Miraculous Forger

"???"

Houraisan Kaguya Seething with Rage

"Yakumo Yukari, I'm going to kill you!"

As the saying went, enemies' eyes turned red when they met.

Whether it was Yakumo Yukari bringing that damned passage to Eientei, causing Houraisan Kaguya to get caught up in it and drift into another world, or Yakumo Yukari teasing Houraisan Kaguya just now...

In short, Houraisan Kaguya was seeing red!

"Alright, Houraisan Kaguya, have you calmed down now?" After waiting for quite a while, Yakumo Yukari's voice finally came through from the other end of the paper cup again.

"Calmed down? I've always been calm! Just you wait, Yakumo Yukari!" Houraisan Kaguya clenched her fists tightly, then suddenly covered the paper cup and turned to Chen Li.

"Chen Li, can you forge an artifact that lets me slap someone through an internet cable?"

"Huh? I still need to save my energy for forging communication artifacts. Besides, you suddenly asked for something so unreasonable, and you're not even offering a reward. I have absolutely no motivation to do it." Chen Li shrugged.

Forging artifacts did not just consume crystals; it also drained Chen Li's energy.

Unless he forged an artifact that could restore his energy, Chen Li could not keep forging artifacts nonstop in a single day.

He had already put that kind of artifact on his agenda, but he did not have one yet.

"A reward? Whatever reward you want, I'll give it to you!"

Right now, Houraisan Kaguya only wanted to slap Yakumo Yukari on the other end of the line.

"Forget the reward. Once we're better off in the future, I'll forge that kind of artifact, alright? For now, keep arguing with Yakumo Yukari." Chen Li painted Houraisan Kaguya a rosy picture.

Forging one of those artifacts for himself later on did seem like a pretty good idea.

"...Fine." Even though she could not slap Yakumo Yukari through the line, important business could not be delayed.

"Yakumo Yukari, how is Eirin?"

"Your anger's gone? Then let's talk about the current situation. Just now, I saw a meteor pierce through the Great Barrier of Gensokyo and head straight for Eientei. Curious, I followed it over, and all I found was the scene of the crime—a collapsed Yagokoro Eirin and a battered paper cup that was constantly repairing itself. I thought it looked a lot like the characteristics of your power, so I picked it up for a look. Then I moved my bed over and tossed her onto it," Yakumo Yukari said from the other end.

"..." Houraisan Kaguya turned to look at Chen Li.

Chen Li looked utterly innocent.

It had been a necessary sacrifice.

He had not wanted this either.

"Then is Eirin alright?"

"She is. She just looks like she's sleeping very soundly."

"...Wake Eirin up right now. I want to speak with her alone," Houraisan Kaguya said.

"I can't wake her up."

"Who are you trying to fool? Use your boundary manipulation. Just create a boundary between waking and sleeping, wouldn't that do it?"

"Houraisan Kaguya, you know me. I have always refused to use my boundary manipulation on others without their permission," Yakumo Yukari said from the other side of the paper cup, sounding deeply troubled.

"Like hell I believe that!" Houraisan Kaguya was deeply shocked by Yakumo Yukari's shamelessness.

"Oh, right. I also wanted to discuss how your paper cup pierced the Great Barrier of Gensokyo and caused it serious damage," Yakumo Yukari continued.

"Alright, alright, I'll allow you to listen in, okay?"

"Great! I'll wake your beloved Eirin right away."

Even through the paper cup, Houraisan Kaguya knew that Yakumo Yukari had to be wearing a triumphant smile right now.

"Then, about the Great Barrier of Gensokyo..."

"It only made a hole about the size of a bowl, and it repaired itself soon afterward. Boundary between unconsciousness and wakefulness."

"Tch."

Though things had taken a few twists and turns, half a minute later, Houraisan Kaguya was finally able to speak with Yagokoro Eirin again.

Speaking again after two years left Houraisan Kaguya with complicated feelings.

"Princess, you vanished for two weeks. I was very worried."

"Sigh, it's only been two weeks for you. Two years have passed on my end."

Though Houraisan Kaguya's past two years had been much the same as two weeks—eating, sleeping, and playing games.

"So what exactly happened?" Yakumo Yukari's voice suddenly came from the paper cup.

"It happened like this..." Though dissatisfied with Yakumo Yukari interrupting, Houraisan Kaguya still recounted everything she had experienced over those two years.

The abridged version.

Naturally, she would wait until Yakumo Yukari was gone before telling the honest version. For now, this was only to satisfy Yakumo Yukari's curiosity and need for control. Otherwise, if Yakumo Yukari kept obsessing over the matter, Yagokoro Eirin would surely be troubled by it as well.

