A few days had pa.s.sed since I collapsed.

Each morning after that, a medical examination by Aura was added to my after-breakfast routine. She did such an examination mainly by making her Qi pa.s.s through my body.

After this morning's examination, Aura gave me a nod.

"Master, you've gotten a lot better. I think there should be no worries now if you used your [Creation] and other Demon Lord powers. That said, it's still too early to use [Awakening]."

"Understood. Finally, I can start on the work that's been piling up."

"Please take care to not overdo it."

"I know. I don't ever want to see a crying Rorono ever again."

Without [Creation], I wasn't able to make the rare metals and other materials for the explosives that we needed. Due to the lack of materials, the operation of the skeletons' ordnance factory was suspended for several days.

Obviously, we wanted to secure a way to obtain such materials without [Creation], but we just couldn't find any. Even if we someday find some, I feared it would be too few for our needs.

There were materials that resembled primitive black powder elsewhere and we could import it, but their quality was too low and could compromise our firepower.

Thanks to the combined effect of the [Recovery] Room and the Qi from the golden apple tree here, I could recover my magic power a lot faster, thus allowing me to use [Creation] to replenish our stocks more than ever before.

"Here is today's medicine. Take half of it in the morning, and then the other half in the evening. At this pace, it shouldn't take too long for you to make a complete recovery."

"Thanks, Aura."

I received the medicine from Aura and put it into a bag.

I then took out a notebook and checked my schedule for the day.

It seemed like I had only a few duties today as the city's lord, so I should have plenty of time to attend to my duties as a Demon Lord.

Alright, with my [Creation] back, I'm gonna reopen the skeletons' ordnance factory. After that, I'm going to call Kuina and the others to watch while I buy the monster two ranks below Raphael and test it out.

◇

As planned, by noon, we were able to get the skeletons' factory back in operation.

Thanks to my repeated level ups as well as the power I had received from my [Monsters of the Covenant], my total magic power has jumped to 20,000.

My [Creation] consumed an amount of magic power equal to 1/10 of the created object's ma.s.s. In other words, I could create in one go an object that had 200 kilograms.

"I did decide on replenis.h.i.+ng our stocks, but that could be interesting too."

As I was currently, I could make weapons and equipment that I had given up on before due to weight limitations. Things like cannons, missiles, or light vehicles like bikes were now an option.

If Rorono dismantled and researched these new things, she might come up with improvements or even something entirely new. So, even if it meant an increase in her workload, it might be well worth the effort.

Either way, it was best to consult Rorono first before choosing to focus on that.

I'm so excited though.

To pa.s.s the time while I waited for Kuina's group to return, I had come back to the estate and tackled some paper work.

And just like that, the sun was already setting when I looked outside.

Not long after though, there was a swell of magic power quickly followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Oto-san, we're back!"

"Gaugau!"

It was Kuina riding on top of the blue-furred Tiro.

"Master Kuina, you're going too fast, wait up please. …you know"

A few steps behind was the out-of-breath Raphael.

"How did the hunt go? Alright, I hope"

Being just born, Tiro and Raph's levels were quite low.

For that reason, Kuina has been guiding the two in the [Crimson Cavern] to raise their levels.

Thanks to that, Raph was now around level 20.

It was still low, sure, but she could now take on a B rank monster with a static level by herself.

That meant I could now count on her to fight in the next [War], whenever that was.

"Yup! All thanks to the weapon Rorono-chan made."

"Don't underestimate me, your majesty. As long as I have these, I can fight!"

Around smug-faced Raph's waist was a belt that didn't match her style at all. Hanging from that belt were nine red blade-only knives.

When Raph pointed to them, the knives began to float in the air.

"Because those move on their own, there's no problem no matter how clumsy Raph gets, right?"

"Yup, exactly! Her magic takes care of faraway enemies, and the Azoth takes care of anyone that comes near. The Azoth's been so excellent, we haven't had the chance to try the new grenades!"

Those knives were actually golems that possessed the ability to think as well as the ability to propel itself.

Four of the nine knives were programed to automatically strike anyone within 20 meters that Raph has acknowledged as an enemy.

These knives could instantly reach a speed that exceeded that of sound. Moreover, they were given the enchantments of [Thermal Cutting] and [Rendering]. Thanks to those, a one-hit kill was entirely possible.

Meanwhile, two of the nine knives were programmed to intercept any attacks within 5 meters around her. With the enchantments [Barrier] and [Hardening], these two could shut down any superficial attacks.

