「Marian, you in〜?」
The moment I transferred into the god’s space, I saw Marian fiddling with some suspicious-looking equipment.
「Ah, Yuuki-san! Did you already finish it?」
「Yeah, it’s done… but what is that evil looking thing?」
I looked up at the device that looked exactly like the cultivation tanks you see in anime.
「No, it’s not! This equipment is more like a hobby of mine. It’s for liquefying my divine power and sealing it inside orbs or weapons.」
「Oh, really? I seriously thought you were going to put a human in there and make some horror-movie monster.」
「I would never do something that awful〜! I’m still a goddess, you know?」
「Right, you are.」
「That’s so mean! Even if it’s handsome Yuuki-san, I won’t forgive you!」
「Ahaha… Marian is… well, you know, we’re good friends, so I just feel comfortable talking like that!」
When I tried to smooth it over, Marian let out a big sigh while giving me a deadpan stare.
「Fine, fine. I’m a generous goddess, so I’ll forgive you.」
「That would really help…」
「Still… that ‘friends’ comment back then wasn’t just something you said on the spot, was it…」
「I’m offended. I wouldn’t casually call someone a friend just to be polite.」
「But Yuuki-san is pretty casual about things…」
Marian looked at me suspiciously. Maybe I should counterattack a little…
「That hurts… Even though I stayed up without sleeping or resting just to hurry and make this so your burden would be lighter…」
I drooped my shoulders and pretended to look sad. She immediately panicked.
「Ehh!? No way! I slept for three whole days straight?!」
「No, I’m kidding.」
「That’s awful! You tricked me?!」
「Well, I did rest… but I was forging the sword every day…」
「I’m sorry… Normally I should be the one making the divine artifact…」
「Well, it’s far from ‘putting the right person in the right place’, but…」
「No, really, it helped a lot!」
When I placed the finished weapon on the pedestal, it automatically transferred into the cultivation tank.
「And now this goes in… there we go.」
I dropped several fist-sized orbs into the machine and pressed the switch. It began to glow with rainbow-like colors.
「That’s some crazy color… Is this really okay?」
「It… it should be fine!」
――Gooooong, goooong——gagagagak!
「Now it’s making weird noises…」
「It’s… it should be okay!」
We watched anxiously as the light gradually subsided.
「Phew… it didn’t break…」
Marian let out a relieved breath and slumped. The liquid inside the tank had vanished, and the colors of the orbs had blended and flowed into each weapon.
「Looks like it’s all right.」
「Thank goodness… haaah, I’m exhausted～」
I supported the collapsing Marian and helped her into a chair. She looked completely drained.
「Want some snacks if you’re up for it?」
「Is that okay?」
「Yeah, though they’re from my world.」
「I love snacks from Yuuki-san’s world! Last time when everyone had tea together, the ones you shared were super delicious!」
Marian leaned forward eagerly, suddenly full of energy again.
「Okay, I’ll leave some snacks and tea here. When you’ve rested, take them to everyone for me.」
「Got it～!」
Marian waved while happily munching on the snacks. I gave a small wry smile at the sight and left.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
「All right, I’m back… but where is everyone?」
The workshop was empty when I returned, so I followed the traces of magic power.
For now, I headed toward the training ground where Amilia and the others should be.
When I entered the training ground, Amilia and Selene were sparring, while Shia and Croco watched from the side.
「Fuu! Haa! Haaaa!!」
Right hand, left hand—then she spun gracefully in midair like a dance, unleashing a flurry of consecutive strikes.
「Wah! Wait!? That’s intense!」
Selene blocked with her greatsword, but Amilia’s dual blades knocked it aside. As Selene retreated, Amilia closed the distance perfectly and rained down more attacks.
「You can still go, right!」
「I can, but—!」
Gradually, Amilia’s movements grew faster, forcing Selene back toward the wall.
「Ahh, jeez! Fine, I don’t care anymore!」
Saying that, Selene activated Jewel Magic and unleashed a barrage of various spells around herself.
「Wah! As expected of Selene!」
Amilia cut through the magic while twisting her body to dodge. Still, the sheer number of attacks pushed her onto the defensive.
「Now it’s my turn!」
Selene wrapped magic around her ōdachi and began her assault. She swung down from above, twisted her body into a horizontal sweep, then flipped back, leaped from the ground, spun in midair, and brought the blade crashing down.
「Kuh! Dangerous!」
A loud crash rang out. Amilia’s left-hand sword flew from her grip. She quickly released the right one too to evade, and after another tremendous impact, the match was decided.
「Fuu… That was close…」
「Haa… No good after all, huh…」
「Amazing… I would’ve been finished by the opening barrage…」
「Incredible! Saintess-sama, Selene-san!」
「Ahaha～ I still lost though～」
「Man, Amilia-sama’s attacks are so heavy. Without overwhelming numbers I couldn’t keep up at all…」
「You’re one to talk, Selene. That ōdachi hits way too hard, my hands couldn’t take it.」
Amilia stood up while rubbing her wrists. Looks about right.
「Good work, both of you.」
「Ah! Yuuki-san!」「Yuuki!」「master」「onii-chan」
I cast recovery magic on the two of them. Amilia’s hands had taken stone fragments and Selene’s attacks, Selene had vacuum slashes from Amilia’s strikes cutting into her.
「master～ Me too～」
Shia lifted the hem of her maid dress, showing me the bruised area.
「Whoa… Are you okay?」
「Yeah. I’m used to pain, so it looks worse than it feels. But it’ll leave a mark for a little while… so if you could heal it, I’d really appreciate it.」
「Got it. Leave it to me. 『——Heal』」
After that, the five of us kept sparring until Croco’s magic power finally ran out.
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