88: New magic gear, huh? Gonna be exciting, right?

I came to the production guild. Gotta turn in my alchemy potion quota.

I’m exchanging idle greetings with a guild member when Leifan bursts out from the back.

“Craft! I finished it!”

“Oh? Let me see?”

She hands me a few rings.

It’s been a few days since the orichalcum ingot was complete. I’d asked Leifan to make these rings for me.

The material used? Orichalcum, reshaped through alchemy.

I hold one up to the light, admiring the intricate design.

“Great design, but these aren’t just ornaments. You didn’t have to go this far, did you?”

Leifan’s eyes go wide.

“Huh? Craft, you didn’t know?”

“Huh? What?”

The decoration on a magic tool—it boosts its power, just a little.

"Wait! So that's how it was!?"

Yeah. I put some extra spirit into the alchemy cauldron, added some fancy carvings, right? Thought it was just for show.

Sorry. Thought I’d be.

Didn’t know that.

Honestly, I always thought magical devices were way too flashy.

"Yeah. You can't tell that from an alchemist's sigil, huh."

Guess that’s what they mean by the realm of forging.

But then again.

If the alchemical cauldron hadn’t been working so well, I might’ve barely let the cockatrice through.

All I can say is thank you, Leifan.

Nodding as I understood, Leifan happily picked up a ring.

This ring’s for Craft—special, just for him.

The ring handed to me was a good bit larger than the others, overly decorated. That’s what you get with something this multi-purpose.

That’s probably the size of the problem right there.

"Then let’s try it out already."

"Yep!"

Leifan pulls out his own ring.

Should be adjusted to the right size for the recipient.

As Leifan slides the ring onto his finger, a new guild worker from the production guild arrives, clutching paperwork.

Plum Furtia, a new recruit sent from another region to help with the staffing shortage.

A girl with a cute face.

"Guildmaster, about these documents—can I hand them over to the merchant house as-is?"

Leifan scans the papers. His expression eases.

"Yep, yep. Nice work, Plum-chan! You’re getting the hang of this already."

"Yes! Thank you so much!"

The fact that Leifan’s short stature makes him look like a kid playing pretend with an older sister doesn’t help.

"Craft, you ain't thinking something rude, are you?"

"Not at all!"

He read my mind!?

"Craft, you might not realize it, but you're a total open book—your face gives everything away."

"O-oh..."

So that's how it is... Gotta watch myself.

The two of us doing stand-up, and the newbie’s suddenly blushing.

Why?

"U-um... So you two really are like that, huh?"

"Huh? Like what?"

"Wait, what?"

Like what? A guildmaster and his subordinate? That’s it?

"Chit! No, not like that! Craft’s not like that at all!"

Leifan flails his hands, panicking, denying it.

Guess she gets the hint.

"But you both wear matching ring designs..."

"Rings?"

Not sure what she's on about, but Plum’s fixated on the rings.

"Hmm, these rings are new magical gear, that's all."

"Wait? Magical gear?"

"Yeah. That's right. I'm about to test it, so watch closely."

"Huh. Not engagement rings after all. So the rumors were just rumors?"

"Sorry, didn't catch that."

Plum muttered something, but the words were too quiet to hear.

"Nothing important! Anyway, what kind of magical gear is it?"

Plum sounded flustered, but I’d better answer if he’s this eager to know!

Lately, I’ve been rediscovering the joy of crafting things as an alchemist!

Explaining something I made? That’s the best part.

"Thanks for asking! This magical gear? It lets you talk to someone far away!"

"Wha—?!"

"Name it—Communications Gear!"

"Still don’t get it, but it sounds awesome!"

Plum looked genuinely shocked.

Straightforward and delighted—exactly what I wanted to see!

I lifted my nose and slid the ring onto my finger.

"First, pouring magic into my ring—the anchor point… "

The ring groaned as magic was sucked into it. The ornamentation began to glow with arcane light.

Same as the alchemy cauldron.

So that’s why magic tools glow—special engravings, huh. Good to know.

"Predicted it—this thing drains a ton of magic."

I knew magic tools needed a lot just to activate, but actually using one makes it clear you can’t overuse them.

"Guess it really does burn through magic fast."

Leifan leaned in, peering at my ring.

From the glow of the engravings, he could probably tell how much magic it was using.

"Yeah. When activating it, I should’ve had you use my ring as the conduit. If all the rings were equal in performance, most of them probably wouldn’t even power on from lack of magic."

Technically, only me and Professor Javir could manage it.

And Eva—she’ll probably be able to use one too. It’s tough for her now, but if she pushes through with Golden Dune for a while, her power should catch up.

