We had set up a workshop for processing pseudo magical ore by the ice room in Mr. Dragon’s cave. The raw material—dragon molt—was the Renard domain’s most crucial secret, for if anyone discovered it, the dragon might become a prime target to be hunted down.
First, we had to cut the shed skin, following its grooves in the shape of scales. Each diamond-shaped bit of molt would become a single crystal, which could then be imbued with various magical or medicinal properties. Those properties would be twice as powerful as normal and could even be used without the blessing of a spirit.
The creation process was a secret, so only the people who were initially present for the opening of the dragon’s cave were allowed to work here. The magic-wielding knights of our domain imbued the dragon molt with magic borrowed from their spirit contracts. Those like Bal who couldn’t use magic were still able to help by soaking the skin with medicinal chemicals or lacquer tree sap. For some reason, Lord Reineke’s magic didn’t work on Mr. Dragon’s shed scales, so I assisted with this too. Liam joined in as well, as his dark magic was our secret.
“I wish we could make it a prettier color,” I said.
Mr. Dragon’s translucent white scales were beautiful, but when we coated them with brown tree sap, their color faded.
“We’re making them useful. Isn’t that what counts?” Bal asked, confused.
Indeed, their looks had nothing to do with utility.
“True...but practical goods are always less profitable, right? If we could make it seem more valuable to people, we could sell it for a higher price.”
A pure white cotton handkerchief was very useful, yet nobles paid it no mind. But by adding some lace or embroidery, suddenly its value increased. Cluttered designs often made things more difficult to use, but the nobles loved elaborately decorated items nonetheless. I’d found that odd even back in my past life.
“If we made the ore look prettier, we could sell them as magical amulets,” I said.
“Good point. Well, when we made explosive ore, we mixed the tree sap with black powder. So why don’t we try mixing it with pigments?” Liam proposed.
“That might work!” Bal responded excitedly. “I wanna try orange!”
However, I preferred the molt’s original color.
“It’d be best if we could make them clear...” I murmured.
“You can,” Lord Reineke said.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the translucent figure of Lady Kuzunoha appeared before me. In the blink of an eye, she took control of my body and turned to my brother.
“Heed my words, Liam,” she said. Her calm, mature voice seeping through my lips made Liam straighten up. “The ore becomes muddy when you soak it in tree sap because you’re using the wrong resin solution.”
“So we’re using the wrong ingredients?”
Lady Kuzunoha nodded. “Use a solution mix of the kakuremino, koshiabura, and takanotsume trees. It will create a clear amber lacquer called gonzetsu.”
Liam repeated the spirit’s words under his breath.
“Can we find these trees in Lord Reineke’s forest?” he asked.
“Of course! I’ll guide you to them,” Lord Reineke replied smugly.
Lady Kuzunoha smiled. “Then I leave the rest to you. You may thank me with fried tofu.”
With that, she stopped possessing me, and my knees gave way from the sudden loss of control. It was exhausting both physically and mentally whenever the great spirits borrowed my body.
Lord Reineke took us around the forest and showed us the trees we needed to make gonzetsu.
“Okay, now let’s try out a pigment!” Bal shouted, adding gold dust to the lacquer.
The mixture coated the dragon molt, creating a thin amber film through which the gold dust sparkled beautifully. However, we couldn’t extract gonzetsu in large quantities, so for practical and low-priced items we used lacquer tree sap instead. Thanks to Bal’s idea, we were able to mix it with various pigments too.
“I’m so glad Lady Kuzunoha told us we can paint with the lacquer!” I said.
“She said it’s called ‘maki-e,’ right? She truly knows about some very strange things,” Liam replied.
“But I can’t paint!” Bal despaired in frustration.
“I’m not great either,” I said.
“Me neither...” Liam said.
The three of us looked at each other, troubled. We could probably scribble a few things, but nothing worth selling.
“Then ask the monastery convicts to do it,” Lord Reineke proposed.
“That’s a great idea! We can’t let them know about the dragon molt, but we can process it here and then send the items off for painting elsewhere,” Liam said.
“You’ve done it again, Lord Reineke!” Bal exclaimed.
The boys looked at the fox with reverence. In response, Lord Reineke proudly puffed out his chest.
We diligently worked on processing the pseudo magical ore. When we were done, there was an assortment of colorful gemstones laid upon the table to dry.
“These will make excellent amulets,” Lord Reineke said with a smile.
“I hope they can become the Renard domain’s specialty,” I whispered.
Brother patted my head. “I’m sure their beauty will draw plenty of eyes.”
“Yeah!” I nodded.
Liam leaned down and placed a pendant made from one of the crystals around my neck. It was a light purple shade, so it must’ve been made from his magic.
“What is this?” I asked.
Liam pressed his lips between my fox ears.
“I made it in secret. It’s imbued with wind magic,” he whispered before leaning back.
As he did so, his lips grazed my ear. My cheeks instantly turned red and I squeaked, pressing my ears down with my hands.
“If you’re ever in danger, use this to call for help. The wind will carry your voice,” Liam said, then turned away. He must’ve been embarrassed too, because the back of his neck was flushed.
Brother walked away so quickly it was as if he were trying to escape. I rushed after him and grabbed his coat sleeve. He looked back at me with surprise.
“Thank you!” I said bashfully, making him smile. “I’m so happy that you’ll always be by my side!”
I rubbed the pendant, unable to stop myself from grinning. Liam pulled me into his arms.
I’ll definitely give him something in return too! I thought.
“Ugh! Enough with the endless flirting!”
“You said it.”
Bal and Lord Reineke grumbled as they exited the workshop.
“But that’s not what we were doing...” I said, looking up at my brother innocently.
Embarrassed, he simply shrugged.
With the work done for the day, we closed the secret workshop’s door behind us.