I decided to listen to Tre-san’s advice regarding the return gift, mostly because she seemed so needlessly confident about the whole thing.
"Look, no matter how much she wants one, a teleportation magic tool is way too expensive for a return gift, right?"
"True. It’s definitely overkill for a crate of Ripples," Tre-san agreed.
She was right. No matter how many Marie had sent, a Ripple was still just a Ripple. If we assumed a single fruit cost about two hundred yen, three hundred of them would total roughly sixty thousand yen.
Of course, given that she had sent them specifically because she’d heard they were my favorite during the tea party, it was a massive gesture and a significant amount of money. Even so, the price of a teleportation magic tool was literally orders of magnitude higher.
"That’s why we’re going to build one ourselves on the cheap!"
"Hoh, you're going to make one? Isn't that a massive undertaking? Besides, can you really save that much money just by doing the labor yourself?"
"It’ll be fine. First, take a look at this... hup!"
With a grunt of effort, Tre-san pulled out a massive hunk of crystal.
"A crystal? Oh, wait... is this a magic crystal?"
It was so transparent that I’d taken it for ordinary quartz at first, but looking closer, I noticed a faint green tint shimmering within.
"Yeah. This is a magic crystal with a purity of less than one percent. Its mana capacity is so low that it’s useless for normal magic tools. Usually, this stuff is just used as raw material for magic paper."
"Magic paper... you mean the kind used for single-use formulas, like in Random Boxes? I thought those were made from the scraps left over from processing high-purity crystals?"
"That’s how it’s usually done, but using high-purity scraps for everything would drive up the cost, and the excess mana would just go to waste. So, they take these low-purity crystals that have no other use, grind them into powder, and mix them in as a base. Basically, it’s just filler."
"I see..."
It made sense. If a single-use formula only needed a specific amount of magic power to function, anything beyond that was wasted. Mixing in low-purity powder was a practical way to keep costs down.
"So, what's the plan for this crystal?"
"Well, I want you to buy this crystal and this set of metal materials right here... for five hundred R total."
"Eh? You want me to buy them from you, Tre-san?"
"Yep."
"Understood. Here, five hundred R. I have to say, that’s incredibly cheap. You’re selling all this for that much?"
"Like I said, it’s only good for magic paper filler. If you wanted something for home decor, you’d just buy regular crystal. Magic crystals require specialized techniques to work with, so nobody wants to waste the time and effort it takes to process something with such low purity."
That seemed fair. If the materials had almost no practical use and were a nightmare to process into anything decorative, fifty thousand yen for a bundle of materials this size was a reasonable price.
"Alright, so now this magic crystal and these materials officially belong to Kaito. Now... hmph!"
"Oh!"
As soon as Tre-san touched the crystal, color bled into it like ink swirling through clear water. The entire stone turned a vibrant green before the shade began to darken, deepening further and further.
After a few moments, the entire magic crystal had turned pitch black—the mark of a stone with a purity of over ninety percent.
"There! Preparations are complete."
"Ah, so we’re using that to make the magic tool. That certainly keeps the material costs down, but... isn't the formula for teleportation magic extremely difficult to engrave?"
"Don't worry about that. I sent a Hummingbird out a little while ago telling them to come up to my room. They should be here any second."
"Wait, who?"
Just as I tilted my head in confusion, there was a timely knock at the door. When Tre-san called for them to enter, Funf-san and Zex-san walked into the room.
"Tre-neesan, you said you needed... Oh? Kaito, you’re here too. Welcome."
"Hello, Funf-san, Zex-san."
"Well, well, Miyama-dono. Good afternoon. It has been quite some time since the birthday party."
After a round of brief greetings, Tre-san placed a plate of sliced Ripples in front of the two newcomers.
"Thanks for coming, you two! First off, have some of these! Kaito brought them over to share. Eat up, eat up!"
"Eh? Oh... wow, these are delicious."
"Indeed, the flavor is quite magnificent."
As Tre-san watched Funf-san and Zex-san happily munching on the fruit, a deep, knowing smile spread across her face.
"You both ate them, right?"
The two of them froze instantly.
"...W-we ate them, but... wait. Is this one of Tre-neesan’s traps?"
"A trap? How rude! It’s nothing like that. It’s just that, since you both enjoyed the gift Kaito brought, I was hoping you’d help us out with a little teleportation magic tool project. See, Kaito and I have all the materials ready right here. We want to put something together."
"Oh, I see. So you want me to handle the metalwork, the base, and the decorations?"
"And I shall handle the task of engraving the formula into the magic crystal. For a request like that, I am more than happy to oblige. With a crystal of this size, I could even fit the latest, most advanced formula."
Though they had been wary at first, Tre-san’s explanation seemed to satisfy them. Both of them readily agreed to help with the creation of the magic tool.
Serious-senpai: "Wait! Even if you’ve suppressed the production costs, the impact on the recipient’s sanity hasn't changed at all! Besides, since Tre’s ability is supposed to be a secret, it’s just going to look like Kaito bought a massive, high-purity magic crystal and sent it as a casual thank-you gift, isn't it!?"
???: "Do you see what’s happening? She probably didn't do it on purpose, but because of how Tre-san explained things, Funf-san and Zex-san have no idea that the Ripples originally came from Marie-san, or that the tool is intended as a return gift. They just assume Kaito wants a teleportation tool for his own mansion to be used by his staff. Since they don't have the full context, the two of them—the only ones here with any common sense—have no reason to stop him."
Serious-senpai: "It’s like the universe itself is conspiring to punch Marie in the stomach... You should be the one to tell them!"
???: "Me? No way. Alice-chan isn't the one getting hurt here, and this is far too entertaining to pass up. I’m just going to sit back and laugh."