Chapter 209: Magic Special Training and Battle Boot Modification (Patreon)

The little elf had been planning to play innocent, but she had no defense against the Captain's pressure. She was dragged into the room and the door was shut behind her.

She shrank into a corner, her ears stiff with nerves.

"Captain..."

"W-what do you want?"

Natsuka flashed a thoroughly wicked grin.

"You've got the nerve to ask?"

"I didn't keep you out of the dangerous subjugation battles so you could slack off all day."

"Starting today, magic lessons are back at full intensity."

With that, he made a point of dragging Ryuu in as well.

The two of them launched straight into a hellish crash course.

Three hours later.

Lefiya's face was flushed bright red, her eyes were glazed, and her pupils were spinning. She was practically a mosquito coil.

"Uuuweeeh~"

"No fainting."

Natsuka's expression was stern, like a cold-blooded cram-school tutor.

"Memorize all of this for me."

"And there's a whole pile of magic still to learn after this."

"I-I can't take any more..."

"I'm going to die~~!"

Lefiya's voice was thick with tears, and she swayed on her feet.

Ryuu patted her shoulder, without a shred of mercy.

Then she pressed two Mental Recovery Potions into Lefiya's hands.

"Hold on for another fifteen minutes."

"Two more rounds and we should be about done."

"Y-yes... Captain..."

In the end, the lesson ran for more than four hours.

Natsuka and Ryuu taught Lefiya as much of Alise and the others' magic as they could, running all sorts of tests along the way.

Naturally, that included Natsuka's own magic too.

Unfortunately, the experimental results weren't perfect.

The conclusion was that Lefiya's summoning magic still had some hidden conditions and obvious weaknesses.

The most fatal one was that the incantation was far too long.

She had to start from [Elf Ring].

Then connect it to [Astraea Record].

Only after that could she add the specific spell she actually wanted to invoke.

A short chant that might have taken just a few lines was dragged out into an absurdly long wind-up.

In real combat, a length like that would seriously cut into its effectiveness.

And there was one more problem, a more surprising one.

Lefiya couldn't cast Natsuka's magic.

Ryuu stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"You can cast all of Alise and the others' spells without trouble."

"Yet yours is the one that won't work."

"Why do you think that is?"

Lefiya hunched her shoulders and spoke in a small voice.

"I think... it's probably that our bond isn't strong enough yet."

"I've only been in the Familia for less than two weeks."

"There's no way I could reach the level of Senior Ryuu and Senior Alise..."

Natsuka shot back immediately.

"Then why can you cast Alise and the others' magic?"

Lefiya blushed, clasping her fingers together in front of her chest as if she were praying.

"Because..."

"I admire them so much."

"They were willing to sacrifice themselves without hesitation for the sake of the city's justice..."

"Everyone would look up to heroes like that, right...?"

Natsuka fell silent.

He got it.

The thing actually depended on her own subjective affection and sense of recognition.

He clutched his chest as if he'd taken a critical hit.

"I'm so sad, Lefiya-chan."

"In your heart, I can't even beat seniors you've never met."

"Waaah... Lefiya!"

"Ah, um..."

Lefiya scratched her cheek, mortified.

The next second, Natsuka grabbed her shoulders with both hands and shook her hard.

"Come on, look up to me, Lefiya!"

"Look me in the eyes!"

"Doesn't a handsome, dashing, powerful Captain deserve at least a little admiration?"

"I even have a Sprite contract!"

"Is your starting affection for me really lower than for a total stranger?"

The shaking had rattled Lefiya's eyes empty, and all she could do was shake her head wildly.

"Captain Natsuka is practically a Demon!"

"I'm not the least bit interested!"

"For the sake of the Familia's growth, can't you try a little harder?"

"Didn't I even give you a membership to the Great Library, your favorite place?!"

"Don't ask the impossible of me!"

Ryuu couldn't watch any longer and chopped Natsuka on the head.

Then she comforted Lefiya gently.

"It's all right."

"Mr. Natsuka isn't actually so bad."

"At the very least, he's a passable captain."

Looking at him slumped on all fours in defeat, Lefiya hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help adding a line herself.

"R-right, exactly."

"Even if the Captain's teaching is a bit too Spartan."

"Let's leave it at that for today."

"Starting tomorrow, I'll try to put in a bit more effort and see if I can... admire the Captain a little more...?"

Natsuka looked up at her.

Why does your sentence end like a question?

It sounded exactly like a brush-off.

In the end he sighed and sat on the floor, chin resting in one hand.

"Forget it."

"I never expected you to actually learn my magic anyway."

"After all, it's spatial magic."

