At night, in Renaldi's room, Agatha asked him about the item they had made.
"Did you already take it?"
Without answering Agatha's question, Renaldi immediately took out the chest he had brought from Grim's shop.
He opened the chest, revealing six silver rings with several engravings.
Two of them were different—the engravings on those two rings glowed blue, making them stand out compared to the other four, which only had plain silver engravings.
After observing them for a while, Agatha closed the chest again and took it.
"All right, now it's my job. I'll take it to my room."
"Okay. Be careful. It was very difficult to make that."
"I know, don't worry."
Agatha left Renaldi's room with a delighted expression.
The next day, Princess Adelia summoned the six heroes of Jatumheim.
A table and seven chairs had been prepared; two of them were already occupied by Agatha and Princess Adelia.
At first, this was supposed to be just a gathering of the heroes, but in the morning, Adelia had approached Agatha to discuss something about magic. Agatha declined, saying she wanted to talk with the other heroes instead.
Hearing that, Adelia took the initiative to prepare their meeting. Agatha had tried to refuse, saying, "What's this about? It's just a casual meeting!" But in the end, she allowed Adelia to do as she pleased.
While waiting for the others to arrive, Agatha and Adelia discussed magic, though Adelia's eyes often wandered to the chest Agatha carried.
After a while, the heroes finally arrived, with Renaldi coming in last—very late.
With displeasure in her voice, Agatha asked the reason for his tardiness.
"Why are you so late?"
"I overslept because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I was thinking of a good name for our group."
"Just for something stupid like that? Look at my eyes—I've got dark circles from staying up last night, but I still came first."
Agatha showed the faint black circles around her eyes. To prepare the rings, she had stayed up all night.
"Okay, okay, I was wrong. Sorry."
Flitz and the others could only remain silent as they watched their quarrel. After a few more words, Agatha finally let Renaldi sit down.
"All right, as promised, today Renaldi and I will show you the item we made."
Agatha placed the chest on the table and revealed six silver rings with glowing blue engravings.
"These are artifacts we created together."
"Artifacts?"
Flitz searched his chip's databank for information about artifacts.
Artifacts are magical devices created for a specific purpose, according to the maker's intent.
Before discussing how artifacts are made, it is important to first understand a miraculous technique known as Runes.
Runes are patterns or inscriptions carved using a special technique, with Etherion—the pure energy of nature—as their ink.
If a stone is inscribed with a Rune that says "fire," then when that Rune comes into contact with mana from a living being, the inscription will actually produce fire.
For those who cannot use magic, Runes are extremely valuable. Simply by channeling mana into the inscription, they can create simple miracles. However, Runes have limitations; they can only be used for simple effects.
Because of this, anyone capable of creating miracles is generally advised to study magic directly rather than Runes.
But that all changes when it comes to the creation of Artifacts.
Artifacts are divided into two types: Ancient Artifacts and Modern Artifacts.
Modern Artifacts are created with special techniques that make use of Runes. Anyone who wants to create a modern artifact must understand Rune-crafting. A device can only be called an artifact if it is made from magical materials, and this is what allows the limitations of Runes to be overcome.
In contrast, the technique for creating Ancient Artifacts remains a mystery. These were made during the Age of Void, thousands of years ago.
Despite their great age, Ancient Artifacts still function to this day. This is what sets them apart from Modern Artifacts, which usually only last for several years or decades before breaking down.
"This artifact is called Link. As for its use... I'll show you."
Agatha took two rings from the chest, giving one to Haru to wear while putting on the other herself.
"Don't worry, the ring will adjust to the size of your finger—well, except for Renaldi's fingers, which are already too big."
After both of them wore the rings, Agatha stepped back several meters, channeled her mana into her ring, and recited a code.
[NUMBER 03, CALL]
At that moment, the ring on Haru's finger began to glow.
"Haru, channel your mana into the ring!"
Following Agatha's instructions, Haru sent her mana into her ring.
