With the glass collection finished, Citry nodded in satisfaction at the mountain of glass piled up in the workshop.
Breaking the glass had been time-consuming, but collecting it was as simple as asking Mimikun to handle it. The heap of shattered glass sparkled under the sunlight, looking almost like a pile of some unusual gemstone.
Lucia, who had been standing with her arms folded while examining the materials, let out a small sigh. Compared to the satisfied Citry and the cheerful Kirukilu, Lucia's mood was noticeably low.
Lucia tapped the ground twice with her staff and turned to Citry.
"...So what exactly am I supposed to do from here? You said I'd be the one manufacturing it, but—"
"There's a blueprint—a set of formulas for constructing the device. Alchemy is a universal art, after all... By adjusting certain parameters, you can freely create any device you need."
"...Freely create a device that dangerous? I... I see..."
Lucia's face went pale with a look of utter disbelief—the kind of expression you absolutely shouldn't aim at a close friend. If I'd had the brainpower to fully grasp the gravity of the situation, I probably would've made the same face.
Magic, alchemy—the truths of this world were simply too difficult. And there were far too many dangerous things within arm's reach of me.
Citry casually pulled out a pen, licked her lips once, and began drawing an elaborately bizarre pattern on the ground.
It was a set of cryptic geometric shapes. A large circle formed the center, with countless unfamiliar diagrams filling its interior.
Her hand moved with fluid precision. While I stared wide-eyed at my childhood friend's incomprehensible behavior, Lucia's brow twitched.
"This is... a magic circle? If it's something only a Mage can create, then surely—"
"We devised a set of magical formulas for processing devices from raw materials using magic. The written records have been disposed of, and the formulas now exist only in my head, but..."
When performing large-scale magic, elaborate preparation was almost always required.
The Light Spirit Church had used magic circles to erect a powerful barrier when we attempted the purification of Marine's Lament. A magic circle, in simple terms, was essentially a blueprint for magic.
I didn't know much about that kind of knowledge, but I'd heard it was developed so that anyone could reliably execute complex spells.
The magic circle Citry had drawn—the intricate pattern was completely unintelligible. Some parts looked like characters, but I couldn't read a single one of them.
The fact that Mages could build magic off something like this was honestly amazing.
As I nodded along, Citry beamed with a radiant smile.
"!! You get it, Klein!? The groundbreaking formula incorporated into this magic circle!"
"Yep, yep. Totally groundbreaking."
I didn't really understand, but when Citry looked this confident and enthusiastic, it was never anything less than groundbreaking.
Pulled along by her smile, I gave a vague agreement. Then Lucia spoke up in a hesitant tone.
"Citry...? This magic circle... it requires five people to activate, doesn't it? Because, look... this formula has five different types of magic as its base—"
"That's right! Exactly! It's a magic circle activated by five Mages! That's what makes it groundbreaking, but getting five Mages together—ones who work well in sync—turns out to be really tough—"
Multiple Mages cooperating to cast a single high-level spell. This was one of the ultimate arts of ritual magic.
So a normal set of formulas wasn't enough to achieve the kind of groundbreaking effect she was after.
What kind of spell would it be? Come to think of it, it had been a while since I'd gotten to watch Lucia perform magic this carefully outside of a battlefield.
"Then I suppose I should let you show us—"
"Please do, Lucia!"
At my and Citry's request, Lucia flinched and raised her voice.
"?!? H-Hey... were you even listening to me? I just said this magic circle requires five people to activate!"
"Huh? But Lucia, your mana reserves are more than five people combined, aren't they?"
When it came to magic, Lucia was a genius. She'd received invitations from Star's Holy Thunder and The Magic Staff, not to mention relentless recruitment offers from various magical academies.
She possessed overwhelming mana capacity and delicate formula construction. She greedily absorbed knowledge, mastered every kind of magic, and had even developed numerous original spells. The word "prodigy" truly existed for her sake.
At my words, Lucia furrowed her brow and gave me an intense look.
"I think you understand this, but mana capacity has nothing to do with it. Using two different spells simultaneously is roughly equivalent to writing different characters with both hands at the same time—"
"...But you're ambidextrous."
