...... eh, eh, eh!

　Erica began to wander her gaze around the area in a rush of confusion that I rarely saw.

'Wait a minute!　It's a lot deeper than the Demon King's Castle, isn't it!　Why me?
I knew it, didn't I? Should I have told you what happened first?

　Reflecting on the fact that he had surprised them needlessly, he decided to explain in order why he needed a user of the flame attribute skill and a person with medicinal poison knowledge.

''Roy and the others have trudged through the Demon King's Castle's underground labyrinth, but they haven't yet made any progress in exploring its levels. The miasma is caused by a miasma of unknown origin flowing out of nowhere. The miasma can be temporarily eliminated by incinerating it, but no fundamental countermeasure has been found.

　Hearing the reason I told them so briefly, everyone who was present here gave me a look of understanding.

　The most 'normal' girl in this group, Erica, also seemed to understand my intentions a little later than everyone else.

''First of all, I want to take someone who can handle the flames in case of an outbreak of miasma during the inspection. I believe that even spell armor and spell scrolls can handle it, but there is a physical limit to the number of magic tools that can be carried around. I'd like to use skills and magic to deal with them if I can.
...... So I'd like to take someone who can detoxify the miasma, too, in case someone gets hit by the miasma: ......
That's the idea. Besides, in your day job, you might be able to find out what the miasma is, right?

　All of these details were contained in the documents he received from Dustin.

　It was only moments before Roy broke through the underground maze.

　Soon after that, he became aware of the danger of the miasma and immediately recognized the report and entrusted it to Dustin.

　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what to look for in a maze.

　Firstly, although Noir was an employee of the White Wolf Store, he was in a position that had no direct relationship with the White Wolf Knights, so forcing him to give orders was not a reasonable thing to do.

''Of course, but I can't give you orders as a Knight Commander. This is only a personal request. Anyway, refusing to do so because you don't want to is not in any way detrimental or anything like that.

　This is an important area and I'll explain it carefully over and over again.

　I can't order or force you to do anything.
　I don't want to give you silent pressure and squash your options to refuse.

　After worrying about it, Erica said one question in advance that she wanted to make sure of this.

''Are you sure it's ...... me?''
Of course. You're my most trusted medicine man, you know.

　Erica looks to Noir as if asking for an opinion.

　A smiling nod is returned, and Erica turns to me with a determined look.

''Oh, I'll do it!　We'll take care of it!










　After the meeting, I was stopped by Alexia to remain in the living room of the store.

'I'm sorry to be so busy, Luke. I just wanted to tell you something.

　While saying this, Alexia quickly laid out several items on the table.

　All of them are equipped with a combination of skillful technology and magic tools.

　Just by looking at this lineup, you can get a general idea of what direction Alexia's business is heading in.

''I've developed many things in collaboration with Noir, haven't I? It's like a massive release of the ideas that have been piling up, but it's still a step in the right direction.

　Alexia laid out each piece of equipment in the order of its development and then began to narrate the breakdown of the equipment in the order of oldest.

'First, the normal spell armor. It's a simple substitute of a spell scroll, a miniature version of a spell scroll, wrapped around a crossbow or large crossbow (Scorpion) arrowhead (bolt).

　I'll never forget, this was the first jointly developed armament of Alexia and Noir.

　At the time when the Demon King's War was rushing into a decisive battle, it was half-heartedly thrown into battle as Alexia's equipment and showed considerable success.

"So, this is an updated version that uses Luke-kun's skills to completely fuse the spell and the main body of the arrowhead (bolt).
The one that wouldn't unravel in storage, but it was still the same size and performance.
Yes. So this is the proposal that was intended to be a development, but it's an overly-complex proposal.

　It's an ambitious prototype that aims to deliver high firepower at high speed by densely packing an offensive spell near the tip of a single arrowhead (bolt) and an acceleration spell at the back.

　However, as he said, he came to the conclusion that it would take too much time and effort to manufacture, making it difficult to commercialize.

This plan led to the development of new types of spell armor and projectile armor. The former was a bundle of spell symbols instead of an arrowhead, and was specialized for throwing spells instead of being an arrow.
'So the throwing spell armor is a piece of equipment that's a chunk of spellcasting equipment the size of a one-handed throw, controlled by a mechanism that activates a few seconds after it's enchanted.

　They are all items that seem to be the ultimate combination of magic tools and finesse.

　In particular, the throwing spell armor is very powerful for its ease of use, and since it's difficult to sell offensive items to the general public, this store close to town only sells items with a safe effect.

　The system is that the projectiles that have the power to destroy magical beasts must be purchased at the branch in front of the dungeon with the approval of the guild.

　Is there really a better substitute than this one that can exist - as a novice, I would have thought so, but according to the expert (Alexia), there is still a long way to go.

"We haven't made much progress lately because we've been too busy with Noir, but we've still managed to produce a prototype that's worthy of test operation.

　Alexia smiled proudly and exposed the crossbow that was wrapped in cloth in front of me.

　An auto-loading repeating crossbow - a weapon that became my equipment on the premise that there were many malfunctions in the moving parts and that I would [repair] it while using it.

　That which is usually left with Alexia for maintenance was given a modification that could be recognized at a glance.

　--The cartridges attached to the upper portion of the normal crossbow are the parts that have been installed for a long time, the cartridges that contain the auto-loading arrow bullets (bolts).

　In addition to that, the lower part of the crossbow also had what looked like a long and narrow cartridge attached to the vertical body of the crossbow in a way that it snuggled up perfectly.

'Of course you know about enchantment-based magic. For a long time, there has been a battle method of enchanting arrows with attributes to turn them into fire arrows, but ...... the other day, I asked Noir if it was possible to make an enchanted magic spell scroll.
No way. This cartridge on the underside of the crossbow can be found at ......

　Alexia chuckled and continued her explanation, putting off her response to my mutterings.

'The answer was, 'It's possible, but I don't think it's very practical.' That's true. Because spell scrolls are disposable, and once activated, they don't stop until they disappear, and they don't last as long as their instantaneous output does.
'I've heard of it too. Long-lasting enchantment scrolls disappear in an instant, so a single weapon is the limit for one, and even then, the effect time is only a few minutes ......
'If I made it possible to hang it on multiple weapons, the effect of each one would fade and last ten seconds at most. Moreover, the scroll itself disappeared in a few minutes. It's not very cost effective.

　That's why spell scrolls are polarized into two types: those that draw a large amount of power instantly, or those that are low-powered and long-lasting for everyday life, just to dry clothes.

　When it's not based on a frequency system, but rather on a time limit where a lit string burns out, and the shorter the string, the more effective it is, the harder it is to use something halfway through.

'But if it's a repeating crossbow, it doesn't matter.

　Alexia raised the corners of her mouth as if she were playing a trick on him.

''With a normal bow, the firing interval would be a few rounds per minute, and with specialized skills, it could be increased many times over, but with every single arrow close to the scroll and enchanted, the continuous firing speed would definitely drop rapidly.
But this guy says he can shoot more than that within the scrolling time limit. I don't know how you come up with something like this: ......

　If you wanted to effectively combine a bow or ordinary crossbow with an enchanted magic scroll, you would have to give a high-powered enchantment to a single arrow and deliver a powerful shot.

　However, the repeating crossbow, which is capable of automatic reloading and continuous shooting, allows for an unconventional application.

Of course, the scroll cartridges can be replaced at will. The combination of the wind acceleration enchantment and the new high-powered spell armor is also possible. Please make effective use of it!

　Alexia's eyes, as she spoke powerfully, were filled with a light of confidence and expectation.