Macro's laboratory looked almost exactly like Lucas had always imagined a mage's laboratory would: shelves stacked high with brightly colored potions, a dark wooden floor, and a huge cauldron sitting in the center of the room. But there were also several clear differences from his expectations.
First of all, it was much brighter than the typical mage's lair he had seen in fantasy stories, which were usually dimly lit by flickering candles. Instead, the room was illuminated by several bright steampunk-style light bulbs. Moreover, the space was far more expansive than he had anticipated, filled with massive copper-colored machines, all constructed in the same steampunk style.
Lucas walked slowly through the lab, carefully taking in every detail, utterly fascinated by what he saw—though he did his best not to show it outwardly. After all, Alberia had obviously been here before; he couldn't afford to look too surprised.
As he explored, Lucas spotted the Minister of Technology and Alchemy, Macro, seated at a large desk, completely absorbed in a stack of documents. He hadn't even noticed the three visitors arrive.
"Hello, Macro. I've come to keep the promise I made yesterday," Lucas said, speaking up to catch the boy's attention.
At the sound of Lucas's voice, Macro startled, his head snapping up. When he saw the queen standing there, glancing at the papers on his desk, he jumped to his feet, bowed hastily, and stammered, "Y-Your Majesty, I—I'm sorry! I was reading the data M-Mr. Luvrio gave me a-about the Over Beasts and didn't notice your arrival. W-what brings you here to my laboratory?" he asked, adjusting his glasses nervously.
"I came to see the inventions and potions you told me about yesterday," Lucas replied, doing his best to hide his excitement. As his words reached the blue-haired elf's ears, Lucas could have sworn Macro's glasses glinted with anticipation.
"Of course! Let's begin right away. I had everything prepared, just in case Your Majesty decided to visit!" Macro said, beaming with unusual confidence.
He led the three girls to an area of the laboratory where two objects stood on pedestals, each covered by a cloth. Lucas's eyes sparkled with curiosity, while Katerina and Aislyra seemed much more apprehensive. Their concern, however, was clearly directed not at the covered objects but at the six colorful potions arrayed across a nearby table. Still, they too turned their attention to the first pedestal.
Seeing that he had everyone's attention, Macro whipped off the first cloth, revealing the first of his inventions.
It was a small rectangular box with a transparent door on the front, allowing one to see inside—though currently, it appeared empty. Attached to the back of the box was a thin black cord.
"I call this invention the Magic Cooker. It allows you to quickly heat or cook any food using just a small amount of mana," Macro said, practically glowing with excitement.
"How does it work, Mr. Macro?" Katerina asked, genuinely intrigued by the prospect of a new kitchen appliance.
"It's simple," Macro replied eagerly. He pulled a small cloth-wrapped piece of raw cured meat from the pocket of his lab coat, opened the door of the Magic Cooker, and placed the meat inside.
"Once you've put the food you want to cook inside," he continued, picking up the black cord, "you channel a little mana into the Cooker using this cord, made of Mineck, which—as you probably know—is an excellent conductor of mana.
The mana causes the food to heat evenly and cook thoroughly. Just a small amount of mana can keep it running for about half an hour, which is enough time for most dishes. However, if you want to speed up the cooking, you can maintain a continuous mana flow to accelerate the process."
After speaking, he waited a few seconds, then pulled the meat out with a handkerchief. The meat looked fully cooked.
'Basically... it's a microwave that runs on mana instead of electricity,' Lucas thought with amusement.
"Mr. Macro, may I taste the meat? I'd like to check how well it's cooked," Katerina asked calmly.
"S-Sure!" Macro stammered, reverting back to his usual nervousness as he handed her the meat.
Katerina took it, blew on it gently, and then bit into it. She inspected the piece carefully.
"Excellent, Mr. Macro. The meat is very well cooked," she complimented him with a small smile. Then she added, "So, what do you plan to do with this invention?"
"I p-planned to deliver this prototype to the royal kitchen so they could test the Magic Cooker and give me feedback to improve it and once it's perfected, we can start mass production. Thanks to our trusted merchants, we can sell it to our citizens. Then, we can ask Mr. Lucrio if selling it abroad would be useful." Macro explained, turning to Katerina. Then, quickly shifting his attention to the queen, he added, "O-of course, with your permission, Your Majesty!" and bowed slightly.
Lucas glanced at Katerina, looking for a sign of confirmation. She gave him a small, reassuring nod.
"Of course, Macro. I grant you permission to deliver the Magic Cooker to the palace kitchen. However, be sure to discuss its potential sale with Lucrio first," Lucas said in his most regal voice.
"T-thank you, Your Majesty," Macro replied, completing his bow. Then, adjusting his glasses, he continued eagerly, "Would you still like to see the other inventions?"
"Of course!" Lucas replied immediately. Although he had been slightly disappointed by the first invention—since cooking devices weren't exactly thrilling to him—the shape he could make out under the next cloth promised something far more exciting.
"Well then..." Macro said, pulling the cloth from the second pedestal.
Underneath was what appeared to be a loaded crossbow, crafted from silver-colored metal and fitted with intricate mechanisms.
