Opening a Workshop in Raizenga Territory (1)

──Thor's POV──

"I did it!"

"It's done, Thor-sama."

"That means we're all set!"

Clap, clap-clap.

Mabel, Agnis, and I exchanged high fives.

This is General Raizenga's territory.

What stands before us is a two-story mansion.

A large wooden sign on the mansion's wall reads, 'Alchemy Available.'

On the first floor, I prepared a reception desk and counter for visitors.

The cleaning is finished, too. The plumbing, bath, bedrooms, and living room are all properly completed.

As both a workshop and a home, it turned out beautifully.

"So this is my home... and my alchemy workshop."

The official workshop is considered to be in the Demon Lord's Castle, so this place is the 'Raizenga Territory Branch Office.'

The workshop in the Demon Lord's Castle is where I make items for Demon Lord Lukie and the high officials.

This one is an open workshop where I can solve the problems of the people living in the Demon Lord's Territory.

This is... really moving.

In the Empire, owning my own workshop was nothing more than a dream.

The status of alchemists was low there, and only a handful of people could own workshops.

But the Demon Lord's Territory is different. Here, I have been able to own two workshops.

It truly feels like a dream.

"I have to thank Lukie-sama and Chancellor Kelv-san, too."

"I believe Her Majesty and Chancellor Kelv are grateful to you as well, Thor-sama."

"Yeah. I've really been blessed with good bosses."

I nodded at Mabel's words.

Since coming to the Demon Lord's Territory, I have achieved a fair amount as an alchemist.

I am truly happy that my efforts have been recognized.

But I am still far from reaching my goal.

My goal is to surpass the hero.

To make this Demon Lord's Territory as prosperous as the hero's world.

"For that reason, I want people from the Demon Lord's Territory to come here as customers. I want to ask them what they need and what they lack. There are still so many things I don't know about the Demon Lord's Territory."

"So that's why you built a workshop outside the castle, Thor-sama."

"I was wondering why we needed a reception counter, too!"

"Of course. It's so people from the Demon Lord's Territory can drop by easily."

The 'Alchemy Available' sign was for that purpose as well.

Anyone passing by would know that there was an alchemist here when they saw it.

With a reception counter, people could stop by on a whim.

I hoped that the people who came would tell me what was needed in the Demon Lord's Territory.

I would still have to return to the castle from time to time, so I would not be staying here permanently.

"Thor-sama, you really do think about the Demon Lord's Territory."

"It's more that, just as Lukie-sama is trying to learn from humans, I want to learn from the people of the Demon Lord's Territory. That's why I want them to tell me all kinds of things."

"Heehee. That sounds just like you, Thor-sama."

"Does it?"

"Yes. I am happy that I can help you, Thor-sama."

Mabel said this and smiled shyly.

"I will always be by your side, so please tell me anything you need. Um... we're going to be living together from now on, after all. Please don't hold back."

"...Yeah."

Come to think of it, I was going to be living with Mabel, just the two of us, in this workshop from now on.

Lukie had said, 'I'll send some help once things settle down,' but...

Living with Mabel, just the two of us...

...I was starting to feel nervous.

"O-of course! Agnis will be coming here regularly, too!"

Agnis suddenly spoke up.

"My father also said I could stay at Thor Kanan-sama's workshop! S-so there is still cleaning up to do today. I'll stay here! I'll help!"

"Uh, sure. Please do, Agnis-san."

"...You can just call me Agnis."

"Huh?"

"When I'm at the workshop, I'm Thor-sama's support. So you can call me just Agnis. I... want you to."

"I-I understand. Then, Agnis."

"Yes! Thor Kanan-sama!"

Agnis nodded with a satisfied look on her face.

The workshop's initial staff consisted of three people.

Me, the alchemist; Mabel, the maid and receptionist; and Agnis, our support.

And──

"Benefactor-sama!"

Whoosh!

Pixie Soleil flew over from the direction of the forest at tremendous speed.

The pixies lived in the nearby forest.

So I asked them to act as messengers between us and Demon Lord Lukie and Princess Sofia.

"Light Pixie Soleil, reporting in. I have come with a report."

"You didn't have to hurry so much. Don't overdo it."

"I am not overdoing it. Soleil has become completely healthy."

She flipped through the air, her clothes of magic-woven cloth fluttering.