"So, you traveled to a world full of Demons and Ghouls, then met a young man who could be considered the protagonist of that world. Trouble happened around him every day, but he always turned misfortune into fortune, and for some reason he gained the power to forge artifacts. With his help, you successfully sent this paper cup over and reestablished communication with Gensokyo?" Yakumo Yukari briefly summarized Houraisan Kaguya's account.

"That's more or less it," Houraisan Kaguya replied.

Yet Chen Li, sitting beside Houraisan Kaguya, was rather bothered by Yakumo Yukari's assessment of him.

What kind of protagonist treatment was this? If you were given this treatment, would you want it?

A small problem every day, a big problem every three days, and a minor transmigration every seven days.

Although every problem just happened to be at the very limit of what Chen Li could handle, and every time he gained rewards equal to the trouble...

Hiss, wait...

In contrast to the pensive Chen Li, Yakumo Yukari was watching the paper cup in Yagokoro Eirin's hand, feeling that this thing's peculiar nature did not seem like something produced within this world.

The communication artifact was currently held by a mature woman dressed in red-and-blue Daoist-like robes, though she wore a nurse's cap. A roughly one-meter-long string stretched taut by some strange force extended from the bottom of the paper cup, and Yagokoro Eirin's eyes occasionally revealed her concern for Houraisan Kaguya on the other end.

Yakumo Yukari, with her waist-length golden hair, was more concerned with the potential risks... and potential benefits this artifact could bring to Gensokyo.

"By the way, Yakumo Yukari really can't see the connection between this thing and Miracle Power?" Houraisan Kaguya asked Chen Li, covering the paper cup with her hand.

"Don't worry, she can't tell. If I hadn't made it myself, I wouldn't be able to tell either. But if her imagination is strong enough, she might make some inexplicable associations based on the artifact's abilities and name. In any case, it's not a big problem," Chen Li said.

So what if Yakumo Yukari found out? It wasn't like she could crawl through the internet cable and slap him.

"Princess, now that you have the ability to communicate, when will you be able to return?" Yagokoro Eirin's concerned voice came from the paper cup once again.

"That's right, that's right. Hurry up and bring that young man over so we can meet him. As your family, I'll help you assess him," Yakumo Yukari's voice rang out as well.

"Going back will probably have to wait a while. I don't have an artifact that records world coordinates, and forging an artifact that lets me transmigrate through a connection is far too expensive. So I plan to wait a little longer. Also, Yakumo Yukari, can you have a little shame? Since when are you my family?" Houraisan Kaguya said bluntly.

The dilemma Chen Li faced was never that he couldn't do something—it was that he had no money.

"Kaguya, saying that makes us sound so distant. In any case, I'll wait for your good news." Yakumo Yukari was not angry in the slightest.

On the contrary, Yakumo Yukari was happier when Houraisan Kaguya vented at her a little.

It was not because Yakumo Yukari had awakened some sort of M tendency. Mainly, during the two weeks Houraisan Kaguya had been gone, Yagokoro Eirin's unusual behavior had kept Yakumo Yukari on edge.

However, if they wanted their relationship to fully ease back into a normal state, Yakumo Yukari would also have to provide some help in the process of helping Houraisan Kaguya return home.

Yakumo Yukari did not care about Yagokoro Eirin herself, but she could not ignore the damage Yagokoro Eirin could cause to the Great Barrier.

Yakumo Yukari had never underestimated Yagokoro Eirin, the Sage of the Moon. After all, she was one of the few old monsters who had sent Yakumo Yukari back in utter defeat.

"Hm?" Yagokoro Eirin suddenly turned to look at Yakumo Yukari.

Yagokoro Eirin had the distinct feeling that the person beside her was badmouthing her.

"In any case, it's good that there's news. All right, Yakumo Yukari, your curiosity should be satisfied by now, shouldn't it? You can go back," Yagokoro Eirin said, issuing an order to leave.

"Very well." Yakumo Yukari took a step back, entered the opened gap, and vanished from Eientei.

"..." Yagokoro Eirin said nothing, simply punching into the empty air.

"How stingy." Sitting in her own home, Yakumo Yukari had originally wanted to use a gap to spy on what would happen next, but she was quite disappointed.

Could the artifact have something to do with miracles?

It was not that Yakumo Yukari was overthinking it. Houraisan Kaguya had disappeared precisely because of a miracle.

As the Sage of the Yokai, Yakumo Yukari possessed the fine virtue of doubting everything.

"All right, Princess. I've dealt with Yakumo Yukari's spying. If there's anything else, go on and say it," Yagokoro Eirin said.

