The nameless magic sword and the teddy bears

 
 
 ☆
 
 
 “Hmmm…”
 
 Master, who was looking through the magnifying glass at the magic stone placed on the examination table, let out a groan.
 
 He’s the Workshop Chief Godwin, who’s likely currently the most experienced and knowledgeable in the Ainsworth Workshop.
 
 If it’s him, perhaps he’d know something about this mysterious phenomenon happening to the magic stone, is what I thought, but…
 Was it unreasonable after all?
 
 Master took his eyes off the magnifying glass, let out a sigh, and turned to face me.
 
 “I’ve never seen a magic stone like this before.”
 
 “So there isn’t a precedent after all?”
 
 “Yeah. As far as I know, there isn’t.”
 
 “I see…”
 
 Hearing Master’s words, my shoulders dropped.
 
 Seeing me like that, Master turned his gaze towards the diagrams gathered on the shelf.
 
 “Hey, Ojou-chan.”
 
 “What?”
 
 “Earlier, you said 『the magic activated without the circuit』, right?”
 
 “Yes. I removed the specific spell’s circuit board that I made, and chanted the activation phrase with just the magic stone, adjustment circuit and magic vessel. And then, for some reason, it triggered as usual.”
 
 Hearing my words, Master pondered while tapping away at the armrest of his chair.
 
 “…… hm.”
 
 Eventually, he stood up abruptly and walked to a cabinet in the corner of the room.
 
 
 
 “……”
 
 He stared intensely at the dozens of notebooks lined up between the bookends in the cabinet, then gingerly pulled out a few very old books and began turning through the pages one by one.
 
 For a while, he searched for the page he was looking for, then eventually stopped on a particular page.
 
 “… this one.”
 
 “?”
 
 Tilting my head, Workshop Chief Godwin shot me a sharp glance.
 
 “Actually, when I was still an apprentice, the one in charge two generations prior^[1] told me a mysterious story.”
 
 “By two generations prior, are you referring to Joachim-sama?”
 
 “That’s right.”
 
 Said person was my great-grandfather, who developed things like the magic stove.
 
 “What kind of story was it?”
 
 “『If the circuit of a magic tool breaks, do you think it’d be able to activate magic?』. That’s the question the guy two generations ago posed to me.”
 
 “Huh…?”
 
 A magic tool with a broken circuit.
 
 If you think about it, I guess that’s similar to when I removed the circuit board from Coco and Mel.
 
 
 
 “What cued that talk was that I snapped at him, saying 『Why do the Ainsworths go through so much time and effort to stabilise the magic stone, huh? Rival workshops don’t go so far, now do they?』. ——— Well, it was youthful indiscretion.”
 
 Saying so, Workshop Chief Godwin gazed out the window with a faraway look.
 
 “To that young me, Joachim-sama told me the story of a certain 『magical sword』.”
 
 “A magical sword, you say?”
 
 “Yeah. A magical sword.”
 
 Hearing that, I knit my eyebrows.
 
 I know what magic swords and spell swords are.^[2]
 
 A magic sword is a magic tool which uses a magic stone as an energy source to activate a magic circuit, multiplying the sword’s reach and power.
 Similarly, a spell sword is a magic tool that deploys attack magic via its magic circuit.
 
 But just now, Master said it was a 『magical sword』.
 
 A magical sword is not a magic tool, but rather has the image of 『a sword which comes out of a fairy tale』, but…
 
 
 
 Seeing my dubious expression, Master asked me a question.
 
 “Does Ojou-chan know the story of 『The Raging Dragon of the Northern Valley』?”
 
 “Of course. It was a Red Dragon^[3] that devastated the towns and villages in the kingdom’s northern parts. The Second Knights Order and the Northern Territory’s United Knights Order went out to subjugate it ——— I heard that, in their last moments, our ancestors finished it off in exchange for their lives.”
 
 A Red Dragon is a medium-sized dragon that breathes flames from its mouth.
 
 Its physique is far more robust than that of wyverns, which are small-sized dragons, but the range of its flames are short.
 But on the other hand, their power is tremendous, and those flames can also melt large boulders.
 
