Blueprint
While I was working at the inn, I received a letter from Klua-san. I took it out and read over the contents during my lunch break in the employee break room. Ristina-san was next to me, also taking her lunch break. She glanced over when I started reading. “It’s bad manners to do that during mealtime, you know?”
“Come on, it’s fine, who cares about that?” I replied.
The break room was by no means large, but there were still two long desks facing each other, along with four chairs so that the employees will have no trouble finding a place to sit. It’s kind of rare for four people to even take a break at the same time anyway.
“So what are you looking at?” She asked.
“It’s a letter.”
“For you, senpai?”
“That’s right.”
Ristina-san seemed very anxious as she looked at the letter. At the moment, I was looking at another piece of paper attached to it, written in an alphabet I’ve never seen before. Maybe it was that―
I hurried to read Klua-san’s letter.
[Based on our earlier discussion, I found some ancient manuscripts in my master’s warehouse. Since they didn’t sell at all, it seemed unnecessary to keep them, so now I gift them to you.]
…Oh. I didn’t think I’d get some so easily. While mentally thanking Klua-san, I had a look at the ancient manuscripts. There were two of them… were they both the same?
Ristina-san looked back to me. “Can you read that, senpai?”
“…Nope, not even a little bit.”
Well, at least I knew what to do. With that confidence, I looked at the overall manuscript rather than its contents.
[Dragon Egg Blueprint] was displayed over it.
…Dragon egg? Is that… you know, does it seriously mean dragon egg?
[Handgun Blueprint]
What’s this supposed to be? So wait, back up, if these really are blueprints, does that mean you can make a dragon egg? Isn’t a dragon egg a living thing? I don’t get it.
When I stared at it for a while, some characters appeared to indicate that it could be crafted.
…And that means I can make this, doesn’t it?
Or rather, will I be able to make the contents of the blueprint, or the blueprint itself? I don’t know which one, but let’s try destroying it with my hammer later.
“Did you find something?”
“Huh? Why do you ask?”
“You kind of smiled just now.”
“I did? Well… I might have found something, it’s just a possibility.”
I don’t know for sure because I haven’t tried anything yet. She looked at me with a suspicious hmm of doubt, and suddenly held the carrots on her fork out to me. “Well then, senpai, please say aah.”
“I refuse.”
“Wha― senpai! Your cute junior is feeding you, you know! Don’t you want it?”
“Would you please stop trying to give me food I don’t like?”
“That’s not true! Hmm, could it be that you’re… embarrassed?”
Ristina-san was as noisy as usual. Of course it’s embarrassing, that’s why I always ignore it, but… now I’ve got to fight back.
I leaned over and bit the carrot off the approaching fork, and promptly chewed and swallowed, to Ristina-san’s great shock.
I looked away. “Jeez, I’m an adult, so I’m still going to eat whether I like it or not.” When I glanced back at Ristina-san, her face was beet-red as she stared at the tip of the fork. It had been a successful counterattack.
I drank some water to cool my own cheeks, which were also burning from embarrassment.
◆ ◆ ◆
After I parted ways with Ristina-san, I went back to my room and hit the [Dragon’s Egg Blueprint] and [Handgun Blueprint] with my hammer. They vanished into stored materials, but at the same time a strange alphabet flowed into my brain.
Could this be the language from the blueprint?
Thanks to that, I learned how to read those blueprints. The [Dragon Egg Blueprint] that I destroyed earlier was a method for producing a dragon egg, as the name suggested. It was said to be a blueprint used by ancient alchemists to create life. Turns out, by making this kind of dragon’s egg, using a natural dragon’s egg as a component, it was possible to safely raise the dragon that hatched.
They’re probably still doing this today ― the Dragon Knight Corps likely does this to get their mounts.
…Were the ancient alchemists capable of such a thing? Modern alchemists only seem able to make potions and such, but just the fact it was possible for anyone to make this really bothered me. So if I had the materials, I could make a dragon egg? When I tried, it was just as I thought, it really was possible.
In addition, I could make it with only magic power.
― I want to make it, I thought, but more than that, I couldn’t help but be surprised by the weirdness of this occupation. Immediately, my entire magic pool was consumed for the production, but it still wasn’t enough.
It makes sense that creating life would require a huge amount of magic. However, the magic consumed by this production wasn’t lost when I ran out, but stored up. Despite pouring most of my magic into the dragon egg’s production, I had to stop there for now. If I did it three more times, I could make one dragon egg.
Before going to bed every day, let’s put all my magic into it… but then, this is a dragon we’re talking about here.
There were notes on how to raise the dragon scribbled in the spaces of the blueprint. Apparently I should collect fresh monster meat for it. If I’m serious about raising a dragon, I might need to collect as much monsters meat as I can. I don’t know what kind of meat a newly hatched dragon will prefer. It’ll surely be pleased if I collect a variety for it.
The next thing I need to come up with is ― a name, right? And a place to keep it.
Fortunately, pets were acceptable at our inn. Since I knew that, I decided to make the dragon egg. The question was how long I’d be able to keep it in my room. How much would it grow in the future, and how quickly?
I don’t think raising a dragon is a problem; it’s not a terribly familiar pet, but nobles do sometimes own them. Besides, if it turns out to be difficult to raise, I don’t necessarily have to finish creating the egg.
I should probably think about this a little more before continuing, but the thought of raising a dragon filled me with anticipation.
I lay down in my bed, still thinking about the dragon egg. Still, a blueprint, huh? Are these ancient manuscripts all just blueprints? If so, if I continue to collect them, I may be able to produce something truly ancient.
Ancient artifacts… in actual fact, there were many magic tools in the world that were only discovered from labyrinths and ruins. Apart from what already exists in the world right now, I might find something amazing from these blueprints that no one has ever seen or heard of. Even if I can make things like that, it’s better that I don’t.
It’s a difficult question. I should think some more about the dragon egg later.
The other blueprint was for “handgun.” Something I’ve never heard of. Is it a weapon? Or is it some kind of monster or something? When I read the handgun blueprint, it sounded like it was a weapon. It described it as a weapon that could attack from a long distance, like a bow. If it’s something like that, I definitely want to create it. I immediately created it with the tiny amount of my magic I still had.
What appeared at hand was a “handgun” at a size that could be held in one hand. It had an interesting shape. I compared it with the blueprint’s specifications.
It has a long cylinder, and that can apparently launch magic bullets by putting magic power into it. I wanted to see what kind of damage it can do, but I obviously can’t fire it off in my room. I’ll test it next time I go out to hunt monsters.
Bound Pleasures 
Leave a Reply