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Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

According to Alfe, Melua often spent her lunch break in the atelier. If she dedicated all of her afternoon class time to alchemy, that made perfect sense.

That also meant her evening tea time with Estea was likely their way of keeping in touch. Even though they were roommates, Estea seemed to be constantly busy, and Melua, with her intensive alchemy research, probably needed something sweet to recharge her mind.

“…Senior Melua, excuse us.”

Alfe, looking slightly nervous, knocked on the atelier door.

“Yes, yes! My hands are full right now, so just come on in~!”

Melua’s voice rang out immediately from within. It carried a cheerful tone, as if she was trying to put Alfe at ease. Alfe and I exchanged glances and nodded before stepping inside.

“Thank you. Um, I—”
“Wait, what!? Hold on, Master!?”

Before Alfe could finish, Melua suddenly looked up in surprise and pointed at me.

“Why are you here with Alfe!?”
“I wasn’t planning to rely on you for this, but… I have a favor to ask.”

I had no intention of interrupting Alfe, and since Melua seemed busy, I decided to get straight to the point.

“If it’s a request from you, Master, I’ll do anything! So, what is it!?”

Despite claiming to be busy, Melua rushed over to us, eagerly leaning forward.

“I actually want to make a Blood Grail, so I was hoping you could share some magic stones with me.”
“Huh!?”

At the mention of Blood Grail, Melua’s eyes went wide with shock.

“Blood Grail… That’s the synthesized magic stone invented by the Grande Alchemist, Albion Paracelsus¹, right!? The one that amplifies aether… Oh! Are you planning to use it as an aether amplifier for Alfe’s Mecha Soldier!?”

As expected of Melua, she caught on quickly. That made things easier.

“Exactly. I’m designing a magic staff specifically for the Mecha Soldier. That way, I can also put your teachings to good use.”
“Whaaa—! I’m so jealous!!! I want one too~!”
“Well…”

Since she was providing the materials, it was only fair to offer Melua something in return. But before I could decide, she waved her hand in front of my face and grinned.

“I get it, Master! This is to help Alfe win, right? I’ll just have to swallow my tears and endure it!”

She didn’t seem too bothered about supplying her rival with an advantage. Then again, that just showed how much of a gap existed between our side and hers. Beyond just machine performance, Estea and Melua’s personal skill—having won last year’s tournament—proved how formidable they were.

“…But hey, once everything’s done, let me use it too, okay?”
“If it’s still in one piece by then.”

Not that I expected Melua to hold back in the competition. Even so, she threw up both hands in excitement.

“Yay! Then I’ll give you some of my best, top-quality stones, Master!”
“Thanks, Melua.”
“Alright then, let’s pick one out real quick! Alfe, you want to show off the results of your multi-vision spell practice too, right?”
“Yes!”

More than anything, this visit showed me that Melua genuinely cared about Alfe, even if she didn’t always say it outright. That was probably the biggest takeaway from coming here together.

The second was the collection of five-attribute magic stones Melua packed into a wooden box and enchanted with a floating spell to make them easier to transport.

“Alright, next up is Alfe! Have you conquered the challenge this teacher has given you~?”
“I also have my own challenges to tackle, so I’d like you to watch first.”
“Of course~♪”

Having finished gathering the magic stones, Melua now began setting up a practice space for Alfe’s multi-vision spell formations.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it. Thanks for the help, Melua.”
“Anytime, Master~! I’m really happy you relied on me for this.”

Melua and Alfe waved as they saw me off from the atelier.

Even so, seeing how seriously Alfe was taking this, how much effort she was putting in, made me feel the weight of my own responsibilities. If she was striving this hard, then I had to meet her dedication with everything I had—I had to build her the perfect machine, one worthy of all her efforts.

1. Robinxen: That’s a nice name.

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