"The kind where, as long as you have coordinates, you can travel straight to another world."

"It's your loss if you can't learn it."

"Another world?"

Lefiya's ears shot up, and her eyes were practically written over with "wow, so cool!"

Natsuka snorted inwardly.

Curious now, are we?

Too late.

"Go get on Miko's good side first."

"Learn her [Dead Soul Possession] first."

Lefiya looked puzzled.

"Why Miko, of all people?"

Natsuka put on a "you know why" look.

"Who could turn down a big shot who can power-level for you anytime?"

"And besides..."

"Alfia, Master of All Magic. Don't you think that's fascinating?"

At this, Lefiya's head began to spin.

"Lady Alfia, who has mastered the magic of the entire Familia..."

"W-w-w-what kind of monster is that..."

Natsuka still felt it wasn't enough and kept dropping bombs.

"That's not all."

"I suspect that if an elf casts a spell in front of her even once, she can steal it."

"That's the unreasonableness of a genius monster."

Originally she could only learn sword techniques, because magic was more a matter of personal aptitude and relied too heavily on the Falna system.

But now there was [Elf Ring].

That restriction had basically been kicked aside.

Even Ryuu's face went pale at the thought.

"In other words..."

"She could also teach Lefiya the magic of Lady Riveria, Hedin Selland, even Hogni?"

Natsuka shrugged.

"In theory, yes."

"On top of that, Alfia's top-tier combat skills could patch Lefiya's weakest point, her front-line weakness, in the fastest way possible."

"In the end, she might really become an all-around Elf Queen."

Ryuu swallowed.

Meanwhile Lefiya was already bright red, clearly daydreaming about standing at the top of Babel while a crowd of elves looked up at her.

"Hehehe~"

"An Elf Queen, huh."

"Having Lady Riveria come to me for advice instead... not that I'd want that, kehehe."

She cupped her cheeks, grinning so hard she was nearly melting.

Ryuu covered her face.

It was over.

Something seemed to be wrong with this child's head.

Maybe they should take her to Airmid for a checkup.

"So listen."

Natsuka solemnly patted the elf girl on the shoulder.

"No more slacking off by yourself."

"Lefiya, go clear your own route right now!"

Lefiya instinctively straightened up, put on a righteous look, and saluted.

"Yes, sir!"

"I'll definitely complete the mission!"

"...?"

She blinked.

Clear a route?

What route?

What's going on?

A few seconds later, a belated shriek rang through the room.

"Eeeeeh—————!"

"Basically, that's how it is."

"You can't cast the magic because your memories with us aren't deep enough yet."

"So you need to spend more time with your companions and create more shared experiences."

"This skill judges by your subjective sense of recognition."

"I can hardly make Miko the one to win you over instead."

Natsuka spread his hands as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"If it were me, I could brainwash myself in seconds and max out my affection."

Lefiya folded her arms, puffed out her cheeks, and spat a "pfft."

"Scumbag!"

Natsuka didn't mind in the slightest, and even seemed to have a case.

"I just like everyone. Is that a problem?"

"You're free not to like me."

"But you don't have the right to forbid me from liking you, do you?"

"So if you want to go to another world, don't be so hostile toward me."

"Miss Lefiya."

"Mmmph~~"

Lefiya stuck her tongue out at him.

"Pfft."

"No way."

...

The Astraea Familia's dinner that day was a little earlier than usual.

Ryuu finished eating and hurried off to help at the tavern.

The little players logged off one after another, and the once-lively hall quickly went quiet.

Natsuka returned to his workshop and began studying how to use various materials.

The workshop was brightly lit.

The tabletop was piled with ore, bone fragments, Magic Stone shavings, and parts of unknown purpose. The air carried the smell of scorched metal and machine oil, with a faint burnt-sweet trace of leftover mana.

Makise Kurisu wandered in, swaying as she came.

She was the type who could never sit still.

The moment she walked in, she started looking over the available resources.

For science, materials science was an unavoidable core foundation.

To her, many special monster drops looked like new materials that hadn't been named yet.

Strictly speaking, this leaned toward materials science rather than her own field of physics.

But now that she had the cheat of future clones, she had to build prototypes from scratch to make the [Doraemon-style gadgets] Natsuka fantasized about.

So the wider her knowledge, the better.

Besides, the end of science might be theology.

And the end of theology might loop right back around to science.

Makise Kurisu's "science" was itself a bit like a variant of "Mystery."

The difference was that it didn't run purely on "I reckon so." It had to be properly researched and understood.

She seemed to be in a good mood, even humming a little tune as she rummaged through Natsuka's small treasure trove.

