them, I saw Arisa chatting with a Space Magic–using elf elder. 

“Miss Arisa, you must never use the spell you learned today against other people, understand?” 

“Of course! I’ll only bust it out to beat really powerful monsters or demons!” 

From the sound of things, Arisa had picked up a pretty ominous Space Magic technique. 

Later, she told me it was a brutal spell that dismantled the target at a molecular level. 

No wonder her teacher had told her not to use it on people. 

“Satou.” 

Looking exhausted, Mia tottered over and threw her arms around me. 

“Learned Behemoth.” 

“You still don’t have enough magic power to use it on your own, though. Remember that, all right?” 

Miss Aaze threw in a warning. 

“Mm. I know.” 

Judging by this conversation, Aaze had passed down the Spirit Magic spell Create Behemoth that I’d once seen her use in space. 

Mia couldn’t use it on her own yet, but eventually she should gain enough MP by leveling up. 

“Master, I would like you to increase the follow speed of the Floating Shield, I request.” 

Nana was next to return, her instructions finished. 

“I thought I made it pretty fast. It’s still too slow?” 

“If I move quickly with ‘Body Strengthening,’ my movements are slightly hindered, I report.” 

I had her demonstrate for me and saw that there was a bit of stress on the item that served as a reference point for the Floating Shield, slowing Nana’s movements slightly. 

I was able to figure out the problem, but due to the nature of the Practical Magic mechanism the Floating Shield currently used, it was physically impossible to make it any faster. 

If I wanted to improve it further, I would have to figure out a Space Magic mechanism instead. 

“I can’t fix it right away, but I’ll take care of it as fast as I can.” 

“Yes, master.” 

For now, I gave the Floating Shield to the rear guard to use instead, and I resolved to start developing a new one for Nana tonight. 

As for the equipment that proved problem-free in battle, I would have to have Mia and Arisa learn new magic tool–creating spells, as much as it pained me to do so. 

But this was all for the sake of improving my kids’ equipment, so I would simply have to come up with a good reward that would make it worth their trouble. 

“Master! Miss Nea and I made some chocolate desserts like bonbons! We’ll have them after dinner tonight. Please don’t eat too much, okay?” 

“Sure. I’m looking forward to it.” 

She said they had omitted the alcohol from the bonbons, but I would have to double-check them with my “Analyze” skill before I let the girls eat them. 

“Master Satou!” 

As I was chatting with Lulu, Yuuneia ran up and latched on to me from the opposite side of Mia. 

Behind her, I saw her sister, Rei, as well as Nea, who’d been teaching them self-defense again. 

“Satou, we got our novice self-defense certificates from Lady Nea.” 

“That’s great, Rei. Good job, both of you.” 

I patted the proud-looking sisters on their heads, and they closed their eyes like a pair of cats. 

They weren’t actually related by blood, but certain mannerisms like this showed their sisterly bond. 

After the battle with the sand giant, our ten days of training and crafting were coming to a close. 

We had to update our estimated return date along the way, so I had gone back to Labyrinth City just once, but other than that, we’d all been working hard in Bolenan Forest. 

Miss Aaze looked a little sad when we left the tree house, but once I promised to come back soon, she saw us off with a smile. 

On our way out, Aaze asked Rei and Yuuneia if they’d like to live in Bolenan Forest, but they declined, saying that Paradise Island was their home. 

“See you soon, Master Satou.” 

“Please come visit us again anytime.” 

“I will, of course.” 

With our arms full of sunflowers and tropical fruits that the two had given us, the rest of the group and I used the Return spell to go back to Celivera. 

“Phew. Feels like we’ve been away for a while.” 

Arisa stretched. 

“I wish to plant the sunflowers at the orphanage, I declare.” 

“An excellent idea…” 

Liza nodded. 

I agreed, too. They were easy to grow, and sunflowers go well with the smiles of children. 

“…They can be an emergency food supply.” 

Okay, Liza’s reason was a little different from mine. 

“We still have some time left before our return date. Should we just head back to the mansion for now?” 

The girls looked at one another. After a moment, Arisa stepped forward to speak for them. 

“We want to fight! So we can really prove the results of our training!” 

“All right, then. If you want to test out your new techniques, we can go to a place with a lot of fairly strong spawn enemies. Does that sound good?” 

They nodded, and I checked my map for an appropriate site. 

“How about beetles, like the kind Jelil was fighting? Or the butterfly and moth area? That area has a pretty decent spawn rate, but we’d need a way to deal with their powder.” 

The army ant area and soldier mantis area were good contenders, too, but both of their areamasters had annoying special abilities, so I didn’t offer them as options. 

“Hmm. Jelil’s basically our rival. Let’s pick the same place as him to compare our strength!” 

“I agree. Beetles will be an excellent target for my spear.” 

“They’re a good enemy, sir!” 

The others all agreed with Arisa’s suggestion. 

The kin monsters there, like the storm stag beetle and thunder stag beetle, were a notch stronger than the kin in the other areas. And the areamaster, the elder lance beetle, had Lightning Magic and Wind Magic but no troublesome unique abilities. It wouldn’t be a problem if the girls decided they wanted to try fighting that, too. 

There was also an area near the elder lance beetle’s lair populated by monsters called Evil Anemone, which were impervious to magic, and mud statues, which were strong against physical attacks, so it would be the perfect opportunity to really put their training to the test. 

“Oh, that reminds me. Weren’t Zakorin and his pals going after an areamaster when we first came into the labyrinth? Think they beat it already?” 

“That would make sense, time-wise.” 

I opened my map and searched for Zarigon’s name. 

The areamaster they were fighting was a giant deer called a “lightning elder stag,” and it looked like they hadn’t beaten it yet. 

Hmm. 

“What? Another situation?” 

“These guys just can’t keep themselves out of trouble.” 

It looked like we wouldn’t be able to conquer the beetle area until after a little bit of meddling. 

Checking the location of the closest seal slate, I used Return to teleport our whole group there.