Chapter 133

The Saintess’ Serious Mode 2

First off, let’s engrave a single magic formation into a clay board .

Then, pressing iron made soft by way of using [Create Golem] on it—to be more accurate, by operating it so that it would accurately fill the grooves—I completed a magic formation template .

Following that with another one softened by [Create Golem], I went to make a [Prototype] .

There was a magic formation’s grooves left behind when I separated the template from the [Prototype] .

After that, I just normally melted a magic stone onto it to complete the formation .

“Aaand it works . ”

“Uwaaah~…”

It actually worked when the magic stone finished filling it . I’m saved .

Seeing the magic formation be completed, Nerune was surprised .

“There was a method like that… amazing~, how many could we make like this~?”

“Right? One or two hundred easily . ”

To put it simply, it’s a stamp… eh, I guess it’s more like a printing press? Its size makes it so that I could mass produce however many I want .

“But master, no one but you can do this~”

“Nn? That’s not true . It’s troublesome making the molds, but so long as you have the mold you could do it with things like clay . You’d only need to bake the clay to improve its longevity too… as for it being weak to impacts, well, there’s a lot of clay… Right . I’ll make a [Mold to make molds] to produce clay molds . You can use the iron magic formation to mass produce clay molds, so if the clay molds break… get it?”

When I said that, Nerune solidified for a bit .

She was probably thinking if that was actually possible in her head .

… Rather, there’s even stuff like sealing letters with stamped wax, so I don’t think it should be strange for someone to have an idea like this . Maybe people kept it a secret to enhance the value of magic tools? That’s definitely a possibility .

“Master, that’s… I can do that right~!? This is a revolution you know~!?”

“While we’re on the topic, why not combine the idea with making different letters and symbols into stamps?”

“No way~!? My master’s calmly using his ideas to repaint history~!? Please wait, I’ll take notes~!!”

Nerune noisily pulled out a notepad and took notes . You don’t need to panic so much…

Well, with this, gargoyle mass production’s looking closer than ever .

Then again, Rin is going to be defending us, so it’s only in the one in a thousand chance… but that saintess’ serious mode might be enough to defeat Rin .

I can’t seem to get that seal thing out of my head and haven’t felt like sleeping . That’s why I thought it’d be a good idea to kill time and look into mass producing gargoyles .

It’s a rare occasion, so I decided to seriously try doing it together with Nerune .

*

The first day that the saintess was taking it seriously . It was the first day, but she wanted to settle it that day .

Smoothly making her way through the dungeon, she moved to just before the room that the black wolf resided in . She was familiar to the area . Moreover, due to the effects of [Treaty] she had invoked through ceremony, the dungeon was weakened . She was able to advance all the more easily, she felt .

Weakened dungeons wouldn’t have things like an increased number of new traps or new rooms . It was limited in that there was a three day time limit, but even so it was very useful for capturing dungeons .

In particular, the weakening would also cause boss monsters to be unable to revive . The black wolf was likely a boss monster for this dungeon, so it shouldn’t be an exception to the rule .

So she only needed to beat it once . So long as she could kill it, even if she died as well, it would be alright . She now only had to watch out for traps and look for the dungeon core .

… Perhaps, she was certain the black wolf was a dungeon boss simply judging by its strength . With dungeons whose deepest floors hadn’t been captured, dungeon bosses would occasionally make their way up and appear on higher floors . It would happen from time to time .

The stronger and more warlike the dungeon boss, the more likely it would happen . Seeing as how the black wolf preemptively attacked the moment it laid eyes on intruders, that was almost certainly the case .

… Slap!

She fired herself up by clapping her cheeks . She then began to circulate her magical power as began to enter the room .

While continuing to mumble an incantation, she first looked looked inside . The black wolf turned its attention towards the entrance… the saintess clicked her tongue in her mind .

(As expected, it can notice even whispers?)

She entered the room immediately before the incantation completely .

The black wolf dashed towards her in response . Despite its tail wagging adorably, it bared its fangs as it opened its large mouth, brimming with the desire to eat .

[Rooooar!]

The wolf bellowed . However, something to this extent wasn’t enough to cause the saintess to cower . She knew that if she froze now, she would die .

She pulled away from the first attack, dodging it . With a snap, the wolf’s fangs stabbed through the place she had just been… She continued the incantation, not stopping . Seeing the base of its left leg twitch, the saintess dropped into a crouch . Immediately after, its right foreleg swept towards her from side . The wolf’s paw sliced through the air just above her head, so fast that the air rang . It would have been dangerous if she hadn’t dropped even a fraction of an inch lower . A few strands of hair fluttered through the air, the attack barely grazing the top of her head .

A cold shiver ran its way down her spine . A cold sweat worked its way down her forehead, but she knew from experience that it still wasn’t over . The black wolf would soon rush towards her, forcefully bringing its right foreleg down to collapse on her . Despite its reckless attacks and successive attacks, it was still adorable .

The saintess used the momentum of dropping into her crouch to roll towards the left, avoiding it .

Just then, she finally completed her incantation . Conveniently, the black wolf’s flank was right in front of her .

Thrusting her right hand forward, she shouted .

“—[Ray of Judgement]!!”

The instant she spoke the last piece of her incantation, a flash of light surged forth from her . After barely a moment’s delay, the black wolf’s body was penetrated by the beam . Passing entirely through its body, it rammed into the ceiling, leaving a crater-like mark behind .

—Their fight was decided . The saintess grinned .

But the black wolf did not fall .

The saintess’ vision flickered as her consciousness dimmed . By draining her magical power dry, she blacked out .

By the time she came to, she was already back at the inn, laying in a futon . She was the simple altar .

“Alka-sama, are you awake?”

“… Yeah . ”

(What happened?)

The saintess tried to think about it, despite the complaints coming from her head after just having returned from death .

The light-attributed emperor class magic: [Ray of Judgement] . Greater than upper and top class magic, it was an offensive magic that could wipe out an army with a single attack, something that could be called a tactical class magic . A blow of justice that would smash evil to bits . It couldn’t not be effective against the black wolf that was obviously a wicked existence… in truth, it had been able to open a large hole on the wolf’s body .

It was a large hole, enough to see through to the other size . It was about large enough of a hole that a child might be able to go through it . However, despite such a large hole being opened on its body, the wolf still snapped through her . It bit off the arm she was holding out, followed by her head .

She was only vaguely able to remember it, but that was how she had died this time .

“Did you use [Ray of Judgement]?”

“Yes, it drained my magical power . Emperor class magic’s consumption is as intense as ever . ”

(I used one of my trump cards, but I was still eaten?)

The saintess sighed .

“ . . However, I opened such a large hole in it, it should be dead about now…! This match is my win . ”

In the end, as she was able to continue on no matter how many times she died, she would win in due time . She thought that she might not have been able to gain victory this time due to her pressing time constraints—but she won .

She decided to report the commission’s completion to the adventurer guild after confirming its corpse . With that, one of the reasons she had come to this dungeon would be accomplished .

The saintess sighed, contended .