89: All set and ready, they say.

"Hey! This is an outrageous magical device! Craft-sama!"

"Like it?"

I strutted in, proud as punch, holding the newly completed telepathic ring—my communication magic device—on my way to meet Kyle.

I had him test it right away, and Kyle was unusually excited.

"Of course I like it! But this is..."

Kyle rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

Persia, watching, pressed a hand to her cheek, sighing dreamily.

"Master Kyle, you're adorable."

Totally agree. Kyle is adorable.

Alphard smirked, but come on—be honest, you too!

I’d expected Kyle to gush more openly, but he looked strangely serious.

I was starting to get it—this device was no small thing.

Alphard turned his gaze toward me, not wanting to interrupt Kyle’s thoughts.

"Can we get one of those communication magic devices too?"

No reason not to hand it to Alphard—Kyle's guard and the military's top commander.

"Of course."

I handed the ring to Alphard, Persia, and Maina, explained how to use it, and had them try it out.

During the test, Maina’s connection was the only one giving trouble.

"Um, Maina. Please say something."

The scene she was seeing came through blurry via visual sharing, but her voice was missing. Silent Maina.

"...r."

What the hell was that? Rr?

"Ah—can you hear me?"

"...n."

It’s fine... right?

She’s always with Kyle, so even if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t matter much. Right?

Once I saw Maina happily wearing the ring, all that worry just vanished.

Guessing it’s working, so I’ll leave Maina alone as she kicks her legs up on my lap, happy as a lark.

Alphard’s reaction was the exact opposite of Maina’s.

“Seriously… Craft. You never learn to hold back, do you?”

“Handy, right?”

“Yeah, handy. Even if you ignore the fact that it only starts communication from you, it’s still a national treasure-level artifact.”

“So you could at least act excited.”

Alphard lets out a dry laugh.

“Idiot. That’s why I’m pulling my hair out—because you’re mass-producing national treasures.”

“It’s for Kyle, so it’s fine.”

“…When you put it that way. I’ll admit it—unreplaceable, whether for exploration or war. I’ll grant you that. Just… don’t be so half-hearted about it.”

“Half-hearted? Come on! Just say it straight!”

Honestly, he’s always so stiff. So serious.

You can’t be a holy knight unless you’re stiff, huh?

Meanwhile, Persia’s reaction was—

“Craft! You! Don’t you *dare* send a message while I’m changing clothes!?”

That was it.

“I *told* you, if it’s bothering you, just take the ring off.”

“You idiot! How could you even *think* of removing such a perfect communication tool as a guard!?”

Yeah, okay, fair point…

“When you first sent the message, I could’ve just refused it and it wouldn’t have connected…”

“Seriously?! You’re *sure*?! There’s absolutely *zero* chance Craft’s been leering at my naked body all this time!?”

“Of course!”

“Swear it! Craft!”

“Y-yeah! I swear!”

No way. This useless knight’s worrying about the *wrong* thing entirely.

Just then, Alphard stepped in with a wry smile.

“Relax, Craft. We’re guards. Guards don’t have genders. In an emergency, don’t hesitate—reach out.”

“Ngh… ggh… Al…”

"Blushing like that—what if something goes wrong? Persia."

"Ugh! I know that! I know it, but—!"

Uh, so what do I do?

Stuck, Kyle flashed me a smile and held up his ring.

"Relax, Persia. I think I’ll be the one Craft brother contacts first, in an emergency."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, that makes sense..."

"So, when Craft brother contacts you directly, it’ll only be in a real emergency, right?"

Yeah, that’s true.

Man, Kyle’s sharp.

...Unless it’s when I’m in the bath or something. Not like that’d happen, right?

When Kyle and I finished our act, he straightened his expression.

"Craft brother. Regarding this magical communication device—do you have anyone else in mind to pass it to?"

"Well, I was thinking..."

As I listed names, Kyle nodded firmly.

Understood. Let’s gather everyone.

◆

The next day, my trusted companions are gathered at Kyle’s manor.

I’m about to hand out the magical communication device—rings—to them.

Kyle and Maina have already received theirs.

Leifan has his ring too, though he’s here in person.

And the main one is Raidock, the one with the blue hair.

Well, it’s not actually blowing in the wind, but whatever.

He’s a top-tier B-rank adventurer and my closest friend. Getting in touch with him is priority number one.

I think back to the Cocatrice battle. If we’d had this device then, it would’ve made things so much easier.

Besides Leifan, there are two other half-breeds.

One is Azur, a fox-like beastman, summoned by Kyle and sitting stiffly, clearly uneasy.

The other is Shurl, who recently moved to Goldendown.

Azur’s the church’s overseer. She’s known me since childhood—thought she should have it. Plus, she can keep in touch with the orphans more easily that way.

I hesitated handing it to Shurl, who’s been creeping toward me all along, only to get blocked by Maina.