Lucia had always been talented with her hands.
The only thing she was clumsy about was her personality—she had a tendency to endure everything silently, a habit born from being adopted into the Andrich family from a distant branch.
"Yes, I am ambidextrous, brother! I might manage with two, but unfortunately, I do not have five hands!!"
"...Now that you mention it, that's true. Hmm..."
It made sense. I didn't have a sister with five hands either.
The fact that she could handle two simultaneously already meant Lucia was exceptional as a Mage.
Besides, Selen was here too, and so were the members of Star's Holy Thunder. Citry seemed to specifically want Lucia for this, but there was absolutely no reason to leave it all to her.
In fact, there was a possibility Lucia didn't need to handle it at all. It would probably be smoother if the Star's Holy Thunder members did it together.
I furrowed my brows and thought about this with a hard-boiled expression when Lucia suddenly shouted, unable to hold back.
"Aaah, aaah, ugh! Fine! I get it! I'll do it, okay?!"
"Huh? Really?"
"...I'll figure something out. I'm used to my brother's unreasonable requests."
There was no need to push yourself... Was she just made entirely of ambition?
Lucia's expression instantly turned to deep concentration as she stared down at the formulas and began muttering to herself. Once she entered this state, she wouldn't move for quite a while.
Citry looked at her with a somehow satisfied expression and said: "If Lucia can handle quintuple magical activation, she'll be starting to look inhuman."
Please don't turn someone else's sister into an inhuman. And anyway, if quintuple simultaneous activation was actually possible, would that really make her inhuman...
Come to think of it calmly, wasn't it Citry rather than me who kept making unreasonable demands of Lucia? They were close friends, so Citry was good at teasing her, and it was a common sight to see Lucia getting pushed around by Citry's newly developed items.
At that point, Selen, who had been silently listening until now, gave a small cough and turned to Citry.
"Citry Smart. Is there anything I can help with? I have some confidence in magic myself."
"No... the device manufacturing involves fire magic as well, and besides, this is Lucia's trial— Actually, could you provide the ley line data you've gathered for the surrounding area?"
"I... I see... Very well."
Selen looked somewhat hurt at being told to only provide information.
It seemed that having nothing to do while everyone else was busy was bothering her. I didn't mind at all, but for someone as earnest as her, it clearly weighed heavily.
If I left her like this, she'd probably spiral into self-doubt, so I figured I should offer some support.
"Relax. Part of being a leader is trusting your comrades and standing firm in moments like these."
"I... I see... Is that how it works?"
"If something comes up, I'll let you know... I understand the urgency when the world's destruction is looming, but when faced with a god, there's only so much a single person—one Spiritfolk—can actually do."
"..."
Selen lowered her head and fell silent. She really was too prone to pessimism.
She was beautiful, but seeing her with that constantly sorrowful expression made even me feel melancholy.
That reminded me of something I'd been thinking about for a while.
"Actually, I have the perfect Treasure Weapon for someone like you, Selen! I'll lend it to you."
"Huh? A Treasure Weapon...?"
"It's called 'Perfect Vacation'..."
"Perfect... Vacation?"
Well, it would become less comfortable for me, but I had no intention of participating in combat or doing anything in particular, so it shouldn't be a problem.
'Perfect Vacation' was the Treasure Weapon that Riizu and the others had repeatedly refused to use despite my recommendations. I'd been wanting someone else to experience its power.
The effect was potent, but apparently nobody liked the visuals... I thought it was stylish, personally.
I'd also worn it when heading to break Luke's curse, but apparently she didn't even know its name.
"I think it suits you perfectly. Here, I'll lend it to you right away... Citry, I'm leaving the device to you."
"Y-Yes... I'll leave that part in your hands, then..."
Citry's tone was noticeably lower than before.
What exactly had I left in her hands? ...Oh well. I'd have Selen try out the Treasure Weapon right away. Maybe she'd become a fellow Treasure Weapon enthusiast.
Leading the bewildered Selen along, I left the scene with a spring in my step.
§ § § The Dog Chain raced through the dense forest. Adler and his group watched the scene through the Reality Mirror.
