The Konosuba world, land of the Crimson Demons.
Because this was where she had left last time, Megumin appeared directly at the door of her house.
Megumin rushed in through the door and shouted loudly:
"Dad! Mom! Komekko! I'm back!"
After greeting each other, the family quickly came out to meet her.
"Megumin, why are you back so soon? Weren't you the one who got into trouble and was kicked out?"
Yuiyui looked at Megumin and couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
"Poof~! How, how is that possible!"
Megumin, who had indeed gotten into trouble, suddenly saw her eyes flicker, making Hyoizaburo and Yuiyui even more suspicious.
"Who is this sister?"
Komekko noticed the elf girl behind Megumin.
The elf girl smiled, nodded, and said: "Hello, my name is Lijie. I am a member of the City Lord's personal guard. I am here mainly to accompany Megumin on her mission."
"Hello, our daughter may have caused trouble for you. Thank you for your concern."
When Yuiyui saw this, she quickly became polite.
"However, you still came back with a mission?"
Hyoizaburo noticed the word "mission."
She didn't come back specifically just to visit them.
"Right! The task!" Megumin also remembered the business and said excitedly to Hyoizaburo:
"Dad, here is your chance to make a fortune!"
"The Lord of the City asked me to come back and purchase a batch of magic items for use and research. Or, if you are willing, you can just sell the technology directly. The price is negotiable."
"You see, this is gold."
With that said, Megumin took out the bag of gold and silver jewelry and opened it in front of her parents.
For a moment, both of them stared blankly.
Even if their eyes were hurt by the glitter of jewelry, they did not look away.
With a whoosh, Yuiyui stretched out her hand to hold down the jewelry bag.
She smiled brightly and said to Lijie beside her:
"Haha, thanks to the Lord of the City, he thinks highly of this third-rate craftsman of mine. No problem, we agree. Whether it is ready-made magic items or technology, we will cooperate."
After saying that, she didn't forget to use her elbow to hit Hyoizaburo, who was still stunned: "Right, Hyoizaburo?"
"Ah? Yeah!"
Hyoizaburo finally came back to his senses and quickly nodded in agreement.
"No matter what the Lord City Lord wants, as long as it is what I have, I am willing to sell it!"
Don't blame them for being so rude; there is nothing they can do, they are really poor.
There are only a few times throughout the year when they can eat solid food, either vegetable soup or wheat porridge, so the most important thing for Komekko is eating.
This was all his fault, as the magic items he made could not be sold.
He also thought about improving the situation, but unfortunately, his inventions could not be sold.
Now he finally had a chance to make money, and he could still make a lot of money, so how could he not be excited?
Lijie was a little dumbfounded by this.
"You two don't need to tell me. I'm mainly accompanying her. The mission is Megumin's. Just discuss it with her. Don't worry about me."
When the two heard this, they quickly looked at Megumin.
Megumin nodded: "That's true, but you don't have to be so anxious."
"The City Lord named us to give this business to us, which is considered as taking care of his own people. At least until he is sure that Dad cannot meet his conditions, he is unlikely to consider looking for outsiders to purchase."
"Huh~! That's good."
Hyoizaburo was relieved when he heard this.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel that his decision to support Megumin in going to the Dimensional City was really right.
In just a few days, even his family was taken care of.
This is truly a case where when one person succeeds, their whole family rises with them!
Yuiyui also felt the same and couldn't help but feel happy.
Immediately, the three of them started discussing.
Mainly Hyoizaburo was asking: what does Takumi want here?
"Magic storage technology? This is simple, just take my manuscript away."
"A magic tool for research? For technical reference? No problem, take the design drawings as well."
After a while, Hyoizaburo took out a bunch of things.
In addition to a stack of drawings and manuscripts, there were also some inventions that he could not sell.
Although this made Megumin want to complain, they were in stock.
But Lijie said that they can be collected for reference. Who stipulates that the reference can only be positive? Negative failure experience also serves as a warning.
As for how much they can be exchanged for, it is hard to say.
Then they discussed the transaction plan.
The deposit was given directly to Hyoizaburo and the others, but how much these things are worth will have to be evaluated after they are taken back.
Regarding this, Hyoizaburo and Yuiyui had no objections.
With Megumin as the middleman, they didn't have to worry about being cheated.
And the deposit alone is enough. They don't care how much the balance is; it doesn't matter if they have it or not. What's more, there's the method of payment for the balance, whether with enhanced ingredients or gold, silver, and jewelry.
