Chapter 16
Handmade Magic Tool
'That is why I say the recent spiritual disasters are man-made disasters caused by the government's negligence! In the first place, this is exactly what the people pay taxes for—'
'Acting Prime Minister Izumihara announced at a press conference today that the government would put more effort than ever into measures against monsters. As a concrete plan, the government will—'
'The third locked-room murder this month occurred in Kanagawa Prefecture. Investigators confirmed that, once again, a message from the culprit had been left on the wall—'
'Damage caused by Gifted people is occurring just as often as damage caused by monsters! The government needs to pay more attention to this! The powers of Gifted people cannot be detected by us ordinary humans—'
'The second spiritual disaster to occur in Tokyo. It has now been learned that those girls saved many lives on that occasion as well. Today, we will hear from one of their middle-school teachers—'
'Debate over whether magic medicines should be covered by insurance is still ongoing. Some experts say they should not be approved until their effects on the human body can be accurately determined—'
'And now for our next story. The Japanese national soccer team in Germany—'
Most of the news playing on television concerned Gifted people and monsters.
Two years had passed since the 'Day of Return.' People were gradually turning the 'extraordinary' into the 'ordinary,' but that did not mean they had adapted.
The economy, the law, and individuals alike. Nobody had gotten used to the changes in this world yet.
So it couldn't be helped that the number of words I had spoken at school today was exactly four.
Well, society, you know. That's just how things are. Nothing I can do about it.
...I wonder if searching online would turn up a way to make friends without 'courage,' 'conversation skills,' or 'a special talent unrelated to being Gifted.'
But if the search results came back with 'money!' 'connections!' and 'power!' I'd have no choice but to give up on everything, so I couldn't bring myself to search. That's fine. It's not as if the internet has all the answers, anyway.
Despite being in the full swing of such a gray youth, today I had come to a woman's house. Not just any woman, either, but an exceptionally beautiful one with an incredible figure.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the time had come to cast aside the word gray!
"Then, let's talk about equipment."
"Yes."
It might have been a slight exaggeration.
I visited Takanashi-san's house and went straight to the backyard.
The house prepared by the self-proclaimed Demiurge was genuinely enormous, and the backyard had about half the space of a soccer field.
However, there were no garden stones, flowerbeds, or anything of the sort. There was only bare earth with weeds growing sparsely here and there. The chain-link fence surrounding the property and the cinder-block wall reinforced with iron posts only emphasized the loneliness of the place.
But that happened to be convenient this time.
"Then I'll plant it around here."
"Yes."
On the right side of the backyard, I dug a shallow hole with a small shovel and planted an oak sapling I'd bought online.
It didn't need fertilizer. I really was just planting it in the soil.
"...Even someone as ignorant about plants as I am cannot imagine this growing properly."
"Well, that's how things normally work."
I nodded deeply at Takanashi-san's words.
Farmers across Japan might have flown into a rage at the sight. But something as unreasonable as a Gift was enough to make them collapse rather than merely lose their tempers.
I held out my left hand and concentrated my magical power. A pale golden light appeared in my palm and began to swirl.
The magical light danced through the air like spray and fell onto the sapling. The pale-brown earth turned black, and the leaves filled with so much vitality that they seemed to sparkle.
"...By tomorrow morning, I think it will have grown to about shoulder height."
"...All I can say is that it is remarkable."
"Well, it's not as if I'm the remarkable one..."
I hadn't done anything to earn this 'unique Gift' through hard work, after all.
To be honest, whenever people praised me, a mysterious sense of guilt outweighed my happiness.
In any case, I planted another sapling in the same way on the left side of the yard.
"That should do it... If they grow too large, cutting them down will be difficult, so shouldn't we cut them down around the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes. This should allow us to make Kenning's right arm."
"...Personally, I find that technology even harder to believe."
I hadn't planted the trees because the yard looked lonely. The purpose was to repair Kenning.
"A fusion of golem technology and science... And on top of that, it converts electricity into magical power. That thing is incredible."
"Yes. I think so too."
Kenning. That humanoid robot uses a golem as its frame.
'Golem'
Their forms vary widely. Some have letters carved into their foreheads, while others bear little resemblance to humanoids at all.
They were also famous for being something Gifted people could create without any special knowledge or magic.
A name reflects the form, and the form reflects the name. Power resides in names. That was one of the fundamentals of magic.
For that reason, a golem could be made simply by shaping wood, stone, or some other material into a humanoid form and flowing magical power into it.
...The quality was just abysmal.
Before the adventurer system was established, people had proposed putting golems into dungeons whenever they lacked manpower.
