Volume 1 - CH 1

“The magic tools you make are wonderful.”

Said the blond hair, blue-eyed prince.

He’s a handsome man, like a painting. With a hint of excitement, his cheeks were slightly upturned and he gazed passionately at the beautiful girl in front of him.

“If you become the queen, our country will lead the world in the field of magic tools.”

“Rize! How long have you been sleeping?”

Early in the morning, my older sister Artemisia’s shrieking voice woke me up.

“You perfectly made the magic tool I asked for, right?”

My sister raised her beautifully shaped eyebrows and pressed closer to me.

I raised my hands in the air and replied timidly.

“… I was able to do what I was told… but I failed a little, and my magic crest came out, just a little.”

Before I could finish speaking, my sister’s hand came flying.

She repeatedly slapped me on the cheek, pulled my hair, and finally kicked me in the stomach to push me away.

“Rize, don’t you understand? If I don’t marry a wealthy man, we’re going to go back to living in wretched poverty, living on bread and water every day, got it?”

“Oh, I’m really sorry…”

No, I shouldn’t cry. If I cry, she’ll only be angrier.

I desperately choked back the tears that threatened to well up.

After moving the magic tool around to examine it, my sister snorted.

“… It doesn’t seem like you can tell just by looking at it, so this is fine for now. Before I get home, practice thoroughly so that you can perfectly imitate my magic crest.”

“Yes…”

Fortunately, my sister seemed to be in a hurry and did not pursue the matter further.

“Queen…no.”

Artemisia hung her head shyly.

She was haughty, but in front of the prince, she could not hide her love for him and pretended to be demure.

“I’m just a magic tool master’s daughter.”

“But your grandmother was a former princess, so you have royal blood running in your veins.”

Artemisia’s grandmother was an eccentric former member of the royal family who was gifted with a talent for making magical tools.

Despite the strong opposition of those around her, she ran away and started a magic tool shop.

She hid her status as a princess to run the shop, but all of the magical tools she made were of the highest quality, and her name was well known throughout the kingdom as a hidden gem.

“Well, you’ve already investigated that, it seems.”

“Of course. I really want you to be my wife, Artemisia…my moon.”

Artemisia had all of the prince’s ideal requirements.

An impeccable lineage and excellent skills in making magic tools.

“The era of relying on the abilities of individual magicians will surely come to an end. From now on, magical tools that can be easily handled by anyone will make the difference between the bright and dark sides of the country.”

He wanted magic tool technology more than anything else.

“…But it seems that you didn’t make all of these magic tools. Some of them have another human’s magic crest.”

Albert said while looking at the simple measuring meter he held.

The figures showed about 90% of the total, indicating that some of the work was done by another.

Artemisia smiled awkwardly.

“No, I know. Your shop is a family business, isn’t it? It makes sense to divide the parts and make them. Most of the parts are your patterns, so what you’re making is the main part. I understand, but… as expected, in order to persuade the people around me to marry you, I want something that you made from scratch.”

“Of course, Your Highness Albert.”

“Well… the next thing I need is…”

As soon as my sister came home, she came to my room, which is basically a workshop, and threw a note at me.

“This is a new request from the prince. This time, erase the magic crest without leaving any traces. No matter how you look at it, make it look like it was 100% made by me. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t leave this room until it’s done.”

My response to my sister is always “Yes.”

It’s impossible! I thought this in my mind anyway.

A magic crest is a manifestation of a person’s unique magic pattern, and the magic crest left on a magical tool will tell you who made it.

My sister and I have different magic crests, of course.

However, I learned from my grandmother, who was a skilled magic tool maker, a special skill of being able to create magic tools while imitating people’s magic crests.

I can make it similar, but a perfect imitation is impossible.

Even my grandmother had never been able to make a counterfeit that showed a 100% match rate when measured by a machine.

I want to somehow convince my sister that over 90% is impossible.

But my sister was a little scary this morning.

After being hit so hard, I didn’t have the courage to tell her I couldn’t do it, and as a result, I ended up making a cheap promise.

What should I do?

Half in tears, I checked the note on what I was going to make anyway.

