"Why is everyone feeling so sad?"

  Thea asked the dwarves. They were feeling very down for some reason as they all had somber faces.

  "Haa...since we're leaving the forest, we gotta leave behind the sugar cane."

  Hauford explained from the side.

  "We dwarves love our rum, you see. And the sugar cane here is the best kind."

  "I said that wouldn't be a problem. We can just plant it in the village."

  "Ya weren't kiddin'?"

  "Why would you think that?"

  "Cuz there ain't no method to farm these. No one has ever made an area that's full of mana like this spot so that these special varieties of plants can grow."

  "Don't the elves have that?"

  "Ya think they're willin' to share? I'm pretty sure it's some spirit magic secret of theirs. And even if they did share the magic formula, there's rarely anyone from other species that can use spirit magic."

  "Well, that doesn't matter. I actually do have an invention that does something like that."

  "What? An invention like that would change everythin'. And ya have it?"

  "I've been working on it for over a decade. I finally completed it recently."

  "It only took ya ten years to make it?"

  Hauford looked at Thea with reverence. As a dwarf, he was skillful in craftsmanship. Even though his skills were mostly in construction, he knew a thing or two about other fields. Magic engineers of his clan, dwarves that made magic tools using mana stones, had been researching such a thing for two hundred years.

  Even the ancient magic kingdom didn't have such a thing. And they were very advanced in magic knowledge.

  "What exactly did you make?"

  "I don't have it on me right now. But it's a small crystal that I refined from used mana stones. The material allows me to store magic spells. And other instructions."

  "That's crazy! There's so many ways to use that!"

  Hauford had an extremely excited expression. He was thinking of hundreds of ways to use this technology. It could revolutionize the world.

  "But there's a small problem."

  "A problem? What is it?"

  Hauford was nervous. This one small problem could jeopardize his whole fantasy.

  "It's not that bad. I just don't have anyone that's skillful enough to help."

  "Ha! Don't scare me like that!"

  Turns out Thea was only joking about workload.

  "So you're inviting us to your village?"

  "Yes! But I'll have to warn you first. I'll use you guys' talent to the maximum. You'll be unbelievably busy for the next few years."

  "Huh? Is that a challenge?"

  "Challenge?"

  "There's only one thing we dwarves love more than rum. And that's to see the result of hard labor. To see our efforts bear fruit!"

  Hauford turned to his clan and ordered them to move out. Around thirty minutes later, they came out of the forest. And then another forty minutes later, they arrived back at the village.

  "Ya call this...a village?"

  The dwarves were shocked at the state of the so-called "village". It was such a bad place to live. There were wooden houses and many tents.

  "Everyone here is a refugee of the recent wars. We don't have the luxury to build fancy houses. At least, we didn't in the past. Now that job is yours. You can make it a place that thousands of people can live in."

  Thea gently smiled at Hauford.

  "Thea!"

  Janna also just arrived back. She waved to Thea and walked up.

  "You rescued them. I knew it wouldn't be a problem for you."

  "It was difficult. We met the wyvern but lived. How did it go on your end?"

  "You met the wyvern?! Did you fight it?"

  "Why would I fight a wyvern?"

  "Because it's you. I never know what you want to do next."

  "What's that supposed to mean? I always have a plan."

  "Exactly, you always come up with crazy plans. Like that time at the academy? During the exchange with the Raikor Academy?"

  "Come on. It wasn't my fault that the academy didn't teach us how to fight beasts. I just came up with a plan that would get us first place."

  "Who comes up with a plan to jump off a cliff?!"

  "I'm sure other people would also have done something similar?"

  "No one is that crazy!"

  Thea and Janna giggled a bit remembering Thea's antics.

  "Did anything happen on your side?"

  Thea asked Janna.

  "Ah! I killed a mimic and got a drop."

  Janna took out the helmet after a few tries of the magic bag of Thea.

  "This bag of yours is so hard to control. But I got this helmet from the mimic."

  Janna showed Thea the white helmet.

  "Oh, this looks interesting."

  Thea examined the helmet.

