Kousuke had been struggling to solve the problem of paper-based magic tools being bulky despite being inexpensive and available in large quantities. He had considered several solutions.
One idea was to abandon the issue of bulkiness and instead develop a dedicated item box to store them.
This would allow him to prepare a large number of talismans without worrying about space or weight.
However, creating such an item box would inevitably lead to a fundamental problem: it would be extremely expensive.
The original goal of creating paper-based magic tools was to keep costs low, so this would be counterproductive.
Furthermore, Kousuke had also considered intervening in the processing stage to improve the expandability of the paper itself.
The reason for the low expandability was that they were using paper as it was. By creating something specifically for this purpose from the start, they could increase its expandability.
However, this method also didn’t work out well.
While they succeeded in increasing expandability by intervening in the processing stage, it ultimately became expensive due to the time and other material costs involved.
The issues of time and materials have been put aside as future challenges, as there is room for improvement through further research.
Kousuke had thought of various other things, but ultimately, he kept running into the problems of cost and expandability.
He had come up with a few methods that might work with more research, but he put them on hold because they would take too much time.
Excluding those, Kousuke concluded that he was currently at an impasse.
Kousuke, having left his laboratory, was lying on the sofa in the lounge space, idly stroking the small Nana resting on his stomach.
Even so, his mind was filled with thoughts about paper-based magic tools.
Since there was no one else in the lounge space besides Kouhi, Mitsuki, and Nana, it was a perfect place to ponder his thoughts.
While Kousuke was spending his time like that, Shurein entered the lounge space.
“Oh? It’s just Kousuke,” Shurein said.
“—Hm? Did you need something from someone?” Kousuke asked.
“No, it’s not that. I was just a little surprised because I thought there might be others here,” Shurein replied, shaking his head at Kousuke’s question.
Seeing this, Kousuke, after confirming that no one else was around, asked, “Where’s Shuu?”
“I didn’t bring him. I was told to leave them to it and was pushed out to help,” Shurein answered.
The vampire village, which had a castle called Vermilia Castle, had personnel to manage it.
These personnel would sometimes look after Shuu on behalf of Shurein, who was unable to do so herself.
Incidentally, Shurein, who had been busy lately, had been told by those helpers to take a break.
Kousuke gave a wry smile at Shurein, who had a slightly dissatisfied expression.
“Well, it’s good to have a break once in a while, isn’t it?”
“That’s true. Seeing Kousuke’s face made me feel that way,” Shurein replied.
“Oh, r-really,” Kousuke responded, internally flustered by such a casual remark.
Although they had known each other for a long time, he couldn’t stay calm when caught off guard like this.
Whether Shurein noticed Kousuke’s reaction or not, he continued without any particular concern.
“By the way, Kousuke, what were you doing? …Actually, I don’t need to ask.”
The lounge space was for resting, so there was no need to ask the reason for being there.
“Well, yeah. I was thinking about something, but I was also relaxing.”
“I see,” Shurein simply nodded at the obvious answer.
Seeing Shurein, Kousuke decided to ask about the worries he had been contemplating.
“Speaking of which, are there any techniques passed down among vampires that use paper for magic?”
“Magic with paper? Hmm, I’ve never heard of such a thing—” Shurein began to reply, but then his expression changed as if he suddenly remembered something.
“It’s not with paper itself, but I’ve heard stories of using things like fallen leaves to make tools.”
“With fallen leaves?” Kousuke, surprised to find an answer in something he hadn’t expected, immediately asked with a puzzled expression.
Shurein nodded once at Kousuke.
“Yes. Although, it’s not a particularly remarkable technique,” Shurein explained. For example, with fallen leaves, one would channel magic power into them, harden them, and then launch them at a target. It was said that these leaves, hardened and empowered by magic power to an extraordinary degree, could even cut through large rocks.
Listening to Shurein’s story, Kousuke was reminded of scenes from anime where characters used things like playing cards to cut various objects in his previous world.
“Ah, I see. That makes sense. It does seem like that kind of usage would be possible… Or rather, it’s more surprising that such techniques haven’t survived?” he wondered. The ability to turn readily available objects into weapons seemed very useful when fighting monsters. However, Kousuke had never heard of any adventurers using such methods.
“It might be possible with things like hair, but channeling magic power into an object that doesn’t belong to you is surprisingly troublesome. Perhaps such techniques have fallen into disuse in modern times with the advancement of magic?”
“That’s certainly plausible,” Kousuke nodded in admiration at the surprisingly realistic reason. It was natural to think that if one could channel their magic into a natural object to create a powerful weapon, they would then use that magic power to cause even larger phenomena. It wasn’t unnatural to think that such techniques would fade away in that direction, as Shurein suggested.
However, while this might be applicable to direct combat, it was a very helpful opinion for creating magic tools.
Seeing Kousuke nod, Shurein smiled and said, “It seems you’ve thought of something.”
“Maybe. I won’t be using the technique exactly as it is, but it was helpful, you know?”
“I see. If it was helpful, I’m glad,” Shurein said, sitting down on the sofa next to Kousuke with a smile. He then took Kousuke’s hand.
Kousuke tilted his head, unsure of the meaning behind Shurein’s actions.
“Can’t I do this sometimes? Please stay like this for a while.”
“It’s not that I dislike it. You can stay like this as long as you want,” Kousuke replied, with nothing else he could say to Shurein, who was being unusually clingy.