“…wow…it’s too difficult…what should I do!?”

The magic tool design that my sister just pushed onto me is of the highest grade.

To make it perfectly, at a rough estimate, it would take more than three months.

If she doesn’t let me out of this room for three mouths…

I might die.

I started trembling as I thought of the many assaults my sister had inflicted on me.

“What should I do? I still have a lot of other work left to do.”

Piles and piles of unprocessed materials.

It’s my job to make this materials servicable.

If I don’t do it, I’ll be scolded by my parents.

Even with my ears covered, I could clearly hear the auditory hallucinations of my parents yelling at me.

“You’re useless, do you know that!?”

“You can’t even do chores! I wonder who you take after!?”

I was scared of my sister, but I was also scared of being scolded by my parents.

Even if I complete my sister’s assignment, if I don’t finish the chores, my parents won’t allow me to eat any meals.

“Well, first of all, the usual work…”

I put my sister’s request aside and decided to start with spinning magic thread.

[Magic Thread Spinning] is considered to be the easiest job for a person with magical powers.

I, too, have been forced to do it since I was four years old.

After checking the note with processing instructions, I began the magic of magic thread spinning.

After wrapping several times around the thread roll, the magic is accelerated.

“Twenty times, boost.”

Furthermore, the magic is layered on top of that magic.

“Twenty magic, multi activate.”

Many spools of thread float in the air, spinning around and around at high speed, reeling in the thread.

…At this pace, the magic thread will be ready in about an hour.

Quickly dye it…how many colors and how many meters do I need? What about weaving? Embroidery?

I was so absorbed in my work that I didn’t realize my mother was there.

“…Hey, Rize!”

I was hit hard on the cheek, and I was taken aback.

“Oh… mother…”

“You’re ignoring me even though I’m calling you, are you kidding me!?”

“I…I’m sorry, I was concentrating…”

I was so focused on making magic tools that I often couldn’t hear the sounds around me.

“Did you do what I asked you to do?”

I pointed at the finished box. It’s like a mountain.

“You’ve made a mess again… I always tell you to tidy up and then come and hand it over.”

My mother organized it roughly and scowled at me.

“It’s ready. Next time, bring it before I have to come looking for you.”

“Yes.”

“Well, no matter how old you are, you can only do chores. When I was your age, I was already doing half of your grandmother’s work.”

“I’m sorry, Mother…”

Suddenly, my mother’s attention was caught by a note on my desk.

“Oh my gosh! Did you get a request from the prince again?”

“Yes.”

“You did, and you’re going to do it right, okay?”

“Uh… but this is a little difficult…”

“You can’t make a living by crying, can you? If everything goes well, you’re promised a life without any inconvenience, so do it to the death. Okay?”

Even when replying to my parents, I am usually not allowed to say anything other than “yes.”

In that case, I wanted them to at least help me with the chores, but if I said that, I would always get beaten.

My mother seemed to be annoyed by my expression, which was not happy.

She looked scary again.

“Since you don’t seem to have a sense of urgency, let’s ban everything but bread and water until it’s ready.”

“Oh, no…”

“If you want a good meal, you have to make an effort.”

My mother snapped and left the room.

“Ugh… I’m done with the chores, so let’s do the prince’s request…”

While I was on the verge of tears, I thought about the structure of the magic tool and wrote it down on paper.

Even if I cry, it won’t end.

If I keep my hands busy, I can do it someday.

That’s a lesson my parents taught me.

Designing accessories is something I’m good at, so I decided on it right away.

All that remains is to make it as shown.

……While perfectly synchronizing the wavelength of my magical power with my sister’s.

“Impossible…”

I almost cried again.

It was something only my grandmother, who was considered a genius magician, could have done.

Even I can’t succeed every time.

“Practice takes up too much time, and other work doesn’t progress at all… Ugh, ugh, I shouldn’t have learned this kind of technique…”

While weeping, I managed to find the mold and lit the high-temperature furnace.

“Ugh… ugh… Crying won’t get it started. If you move your hands, it will end someday… Ugh…”

I told myself over and over like some kind of incantation.