NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50
“Alright, everyone, please be quiet! The hero party’s Rui will now speak!”
How on earth did it come to this?
“Uh, sis… I-I’m so nervous…”
“You just need to be here. I’ll do the talking.”
I thought it was just going to be a matter of simply making some magical tools and distributing them throughout the city.
Of course, I did consider that we’d be getting help from various forces and people along the way.
“Is that person the mage from the hero party?”
“She’s cute… Ah, is that rude to say?”
“I heard they tried to make her an honorary city adventurer over at the Alphares branch.”
“Is the goddess of bombardment referring to her…? That’s a terrifying nickname that doesn’t match her looks.”
“She’s someone particularly cherished by the saint. Everyone, please be extra careful with your words and actions.”
“May the goddess bless Rui on her journey…”
Not a single word from me, and it was already chaos.
I was currently inside a large building located in the heart of the city.
A space as big as a school gym was filled with countless people seated.
City Management Office.
Adventurer Guild.
Church.
Smithy Guild.
Miner Guild.
And others with the skills or experience necessary to take part in this project.
They gathered here to help fulfill Aria’s request.
“The mercenaries are going to be late. Apparently, they’re coming back from a pretty far group request.”
“Thank you, Rapirie.”
And it wasn’t just Nia and me from the hero party.
Rapirie also offered to help by talking to the mercenaries about the situation.
Serelin, Aria, and the hero were all focused on solving the city’s issues in their own ways.
Anyway, this led to roughly thirty people gathering.
‘…When was the last time I spoke in front of this many people?’
Until now, I’d often been in discussions with only five people at most.
So, I figured this would be the first time since taking over this body.
Naturally, I didn’t have stage fright like Nia did.
“Thank you for gathering. I will now explain the purification plan for Lakr.”
Sometimes, a few works use ‘purification’ in interesting ways.
For instance, burning a planet to ‘purify’ the evil, or the male protagonist ‘purifying’ a female adventurer cursed by aphrodisiac magic.
But unlike those shady uses of the term, my ‘purification’ has a real meaning.
“Currently, this mine city has extremely polluted air due to its industrial nature. This has been corroborated by the city management office’s investigation…”
I started explaining the necessity and purpose of the plan based on data and information provided by each group.
“As a result, it appears that not only the Marquis Lakr, but many children and elderly within the city are suffering from respiratory diseases. I want to change this.”
Whispers began to circulate, but I ignored them and continued.
Once they heard the entire plan, they would have no choice but to understand.
“To achieve this, we will develop magical tools to install at every smithy and the mine entrance. We plan to use Ranhar Ore for this.”
“Ranhar Ore? Hm, that should work, but…”
Smiths and miners, who were well-versed in ores, began to show positive signals.
“But handling it is quite difficult. How do you plan on dealing with that?”
“We’ll help you with that! You just need to hand over the Ranhar Ore! Hahaha!”
“It seems like the mage does the magic, but the smiths do the boasting.”
In the meantime, a question came from the city management office.
“So how far will we need to transport the Ranhar Ore? The distance and location will affect costs.”
“I’m thinking of setting up in the open space in front of the mine. There’s no need to transport it; working directly from the state it’s in will be more efficient in every way.”
“Hmm, if we do that, we shouldn’t have to allocate much additional budget.”
The city management office seemed to nod in agreement.
As for the adventurer guild and the church, there was no need to persuade them.
They had come to fully support me. Oh, and the mercenaries just walked in.
‘Come to think of it, I could probably make a vacuum cleaner out of Ranhar Ore?’
If I expand its dust absorption properties, it could be quite the useful cleaner.
Purifying the city, preparing for Rastock, and getting new magical tool ideas.
This is killing three birds with one stone…
‘What else can I eat?’
Anyway, it was great to have all three benefits at once.
The meeting ended positively.
Now all that was left was to create the prototype.
In other words, it meant I had to focus properly from here on out.
“Rui, you’re speaking really well! Honestly, I’m surprised.”
“I’ve always been good at speaking, you know.”
“…That’s true.”
A glance from Rapirie immediately made it clear what she was thinking.