Mana Material flowing through ley lines strengthened all things. The plants along the earth's ley lines, having absorbed the vast power flowing beneath, had grown to towering heights, and the diminutive Dog Chain was completely hidden within the tall grass.
It was supposedly running, but to outside observers, all they could see was the underbrush rustling and swaying.
The Dog Chain had been dispatched for several tens of minutes. So far, no major problems had arisen.
Uno, who was peering at the mirror with those special eyes, remarked admiringly: "It moves remarkably well, doesn't it? I never imagined the Living Chain had such hidden functionality—"
"...Can't think of much use for it, though. There are plenty of smarter Monsters out there that are roughly the same size."
"Quite right."
He agreed with Quint's words.
Indeed, things were going better than Adler had expected. But that was simply because no problems had emerged yet.
The Living Chain that followed instructions was certainly interesting, but interesting was all it was.
Even the fact that it was useful right now was only possible because of the Reality Mirror that Adler's group possessed—hardly a compelling reason to use a Treasure Weapon in this situation.
"Enough with the blah blah! Klein's never going to take the easy road, you hear me?! Get back to your jobs!"
Riizu, who had been standing as though monitoring Adler's group, clicked her tongue and barked the words at them. Her sharp gaze made it abundantly clear she was on guard against them.
And for good reason. Adler's group were not allies of Thousand Transformations. They were only cooperating because it was beneficial. If they'd started acting friendly, that would've been truly disappointing.
Similarly, one member of the Spiritfolk party, who made no effort to hide their wariness, asked: "So... can you actually see the ley lines or not?"
"There's no problem there. Though... even at this distance from the Treasure Hall, the Mana Material concentration is extraordinary. Distinguishing between strong and weak flows may prove difficult, however."
Ley lines converged around the World Tree. What Adler's group needed to find this time was the point where the ley lines converging on the World Tree merged into a single great ley line.
According to Princess Selen, who possessed the same special eyes as Uno—this top-tier Yggdra—there was an extraordinary concentration of power at that point, unmistakable even at a casual glance.
The black-haired girl, Tino, who had been staring intently at the mirror, glanced at Riizu beside her and spoke cautiously: "But there aren't any animals at all... In a forest with such a high concentration of Mana Material..."
"Hmm... Perhaps because the Mana Material is so concentrated. The more powerful and intelligent the phantom beasts, the greater their wariness. They can surely understand that the apex of the ecosystem has already shifted."
Lapis shrugged. If this had been a Monster subdued by a Thief or by Adler's group, they might have noticed how unnatural the situation was, but the Dog Chain proceeded without noticing anything at all.
Fear was a sense of crisis. The inability to feel it was both an advantage and a serious disadvantage.
"Even if intelligent phantom beasts fled—this level of silence is unnatural. It's more likely they were driven away."
As expected of a Treasure Hall guarded by Phantoms. The fact that Phantoms had used the power of the ley lines to erect a barrier around the Treasure Hall was unprecedented, but things beyond common sense kept happening one after another.
They had once managed to reach a stalemate, but the army was gone now. They wanted to avoid engaging the Phantoms who had made this phenomenon possible.
Just then, Elisa, who had been staring blankly at the mirror, suddenly let out a voice of realization.
"...This one's deviated from the planned route."
They checked the mirror again. The Dog Chain appeared to be moving straight ahead without any hesitation.
But while it was hard to tell from the Reality Mirror's display, if a high-level Thief was saying so, it had to be true.
When Thousand Transformations had issued instructions to the Dog Chain, they had traced a line on the map to outline the investigation route.
They'd had doubts about whether that would really work, and apparently it hadn't.
If it got lost, it could supposedly find its way back, but straying too far from the route would defeat the purpose of the investigation.
If they'd sent Elisa or Riizu instead, none of this would have happened. Why on earth had they used a Dog Chain in the first place?
As Adler furrowed his brows in thought, Tino suddenly spoke with a stiff expression.
"Sister... I-I hope this is just my imagination, but this one seems to be heading toward the Treasure Hall..."
"Ugh... Tino, what have you been watching this whole time? I'll say it again—Klein would never take the easy route!"