  "I couldn't tell what material it's made of."

  "Wow~Look at this. It's sucking in my mana through my skin."

  "Oh, I remember this from Mister Sarilt's class...it was called..."

  Janna tried to remember the name but another voice abruptly shouted out the name.

  "Magic steel!"

  "Yeah! Magic steel!"

  Janna also confirmed it. She looked towards the voice that shouted out the answer. It was a red haired dwarf. He looked sophisticated with a monocle and combed hair. He was also dressed relatively nice compared to the other dwarves.

  "But the magic steel I remember wasn't like this? It absorbed mana but not this fast. And it was a dark grey color."

  Thea recalled the details of the lecture. They showed a sample of the material at the time and it was not like the material composing the helmet.

  "That's because this is pure magic steel."

  The red haired dwarf said.

  "Pure?"

  "Exactly as it sounds. The magic steel you're thinking of is a mix of soot and pure magic steel. It's an alloy created to be handled by living beings as pure magic steel is toxic to us."

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  "Toxic?"

  "The longer you touch that helmet, the more mana it's going to suck out. And when there's no more mana, it'll take your life force."

  "Oh, so I shouldn't be holding this?"

  "Yes."

  Thea quickly put the helmet inside of the magic bag where it was safely stored.

  "I have a proposal for you."

  The dwarf looked at Thea.

  "I'm listening."

  "Let me work on that pure magic steel."

  "You want to experiment with it?"

  "Yes. Take a look at this."

  The dwarf took out a book from his backpack. It was a very old looking book. It had a red cover and it was very thick. He handed it over to Thea.

  "This is our clan's log on this world's materials. Turn to page five hundred and nineteen."

  Thea turned to that page and was met with columns of material names. And besides almost all of them was the word 'failure'.

  "What is this?"

  "In the past, my grandfather acquired a fingernail sized piece of pure magic steel. And then he did a bunch of experiment to make it stable in it's pure form."

  "Can I ask why do you want it stable in it's pure form?"

  Janna asked the dwarf.

  "You see, pure magic steel is much more effective at what it does. We don't know what other benefits it has because it's toxic to us. But what if it has other properties that we don't know about?"

  "Ah, so you think it's a box of mysterious?"

  "Exactly. It could be absolutely nothing useful. Or it could be an amazing discovery."

  "It's fine by me. But on the condition that you involve me in your research."

  Thea gave a condition to the dwarf.

  "Normally, we dwarves don't work with others. But considering that you saved us from a wyvern, I'm willing to work with you."

  Thea and the dwarf shook hands.

  "I don't even know your name."

  "I'm Bokle. I come from a long line of material researchers."

  "Nice to meet you, Bokle. I'll tell you more about the work tomorrow. Come find me at the orphanage in the morning. Right now, you guys should find Silas and talk about where you can settle."

  The dwarves left in the direction of the Silver Wolf Merchants. Thea and Janna started to walk back to the orphanage.

  "Oh yeah, we saw a few Ululls."

  Ululls were like cows in this world. They had fur like yaks that was black and white like zebras. Two short horns on their skull. Ululls produce milk which was good for the health of people.

  "We captured one with our effort."

  "It was mostly you doing the work, right?"

  "Ululls are strong, you know. We struggled to handle even one. We'll capture another next time."

  Ululls were strong but docile and passive. As long as their needs were met, they wouldn't attack anyone.

  "I haven't had your chocolate milk in so long."

  "Should I ask Silas to order some milk from the nearby villages?"

  Janna expected a response from Thea but didn't receive one.

  "Thea?"

  Thea looked a bit dazed as if she was in deep thought.

  "I got it!"

  Suddenly she shouted. It startled Janna.

  "D-don't scare me like that!"

  Thea was hit in the head for scaring Janna.

  "Ow....I have a bump on my head now."

  "It's your fault for suddenly shouting, idiot."

  "What if your boyfriend shouts 'I love you, marry me' one day? Are you going to kill him?"

  "You want to get hit again?"

  Janna was not liking Thea's joke.

  "Ok ok. Please don't hit me again."

