Five Elders Workshop

The Five Elders' workshop was completed at Karina's base.

A dream workshop that surpassed even their wildest ideals, designed by the five of them after hearing about Karina's abilities.

Furnaces and potion bottles with perfect thermal insulation, made from Spatial Magic walls.

A space with stable temperature and humidity.

Flower beds that reproduced seasonal climates, though the flowers hadn't bloomed yet.

Clocks that told time with millisecond precision.

Sunlight and moonlight constantly pouring down from skylights at fixed angles.

An infinite warehouse that could store any amount of materials and finished products.

And you could access any shelf you wanted just by reaching out lightly from your workstation.

An away function that could pause time itself within a space when you needed to step away from your work.

Meals were always available as "freshly-made prepared food," and fresh, clean water was unlimited—

"Woooow… this is electrifying… amaziiing."

"Th-this… can we really, really use this?"

"Waaah, the sunlight from the skylights is so bright, and the full moon is beautiful too!"

"This is incredible, it's such an impossible sight. I'm so moved."

"We can mix potions all we want… and we don't have to go to the warehouse each time, we can just reach out and grab things…!"

So many things that they had thought "it would be nice to have, but there's no way it could exist" had become reality.

"By the way, Vermilion. I know it's a bit late to ask, but isn't interfering with time supposed to be taboo?"

"Kari-chan has permission from the Goddess, so it's fine."

"If it's Goddess-approved, then we're safe! … Though it's a shame we can't accelerate time!"

While it was indeed a taboo established by the Goddess, that same Goddess had told Karina she could use it.

There was nothing to fear.

"That said, it'd probably be bad if we made Magic Tools that mess with time, right?"

"We don't even understand the theory behind it anyway."

"I don't wanna get kicked out of this workshop by messing with it, so I'm not touching that."

No, wait. There was one thing. Getting kicked out of this workshop.

Other than that, there was nothing to fear!!

"Oh, everyone. Congratulations on completing the workshop. Are there any issues?"

At that moment, the elven boy who looked like a girl, Dea, poked his head in.

Today he wore a one-piece dress, just how Karina liked it. His silver-haired ponytail and the nape of his neck were radiant.

"Oh! Dea-kun-chan! None so far!"

"You're adorable as always, Dea-kun-chan. Want some candy?"

"Thanks to you letting us handle the workshop design first, we can start operating right away!"

"We'll be making all sorts of things, so we'll let you know if there are any problems!"

"We'll combine everyone's skills and make wonderful things!"

The Five Elders crowded around Dea, chattering excitedly.

If Karina had seen loli dwarves surrounding a trap elf, she would have been grinning like an idiot.

"Don't make anything too dangerous, okay?"

"… """""W-we know."""""

The Five Elders were duly warned.

Unlike the pushover Karina who would go along with things if they acted cute enough, Dea was firm about such matters.

Also, while the Five Elders received Karina's affection, they could instinctively feel that her love and trust for Dea was on another level. Women's intuition, as they say.

Most likely, if Dea and the Five Elders ever had conflicting opinions, Karina would side with Dea.

Even if they tried to find a compromise, Dea's opinion would largely prevail.

It was no exaggeration to say that Dea effectively held the highest authority at Karina's base. The Five Elders recognized this.

That said, there was no benefit in opposing it.

Rather, they wanted to dote on Dea alongside Karina to their hearts' content.

He really was adorable, he wasn't a bad kid, and Dea himself was willing to make plenty of concessions for them.

Even if they made something that couldn't be shown publicly, he would probably allow it as long as they didn't actually show it publicly.

So for now they had no complaints, and above all else, he was just too cute.

Honestly, Dea was cuter than their own grandchildren, so it was only natural that their grandmotherly instincts to do something for him were welling up. The Five Elders were, in dwarven terms, grandmas after all.

"Alright then, the Five Elders Workshop is now operational! Our first creation will be a dress for Dea-kun-chan! Everyone, let's go!"

""""Yeah!""""

And so, the finest artisans poured their finest skills into creating the finest product. However, its performance was at the level of being able to elegantly have a picnic on a battlefield with arrows and bullets flying everywhere, making it far too powerful to show publicly, so it was immediately shelved.