About ten days had passed since the Zboz incident was resolved, and Rei had been traveling alongside Elena, Vihera, Byune, and Ara.
Strictly speaking, Set and Ielo were part of the group too, so it would be more accurate to say four people and two creatures.
Elena and Ara hadn't registered as adventurers due to their social standing, but since they were traveling with Rei and the others, they were effectively functioning as a party.
Not that they were taking on any subjugation requests. The most they'd done was make a few trips to the forest where the Cyclops incident had previously occurred to check for abnormalities.
Otherwise, there was the Cyclops dismantling that had been interrupted by the Cobolt attack.
If anything, outside of official requests, Rei was the one being dragged around by the four of them—more accurately, by Elena and Vihera.
He'd been accompanying Elena on sightseeing tours around Gilm, or having mock battles with Vihera, and so on.
Spending their days like that, Rei and the group were now heading toward a certain district in Gilm.
"...Why do we need to go too? You're the only one who asked Asimov to do the work, aren't you, Rei?"
Vihera looked somewhat displeased, likely because today was originally supposed to be a mock battle with Elena.
Vihera and Elena had been about to head outside Gilm for their mock battle when a letter from Asimov arrived.
"Well, I get Vihera's frustration. Still, if he was going to send a letter, it would've been faster to just come see us in person."
Given Asimov's personality, he would normally come see them directly rather than send a letter.
Whether because everyone else found Rei's reasoning convincing, Vihera—who had been grumbling—had her curiosity piqued and her mood improved as they made their way through the streets of Gilm.
With a gathering of beautiful women and girls, Gryphon Seto, and Ielo riding on Seto's back, the only one among them who didn't stand out was Rei, who had the hood of his Dragon Robe pulled up. Had they walked down the main street, they would have drawn more attention than anyone could want, but on the less-trafficked backstreets, there were far fewer eyes on them.
Even for a group where most were accustomed to being the center of attention, stepping into a place with fewer people still brought a sense of relief.
Being used to being stared at didn't mean it didn't wear them down.
As they proceeded down streets with dwindling foot traffic, the house-cum-laboratory of Asimov that Rei had visited several times before came into view.
"Hmm, that building over there... it seems slightly larger than its surroundings, but outwardly there's nothing particularly different about it compared to the other buildings."
That was Elena's first impression upon seeing Asimov's house.
Truthfully, judging by its exterior, it did look like an ordinary building. Its exterior, that is.
"You'll have to wait until you get inside for the real surprise."
What kind of attitude would Elena take upon seeing that cluttered mess?
Harboring that slightly mischievous thought, Rei knocked on the door.
(He's probably so caught up in his experiments that he won't come out...)
He won't come out, though.
Contrary to Rei's expectations, the door opened the next moment.
"Yo, you took your time."
"...Pamidor?"
The one who appeared from behind the door Rei had knocked on was Pamidor, wearing an expression so vicious it could be described as that of a bandit boss.
When Rei casually glanced behind him, Elena had her hand reaching for Mirage's handle, and Ara had her hand reaching for the Power Axe on her back.
"Calm down, you two. His appearance is vicious, and his personality is vicious too, but... wait, huh?"
Rei had intended to explain that there was no danger, but when he tried to give a detailed description of Pamidor, it just ended up painting him as a vicious person.
And hearing Rei's explanation, Elena and the others naturally concluded that the man before them had broken into Asimov's house...
"No, wait, he's Asimov's friend!"
At Rei's voice, Elena and the others stopped in their tracks.
They turned their gazes toward Rei to verify the truth of his words, but Rei directed his attention to Set, who was behind Elena and the others, and spoke.
"Look, Set isn't particularly wary of Pamidor either."
Those words were true. Set, who had met Pamidor many times, showed no signs of concern, purring as if to say it had been a while. Ielo was napping on Set's back, basking in the spring sunshine.
Seeing that, Elena and the others finally dropped their guard.
Watching Rei with an exasperated expression was Vihera. Even so, she smiled as if to say that Elena and Ara's reactions were not unreasonable.
Byune, for her part, observed the entire commotion with her usual expressionless face.
"Sorry about that, Pamidor."
Starting with Rei's words, the others also offered their apologies to Pamidor.
In response, Pamidor shook his head to indicate he didn't particularly mind and spoke up.
"Well, it's the usual, so don't worry about it. More importantly, you're bringing along quite the lookers."
He seemed slightly envious, which left an impression on Rei.
Perhaps because he was saying it with such a vicious face, from an outsider's perspective it might have looked like he was threatening Rei to leave the women behind and go.
"Are you sure you should be saying that? You're married, aren't you? ...Unfortunately, I've never met anyone crazy enough to want to marry you, though."
"Shut it. She's not the kind of narrow-minded woman who'd get jealous over something like that."
After that somewhat casual exchange, Pamidor spoke up.
"More importantly, you were called here by Asimov too, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. ...Which means, you too? I haven't heard anything about progress on the spear, though."
Rei, Pamidor, and Asimov. The three of them gathering—for a moment, Rei thought there might have been progress on the spear he had requested, but Pamidor shook his head.
"No, not the spear. ...Well, it's not exactly unrelated to your spear either... something like that."
It seemed Pamidor already understood why Asimov had called Rei and the others.
"Vague as always, huh."
"It's not like I got a detailed explanation either. I just talked with Asimov and figured that was probably it. Anyway, come on in. Though I know it's not really my place to say so."
"It's fine if it's you, Pamidor. You're good friends with Asimov. ...Set."
"Gruu."
Called by Rei, Set seemed to understand what he wanted from just that. It let out a short purr and, with Ielo still on its back, lay down beside the entrance of Asimov's house.
"Kyu? Kyukyu, kyuuu!"