However, the plan was scrapped for reasons including 'they fall over immediately,' 'their intelligence is low,' 'their output is weak,' and 'their fuel efficiency is atrocious.'
I had once made one myself out of curiosity, but I never imagined it would trip over a fist-sized stone and then be unable to get back up...
For that reason, golems other than those made with specialized Gifts were currently considered useless as fighting forces.
Except for this item from the future.
"The golem's poor posture control and low intelligence are compensated for by the pilot and computer, while its output is increased by combining it with motors. Its poor fuel efficiency is forcibly resolved by converting electricity into magical power... I especially don't understand the last part."
"Even I, who piloted it, do not understand the principle. I opened the core unit and examined the inside, but it contained mysterious formulas and machinery, so duplication would be difficult. Fortunately, it had just undergone maintenance three days before I traveled through time, so it should function without problems for another two or three years."
"...I have to ask, but there aren't any human organs inside the core unit, are there?"
Mainly the heart.
Apparently, magical power was generated primarily by the heart in the human body. That was what the mysterious knowledge I had possessed since awakening as a Gifted person told me. Bones and other organs could produce it as well, but there was a considerable difference in the amount.
In a future world where human brains were canned, I couldn't help wondering whether Kenning used the human organs said to be used in magic tools as well.
"No. There are no biological components. Rather, parts other than the brain are mainly used as materials for magic bullets. In cases like this, they probably aren't used very often."
"Ah... yes."
I felt as though I'd just been told something horrifying, but thinking about it too deeply seemed likely to damage my mental health, so I decided to let it pass.
The future a hundred years from now is terrifying...
"Oh. However, I have heard that dedicated machines use the pilot's flesh in various parts of the body."
I really hated the sound of that kind of machine.
A dedicated machine was supposed to be a romantic concept overflowing with dreams and possibilities, yet this one inspired neither.
"Well, yes. Anyway, let me know when you're going to cut the trees down. I'll help, and I can dry the wood as well."
"Thank you. But can you dry it with your unique Gift too?"
"Ah, no. I'll use a scroll for that."
I took a single scroll from my pocket.
"This is a Water Bullet... a scroll that fires a mass of water. By adapting it, I can use water present at the location to activate the magic. So if I press it against a felled tree, I can expel some of the moisture inside."
"It can do that...?"
"Since these trees were grown with my unique Gift, they probably won't crack much as they shrink later. Also, if I use this Ground Manipulation scroll, it should remove most of the debris inside the wood."
Drying a log apparently took years, but with magic, it could be finished in less than half a day.
As usual, this thing called a Gift picked a fight with everything people had previously considered common sense.
"...If you don't mind, may I ask what kinds of scrolls Yahiro-san can make?"
"Huh...? Didn't I mention that?"
"No. I heard that you mainly use Wind Bullets when fighting in dungeons."
"Oh, sorry..."
I grew awkward and looked away slightly.
I could currently make ten types of scrolls. If the amount of magical power I could release changed, I might be able to make more, but...
They were Fire Bullet, Water Bullet, Wind Bullet, and Ground Manipulation, whose effects were exactly what their names suggested.
There was also Healing, which could treat scrapes and minor bruises.
Body Enhancement, which could temporarily increase strength and agility.
Telekinesis, which could produce and control an invisible arm for ten seconds.
Magic Expansion, which expanded the area of effect of the next spell.
Banishment, which was effective only against undead and Wraith-type enemies.
And finally, Levitation, which continuously consumed magical power while active but caused the user to float during that time.
I always carried Levitation as a good-luck charm. On the day Takanashi-san traveled through time, it was the method I had considered using to escape from the skeleton.
However, this magic left me extremely vulnerable. I couldn't use other magic while floating, and my movement speed was slow, so using it in front of an enemy was far too risky. Activating it carelessly could actually put me in greater danger.
"So those are the scrolls I can make. No, I mean, the scrolls I can make... yeah."
"I see... They are convenient."
"Ahaha..."
That was the main selling point of my scrolls.
The output could increase depending on the user's magical power, but that was true of the other scrolls as well. In terms of overall performance, mine only managed to hold their own through portability and activation speed.
"Also, when you make Kenning's arm from this wood, could I have the scraps?"
"Of course. What would you use them for?"
"I'd like to use them for the 'cores' of my scrolls. I grow small trees in my yard and cut them down, but it's a fair amount of work..."
Because scrolls were activated by flowing magical power through them, their materials were more stable if they contained magical power to begin with.
I was also making my own materials for budgetary reasons, but... it was a pain.
