When lunch was over, I realized that I had forgotten to ask Sylvia an important question.

'Hey, Sylvia. Do you know where everyone else is?

　The 'everyone else' in this case is, of course, the people involved in the White Wolf Store and Sakura.

　Everyone is living in this inn's rooms on a long-term contract, so it's not surprising that Sylvia, the signatory girl, would know where to find them.

　It's a question that normally wouldn't be answered, but I wanted to think that the manager returning from a business trip was just looking for an employee, so it wouldn't be a problem .......

'Well, Erica and Noir-san went to the 'Sundial Forest', Sakura was out on a request, and Alexia-san should still be in her room. And Leila-san, I believe, is at the branch office.
Thanks. Then we should go see Alexia first. What about Garnett?

　When I asked, Garnett had already left his seat and looked like he was ready to follow me.

'...... Well, let's both go then,'
Well, it's been a while.
Then so am I. I have a few things to do for Miss Alexia.

　In the end, the three of us ended up heading to Alexia's room together like this.

　For some reason, I thought I sensed a will from Garnett not to let him leave me alone with Alexia, but perhaps I was overthinking it, or maybe I was overreacting.

　At any rate, I knocked on the door of my room and waited for Alexia to come out for a while.

'Alexia. Do you have a moment?
Is that you, Luke?　I swear, it's so late to come back.

　Alexia opened the door and peeked out her top, but when she realized that Sylvia was with us, her smile snapped back when she realized that Sylvia was there with us.

'Hee!　Sylvia!
'It looks like you're doing okay today. This is about as good as it's going to get: ......
Hahaha ...... I'm being very careful.

　Through the gap between Alexia's flinching body and the door, Sylvia takes a quick look at the room.

　The room is not quite as tidy ...... as it should be, but it's not so badly cluttered that it's an eye sore.

　I'm sure you'll be able to get a general idea of the situation at a glance, although Garnett was dubious as to what I was talking about.

I'm sure you've been pissed off at me for making too much of a mess in your room. Come to think of it, didn't you mess up the inn's room before and roll into my room?　Oh, that A-ranked Roy misunderstood that we were dating.
'Ew!　How could that have happened!

　When I told him what I heard from Roy in the capital, Alexia raised her voice as if it was unexpected.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this in the next few weeks.

　Starting with the topic of ......, I lightly talked to Alexia about the topic of my stay in the King's Capital, and then I decided to get down to business again.

''By the way, is it true that the guild is planning to search deeper than the 'Demon King's Castle Realm'?　Sylvia told me about it earlier.
I guess so. I wasn't invited.
'How come you haven't been invited to ...... Oh, right, so your day job is as a craft engineer. You want me to do that job instead of exploring.
Yes, I think that's what it means.

　These days, Alexia is more active as a technician supporting the infrastructure of Green Hollow Town and the Hollow Bottom Chapter than as an employee of the White Wolf Store or an adventurer.

　Thanks to Alexia's help, some additional skillful engineers have come to the Hollow Bottom Branch, and the living environment for adventurers exploring the "Demon King's Castle Realm" has improved dramatically.

　It's a natural decision for an adventurer to think that they can't take such an extremely valuable person out on a quest.

　It's no wonder that the invitation never came in the first place, before deciding whether to accept or reject it.

I'm going to ask them to take newly made weapons and tools with them. If it is popular, I'm thinking of offering to sell them at the store ...... Oh, that's right!　Thank you for the gift!　Especially the latest issue and back issues of the Clockwork Journal!　It's hard to get them over here, so we were in trouble!

　Alexia was so excited that she started to speak up at once.

　Suddenly the conversation returned from the topic of Green Hollow and the "Demon King's Castle Realm" to something related to the business trip to King's Landing, but Alexia was so energetic that she missed the right moment to return to the conversation.

''I consulted a shop specializing in crafty engineers for souvenirs, and they told me that this guy is an iron plate for the local crafty engineers.
I don't know much about it either. I thought it was just a bunch of leftover magazines that had been sold out, but it looks like it was a good decision.
That's it!　It's a specialty magazine with a small circulation!

　Alexia is still in a state of excitement.

　She takes a gulp of the iced herbal tea that Sylvia, who has been in the kitchen for some time, offers her, and then continues to talk about the value of the Clockwork Journal.

'The journal is full of announcements about the latest technology and new releases, but it's hard to get it if you're not in the city,'
Latest technology. Won't they just copy us if we announce such a thing?
I'm told that wizards are so afraid of this that they keep their work secret. But for a mechanical engineer, it's a different story.

　Alexia answered Garnett's simple question with a heartfelt answer, as if it were her own business.

'It used to be a system in my hometown, the home of craft, where new technology and inventions were given exclusive rights for a few years so that they could collect usage fees from other engineers.
Hmm, so that's what it says in the book.
If you don't make it public, you won't get approval. Some people don't like it and keep it a secret, but most of the time they apply for it to make money.

　Alexia's hometown, the multi-level city, once had a monopoly on advanced crafting technology.

　Perhaps the system developed to prevent theft within the city was spread throughout the kingdom when it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Westland.

　That's an interesting story, but unfortunately there's still another story to tell, so I'll leave the rest of it for another time.

The journal is full of other columns and commentaries by famous engineers, and it's a really good learning experience: ......
Hey, Alexia. There's one thing I need you to do for me. I was going to mention it to Noir later, but could you make a weapon that even I can handle with some finesse and magic tool technology that I can handle with stability?

　Through the Night Ripper incident, I realized once again how powerless I am.

　I have no choice but to devote myself to the rear guard.
　I'm not sure I want to be able to sharpen my edge on the front lines.

　However, I wanted to have at least the minimum means of self-defense, or at least support.

　When Alexia heard my proposal, she looked surprised for a moment, and then immediately smiled confidently.

''Leave it to me!　I've got tons of ideas waiting to be used!　I hope so!