Report at the Research Club

The next day after school, we gathered in the research club classroom again.

We had compiled the results of yesterday's report so we could tell Rongo-sensei and the upperclassmen about them. Apparently, Rongo-sensei would pass the information on to Marcel-san.

"Yesterday, when I spoke with Father, he said that registering the magic items would not be a problem. The drawbacks would not be a significant disadvantage to the royal family, while the benefits would be considerable. He said that as long as the technology was properly managed, it would greatly contribute to the development of the kingdom."

So Alexis-sama had the same opinion? Then the magic items were certain to be registered.

"Grandfather-sama had much the same opinion. He said that the magic items would probably be registered. Therefore, he wants us to make samples of every magic item we want to register and bring them to him. Apparently, Grandfather-sama will handle the registration. I also brought the registration forms with me."

This morning, before heading to the Royal Academy, I was given the forms for registering technologies and magic items. Apparently, we were all supposed to write our names on them.

Since we had all come up with these technologies and magic items together, we would register them under all our names, and divide the usage fees equally among us.

"Then let's make all the magic items we want to register together. I want to make a portable toilet. Miguel and Loic, would you like to make one with me?"

"Yes! We'd be delighted to."

"Me too!"

"Then let's make them. We should also carefully consider things like a shape that is easy to use."

The three of them went over to one table. That left Lucien, Stefan, and me.

"What are you going to make, Leon?"

For now, I wanted to make a magic item that used Purification to clean the body.

Actually, I also wanted to turn Heal into a magic item, but it would not work properly unless there was an actual patient and I could see the affected area.

I had tried before to see whether I could imbue Heal into a magic item, but it would not work unless I knew exactly where and how the person was injured. I thought a clear mental image was probably more important than with other magic. Recovery magic could apparently fail if the image was not clear enough.

I tried forcing it anyway, but then it became a vague spell that simply healed every injured area, making it extremely inefficient with mana.

Ah... But yesterday, I had succeeded in scanning for poison and then removing it. Could I turn Heal into a magic item by doing the same thing?

...I felt like it might be possible. But a Heal magic item probably could not be announced publicly. Scan required an enormous amount of mana, and I had only been able to imbue it because linking magic stones had increased the amount of mana I could store in one.

Hmm... If I was the only one who could do it, there would be no way to announce it publicly. Besides, anyone could use Heal normally with magic, so there was no need to make it right away.

"I think I'll make a magic item that cleans the body. What will the two of you do?"

"We couldn't think of anything. Would it be all right if we made one together with you, Leon?"

"Of course."

The three of us sat at a different table from Martine and the others. I began making a magic item exactly the same shape as the poison-removal magic item I had made yesterday. I imagined it removing dirt from the body's surface, hair, and so on...

All right, finished. Since I had made it once yesterday, it came together quickly.

"Leon, how do you use that?"

Stefan gazed at the magic item curiously. Since it cleaned the body, maybe I should call it a Bath Magic Item?

...That was pretty uncool. Maybe a Cleansing Magic Item would be better.

"This is called the Cleansing Magic Item. You use it by wearing this on your left wrist and this on a finger of your right hand."

"It's a bracelet and a ring?"

"Exactly. Would you like to try them?"

"Yes, I'll give it a try."

Stefan put on the Cleansing Magic Item.

"The magic activates when I bring these two together?"

"Yes. It should activate if you hold them together for a few seconds."

Stefan nodded at my words and brought the bracelet and ring together, his face taking on a look of surprise. I had also designed this magic item not to emit light, so those around us could not see any change. Unlike the poison-removal magic item, however, the user could feel the difference.

"This is... wonderful. The sticky feeling from sweat disappears completely."

"Do you think people will accept this magic item?"

"Yes, all nobles will want one. It will be essential whenever they have to wear formal attire despite the heat. The knights will probably want one as well."

I could tell from Richard-sama's reaction yesterday too, but I was glad that everyone wanted one. I had wondered whether nobles might not need it because they could take baths.

"Stefan-sama, may I try it too?"

"Yes, go ahead."

"Certainly."

Saying that, Lucien tried the magic item.

"This really is incredible... Once you've tried it, you can't give it up."

"Is there anything inconvenient about it?"

"Let's see... At the moment, it cleans your entire body, but I think some people would want one that only cleaned below the neck."

"That's true. Women wear makeup, and some men use wax to style their hair. If they used it in a break room, they could clean their entire bodies and then fix themselves up again, but a body-only version would be convenient when they wanted to use it somewhere they could not leave."

"You're right. Thank you for the valuable suggestion."

Indeed, cleaning the entire body with this magic item would remove makeup and hair wax as well. It might be better to make two types: a body-only Cleansing Magic Item and a full-body Cleansing Magic Item. As expected, things made for nobles turned out better when I took nobles' opinions into account.

With that in mind, I finished making the magic item.

Phew, I finished much sooner than expected. Martine and the others still seemed to be working hard...

Maybe I should ask Lucien and Stefan about the magic items they had been researching.

"What kinds of magic items were you two researching?"

"In the end, I couldn't think of a good magic item. The greatest advantage of the Water attribute is its ability to produce water, but I considered various possibilities and could only think of things that would be unnecessary if we had running water."

Water magic might be difficult, after all. Running water was hard to beat. If I were to think of something... perhaps a washing machine.

If I made a washing machine, doing laundry would become much more convenient... Wait, Purification can clean clothes too, can't it? The Cleansing Magic Item I just made cleans the body, but a magic item that cleans clothes might sell well too.

Nobles' clothes were expensive, so they would want to keep them from getting damaged. Roger had mentioned before that he took special care with laundry, too.

In that case, a Purification magic item that cleaned clothes would be perfect for nobles. I'll make this too!

But then I still couldn't think of a Water-attribute magic item... Hmm, when it came to using water, there were running water, toilets, and baths. That was about it.

If I could make anything, I suppose it would be a bath? The only thing missing from a bath was a shower, but to make a shower, I would first have to make hot water. Combining it with the Fire attribute would be difficult, and hot water could already be made using the existing water supply and water heaters. All that remained was the shower mechanism, which would be registered as a technology.

In that case, there was nothing for the Water attribute after all... Ah, but would a washing machine have any demand if I made one? Even if noble clothes were cleaned with Purification, servants' clothes and training clothes could be washed in a washing machine.

That's right, I think it would be fine to make a washing machine. And I'll make a Purification magic item that cleans clothes too.

As for the name... How about a Cleaning Magic Item?

...Actually, I wanted to come up with a cooler name. But with magic items, a name that was easy to understand was probably best, so I always ended up with a lame name that simply described what the item did. Ideally, I wanted something cool and easy to understand, like Light Orb.

Come to think of it, Marcel-san developed Light Orb, didn't he? Maybe he came up with the name too?

If so, Marcel-san really has a knack for naming things. I want that knack too. I'm losing to Marcel-san!

Well, still... A Cleaning Magic Item will do this time.

I gave up on coming up with a name fairly quickly and decided to discuss the magic item with Stefan.