Creating New Magic Items

"Stefan-sama, I just thought of a magic item. Would you like to make it together?"

"You just thought of it now!? Leon, you're really beyond the norm..."

Stefan said that with an exasperated look. Not that that's entirely untrue, though...

"Wouldn't it be better for you to make whatever you thought of, Leon?"

"No, I'm aligned with the Recovery attribute, so please make it, Stefan-sama."

In truth, even when I thought of a magic item that used an attribute other than my own, the usual process was to borrow only mana from someone else and have the person who thought of it register the item. However, I didn't want to stand out any more than I already did, so I wanted Stefan to register it.

As I gazed at Stefan, hoping he would understand, he seemed to get the message and agreed.

"All right. But we'll register it under both our names. I won't budge on that."

"...Understood."

"So, what kind of magic item did you think of?"

Stefan asked with great interest, but Lucien interrupted him.

"Wait. May I talk about the magic item I've been thinking of first?"

"Oh, I haven't heard what you've been thinking about, Lucien. Go ahead."

"Thank you. Leon, I've thought of a magic item I'd like to make. What do you think of a magic item that dries hair after a bath?"

I was quite surprised by that suggestion.

Lucien had thought of making a hair dryer all by himself. Coming up with an idea like that wasn't easy at all... Lucien really was a genius.

"I think that's a wonderful idea."

"Yes, but I can't get it to work properly. If the flame is too close, it burns the hair, and if it's too far away, it has little effect. So I'd like to hear your opinion too, Leon..."

"I see... I think wind magic would be best. If we could use fire and wind to create hot air, it should dry the hair. However, if the wind also carried the flame toward the hair, it would burn the hair, so..."

"Wind, huh? That might work. I'll think about it."

Lucien said that and fell into deep thought. Perhaps he had a talent for making magic items.

I watched Lucien eagerly, wondering what kind of magic item he would create. I really hated leaving my hair wet after bathing. It was fine in summer, but it was cold in winter.

I had to work hard too, so I wouldn't lose to Lucien.

"Stefan-sama, then let's make ours too."

"Yes. What kind of magic item is it?"

"I'd like to make a magic item called a washing machine."

"Washing means washing clothes, right?"

"Yes. It would use Water magic to make water swirl around, and the clothes would be cleaned when placed inside."

That's right. If I was making a washing machine, I might as well make a spin-drying magic item too. And if I made one of those, I would need Wind magic.

Lucien's hair dryer uses Wind magic too. Was there anyone around who could use Wind magic?

Hmm... There were probably people with that attribute in the ducal and royal families, so maybe I could ask one of them.

"If you could make that, it would be useful for servants."

"Yes. However, there are probably many noble clothes that people wouldn't want to wash because they might be damaged. For clothes like that, I also plan to make a magic item that uses Purification to clean them."

"That's wonderful. That one would probably be even more popular."

"Then let's make both."

With that, we began making our respective magic items.

I wasn't sure what shape to give the cleaning magic item, but I decided to make it look like a square box. Since clothes all had different shapes, it would be more efficient to use magic that cleaned everything inside the box. Clothes could be folded, after all.

The magic item was completed quickly. Because I had seen all sorts of things in Japan, I never had to wonder about what shape to make, so I finished it right away.

When I looked at Stefan, he still seemed to be struggling to decide what shape to give his magic item.

"Stefan-sama, is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, I'll try to manage on my own."

"Understood."

In that case... maybe I should help Lucien. Combining fire and wind seemed to be difficult, and he couldn't seem to organize his thoughts. The biggest problem was that there was no one here who could use wind magic, so he couldn't test anything.

I looked around to confirm that everyone was seriously working on their magic items, then spoke at a volume only Lucien could hear.

"Lucien, should I use wind magic?"

"But your ability to use every attribute is a secret, isn't it?"

"The only people in this room who mustn't find out are Rongo-sensei and the upperclassmen. Rongo-sensei already went back to his room, and the upperclassmen have their backs to us while they work seriously on their magic items, so it'll be fine. Besides, wind is invisible."

"I see... Then please. A fire will be created inside this iron box. Could you try using wind magic to blow the warm air around it outward?"

"All right."

