Here is the translation:
**Side: Ludia**
Two days spent holed up in the Crafting Hall.
It’s almost evening, but we’re still focused on developing MARS here in the Crafting Hall.
We’ve been working since yesterday, and I didn’t even realize how much time had passed.
If Meena and my sister hadn’t called us for meals, I definitely would have missed them.
Well, I wouldn’t miss them because I’d be forcibly dragged to the dining hall with Telekinetic Magic, so not eating isn’t really an option.
“Yamato-san, Ludia-san. How are things on your end?”
“The magic infusion was successful, but something feels… missing,” Yamato replied.
“Yeah. The phantom’s movements have improved, but there’s still something lacking,” I agreed.
The magic stone I infused, which Yamato then imbued, reproduced monster movements much better than the prototypes, and their movements were indeed improved. Still, something was missing.
“Something, you say?”
“Can we take a look too?” Fram asked.
“Please do,” I said.
Yes, it would be good for Fram and Mako to see it.
Yamato set up a Goblin’s magic stone as he spoke.
Goblins are the smallest among demi-humans and have low ranks, making them the most suitable for observation.
“It’s moving normally,” Mako commented.
“It is. But with this, don’t you think it’s unclear what it’s trying to do?” Flam asked.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Yamato replied.
“Moreover, it’s moving however it pleases, so isn’t it unsuitable for combat training?” Mako added.
“Ah,” I exclaimed.
Mako’s casual remark made me realize what was missing.
That’s right, if we’re using this for combat training, we need to see it attack with some ferocity!
Yet, this phantom Goblin was just walking around normally.
Even for ecological surveys, we need to investigate the monsters’ attack methods and the magic they use. This wouldn’t allow for that.
“This is fine for our part. We can just modify the belt to recognize it as an enemy,” Yamato said.
“Huh? Then, what is it that you, Yamato-kun, felt was missing?”
To my surprise, Yamato seemed to feel something else was missing, something different from what I had noticed. But when asked what it was, he seemed unable to articulate it.
“It’s frustrating because I can’t quite put it into words,” he admitted.
“There are times like that, aren’t there?” Mako said.
“Indeed. However, the phantoms are appearing properly, so are we successful on our end?” Yamato asked.
“For now. We can’t make further progress until the belt and visor are complete,” I replied.
Yamato and I are in charge of the magic tools that create phantoms using magic stones, so as Yamato said, we can consider it a success for now.
For practical combat training, we need to be able to attack the phantoms and have their attacks reflected back, which is why the development of the belt and visor is absolutely essential.
Mako and Flam are handling that part, but I wonder how it’s going?
“Mako-san, how is the visor progressing?” I asked.
“It’s quite difficult. I understand it becomes transparent if the impurities are removed, but it would be impractical if it were completely colorless. Also, the impurities vary slightly depending on the material, so I’m currently experimenting with various things,” Mako explained.
Mako seems to be adding various substances to the resin after completely removing the impurities. However, with an infinite number of possible ratios and substances to add, she’s doing her best to find good combinations. I could understand that.
“Just hearing about it makes my head hurt. By any chance, have you found any promising ratios yet?” I asked.
“I have a few, yes. Here,” Mako replied.
She handed me resins of light yellow, light blue, and light green. I could indeed see through them to the other side.
“These look good,” Yamato said.
“They’re not bad, but the transparency is reduced. This, on the other hand, is the resin with impurities completely removed,” Mako explained.
She then presented a resin that was truly colorless and transparent. I could see the other side more clearly through it than the colored ones. In fact, it was hard to tell where the resin was.
“That’s amazing. But with that much transparency, it does seem difficult to use without color,” Yamato commented.
“It is. However, with these three, while they’re okay in bright light, visibility becomes quite poor in the dark. Yellow is still manageable, but blue and green are problematic,” Mako explained.
“Ah, so it’s like wearing sunglasses in the dark,” Yamato chuckled.
“That’s a close analogy,” Mako agreed.
Yamato and Mako seemed to understand each other, but Flam and I had no clue what they were talking about. I assumed it was something from Earth, but I wished they wouldn’t just share inside jokes.
“Those ‘sunglasses,’ you say? What are they exactly?” I inquired.
“They’re technically called sunglasses, and they’re colored glasses that reduce sunlight,” Yamato explained.
Colored glasses exist? But even though the resins Mako made were colored, I could see through them. So, it made sense that such glasses would exist. And if they reduce sunlight, wouldn’t Hunters use them too?
“We’ll think about that later. For now, let’s focus on the visor,” Yamato said.
“Right. Regarding the color, I’ll try my best to make it even lighter,” Mako replied.
“Please do,” I said.
Still, they wanted to create prototypes, so Yamato took the light yellow resin from Mako.
“Flam, how’s the belt?” Yamato asked.
“How about this?” Flam presented his work.
What Flam presented looked less like a belt and more like a wraparound cloth. It did have a buckle, but it was a surprisingly daring design.
“It’s so flowy. Why did you make it like this?” Yamato asked.
“With a regular belt, I couldn’t create a field that covers the entire body. A gauntlet would be easier to handle for both offense and defense, but with a belt, I felt I had no choice but to create a field that covers the whole body,” Flam explained.
I see. Yamato’s original reason for developing gauntlets was to generate magical force fields for attacking and defending against phantoms by wearing them on both arms. While avoiding monster attacks is the basic principle, sometimes you have to take a hit. In such cases, you use weapons or shields, which are naturally held by your arms. Therefore, he thought connecting them to the arms might allow the use of even low-rank monster magic stones. However, martial artists like myself use our legs as well as our arms. Moreover, even fighting tools now have blades, and we discovered a problem: gauntlets developed by Yamato couldn’t be equipped. The gauntlets were made of Lapis Lazuli, dipped in Dragoon’s blood, and incorporated fangs and bones, allowing them to interact with phantoms. Yamato was quite shocked by this.