Under Megumin's suggestion, Hyoizaburo and Yuiyui chose mixed payment, both of which were required. Naturally, money is never too much, and enhanced ingredients are also very useful. Different from the experience ingredients in the Konosuba world, the strengthening effect is implicit and comprehensive, which is very suitable for laying a good foundation for Komekko.
After finalizing these, Megumin said goodbye to her family and returned to the Dimensional City with Lijie and the items.
...
"Why did you bring these things back?"
Takumi looked at the pile of junk and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
Lijie quickly repeated her views to Takumi.
"Never mind."
Faced with such a reasonable statement, Takumi didn't bother to refute.
He took out the manuscript of magic storage technology from the resource pile and then waved his hand.
"I'll take this away first and send the rest to Hephaestus's workshop for an estimate."
In this regard, Hephaestus has a professional vision and can discover the true value of these things.
"Okay."
...
"So it turns out that it is really a problem with the material."
After a while, Takumi carefully read the manuscript, and the problem that had troubled him for several days was solved.
In terms of characteristics, the magic stone has very good magical properties.
But in terms of material, this thing is too brittle.
To put it bluntly, it's almost like a different kind of glass or crystal.
Although the strength will be different depending on the level of the dropped monster, it increases with the level.
But its toughness is too low.
Despite the hardness, this thing is as brittle as glass!
Think about the shortcuts to kill monsters in dungeons, where you can directly crush the monster's magic stone.
You can roughly understand how resistant this thing is to roughness.
It is even the fatal weakness of high-level monsters!
However, if you do this, the value of the magic stone after being broken into pieces is greatly reduced, so generally few people do this.
Another thing is that the characteristics of the magic stone make it almost a disposable battery.
Charging a disposable battery with quality problems is bound to explode!
Takumi had also been vaguely aware of this in the past few days.
The main thing is that no matter how he changes the energy storage magic pattern, as soon as the magic stone is charged, it definitely explodes!
Because of such a result, anyone would start to suspect that the problem is with the magic stone.
"Therefore, magic stones can only be used as consumables and cannot be used repeatedly..."
This discovery made Takumi feel a little distressed.
Because this is equivalent to missing an important material.
Fortunately, even if it cannot be used repeatedly, the magic power contained in the magic stone itself can still be used.
Just change your thinking; no longer focus on the magic stone itself, but focus on the magic power in it, and treat it as a kind of energy mining.
In this way, the magic stone still has some value.
But not high either.
After all, magic power is a renewable biological energy for a Dimensional City where everyone knows magic. When the girls become stronger in the future, there will be no shortage.
Therefore, magic stones can only be used for transition for now.
What's really important is to get the magic battery as soon as possible; otherwise, no matter how much magic power you have in the future, it will be in vain if you can't use it.
Then, Takumi looked at the contents of the manuscript.
"Mithril? Magic alloy?"
Looking at the magic storage technology above, Takumi couldn't help but frown. The special magic metal required for this technology is currently not available in the Dimensional City.
"These things must also be included in that batch of magic items."
Takumi rubbed his chin and started thinking.
"Can we understand the characteristics and use Universal Tools to transform them?"
The function of the Universal Tool's pickaxe is to transform the corresponding minerals according to his ideas when digging soil.
Now the conventional metals such as gold, silver, copper, and iron in the Dimensional City are transformed in this way, using the soil obtained by digging the foundation of the infrastructure.
What Takumi is thinking now is that since even the medicinal materials needed for making elixirs can be grown after understanding them.
Then... can the ore be used?!
It feels very possible!
Thinking of this, Takumi hurriedly came to Hephaestus's workshop.
At this time, Hephaestus was checking the magic items one by one and classifying them.
Lijie was silently beside her, recording her quotation.
Megumin, on the other hand, kept saying good things, boasting about the functions of these junk magic items, trying to gain more benefits for the family, hoping that Hephaestus would give a good price. The three of them, when they saw Takumi, all stopped.
"Takumi, you are here. What do you think of the magic storage manuscript? Is there any gain?"
Hephaestus asked.
"Yes, the magic stone proved to be useless. It can only be used for consumption."
"Aren't we working in vain?"
"Yes, but the ready-made technology in the Konosuba world can be used, as long as the source of materials is solved."
Takumi said and handed the manuscript to Hephaestus.
Hephaestus took the manuscript and began to read it carefully.
Takumi looked at the classified magic items and asked: "What's inside? Is there anything unimportant? I now need to disassemble some materials."
Hephaestus waved her hands without raising her head and said: "The pile on the far left is worthless; you can take it and tear it down."
Hearing this, Takumi turned around and looked over, and couldn't help but be startled: "So many?"
