I'll join you in defeating them. ...... But I can't always be in or near the guild. I may have to travel a long way, and it's hard to show up at the guild every day.

　I don't want to be tied down for several years for an outbreak that could come at any time.

However, we need you to stay near the Photoren, because with our current information network, .......

　Mr. Tupone countered. Of course.
　I want to minimize the damage as much as you do, and since the Guild is close to the national organization, I'm sure you're thinking about it more sincerely than I am.
　When I opened my mouth to make a suggestion for that purpose, I was met with a counter-argument from a different direction than I expected.
　It was the guildmaster, Mr. Breiva.

No, we can't bind adventurers for that reason.

But it's an emergency. We have no other choice but to ask Kaede for help. ......

"Aside from the dragons, this is a city-wide problem, and it's happening far away from Kaede. It would be great if you could help us, but we can't force you to rescue a city hundreds of kilometers away. Kaede is a powerful force to be reckoned with, but he's an adventurer, not a knight. You know that, but we've been relying on him too much so far.

　Hearing this, the meeting fell silent again.
　I don't know the rules of the guild in detail, but I'm sure Breiva is right.
　No one could argue, and Tupone looked down in silence.
　I remembered that freedom was one of the advantages of being an adventurer.
　I've heard somewhere that the reason adventurers don't take requests directly from the country or town, but rather through guilds even in urgent cases, is to protect their freedom.
　...... But I am not saying that we should abandon the place of outbreaks.

No, I'm not always in the photo-op, but the point is, you need an alternative means of communication, right?

I'm in trouble because I don't have that. ...... Don't tell me you have that?

　I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

It's not a panacea, but there are ways to transmit information over a distance.

Is it some kind of ...... artifact?

No, this.

　I pulled out a pair of anchors.
　At first, most of the participants looked puzzled when they saw them.
　However, when they were told that they were a means of transmitting information, the researchers must have realized a new use for the anchors. Their puzzled expressions turned to astonishment.
　Two of them almost stood up, made a clattering sound with their chairs, and sat down again.
　The non-researchers remained puzzled.
　I would have told Mercia that she could spread the word if she had to, but from the looks of it, she didn't.

This is a normal anchor. In normal use, the two are linked together to indicate each other's position, but if you break one of them like this...

　As I said this, I put all my strength into the hand holding the anchor and broke one of them.
　Because of the distance between them, the color of the other anchor disappears immediately.

When the other one changes color, you know something's wrong.

　Now almost everyone seemed to understand what I was saying.
　A voice rises from the crowd.

"Breaking and using magic tools is another great idea. ......

　The reason no one had thought of it before was probably because they had a preconceived notion of how to use magic tools.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

　If I wasn't an adventurer, this country would have been turned into a high-purity mithril deposit by a small dragon by now.

"I crushed a magic stone anchor with my bare hands. ......?

　I don't think that's the problem.

"Anyway, if I keep one of these in the Photoren Guild, I can check things out without having to go back to the guild.
　"Great.

That's great. ...... But if you move too far away, you can't just move it. ...... No, that won't be a problem for Kaede.

Yes. In a couple of weeks, you could probably travel from one continent to the other and back. Normally, the speed of sound is not exceeded, but if you don't consider the damage to the surroundings, it will be even higher.

The speed of sound: ...... No, that's fast enough. It's not enough to cause damage if you're trying to rescue people.

Surely this can't be done with an A grade. ......

　The meeting came to a successful conclusion at my suggestion.
　At that time, I was asked if I could use Anchor Communications in the Chamber of Commerce, and I agreed.
　I agreed, because it seemed troublesome to charge money for a new use, let alone a new tool.
　There are plenty of other ways to make money besides anchoring.
　It would be much more important for me to be able to move freely.


　Now that I was free (except for the outbreak), my first task was to create an artifact.
　I've done enough fighting that I don't feel like going out of my way, and making artifacts is a new field that seems quite interesting.
　In addition, it seems that Kaede Merchant's artifacts department is reputed to be small but highly skilled .......
　After the meeting, I found out all the information about it that had been disclosed to the people concerned.
　However, that information is only what I could find in the old documents and the basic experiments conducted by the guild.
　From that point on, there are trade secrets involved, so we need to do our own research and development.

　So, I immediately went to Catherine and started my experiments.
　There are other craftsmen in the company, but their skills are not as good as Catherine's, so they are treated as assistants for experiments that do not require mass production.

"How much do you understand about artifact creation?

　In order to determine how much explanation is necessary, I ask her.

"All the experiments that were done in limited release. I don't remember much of the information in the ancient texts, but I do know the basic structure and the magical tools used in the experiments, such as the Concentration Lamp and the Blue Flame.

　The basic structure is the name given to a number of structures that often appear in the blueprints of ancient texts.
　Artifacts are classified according to the number of structures they have: 1 structure, 2 structures, 3 structures. ...... At present, there are successful replicas of up to 2 structures.
　At present, there are successful replicas of up to two structures. They are like components in an electronic device.
Concentrated Magic Lamp" and "Blue Flame" are the names of two-structure artifacts that have been successfully replicated.
　Incidentally, all the artifacts that have been replicated before the decipherment of the ancient texts, such as the familiar Magic Lamp, have a single structure.
　The Magic Lamp has a three-digit structure, and I think it would have been uncomfortable to count it.


