Magic Staff

"Brother..."

That evening, in the lounge beside the Dwarf Laboratory, Richard woke several times from his deep sleep, calling for his brother each time.

"It's all right, it's all right. Master Adarua said you'll recover soon. You'll be able to start training again before long."

Donald stayed by Richard's side. Thanks to Dean Devis's medicinal potion and Adarua's Orange Healing Potion, Richard's injuries were no longer serious. Only his palms remained badly swollen.

Richard was awake for a little while, then fell asleep again as Donald comforted him.

"Donald, you should get some rest too. You have another match tomorrow. I can look after Richard." Kelly still had a bandage hanging from her hand, and her arm was fixed in a splint, but aside from that, she could move around freely.

The tournament didn't end until dusk. Donald didn't return to the accommodation arranged by the Academy; instead, he went with Kelly to the Dwarf Laboratory. By the time they arrived, Adarua had already treated Richard properly.

As someone dispatched to the Central Land to oversee the ambassador's security, Adarua clearly had extensive experience in first aid. The healing potions he carried with him must have been extremely precious as well. Without his earlier brutal training and the timely treatment afterward, Richard really might not have survived.

Donald sat for a little longer before the Gnome sisters came in from outside. They tiptoed toward Richard's bed. Adarua must have warned them to keep quiet, worried that their chatter would disturb Richard's rest. The two sisters had simply turned the Dwarf's request into a furtive little sneak.

Watching them creep about nervously, Donald suddenly thought of something and called them out of the lounge.

"Are the results of the last experiment ready?"

"Ah! We were just about to tell you. Adding two parts per thousand of Fine Steel to Devil King Light Iron doubled its strength!" Ailimanda said.

"Right, right! Adding three parts per thousand of Mithril made it even stronger. The only problem is... it costs a lot more." Ailimiya added.

"It's twice as strong as before? So it's already much harder than ordinary iron? Would this material be useful for mining?" Donald asked.

"Mm! It's much harder than iron, only a third of the weight, and it isn't expensive. But we've never been to a mining area, so we don't know if it would be useful."

"Right, right! We've never been to a mining area. Mia thinks it should be useful, though. Can we send our research results back?"

"Of course." Donald readily agreed. The research had been done in the Dwarves' laboratory, so the results rightfully belonged to them. He paused, then continued, "I'd like to ask you two for a favor. Would you help me?"

The Gnome sisters happily agreed without even asking what he wanted them to do.

Donald carefully drew several designs and handed them to the sisters.

"Use a fairly hard material, if possible. Dwarf Fine Steel would be ideal. Can you finish it tonight?"

"Sure! We'll definitely finish it tonight!" Ailimanda said excitedly. The detailed designs had her thrilled.

"Right, right! We'll finish it for sure. Great Demon King Donald, what is this thing, anyway?" Ailimiya seemed even more curious than her sister.

"...A Magic Staff," Donald replied.

"Wow, Mia! We're making a Magic Staff!"

"It's Great Demon King Donald's Magic Staff!"

The Gnome sisters exchanged wide-eyed looks, then bounced off to start up the machines.

Donald felt a little guilty about making two child workers do a personal job for him, but the sisters didn't complain at all.

Though he was exhausted, Donald still spent more than an hour meditating.

While Donald meditated, Kelly, who was keeping watch by Richard's side, stared at him in a daze.

The young man before her had accomplished so many amazing things in just over half a year. He was already an extraordinary Magic Apprentice, and had even miraculously killed a peak Squire in a head-on fight. Judging by Adarua and the Gnome sisters' attitude toward him today, he clearly wasn't simply working in this laboratory. It was obvious that he was also behind her grandfather's family recently going into the Dwarf weapons business.

For the first time, Kelly looked at the young man's quiet face from so close, without holding back. A strange feeling stirred in her. The Donald before her no longer seemed to be the same boy she remembered as shy and quiet. He was far more outstanding than the one she'd imagined.

The quiet boy who sat in the blacksmith's shop, smiling as he listened to her talk, had once been the focus of her girlish affection. He had been so wonderful, even if he was a little frail.

But the Donald before her now had a chest and arms she could safely lean on. Although she felt so frail beside him, the feeling of being able to accept his protection without reservation made her heart flutter with happiness.

Lost in these girlish thoughts, Kelly watched as Donald suddenly came to and clutched his head with both hands, looking as if he were in great pain. Every day, Donald experienced this pain while meditating. It slowly tempered his character, making the heart beneath his easygoing exterior more resolute.

Kelly knew that Donald had been meditating, but she didn't know why he had suddenly looked so pained. In her panic, she rushed over and dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around him.

"It's all right. It's a natural reaction when Spiritual Power grows." Donald gently patted Kelly's back and comforted her in a quiet voice.

Kelly still wasn't reassured. She held him tightly, her beautiful hair resting beneath his nose.

As he breathed in the girl's distinctive hair fragrance, Donald felt the pain ease.

"I can't let you shoulder everything... Kelly has to become stronger too..."

As she said this, Kelly began to cry. She suddenly realized how selfish her earlier thoughts had been. Yes, she had to grow stronger too. She couldn't let him bear everything alone like he had today while she just hid off to the side.

