The Saintess Gets Serious (2)

First, I had her carve one magic formation into a clay tablet.

Then I pressed iron softened with [Create Golem] against it—or more precisely, manipulated it so it would fit perfectly into the grooves—and created a "template."

Then I softened another piece of iron with [Create Golem] and pressed the "template" into it.

When I pulled the template away, the magic formation grooves remained just as they were.

After that, it was just a matter of melting magic stone into it like normal to complete the magic formation.

"And done."

"Wooow…"

The magic formation actually worked once I poured in the magic stone. Thank goodness.

Seeing the completed magic formation, Nerune was amazed.

"A method like this existed… This is incredible. We can make as many as we want now, can't we?"

"Right? One hundred, two hundred, easy."

Basically, it's a stamp… or rather, more like a printing press. With this, I can mass-produce as many as I want.

"But this is something only you can do, Master."

"Hm? That's not true. Making the molds is a hassle, but once you have the mold, you can just use clay or whatever. If you want durability, fire the clay… and if it's weak to impact, well, just leave it as unfired clay—there are plenty of workarounds… Actually, why not make a 'mold for making molds' and mass-produce clay molds? Use the mass-produced clay molds to make iron magic formations, then break the clay mold… something like that?"

When I said that, Nerune froze for a moment.

She was probably running through whether it was actually possible in her head.

… Actually, sealing wax stamps already exist, so it shouldn't be strange for someone to come up with an idea like this. Maybe it's been kept secret to inflate the value of magic tools? That's plausible.

"Master, that… that's doable, isn't it?! This is a technological revolution!"

"While we're at it, what about making individual stamps for frequently used symbols and characters, then combining them?"

"No way?! Master is casually coming up with ideas that could rewrite history?! Wait, I need to take notes!!"

Nerune frantically pulled out her notepad. You don't need to panic that much.

Anyway, with this, mass-producing gargoyles looks promising.

Rin should be defending us properly, so this is just a precaution for the one-in-a-million chance… but the Saintess getting serious might just be enough to surpass Rin.

Plus, that seal thing is weighing on my mind and I don't feel like sleeping. So why not kill some time mass-producing gargoyles?

Since I have the opportunity, I decided to work on it seriously together with Nerune.

 

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Day one of getting serious. It was only the first day, but the Saintess intended to settle things today.

She smoothly made her way through the dungeon until she reached just before the room where the black wolf had taken up residence. She was well accustomed to the route by now. Moreover, thanks to the ritual magic [Treaty] she had invoked, the dungeon was in a weakened state. She felt she could advance even more easily because of it.

A weakened dungeon wouldn't have any new traps added or new rooms appearing. While limited to three days, it was extremely useful for dungeon capturing.

In particular, boss monsters wouldn't resurrect while the dungeon was weakened. The black wolf, which was likely this dungeon's boss, should be no exception.

If that was the case, she only needed to win once. Even if she died in exchange for killing it, that would be fine. After that, she'd just need to watch out for traps while searching for the Dungeon Core.

… Judging by its strength, that black wolf was almost certainly the dungeon boss. In dungeons that hadn't been cleared to their deepest floors, dungeon bosses would sometimes appear on upper floors. This was something that happened occasionally.

The stronger and more aggressive the dungeon boss, the more likely this was. A black wolf so aggressive that it attacked without hesitation the moment it saw intruders was surely a prime example.

… Slap! She clapped her cheeks to psyche herself up, then began building up magical power before entering the room.

Continuing to mumble her incantation, she peered into the room. The black wolf turned its attention toward the entrance… as expected, it could detect even whispers. The Saintess clicked her tongue internally.

She entered the room just before completing her incantation.

In response, the black wolf dashed toward her. Its tail was wagging, but that didn't make it any cuter—it had opened its large mouth wide, baring its fangs, clearly intent on eating her.

"GROOOAR!"

The wolf howled. But something of this level wasn't enough to make the Saintess freeze up anymore. She knew that freezing would mean death.

She pulled back and dodged the first attack. Snap—the fangs clamped shut right in front of her… She continued her incantation without stopping. Seeing the base of its right leg twitch, the Saintess crouched down. Immediately after, the right foreleg swept toward her in a horizontal swipe from outside in. The wolf's paw whooshed through the air just above her crouched head. It would have been dangerous if she'd been even slightly higher. A few strands of hair fluttered down as it grazed the top of her head.

A chill ran down her spine. Cold sweat flowed, but she knew from experience it wasn't over yet. Using the momentum of its swinging foreleg, the black wolf threw itself forward into a charge. A runaway carriage or falling boulder would have been more manageable.

The Saintess used her crouching momentum to roll to the left and dodge.

And then, her incantation finally completed. Conveniently, the black wolf's flank was right in front of her.

She thrust out her right hand and shouted.

"—[Judgment Ray]!!"

The instant the Saintess completed her incantation, a flash of light burst forth. A moment later, a beam of light pierced through Rin's body. The beam that passed through its body struck the ceiling, carving out a crater-like mark.

—Victory decided. The Saintess's lips curled into a grin.

But the black wolf didn't fall.

The Saintess's vision flickered as her consciousness began to fade. She blacked out from magical exhaustion.

When she came to, the Saintess was at the inn, lying in a futon. She could see the portable altar.

"Alka-sama, are you awake?"

"… Yes."

What had happened? The Saintess forced her hazy, just-revived mind to think.

The light-attribute Ruler-tier magic, [Judgment Ray]. Above Advanced-tier and Special-tier, it was an offensive spell that could wipe out an entire army in one strike—so-called tactical-class attack magic. A strike of justice that smashes evil. There was no way it wouldn't work on that obviously evil black wolf… and indeed, she had blasted a huge hole through the wolf's body.

The hole was large enough to see through to the other side, large enough for a child to pass through. Yet despite having such a massive hole opened in its body, the black wolf had still bitten her. It bit off the arm she had thrust out, then chomped down on her head.

Her memory was fuzzy, but that was how she had died this time.

"Did you use [Judgment Ray]?"

"Yes, I ran out of magical power. Ruler-tier magic really does consume an intense amount."

She sighed, having played one of her trump cards only to still be eaten and killed.

"… But I opened such a huge hole in it. It must be dead by now…! This victory is mine."

In any case, she would keep trying no matter how many times she died, so she would win eventually. She had thought she might have to return without accomplishing anything due to her limited remaining stay—but she had won.

For now, she would confirm the corpse and then report the quest completion to the Adventurer Guild. That would accomplish one of her objectives for coming to this dungeon.

The Saintess let out a satisfied sigh.