Something like, ‘Aren’t all mages gloomy and timid by nature?’
Unfortunately for her, I’m not your typical mage.
“Uh, but it seems like we didn’t actually need to call in mercenaries. I thought I’d need their help, but this is running smoothly…”
“There is something I’d like to specifically ask of the mercenaries.”
Their help isn’t crucial for the city purification plan, but it’s needed for the defense against Rastock.
“I’d like you to patrol the city and the mine.”
“Huh? Isn’t that the job of the district guards?”
“It’s for areas not covered by their patrol routes. For example, the underground waterways.”
In the end, Rastock would have to unleash a medium to spread its plague within the city.
I estimate it would likely be small animals or corpses.
“Since we’re trying to keep the city clean, we can also prevent any diseases by discovering sick rats while we’re at it.”
“Hmm, I’ll do my best to convey that! Hey you guys!”
Rapirie rushed over to the big mercenaries to share my words.
Is it because she’s an elf, or is it because she’s part of the hero party?
She’s got some serious skills in handling these muscular mercenaries.
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*
After receiving a sample of Ranhar Ore and returning to the mansion, I immediately began crafting.
“Master key.”
I opened several spaces in a spatial pocket and activated the master key to assist with the crafting.
“Um, sis, what can I help with…?”
“Calculate the size at which the Ranhar Ore is most effective.”
“…Huh? What cake size for the Ranhar Ore…?”
“Just kidding. For now, practice mana control while you wait for your tasks.”
“Okay!”
Feeling a warm heat from behind, I summoned a pen and input the runes into the master key.
Now the master key would analyze the Ranhar Ore and provide appropriate values.
“Thinking about the dust that might escape from the Ranhar Ore, I should make the chimney edges sealed…”
As I sketched the blueprint in the air with my pen, I concretized the magical tool.
Whenever I encountered vague parts or blockages, I compared and resolved them using various materials stored in the spatial pocket.
“Wow… That’s cool… Ah, I’m hungry…”
It felt like I was back to the time before joining the hero party, when I was fervently focused on crafting magical tools.
“Instead of incorporating weight reduction, I should use light and cheap materials altogether.”
Whoooosh.
At the same time, the calculations from the master key finished, revealing several candidates.
Based on this, I used the pen to carve the ore into different sample shapes.
“Hmm… ahhh… ”
“Nia Bella, you should go to your room and sleep.”
“Huh…? Rapirie? Ah, I’m here to help sis!”
“You were just asleep…”
I picked one sample and engraved the runes on the Ranhar Ore.
This part would be adjusted according to the distribution positions of the city’s mines and smithies.
‘I need to cover everything as much as possible without overlapping…’
“Hmm… Rozen… Let’s stop talking about destroying cities and fleeing…”
Finally, I reviewed the entire process and infused my mana to activate it.
Woooosh.
“… The inspection results are good.”
With that, a magical tool was completed.
“Yawn~. Oh, sis?! Did you stay up all night?!”
“Uh…? What? It hasn’t been long, right?”
“What? It’s morning…”
It seemed I got too lost in my thoughts and felt the pressing need to finish quickly.
“Nia… You have a task now…”
I handed her a purification device the size of my forearm while rubbing my eyes.
“Take this… and deliver it to the city management office… and it’d be great if you could find out the results…”
“O-Okay, but sleep quickly! I heard Ariya told my sister to wake her up last night…”
Nia exited the room with the device, tears in her eyes, as if she were worried about getting scolded.
Only then did I retreat the master key and pen, closing all the spatial pockets.
“Phew…”
The feeling of sleepiness washed over me.
I guess after using my brain for over 12 hours, exhaustion was catching up to me.
As I walked to my bed, I stumbled as sleep overtook me.
Click.
“Rui.”
“… Hero…?”
Was I just too sleepy, or was I actually seeing the hero?
“… Go to sleep already.”
For a moment, my body felt lighter before a soft blanket touched my back.
I buried myself in that cozy sensation, slowly closing my eyes.
Had it been because I hadn’t seen the hero all day?
Before I fell into sleep, I unknowingly smiled.
The reason? I had no idea.