Kousuke was having a meeting about a certain magic tool with Schmidt and Dales.
That magic tool was literally a magic box.
Its shape ranged from small pouches to large carry bags, and various other forms.
Of course, the capacity was proportionate to its size.
Magic boxes had wide-ranging needs, from adventurers to peddlers, so it was known that they would definitely sell.
The problem was that, as of now, there was no one who could make such a magic tool.
In the past, advanced magic tools had been developed, and some items remained.
However, most of the existing items were now considered national treasures of some country.
The magic tool artisans who existed in the past had been lost in war along with the techniques they possessed.
The reason for past tense was that Kousuke had already succeeded in its development.
Although he had succeeded, Kousuke was not at all thinking of making a profit solely from the production of magic tools, so he could not mass-produce them.
It was only natural that Schmidt would ask Kousuke, who had succeeded in developing the magic box, to somehow make it mass-producible.
The reason Kousuke was having this meeting was because some prospect for mass production had been established.
Even though a prospect had been established, there were still problems.
The biggest problem was applying the magical processing to turn ordinary pouches and bags into magic boxes.
“A user of space magic…?”
Dales made a grim face at Kousuke’s request.
Space magic users, who could use magic like teleportation magic, were generally considered assets of the country.
This was probably because the outcome of a war could change significantly depending on whether or not there were wizards capable of teleportation magic.
Such talent would not come to work on making mere magic tools.
Moreover, the labor costs would undoubtedly be very high.
Kousuke understood this as well, so he made the next proposal he had been considering.
“Then, how about slaves who can manipulate magic power?”
Schmidt and Dales exchanged glances at this question.
In this world, it was natural for people to be able to handle either holy power or magic power.
“Of course, such people exist, but they won’t be users of space magic, will they?”
If they had such potential in the first place, they would not have become slaves, or they would have already been sold at a high price.
However, Kousuke also had a plan.
“It’s not necessary to use space magic to make magic boxes, you know.”
At Kousuke’s words, Schmidt and Dales wore blank expressions.
Normally, it was common sense that magic tools were imbued with the magic that the creator could use.
“Uh, what do you mean?”
To Dales, who earnestly sought a detailed explanation with a serious expression, Kousuke began to explain.
***
Upon receiving Kousuke’s proposal, Dales and Schmidt immediately purchased slaves who fit their purpose.
Kousuke’s claim was that Crown does not handle slaves as commodities, so even though it had become a huge organization, Crown did not deal directly with slaves.
There had been talk among the slaves about Crown handling slaves, but that would likely never happen.
There were multiple slaves purchased, both male and female.
Their ages varied.
The oldest was a woman, over thirty years old.
Next was a man, but his age dropped significantly to under eighteen.
There were ten of them in total, and the remaining eight were girls who had just passed their tenth birthday.
Their common trait was that they were skilled at manipulating magic power.
Simply put, they could use commonly used magic tools more efficiently than ordinary people.
Frankly speaking, they had only subtle value as slaves.
Magic tools were made to be usable by anyone, after all.
Otherwise, they would have no value as tools, which was only natural.
Being able to use a flint magic tool more than others was, frankly, considered to have no value.
But according to Kousuke, this was a complete mistake.
And this was what he intended to teach them from now on.
They were located on the forty-seventh floor of Amamiya Tower, where the Moon Altar was.
Jin and his disciple Rin were at the Moon Altar, and near it, a place where they could live was created for them.
They were scheduled to become the creators of important magic tools to be sold by Crown.
Crown already had a development department led by Isunani, but they intended to involve them in the creation of highly confidential magic tools separately.
To be precise, they would be involved in the creation of magic tools that Kousuke had developed and were likely to be mass-produced.
Kousuke himself had thought that the fifth floor would be fine, but when he explained his plans, Schmidt and Dales decided it was better to keep them secret and raise them on a different floor.
The reason given was that they didn’t know what kind of attitude other organizations would take if their existence was revealed.
While it was unlikely that anyone would do anything strange in the Tower, a holy ground of God, they might try to steal their technology.
This isolation on an inaccessible floor was to prevent such things.
Kousuke handed a magic tool to the gathered slaves.
This was also developed by Kousuke, and it was a tool that could further enhance the ability to manipulate magic power, which was the most important aspect of magic tool creation.
Schmidt said that this alone could be sold, but for now, they had no intention of putting it on the market.
It was possible that it might be created here, but that would be quite some time in the future.
“So, for a while, you’ll be training with that. Once you can handle a certain amount, you’ll start actually making things,” Kousuke said.
The older group, aged fifteen and above, looked serious at Kousuke’s words.
As if reacting to the faces of the older group, the younger ones quietly fiddled with the magic tool they had been given.
By the way, it had been explained to them that Kousuke was their master, but they had not been told that he was an Avatar.
Schmidt, who had brought them here, said that it would be fine once they had gained a certain level of trust.
Kousuke also had no intention of publicizing it, so he left it as is.
***
What Kousuke intended to do with them was to achieve higher precision in magic power manipulation when creating magic tools.
Since it went as planned, those who reached the level Kousuke desired were made to start crafting the items.
The magic box Kousuke devised was designed to be possible to create even without space magic, by promoting certain reactions with magic power.
In other words, by enhancing the properties of the material itself, the magic tool with the desired abilities could be completed.
Dales, who heard this for the first time, turned pale.
Frankly, it was an idea that overturned the fundamentals of magic tool creation, but Kousuke felt like, “What’s new?”
In fact, many of the magic tools currently in use were made using similar methods.
It was simply that the creators were not aware of it.
The slaves, who grew as planned, became the core of Crown’s magic tool creation.
The magic tools developed by Isunani’s development department would also be created by them.
And so, this was how magic tools for Crown were made.
Originally, they had simply outsourced their production, but once it was understood that the slaves could be used, they shifted to in-house production, and the number of slaves gradually increased.
By the way, as they grew, they would receive quite good salaries corresponding to the items they manufactured.
Unfortunately, they could not move from the floor they were on, but Schmidt made sure to arrange for shopping, so there were no inconveniences.
