Chapter 35 - Fairy Crystal and Glasses
Author’s Note: This scene focuses on the crafting process of a magical tool (a combination of fairy crystal and glasses).
Early last year, her father had ordered a pair of silver-framed work glasses that had never been used. She took them out.
She had Volf try them on, and the size was just right.
"Dahlia, I have glasses, but they don’t do much..."
"Volf, have you ever tried colored glass lenses?"
"No, I haven’t."
She had decided to make glasses with tinted lenses. Though rare in the royal capital, they weren’t nonexistent.
She had various glass sheets in stock, and chose a thin, blue-gray sheet.
"I'll replace the lenses with colored ones. Adding color to the lenses changes how things look. Also, there's one more thing."
Dahlia took a silver magic-sealing box, about five centimeters square, from the shelf.
Inside, there was the "fairy crystal" that her father had tried to use for her room's window but had failed, turning it into powder.
"I’m going to try this fairy crystal."
"Fairy crystal?"
Volf tilted his head, looking at the small silver magic-sealing box.
"It’s the same as the lamp we saw earlier at the 'Silver Branch.' Fairy crystals are said to be condensed magic power used by fairies to hide. They have a power of recognition inhibition. I’m not sure if this will work, but I’ll try to imbue it into the lenses with magic enchantment. Unfortunately, there’s a higher chance of failure, so if it doesn’t work, we’ll just use slightly darker glass for the glasses."
"It feels like I'm causing you unnecessary trouble, Dahlia..."
"Um, please think of it as an experiment. Though I’d feel bad for having you accompany me, only to fail."
In fact, Dahlia was using the powder left after her father’s failure. The magic enchantment area was much smaller than the window, so theoretically, it should work. But whether it succeeded or not was fifty-fifty, maybe even more like forty percent success, sixty percent failure.
"May I watch your work from here?"
"Yes, please. Feel free to drink while you wait. It’ll probably take just a few minutes for one lens, but I won’t be able to talk while working. If it takes too long for the enchantment to take, I’m sorry, but you can just leave and come back later."
Dahlia put on a gray work jacket over her clothes and sat in a chair.
Volf sat on a chair diagonally across the work desk.
First, she took a sheet of light blue-gray glass and used the removed lenses as a reference. Infusing it with magic, she altered its shape. Once the glass was properly formed, she arranged the pieces neatly on the work tray.
Gently opening the silver magic-sealing box, she saw the sparkling rainbow-colored fairy crystal powder, glimmering as though each tiny grain was alive.
Slowly pouring in blue liquid, she infused magic power with her right index finger and stirred with a glass rod in her left hand.
She placed half of the mixed liquid on one lens and began adding magic power from her fingertip.
The liquid, though untouched, slowly began to ripple.
Dahlia directed her magic power with her finger toward the liquid, trying to align the countless glimmering fairy crystal particles. She had to ensure only one side had the recognition inhibition effect, or else both sides would have it, making the glasses unusable.
The fairy crystal was unpredictable, like a free fairy, and the lights shimmered disorderly, like being played with by a child. She could hardly control it, but she kept pouring magic power in desperately.
After a while, the liquid seemed to surrender, slowly gathering in the center of the lens.
The movement was like a sparkling, rainbow-colored slime.
Magical enchantment of magical tools could follow several patterns.
The most common was to enchant the object all at once using strong magic .
This allowed for a quick spread of strong magic in a short time. It was often used by those with powerful attribute magic to imbue magic stones.
However, using this method could risk damaging the tool, so it wasn’t suitable for delicate items.
The next method was to pre-decide the amount of magic power to be used for the enchantment and use that exact amount.
You gauge the amount of magic power required for the magical tool and test several times to determine how much of your own magic was needed. Once you confirm the precise amount, you infuse it. This method, suitable for mass production and minimizing waste, was commonly used in creating many magical tools.
She felt a tinge of frustration, but when it came to this particular process, Tobias was far better than she was.
Finally, the third method was to infuse magic power while adjusting to the changes in the magical tool and the materials, allowing for the intended magical enchantment to take effect.
This method used a small amount of magic power for an extended time, requiring patience and careful observation of the material.
This was the method Dahlia excelled at, and it was the one she was currently using.
"Enchant while talking to the material," her father had taught her.
She would apply a consistent, weak amount of magic power, changing locations and angles, giving the material what it seemed to need.
If she added a little more magic power to a glowing spot, the opposite side would light up as if demanding magic too. The flickering was so busy it almost made her dizzy.
Before she knew it, Dahlia saw the faint outline of a translucent fairy in the rainbow-colored light.
It was something she had never experienced before, something new.
Suddenly, her father’s words echoed in her mind.
Sometimes, when creating magical tools, you can understand the tool or material itself.
At the time, she hadn’t understood it, but now, maybe, this was it.
"What do you wish for?"
A bell-like fairy voice rang directly in her mind. Dahlia hurriedly replied.
