Bonus chapter thanks to @Zenno and @Greg from Ko-fi!
Binkis did a few short checks. It was to see if the function of ‘Falling Edge’ was missing.
Despite this, Frondier flawlessly executed the Falling Edge technique.
Binkis’s face fell, etched with dejection.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Frondier reflected on the Falling Edge technique he had just performed.
“…Uh, Teacher.”
“What?” Binkis replied, his face still downcast.
“It did feel a bit heavier than usual.”
Frondier wasn’t lying. He definitely felt some sort of resistance against the Falling Edge technique. A slight pushback the moment he tried to activate it.
However, the resistance was so minuscule that, if quantified, it wouldn’t have amounted to more than a few grams. It was a faint force he could only perceive because he had repeated the technique multiple times.
Of course, Frondier kept this detail to himself.
“The direction seems promising, so how about we keep improving it?”
“Y-yeah! I wasn’t wrong!” Binkis’s spirit instantly rebounded. The possibility of improvement was a good thing.
Even if the path to that improvement was long and arduous.
“Thanks for helping with the test. Now it’s my turn.”
Binkis declared, placing her hands on her hips. Frondier and Quinie nodded in agreement.
“But, thinking back to what we were discussing earlier…” Binkis tilted his head, seemingly puzzled.
“According to your explanation, shouldn’t we avoid breaking the necklace? We’re putting in a significant amount of liquid, right?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
As Binkis pointed out, the amount of Obsidian they were going to insert this time would be an enormous amount compared to before.
Although he hadn’t mentioned it to the three of them here, Esther had described it as a ‘lake’. Even if that was an exaggeration, it was clear what kind of disaster would occur if they recklessly broke the necklace.
“That’s why I’m also concerned about that. Ideally, we’d be able to extract the desired amount of liquid and, if necessary, extract it all at once. Both options should be readily available.”
Under normal circumstances, extracting a certain amount would suffice, but in a truly urgent situation, all the Obsidian might be required. Moreover, if it were urgent, he wouldn’t have the time to extract it slowly.
In other words, controlling the liquid output was crucial, but they also couldn’t abandon the method of breaking the necklace, as they had done before.
After listening to Frondier, Binkis pondered for a moment and then spoke.
“Then we’ll need one more artifact.”
“One more?”
“Yes. A necklace for when we need to extract everything, and another artifact for when we need to control the amount. That necklace, you called it ‘Black Lotus’, right? It was originally designed to be broken, wasn’t it? Adding a control function while maintaining that functionality is impossible. It’s a jewel, after all.”
“I see. Another artifact…”
He had thought all the functions would be integrated into the Black Lotus, but that wasn’t the case.
Somehow, it felt like things were getting more and more complicated. It had already gone beyond the realm of ‘improvement’.
“Then what kind of artifact would be suitable?”
“Well, it should be something wearable so it can be used at any time, with enough space to output the liquid, and ideally located close to the necklace for Mana linkage.”
Frondier fell into thought at Binkis’s words. He briefly surveyed the workshop, checking the items he had stored there so far.
But there was no way he would find something that perfectly fit the criteria…
‘…There is.’
He found it. The moment he saw it, Frondier’s memory was jogged.
Elodie’s armband.
An artifact designed to control Elodie’s overwhelming power. Elodie originally used this armband to prevent the use of Mana beyond a certain limit. The excess Mana generated when using magic was stored in the armband.
If they could modify the artifact to store Obsidian instead of Mana…
“I have something in mind.”
“Oh? What is it? What kind of artifact is it?”
In response to Binkis’s question, Frondier explained about the armband Elodie wore.
After listening to the explanation, Binkis looked at Edwin.
“……To handle the metal Viper Steel with that level of quality, it seems like a product of the Hitchcock company.”
“Seems like it.”
Edwin agreed. And Frondier thought so too.
The one who gave Elodie the armband was probably her older brother, Revet. As someone who deeply cherished his younger sister, he would have gifted her the best item made with Viper Steel.
“What do you think? If we could store Obsidian in that armband instead of Mana…”
“Hmm, the idea isn’t bad, but Hitchcock is heavily guarded with all sorts of security measures. Blueprints and everything.”
Binkis tilted her head, troubled.
Hitchcock, the company, was renowned for its strict secrecy, so outsiders had no knowledge of how the technology and designs within the company were developed. Numerous attempts had been made to leak information, but all had failed.
Quinie inquired, “Does it have to be that specific product? Now that we have a concept, couldn’t we just create an armband and add the function?”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
While agreeing with Quinie, Binkis still wore a somewhat dissatisfied expression.
As Quinie tilted her head with a questioning look, Edwin, who was standing next to her, smiled wryly and said, “Teacher wants to see Hitchcock’s product. She’ll be annoyed if we make something inferior after all this.”
“Annoyed? If we can create a better product, shouldn’t we try? You said it was Elodie’s, right? Can’t we just take a quick look at that armband?”
“Just looking at the appearance won’t tell us anything. Unless we dissect it.”
“Would she be mad if we promised to reassemble it after dissecting?”
“Hmm, Elodie is pretty broad-minded, so she wouldn’t get angry, but if we fail to reassemble it…”
“If we fail?”
“We might have to deal with Elodie going berserk without the armband to control her output.”
“Gasp.”
Binkis, Edwin, and Quinie conversed amongst themselves, discussing the best course of action.
Quinie, who advocated for giving up and creating an original design, and Binkis, who couldn’t let go of his fascination with Hitchcock’s product, were presenting their opinions one after another.
…Meanwhile.
Frondier was rolling his eyes, struggling to find the right words to say something he really needed to, something that was quite awkward to bring up.
“Um, Teacher Binkis.”
Frondier spoke up, sensing a slight lull in the conversation between the three.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Hypothetically speaking…”
“Hypothetically what?”
“If I were to say that I can draw the schematics of that armband…”
Three pairs of wide eyes turned towards Frondier as he spoke.
Seeing their reactions, Frondier gave an embarrassed smile.
“Would that also be considered technology theft?”