Chapter 59

Ricardo used a red rod for his next experiment, activating the fire magic spell "Flame Soaring Bullet."

He used the usual amount of catalyst and magic power. The magic power was released through the rod, and the reaction when the catalyst was scattered was clearly different. The magic power floating around the rod glowed a deep red, and the moment the spell was cast, a fireball twice the normal size soared diagonally upward instead of horizontally.

The Flame Soaring Bullet missed the target, hitting far above it.

"This reaction is similar to when too much catalyst is used. Perhaps the amount of catalyst can be reduced."

Ricardo activated the Flame Soaring Bullet again, this time reducing the catalyst to 70% of the usual amount. The reaction was still excessive, though not as much as the first time.

After several more attempts, when the catalyst was reduced to 30%, the Flame Soaring Bullet flew horizontally as it did before. It seems that using the red rod significantly reduces the amount of catalyst needed.

And he made an important discovery: even with less catalyst, the power of the magic increased. The size of the Flame Soaring Bullet remained twice as large, and the scorch marks it left upon impact indicated increased power.

Next, Ricardo tried to activate the water magic spell "Flowing Blade" using the red rod.

The result was disappointing. Although the spell was activated, its power was significantly reduced.

"Perhaps the red rod, which is coated with fire-attribute-activated magic power, increases the power of fire magic but weakens other magic."

Ricardo wrote down the results of his investigation in his notebook and returned to the laboratory.

Back in the laboratory, Ricardo recalled the experiment results and thought. It seems that the surface of the rod coated with attribute-activated magic power has the same effect as the catalyst, changing the magic power.

Ricardo took a branch from the magical tree Trill and processed it into a rod. This time, he tried to change the magic power to the wind attribute color, purple, and coat the rod with it.

However, his magic power control was not going well, possibly due to fatigue.

He thought about performing a probe meditation, but when he looked out the window, the sun was setting.

"I'll stop here for today."

Ricardo tidied up the room and went outside.

That night, the idea that had struck him wouldn't leave his mind, and he had trouble falling asleep.

The next morning, Ricardo woke up early and went to the magicians' guild laboratory to make rods for wind, water, and earth attributes.

The rod dyed with the wind attribute color had a purple snowflake pattern, the water rod had a blue snowflake pattern, and the earth rod had a brown snowflake pattern.

Ricardo performed similar experiments as the previous day for a while.

The results were almost the same as with the red rod for magic.

However, the secondary effects when he infused magic power into a sandbag were different.

When he swung the purple rod, which has the wind attribute color, at the sandbag, the air around the rod swirled and exploded upon impact. The explosion made a loud noise and had a dramatic effect, but the actual power was not significant.

When he hit the sandbag with the brown rod, which has the earth attribute color, cracks appeared in the sandbag, and the sand inside spilled out.

The blue rod, which has the water attribute color, had an unclear effect. It would take time to understand it.

Ricardo wanted to investigate whether the amount of magic power needed to activate magic with the attribute color rods changed, so he went to Emilia's workshop, which had a device to measure magic power.

The craftsmen were busy working, and Emilia was among them.

"I heard from Bernard that you wiped out a cluster of the magical tree Tamiel."

Emilia called out to Ricardo.

"Yes, the Crown Prince insisted on going with us, so the hired beast hunters were very nervous."

"That sounds interesting. Tell me about it when we have more time. ...By the way, why are you here today? I thought you were busy making magic guns."

"I've finished making the minimum parts for the magic guns. I'm currently doing other research."

"What kind of research?"

Ricardo took out the red rod and showed it to Emilia.

"What is that?"

Ricardo handed the red rod to Emilia. At this moment, Ricardo underestimated the value of the attribute color rods.

While the increase in magic power and reduction in catalyst consumption were excellent, he didn't think it was a big deal since the catalyst was still needed and the increase in power wasn't significant.

"This is a red magic-forming rod. Is it dyed with some kind of paint...?"

Emilia thought the attribute color rod was dyed with paint or something.

"This is a new attribute color rod that Master Matou has developed."

"Wow, it's not just red. What kind of effect does it have?"

Ricardo explained the common effects of the attribute color rods: increased magic power and reduced catalyst consumption.

Emilia's eyes changed when she heard this. Noticing this, Ricardo decided to keep the manufacturing method of the attribute color rods a secret from Emilia.

