Kouhi returned to the temple at Gazenran Tower immediately after her battle in the arena.
When she returned, Kousuke happened to be taking a break from his work. Seeing him, Kouhi called out to him.
“I’m back.”
“Ah, Kouhi, thank you for your hard work. How was it?”
Although Kousuke didn’t think for a moment that Kouhi had lost, he was curious about the details of the battle.
To Kousuke’s question, Kouhi began a simple explanation.
“Isaac himself wasn’t that strong, but the tools he was using were first-rate.”
“Oh?”
Kouhi’s answer made Kousuke’s expression show interest.
Naturally, Kouhi had said it knowing that Kousuke would react this way.
If anything, it was precisely because she knew he would react like this that she had taken so much time to analyze his tools.
“Isaac used a total of three types of tools. I believe that even those ranked high were defeated because they were caught off guard by Isaac’s handling of his tools.”
“I see.”
Kousuke’s fighting style generally relied on the fairies, and he himself wasn’t particularly strong.
However, when it came to magic tools, that was another matter.
Kousuke, from Kouhi’s words, imagined Isaac’s fighting style and understood.
Then, precisely because of his nature, Kousuke noticed a certain contradiction.
“…Hmm? This means Isaac possesses quite a bit of magic power?”
What Kousuke was thinking about were magic tools that could use the user’s magic power for some kind of attack or defense.
Even those ranked high were not weak, so to defeat them, they would have to use quite advanced magic.
Therefore, it was natural for Kousuke to expect the magic power used to be considerable.
In response to Kousuke’s question, Kouhi shook her head left and right.
“No. His own magic power isn’t all that high.”
“You mean?”
“All the magic tools he was using were of the type that could replenish magic power.”
Kouhi’s words made Kousuke’s expression show interest.
“Oh? Like the ones I made before?”
“That’s right. However, the amount they could replenish seemed to be astronomically different.”
The magic-replenishing magic tools Kousuke had developed in the past were of a type that couldn’t release large amounts of magic at once in order to be affordable.
In terms of magic for offensive spells, they were only capable of barely defeating intermediate monsters.
Rather, they were made with durability in mind to last longer.
And from Kouhi’s perspective, the magic tools Isaac had used had enough power in each attack to damage high-level monsters.
Because they consumed so much magic power with each attack, Kouhi felt as if the magical energy before her eyes was rapidly depleting.
“Hmm, I see.”
Kousuke somewhat grasped the situation from Kouhi’s explanation, but another question arose.
“Still, I thought there weren’t any magic-replenishing magic tools, you know.”
When Kousuke created that magic tool, almost everyone was surprised.
Therefore, Kousuke thought that there were no such things as batteries in this world, but he reconsidered, thinking that might not be entirely true.
However, it would be revealed during dinner that evening that Kousuke’s perception was slightly off.
Kouhi was the first to tilt her head upon hearing Kousuke’s thoughts.
“Hmm? That’s strange, Kousuke.”
“You mean?”
“There’s no doubt that the magic tools Kousuke made were rare. That’s why Schmidt was so surprised, wasn’t he?”
“Now that you mention it…?”
Hearing Floria’s words, Kousuke tilted his head, recalling Schmidt’s expression at that time.
“Right? In this case, it should be considered strange that Isaac possessed multiple magic-replenishing magic tools, and top-ranked ones at that.”
After all, the magic tools used by Hartvin, whom Kouhi had fought before, were also considered rare relics of the past.
The magic tools Isaac had used this time should also be of comparable value.
When each one was like that, it was only natural to consider it strange that he was using three of them simultaneously.
Furthermore, Floria continued, after stating her premise.
“According to Kouhi, Isaac himself wasn’t particularly strong. If that’s the case, it’s unnatural to think that he himself obtained three such tools.”
With that said, Kousuke and the others could immediately grasp what Floria meant.
More than that, Mitsuki had already obtained that information the day before Kouhi’s battle.
“That idiotic noble, huh…”
Shurein’s muttered words, as if unintentionally, expressed everyone’s feelings at that moment.
Floria gave a wry smile, looking around, but continued with a slight tilt of her head.
“However, even so, it feels a little strange…”
“You mean?”
When Kousuke voiced his doubt, Floria preface her statement as a hypothesis and continued.
“Based on Kouhi’s account, each magic tool seems to be something close to a national treasure. I don’t know what rank that idiotic noble holds, but I can’t imagine them being in a position to lend out three such items to others.”
“Indeed, judging by what she said, they seem to be quite remarkable crafts.”
Shurein nodded in agreement with Floria’s speculation.
From Kousuke’s perspective, since he could make similar items, he didn’t think they would be of such value, but he was aware that his own sense of magic tools was skewed.
As if by habit, he turned his gaze to Silvia, who also nodded. He passively remained silent.
Instead, he voiced another question.
“If those magic tools don’t belong to Isaac himself, would someone normally lend out such expensive items?”
Kousuke’s words were based on the expectation of him running away with them, but Floria shook her head left and right.
“There are many ways to prevent someone from running away with them. The easiest would probably be to have surveillance.”
“There’s also the method of binding them with a contract.”
“I see.”
Kousuke nodded, thinking that he could also bind them with magic.
Silvia, who had been listening silently until then, interjected.
“Floria, are you suspecting that there’s someone behind that noble besides them?”
“What do you think? Mitsuki didn’t say anything to that extent, but is it strange if there is?”
Floria said, while directing her gaze toward Mitsuki.
Receiving that gaze, Mitsuki replied after a moment of thought.
“I can’t really tell to that extent. However, if it were to that extent, it would mean quite high-ranking people are involved.”
“Ah, that would be the case.”
Floria nodded at Mitsuki’s words, and then all eyes turned to Kousuke.
Kousuke understood what everyone was expecting from this turn of events.
From the flow of the conversation so far, he could understand that considerable powers were involved in Seichun.
What they were doing was the same as what Kousuke and the others had done when creating the Crown.
“Hmm. I wonder how much the branch is aware of this… Well, I think it would be safe to simply share the information we currently have.”
“Yeah, that would probably be the safest approach.”
Floria agreed with Kousuke’s words.
Although only Floria spoke, the other members had similar expressions.
It was decided that Kousuke and the others would inform the Branch Manager of the Crown of the information they had obtained so far.
