Rei and Pamidor, having arrived at Asimov's workshop, knocked on the door before them.
Since it was an area with little foot traffic as usual, the sound of the knocking echoed loudly all around.
But there was no sign of the door opening.
"...Tch, again? Is he absorbed in his research, or just sleeping? Either way, we're not getting anywhere like this. Rei, break down the door."
"Huh?"
Rei turned to Pamidor, wondering what he was suddenly going on about, but there wasn't a trace of joking in his expression.
He was seriously demanding that Rei break down the door. There was no mistaking it.
"No, that's not gonna work. This is someone's home, you know? If the guards or anyone sees me destroying this door, I'll get arrested."
"It's fine. This wouldn't be the first time I've broken this door down."
His tone hinted that he had done this on several occasions before.
"There was one time the guards caught us, but they actually helped out."
"...Seriously? The guards helped you break down a door?"
"Yeah. ...Well, there were a lot of problems back then if we didn't break the door down and get inside."
Quietly averting his gaze and staring off into the distance, he exuded an atmosphere that made it impossible to ask what had happened.
Though Rei had only met him once, he knew Asimov's personality to some extent. Considering that, it was easy to predict that something ridiculous had almost certainly happened.
"Well, anyway. Ever since that incident, nobody says anything when they see Asimov's door being broken down. ...Of course, it's not like just anyone can do it. It's limited to me and a few others. So go ahead."
Receiving Pamidor's expectant look, Rei sighed, realizing he had no choice but to comply.
"Guruu?"
At the sight of Rei like that, Set let out a purr and turned his gaze toward him.
Those round eyes conveyed nothing but genuine concern for Rei.
"Don't worry. It's nothing."
Gently patting Set's head, Rei placed his hand on the door... and forcefully ripped it off the house.
The sound of wood being torn apart echoed through the surroundings, but there were hardly any people nearby. Even when someone occasionally passed by, those who recognized Pamidor simply nodded in understanding with a look that said, "Ah, not again..." while those who didn't know him hurried away, wanting nothing to do with the intimidating-looking man.
Naturally, some of them knew Set, and a smaller number knew Rei. But more than that, the people traveling through this area knew it was Asimov's house and workshop, so their desire to avoid getting involved was likely stronger.
"Hey, Asimov. You're in there, right?! Don't tell me you're dead!"
Watching Pamidor enter through the open door, Rei continued stroking Set's head as he spoke.
"Alright, Pamidor and I are going inside. Keep watch here and let us know if anyone comes. If the door's left open, some weirdo might wander in."
"Guruu!"
Hearing Set's response, Rei left the griffon lying in front of the house and followed after Pamidor into the building. As he did, it occurred to him that his instructions to Set had sounded slightly criminal.
(No, it's just my imagination. Besides, nobody was listening, so I'm safe for now.)
Making excuses to himself, he proceeded through the building and arrived at the room he had been shown into before. There, Pamidor was staring at Asimov's back with an exasperated expression.
Despite people having entered his home uninvited, Asimov showed no sign of noticing either of them.
As for what he was doing without noticing them—from Rei's perspective, it could only look like some suspicious experiment.
In reality, it wasn't actually suspicious; he was conducting an experiment related to Alchemy. But from Rei's point of view, it looked like nothing other than a dubious experiment.
Pamidor's fist struck the back of Asimov's head.
Not that he was punching with full force. Pamidor's muscles, forged through years of blacksmithing, were extremely powerful. In terms of sheer attack power, he would far surpass a newly minted beginner adventurer.
Asimov, so absorbed in his experiment that he hadn't even noticed Rei and Pamidor standing behind him, certainly noticed when a fist came down on the back of his head.
"Oww! Who was that!"
"It's me. Me. And Rei. ...Seriously, it's fine to focus on your experiments, but at least notice when you have visitors."
"...What? Pamidor, is that you? And Rei too. Unfortunately, the spear isn't done yet. It's progressing smoothly, but as expected, turning a once-broken Magic Sword into a spear isn't something that can be done quickly."
When he turned around and saw Pamidor and Rei—Rei in particular—Asimov assumed he was about to receive a complaint.
Granted, only about a winter's worth of time had passed. If it were the kind of job where he could cut corners, that would be one thing, but remaking a Magic Sword—and one that had been used by a truly top-tier adventurer—into a spear was extremely difficult work that anyone would normally understand.
Especially since the Magic Sword's blade was broken, it would be even more so.
While that was self-evident to anyone who knew Alchemy or blacksmithing, Asimov didn't know whether Rei had that kind of knowledge, which was why he expected to be on the receiving end of a complaint...
"I see. I appreciate it."
"What?"
Being told something completely unexpected, a rare look of confusion appeared on Asimov's face.
Naturally. He had been complained to for delayed work before, but he had almost never received words of gratitude for it.
That was why Asimov questioned Rei's words.
"What do you mean?"
"Actually, recently... no, I should say today. I got my hands on a certain Magic Item. It has some pretty good abilities, so I was wondering if it might be possible to incorporate it into the spear."
"...Oh."
His expression shifting completely from moments ago, Asimov's face lit up with clear interest.
"That's quite intriguing. May I ask what kind of Magic Item it is?"
"Yeah. I actually came here hoping you'd take a look at it too. When I showed it to Pamidor, he said it was probably impossible."
