The day after investigating the ruins, I went to the Magic Office to apply for a magic patent for the "Steel Heart Technique Basics" and the Shadow Puppet paints.

　The staff of the Magical Agency helped me complete the procedure. In the end, the whole day was consumed by these procedures.

　When I got home, I started talking to Metis.

What do you think would be the best way to decipher the Temple script?"

'Either do some diligent research or get another "Scroll of Knowledge."'

I know," he said. But 'scrolls of knowledge' aren't easy to come by."

Only Basilisk Zombies and Titan Slimes are known to drop "Scrolls of Knowledge" in Japanese dungeons.

I know the Basilisk Zombie, because I beat him the other day and got the Scroll of Knowledge. Do you know which dungeon the Titan Slime is in?"

"It will be the Yotei Dungeon in Hokkaido, and they say it has not been restored since it was once defeated."

So it's a no-go for the time being. Or go abroad."

I don't think there's any need to rush. There are many things to do.

What do you say we should do?"

I need to confirm that I can really make shadow puppets with the registered method of making shadow puppet paints. We need to confirm this as soon as possible.

　It was. I registered it for now, but it is a provisional registration for the shadow puppet paint, and I have to bring the actual product to the Magic Agency to prove that it is definitely valid.

　The ingredients for the paint are "killer flower fruits" and "sap of phantom tree" that grow in the dungeon, as well as "Nembutsu mushrooms" and "Raidara stones.

　All of them are found in beginner and intermediate dungeons and would not be difficult to collect.

　The next morning, after eating breakfast prepared by Toshizo, the butler's shadow puppet, we headed for the grassland dungeon. There are "Killer Flower Fruits" and "Sap of the Phantom Tree" in the grassland dungeon.

　Arrive at the dungeon house and change clothes before entering the dungeon.

Are you sure you can wear such light clothing?"

　He called out to me from behind. My gear was just a regular leather jacket over my shock-absorbing clothes, with the rest of my gear in a belt pouch and storage armlet on my waist.

　The one who approached me was a boy who looked like a first-year student who had just entered the Institute of Magic.

Don't worry. These clothes are specially made."

　He is a small boy, equipped with blue lizard leather armor and a sword.

Really?"

Definitely more expensive than that leather armor. By the way, do you dive dungeons alone?"

Yes, I need to raise my magic level as soon as possible."

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　This boy is Ugajin.

god of harvests and wealth (syncretized with Saraswati, and often taking the form of a heavenly woman, a white snake or a fox)

fathom

fathom

I heard that he is a To my surprise, he says he is a living magician.

I'm Sakaki. Nice to meet you.

　I told him my real name and he didn't respond. He didn't seem to recognize me unless I said my name was "Dr. Grimm.

Mr. Sakaki, you don't have a weapon?"

No, I have it."

Oh, I see. So that belt pouch is a magic pouch?"

　I nodded, and Hiroto stared at the magic pouch.

I like it. I'll definitely get one too."

　Hiroto asked if I could work with him when he found out I was a living magician too. Apparently, he wanted to see how I fight and use it as a reference.

I don't mind, but I don't know if it will help."

Thank you."

　I took Hiroto and headed for the woods on the right. It's a small forest in a vast meadow, and there is a killer flower growing there.

　The killer flower is a plant where a large bee demon called the Eagle Killer Bee nests. We encountered attack boas along the way.

"What do you say?　You want me to take him down?"

I'd like a reference, please."

　I'm a little stumped. If you ask me to use "Crash Ball" or "Cold Shot" as a reference, it would be a no-no. This is because Hiroto is considered to be about magic level 3.

　It would not be helpful to defeat him with magic that he could not use. While I was thinking about it, the attack bore was closing in. I activated my triple push for the first time in a while and slammed the D-particle plate into the side of the attack bore.

　The attack boa tangled its legs and rolled onto the grassy field. There, he activated his triple-activated "corn arrow" and finished him off by hitting him in the neck.

Wow, it's brilliant."

　Hiroto raised his voice. Next, he encountered a big rabbit, so he let Hiroto fight it and managed to defeat it using the triple activation "Push" and "Cone Arrow".

　It was still a slow activation, and the timing and aim were not very good, but this is what you would expect if you had just entered a magic academy. When we arrived at the forest and went inside, we found a plant with yellow berries.

　There were three Eagle Killer Bees by the Killer Flower. They were bees about 30 centimeters in size. I activated the triple push in quick succession to get rid of the three bees.

　Hiroto rolled his eyes in amazement. This is because the speed of the continuous activation was unusual.

You can do it with practice."

I'll do my best. I'll do my best."

　After collecting the killer flower fruit, the next step is to go to the place where the phantom tree grows and collect its sap. The tree is called a phantom tree because its bark changes color depending on the angle from which light hits it.

　While exploring the dungeon with Hiroto, I taught him a few tricks of life magic. It was a short encounter of about half a day, but it seems that Hiroto gained a lot from it.

　Then I left Hiroto and went to the Suigetsu dungeon to collect "Nenbutsu Mushrooms" and "Raidara Stones". He brought them back and entered the workroom to start making paint.

　The only difference between the cherry- and brown-colored methods seems to be the ratio of the ingredients. The "Killer Flower Seeds," "Nembutsu Mushrooms," and "Lydara Stones" are ground to a powder and stirred into the warmed "Sap of the Phantom Tree.

　Pour in a little bit of magic power, continue stirring until the color stabilizes, and you are done. A beautiful cherry-red and brown paint was completed. Put it in an airtight container.

　In order to be sure that it was really completed, a new shadow puppet would have to be created, but increasing the number of shadow puppets would be troublesome to manage, so we decided to remake the cat-shaped shadow puppet, Komugi, into a tortoiseshell cat.

　It is a tortoiseshell cat with a mixture of cherry, brown and black. Dismantle the wheatgrass and take out the sorcery eye, magic core, etc. Take out three kilograms of shadow clay and knead in D-particles using "Clay Need".

　Using that shadow clay, I started to make a cat-shaped shadow puppet. I have made the cat shape many times, so it has a decent shape. I embedded a magic core, sorcery eye, sorcery ear, sorcery voice, magic pouch, and one core attachment hole.

　Since there is no magic battery, only one core attachment hole was used. Without a magic battery, I will probably only be able to use magic once a day, but it should be enough since I intend to set the magic circuit core C for "Puppet Wash".

　Once the shape is complete, it is time for coloring. The four legs, belly, and lower half of the face are to be cherry red. On the back, brown and cherry mottled patterns are added to the original black.

　As a final touch, when magical power is poured into the body, a skeleton and muscles are formed, and colorful fur begins to grow on the body surface. A magnificent tri-colored cat was completed.

　Komugi decided to stop being controlled by Metis and develop his own personality. When he introduced Komugi to the other shadow puppets and butlers, Kongoji, Nezu, and Arisa, they seemed to like him.

　After leaving the control of the Métis, Komugi began adventuring around the neighborhood and made many friends. As evidence of this, when he returned home, he began to take his spoils of war food out of the magic pouch inside his body. He pretends to eat it and puts it away in his magic pouch.

Do you want to teach Japanese properly?

'Yes, that's right. We need to be able to say no to food properly. ...... But if people find out you are a shadow puppet, they may try to steal from you.'

　Komugi has a collar around his neck, so he cannot be mistaken for a stray cat. However, shadow puppets are still expensive, so I worry that some might think to catch them and sell them off.

I think that even if we tried to catch Komugi, he would probably jump into the shadows and run away, so unless we were dealing with someone very quick, we wouldn't be able to catch him." Let's think about this problem for a minute."