Then she puffed out her chest with a proud "Ahem!" to show off her good health.

"I have become extremely healthy thanks to using the 'Foot Bath' every day."

"Are you replacing the magic stones properly?"

"Of course. You taught me how to replace them, Benefactor. Besides, the other pixies have started using the 'Foot Bath' lately, too, so searching for magic stones has become everyone's daily routine."

"I see."

So the other pixies were using the 'Foot Bath,' too.

I was happy about that, but the pixies were using the 'Foot Bath' in place of a bath. Only one or two of them could soak in it at a time.

In that case, I should make something that everyone could use at once.

For now, I would try modifying the workshop's bath.

If I gave the bath itself the 'Foot Bath' function, dozens of pixies should be able to bathe together. Yes. That would probably be the second thing I made at this workshop.

I should make a note of it so I wouldn't forget.

"So, Soleil, what was your report?"

"Yes! I just went to Noza Town and heard what Princess Sofia had to say. According to her, the Imperial side is also investigating the demon beast and the magic circle. However, apparently neither of them has been found yet."

"Does that mean there is no demon beast or magic circle?"

"Princess Sofia said, 'It seems there are no new species of demon beast near the border.' But I do not know about the magic circle. They have no clues at all about where it might be."

Soleil looked troubled.

I see.

A magic circle did not necessarily emit light or anything like that.

Basically, it was just a shape drawn on the ground.

Even if they searched without any clues... of course they would not find it.

"Can pixies sense the magic power of a magic circle?"

"If we go near it... we can somehow sense something like the lingering scent of magic power, but..."

According to Soleil, a faint trace of magic power akin to that of a demon beast remained in magic circles.

That was why they had been able to notice the magic circle in the cave of the 'dormant demon beast.'

But apparently they had to get quite close to sense it.

"Pixies can sense many different kinds of magic power. However, that demon beast's magic power seems unusual, so we cannot tell what it is unless we get close to it."

"My father is investigating the magic circle, too."

Agnis picked up where Soleil left off.

"He is leading soldiers in a search near the place where the 'Demon Beast Gargarossa' was. But apparently they still have not found anything that looks like a magic circle."

"That sounds difficult."

Agnis and Mabel both fell into thought.

If the 'Demon Beast Gargarossa' had been summoned, there should be a magic circle somewhere nearby.

As a general, he probably wanted to find it before mining development began. It would be dangerous to leave it alone.

"In any case, my father is doing his best, but... it seems the investigation will take some time."

"General Raizenga has it tough."

"No, protecting the territory is part of my father's duties."

"I've been completely occupied with preparing the workshop lately, too. Maybe I should have helped with the investigation."

"It isn't your fault, Thor-sama! Please don't feel bad about it..."

"But if I had made a 'Magic Circle Detector' sooner, the investigation might have gone more smoothly."

"That's not true! ...Wait, huh?"

"Thor-sama, what did you just say?"

"Benefactor-sama?"

Agnis, Soleil, and Mabel stared at me with wide eyes.

Huh? Had I said something that strange?

"I said that I had been too busy building the workshop lately, but maybe I should have made a 'Magic Circle Detector' sooner──"

"A 'Magic Circle Detector'?!"

"D-does such a thing exist?"

"W-what kind of thing is it, Benefactor-sama?!"

Mabel and Agnis leaned toward me, while Soleil stumbled over her words, perhaps because she was so shocked.

I suppose it was only natural for them to be surprised.

I had been pretty surprised myself when I first saw the 'Mail-Order Catalog.'

I had wondered if the hero's world really had items like this.

"Mabel, Agnis, Soleil, would you like to look at this?"

I spread the 'Mail-Order Catalog' open in front of everyone.

What was written there was──

────────────

The modern world is full of dangerous items such as wiretaps and transmitters.

They may even exist somewhere near you.

Items for eavesdropping and locating someone's whereabouts are everywhere.

Use this 'Radio Wave Detector' to enjoy a safe and secure life!

Our 'Radio Wave Detector' reacts to even the faintest radio waves.

It uses light and an arrow to tell you where the radio waves are coming from.

This 'Radio Wave Detector' can find dangerous items such as wiretaps and transmitters.

Cut off the flow of radio waves and sever your connection to unknown places!