"Thanks to that, though, the rings except Craft’s have functional limits."

Leifan stared at the ring on his hand, then Plum leaned in, curious.

"Um, I’d like to try talking through a magic device too!"

The communication gear can link with multiple people at once. That suggestion’s a real help.

"We’ve already got rings set aside for the Production Guild. Perfect timing—Plum, you learn how to use it."

"Yes! Got it!"

Leifan hands the production guild’s ring to Plum. It’s made a bit large, so it slips loose on her fingers.

No problem—this is for emergency contact with the Production Guild.

“Gonna explain while we test it.”

“Yeah.”

“Right! Got it!”

I channel magic into the ring.

“Mental resonance—Leifan. Mental resonance—Production Guild.”

The spell activates on my ring, and a magical sigil rises on its surface.

Combined with the decorative magical glow, it’s pretty flashy.

At the same moment, Leifan’s and Plum’s rings begin to softly glow.

“Whoa!?!”

“Huh? Huh!? Something just rang in my head!”

Looks like the first stage worked.

Using Orichalcum’s properties, our minds—mine, Leifan’s, and Plum’s—are now linked.

But right now, we're not fully connected—more like we're knocking on a door, asking if it's okay to open it.

So we need both of them to open their mental doors.

"Alright. Both of you, just say 'Mind Link, Craft' in your heads."

"Y-yes! Mind Link, Craft-san!"

"Wait, you don't have to say it out loud... I mean, I did at first too, but—hey? Oh! Oh wow!?"

Suddenly, a part of my awareness snapped into place with Plum.

At the edge of my mind, a blurry image flickered into view.

A stunningly handsome man—no doubt about it.

...Yeah, sorry. That’s me, as seen through Plum’s eyes.

Still not used to the ring, my face is all fuzzy. That’s it.

But anyway, the fact that her view is now floating in my head means Mind Link worked.

“Wah!? Wah!? My vision’s doubled! ……No, not doubled, more like another perspective’s just… floating around in my head…!”

Plum flailed about, flustered.

New to magic, huh. First time, it’s easy to get thrown off.

“How about your voice?”

“Huh? Well, I guess…?”

“Too close to tell. Hold on a sec.”

I moved down into the underground warehouse.

Piles of cargo, handed off through the Merchant Guild to various guilds, stacked high.

If you’re standing right next to someone, you won’t be able to tell if the voice you hear is in your head or just them talking out loud.

“Plum. Can you hear me?”

‘Wah!? Wah!? I can hear you! Craft— are you hiding somewhere!?’

I couldn’t help but smirk.

Plum’s voice came through clear, and I could faintly grasp Plum’s vision too. That confirmed it—we were properly linked in mind.

She should be seeing my view too.

"Plum. You got what I’m seeing?"

"Yeah… um, probably a warehouse. I see barrels and wooden crates piled up."

"Right. Leifan? How about you?"

I’m actually linked to her mind too. She must’ve activated the ring properly in her heart.

"Yeah. I see it. I hear it too."

"You sound kinda down. Not excited at all?"

I figured you’d be more shocked than this…

"Not down! I’m so shocked I can’t even speak!"

"Oh. So that’s it. Pretty handy, huh?"

I’ve wanted a magical device for communicating with people far away for ages.

"Leifan… this thing… it’s insane, right?!"

Her voice sounds like it’s trembling.

We could keep talking through mind-link, but my ring’s been sucking up magic nonstop since a bit ago. Long talk’s out of the question.

"Sorry. Still not used to it. Magic drain’s high. Gonna cut the link."

Cut the mind-link once.

I’ll get better with time, use magic more efficiently. But since it was my first try, I must’ve wasted a ton.

Back at the others, Plum was buzzing.

"Craft-san! Amazing! I’ve never seen a magic device like this!"

"Hey! Glad you’re impressed! Handy, right?"

"Yes! How far can this talk to people?"

"Hmm. Depends on practice. I’d guess it reaches from one end of the kingdom to the other."

Exact range? Even *Identify* magic can’t pin it down.

We’ll test it out properly later.

Probably couldn’t connect to something like a cave or a dungeon that’s been warped into another realm.

“Craft? You gonna give me a proper explanation soon? Huh? Huh?”

Leifan’s got this weird scared look on his face, but since he already got the specs ahead of time, he’s not gonna get yelled at.

…Right?

“Huh? I already told you the specs, didn’t I?”

“I’m not asking about specs! I’m asking—what *is* this long-range communication device?! It’s already insane enough, but then—what was *that*?! I saw the scenery! Not just voices, the *whole scene*!”

