Ramiza the Wise

Dealing in cash is always the most reliable business.

Cash is indeed king.

Both the shop and the inn operate on a cash-and-carry basis.

Having Ramiza-san buy the magic stones gave our funds some breathing room.

This should last us for a while.

She must be quite wealthy to buy everything in one go.

I couldn't even imagine how much money she had.

"Also, I'd like you to look at this."

"Let's see."

I took out the Wind Elemental Stone from my tool bag.

It was a magnificent emerald green, but with its magic power depleted, it looked like nothing more than a large gemstone.

When I was about to place it on the desk, Ramiza-san put down a cushion.

As expected of an alchemist, she was practiced in handling materials.

"This is…"

"Hold on. Let me guess."

Ramiza-san pressed her right index finger to her lips, cutting me off.

"May I touch it?"

"Go ahead."

She peered at it from all angles, then removed her gloves and gently touched it with her fingertips, as if caressing it.

Her usually somewhat slovenly appearance was nowhere to be seen; at times like these, her sharp eyes made her look like a different person.

"I thought it might be an Elemental or a Greater Magic Stone, but this is different. The capacity is much larger. Despite being unprocessed, no less."

Ramiza-san removed the pendant she was wearing and brought it close to the Wind Elemental Stone.

Then the pendant began moving on its own.

The strange sight of it spinning round and round on top of the Wind Magic Stone was quite curious.

"What are you doing?"

"An attribute check. I see, it's basic alchemy but you wouldn't know, would you?"

Ramiza-san explained it to me.

By running magic through the pendant and bringing it near something with an attribute, various effects appear in response to that attribute.

It's a method used when the effect of a magical tool created through alchemy is unknown, she said.

"There's a strong wind reaction… Hmm, um."

She groaned while clasping her hands together and resting her right hand on her chin.

It seemed less like deep thought and more like she was troubled.

"Could it be a Wind Elemental Stone?"

"Oh… Correct. That's impressive. I thought it was just a gemstone until you told me."

"Heh. You can praise me more. Though I was surprised you'd bring something this valuable, so I hesitated a bit."

"Various things happened."

Ramiza-san already knew I'd been to a Red Moon, but explaining the details would be difficult.

Some of the scenes would sound dubious if you just heard about them, so I'll skip the specifics.

"But despite being a precious Elemental Stone, its magic power is completely gone. I wonder what kind of reckless use it went through."

"It seems to have been severely overworked. That's precisely why it came into my hands, though. Is there any way to restore it? I'd like to borrow your wisdom, Ramiza-san."

"Whenever you come, it's always with difficult problems."

"But that's more fun for you, isn't it?"

Despite publicly proclaiming herself lazy and hating work, even abandoning her position as Royal Alchemist, she hadn't lost her curiosity.

Rather, being bored normally, she jumped at anything that seemed interesting.

It was the same when creating the treatment drug for the narcotics.

Behind her sense of responsibility, her interest in creating a new medication was peeking through.

And once she accomplished something, she lost interest and used fairies and such to automate production.

Her overwhelming talent and intellect were always seeking stimulation.

There was no way such a person wouldn't jump at a toy like an Elemental Stone.

Besides, other spirits and Elemental Stones aside, a depleted Elemental Stone was beyond Yohane's abilities.

"They do say that troubled days are ideal days. Normally I'm satisfied if I can sleep comfortably, but when you put it that way, you're lighting a fire under me."

She brought out a chair from the back for me to sit in.

"First, let me say that normally the proper method would be to store it in a magic reservoir or ley line. However, recovery of magic power would take over a hundred years."

"That's a bit much. Way too long."

"Haha. Of course. It might not even be ready by your grandchildren's generation."

That's a long-term plan.

At worst, we might forget it even exists.

"Since it's a Wind Elemental Stone, exposing it to wind would be more effective than just magic power. For example, placing it somewhere with strong winds year-round."

"What about the Wind Labyrinth?"

"Not a bad idea. But that place lost its labyrinth rank not long ago. I hear monsters have decreased and you can barely get magic stones anymore. The wind has probably weakened too. Nobody goes there, but if it were stolen, that would be a problem."

Oh right, that was true.

Azu and Kazusa had gotten caught up in the Wind Labyrinth's expansion.

Since that day, its value as a labyrinth had diminished, and that was still the case.

Normally expansion would invigorate it, but I wondered if it was related to the disappearance of the undead called Kiyo and the so-called Creator King's Apostle that Azu encountered.

… I had an idea about Elza's true identity.

Come to think of it, she'd known what happened to Azu since that time.

If the Wind Elemental Stone recovered and the Earth Elemental Stone returned to its original size, the power of the Four Great Elementals would be gathered. What would happen then?

If it would put Azu in danger, I wouldn't use it, even if I felt bad for Elza.

If I ordered Azu, she would do anything no matter how dangerous.

That's exactly why I had to avoid giving dangerous orders.

"This is troublesome. Even you're stumped, Ramiza-san?"

"There is a way if you're willing to spend money like water."

Ramiza-san glanced at the magic stones from earlier.

No way. How much would it cost to replenish magic power with magic stones?

"If not that… a Dragon, I suppose. That's what comes to mind."

"A Dragon?"

"Dragons have special hearts that generate magic power just by beating. If you could have a strong Dragon hold onto it for a while, it could be managed in a few years."

"Wouldn't asking for that favor be impossible in the first place?"

"True."

I recalled encountering the Fire Dragon.

Even compared to the monster called a Red Moon, the Fire Dragon was more terrifying.

It was only because Orleans, the Spirit Priestess of fire, was there that we could communicate at that time. They're not the kind of beings you can negotiate with normally.