Thanks to our latest technology, its radio-wave detection accuracy is more than twenty times that of previous products.

No matter how far away they are or how well they are hidden, nothing can escape this 'Radio Wave Detector!'

────────────

"I see..."

Mabel, Agnis, and Soleil nodded.

"So you think these 'radio waves' are something like magic power, Thor-sama?"

"Yeah. That's right."

"That's why it says, 'sever your connection to unknown places,' isn't it?"

Mabel murmured as though she was convinced.

"It certainly resembles summoning magic. A magic circle connects the person or place being summoned to itself with magic power, after all..."

"I think the 'radio waves' of the hero's world do the same thing."

"So the magic power we pixies sensed was the lingering trace of that connection?"

"In other words, items called 'wiretaps' and 'transmitters' are just as terrifying as summoning magic circles."

People in the hero's world had even created magic items to defend against them.

Those two items must have been feared that much.

"But Thor Kanan-sama, a 'wiretap' is an item used for eavesdropping, correct?"

Agnis tilted her head.

"Agnis cannot believe it. A hero with superhuman power would eavesdrop...?"

"I think that superhuman power is involved in the 'eavesdropping item.'"

"Superhuman power?"

"As you said, Agnis, the heroes summoned from another world used incredible sword techniques and magic. There were even things that the people of this world had no idea how to use. In other words, they were secret techniques."

Apparently, the Empire had made progress in researching them, but there were some it could not reproduce.

Those were probably the heroes' trump cards.

"The heroes must have treasured those techniques in their original world, too. I think they even fought over secret techniques possessed by others. The quickest way for a hero to become stronger was to acquire a secret technique possessed by someone else. They must have used eavesdropping items for that purpose."

"So they were trying to steal secret techniques that way...?"

"Probably. If heroes fought one another directly over their techniques, the entire world would be put in danger."

There had been conflicts between heroes in this world, too.

A legend still remained about heroes who fought and fired supreme magic at each other. Apparently, the damage had been enormous.

I did not even want to imagine what would happen if that took place in a world full of heroes.

"I think the hero's world is literally filled with heroes. What do you think would happen to the towns and villages if all those heroes clashed with supreme magic and superhuman sword techniques...?"

"...Everyone might disappear."

Agnis murmured with a pale face.

"That's right. Though if they fought too violently, I think the 'Omawarisan' would show up."

"The guardian spirit of the hero's world?"

"Yeah. That's why I think the heroes tried to steal secret techniques without being noticed by the 'Omawarisan.'"

"So the transmitter was for that purpose, too...?"

"To locate where someone else was training. They could observe that person's training and become even stronger heroes themselves."

"The hero's world really is a terrifying place."

"If I lived there, I probably wouldn't survive for three days."

That must have been why the hero's world needed so many magic items.

This 'Mail-Order Catalog' was hundreds of pages thick.

I could not even imagine what kind of place needed that many magic items.

"──It sounds like a world where the gods fight one another."

Soleil suddenly murmured.

That was an oddly apt description.

"Of course, I won't let this Demon Lord's Territory become a frightening place like the hero's world."

"I know, Benefactor-sama."

"Besides, this 'Mail-Order Catalog' only contains comfortable goods."

Perhaps what was in this 'Mail-Order Catalog' was something special even in the hero's world.

Maybe it was a book meant to encourage the heroes who were fighting one another to literally live a slow life: 'Relax with a Foot Bath' and 'Sleep peacefully with a body pillow.'

A way to live peacefully in a brutal world.

That might be why it did not contain anything about swords or attack magic.

"...Well, I won't know until I research it further."

All I had to do was copy the items in this 'Mail-Order Catalog' and let everyone use them.

I would be satisfied as long as that made the Demon Lord's Territory peaceful and prosperous.

Once everyone could live peacefully, I could invite Princess Sofia, too.

By then, the Demon Lord's Territory would probably have evolved into a place the Empire could not meddle with, so having one princess seek asylum here would not be a problem.

I suddenly found myself thinking about that.

"As for how to turn this 'Radio Wave Detector' into a 'Magic Circle Detector'... First, we need a leg from the 'Demon Beast Gargarossa'──"

I took part of the 'Demon Beast Gargarossa' out of the 'Super-Miniature Simple Storage.'

Then I began explaining to Mabel and the others how to make a 'Magic Circle Detector.'