I gently picked up the small object that had suddenly appeared in the absence of heat or anything else.
　Through the light of the fireplace, the inside of it looks slightly purple, and it seems to be shimmering just a little.

This is .......

　I knew this feeling. It was when the demon Nilda paid me my reward.
　That time it was red, but I'm sure the inside of it was shimmering too. This one was different in that it was blue, but other than that, I'd say they were almost identical.
　So that means...

"The magic crystal ......?

　What Nilda gave me was a congealed form of "stagnant" magic power. This is probably a crystal of pure magical power. Maybe.
　I beckoned Liddy over to me, as a layman would have no idea what I was thinking. I've been relying on you as an expert lately.
　Liddy and Rike came pattering in.

"What is it?
What's this?

　I put the magic crystal I was picking on my palm and showed it to Riddy. Liddy's eyes widened.

"Did you make this, by any chance?
"Yes. It looks like the one Nilda gave me before, but I was wondering if it really is.
Excuse me.

　Liddy snatched up the magic crystal from my palm and held it up to the light.
　From below, Rikke was looking up at me, saying, "Wow," as if I were a child being shown a gem.

　Looking at it from the side, it still looks like light is shimmering inside the crystal, but it's too small to tell if it's the same phenomenon as the magical jewel, or if it's the flickering flames of the fireplace.
　If there were such a thing, I could magnify it with a magnifying glass or something, but we don't have one.
　There are convex lenses in this world, too. There are also convex lenses in this world, such as gems like crystals, and glass that has been carefully polished.
　Concave lenses do not seem to be available in this world yet. So there are no glasses for nearsightedness (which is a pity), and no telescopes yet.
　I'm sure some people have noticed concave lenses at some point, but they haven't been able to put them to practical use yet.

It is undoubtedly a solidification of magical power. I think it can be classified as a magical jewel.
Really?
Yeah. Just .......

　Liddy furrowed his brow. I'm not sure if something is about to happen to the magical jewel.
　Liddy put the gem back in my palm. I'm not sure what to make of it.

"Ah!
I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's going on.
It's not like you can make a whole lot of money with just a hammer. That's not good.
That's true.
No, master, you can't have fun like that.

　Liddy and Rikke chuckle. Riddy and Rikke chuckled. I laughed back, not wanting to make any money out of it.

But if some conditions are met, it could be fixed like the red magic jewel.
It's going to be difficult to find those conditions.
At least I've never heard of a blue gem being made in this way. ......
"There's no such legend among the dwarves.
Hmm. ......

　There are probably humans - or dwarves, or maybe some other race - who have produced the same thing before.
　Even so, if it disappeared so soon after it was created, there would be no way to record it, so I guess there is no record of it at all.
　If it disappears so quickly, you can't carry it with you.

Well, I'll look for the conditions later, when I'm free.
"Right.

　Liddy nodded, looking slightly regretful. I looked at her and tried to go back to my work.
　No, wait. Then I had a flash of inspiration.

"The red one can't take magic out of it, right?
Yes. Yes, because it's completely solid.

　Liddy nodded again. The red one is a solidification of stagnant magic, so it can't leak out, but it also can't be taken out. The blue one, then, is the one that will collapse.

The blue one, the one that collapses, can be found at ......?
...... is a possibility.

　If you can do that, you can use more magic power inside the house at first, but if you can adjust the speed at which it collapses, you can use magic power outside the house as well.

It's worth a try: ......
"Yes, it is!

　I'm not sure what to make of that. I haven't seen her this excited since she repaired the treasure sword in the Elven village.

"Oh, I'm sorry.
"No, no, no. No, no. If this goes well, we might be able to make a lot of progress, so I can understand your excitement. But first, .......

　I picked up the neglected ring of Megistium.


　As I picked it up with my left hand and played it with the fingertips of my right hand, I heard a beautiful metallic sound, indicating that it was too hard to be processed even with a tool.
　I breathed a sigh of relief. I'm glad it worked. You never know until you try, even if you're sure. .......

It worked, too.

　Rikke applauds the master. The applause went from Liddy to everyone else, and I bowed my head, feeling embarrassed and a little proud.