“Wait… didn’t I mention that?”

“Didn’t hear it!”

Huh?

Now that I think about it, I only said it was a communication device.

Yeah. I didn’t say anything else.

Alright, I’ll just dodge it.

So, uh, orichalcum’s a metal, see? Got this cool feature. When you smelt orichalcum, it becomes psychically linked—no matter how you split the block, it stays magically connected. That’s how this ring works...

"Craft?"

Ah, yes. I’m sitting properly, right?

I dropped to my knees on the floor, and Leifan gave a wry smile, shaking his head.

"Nah, I’m not gonna lecture you or anything."

"Huh?"

"Just... totally caught off guard by how wild this thing’s abilities are. Seriously, it’s an amazing magic item!"

"What, scare me like that?"

I’ve been getting made to kneel every time I forge something new lately. Just reflex, you know...

"Yeah! Amazing, Craft!...But next time, lay it out a little clearer, okay?"

"Got it! I’ll work on that!"

“That’s not about effort—it’s about actually doing it!?”

Plum watched our usual back-and-forth with a detached sort of stare.

“Um. It’s fine that you two have your own little world, but… could you maybe explain how this works a bit more clearly?”

Oops. She’s mad I didn’t finish the explanation.

“Sorry. This magical communication device has a few limits. First off, I’m the one who has to initiate the connection.”

“Can’t we call from our rings?”

Plum stared hard at her own ring.

“That’s right. At first, I have to send my mind to the ring I want. Then you and Leifan get that same feeling—like something’s connected.”

“That buzzing in your head, like a voice echoing inside?”

Plum made a face like she’d just remembered something.

"Yeah. But at that point, it’s not fully connected yet. Only when each receiver clearly imagines 'Mental Link — Craft' do they finally lock together."

"Uh, what if I don’t want to connect for some reason? Like, if I’m busy or something?"

"Just refuse the link normally."

I send the mental link again to the two of them, and they reject it.

"...Didn’t connect."

"Then it’s working fine."

"This is amazing! We should mass-produce these in the Craft Guild!"

Plum looks really happy, but that’s not happening.

"No, making them requires orichalcum, plus a bunch of other materials to process it. We’re not expanding production beyond this."

"Ah."

Plum pouts, disappointed.

Leifan glances at me with half-lidded eyes.

"Craft. You’ve already got over twenty rings, haven’t you…?"

"That’s for distributing among our trusted contacts."

Even counting extras, it’s a waste not to make them all at once—smelted an ingot into psychic resonance orichalcum, after all.

"Should we really hand them out... okay?"

"Kyle, Leifan, Raidock—those kinds of people. It’ll be fine."

I’m not giving these psychic rings to just anyone. Only to those I trust.

I’ll probably run it by Kyle first, though.

Still, he’s not likely to object.

"Good then."

Leifan’s face is somewhere between unsettled and sour.

"What’s wrong, Leifan? Something the matter?"

"How can you think it’s not a problem, Craft!? Why don’t you think about this more!?"

"Wha—? What!?"

"You’re mass-producing artifacts and handing them out like candy! Think about it a little more!?"

Hmm.

I figured it was better to hand them out ahead of time, after struggling to reach Raidock during the Cocatrice incident.

And then there are those who want to know each other’s status the instant something happens.

I made the communication magic devices after thinking about past issues, but is there a problem with them?

“Ah.”

If there’s a problem, it’s this one!

I just realized there’s a major flaw in the psychic link ring.

“Finally get it?”

“Yeah! That’s the blind spot!”

It’s a structural defect.

No wonder Leifan was worried!

“Uh-huh. Just glad you get it now!”

“Ah!”

I squeezed my arm tight and answered.

“Having a message come through during a bath or a trip to the toilet? That’s a bit awkward, isn’t it?”

Leifan’s eyes went blank.

Plum’s eyes went blank.

I was smirking.

For some reason, silence stretched cold and heavy.

Huh? Why?

“Craft! Get down on your knees!!”

“Eeeeee-what!?”

I ended up kneeling, and Leifan gave me a long lecture—politics, military strategy, all that jazz.

Information revolution, coordination between divided units, blah blah blah.

Complex stuff spinning in my head, legs going numb, and finally I just wrapped it up like this:

"Yeah. Just take off the ring when you’re heading to the toilet or bath!"

"YOU DON’T GET IT AT ALL!!"

For some reason, my kneeling session got extended by another two hours.

No idea why.

And that’s how we ended up linked through magical communication devices.

Novel Volume 2 is officially released!

June 30th!

This month, people!

Please support us, everyone!