Chapter 44
A white lab coat, long, dry-looking black hair.
Deep dark circles sat under her eyes.
By contrast, her eyes shone brilliantly.
Like Archimedes shouting "Eureka," perhaps.
She gripped my hand tightly and asked.
"What on earth is that thing!"
"Huh?"
"Isn't that a technique modern magic engineering couldn't even dream of!"
I looked at her name tag.
[Chief Researcher Kim Hana]
As expected, researchers really aren't something just anyone can do.
"Researcher! They said the owner is Hunter Isela's friend! You can't just rush up like that..."
"Ah, right. My apologies. I'm Kim Hana, the chief researcher of the White Tiger Guild's artifact research division. Nice to meet you!"
"Yep. So what’s the problem?"
"There isn't one. In fact, it's so outstanding that it's a problem. Well, it is a little damaged, though..."
This is interesting too.
Not only could they appraise a wand here,
"This wand is a revolution in the magical world. The circuitry, the craftsmanship, and even the size."
"That much?"
Sera said as she lifted my wand.
"It doesn't look like it..."
"You said your name was Yumia? Would you sell this wand by any chance? This will become a revolution in the magical world!"
At that, the researchers around us stared at me with eyes full of anticipation.
But I needed to use that myself.
If I was going to give it away, I should squeeze every last drop out of it by using Dragon Mana three times first.
And there was a fundamental problem too.
"It's SSR, you know. Can you even handle it?"
"W-what!!"
"An SSR rank!?"
At my words, cries of shock burst from the surrounding researchers.
SSR grade.
These days, with all the UR this and UR that, I'd lost my sense for it.
But artifacts are extremely expensive even at R rank.
Even SR rank items are mainly used by A- to S-rank hunters, and SSR rank ones aren't easy to get even for lower-ranked S-rank hunters.
Only Kim Hana managed to keep her composure and fell deep in thought.
"Hmm... still, with our budget we might be able to buy it... how much are you thinking?"
"A hundred billion."
I had said it as a joke.
"Great! Let's buy it right away!"
"No, Researcher Kim Hana! With the government cutting budgets and all that, even our budget isn't coming in!"
"We're short on magic-type hunters! Even Hunter Isela and the guild master are melee types—what nonsense are you talking about!!"
"Quiet! This is a revolution! Approve it now—!"
"Grab her! Who made her the chief researcher!?"
"Who else? The guild master!!"
"Whoa, a fight broke out."
As expected, the most entertaining thing to watch is a fight.
The white coats were tangled up, blocking the budget from being approved.
Isela slipped over and asked.
"Are you really going to sell it?"
"Of course not."
Setting aside the fact that it was an SSR-grade artifact, modern money meant very little to me now.
And wands are insanely expensive even in the other world.
Even the money I'd made from selling spices wouldn't be enough to buy it officially.
"Then why did you say you were selling it?"
"Because it's fun."
How could I not stir things up?
"Sigh..."
Still, that reaction...
Honestly, if I ever end up flush with gold later, buying one for a few dozen gold doesn't sound bad.
I tucked the wand someone had stealthily returned to me into my inventory and turned around.
"Aah!! Yumia! Wait a second!!"
Then Kim Hana ran over.
"What is it?"
Honestly, we'd already seen everything there was to see.
Since it was appraised under Isela's name, there wasn't even an appraisal fee.
"Could you show me your ability once?"
"Huh?"
"We're researching magic too, at least for now...! We can analyze abilities too!"
"Didn't you say melee types were your main thing?"
When I asked that, another researcher said, looking baffled.
"Researcher Kim Hana is a bit unusual. She's a genius who's achieved results in research using mana analyzers, regardless of the field."
"If you show us, we'll show you our other artifacts too! They're all self-made, and if there's an artifact that can help you, you can take it cheap!!"
"Really!?"
That's an unexpectedly great offer.
I was curious about what other artifacts they had too.
When I went to the artifact shop before, I'd only seen swords and wands.
"Let's go!"
Kim Hana took the lead.
***
Wow. Money really is nice.
The place we came to was a practice room reserved for A- to S-rank hunters.
It was about half the size of Reinhardt's central outdoor amphitheater.
But the facilities weren't even comparable.
Kim Hana spoke into a radio.
"Please prepare one B-rank target."
Then the floor opened, and a robot-shaped target made of green ore rose up.
"The target is automatically retrieved and repaired, so just shoot it without worrying."
Kim Hana said with a smile.
She looked as if she were used to facilities like this.
But I was astonished, like an otherworlder who'd come to the modern world.
'Wow, they can allocate a practice room this big to one person...'
At that moment, Sera picked up a remote and pressed a button.
Then, in just a few seconds, something like a white pillar rose from the floor.
Sera picked something up from there.
Looking closely, it was a disposable clear plastic cup filled with a blue drink.