　However, there must have been a great deal of experimentation between the deciphering of the ancient texts and the creation of the two-structure artifact.
　Knowing all that, was Catherine about to become a researcher?

"How do you know so much?

"Because after the dragon-related work is done, all of us mages gather to learn about the artifacts.

　In other words, the development of the artifact and the participating groups were already decided when I went out to defeat it.
　If so, it's a quick story.

Well, let's try the two-structure experiment first.

"I've already succeeded with the second structure. You'll need a larger magic stone. ......

The biggest one I have is .......

　He said, and took out from the item box the magic stone of the sub-dragon that appeared after the first dragon was defeated.
　They are about 50 centimeters in diameter.
　The biggest one is the black magic stone from the first dragon, but I have a bad feeling about that one, so I won't use it.

The largest one is the black magic stone from the first dragon, but I have a bad feeling about that one, so I don't use it. ...... That's a pretty impressive magic stone, does it belong to a sub-dragon?

"After I killed the smaller dragons, two of them came out at once. This is the biggest one I have. Will this work?

"I didn't know you fought such things. ...... But you should be fine with something like the Giant Spider Club.

Okay. Then get me a blue flame.

　Throw the large magic stone into the item box and take out a magic stone with a diameter of less than 30 centimeters.

I understand.

　I'm not sure what I'm doing.
　I don't know what she's doing, but I'm guessing it's some kind of advanced technology.
　In about ten minutes it was done.

It's done.

　Catherine proudly holds out the magic stone.
　When I activated it, blue flames, different from those of ordinary magic tools, burst forth with great force.
　Surprised by the unexpected power, I hurriedly put out the fire.
　It was indoors, but it seemed to have prevented the fire from igniting.

Two structures with this much power: ......

The magic stone is also very durable. It's a performance that makes it ridiculous to make ordinary magic tools.

But since you can't increase the number of structures, the range of applications becomes smaller.

I think the Sapphire of the Sublime Dragon can be used for at least three structures.

It's a bit of a waste to use that much for three structures. I've got an idea: ....... How about connecting the structures with each magic stone?

　Currently, due to the way to connect them and magical interference, it is said that you can only create a structure by placing it almost in a straight line.
　Therefore, the number of structures that can be used depends on the diameter of the magic stone.
　In the case of an ordinary complex magic tool, if the diameter is doubled, it is possible to make something eight times as complex as the volume of the tool, which shows how difficult it is to increase the number of structures.
　If you wanted to make 100 structures, you would need a magic stone with a diameter of about 15 meters. Of course, there is no such thing.
　Then, why don't we just connect the magic stones? That's a natural idea.

That has already been tested and failed.

Of course I know that. "Of course I know that, but there must have been something wrong with the way it was done.

　"Of course I know that, but it must have been a problem with the way it was done." This is a natural idea, and there have already been experiments with the same idea.
　However, it's just a piece of magic stone (from my point of view) that's been cut to fit.
　Even if it were not magic but water, most of it would be leaked out.
　If you remove the unevenness more finely and make it fit perfectly, you may get a different result.

So, how do you do it?

"Well, let's give it a try.

　While saying this, I took out two magic stones of the same size as before, and shaved them to make a flat surface. The magic image is a belt sander.
　First, imagine a rough surface and make a rough plane, and then gradually make the surface finer.
　This is done while removing shavings, and in about five minutes, the two magic stones have a surface that reflects light like a mirror.
　They pressed them together with more magic.

Something that can be used to fix it: ......

　I rummaged through the item box and found a decibatore tree that I had cut down a long time ago.
　The wood in the demon realm would become brittle over time, but it was durable enough to hold the demon stone until then, so I cut it down and forced the demon stone into it to hold it in place.

Use this to create the three structures. While I know the structure, it's safe, please.

"All right. Now, the Blue Focused Magic Lamp.

　Catherine begins to make the same magic tool as before.
　She seems to be concentrating even more than when she was making the two structures, but her speed doesn't seem to be slowing down much and she finishes the work in less than 10 minutes.

"Now, try to activate it.

"Okay, sir.

　Catherine activates the magic tool.
　If successful, it should emit a blue light (different from a laser) with a certain degree of directionality, like a flashlight, but there seems to be no ...... light emitted.

No?

　Do I need to polish it more precisely?
　Or am I treating it wrong as a magic tool in the first place?
　I started to think about the cause of the failure, but Catherine seemed to be nodding her head in a different way than I was.

It feels like it's working, but ......

　As she said that, Catherine was looking at the magic tool.
　Then she covered it so as to block out the ambient light, looked into it, and shouted, "It's working!

"It's working!

What?



　It doesn't look like it's glowing at all. ......
　When I did the same thing as Catherine, I found that there was indeed a faint blue glow.
　However, although the light was bright enough, it was not visible even in a room.

Can we call this a success?　It may have been activated, but with this kind of power?

The magic stone connection was successful!　No one has ever succeeded before, and it's been a long-held dream of mage craftsmen, along with artifact duplication!

　I didn't know that attaching magic stones was such an important technology.
　The fact that the experiment was not appropriate may have been due to the underdevelopment of the technology as well as the awareness that 'artifacts are different from magic tools, so I'll give it a try, but it's probably impossible anyway'.
　However, the fact remains that it cannot be put to practical use as it is.

...... So, let's just aim to improve efficiency to a practical level.

"Yes!