"Next, Eirin, keep holding this communication artifact. No matter what happens in a moment, don't let go and don't be surprised. I'll explain everything to you."

"All right." It was not as though Yagokoro Eirin had never suspected that this Houraisan Kaguya was a fake, but although the Power of Eternity on the paper cup had been altered somewhat by another force, she could still recognize the part that belonged to Houraisan Kaguya.

Out of trust in Houraisan Kaguya, even when ghostly blue flames instantly ignited on the paper cup the next moment and engulfed her as well, Yagokoro Eirin did not let go of the artifact.

"Again." After blue flames spread over her entire body, Yagokoro Eirin sensed another spying gaze with even greater acuity. She immediately turned her hand into a blade and slashed at the dust-sized "gap."

"What is this?" Miracle Fire surged through the gap toward Yakumo Yukari, who had been spying intently.

Instinctively using the Power of Boundaries to extinguish the flames, Yakumo Yukari had not expected the fire to burn even more fiercely as a result, and she too was engulfed by the flames.

"What the hell is going on?"

Chen Li stared pensively at the huge pile of entries that had suddenly appeared within the flames of the Forging Table.

"An opening—fleeting as it may be!"

Become nourishment for an artifact together!

Looking at the various bizarre entries appearing in the Miracle Fire, Chen Li swung his hammer so hard it was practically smoking in order not to waste anything!

Communication, transmission, boundaries, existence, subversion, creation, movement, negation...

They were all great entries.

Friends Circle: Brothers everywhere under heaven! Meeting means knowing each other, knowing each other means being friends, and if you're friends, come help me take a hit in the Friends Circle!

Effect 1—Communication: Every friend in the Friends Circle receives 5 minutes per day for face-to-face communication through simulated projections. Information exchange and online communication are unrestricted. If both parties possess artifacts, simulated projection communication time is unrestricted.

Effect 2—Delivery: Goods may be sent to friends, with the goods themselves serving as payment. Delivery within the same world deducts up to 10% of the goods; delivery outside the world deducts at least 50% of the goods. If both parties possess artifacts, delivery within the same world is free, while delivery outside the world deducts up to 20%. (Energy or another price equivalent in value to the goods may be offered as payment.)

Effect 3—Friends: When the user encounters danger, the Friends Circle automatically activates its defensive function. The stronger the user's connection with friends within the circle, the better the defensive effect. When an enemy's attack breaks through the Friends Circle's defense, one "connection" (that is, one "friend") may be sacrificed to nullify this instance of damage.

PS: A true Friends Circle.

(Miracle: Come to think of it, Master, if you confessed to girls with sincere lies, would it be possible to end up with a whole harem of wives and concubines? Or would you get torn apart by five horses?)

"Wait, hold on. Who uses their friends as consumables?" After hearing Chen Li's introduction to the newly forged wondrous item before them, Houraisan Kaguya stood up and shifted farther away. Once she sat back down, she stared at Chen Li in shock.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. It sacrifices one friend's contact slot to exempt you from the current damage; it doesn't directly sacrifice a friend. Don't be scared." Chen Li waved the ring in his hand as he spoke.

"That's still ridiculous. Are friends supposed to be used like that? I'd heard that investigators liked using their friends as scapegoats. I didn't believe it before, but now I do." Houraisan Kaguya complained.

"I'm not an investigator."

"But your parents are investigators, and legendary ones at that."

"What does this have to do with my parents?"

"Anyway, keep that ring far away from me." Houraisan Kaguya said warily.

"Tch, look how timid you are. Besides, even if I keep the ring away from you, as long as you're still holding your phone, you still count as my friend." Chen Li tossed the entirely golden metal ring, engraved with strange patterns, off to the side.

After leaving his hand, the metal ring floated above Chen Li's head, then expanded until it reached a radius of roughly two meters, enclosing him within it.

The metal ring split into countless afterimages. The many phantom rings slowly began rotating in different directions, making Chen Li look as though he were trapped within a Rasengan, completely shielded by the ring's phantoms.

Yet Chen Li was clearly sitting on the sofa, while the rings ignored the sofa's bulk and passed straight through it, as if the two did not exist on the same layer and had no collision at all.

Then, after Chen Li snapped his fingers, the layer occupied by Friends Circle seemed to be hidden, vanishing in an instant.

"Can I touch you?" Houraisan Kaguya asked curiously.

"I know what you want to ask. Don't worry, Friends Circle won't affect my normal life. You won't be bounced away if you touch me either. It only defends against attacks directed at me," Chen Li said.

"How strong is its defense?"