"This is the Elemental Crossbow. It gathers mana from the surrounding air and channels it through coagulated blood extracted from an Over Beast or Superior Beast, imbuing each arrow with an elemental effect based on the creature's magical affinity," Macro explained, a proud smile on his face.
Lucas's eyes gleamed with excitement; this was the kind of invention he had been hoping for.
"Macro, does that mean it allows you to use magic spells without spending your own mana?" Aislyra asked, clearly intrigued.
"Not exactly," Macro replied. "The arrow doesn't gain the effect of a specific spell. Instead, it takes on an effect related to the natural magical affinity of the Over Beast or Superior Beast used in crafting the crossbow. But—" he paused with a smile, "—perhaps a demonstration would explain it better."
He pressed a button located on the table where all the colored potions were arranged, and a few seconds later, an archery target rose from the floor.
Macro picked up the crossbow and pressed a button on the handle. The surrounding magical energy was drawn into the lower part of the weapon, passing through the "crystal" formed from coagulated blood embedded in the handle. The arrow began to glow a vibrant red.
"G-good, that's enough," Macro muttered, satisfied with the intensity of the glow. He took aim and pulled the trigger.
The arrow shot forward, and the moment it pierced the target, it burst into flames, completely incinerating the target within seconds. For a moment, the fire threatened to spread across the wooden floor, but Macro swiftly chanted, "Water Ball!"
A blue magic circle appeared above the flames, and a large sphere of water materialized, crashing down to extinguish the fire instantly.
"The blood used for this particular crossbow comes from a Fire Over Owl," Macro added, confident that the demonstration had made everything clear.
"I see," said Aislyra, nodding thoughtfully. "So the arrow doesn't copy a specific spell—it gains a unique effect tied directly to the magical affinity of the Over Beast whose blood was used."
"Exactly!" Macro beamed. "As you saw, if the blood comes from a creature with fire affinity, the arrow sets the target ablaze. For example if the blood comes from a water-affinity Over Beast, it causes a a large amount of water is injected at the point where the arrow pierces. Unfortunately, I haven't yet succeeded in creating elemental crossbows using the blood of Over Beasts that have an affinity with dark, light magic or Advanced Beasts, they are rare so I'm still unsure what kinds of effects their blood might produce."
Macro finished his explanation with a slight, nervous laugh, clearly eager for feedback.
"It's a very interesting weapon. The fact that it doesn't require mana to use makes it quite similar to a magical artifact," said Aislyra with clear interest.
"T-Thank you, Lady Aislyra. I plan to s-show it to Minister Scuro soon and discuss its potential m-military applications," Macro replied. He then turned to Lucas and asked, "Your Majesty, what do you think of my Elemental Crossbow?"
"It's really coo- fantastic! I'm sure Scuro will find it very useful," Lucas replied, caught off guard. He had been too absorbed in admiring the crossbow to answer immediately. In his mind, it was practically a magic gun, and he had always thought such things were incredibly cool.
Macro nodded happily and said, "W-With this, I've f-finished showing you all the new items I've i-invented over the past four days. I-If Your Majesty wishes, we can now move on to the potions."
At that moment, the calm that had returned to Aislyra and Katerina, thanks to the focus on the two fascinating inventions, began to crack.
"Sure. The potions are the ones on that table, right?" asked Lucas excitedly, pointing to a table where six differently colored potions were neatly arranged.
"Y-Yes, that's correct. And k-knowing that you, Queen Alberia, enjoy surprises—as you requested last time—I didn't l-label any of them. T-Their effects will remain a mystery until you try them," Macro said, practically glowing with excitement.
Hearing this, Lucas realized he had an unexpected trait in common with Alberia: he had always loved surprises too. Before arriving in this world, he had become recently interested in gacha mobile games, drawn to the thrill of randomness and the excitement of unknown rewards.
"Thank you, Macro, for respecting my request," said Lucas genuinely, his eyes sparkling as he examined the various potions, trying to decide which to try first.
"T-thank you, Your Majesty. Take all the time you n-need to choose," Macro said politely but still stammering.
After a few seconds of careful observation, Lucas was drawn to a white potion that looked like milk but was even more luminous.
"I'll take this one," Lucas declared, picking up the white potion.
But before drinking it, he turned toward Katerina and Aislyra, who still stood frozen in front of the pedestal where the Elemental Crossbow had been, as if paralyzed by fear.
"Aislyra, Katerina, aren't you going to try a potion too?" Lucas asked, slightly concerned by their behavior.
"Of course n—" Aislyra started to reply quickly, but was immediately interrupted by Katerina, who answered in her usual composed tone, "Certainly, Your Majesty, we'll join you right away," even though she was visibly trembling.
Without giving Aislyra a chance to escape, Katerina grabbed her and dragged her toward the table, forcing her to choose a potion.
Aislyra reluctantly picked a red one, and Katerina chose a pink one. Without further hesitation, the three of them drank their potions at the same time.
For a few seconds, nothing happened—until Lucas suddenly felt a strange sensation coursing through his body.