  "Why did you shout just now?"

  "I was thinking about the ulull's milk and your chocolate milk. And I came up with a way to help Jeanne."

  "Huh?"

  Janna was confused how the topic was useful to helping Jeanne.

  "Think about it. Ululls' milk is good but your chocolate milk is just superior."

  "Thanks but what does that have to do with Jeanne?"

  "The milk is replaced by your chocolate milk in the deliciousness chart. You add the chocolate factor into the milk and change it for the better."

  "I'm still not getting what you're saying."

  "Basically, I'm gonna use your sweetness that's like chocolate to change Jeanne's milk."

  "....what?"

  Janna was flabbergasted. The words leaving Thea's mouth were very lecherous.

  "W-what are you saying, Thea?!"

  Janna's face was fully red. Thea had a look of surprise as she realized what happened.

  "Uuh....I didn't mean it like that that."

  "How else is someone supposed to interpret that?!"

  "I understand my words might have been...naughty."

  The two arrived at the orphanage already.

  "I'll explain inside."

  They opened the door and went inside.

  "You're back!"

  "Su. How is everything? Did anything happen?"

  "Not really. Jeanne woke up just now, that's it. Oh, Nem was feeling sad because Gwyn wasn't around."

  "That's my bad. I had Gwyn help me. Let's go see Jeanne."

  They walked to Janna's room when they heard a shout.

  "What happened?"

  "Unnie?"

  Jeanne was holding Leaf tight in her arms.

  "What's going on here?"

  Thea asked them.

  "Leaf! I told you not to go in the room!"

  While Su was angry as she pulled Leaf away from Jeanne. She had told Leaf to not go in the room just minutes ago.

  "Did she hurt you?"

  "She didn't! I said Unnie wouldn't let anyone that would hurt us in."

  "You don't know that!"

  "I do know it!"

  Su and Leaf were angry at the other. They weren't listening to one another.

  "Well, is it true? Unnie?"

  Leaf turned to Thea. She would be the only one who could solve their problem.

  "...it's true."

  "See! I told you so!"

  "But you should still listen to Su."

  Leaf's jubilation was short-lived. Leaf was scolded by Thea that she shouldn't go against Su's words. And about how Su cares for her and that she was unnecessarily making her worry by being willful.

  "I'm sorry..."

  Leaf was let off the hook with an apology.

  "What was that shout earlier for?"

  Thea asked Jeanne.

  "This thing!"

  Jeanne held up a bottle of green liquid. Her face was full of joy and expectations.

  "My healing potion?"

  Everyone is the room was confused. It was just a healing potion. Sure, they were a bit expensive but it's not like people hadn't seen them before.

  "You don't get it! I'm allergic to potions!"

  "What?! You're allergic?"

  Thea had fed Jeanne her healing potion before. She didn't know that Jeanne was allergic to potions so it could've been over for Jeanne.

  "Wait. I've never heard of anyone being allergic to potions."

  Such a thing would have absolutely been taught to her in the academy. But she didn't have any memories of learning such a thing.

  "It's a Zatiax thing. There's a lot of these cases there but they don't want to tell the world about their weakness."

  "They hid it really well then. Not even the academy knows about it."

  "Well....everyone that found out was swiftly dealt with."

  "Oh...so we're dead people now."

  "No, I won't tell anyone that you know."

  Jeanne was panicking.

  "Calm down. We're already marked by the Zatiax Empire. Did you forget the battle we had?"

  "Oh right. But how did you make this potion?"

  "Hmm? I used my own recipe that I tweaked from the original. It should work better and faster than the original by a bit."

  Thea originally made it for herself as she can't use healing magic.

  "Whatever you did, this is amazing. Have you thought about selling it?"

  "Now that you mention it, I'll talk to Silas about it. But we have more important matters to discuss."

  Thea switched the topic.

  "Right, you want to know if the Zatiax army will attack soon."

  Jeanne made a guess.

  "No, not that...but go on."

  Even though it wasn't what Thea wanted to talk about. She knew it was something valuable.