"I want to help him, to make his eyes less noticeable."
"Why do you wish for that? His eyes are beautiful, why hide them?"
The voice sounded puzzled, and it made Dahlia think.
She thought, perhaps it was arrogant of her to want to make him less conspicuous simply because she felt sorry for him.
What, then, was her true wish?
To protect him from the gaze of desire, from malicious eyes, from looks that could hurt him.
She wanted Volf to smile.
She didn’t want him to be hurt.
"Please protect him from the eyes of others so he can keep smiling. I don’t want him to be hurt."
When she conveyed this, a joyful laugh sounded, and the fairy's wings fluttered.
"I will protect him! If you send me to the rainbow, I’ll protect him!"
"Rainbow? What should I do?"
No answer came to her question, but an image flowed into her mind, showing the fairy’s death.
A small body, nearly caught by a dog-like monster, tried to escape but fell to the ground, exhausted.
It was desperately trying to reach the other side of a rainbow before it, but its body and wings were too torn to fly.
Even though she knew it was just an illusion, Dahlia instinctively reached out her hand.
"Ugh!"
Suddenly, her right hand was drawn forward, and she felt a rush of magic power draining from her body.
She suppressed the rising nausea and discomfort, gritting her teeth to endure it.
Sweat poured down from her temples, gathering on her chin, and dripping onto the floor.
"Dahlia! You should take a break..."
"Quiet!"
She answered Volf’s concern with a brief reply and kept pouring magic into the lens.
At some point, the fairy had disappeared from in front of her.
The gel-like substance, resembling a rainbow-colored slime, trembled in the center of the lens, forming a perfect sphere.
Perhaps it would burst from failure—just as she was panicking, she inexplicably felt her father’s presence behind her. Though she knew he couldn’t be there, she found herself wanting to look in that direction.
Shaking off the hesitation, she focused only on the lens.
On the lens, she could clearly recall her father’s smiling face, his wrinkles forming when he smiled.
The gel-like substance spread light from the center as if opening many petals.
It resembled a beautiful rainbow-colored dahlia flower, blooming gracefully on the lens.
When the flower reached full bloom, it shone brightly, so intensely that she had to close her eyes.
When she opened them again, only the lens remained in her hand.
She confirmed that no more magic could be infused into the lens, then quickly took the other lens.
Volf, sitting across the table, was looking at her with deep concern, but Dahlia didn’t notice.
As long as her concentration held, she knew this might be her only chance to replicate it. She couldn’t let it end in a fluke.
With the second lens, the fairy didn’t appear this time.
This wasn’t easy either. The liquid was a little less viscous, but still stubbornly moved slowly.
As she channeled her magic desperately, wishing for the same outcome, that familiar sensation of having her magic forcibly drawn out returned. However, perhaps because she had braced herself for it, it felt much more bearable than before.
The gel gathered in the center again, and a second beautiful rainbow-colored flower bloomed and vanished.
Finally, both lenses were ready.
Dahlia assembled the lenses into the glasses and secured them with screws.
After spraying the glasses with water and carefully wiping them with a cloth, she handed them over to Volf.
"Volf, please try them on."
The young man put on the glasses and looked around. There was a slight blue tint, but it was just enough not to bother him.
"Everything is clear, and it’s not too bright."
"Then, please look in the mirror over there. I added the recognition inhibition with the fairy crystal, so you should notice something 'off.'"
"...Is this...?"
In the mirror, there was a young man with green eyes, wearing glasses with a slight blue-gray tint.
It seemed like Volf’s eyes, but the feel of it was entirely different.
The eyes looked calmer, softer, and more peaceful.
It was the kind of eyes that wouldn’t seem out of place no matter where you see it in town.
Then, he tilted his face to the side, his surprise growing even further.
Even from the side, his eyes were not gold but green. Moreover, they were gentle and calm, exactly like the ones seen in the mirror.
The face itself was Volf's, yet there was something about it that made it seem like the face of another person—strangely unremarkable, almost as if it blended into the background.
"I’m sorry, but a bit of my father’s image ended up in your eyes."
It was unexpected to recall her father during the enchantment process.
Still, the image of Carlo’s slightly drooping, soft eyes had surprisingly come in handy.
She wasn’t sure whether this would make him happy or sad, but she decided to take a bottle of alcohol to her father’s grave next time and hoped he would forgive her for this.
"Keep it like that, and lower all of your bangs."
"Oh, alright."
The young man in front of her was still stunned, unable to fully comprehend the situation. Even so, he obediently lowered his bangs and stared into the mirror.
"This way, you should become less noticeable, and anyone who knows you would recognize you as Volf, but the strong impression of your eyes should disappear. Do you, um, think you can walk around the town without a hood now?"
Though the beauty of his black hair, the contour of his face, and his tall, slim build couldn’t be hidden, she decided not to mention it.
"...Yeah, I think I can walk around."