"What did you say?"
At Rei's words, Asimov turned his gaze toward Pamidor. What reflected in his eyes was a look that said, "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
But Pamidor, receiving that gaze, simply shook his head. He knew that no matter what he said, Asimov wouldn't understand until he actually saw that hammer.
(If it were a small Magic Item, like an accessory, incorporating it into the spear might be possible. But that hammer...)
After all, an ordinary human couldn't even wield a hammer like that.
As if to preempt Asimov, who was about to say something to him, Pamidor spoke first.
"Before you say anything to me, actually look at the Magic Item Rei brought. If you still judge that it can be incorporated into the spear after seeing it, I won't say another word."
"...Fine. Rei, show me."
"Ah... I'm glad you're saying that, but it won't work here. We need a more open space."
"An open space?"
At Asimov's question, Pamidor, standing beside Rei, nodded and spoke.
"Right, Rei's correct. It's too cramped here. ...This house has a backyard, right? Let's go there."
"Nngh. Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Just come. Seeing it in person will be faster than listening to me."
At Pamidor's words, Asimov reluctantly nodded, stood up, and left the room.
(Really, if the Magic Item Rei brought turns out to be some worthless thing, I'm not letting this slide.)
He was harboring complaints inwardly. Even so, Rei was the one who had possessed Noise's Magic Sword. It was easy to predict that the Magic Item he brought would be of comparable quality.
"A backyard, a backyard, huh. ...Yeah, looking at this, I'd say 'backyard' is the most fitting word possible."
Asimov's backyard.
It was a sight that genuinely made one hesitate to call it a backyard.
The fact that it was now spring was partly to blame, but the grass was growing wildly out of control, and several tree branches lay scattered on the ground—likely blown in from somewhere by the winter snow.
Since the scene matched Rei's mental image of a backyard perfectly, he had no particular complaints, though he still had some thoughts about it.
But Asimov, treating it as irrelevant, turned his gaze to Rei and spoke.
"Come on, we've come all this way already. Just show me this Magic Item already."
At Asimov's words, Rei nodded and, just as he had at Pamidor's shop—technically his workshop—took the hammer out of the Misty Ring.
"Whoa! ...That's... that's huge."
The hammer Rei produced was far larger than expected, drawing a cry of astonishment from Asimov.
Seeing Asimov's reaction, Pamidor wore a somewhat sympathetic smile. He had also been shocked when he first laid eyes on this hammer, so he was glad to have someone who shared the same experience.
"Yeah. As you can see, it's huge. I got it by defeating a Rare Species or High-ranking Species of Cyclops that was wielding it."
With that, Rei began explaining the hammer's abilities to Asimov.
The mention of lightning discharge piqued Asimov's interest. The explanation of how it granted the wielder a powerful Regeneration Ability had him staring intently at the hammer. And the news that it took root in the user's body and stole their will made him furrow his brow.
Though Asimov was regarded by those around him as a dangerous person in various ways, his sensibilities toward Magic Items were undeniably normal.
"So, what do you want to do with this hammer?"
"At first, I thought about melting down part of this hammer or something and using it for the spear I commissioned... but Pamidor told me that was impossible. So I brought it here thinking you might be able to do something."
"I see. Well, I can certainly understand why Pamidor would want to say that. However, that's because he's thinking from a blacksmith's perspective. With my techniques, it'll take some effort, but I can manage."
At those casually spoken words, Pamidor furrowed his brow and spoke.
"Hey, you can't just try it and say 'sorry, it didn't work,' you know? This is a serious Magic Item. Even if it's hard for Rei to use, ruining it would be..."
"Heheh. So that's the opinion of a commoner. Well, leave that part to me."
Hearing Asimov's confident words, Rei pressed for confirmation.
"You can really do it?"
"Yeah. ...However, like I said, this is going to be a fairly labor-intensive job. As payment, I'd like the unused portion of this hammer. Oh, and of course, just because I'm getting it doesn't mean I'll skimp on the amount of hammer I use for the Magic Item. Don't worry about that."
At Asimov's words, Rei turned his gaze toward Pamidor.
A look asking, "Is that true?"
Pamidor, receiving that gaze, showed surprise at Asimov's words but nodded back to Rei. Asimov might say all sorts of grandiose things, but his talent in Alchemy was the real deal, and Pamidor knew there was no lie there.
"Got it. Then I'll leave everything about the hammer to you. Also, if there are any materials you're missing, let me know. I'll gather as many as I can."
The words that came from Rei's mouth were by no means a lie.
With Set's existence, even if those materials were in somewhat distant locations, he could go retrieve them immediately.
Rare materials tended to exist in places that people rarely visited, including frontier regions, and obtaining them required the resolve to fight powerful monsters.
But for Rei, fighting such monsters also meant an opportunity to obtain rare Magic Stones, so it was actually exactly what he wanted.
(Come to think of it, I haven't absorbed the Magic Stones I got from the Dungeon either. I completely forgot with everything going on. ...No wait, can Cyclops Magic Stones even be absorbed? If Set participated in the battle, they should be absorbable, but... I guess I'll ask Vihera and the others about that when they get back.)
Rei, who had been looking forward to potentially learning a new skill, caught Asimov's murmur reaching his ears.
"Still, why would an alchemist from the Bestia Empire create a Magic Item like this?"