Considering this, the belt idea emerged, and Flam worked hard on it. However, with a belt, Lapis Lazuli couldn’t be used as extensively as with gauntlets. So, he wove Imperial Silk from Imperial Crawlers, dipped it in a mixture of Lapis Lazuli and Gold Dragoon’s blood, and then reinforced it with Gold Dragoon leather treated similarly. He then fashioned it into a waist-wrap-style belt, which was incredibly difficult. But thanks to his efforts, it could now deploy a magic field that covers the entire body.
“You’ve made another incredible item,” I said.
“It was challenging. However, Imperial Silk is not available in large quantities, so we need to research if we can use Royal Silk or Light Silk,” Flam replied.
So, there was another issue there. Indeed, Imperial Silk isn’t available in large quantities, making it insufficient for mass production. Royal Silk might be manageable, but Light Silk would be preferable if possible. Higher-grade silks like Upper Silk would make it unusable for Ancient Class, so unfortunately, they were out of consideration.
“Light Silk, huh? Imperial Crawlers inhabit the Krater Labyrinth, so while it’s a bother to go there, obtaining it in quantity shouldn’t be too difficult,” Yamato mused.
“Still, whether Light Silk can truly be used depends on future research, doesn’t it?” Flam asked.
“Yes. There’s a possibility we might need to increase the surface area, in which case it might need to be an overcoat instead of a belt,” I ventured.
Oh, an overcoat might actually be better than gauntlets or a belt. If it can be worn over armor, martial artists could use it without issue, and it might be easier to replicate body damage, couldn’t it?
“That seems like a better option. What do you think, Yamato-kun?” I asked.
“I was aiming for compactness, but you’re right, that might be better. However, it could interfere with movement, so we’ll need to carefully consider the design,” Yamato replied.
The hem could be shorter. And the sleeves could be short, or maybe they could be omitted entirely. More importantly, even if we go with an overcoat, I wonder what would happen if we used Divine Metal instead of Lapis Lazuli?
“Hey Yamato, what happens if we use Divine Metal?” I asked.
“Hmm, I honestly don’t know. Divine Metal rarely circulates, and I don’t have any myself, so there’s no way to test it,” he replied.
Yeah, that’s true. Besides, even if we obtained Divine Metal, it would probably only be enough for one Orichalcum Puppet about the same size as a human. So, it couldn’t be a substitute for Lapis Lazuli.
“I’m curious, though. Wasn’t Enigma Labyrinth the place where the most Orichalcum Puppets were defeated?” I mused aloud.
“That’s what I’ve heard too. That’s why they say there’s a Divine Metal mine on Enigma Island,” Yamato said.
Yes, I’ve heard that too. Enigma Labyrinth is an unconquered labyrinth, and while 16 levels have been discovered so far, the 11th level was a nest for puppets, and Orichalcum Puppets were hunted there several times a year. Puppets are generally B-rank monsters, but Orichalcum Puppets, with their Divine Metal bodies, were supposedly S-rank monsters. While only B-rank and C-rank monsters appear on Enigma Labyrinth’s 11th Level, Orichalcum Puppets were an exception. The appearance of Orichalcum Puppets in the labyrinth implies the existence of a Divine Metal vein somewhere on the Philia Continent, but all promising mountains have been surveyed. However, Enigma Island is the lair of the Demise Species Nidh, so that area has remained uninvestigated. This leads to the theory that there’s a Divine Metal mine on Enigma Island.
“Enigma Labyrinth’s 11th Level, huh? The lower levels only have low-rank monsters, so not many Hunters venture there, do they?” I asked.
“Yes. Only T-rank monsters appear up to the 3rd Level, and I-rank monsters also appear normally up to the 10th Level. To earn a substantial amount, you’d have to go at least to the 12th Level. Even on the 12th Level, C-rank monsters are more common,” Yamato explained.
One reason Enigma Labyrinth’s investigation hasn’t progressed is that even on the currently discovered 16th Level, C-rank monsters appear. The levels aren’t said to be very wide, but B-rank monsters only appear from the 11th Level onwards, and S-rank monsters are said to inhabit the deepest so far, the 16th Level. Moreover, even if the levels aren’t wide, it takes at least a week to reach the 16th Level, requiring significant preparation costs. With the high possibility of ending up at a loss, high-rank Hunters are less likely to visit Enigma Labyrinth. That’s probably the bigger reason. Therefore, most Hunters currently entering Enigma Labyrinth are C-rank.
“Didn’t Emperor Glisina plan to send Beastars to investigate? I heard they had surplus combat capabilities after absorbing the Beast Knight Corps and part of the Libertà army,” I recalled.
“From what I’ve heard, the Monster Ranks likely won’t suddenly jump, and it would be good combat training for the Beastars, so that’s a possibility. Anyway, it seems like a good stopping point for everyone. Shall we go for dinner?” Mako suggested.
“Huh? Is it that time already?” I exclaimed.
I hadn’t realized until Mako mentioned it, but it was already time for dinner. That means Meena or Athena would probably come to call us soon. I always feel like I’m causing them trouble, and since everyone’s work has reached a good stopping point today, we should probably just head to the Main Hall’s dining room.
“All right, let’s go to the dining hall,” Yamato said.
“Agreed,” I replied.
But first, we need to clean up properly. We’re not the only ones using the Crafting Hall, and it’s natural to clean up after ourselves. Tomorrow, a Knights’ Conference will be held at Float, and Yamato and Meena are scheduled to attend. Flam and Mako can continue their work today, but I wonder what I’ll do? I could help Flam or Mako, but maybe I should go check on Mylight. I’ll ask my sister and Prim about it later.