Volf said, placing one hand over his mouth and wrapping the other arm around his body.
His shoulders were trembling, though it wasn’t clear whether he was laughing or just confused—there were no tears in his eyes, so he wasn’t crying. Dahlia, feeling a little worried, waited patiently for him to speak.
"...Thank you."
Eventually, his head lowered deeply, and it didn’t rise again. Only his words followed.
"Please sell me this at a fair price. I’ll pay whatever it costs."
"This is just a prototype, so please purchase the next one. Also, please raise your head!"
"Even if it’s a prototype, it’s a magical tool made for me. Please, let me pay for it."
"No, the powder I used was leftover from a failed experiment!"
"If you make a new one, how much would it cost?"
Finally, Volf raised his head, and Dahlia hurriedly gave him the answer.
"Well, for the original glasses and the glass itself, plus processing fees, it should cost around three large silver coins. But, the fairy crystal... I’m sorry, but just one spoonful costs about three gold coins. I think that would be enough for two pairs of glasses. However, fairy crystals aren’t easy to come by, so I’d have to search for them..."
"I understand. I’ll pay three gold coins and three large silver coins for the pair I’m wearing."
“No, I’ve said it before, but it’s just a prototype. But glasses do break, so maybe it would be a good idea to have a spare?"
"I would be happy to have one, but after going through all that trouble, I don’t want you to strain yourself any further."
Volf’s green eyes looked at her with a worried expression, and it left her feeling rather strange.
Though he was Volf, the sight reminded her of her father, which left her with a complicated feeling.
Because of this, Dahlia firmly declared to her friend in front of her:
"You’re mistaken, Volf. A magical toolmaker’s job is to create magical tools. The second time is better than the first, and the third time is easier and more refined than the second."
Honestly, this had been one of the hardest enchantments she had ever performed, ranking in her top three most difficult experiences.
But what did that matter? As a magical toolmaker, if she could make something to protect her friend, that was enough. She would make two, three pairs if necessary.
"Volf, isn’t it the same with monster hunting? Even if the first hunt doesn’t go well, don’t you learn the monster’s weak points the second time around?"
Not sure what analogy to use, she decided to compare it to work.
"That’s true, but seeing you struggle so much..."
"I only faint when I fail. It’s not life-threatening like monster hunting. Please, don’t worry about me."
Though her magic was likely close to empty and her knees were trembling, she stood up with determination, trying not to let him notice.
"I succeeded! Let’s have a toast!"
"Yeah."
Volf poured red wine into two glasses, and they clinked their glasses for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.
The sweet red wine tasted delicious against her parched throat. Without thinking, she drained her glass in one go.
"Oh! I just realized... Can you bring this into the royal castle or the barracks?"
Dahlia suddenly exclaimed, realizing that bringing this in might not be a good idea. With a single misstep, it could potentially allow someone to walk around the royal castle in complete disguise.
"It’s fine. You’ll need an appraisal and registration when you enter the royal castle, but I think this would be allowed. You’d have to take it off inside the castle, though. They do a personal check every time you enter or leave the gate. High-ranking nobles often need disguises when they go out, and some people who’ve been cursed by monsters wear recognition-inhibiting bracelets."
"Um, is that something I should have heard about?"
Dahlia asked nervously, her concern growing. Volf, now combining his father’s features with his own face, looked at her curiously.
"Curses from monsters aren’t only found in the royal castle, even adventurers sometimes get them. Haven’t you heard of them?"
"No, this is the first time I’ve heard of them. May I ask what kinds there are?"
"Like scales appearing on the arm after slaying a monster, or magical scars like burns on a part of the body. Some can be healed in the church, while others can’t. Because lifting the curse can be expensive, people sometimes wear recognition-inhibiting accessories until they can afford to pay for it.”
"I had no idea..."
In that case, then surely recognition-inhibiting accessories would be highly sought after.
She was also curious whether those curses were the result of a monster’s deadly revenge or some kind of conditional curse.
"Couldn't a bracelet like that block recognition of your face?"
"I’ve never heard of a bracelet that blocks recognition of eyes. There might be recognition-blocking glasses, but they’re not yet on the market as magical tools. The intelligence division might have some, though.”
"...Could you keep the fact that I made these a secret?"
"Yeah, I promise. I’ll say I got it through family connections."
Dahlia looked closely at the man in front of her, who nodded.
His face stirred an inexplicable feeling in her chest, a sense of unease that she couldn’t shake.
"I’m sorry... But, could you please remove it when we drink at the tower?"
"Is it because it looks unfamiliar to you?"
"No, it’s just... It makes me think of my father, and right now, I really, really want to stop myself from drinking too much."
"Understood. I’ll take it off at the tower."
Volf removed the glasses, and they toasted once more, though she had lost count of how many times they had already done so.
His golden eyes, unshielded, stared at Dahlia with a joyful expression that never left her.
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