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I devoted my afternoon engineering class to revising the simplified formula for Spark Shot, and after band practice that evening, Melua and I resumed work on the magic cannon.

As for the band, Hom must have discovered something during yesterday’s practice. She improved dramatically, surprising even Estea, and her performance harmonized beautifully with Alfe’s singing. As for me, I still felt like I was lagging behind, but everyone else seemed to take that as modesty. Apparently, I had made more progress than they had expected.

“Even so, Master, you’re seriously in demand, huh~?”
“Am I?”

I tilted my head at Melua’s remark as she happily admired the half-finished magic cannon.

“I mean, you’ve got classroom cleaning for Class F, your class representative duties, band practice, Hom’s extra lessons, and this magic cannon project. It’s like nothing gets done without you!”
“Not really. Vannabelle’s been handling the class representative work for me.”
“Huh. She’s a lot more considerate than I expected.”

It was understandable that Melua would be surprised.

When I first enrolled here, I never imagined Vannabelle and I would become this close.

The same could be said for Estea.

“Well, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. But I think once you get to know someone’s strengths and help them develop those strengths for the sake of others, it becomes much easier to get along.”
“Waaah! Master, that was such a great thing to say! Seriously, isn’t your heart deeper than the sea and higher than the mountains?”
“I’m not entirely sure what that comparison is supposed to mean. But I’m happy you think so. Thank you.”

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

Maybe this was proof that, in my second life, I had finally learned how to connect with other people.

“Hehe. When you praise me, Master, it makes me feel all warm inside. Everyone always treated it like anything I did was just expected of me… so this feels really nice.”

Apparently Melua had been feeling something similar.

She smiled contentedly.

“So, how’s the Ithildin-Dumanium composite?”

I asked as I prepared the heat pen.

Melua lifted the mold, examined it carefully, then tested its hardness with her fingertips.

“Yep! It’s completely hardened. Master, want me to help take it out?”
“I appreciate the offer, but there’s something else I need you to do. I’d like you to engrave the simplified formulas.”
“Just carve the Spark Shot formulas onto these four plates, right?”
“That’s right. The Ithildin-Dumanium composite is quite hard, so use the heat pen. You’re comfortable with it, aren’t you?”

A heat pen was a fountain pen–shaped magical device engraved with the simplified formula for the fire spell Flare Torch, designed specifically for cutting metal. By channeling aether through the grip, the pen activated Flare Torch from its tip, and using it effectively required precise control over the amount of aether supplied to regulate its heat.

“Of course! Leave something this easy to me!”

Accepting the task enthusiastically, Melua reviewed the simplified formulas on the back of the blueprint before immediately beginning to engrave the Spark Shot formulas into the Ithildin-Dumanium composite using the heat pen.

I watched her hands for a moment, but she seemed to have everything under control.

That gave me time to check the alchemical metal Reivaskin, just to be safe.

For this project, I would be using Reivaskin that had already been liquefied. When I gently shook the flask, which had been sealed with a cork bearing a vacuum-preservation seal, I confirmed that the metal had remained perfectly liquid.

At first, I had considered using iron.

But I doubted it would withstand the heat generated by four simultaneous Spark Shots, so I settled on Reivaskin, the durable yet lightweight alchemical metal used in the armor of Mecha Soldiers and Subordinate Units.

Once the conductive liquid Reivaskin was poured into the simplified formulas Melua had engraved, creating the pathway for the Spark Shot to travel, the magic cannon would be nearly complete.

“…Hm? Wait a second, Master.”

Just as I was about to move on to the next step, Melua stopped working and called out, so I walked over to her.

“What’s wrong?”
“Isn’t this way too complicated for a Spark Shot simplified formula…?”

Ah.

I hadn’t explained that part yet.

Melua had always possessed enough talent to become a Special-Class Alchemist, but thankfully, she wasn’t the type to let preconceived notions dictate her work.

“Right. I modified it specifically for this magic cannon. Since the formula has to extend all the way to the muzzle, I combined five simplified formulas together. The fundamentals are still the same, though, so it isn’t really all that complicated.”

I kept the explanation brief, confident that Melua could work out the details herself.

Instead, her eyes widened in surprise as they darted rapidly between me and the sample formula.

“Huh? So… putting it really simply, you’re saying each one of these plates needs the equivalent of five Spark Shot formulas engraved onto it!? And there are four plates, so that’s twenty! Twenty!”
“That’s right.”

Maybe this was why she had once said she wasn’t very good at writing simplified formulas.

It wasn’t just that she struggled with writing them—perhaps she hadn’t memorized them in the first place.

As I nodded with a wry smile, Melua frantically waved both hands in front of her face.

“No, no! It’s not like Marie has a Pure Eye like me or Alfe! If you hand something like this to an ordinary person in terms of aether capacity, she’ll burn through twenty times the normal magic power and collapse in no time!”

Of course, I had already considered that.

The next step was designed specifically to solve that problem.

“To compensate for that, I designed the grip so it can house an aether amplifier.”

I flipped the blueprint back to the front and pointed to the grip section I had already designed.

Melua stared at it intently.

“…Ah.”

A small realization escaped her lips.

“An aether amplifier… This red mark… don’t tell me… it’s Blood Grail!?”
“Exactly. I’ll transmute the Blood Grail next, and after that we’ll pour in the Reivaskin. While I’m working on that, I’d like you to engrave the simplified formulas.”
“Yeah… that’s something only you can do, Master…”

Muttering to herself, Melua nodded over and over as though everything had finally clicked into place.

I felt a little bad that the four formulas she had expected had suddenly become twenty, but it still wasn’t an impossible amount of work.

Even so, it was probably best to make sure she was willing.

“There are a lot more than you were expecting. What do you think? I believe you can do it, Melua.”
“I can do it… but… I mean, this is supposed to be my present for Marie, and you’re already helping me so much. It’s kinda something I have to do myself…”

The hesitation in Melua’s voice stemmed from her own lack of confidence.

If she truly considered herself my apprentice, perhaps this was a hurdle she needed to overcome.

“I know meticulous work isn’t your strong suit. But the simplified formulas are much less complicated than the transmutation circle for Blood Grail.”
“Well, yeah, obviously! Even copying yours, that would’ve been impossible! Besides, if I just dumped everything on you, then I’d basically be making you use my Blood Grail…”

Ah.

Melua had been thinking it through in her own way.

There was no intention of using the Blood Grail I’d promised to give her as leverage, so I decided to make that clear. I seemed to remember Ms. Anais and Mr. Lionel saying something similar once—when it came to things like this, the most important part was helping the person find the motivation to tackle it themselves.

“No, no, I wouldn’t do that. But we do want to have it finished in time for Marie’s birthday, don’t we?”
“Definitely~. Alright! I’ll take this as my chance to finally get over this weakness!”

Perhaps she understood what I was trying to do.

Leaving me with a determined reply, Melua returned to engraving the Spark Shot simplified formulas once more.