"Test... test... Hello."
"Test... test... Hello."
When Agatha spoke close to her ring, her voice could be heard from the ring Haru wore.
Everyone finally understood that the rings were used as long-distance communication tools.
"Hehe, but this artifact isn't just for communication."
Agatha once again channeled a large amount of mana into her ring.
[NUMBER 03, WARP]
The moment she spoke the command, Agatha suddenly vanished from her position and reappeared right behind Haru.
?????
Aside from Agatha and Renaldi, who wore smug expressions, everyone else was shocked at her sudden movement.
"Teleportation?"
Agatha nodded and explained the ring's use.
"Yes, teleportation. These rings allow both communication and teleportation between ring users. Keep in mind, though, that the distance of the teleportation determines the amount of mana required."
It was incredible. With these rings, they could stay connected, and in an emergency, they could gather together regardless of distance.
"Since we'll be separating, Agatha and I made these so we can stay connected. You wouldn't want to be apart, would you, Haru?"
Hearing Renaldi's words, Haru's eyes sparkled.
"Yes, you're right, Renaldi-san!"
With these rings, she could contact Flitz anytime—and even meet him.
"Well, although it's only an imitation of a communication device in this world, we just made a few adjustments."
"No, Agatha! This is already amazing."
The others nodded in agreement with Flitz's words, and Agatha smiled at that.
"All right, each of you take one!"
After they each took a ring, Agatha explained:
"Look at the underside of the ring. That's your ring's code number. You'll need to call out the number of the ring you want to connect to."
They shared their numbers with each other. Agatha was number 02, Haru was number 03, Kushida was number 04, Renaldi was number 05, Fujita was number 06, and Flitz received number 07.
After memorizing each other's numbers, Kushida pointed out something odd about them.
"Agatha-san, why does it start from number 02? Where's number 01?"
Renaldi answered as he pulled another ring from his pocket.
"Ah, that one—this is number 01. It's just a prototype. There was a flaw in it, so it can't use teleportation. I was planning to throw it away later, I—"
"Sir Renaldi! Could you give it to me instead?"
Suddenly, Princess Adelia cut off Renaldi's words enthusiastically. Up until now, she had only been watching the meeting from the sidelines, feeling left out. She had been staring at the rings with envy, but the moment she saw the prototype, she immediately asked for it. After all, it was going to be discarded, right? If no one would use it, then she would take it!
"This is just a broken ring. Do you really still want it?"
Adelia nodded vigorously.
Renaldi hesitated to give it away—the rings had been made for the ones from another world. He had already created a name for their group, and the rings were their symbol. Having someone outside their group hold one would be... But seeing Princess Adelia's hopeful eyes made him give in.
"All right. Even though this one can't use teleportation, it can still be used for communication and as a teleportation destination point."
Adelia accepted the ring with both hands as though receiving a treasure.
Everyone looked at her with gentle expressions. She was the youngest among them, so they treated her like a little sister or even a child.
"All right, now that the rings have been distributed, let's decide on a name for our group."
"A group name?"
"Yes! We're bound to make a name for ourselves in this world, so I think we should form a group. Kugh, just imagining it already sounds so cool!!"
They glanced at each other—well, there was nothing wrong with the idea.
"So, what's the name? You stayed up all night just to think of one, right?"
Agatha asked Renaldi, still remembering her earlier frustration.
"How about... 'The Six Paths of the Shadow of World's Destruction'? Cool, right?"
Just imagining it was awesome—but unfortunately, Agatha rejected it.
"Denied! What kind of name is that? We're supposed to save the world, not destroy it. And also, why only six? Did you forget about Adelia? Look at her! She looks sad because of your naming."
Renaldi turned and saw Adelia sulking. Ugh, okay, okay, that was his mistake.
At that moment, Kushida suggested a name that might suit their nature.
"How about... 'The Seven Deadly Sins'? Well, it's just something that popped into my head, don't think too much of it."