 Although its movements are easier to read compared to wyverns that can fire exploding fireballs from a long distance, it is almost impossible to survive within its range without magic defence.
 
 To defeat it, one wouldn’t stand a chance unless they organised a large-scale armed force, pushing through with numerous layers of magic defence, ice-type spells and spell swords; that’s the kind of dreadful monster it is.
 
 Hearing what I said, Master nodded.
 
 “That’s right. At that time, the head of the family was Joachim-sama’s grandfather. He heard a mysterious story from the surviving knights who participated in the subjugation together.”
 
 “What kind of story?”
 
 
 
 “The United Knights Order chased after the Red Dragon into the northern valley, facing off against the dragon by a cliff edge in the valley’s depths. The enemy persistently spread its flames, and the knights order was partially destroyed. The 『Freeze』 spell sword wielded by the family head had deformed from the heat, and the magic circuit also seemed broken to pieces.”
 
 “The 『Freeze』 spell sword was———”
 
 “A spell sword developed by the head of the Ainsworths at the time, for use against the Red Dragon. It would activate the 『Freeze』 spell and freeze its target the moment the sword tip touched. It’s become obsolete since, on top of the reach being short, the magic stone runs out of magic power after having only used it once, but the family head at the time loaded it with his vast magic power and slashed at the Red Dragon dozens of times.”
 
 “Even so, it seems it was quite difficult to defeat.”
 
 Master nodded, then returned to the story.
 
 “In the midst of the knights order’s collapse, the Red Dragon opened its mouth to chase after its fleeing opponent, when the head of that time grabbed his broken spell sword and slashed head-on. ——— And then, the unthinkable happened.”
 
 “No way…?”
 
 “That’s right. The moment the family head struck the Red Dragon on its snout, the magic stone embedded in the broken spell sword shone, activating a particularly large 『Freeze』 spell. That spell froze the family head and Red Dragon all together, and the dragon dropped to the valley floor.”
 
 
 
 Having spoken that far, Master filled his cup from a jug of water and took a sip, looking out the window.
 
 “My predecessor two generations back said this. 『My guess, is that this 《miracle》 was because the magic stone 《evolved》. By repeatedly pouring large amounts of magic power into the stabilised magic stone, it’s not impossible to think that the magic stone transcribed the magic circuit. In fact, magic swords and spell swords that have been used in this way activate spells faster, and with increased output, than compared to the usual. If my guess is correct, we’ll be able to use magic power more efficiently, and magic tools will become more popular. That is why the Ainsworths, why we, are so obsessive about the magic stone’s stabilisation』.”
 
 My Master’s words, seemingly possessed by Joachim-sama, overwhelmed me.
 
 “And so that’s how my predecessor two generations prior went on to study magic stones, but… as Ojou-chan knows, our financial affairs declined soon after, and it was far from possible to continue the research.”
 
 The workshop chief sighed.
 
 Once again, I picked up the pendant on my chest… the 『Drop of Still Lake』, and gazed at it.
 
 The weight of the large amount of magic power, and the stillness like a waveless water’s surface.
 This magic stone is a symbol of my great-grandfather Joachim-sama’s belief.
 
 It might also be a guide for Coco and Mel’s 『evolution』.
 
 
 
 “Master”
 
 “What?”
 
 “I am very aware that you’re busy with the preparations for the magic rifle’s mass production, but I’ve got a bit of a request…”
 
 Seeing me smiling, Workshop Chief Godwin grimaced.
 
 “Stop it with that evil smile. You look exactly like the predecessor two generations ago did when he did all those unreasonable things.”
 
 “That’s an honour. Besides, it’s perfect for this time’s 『request』.”
 
 “What’s so perfect about it?”
 
 Master looked at me suspiciously.
 
 I stared back at those eyes, and declared as such.
 
 “Great-grandfather’s dying wish ——— the study of magic stones, I’ll take over it. So that’s why, just for a bit, please give me your full cooperation!”
 
 At that moment, Master looked up to the heavens.