*****

The day after the arrow base was finished. Having gotten plenty of rest and fully recovered my mana, I was using Sacred Alchemy to perform the Enchantment work in order to complete the Arrow of Banishing.

You'd think that since this was my second time around, I'd have caught on to the knack of it and wrapped things up in no time... or so I wished.

「H-Hold on, let's take a little break. This is way more exhausting than I expected.」

I was huffing and puffing so hard my shoulders heaved; even with Sacred Alchemy, the Enchantment just wouldn't take properly.

It felt like trying to tame a bucking bronco, and I was locked in a brutal struggle against it.

As I slumped down to the floor in utter exhaustion, Leon brought over some tea.

「You look like you're having a really rough time. Maybe the base Enchantment work was a bit too coarse?」

「Is that so...? And here I thought I did it so carefully.」

「There could be compatibility issues, or maybe different types of mana are interfering with each other and causing trouble. It happens all the time with Enchantments. I bet the feedback is just way more noticeable since it's an item on the level of Magic Equipment.」

Leon's point made total sense. When I took a real good look at the base for the Arrow of Banishing, the mana coating was definitely far from clean—

「Compared to Vanessa-san's work, my mana enchantment really is pretty rough.」

「Well, Vanessa-sama was an A-rank alchemist, after all. If you compare it to something someone poured three days and three nights into, there's obviously going to be a massive gap.」

「If we tried to do mana manipulation that meticulous, it'd take a solid two weeks even if I split the work with you, Leon-kun. I think it'd be better to break the Sacred Alchemy process into stages this time and aim to finish it bit by bit.」

(Haaah...) Letting out a massive sigh, I felt the sheer difficulty of crafting Magic Equipment sink in deep.

If Master Clein and Leon hadn't been backing me up, I probably would've ended up in an even worse spot. The day I could make one entirely on my own still felt a long way off.

Above all, keeping up the continuous use of Sacred Alchemy caused a massive amount of both physical and mental fatigue to pile up. Burning through huge amounts of mana in such a short window completely drained my internal energy reserves, leaving me—

「I really want a sweet snack right about now...」

I suddenly had an intense craving for something sweet.

Maybe the reason Obaba-sama loved sweets so much was actually due to burning way too much energy on Sacred Alchemy. Though her eating nothing but traditional Japanese sweets was probably just a matter of personal preference.

Come to think of it, those chestnut manju I brought her as a treat the other day looked delicious... Alright, I'm definitely buying some chestnut manju on my way home from work today!

Realizing that just thinking about food could completely recharge my motivation made me accept what a simple creature I truly was.

---

Four days passed in a blur of using nothing but Sacred Alchemy. Finally, the moment we had been waiting for arrived.

As the individual Enchantments I'd layered over the past few days began to connect, the mana suddenly surged into a full internal loop, generating a massive wave of power. Then, it unleashed a unique, otherworldly aura, just like the Necklace of Warding.

「Whoaaaa! It's done!!!」

The gold-and-silver glowing piece of Magic Equipment, the Arrow of Banishing, was finally complete.

At a time like this, Leon and I had no choice but to celebrate in perfect synchronization.

「It has an aura that completely deflects magic effects.」

See? We even blurted out the exact same line. We must be totally on the same wavelength.

If Master Clein had been around, he definitely would've laughed at us, but he hadn't shown his face in the workshop today. Ever since he finished pre-treating the materials for the Magic Equipment, he'd been out of the office a lot.

Since it was completed thanks to Master Clein's hard work too, I wanted to share the joy with him as soon as possible. More than anything, this meant we could finally put an end to this long-running investigation commission.

「Now, if we just shoot through that magic circle with this, true peace will return to the royal capital... Wait. Shoot through... that magic circle?」

A massive wave of realization hit me, and the words died in my throat.

I had been completely under the impression that just making the Arrow of Banishing would let us destroy the Ancient Alchemy. But if you actually want to use an arrow, it naturally follows that you also need a bow...

「Don't tell me... do we need a bow for this too?」

「Ah... so you finally noticed. If you want to shoot the Arrow of Banishing, a bow sturdy enough to withstand its massive power is absolutely essential.」

「Eeeehh?! And here I thought we were finally done...」

Honestly, pushing my Sacred Alchemy any further than this was going to kill me, and the mere thought of starting all over from scratch made me... Aaahhh! I want pudding!

While I was hanging my head in despair, my mind completely hijacked by thoughts of sweets, the workshop door swung open and Master Clein walked in.

He was carrying some kind of massive luggage... Wait, could that be...!

「Is that... a bow?!」

「Yeah. Knowing you'd have your hands full just making the Arrow of Banishing, I went ahead and crafted a bow on my end. It should be able to withstand the force of the Arrow of Banishing at least once or twice.」

With those words, he showed off a massive longbow crafted from fine wood. It was beautifully polished and radiated such a dense concentration of infused mana that anyone could see it was a magnificent piece of craftsmanship.

「W-When did you even find the time...?」

「If you're the only one doing all the heavy lifting, I might end up losing my position as a Court Alchemist. I'm just doing the bare minimum required of my job.」

As Master Clein spoke, I noticed the massive dark circles under his eyes.

Unlike me, who had been completely blinded by focusing solely on the Arrow of Banishing, he had been keeping a close eye on the bigger picture and quietly covering for us.

Realizing once again just how incredibly reliable he was when the chips were down, I couldn't help but admire what a truly wonderful master Clein was.

*****

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