“Good morning, stepsister.”
The next morning, as I walked out of my room, I heard a refreshing voice.
The owner of the voice was my stepbrother, Luke. He is the former capture target of the heroine’s with a puppy-like atmosphere.
He was almost captured by the heroine, but somehow changed his mind and suddenly left the reverse harem members, and was the only lucky (?) one to escape being disowned.
He seems to be going to the school now and is wearing a school uniform of my nostalgic bygone era.
“Good morning, it’s been a while! You’ve grown a bit taller, haven’t you? I haven’t seen you around before, how have you been?”
“I’ve been pretending to be a butterfly in search of beautiful flowers.”
Hmm? Is this the kind of character he is?
“I wonder? Can you tell me what’s that mean?”
“Fu… If you don’t understand, that’s okay. Oh, and congratulations on your engagement. I was at the academy, so I don’t have the chance to congratulate you.
I was going to give you my regards at some point.”
“Thank you. How about we have a cup of tea later?”
“I would love to, but I have a mountain of tasks at the academy, and I have to decide who I’m going to marry soon…
Recently I’ve been quite busy. Maybe another time.”
“Okay. Have a good day.”
“I’ll see you later.”
The stinginess peculiar to adolescence completely disappeared, and Luke turned his back with a fresh smile and walked away down the corridor.
To think of it, Luke doesn’t have a fiancée yet.
Even though he’s my stepbrother, he’s originally the son of my father’s late brother (my uncle), so he’s obligated to eventually take over my uncle’s title and rebuild the family.
So, if he wants to marry someone, the merits of a political marriage are greater if he chooses someone from lower nobility, unlike my brother and me. But you need to marry a young lady from a good family, okay…?
The way he said it earlier, it sounded like he was flirting with a lot of girls.
I’m not sure I’m okay with that.
“Good morning, Alice… What’s up?”
As I walked, thinking, Hayato came out into the hallway from his room.
“I was wondering if Luke was okay.”
“Luke? …ah, your stepbrother. I haven’t met him yet. Is he here?”
“He’s already on his way to the academy. you just missed him.”
“I see. I want to introdu… What’s wrong?”
“He said he was imitating a butterfly.”
“I see, that did sound worrisome…”
“Yeah.”
I’m a little worried, but I’m sure my father is aware of Luke’s condition.
To think of it, my father always had to shoulder a lot of problems regarding his children.
I should bring back some of the city’s most popular honey wine as a souvenir.
“…Hey Hayato, is honey wine good?”
“I don’t know. Why You asked?”
“I thought I want to give a present to my father.”
“For the duke? I wonder if he drinks something like that … That’s certainly a popular drink. But I’ve heard that you never know what’s inside street liquor. Besides, don’t you usually give wine or distilled liquor as a gift?”
“Hmmm, …I don’t see the point of giving something that he already had at home. I thought it would be fun to discover something new, like something for commoners.
But it’s not good if you don’t know what’s in it.”
“I see, … If that’s the case, let’s go hunting for killer bees on our next vacation. There’s a spot where they often appear, so if we’re lucky, we might get a drop of killer bee mead.”
“There’s such a thing?”
“Yes, there is. It’s very rare, and when it does appear, it’s usually drunk on the spot, so it’s rarely available. If you’re looking for a gift, it should be something like that.”
“Okay! I’m looking forward to it!”
Once we decided that, I will need to start tinkering with the magic tools. Throughout the game, there were many things that I thought would be nice to have.
After seeing Hayato off to study in our library, I headed to the blackboard room.
The only thing we are not allowed to develop is weapons. Other useful tools are allowed. If that’s the case, I should make an item that increases the drop rate, right?
I think I can apply the magic formula I wrote in the fan earlier to alter the magic power disposition.
Also, it would be nice to have an increased encounter rate.
In this world, there is no such thing as a dungeon (although if I had to force it, it would be a place with strong natural energy that changes the attributes of the magic in the air, it is as close as you get to a dungeon), so the efficiency of the hunt is not very good.
However, the monsters themselves are something that appears out of nowhere, so sometimes they can spawn in the city, and when they do, there will be a big commotion.
It does not come out in an aristocratic district because the flow of magic power is perfectly controlled by the purifying crystals that have been cast throughout the noble districts, including the royal castle. But that’s only the case for the upper nobility residential area.
I haven’t encountered any monsters in the city yet, but Hayato said he has a few times.
The increase of encounter rate seems a bit dangerous if it was activated in the city, but I think it’s okay since the tools won’t work unless you channel your magic power to it.
Now think. Increasing the encounter rate doesn’t make much sense unless it’s combined with increasing the drop rate.
However, if you’re in a place where there are a lot of monsters, the increased encounter rate might be a problem.
I want the two to be a set, but I want to be able to turn one of them off if necessary.
If this is the case, how about fixing the formula to earrings? I can give one effect to each side, and if there are too many monsters, I can take off the one for the encounter rate.
I grabbed a jewelry box from my room and began to find an earring with a simple design that wouldn’t look out of place in the city, but I need one with a good amount of writing area.
As a result, I chose the ones with crystals attached to them.
The material is strong enough to resist magic, and it has a moderate flat surface that is easy to write on. I had found a very good one.
Satisfied, I started by writing the formula on the blackboard.
The original formula was not too complicated, so I was soon able to create a complete formula.
After I completed it, I confirmed that the formula was valid, even though it was impossible to verify, and I went to report it to Hayato with joy, clutching my earrings.
I grabbed the earrings and happily went to report to Hayato, and he said, “Wow, that’s great! So which one is the effect of which?
“Huh? …uuh, I don’t know.”
That’s what happens when you’re using the exact same design.
I was so excited that I just make it without thinking twice.
He covers his face with his book, his shoulders shaking, his head crumpled up in glee.
I’m going to go back to the blackboard room.
I deactivated the fixation magic and added a formula to make them glow dimly when magic is channeled through them, adding a pink light color to the drop rate and purple light color to the encounter rate.
I reported this to my father, and he decided to mass-produce it after I can verify the drop rate works. But only the drop rates one.
He said that there is a magic tool for mass-producing magic tools (it’s complicated) and that it was Brother Chris’s job to set that machine.
My job is just to verify the effects.
“I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that Alice had registered as an adventurer.
But thanks to that… I can see that there’s a lot of room for development in the adventurer’s gear.
even though nowadays we have most of the tools we need for daily life, I didn’t think we’d get so many ideas for non-weapon items such as the interdimensional storage bag.”
“But I’m not sure if I’d have been able to create the magic formula for the interdimensional bag without Hayato.
There are many things that are hard to notice unless you experience the inconvenience.
Would you like to register as an adventurer, father?”
“I’ll have to pass.”
I was about to ask him if he ever drank Killer Bee’s honey wine when he smiled bitterly and sipped his scotch, but I decided not to, thinking that it would make the surprise less impressive.