  "Okay, so for some reason the Zatiax Empire doesn't want to attack this place."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Why do you think I was given the command to attack here? There were hundred other commanders that were much closer yet none were sent here. I think that the king knows that there is some secret danger here and doesn't want to send his forces."

  "So they sent you?"

  "Yeah, I'm the least useful commander there is. They wouldn't care if I died so they sent me."

  Jeanne looked down. A sorrowful expression on her face.

  "Hey, don't think about them anymore. You have us now. And if you died, we'll feel sad for you."

  Janna cheered up Jeanne.

  "Thank you."

  Jeanne wiped her tear away.

  "For the sake of you not dying, I have a gift for you."

  "A gift?"

  Jeanne looked at Thea.

  "Yes. You said that your fire is locked as a red fire, correct?"

  "Yeah, I was tricked when I was young."

  "I may have a way to help you."

  "...don't say that..."

  Jeanne didn't believe Thea. Her life was a misery all because she had gotten a red fire instead of a noble families' blue fire. Thea giving her hope now wasn't something she wanted. If it turned out to be a false hope, it would hurt once again.

  "It's not decided if it'll work. But I need your family's breathing method to know if it'll work."

  "My family's breathing method is very simple."

  Jeanne explained the breathing method to Thea. It really was simple. Only having three steps to complete one cycle of breathing. First, gather the mana and separate out the fire mana. Second, store the fire mana in the body. And lastly, either use it to cultivate the body or release it outwards like Jeanne's attacks from before.

  In contrast, Janna's breathing method that had many steps that needed to be done in order to show good effects. Speed, strength and other factors all had something. It was also all separated for each body part.

  "I see. Your family's breathing method uses your whole body for storing fire element mana."

  "Early on we can't store in every place."

  "Hmm...because you use your fire mana to open up mana paths that are usually not used. I think...my plan will work."

  Thea came to a conclusion after a bit of thinking.

  "Wh....really?"

  Jeanne didn't want to believe Thea, but she couldn't help but feel a bit of hope.

  "Yes, I am certain it will work but the problem is if you'll be able to handle it."

  "Wh-what do you mean?"

  "The idea is simple. I will replace all of your red fire mana..."

  Thea put her finger forward and produced a red colored fire above it.

  "...to orange fire."

  The red fire burst and changed to orange.

  "H-how?"

  Jeanne was now a bit curious. Perhaps she really could be helped by Thea.

  "The breathing method you are using is very rudimentary. Think of it as shaping a mold around a small ball. Your fire mana is the ball and your body is the mold. When you're young, someone helps you to make the shape of the mold. But what happens if you want to use a slightly bigger ball? The mold isn't able to fit it in."

  "I think I get it."

  "So I'm gonna forcefully reshape that mold and put a bigger ball in. However, your body wouldn't be able to handle that kind of procedure on it's own. That's where Janna comes in."

  "Me?"

  Janna pointed at herself.

  "Yes. By using your draconic healing power, Jeanne will be able to go through the process and survive."

  "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

  Janna was eager to help Jeanne.

  "The problem is if Jeanne will be able to handle it mentally."

  "What do you mean?"

  Jeanne was nervous. She didn't understand Thea's concern.

  "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. It will hurt. Your body will be broken down and then healed. You will feel your insides burn and heal continuously until the whole thing is done. Are you sure you can handle it? It won't matter whether your body changes if your mind broke in the process."

  Thea's words were clear. The process of helping her would mean so much pain that it could do permanent harm to her head.

  "Can't you do something about that, Thea?"

  "Sadly no, I can't cast support magic since that's divine magic category. Otherwise I would use pain nullification to help her."

  Support magic was a rare type of magic. Support mages are always believers of gods and usually serve in temples. Their numbers were minuscule, only one mage would become a support mage among one hundred mages. And normal mages were already rare, being one in fifty normal people.

  "You could wait for a few month. I'll put out a job offer next month when I leave for the academy. Maybe someone will respond to the job."

  "...no!"

  Jeanne rejected Thea's proposal for a support mage with determination.

  "I'll do it now!"