The hidden space beneath the shop, reached by a secret passage.
In that Magecraft workshop, I was deep in thought.
I was trying to come up with a solution to the request the Hiryute sisters had just left with me.
"Whether it's strong acid or whatever, it's still a liquid. In that case, maybe I can freeze it like water? If I use a curse of freezing to instantly steal away the heat around the blade—or just remove it altogether—wouldn't the acid freeze instead of splashing? Or I could just burn the bastard with overwhelming firepower and evaporate its bodily fluids... though then the whole area would be covered in poison gas. Rejected for now. Wind would work too, but that overlaps with Ais, so pass. Even if it's practical, that'd be boring. More importantly, those two probably aren't skilled enough at mana control to pull that off anyway."
The deliberation continued.
I considered everything from simply imbuing a weapon with the power of a natural element to Conceptual Armaments that granted complex concepts to a blade.
After thinking it over for a long while, the basic design policy started to take shape.
"The older sister uses a kukri as her main weapon, so I'll match that with a machete and give it the Conceptual Armament of 'water purification.' As for the younger sister, let's just enchant it with a freezing attribute. With that brute-force twin sword of hers, she can freeze monsters and smash them to pieces at the same time—a two-for-one deal."
If possible, I wanted to add the same 'indestructibility' attribute as Ais's weapon, but that was still within the domain of Falna, so it was impossible.
Well, I'd picked up a few clues, so maybe someday I could achieve it with my own Magecraft.
Now that the policy was set, it was time to begin preparations for the actual crafting.
Tiona's Uga was apparently being remade over at the Gubnew Familia right now, so I'd go there later and enchant it then.
First, I should finish Tione's weapon.
"First, I'll infuse my blood into the magic stone..."
The mana contained in a magic stone was, strictly speaking, from the Dungeon, so it first needed to be refined into a pure state.
As for mass-produced magic stone products, they could be used like batteries without worrying about that, but the magic items I made were a different matter.
In order to use a magic item's spell according to the user's will, the mana being used had to be neutral in state and direction.
On this point, the knowledge of the Edelfelts was a huge help.
For some reason, those hyena-like jewel mages' techniques could be applied quite well even to the magic stones that existed only in this world.
I wondered what expression that blonde twintail girl would make if she found out about this.
At the very least, my joints and lower back would not survive the encounter.
In any case, I'd never have to face her again.
Crack!
"Good. Now I'll grind this up nicely..."
After refining the mana in the magic stone with the mana contained in my blood, I brought down the hammer and smashed it into powder.
If it had been an ordinary magic stone, it would have become useless trash at this stage, but in its current state, soaked with my blood, it was fine.
Next, I gathered up the powder, mixed it into the prepared solution, and carefully spread it over the machete in front of me.
Of course, I coated the handle too, leaving no gaps.
After that, I wrapped the machete carefully in a clean silk cloth treated with Magecraft and set it down in a suitable spot nearby.
Now I just had to leave it like this for about a day, waiting for the mana in the solution to soak into the weapon.
The main work would begin again after that.
"That's done. Next..."
Next, I checked the materials needed for the enchantment on Tiona's Uga.
Then I frowned.
No matter how I looked at it, the amount of materials needed was a little short.
Not just the magic stones, but especially the Dungeon-grown herbs were lacking.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been fine for a few weeks.
"Looks like I'll have to make a trip to the Dungeon."
Tiona's weapon, Uga—the one I had seen for the first time back then.
That monstrous weapon, no different from a mace shaped like a sword, had a ridiculous amount of weight, and the materials needed to enchant it were just as ridiculous.
Even the simple enchantment I'd done as an apology and a promotional service back then had consumed that much, so how much would a proper enchantment like this one use?
Probably about the size of a temple pillar?
"Ugh, makes me want to puke."
Just estimating it made my head spin.
It wasn't the money that bothered me so much as the sheer hassle of gathering the materials, which irritated my nerves even more.
Ah, I hate working.
If possible, I wanted to take back what I'd said earlier right now.
I really didn't want to leave my workshop.
But since I was, in name at least, a magus, canceling a contract I'd already made for such a flimsy reason would look terrible.
And I didn't have enough spare funds to hire someone else to do the annoying labor for me, so I had no choice but to do the legwork myself.
If I just went as far as Rivira in the middle floors and came back, that should be enough.
"What day is it now, anyway? I hope the floor lord over there has already been handled."
Even as I grumbled, I began preparing to go out with practiced motions.
Then a thought suddenly came to me.
"Maybe I should just place the order with them as a quest tomorrow? It's a weapon they're going to use anyway."
It seemed like a good idea... but I decided against it.
The reason was simple: the way I made magic items was, quite literally, on a different level from the other mages in this world.
In other words, it was a secret of my own Magecraft.
Even if it was only a matter of sourcing materials, if I slipped up, that tiny bit of information might draw unwanted attention, and someone could try to steal the knowledge I possessed.
Something that troublesome absolutely could not be allowed to happen.
Knowledge is only delicious when you monopolize it.
Even if it was a little inefficient and annoying, it was better to do the legwork myself and hand over only the finished product for the sake of my future security.
After convincing myself of that, I packed a few Mystic Codes and left the shop. But by the time I reached the crowded main street, I was regretting it again.
Ah, I really hate going out.
I want to lock myself inside and do nothing but research~ My dream for the future is to be a shut-in~
"Since I'm going to carry a lot at once... yeah, I guess I should bring a supporter with me."
Who would be good?
As I walked while thinking about it, I soon arrived at the Dungeon entrance.
If possible, I wanted someone I knew to be around here so I wouldn't waste any pointless time.
Ah, there's one now!
"Hey, Lili~!"
It was my familiar little supporter, Liliruca Arde.