Incidentally, though it had nothing to do with this, there was also a vegetable garden beside the trees I used for scrolls. Prices had risen even further since the 'Day of Return,' but my family had no trouble getting vegetables. I had to be grateful for my unique Gift.
...Maybe I should raise chickens too. I wonder...
"So that's why. In that case, I will help with the processing as well."
"Really? You don't mind...?"
"Yes. If you like, why not use one of the rooms in this house as a workshop? It would also make transporting the materials easier. We have rooms to spare."
"...In that case, um... I'll take you up on that."
Although I hesitated because it was a woman's house, I eventually nodded.
After all, my parents had originally been close, but then they became younger and turned into an extremely handsome man and beautiful woman. On top of that, my mother had become a half-oni woman... You know? Since her oni blood was thicker than mine, things were... yeah.
I needed to be prepared for any 'accidents,' so I wasn't suited to work that required concentration.
Without expensive earphones, I'd seriously be 'dead.' From a teenage son's perspective.
"Well, if you're going to help me make scrolls, Takanashi-san, you can use them freely from now on, all right?"
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. It actually helps me out more, too..."
I couldn't really appreciate it, having lived in a peaceful country, but Takanashi-san was a soldier who had survived eight years on the battlefield.
If someone like that explored dungeons with me while carrying a staff instead of a gun, it was reassuring.
As a Gifted person, she was a little frail, but her experience more than made up for it.
"Thank you. If I remember correctly, this is when I should say... 'I'll take your kind words?'"
"...Do you mean, 'I'll take you up on your kind offer'?"
"Yes. That's it."
"No, thank you. Really, don't worry about it."
"Right. Understood."
Takanashi-san straightened her back and saluted. It must have been a habit she'd acquired over those eight years.
...Unfortunately, her enormous breasts bounced every time she did that, so I was not okay.
My eyes felt as though they were being drawn toward the dreams and hopes beneath her thin T-shirt. Each time, I had to summon all my reason to turn my head in another direction.
Seriously. This woman needed to develop a sense of danger. She had invited a teenage boy into her house and was this defenseless. Was she planning to complete every single thing a beautiful, busty girl shouldn't do?
I couldn't point it out directly, though. That would be sexual harassment in itself.
...I'm sorry. That's a lie. I considered it a small perk.
I hate having a completely gray youth...! I want a little color in my life, officer!
As I pleaded my case to an imaginary police officer, the walking destroyer of adolescent hearts—or rather, Takanashi-san—tilted her head.
"But how much space and what kind of equipment are needed to make scrolls?"
"Ah, well. As long as there's enough space to dry them after writing, that's sufficient. If I'm only writing, a desktop is all I need."
"...From what I have heard, a specialized workshop of considerable size is required."
"Well, my scrolls are small."
Even so, they required space to dry, so I appreciated her offer.
The list of necessary items wasn't exactly impressive.
"...If you do not mind, could you tell me how you usually make your scrolls?"
"Huh? Um..."
In response to Takanashi-san's question, I put my usual process into words.
Scrolls required a core, paper, a pen, and ink.
Ideally, the paper should contain a great deal of magical power. However, obtaining such paper was difficult.
For that reason, I cut copy paper to make the inner writing paper and used colored construction paper for the outer casing. The color of the construction paper indicated which spell it contained. Red for Fire Bullet, for example.
The pen was a glass pen I bought at a hundred-yen shop. Naturally, it contained no magical power either.
Still, I did put some effort into the ink... or rather, the inkstick.
Though calling it effort was overstating it, since all I did was use the Blood of Rejuvenation.
I shaved down solid ink with the inkstone from my elementary-school calligraphy set, using my unique Gift while I did so.
Man... That golden magical power was amazing enough to work as a substitute for water. I wouldn't want to drink it, judging by its appearance, though.
In any case, the ink ended up absolutely packed with magical power.
...I was slightly worried that Tsukuyomi-sama might get angry with me.
According to mythology, the Blood of Rejuvenation was something the moon deity had tried to send down to Earth out of pity for mortal humans.
I was using a Unique Gift with a similar name and similar power in a completely different way... It would be all right, wouldn't it? It wasn't as if my blood or magical power had been made on the moon or anything.
If she got angry and shouted, 'Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?! Don't use it in a way not specified in the manual!' I'd have no choice but to prostrate myself and apologize.
Anyway, back to the subject. Once I'd explained the rough process to Takanashi-san—
"...Well, I only know the method from rumors myself. Do other people make them that way too?"
With that, she tilted her head to the other side.
I say this myself, but it's probably not the same.
I doubt other people mix water of immortality into their ink.
...Though, I wouldn't know.