Thanks to our dealings with Bruno, our town was now lined with many human shops and establishments. Bars and taverns were always bustling with business, but some places weren’t as favored by the monsters.
One example was the chic little sidewalk café I was currently in. Under the awning, I watched as the streets flowed with passing monsters. Not a single one seemed interested in checking out this place.
This was just what I needed at the moment, though—a place with just the right level of background noise—to make my final adjustments on the magic item on the table in front of me.
Just then, Sli and Lime spotted me and came bouncing my way.
“Lord Liam, Lord Liam!”
“We love you!”
The two slimes who could send hunters home crying were nowhere to be seen. Right now, they were just like a pair of puppies asking for head pats. I obliged with a soft smile. Only once they got their fill did they seem to notice the magic item on the table.
“What’s that?”
“Your magic?”
With a nod, I activated the magic item. This item contained the effects of the Phonograph spell, made by condensing my mana like a manastone. The item slowly faded away—
“What’s that?”
“Your magic?”
—while perfectly replaying the slimes’ voices.
Not that I could hear it; I was just assuming. A while back, I’d made a noise-canceling spell for Amelia to make sounds clearer to the listener. Following that same principle, Phonograph only replayed sounds for the target. This was why I came to this café—to test it out with all the background noise from the streets.
After the magic item fully disappeared, Sli and Lime began bouncing in excitement.
“Wow!”
“Wow, wow!”
The thing about Sli and Lime was that they were very childlike both in temperament and vocabulary, so they tended to skip over the “why” or “how,” instead voicing their excitement and praise first and foremost. Well, I guess they were also just used to all the things I got up to with my magic.
As I watched the two happy slimes, I condensed my mana to craft another Phonograph. “Looks like it’s working as intended.”
“Indeed. Else these two would not have reacted as such.”
“Now all that’s left is to make tons more...”
“No... I’m not quite sure about that.”
“Hmm? What do you mean, Lardon?” I asked as I resumed petting the slimes.
“The spell itself is functioning perfectly. I would have expected no less of you. Even I could not hear the sounds.”
“Then what...?”
“Recall your brother’s words. He wanted it to be as easy to purchase as clothing, yes?”
I thought back to our conversation. “Yeah, he did say that.”
“In essence, the goal is for people to be able to listen to it for cheap—and that is not the case if the product disappears after it’s used.”
“Oh...” I groaned as realization dawned on me.
Lardon was absolutely right. A product became a lot pricier if it couldn’t be reused. Since I’d taken inspiration from our city infrastructure’s backup system, I ended up also making this item a onetime use without much thought.
“People should be able to enjoy it multiple times, like a book or a painting.” I nodded. “Thanks, Lardon. I’ll fix it up right away.”
Following Lardon’s advice, I revised the magic item to make it reusable. This cost me a lot more mana, but that was a nonissue. It wasn’t like I was going to ask myself to pay up.
I wrapped up in no time and held the revised product with a satisfied smile. “Done!”
“Are you done?”
“Let’s play!”
Sli and Lime had kept quiet as I worked, but now jumped at the chance to invite me to play. I activated the magic item again.
“Are you done?”
“Let’s play!”
Sli and Lime jiggled happily—they must have heard their voices. This time, the item didn’t disappear.
Perfect! Now all that was left was to produce a thousand of these and hand them over to Bruno.
“Huh? Oh, hey, Liam!” The sudden voice came from Asuna. She jogged to me from the street, her long ponytail swishing behind her. “I hardly see you out in the city. What’s up?”
“Oh, well, you see...”
I filled her in on what I was up to—that I was inventing a magic item for Bruno and testing it out here where there was tons of background noise.
Asuna listened till the end, then nodded. “Wow, I see... But isn’t that kind of a waste?”
“Yeah. That’s why I revised it—”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” she interrupted, catching me off guard. “Not the item itself, but the fact that only the user can hear it. Don’t you usually want to share the things that make you happy? For example, if I found a really delicious cake, I’d tell Ms. Jodie all about it, and she’d tell me to buy it. And then we’d each try a bite! But we can’t do anything of the sort with this magic item.”
“Oh...” She’s got a point. Guess it’s time for another revision—
“To begin with, Liam, wasn’t your goal to share Amelia’s singing with more people?”
Before I could get to work, my vision went white. Like lightning striking from the skies, Asuna dealt me a devastating blow from out of nowhere.
“Hah... Your mana is immense, but your experience is still lacking, it seems.”
My mind was so blank from the shock that I failed to register Lardon’s amused remark.