Lucien pointed to an iron box small enough to fit in both palms, with four legs attached to it. Something resembling stones or bricks was attached to the ends of the legs.

So it was meant to be placed on a desk or something. Lucien had thought it through this far and had a blacksmith make it for him. He really did have a talent for making magic items.

I brought my hand close to the iron box, but it seemed extremely hot. Since the air around it was also warm, I tried using wind magic to send that heated air outward.

The warm air did reach me, but it was a little—or rather, quite—underwhelming. It might be good enough, but it seemed like a slightly higher temperature would be better.

"Lucien, wouldn't it be better if it were a little hotter?"

"I was just thinking the same thing. What should we do?"

"Hmm... What if we made small holes in the top of the box? Heat rises, so I think that would increase the temperature of the air. And if we only made holes in the top, the wind wouldn't blow directly on the fire, so it should be safer too..."

"You're right. I suppose we'll have to ask the blacksmith again."

Hmm... I wanted to try it right away if possible. If I only had to make holes, it seemed like I could do it with a tool. The iron didn't look particularly thick, either.

"Isn't there some tool we could use to make a hole?"

"I don't know, but there are all sorts of things in this room."

That was true. This room contained all kinds of tools on the desks and shelves. It felt as though anything that didn't fit in Rongo-sensei's room was sent here.

I focused my search on places where tools were likely to be found. Then I found something like a hammer with one end sharpened to a point. I didn't know what it was originally meant for, but it looked like it might work.

Thinking that, I took the tool and returned to Lucien.

"I'll try using this to make a hole."

"Can you really make a hole in iron with something like that?"

"I don't know, but I'll try. Stand back—it's dangerous."

After confirming that Lucien had moved away, I went to the corner of the room farthest from everyone else and made the holes with my back turned to them.

I wanted to use Barrier so the tool wouldn't break. I had been experimenting with Barrier from time to time, and it was extremely sturdy. The more mana I poured into it, the stronger it became. If I covered the tool with Barrier, I thought I could make holes even in iron.

I covered the tool with Barrier and formed a sharp point at its tip with the Barrier. Then I used Body Enhancement and swung the tool down toward the iron box.

I didn't know how much force to use, so I started lightly, but it seemed to make a proper hole.

I had overdone it a little... Barrier's cutting edge was incredible.

After that, I made several more holes in the same way. Since this was only a test, I figured this many would be enough for now.

"Lucien-sama, it's done."

This time, I spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear, so I addressed him politely. Lucien immediately came over.

"Oh! It made a proper hole."

"Let's test it now."

We created the fire again and tried using Wind magic. The temperature was higher than before. This was much better!

"This is better than before. It's finished!"

Lucien was beaming with delight. It was almost entirely his idea, after all.

"Lucien-sama, that's amazing!"

"Yes, I'm really happy."

After a while, everyone's magic items were complete. Martine and the others' portable toilets also seemed to have turned out easy to use.

I took out the registration forms Richard-sama had given me and had everyone write only their names on them.

Everyone told me that it would be fine to register the magic-stone-linking technology under my name alone, but it had been the result of all of us thinking together, so I registered it jointly under the names of the four of us who had researched Purification. Marcel-san didn't need to be included.

For the other magic items, I wrote down the names of the people who had made them. The hair dryer was, of course, registered under Lucien's name alone.

"Then I'll take these samples and registration forms home and make sure to give them to Grandfather-sama."

"Yes, please do."

"Please do."

With that, today's research club meeting came to an end, and Lucien and I returned to the estate and gave the magic items to Richard-sama.

He was surprised that some of them were magic items unrelated to the Recovery attribute, but he said he would register all of them. I also made a clothes dryer at the estate and gave it to him as an additional sample.

As for the magic-stone-linking technology, the royal palace would apparently research how the mana efficiency changed depending on the number of magic stones after the technology was registered. I was grateful that the royal palace was willing to take care of it, so I left it in their hands.

The expedition to the Monster Forest was also being arranged, and was apparently scheduled to take place during the autumn break. Since it was during the autumn break, I had to make sure not to schedule anything then.

It would be nice if this made everyday life even more convenient. But what should we work on at the next research club meeting...? Maybe we could take our time researching another new magic item. Thinking about that, I returned to my room.