Emilia said she wanted to verify it herself. She used the attribute color rod and activated magic with 30% of the usual catalyst.

"What... I can't believe magic can be activated with such a small amount of catalyst."

Emilia was very surprised when magic was activated with a small amount of catalyst.

When magic guns were invented and started to be used, the national catalyst consumption increased several times over. This was because non-magicians began to consume large amounts of catalyst.

Emilia realized that with attribute color rods, revolutionary magic guns could be made.

Magic guns equipped with attribute color rods could activate magic with only 30% of the usual catalyst. This would be very attractive to users of magic guns, who were troubled by the large consumption of catalyst.

Ricardo experimented to verify the amount of magic power needed to activate magic with the attribute color rods. Unfortunately, there was no change in the required magic power.

As he was about to leave after the experiment, Emilia stopped him.

"Hey, can you only make one of these attribute color rods?"

"If you ask Master Matou, he can prepare a few more."

"If that's the case, can you sell me some... I know you're still in the research phase. I'll keep the attribute color rods a secret."

Ricardo hesitated but decided to sell the attribute color rods to Emilia. He also wanted to know what performance the attribute color rods would have when integrated into magic guns.

Ricardo handed over the three types of attribute color rods, excluding the water attribute color rod, which needed more investigation, to Emilia and left the workshop. The price would be decided after the magic gun was completed.

Ricardo remembered that Bernard had asked him to come to the store and headed towards the shopping district.

He arrived at the store and asked an employee if Bernard was there.

"The boss is in the back having a business meeting."

"Then I'll wait a bit."

Ricardo passed the time by looking at the products in the store.

After about ten minutes, Bernard and a man who looked like a magician came out from the back.

"I made a good purchase."

"It's an honor to hear that. Please convey my regards to Duke Melvis."

The man who looked like a magician left the store with his belongings.

Bernard approached Ricardo and whispered.

"That was the magician Alberto."

Ricardo thought the name sounded familiar but couldn't immediately recall it.

"Do you remember the magician from the Duke Melvis family who was arrested with Melzario during the magic scooter robbery incident?"

"Oh, that magician. What did he come to buy?"

"Magic guns. He bought three."

"Did you overcharge him, Bernard?"

Bernardo chuckled. As Ricardo had guessed, he sold them at 30% more than the auction price.

"Anyway, there's a rumor that Alberto is an expert in factor letters and disassembles and examines magic devices developed by others."

"Surely... he will disassemble the magic guns too."

"Yes, that's a possibility."

"Why did you sell the magic guns to such a person?"

"The order was from Duke Melvis, not Alberto. I, a mere merchant, cannot refuse the Duke's order."

Even if he refused, someone else would have bought the magic guns under a different name and studied them to try to replicate them.

"By examining the magic guns, they will realize that the magic power vines of the magical tree Tamiel are used."

Ricardo confirmed, and Bernard nodded.

"Yes, the magic power vines have a distinctive shape, and the magic power coating will be noticed."

"In that case, Duke Melvis will be able to manufacture magic guns."

"However, since the development of the magic guns was a joint effort by Ricardo and Emilia, Duke Melvis cannot openly do business with them."

This refers to the commercial custom that manufacturing and selling without the developer's permission is not allowed while the developer is alive. However, Ricardo thought they would secretly manufacture and use them for themselves.

"In that case, the information that the steel scorpion's venom can defeat the cluster of the magical tree Tamiel becomes important."

Ricardo pointed out that the method to defeat the cluster of the magical tree Tamiel was important, and Bernard agreed.

"Also, the method to defeat the steel scorpion is important."

According to Bernard, defeating the steel scorpion is impossible for ordinary magicians. Only magicians who have learned special advanced magic can do it.

If the magic power vines are obtained one by one by defeating the magical tree Tamiel, it would be impossible to mass-produce magic guns, making the method to defeat the cluster important.

"By the way, the reason I called you here is this."

Bernard lined up bags of gold coins on the table. It seemed to be Ricardo's share from the sales made so far.

The amount was so large that it would last for years of luxury. Ricardo put the bags of gold coins into his pendant-type storage amethyst.

"By the way, there's a party at Duke Boniperti's mansion the day after tomorrow. Would you like to come?"