Soon, her gaze was caught by the [Gear Fourth Boots] sitting off to one side.

She had of course seen Natsuka use this gear.

She'd assumed it was a purely magical item.

But after a closer look, she froze.

Because the structure of the thing had an unmistakable whiff of "Conan science" to it.

"Who made this?"

Makise Kurisu lifted the boots, her eyes full of curiosity.

Natsuka didn't even look up and answered offhandedly.

"My neighbor."

"A jobless, slacker doctor."

"Loves tinkering with weird and wonderful stuff."

"Ooh—"

Makise Kurisu turned the boots over and soon had the principle mostly figured out.

But the more she looked, the deeper her frown got.

"You're saying this thing can boost leg strength to about four times?"

"Does that make sense?"

Natsuka shrugged.

"Who knows?"

"I've always just called it Conan science."

"Anyway, whatever exists makes sense."

Makise Kurisu's tone was firm.

"By normal physics, this is absolutely nonsensical."

"Even if you could pull it off, your leg bones couldn't possibly take it."

"They'd snap at the moment of impact."

Natsuka was still tinkering with the parts on the table, not paying much attention.

"Maybe I'm just tough."

"So I can handle it?"

"Now that you mention it, my right leg did feel a bit off after I kicked Juggernaut."

Makise Kurisu sighed.

"Of course it feels off."

"This isn't a game."

"Stat boosts don't mean your body can withstand them without limit."

Natsuka stubbornly held his ground.

"You might not know this."

"But before long, some elementary school kid might be using a toy like this to kick a soccer ball half a city away in five seconds."

Makise Kurisu threw up a hand and vetoed it on the spot.

"Impossible."

"Absolutely impossible."

"Beika City is a hundred kilometers across, give or take."

"Half a city is fifty kilometers."

"Fifty kilometers in five seconds is ten thousand meters per second."

"That's thirty times the speed of sound."

"What is he, a Railgun?"

Hearing her work it out, even Natsuka stalled for a moment.

Thinking about it...

It really was about the same as a Railgun.

After all, that soccer ball had left a streak of light when it flew, like a shooting star.

Conan, truly terrifying.

"Maybe everyone in the Ordinary World has awakened their Cosmo."

"After all, there are people who can pull off Tenbu Hōrin."

"Anything more absurd than that doesn't seem all that unacceptable."

Makise Kurisu's eyes brightened.

"Now that you put it that way, I'm suddenly very interested in this Agasa Hakase."

Still busy, Natsuka answered offhandedly.

"I'll take you to meet him later."

"We're all in the same circle anyway. You've probably heard his name at some point."

Makise Kurisu nodded.

But right then, Natsuka's hands stopped.

Wait.

He snapped his head up and stared at Makise Kurisu.

A terrifying thought shot through his brain.

What if the soccer ball Conan kicks in the future isn't the leg-strength-boosting-shoes version anymore?

What if it's the Railgun version, with an electromagnetic propulsion device enchanted into it?

Good grief.

Thinking about it, even his voice began to tremble slightly.

"Assistant."

"Have you ever thought about..."

"enchanting an electromagnetic propulsion device onto my [Gear Fourth Boots]?"

"Huh?"

Makise Kurisu was stunned at first, then wore a complicated look that said, "It's not impossible to try."

"Try it?"

The decision made, Natsuka sprang into action.

He ran back and forth, hauling all the Railgun parts from beside the flower bed into the workshop.

Makise Kurisu pressed her hand against the Railgun parts.

As rainbow light flowed, the entire Railgun seemed to be compressed into a strange rune, which she gripped straight into her palm.

She looked as if she'd suddenly understood something.

The next second, she picked up Natsuka's carving knife and a welding tool and began modifying the metal boots.

Meanwhile, Natsuka activated his own Mystery ability and assisted from the side with corrections.

The two of them worked forehead to forehead, hammering away at that pair of boots for three solid hours.

Sparks flew around the workshop.

Welding light flashed on and off.

The sounds of metal being cut and cooled rose one after another.

By the time the sky outside had darkened and the clock in the corner was nearing midnight,

the new boots were finally finished.

Natsuka stared at the right leg guard, completely dumbstruck.

Along the outside of the guard were set rows of energy storage slots, its lines cold and smooth, its style absurdly cyberpunk.

"We actually built it..."

he murmured in awe.

After he put on the new boots and fed spiritual power into them, the energy slots on the right side lit up one by one.

Charging even came with metallic chimes.

"Gear One!"

"Gear Two!"

"Gear Three!"

"Gear Four!"

"Railgun ready!"

Natsuka and Makise Kurisu exchanged a look.