Talked it over with Kyle. Decided to give it to Shurl as the lizardfolk representative.

Considered giving it to Jurara, the new village chief, but ruled it out for these reasons.

Assuming the hunt goes well and Zaid’s negotiations succeed—then we’ll start developing the marshlands and building the village.

That’s when Shurl’ll be the diplomat shuttling between Goldendown and the lizardfolk village.

Giving the communication device to Shurl, the village’s liaison? Makes sense.

…you’re scared of the moment when you don’t give the ring to Julara and give it to Shurl instead, right? There’s no way around it, is there?

After talking it over with Kyle, that made two more people.

Jitarou, the hunter, and Eva, the adventurer.

Jitarou… well, if you don’t give it to him, he’ll feel left out. When Kyle said he’d give it to him, he just smiled wryly.

As for Eva, Kyle spent a long time hashing it out with her.

Even though there are other B-rank adventurers besides Raidock, should we really give it to the C-rank Casper triplets?

If the Casper sisters get it, they’ll definitely rise to B-rank if they work in Goldendown, and gain strength equal to Raidock’s party in no time.

Plus, they’ve been through a long journey together.

Alphard hesitated, but with Leifan’s backing, they ended up on the shortlist.

Not here right now, though. Two more names left.

The ring for the Production Guild is supposed to be kept by Plum normally.

I ended up joining the first experiment, that’s all.

The last one is Ryuuko—my familiar, my artificial maid.

She’s a familiar, so she can sense things on her own to some degree, even without the ring. But now we’ve found that with the ring on, we can communicate on a much deeper level.

I was surprised when she started sending me messages herself.

Thirteen of us, including me, now each have a communication magical device.

Kyle suggested we buy them out and lend them to the others.

Also decided to send one to Lord Bairoroad through Kyle.

And I’ll deliver another to Professor Javir later.

I’ll hand it over when we stop by Zaid’s village during the swamp expedition.

Only to Leifan and Kyle—this communication device I’m handing to Professor Javir is on par with my own.

With his magic, he should be able to power it up somehow.

Besides, I want to give him a full-featured device as his pupil.

Can’t send signals through the ones we’re handing out to everyone, so I’ll explain that part.

“Everyone, basically, you can only connect from me. Once linked, you can psychically communicate back and forth until you cut the connection.”

Shururu makes a disappointed face when she hears that.

“Then I can’t talk to Craft-sama at all!?”

“Ah… yeah. It’s a drain on magic, so I don’t plan to keep it open normally.”

“Huh. I thought I’d be able to chat every night.”

Shururu slumps her shoulders. For some reason, Maina starts kicking her feet with both hands.

Violence isn’t the answer, Maina.

…doesn’t seem to be doing anything at all, and Shururu herself doesn’t even seem to notice.

I lift Maina up, and she wraps her arms around me, quiet and still.

Hot for a kid.

Kinda awkward, but I go ahead and explain how to use the communication golem to everyone.

Raidock’s nodding, impressed. Eva’s face is turning green.

“Eh… this is way too much. It’s not even funny. If this gets mass-produced, it’ll change everything—trade, war, colonization… it’ll be revolutionary.”

Guess Eva’s figured out the same thing Kyle did. Smart girl.

I still don’t really get how amazing it is, though!

I mean, sure, I know it’s a national treasure-level artifact!

When my explanation ends, Kyle tightens his expression again.

"Everyone. This magical device is of immense value. But we've judged it essential to the development of Goldendawn, and so we're entrusting it to you all. Please don’t misuse it. Treat it with care."

Kyle’s declaration brought a respectful bow from every one present.

◆

That day, a crowd gathered at the southern gate of Goldendawn.

Leading the way was the marsh-clearing squad.

Veteran adventurers who’d fought in the dragon war, headed by Raidock, joined by lizardmen warriors. New adventurers who’d proven their worth were among them too. Naturally, the three sisters, Cassper, were included.

Further, part of Kyle’s personal guard was led by Alphard, assigned directly to him.

Persia would be in charge of Goldendawn’s defense—she’d be staying behind.

Degard Bismark, the warrior who'd fought in the Cocatris battle, and Tigar Gaidar, the tiger-beastman, remained behind.

With the city walls now complete, Persia and the others could handle the town's defense just fine.

Of course, we've got plenty of alchemical potions ready—both for defense and for the extermination squad.

We've got everything set, and now we're heading straight for the marshlands!

"First, though, we gotta stop by Zaid's village."

"Leifan. Don't go saying things like that to kill the mood..."

Honestly, I didn't think things would go so smoothly.

"Then, marsh extermination squad! Let's move out!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Well, we'll figure it out somehow, right?

Zaid's gotta be smart enough to just listen if you talk straight to him!

Volume 2 comes out this month—June 30th!

Oh, and there's a special free preview available only for the e-book version! (10,000 words)