Chapter 1-35 : The Girl And The Dark Elf Are Having A Tea Party (part 2)
After enjoying the tea and the sweets for a while, they decided to talk about Elle’s magic stone.
As soon as Ingrid finished her second cup of tea, she took out the fire magic stone she had received from Elle earlier and observed it closely.
「There’s no doubt about it… This is an incredibly high-quality magic stone!」(Ingrid)
Her eyes were sparkling, probably not because the light from the magic lamps reflected in her eyes, but because she was so excited.
「Do you think so?」(Elle)
「Yeah. There’s no enchanter in this city who can make a magic stone as good as this one. First of all, the quality of the mana infused into it is excellent and pure, and the enhancement technique used in the process must be quite impressive as well. The color is clear and almost transparent. It’s so beautiful.」(Ingrid)
Listening to Ingrid, Elle felt a complex mix of emotions. She felt somewhat embarrassed but happy at the same time that the magic stone she made was praised.
It reminded her of when Moritz complimented her for the first time.
「Hahh… If only I had more magic stones of this quality, I could show those fools what I’m capable of!」(Ingrid)
After she let out a sigh, Ingrid suddenly changed her expression. She frowned as if she wanted to take revenge or something.
It scared Elle a bit.
「Ah, I’m sorry. I… Have some problems with some fools.」(Ingrid)
「No, it’s alright. Do you mind telling me?」(Elle)
「Well, you see. Living as a dark elf in a big city like this is not easy. Other races, especially humans, tend to avoid us. They hate dark elves. Among them, there are people who mock and ridicule my research, saying that my inventions are worthless pieces of junk that will never work.」(Ingrid)
「Junk? But they’re not, right? These magic lamps, for example. They’re amazing.」(Elle)
「Haha. Only you who ever said that. The thing is… those people were right. That’s why I’m so frustrated. The magic tools I make mostly don’t work as intended. These magic lamps just happen to be exceptional.」(Ingrid)
「I see… But, why don’t they work?」(Elle)
「The magic tools I invented have a problem with power efficiency. Ordinary magic stones don’t have enough power to make them work. However, this magic stone might do.」(Ingrid)
Suddenly, Ingrid put away the magic stone, leaned forward, and grabbed Elle’s hand.
「Please! Would you tell me where you got it?」(Ingrid)
「Eh?」(Elle)
「I promise I won’t tell anyone! I don’t have much money, but I can pay you for the information. I want to see the enchanter who made this stone! Please!」(Ingrid)
She started begging Elle.
Elle could tell she was seriously asking for help as if the person she was looking for could save her life.
「Umm, you’re looking at her now.」(Elle)
「Huh? What do you mean?」(Ingrid)
「It’s me. I made this magic stone.」(Elle)
「You… What!? Re, really!?」(Ingrid)
Ingrid didn’t see it coming. In contrast to her, who looked surprised, Elle replied with a casual nod.
「I really wasn’t expecting that… I thought you got it from someone and tried to sell it to a merchant at the night market… So, you’re an enchanter then?」(Ingrid)
「I guess so.」(Elle)
「Unbelievable… I’ve never seen a young, talented enchanter like you…」(Ingrid)
「I’m not sure if I’m talented…」(Elle)
「You are! You made such an amazing magic stone!」(Ingrid)
「Th, thanks…」(Elle)
Ingrid’s words made Elle feel more embarrassed. She blushed as she looked away.
She thought Ingrid was complimenting her too much.
「But, you said you were an enchanter too, right? Can’t you make a magic stone like this?」(Elle)
「No way I can do that. I’m far from being a decent enchanter. I’m still learning. Besides, my job is an engineer, and my main interest is to create magic tools, not magic stones. Say, would you show me how you make a magic stone? Sorry, it’s not that I don’t believe you. I’m just curious.」(Ingrid)
「Sure.」(Elle)
「Great! Hang on, I’ll get everything ready for you!」(Ingrid)
Ingrid, who was so pumped up, quickly cleaned up the table and put the tea set and the snacks away.
Now that the clutter covering the table had been removed, Elle noticed that the table was actually a workbench that could also be used as a transmutation table.
After cleaning up the table, Ingrid spread a blank parchment and handed the tools and ingredients such as a brush, ink, steel tongs, iron sand, and a magic ore to Elle.
It was time for Elle to get to work. She drew a magic circle on the parchment with the brush and ink, sprinkled iron sand, which fire fairies love, on the drawing, and then chanted the spell.
「Rise and burn ーPhotia!」(Elle)
Soon after, a burning flame appeared out of thin air on the magic circle. Elle then used the steel tongs to carefully put a magic ore into the flame.
The magic ore turned red as it was heated by the fire. While turning it over and over multiple times using the tongs, Elle kept the flame burning with her mana.
After about five minutes, the magic ore completely turned red and as clear as crystal, indicating that it had turned into a fire magic stone. Elle then put it away to wait until it cooled down.
「It’s done.」(Elle)
「Whoaaa!」(Ingrid)
Ingrid brought her face close to the hot, freshly made fire magic stone to observe it closely. She was impressed by how well-made it was.
「Normally, it would take longer, but you did it in only five minutes, and with that short amount of time, you managed to make a magic stone of this quality… Impressive! Well done! You seem not to realize it yourself, but you ARE a talented enchanter!」(Ingrid)
「Thank you. That… makes me happy.」(Elle)
「Haha! I should be the one to be happy. I’m so happy to meet someone like you! How long have you been making magic stones?」(Ingrid)
「Several years while I was living in the forest.」(Elle)
「Oh? So you used to live in a forest too? How could you get yourself magic ores then?」(Ingrid)
「I mined them myself.」(Elle)
「Say what!? You can do that too!?」(Ingrid)
Ingrid was surprised, but then again, Elle reacted casually with a nod.
Mining and extracting magic ores from rocks was not a simple job that anybody could do. It required certain abilities related to magic.
Magic ores normally could be found in rocks, and to determine which chunks of rocks had magic ores inside them, you needed the ability to sense the presence of magic ores.
To extract a magic ore from a rock, first, you had to pour your mana into the rock to determine the magic ore’s exact location. After that, you carefully chip away the rock using a hammer and chisel until you can take out the magic ore.
The reason why you need to be careful is that magic ores are delicate. You can’t even scratch them because they can’t be processed into magic stones if they’re damaged.
That’s why magic ore miners are different from ordinary miners, and not anyone can become one.
「Not only can you make magic stones, but you can mine magic ores too… Not all professional enchanters can mine magic ores themselves, you know? Who taught you all that?」(Ingrid)
「My late master.」(Elle)
「Ah, I remember you mentioned him before. Who exactly was your master?」(Ingrid)
「I’m sorry. I can’t tell you. He told me not to tell anyone about him.」(Elle)
「I see. Anyway, would you mind helping me with something?」(Ingrid)
「Hm? What do you want me to do?」(Elle)
「Wait a moment. I’ll be back.」(Ingrid)
Now that Ingrid had learned that Elle could extract magic ores, she stood up and went into the back room.
She returned a minute later with a cart loaded with a huge rock.
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