Ricardo was taken aback by the invitation.

"A party at a duke's mansion? That's not my level."

Ricardo thought meeting important people was tiring, just like when he met the Crown Prince.

"From your expression, it seems you find meeting nobles troublesome."

Bernard pointed out, reading Ricardo's expression.

"I don't find it troublesome, but I don't know the etiquette for nobles."

"Duke Boniperti is a friendly person. You don't need to worry about etiquette, and he has expressed a desire to meet you."

"But..."

Bernard laughed.

"Just a brief greeting. After that, you can enjoy the luxurious food."

"Do I need to prepare fancy clothes for the party?"

"Since you are a magician, a robe should be fine."

Ricardo agreed, partly because he was curious about the luxurious food served at the noble's party.

The next day, Ricardo went to the magicians' guild laboratory and changed his magic power to the wind attribute color, coating the magic power vine.

The inside of the magic power vine turned purple, and a vivid purple snowflake pattern appeared.

Ricardo checked the completed purple wave tube and thought.

"What will happen if I channel magic power into this? If it blows out like a fan, it would be funny."

He recalled that when he used the wind attribute color rod, the air around the rod swirled, and said this out loud.

He went to the training ground and channeled magic power into the wave tube, aiming it at a sandbag.

A "vam" sound shook the air, and a shock wave hit the sandbag. The sturdy bag holding the sand was torn to shreds, and the sand scattered.

It was clearly more powerful than a regular magic gun. With this much power, he could probably take down a tough crowned lizard, which is tougher than goblins.

"This seems to be a simple increase in the shock wave's power."

Although it was different from what he expected, Ricardo nodded in satisfaction.

He tried coating the magic power vine with magic power changed to the fire, water, and earth attribute colors.

When he channeled magic power into the wave tube dyed with the fire attribute color, a heat shock wave was released, similar to the rod, and the sandbag's bag was charred black. It felt like a significant amount of heat was concentrated. However, the pure destructive power did not match the wave tube with the wind attribute color.

Next, he tried the wave tube dyed with the earth attribute color. The moment he channeled magic power, he felt a pushback from the wave tube. When the shock wave hit the sandbag, the part it hit caved in.

Upon examining the sandbag, it looked as if a large hammer had been struck into it.

"This effect is also unexpected."

Finally, he tried the wave tube dyed with the water attribute color. The result was similar to a regular magic gun.

"I don't understand the water attribute. I need to investigate it more."

Ricardo returned to the laboratory and summarized the experiment results in his notebook.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. When he opened it, Isarco was standing there.

"Director Isarco, is there something wrong?"

Ricardo let Isarco in and offered him a chair.

"The 'Self-Study Magic Textbook' and 'Self-Study Calculation Textbook' you wrote have been requested by the Royal Bizer Academy as teaching materials."

"Why would they want that?"

"A few days ago, Deputy Headmaster Ubert of the academy visited and saw these two books in my room. He expressed a desire to use them and asked for your permission."

Ricardo thought it was fine and gave his permission.

Isarco had another matter to discuss.

"The 'Self-Study Magic Textbook' contains unique theories. I want you to write them as papers."

If the self-study textbooks are released, the unique theories inside could be written as papers by someone else.

"Understood. I'll write them quickly."

Isarco seemed to recall something and frowned before warning Ricardo.

"Be careful with the management of your papers."

"What's the matter?"

"Recently, there has been an increase in plagiarism of papers, which has become a problem."

According to Isarco, the same content of papers has been submitted by multiple magicians at once. It seems that someone is selling papers stolen from the true authors.

"By the way, what are you researching now?"

"I am researching special magic coatings for rods and other items."

"Hmm, what are the characteristics of these rods?"

"They can significantly reduce the consumption of catalysts."

"Is that true?"

Isarco was very surprised. As a magician with a lot of experience, he knew how important it was to reduce the consumption of catalysts.

"Do you have a physical rod?"

Ricardo took out the water attribute color rod he had left and handed it to Isarco.

"This is a water attribute color rod specialized for water magic."

"Is this a water attribute color rod? It's a beautiful rod... Can I try it out?"

Ricardo nodded, and Isarco, holding the attribute color rod, left the laboratory and ran full speed to the training ground.

2017/11/18 Revised