Ch.80Miracle Solution

After finishing our meal, we decided to secure lodging with a stable and gather in one room to discuss today’s schedule.

“Hmm~ Maybe we should have gotten one four-person room and one double room?”

“They said the only four-person room available was the VIP room. No matter how much money we have, a room that costs 10 gold per night is too expensive.”

For our accommodations, we booked three double rooms. Jessica and I would share one room, Seti and Phyllis another, and Mina would have a room to herself.

This arrangement was made because Mina needed to work on concealing the artifact during our stay in Riverside, and if her work continued late into the night, it might disturb anyone sharing her room.

“Before we discuss our schedule… well, actually, this is related to our schedule. Anyway, take a look at this.”

Saying that, Mina pulled out a blueprint from her luggage and spread it on the bed.

The blueprint depicted an automaton in the shape of a horse, filled with complex mechanical parts.

“Is this… Ancestor?”

“Yes. I’ve been analyzing Ancestor’s structure whenever I had time. Since I couldn’t disassemble it, I could only work with what I could observe visually.”

Though I didn’t have enough knowledge to fully understand mechanical designs, Mina’s blueprint of Ancestor included not only the skeletal structure and joints of each body part but also the presumed location of the power source.

“You figured all this out just by looking at the exterior? Are you some kind of X-ray vision user!?”

“Well, something like that? Scanning with a Magiascope is a technique every dwarf learns.”

“Magiascope?”

“That’s what these goggles are called. When I wear them and channel a small amount of magical energy into objects made of metal or gemstones, I can trace the wave patterns of the magic to determine the internal structure, strength, and other properties.”

As she explained, Mina pointed to the goggles she always wore around her neck.

I remembered her wearing those goggles when sealing the Negatite in the Blackforge Mine, performing movements that seemed like casting magic.

At the time, I thought they were just for eye protection, but apparently, they functioned like an X-ray device specifically for minerals.

“I understand that both your goggles and dwarves are impressive. So, is there a problem with Ancestor?”

“I was thinking we could use Ancestor to hide that artifact we found in the ruins.”

“Ancestor?”

“At first, I considered using a lead box to conceal the magical response, or creating a secret compartment lined with leather inside Ancestor’s saddlebags. But if the bags get stolen or we have to abandon our luggage while escaping during an adventure, that would be completely useless.”

“That’s true.”

“Then I thought: if we store the artifact inside Ancestor’s body, there’s absolutely no worry about it being stolen or lost.”

“Hmm…”

Ancestor, which we acquired from the ancient ruins, fundamentally obeys only my commands as its master.

It’s impossible for it to run away on its own or for someone to secretly steal and ride off with it.

If someone tried to forcibly take it away, they’d need something like an eight-horse carriage to do so.

“That’s certainly a good method, but…”

“I know what you’re thinking. If we mess up trying to modify Ancestor, we’d be in real trouble. But this genius craftsman has found a solution to hide the artifact without physically modifying Ancestor! Ta-da~”

The second blueprint Mina unfolded showed a large strawberry-shaped object with a complex internal structure.

No, looking at the 1:24 scale notation in the corner of the blueprint, the finished product would be much smaller.

Jessica, sitting beside me, carefully examined the symbols on the blueprint before cautiously speaking.

“Active magical energy supply with asymmetric mass isolation formula… Could this be?”

“As expected, Jessica recognizes it. That’s right, this is a magical tool that applies the storage function of a Seismic Cracker and the design of a magic tank.”

“What is this Seismic Cracker?”

“Ah, it’s a kind of magical bomb that dwarves use for mining. When attached to a wall and activated, it pulverizes a wide area into sand-like particles, then traps that sand in a large gem embedded in the center.”

“Oh, impressive technology. So this device is for sealing that artifact without tampering with Ancestor’s body?”

“Exactly. That artifact generates infinite magical energy, but an isolated object can’t supply magic to the formula that isolates it. So we’ll draw magic from Ancestor’s power source to maintain the asymmetric mass isolation formula.”

“By power source, you mean the force that moves Ancestor? Won’t Ancestor die if we take that away?”

“It’ll be fine. Once the artifact is stored inside this gem, we can extract magic from the artifact and transfer it to Ancestor, so Ancestor’s power source, which is a high-efficiency focusing device, can absorb that magic and use it to move itself.”

I don’t really understand the technical details, but… it sounds like we’re hiding a food-producing artifact in a four-dimensional pocket that uses horse droppings as fuel, then taking out the food produced by the artifact to feed the horse.

Thinking about it that way, I suddenly noticed the shape of the magical tool Mina had designed.

If I had to describe the magical tool depicted in the blueprint, it looked like a strawberry with a gem attached to its stem.