Noticing that Set had lain down, Ielo apparently woke up. It climbed down to the ground and called out to Set, asking to play.
"Gruu... Guru, gururururu."
In response to Ielo, Set used its tail to play with it.
It was a heartwarming scene to watch, and Rei wanted to stay and watch for a while, but remembering that Asimov had called them, he headed inside.
The others did the same. Though more of them would have preferred to stay in that spot, since they had been summoned by letter, Asimov must have had something important to discuss, so they entered the house.
...Even as they were pulled away, looking back at the two adorable creatures.
Once inside, Pamidor led them to where Asimov was waiting to greet them, beaming with delight.
It was rare for Asimov, who usually looked to be in a bad mood, to look like this—more than enough to make them think something had happened.
"Thanks for coming! The truth is, the reason I called you all here today is that I have something to report."
That his mood was elevated was something anyone could understand just by looking at Asimov now.
He was that different from his usual displeased demeanor.
"Since you called both me and Pamidor, I assumed it was about the spear, but... it's not?"
"Yeah. Well, to be precise, it does relate to the spear too. ...You remember that hammer the Cyclops was using, the one you brought me?"
"I do."
What flashed through Rei's mind was the experimental Combat Automatic Reaction Nerve Magic Item that Zboz had created—a hammer that sent lightning coursing through the point of impact, granted the user a powerful Regeneration Ability, and ultimately took over the user's body with roots spreading inside.
He had defeated the Cyclops, obtained that hammer, and provided it to Asimov, asking him to use it for the spear he had commissioned...
"So you found something out about that hammer?"
"That's right. This could potentially be the discovery of the century, if things go well. But it only works because of that hammer, so first we'd need to be able to produce the same material as that hammer."
"Material, huh."
Zboz had many flaws and ultimately went berserk, but he must have been an extremely capable Alchemist after all.
From Asimov's current demeanor, Rei couldn't help but think so whether he wanted to or not.
"So, what happened to that hammer?"
"...Simply put, it might make mass production of Magic Items possible."
Silence fell. The room was enveloped in stillness.
That was because what had just come out of Asimov's mouth was that unexpected.
The first to speak among them was Pamidor, who had the longest relationship with Asimov.
"Asimov, just to be sure... and I mean really just to be sure—when you say mass production, you're not talking about everyday Magic Items like lights or fire-starters, right?"
"Of course not!"
Asimov responded immediately to Pamidor's words.
Magic Items like lights and fire-starters were easy to produce and already mass-produced.
There was no need to mass-produce items that were already being mass-produced.
"What I mean by mass production in this case, to put it simply, is something like a Magic Sword. Naturally, the capabilities of a mass-produced Magic Sword would never match one crafted by a skilled artisan. But it still has enough performance to be called a Magic Sword. Let's see, you could say it's a Magic Sword positioned somewhere between an ordinary longsword and a true Magic Sword."
"If we're talking mass production, I suppose that's to be expected. ...So, specifically, how do you make this mass-produced Magic Sword?"
Perhaps intrigued by the words "mass production of Magic Swords," Pamidor's eyes gleamed with curiosity as he asked Asimov.
Then, as if he had been waiting for exactly that, Asimov produced an ordinary, unremarkable longsword.
"Listen. First, you wash the blade of this longsword with water created through magical power. This is to wash away blood, rust, and grime, and it's necessary even for a freshly forged blade."
Saying that, Asimov submerged the longsword's blade in magically generated water, then wiped the blade with a cloth that had also been infused with magical power for Alchemy use.
Next, he prepared something that looked like nothing more than clay at first glance.
"This clay has been infused with magical power adjusted for high compatibility with the hammer Rei brought me. While further pouring my own magical power into this clay, I slide it across the blade..."
True to his words, he slid the clay across the blade.
Because magical power had been infused into the clay, a faint light dwelled on the blade where the clay had been rubbed.
Once the clay had been applied to the entire blade, the whole thing was enveloped in a faint glow.
"While this light is present... this."
Next, he brought out a container roughly the same length as the longsword's blade.
It was made of metal, and inside the container was some kind of powder.
(It's kind of like making a cutlet. Flour, egg, then breadcrumbs, sort of.)
As Rei found himself thinking he was getting a little hungry, Asimov placed the container holding the blade into a Magic Circle and chanted a spell... and after a brief, dazzling flash of light, the longsword's blade had taken on a slightly different hue than before.
"It's complete. ...Of course, as I said earlier, this Magic Sword isn't all that powerful. It's effective against incorporeal Undead-type monsters like Ghosts, but only to the extent of being able to deal damage to them."
Even so, Asimov explained, it would definitely sell, in the sense that it could be obtained more cheaply than a typical Magic Sword.
"It might sell, but... so how does the hammer problem factor into this in the end?"
"This."
What Asimov showed as he said that was the metal powder.
At that point, Rei understood what that metal powder was made of.
"You turned that hammer into metal powder?"
"That's right. Oh, of course I've properly set aside the portion for your spear. This was made from the remaining parts."
"That's fine, but then doesn't that mean you still can't mass-produce them without that hammer?"
"Right, and that's exactly why I called you, Rei. If you get your hands on any more of that hammer's material, could you send it my way? With a little more research, I might be able to achieve the same results with different materials."
In response to Asimov's words, Rei simply said he would if he found any, then asked about the progress on his spear before leaving Asimov's house.
"If it means mass production of Magic Items, wouldn't that be good news for you, Rei?"
On the way back, as they emerged from the backstreets onto the main road, Elena—who knew of Rei's hobby of collecting Magic Items—made that remark, and Rei wore a troubled expression.
"Even if you call them Magic Items, they'd be a cheap version, right? In that case..."
"Rei-san!"
Before Rei could finish his sentence, that voice rang out through the surroundings.