Chapter 210: Diamond Dust

　The private audience with His Majesty the King is to take place tomorrow at this time. I invited Axel and Ijidol to join me, but they politely declined. I would have refused too if I could have. Seeing me like that, brother Alex said to me with a smile, “You  can’t refuse”. The only saving grace was that he said he would come with me.

　I headed for the icehouse, already feeling depressed about tomorrow. Of course, Those two were following me. brother Alex had another matter to attend to, so we parted ways in the common room. He was probably going to see Daniela-sama. I felt that he had a bigger grin on his face than usual when we parted. I was glad to see that they seemed to be getting along well.

“The material—the stone material has arrived. This is the most used stone here in the capital, isn’t it?”

　When I tapped the stone, it bounced back with a high pitched sound and a solid feel. It is dense and seems to be durable. This is promising.

“It’s the same as the walls in my house, right?　It’s definitely the same shade.”

　It is a stone material with a slightly bluish gray color. I tried moving it a little, but it was very heavy. I think the floor might fall out if I don’t make the thickness of this stone as thin as possible.

　I quickly used my “Craft” skill to cut it to the narrowest width that would ensure durability. The two of them watched intently.

“I have no idea how you cut the stone.”

“I’m using my skills. Well, it’s like cutting with magic.”

“A skill? I’ve heard of it before. Can all magic tool masters use it?”

“Maybe not all, but my sister can.”

　Hmmm, they both said, I don’t know if they were convinced or not. Maybe they wanted the skill. But there’s always an element of luck involved. It may be possible, it may not be possible.

　I’m concerned about the way they look at me, but I had to work quickly and carefully. I cannot take my eyes off the material. Concentrate, concentrate.

　

　The stone slab, thinned down to the last possible inch, is now cut into rectangles of the same size. Ijidol, who was watching the process, raised his voice, impressed.

 “Amazing. You can do something like this. You can line these up and stick them on the wall.”

“That’s right. But first, we have to set up a magic circle.”

“Oh, I guess we’ll finally be able to see a magic circle. Actually, I’ve never seen one before. I’m looking forward to it.”

　It seems that Axel is looking forward to it as well as Ijidol. Good. I thought he might be bored because I was making him go along with such a simple task. Apparently, that is not the case.

　When we had prepared enough stone material to cover the walls of the icehouse and one side of the room, I started to create the magic circle. By this time, the royal palace potion masters, who had regained their composure, were also helping.

“I had heard rumors, but Julius-sensei can actually make magic tools.”

“Look at these beautiful pieces of stone. Not an inch out of place, exactly the same.”

　That is an exaggeration. If you look closely, there is a slight discrepancy. It’s just enough of an error that it’s not a problem. It would take ten times as long to create a more accurate result.

　I don’t think that such precision is required in this ice house at the moment. It’s because there will be adhesive between the stones.

　First, let’s see how it goes. Depending on the result of this one surface, I will decide the next one. When making something, it is very difficult to succeed the first time. If that is the case, it is much faster to make a good product by trying many times, identifying what doesn’t work, and making improvements.

　I drew a magic circle on the large iron plate I had prepared.

　The walls of the icehouse are large. There is no need to prepare small magic circle. In fact, I think the larger one is more convenient because it should be able to cool over a larger area.

　There are three magic circles to be prepared. One is a normal cooling magic circle, the other is a magic circle to strengthen the cooling magic circle, and the third is a magic circle to reduce the amount of magic consumed. 

　The “strengthening magic circle” has been around for a long time, but it can only be turned on or off, making it inconvenient to use Therefore, the “output control magic circle,” which can be used more flexibly, seems to be used more often now. This magic circle is incorporated into things like adjusting the wind power of the cold/hot air blower and the temperature of the shower.

　Each magic circle is drawn on a steel plate and connected with magic ink. Three magic circles are connected. This is the end of the project, but first, I need to do a test run. It would be a shame if there was a problem after the installation on the wall.

“Let’s give it a test run right away. Could you please bring the magic stone?”

“Can we use it in this state?”

“pretty much.”

　Unless you’re a magic tool maker, you’ve probably never seen the use of a bare magic circle. No, a normal magic tool maker might not do it either. Because even the royal court magic potions masters were surprised as well.

　Inwardly, I was breaking out in a cold sweat, but I put the magic stone that Axel brought to me in place. Immediately, cold air began to envelop the area.

“Oh, it’s getting cooler ……, no, it’s cold!”

　Ijidol, who was near the cooling magic circle, came shivering and took refuge here. A white steam-like substance was rising from the magic circle. It seems that the surrounding humid air is rapidly cooling and turning into ice crystals. Diamond dust. It’s beautiful!

“Hey, Julius, it’s getting kind of cold in here. it’s okay right, this ?!”

“No, it doesn’t look too okay.”

　This was no time to escape reality. The cooling effect is becoming more effective than I had expected. A magic circle of formidable reinforcement. This is not so easy to use. No wonder they are not used.

　And I discovered something new: The larger the strengthening magic circle, the more effective it is. When I experimented in the townhouse, I didn’t notice it because it was a small magic circle. I hurriedly removed the magic stone.

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