A teardrop-shaped object with a short rod attached to the rounded end, and at the end of that rod was a circular metal plate with a gem attached.

‘This shape seems familiar somehow…’

There was a subtle sense of déjà vu from this incomprehensible blueprint.

As I stroked Seti’s head to ease the frustration of not being able to recall where I’d seen it before, Seti, who had been quietly accepting my touch, gradually closed the distance between us and began nuzzling her cheek against my shoulder.

“Hey, you lovey-dovey couple. Could you not get all cuddly while listening to my research presentation?”

“Does Mina want to be petted too?”

“No, I don’t! Anyway, I’m going to the blacksmith to get the parts I need for making this magical tool. What about everyone else?”

“We can replenish food supplies before leaving the city. Is there anything else we particularly need right now?”

“Hmm… I wonder if there’s a shop where we can purchase poisonous mushrooms in addition to regular ingredients?”

“Poisonous mushrooms?”

Everyone’s attention turned to Phyllis’s unexpected question.

Surely she wasn’t inspired by Roesti’s recent cooking and planning to showcase some elven cuisine featuring poisonous mushrooms?

As if reading my thoughts, Phyllis let out a short sigh and continued.

“Do not misunderstand. I asked because I thought it might provide a clue about the material of Will’s gun that Mina is trying to identify.”

“The material of my revolver? What does that have to do with poisonous mushrooms?”

“I thought that if it’s a metal unknown even to Mina, a dwarf, it must be either extremely rare or impossible to refine through conventional methods. That reminded me of something Old Borgus once told me.”

Old Borgus is an elderly elf who works as a pharmacist at the infirmary in the Willow Sanctuary.

The second oldest person in the sanctuary after the first Elder—I wondered what wisdom he had shared with Phyllis.

“Poisonous mushrooms contain various types of toxins, but among them, the bright and vividly colored ones often accumulate what we call color-poison pigments. These substances are poisonous but also used as medicinal ingredients, and they possess metallic properties.”

“A metallic poison found in mushrooms… You think that could be the material of my revolver?”

“I think it could be ‘part’ of the material. Among the lore passed down by elves, there’s a story about a ‘fairy-made sword.’ According to the legend, a fairy blacksmith created a magical sword using silver bells from the queen’s dress and yellow-spotted mushrooms obtained from elves, which he used to defeat an evil black dragon. Those yellow-spotted mushrooms are also poisonous mushrooms containing color-poison pigments.”

“Silver bells and poisonous mushrooms…”

Shouldn’t legendary dragon-slaying materials be something like the mythical metal orichalcum or unicorn horn?

A miniature sword made from silver bells and poisonous mushrooms seems oddly domestic in scale.

“I’m not sure where to begin questioning this, but first of all, can a fairy-sized sword really take down a black dragon?”

“Traditions are not based 100% on facts. They often contain exaggerations to make the narrative more interesting. However, underlying them is usually a grain of truth or historical record. In this case, the key points would be that ‘silver bells’ and ‘poisonous mushrooms’ were used to create something metallic, and that this object was hard enough and had such excellent magical conductivity that it earned the name of both ‘magic’ and ‘sword.'”

After hearing Phyllis’s explanation, I had to reassess my opinion of her.

Her extensive knowledge of ancient lore was not only because she was an elf but also due to her inherent love of reading.

But she wasn’t just a romantic girl enjoying old tales—she demonstrated wisdom in understanding how legends grow from kernels of truth and in focusing on the hidden key points.

Given this, even Mina, who was several steps ahead in metallurgical knowledge, could no longer dismiss Phyllis’s story as mere fantasy.

Mina’s serious expression, similar to when she was modifying the revolver, confirmed this as she pondered Phyllis’s words.

“The metallic toxic substances detected in mushrooms are probably heavy metals absorbed in the form of water-soluble minerals. If an alloy made with those and ‘silver bells’ possesses sufficient hardness and high magical conductivity… it’s definitely worth testing.”

“The question is whether we can find the poisonous mushrooms Phyllis wants in this city. What do you think, Jessica?”

“Poisonous mushrooms or herbs should be available at apothecaries or alchemists’ workshops. I’ll go with Phyllis to buy them.”

“Mina said she’s going to the blacksmith to get the parts needed for concealing the artifact. Is there something I can do?”

“Oh, then could you go around the general stores and buy various metal trinkets? We can’t use ingot-sized pieces to experiment with the color-poison pigments.”

“I’ll stay here. Someone needs to guard the bag containing the artifact.”

“OK, now that everyone has their tasks, let’s get moving.”

If this works out, we might be able to identify the original material of the revolver, or at least find a substitute metal with similar properties.

Hoping that this unexpected clue we discovered together would yield good results, we headed out into the streets of Riverside.