"What's that?"
"Huh? A hydration drink delivery unit. But it delivers pretty much anything, so I just use it like a vending machine whenever I come here."
...What?
How far has human technology advanced...!
The regret I'd felt a moment ago seemed to grow a little bigger.
'Maybe I really should've just registered, huh?'
I remembered the place where I'd practiced before.
Compared to there, this was heaven.
But bringing it up now would hurt my pride a little.
I wondered if they'd offer again.
"By the way, Yumia, don't you have any intention of joining our guild? You should be qualified enough if you own an artifact like that."
Just then, Kim Hana asked.
Nice! Now I just have to act reluctant and go in...
"Don't even ask. You should know how stubborn she is about solo play."
Then Isela cut in.
Huh.
"Even I, her friend, can hardly see her face once a month. She's probably never joining a guild."
"Ah, my apologies. Then it would be rude to press the matter further."
Ah.
'This is going to make it awkward for me to say I'll join!'
"Sigh..."
I didn't know the guild was this nice.
I should bring it up casually later.
With that thought, I chanted the spell.
"Casting, Bullet."
Then, in less than 0.5 seconds, the highest-output basic attack spell fired.
A small explosion sounded.
As expected. Even after lowering stability quite a bit, it only managed to partially destroy the B-rank target.
"Sigh, maybe I really should learn beginner magic."
As the wand improved, the casting time for firing at maximum output had also dropped dramatically.
But without additional spells, it was hard to destroy a B-rank or higher target in one shot.
When I looked over at Kim Hana, she had a very interested expression.
"...You said you're a magic-type hunter, right?"
"And?"
"There's no delay when you fire magic?"
"Should there be?"
"Usually, even the fast ones take a few seconds. That's why a tank is essential."
In other words, it has high burst damage with slow startup.
...But if you used something this powerful like that at our school...
"you'd get yelled at and kicked out, wouldn't you?"
"...Huh?"
"Yeah, that's a thing."
Let's say it took a few seconds to use attack magic in front of Karnaroff.
You'd be guaranteed a lecture and a mountain of assignments.
"And on top of that the projectile speed is high... no, then the flexibility would drop..."
Kim Hana muttered before asking.
"Is this the highest output?"
"Yep."
If I fired it with Dragon Mana, the firepower would be on a whole different level.
But that's a crazy technique that trades your bank account for firepower.
It wasn't something I could use any time I wanted.
Then there was a commotion in the data room.
"Ms. Hana!! Come here!!"
"A mana loss rate of 1 percent!? That's impossible!!"
"What rank of ability could even do this!?"
...?
I opened my status window.
Abilities: [Initial Magic], [Basic Attack Magic(SSR)]……
The basic attack magic, whose rank had quietly been bumped up, was greeting me.
I closed the status window.
There was one saying Karnaroff repeated until he was blue in the face.
[Basic Attack Magic is the finest of all attack magic in existence.]
Honestly, I thought it was just gaslighting to make students do their homework.
Guess not.
"Yumia! I want to analyze this spell! Could you come here once a month and cast it for us?"
Kim Hana, after checking the data, said.
"What are you going to use the analysis for..."
"We'll figure that out after analyzing it! First, the mana-infusion pattern!"
At least her approach was right.
If you studied the mana-infusion pattern of Basic Attack Magic, you could apply it to other attack spells too.
But it's such a hassle.
"I'll ask too. Our guild's magic-type hunters are a bit on the weak side."
Sera came over.
From what I heard, this place seemed to have a higher proportion of melee types than healers or mages.
"Hmm... what can you give me?"
"You said you needed a manual for healer training, right? That and honorary guild member status."
"Oh?"
Tempting.
But that alone isn't enough to move me.
"I'll give you whatever I can from the artifact prototypes I've developed!"
Oh?
Now that's interesting.
"Let's go see them right away."
"This way, please!"
The artifact test room seemed to be right next to the practice room.
We moved straight to the test room.
[Elephant-in-the-Fridge Device(SR)]
[Door That Can't Go Anywhere(C)]
[Sword Washer(R)]
As I walked, I scanned them with Observation Eye.
That was the nice thing about Observation Eye.
I could tell roughly what they were just from the names.
...But what is the first one?
For now, I asked Sera.
"By any chance, do you have any kind of cooling device?"
Truthfully, I'd come here partly to kill time, but more to prepare for summer.
'Honestly, with Aris and my mana, we should be able to run a cooling device.'
An air conditioner was out of the question, but if there were at least some fan-like artifact.
Kim Hana seemed to have heard me.
"A cooling device? We don't have one... Ah! This might be able to substitute for it in a pinch!"
And what she brought out was.
[Mana Stone-to-Power Converter(SR-)]
"I'll take it."
"Huh?"
"I said I'll do it. Deal."
It was a far more amazing item than I'd expected.