The remaining three were spares.

The belt that she wore was equipped with smaller but of lower output twin-drive golem cores. The idea was that while the knives were being stored and recharged in the belt, the spares would be the ones used.

Of the three spares, two were attack knives and one was for defense.

Rorono referred to the belt and nine knives as EDN-02 Azoth.

On top of its great performance, anybody could use the Azoth, so it wasn't a surprise that there were already requests for it from the intelligence corps.

"Gaugau!"

"Oh, thank you, Tiro. I'm sure Rorono would be glad for the combat data you've recorded."

Fastened to Tiro's neck was a small camera.

Rorono had given Tiro this camera so that the latter could record the Azoth and Raph in action.

I decided to take the camera and project the recorded video into the air.

…what I saw was terrifying.

The Azoth chopped up any enemy who came near the casually-walking Raph. And if there was someone who was still somehow able to attack, the defense blades deflected it.

If you look closely enough, you could see the pile of corpses in the background.

There was no denying it, this weapon was extremely useful.

"I am truly indebted to Rorono-senpai who made such a fantastic thing."

"Glad to hear it. I think Rorono herself is also grateful to the data you provide for her research on Avalon Jewel."

EDN-02 Azoth was made of Avalon Jewel.

Back when it was still a prototype and was made of orichalc.u.m, each knife made use of Kuina's tail fur. Because the power source was roughly equal to a B rank monster's total magic power, there was an issue between performance and total operation time. To make matters worse, it took a long time to recharge the orichalc.u.m knives in the belt.

But when Avalon Jewel was used as the material, all of these issues were instantly solved.

Thanks to the larger magic power capacity as well as the Avalon Jewel's feature of generating on its own an amount of magic power proportional to the emotions nearby, this new model could operate for longer before needing to be recharged in the belt.

Rorono had actually given me a set of the EDN-02 Azoth as well. As long as I had this, even if I somehow got myself into a fight, I would not fall so easily.

As a side note, when Rorono gave me and Raph our sets, she told me that she already had a firm grasp on the Avalon Jewel's properties. As such, I was looking forward to the application of that and her gathered combat data on an improved [Mechanical Warmaiden].

"But even if Rorono-senpai needed to practice with the Avalon Jewel, why did she prioritize making a weapon for me?"

"According to her, since she was making a set for me and an additional one didn't consume a lot of our stock of Avalon Jewel, she might as well make one for you too. That's true, but in my opinion, the main reason is she's just concerned for you. Despite how she might act, Rorono really cares for her comrades, you know."

Raph's [Dark Light Magic] was a very powerful long-range magic attack, but it consumed a lot of magic power. Her [Dark Light Sanctuary] was also powerful, but it required her to be near her enemies, so without a means to fend for herself in close-range combat, it was extremely risky, if not outright suicidal.

These two were her main forms of attack, but if they were all she had, she would struggle against strong enemies.

We wanted to give her a weapon that she could use for close combat, but her clumsiness and poor motor skills made our current lineup of weapons not an option for her.

For that reason, Rorono thought that she needed the EDN-02 Azoth, which operated regardless of the user's skill.

"I'm definitely going to pay back Rorono-senpai someday. …you know"

Fervor in her voice, Raph strongly declared so.

"Then, protect her. Information about her being Avalon's core has been leaked. She'll likely be targeted again."

"Understood! I'll keep her safe. I'll blow away her enemies with my grenade!"

Development on Raph's grenades was completed just recently, and two of the said grenades were hanging from her belt.

According to Rorono, in the event that Raph faced enemies that she couldn't take down with the Azoth, these wide-ranged, high-powered grenades should come in handy. And to compensate for Raph's low Physical Strength stat, the grenades had a feature where its damage could be increased by pouring in magic power.

Rorono seemed quite proud of the grenades, so at least once, I wanted to see them in action.

"Alright, that's enough chitchat for now. Just like I said before you departed this morning, I'll be making the B rank monster in Raph's lineage today, and I want you two to come with. If it seems useful, I'll make a [Maelstrom] for it."

"Woah, I'll have new friends."

"Kuina will judge it critically!"

Like that, we went to the [Mine] room.

The name of the B rank monster in Raph's lineage was Jet-black Bird Nevan.

If it did prove useful and we made it another of Avalon's main forces in addition to the Abyss Howls and the Darkness Dragons, we might just become invincible.