"Mm. Kelly will become a cool lady Knight." Donald smiled, kissing the girl's hair.

Morning came. When Donald woke, the first thing he saw was an exquisitely crafted Magic Staff.

It was made of an unknown, pale gray material that shimmered faintly with a deep blue light. Mysterious patterns were carved into the shaft, while deeper crosshatching had been etched into the grip to keep it from slipping. The handle could be twisted with a little force, and its resistance was just right. It had clearly been crafted with extreme precision.

But the whole Magic Staff felt very light in his hand. It didn't seem to be made of Dwarf Fine Steel.

At Donald's puzzled expression, the Gnome sisters smiled smugly. Their two adorable faces were visibly tired, though. They clearly hadn't slept all night.

"Mia, I told you the Great Demon King wouldn't guess what material we used. Oh, right, it was Mia who insisted on carving the patterns. Now we can't engrave a Magic Array on it, and that's not my fault!"

"Hmph, didn't you also say it looked too plain? You're in charge of the laboratory materials, and you prepared everything. You're the one who didn't get enough Mithril, so we only used a quarter of the Mithril this time. And now you're blaming me."

"A quarter Mithril? That's far too expensive!" Donald couldn't help exclaiming. Mages only used Mithril, which was compatible with every Magic Element, in the most critical parts of a magical device. Yet these two little ones had used so much Mithril to make a simple Magic Staff. It was outrageously wasteful.

"Mom said this laboratory can spend twenty thousand Magic Crystals a year. Over the past few months, we've barely spent anything besides buying materials, and we've already developed such an amazing result. It's a shame we ran out of time to buy more. Otherwise, we should've used half Mithril to match the Great Demon King's status!"

"Right, right! Mom also said that if we achieved results, the budget could be increased. Sending our Devil King Light Iron research back will definitely get us more funding. We spent less than half the budget on this Mithril, so don't worry about running out of money. And Mom said this is the best-equipped laboratory on the Central Land, which is why it has genius engineers like us as assistants!" Ailimiya didn't blush at all as she called herself a genius engineer.

Twenty thousand Magic Crystals?! At that number, Donald almost felt dizzy. As far as he knew, Tris Magic Academy only received a Magic Crystal Quota of around ten thousand a year. This little laboratory under his supervision had a bigger budget than the enormous Magic Academy. No wonder the sisters had managed to gather so many different metals so quickly when he'd asked them to prepare some.

"Forget it. We'll leave out the Magic Array for now. Why did you have so much Mithril in the laboratory?" Donald asked as he rubbed the Magic Staff in his hand. From what Ailimiya had just said, this thing had cost several thousand Magic Crystals. Donald suddenly felt its weight grow tremendously.

"Because Mom said Donald was a Mage, and we thought Mages must use a lot of Mithril."

"Besides, shipping it from home takes too long. We didn't want to hold things up, so we stocked up. We can return whatever we don't use."

Only then did Donald remember that besides producing Magic Crystals, the Extreme North Country was also an important source of Mithril. The Gnomes must have paid far less for it than people in the Central Land. All things considered, the Mithril would probably be worth even more on the Hells Continent than he had imagined.

That was exactly the case. Even in the Extreme North Country, Mithril production was extremely low. On top of that, exports were restricted, so Mithril cost more than ten times what the Gnome sisters thought it did in the Central Land. And even at that price, demand still outstripped supply.

This legendary, wondrous magical material was not only compatible with magic and lightweight, but also far harder than other metals. Even adding a tiny bit of Mithril to ordinary steel could give it properties close to Dwarf Fine Steel.

The Magic Staff before him, made of Dwarf Fine Steel mixed with a quarter Mithril, must have been absurdly strong. If used as a weapon, it could probably hold its own against most famed blades.

Faced with such kindness from the Gnome sisters, Donald had no choice but to accept the excessively lavish gift. He took the Magic Staff to Adarua, and the two of them spent a long while examining it outside. Even the Dwarf couldn't help praising Donald's genius for natural history.

"How did you come up with this? A Magic Staff without a Magic Array—that's interesting."

After breakfast, Kelly stayed behind to look after Richard. At Adarua's insistence, the Gnome sisters stayed in the laboratory to sleep. Adarua, who was responsible for their safety, naturally stayed as well. Before Donald left, Kelly repeatedly reminded him to be careful.

When Donald arrived at the Martial Magic Tournament venue, the competition hadn't started yet, but all the Magic Academy students were already seated. Lucia sat prominently among the professors in the very front row of the Magic Academy section. Beside her, naturally, sat Kaz, the Regiment Commander of the Crimson Knights.

"I heard about what happened yesterday. Be careful today." The moment Lucia saw Donald, she came over, her concern plain on her face. Kaz followed close behind her.

"Mm, I'll be careful," Donald replied softly.

Lucia suddenly didn't know what else to say, but she couldn't bear to let Donald go just like that. She simply stood in front of him in a daze, and he quietly waited for her to speak. With so many eyes on them, the atmosphere between the two of them quickly turned awkward.

"You fought well yesterday!" Lucia's cheeks were already faintly red. After forcing out those words, she returned to her seat with Kaz.