The number of magic items in that pile is too great, accounting for almost half of the total!
"..."
Megumin helplessly held her forehead.
It's really embarrassing. My unreliable father has lost face in the Dimensional City.
"What are these quotes?"
Takumi looked at Lijie again.
Don't pay too much. Although he doesn't care about a small amount of money, it doesn't mean he is willing to be ripped off.
Besides, if these kinds of waste products have to be recycled at a high price, how can it be done? Isn't it disrupting the future market order?
Seeing this, Lijie quickly handed him the list.
Takumi took it and took a look, and felt relieved when he found that a large area on the list was at a very low price.
Returning the list to Lijie, Takumi picked out several large magic items from this pile of scraps.
I dismantled them one by one and selected the various special metals inside.
Then I created a material analysis magic on the spot and checked all the metals. I thoroughly understood their material composition and characteristics.
Then he went to the construction site outside. The Universal Tool turned into a pickaxe, and he dug out an abandoned mound.
He obtained ores that he had never seen before.
"Success!"
After checking the ores again and finding that they were indeed the magic metals in the magic tools, Takumi was overjoyed. He quickly took the ores and returned to the workshop.
"Takumi, you came back just in time. Prepare the sources of these magic metals..."
"Where did you get these ores?"
Hephaestus also quickly read the information and was about to ask Takumi about the source of the materials.
Then she saw the ores in Takumi's hands and couldn't help but be stunned.
Takumi said with a smile: "No need now. I don't have to worry about the materials; I can also transform these things."
As he said this, he even used the pickaxe to signal.
"...You are really something; this is too much of a cheat."
Hephaestus was also speechless. The material problem was actually solved by Takumi.
Moreover, this Universal Tool is too buggy!
But there is nothing to say; let's start a new experiment!
But before that, Hephaestus also made a valuation of the remaining magic items and asked Lijie and Megumin to go to the Konosuba world with the quotation to complete the transaction with Hyoizaburo.
Then, she and Takumi began to study new magic power storage technology.
This technology in Takumi's world consists mainly of metal batteries. However, because it stores magic power instead of electricity, it is more convenient to operate. You don't even need to build a protective shell. You only need to combine several kinds of magic power.
Conductive materials, combined with a magic array to increase stability and output and input effects, and a good magic battery is completed.
"For the time being, it is just a household appliance-level magic item. The energy supply of this kind of battery is enough, but if it is used for urban facilities, it is still a little bit behind."
After testing the new magic battery, Takumi was happy but also frowned slightly.
"Yes, if it were to power urban facilities, it would be huge."
Hephaestus also agreed with this view.
The new battery is useful, but the magic capacity is not enough and cannot meet the needs of the Dimensional City.
Although it can be popularized and used in some daily magic items.
But for daily use, we already have home appliances, so why bother to replace them with magic items?
Takumi's goal in researching magic technology has never been just for people's livelihood, but more importantly, for the safety and construction of the Dimensional City.
In terms of safety, guarding the barrier requires a stable and reusable energy supply device.
Later, traffic demand increased, and roads needed to be built. Takumi also planned to set up isolation barriers on the road to separate pedestrians and vehicles. They would be completely separated to reduce casualties in traffic accidents.
At the same time, in terms of construction, Takumi expected that many projects would require the use of magic technology.
For example, the Golem, the magic puppet—a magic version of a robot.
Regardless of construction, production, agriculture, etc., some Golems can be invested.
While increasing efficiency, it can also further reduce the consumption of manpower.
But the current magic battery, let alone powering the wards of urban facilities, is almost impossible to supply energy to Golems.
The main reason is that the performance is not enough. To achieve the required storage capacity and output effect, the only way is to enlarge the volume.
Although it is barely usable, if the volume is too large, maintenance and upkeep will take a lot of effort and the production effect is not good.
"Let's try to improve it first. If it doesn't work, I will go to the Konosuba world in person."
Takumi thought of the Mobile Fortress Destroyer in the original work.
This thing is also a magic item and contains a lot of magic technology.
If the experimental improvement does not go well, Takumi is going to go to that world in person and take this thing apart to take a look.
The ordinary magic items that Hyoizaburo took out are not technically great, so this more advanced one will be fine, right? The fact that such a big thing can last for so long proves that its energy supply technology is very excellent.
"Then try it first."
Hephaestus heard Takumi's plan and didn't ask too many questions. She began to think about how to improve the existing magic battery technology.
Takumi participated, and the two discussed it together.
At this time, Megumin also took Lijie back to the Konosuba world.
At the same time, Takumi received a reward reminder.