Chapter 4: A Helping Hand?

Hmm.

Their reactions were lukewarm.

‘Are they the type who imagine something flashy when they hear “magic tool”?’

That kind of prejudice was common in her previous life too. Like assuming computer science majors could fix any computer, or English majors spoke like native speakers.

Magic tools received similar treatment in this world.

‘But the four of them have seen their fair share, haven’t they?’

It was mostly commoners who rarely saw magic tools that held such notions. A hero, a princess, a saintess, and a quasi-noble would have seen some everyday magic tools.

Ignoring them, she continued explaining the gloves.

“As an example of appropriate formulas… Hero.”

“Huh, huh?”

“Would you mind trying on the gloves?”

“Oh, right, of course…”

The hero’s gloves were black with a snow-white sword pattern. To be honest, the reason she fell asleep earlier? She was exhausted from meticulously embroidering eight of those patterns.

“Are they too tight or anything?”

“No, they fit perfectly…”

“That’s the first formula. Adjusting to the user’s hand size.”

What good were sturdy, high-performance gloves if they didn’t fit? That’s why this was the first function she included.

They were crafted with elastic materials as a base. At her words, the other three also put on their gloves.

“My hands are a bit small, so even the gloves the church gave me were quite loose…but these fit perfectly.”

What? A large chest but small hands? What an imbalance.

At Aria’s praise, the remaining two nodded in silent agreement.

“But that’s not all, is it? They feel…cool.”

“You tend to sweat a lot during intense battles. So, there’s a ventilation function.”

This function was particularly appreciated by the hero and Serin. They moved around more intensely at the front lines than Aria and Raphilia.

Sweaty gloves were quite unpleasant, so mercenaries and knights sometimes chose not to wear them at all.

“Other common functions include water resistance, dirt resistance, and puncture recovery.”

“Oh, oh…”

“This is…more than I expected.”

“Uh…um…”

Honestly, items that only covered parts of the body like gloves didn’t need water resistance. Water would seep in through the wrist openings anyway.

But she wanted to include it. Why? Because she believed water resistance was a basic requirement for high-quality items. Like smartphones in her previous life that came standard with water resistance.

Dirt resistance reduced the effort required for washing, and puncture recovery was a magic that allowed small holes to repair themselves. Both were inspired by new material ideas from her previous life, applied as a coating over the gloves using a mixture of suitable ingredients.

“And now for the individual options. The hero and Serin both have weight alteration.”

“Weight alteration?”

“Yes. You can reduce or increase the weight of the object you’re holding to a certain extent. Hero, try holding the cup and wishing for it to be heavier.”

“Alright…whoa. It’s real.”

The hero held the wooden cup and trembled slightly. If he was faking it to cover for her earlier blunder, he deserved an award for best actor.

“It’s real.”

Serin, on the other hand, lightly lifted a rather heavy chair. Proof that both the reduction and amplification formulas were working correctly.

“Reducing weight, I get, but why did you include increasing it?”

Raphilia, who had been watching their demonstrations, asked.

“I haven’t thought of a proper use for it yet. As a mage, I rarely need to use brute strength. But I thought it might be useful for training.”

It would be helpful for strength training, at least. The two nodded in agreement.

“Certainly, this might increase my sword speed.”

“Thank you, Rui. For such a gift.”

“You’re welcome. And the other function is increased defense? You should be able to block a not-so-sharp sword.”

“…Huh?”

“…?”

“Next is Aria’s gloves. I enhanced the purification ability of the gloves themselves. I saw you diligently volunteering in slums and hospitals in the newspapers.”

“Ah…”

Considering her frequent contact with patients, she had included three formulas related to cleanliness. Since Aria would likely use the gloves’ functions more than the hero and Serin, she also increased their durability.

“And since you lack combat skills compared to the others, I added a repulsion formula, taking that into account.”

“Repulsion?”

“Simply put, if you touch a target with the gloves and intend to push it away, it’ll be repelled.”

“R-really? Let me…”

“Don’t do that to a per…”

Thud.

The hero, who was standing next to her, went flying and landed on the floor.

“Oh no! Hero! I’m so sorry!”

Aria hurriedly rushed to the hero’s side and helped him up. The hero, for some reason, smiled and grabbed her hand as he got up.

“I-I’m okay. They’re certainly effective.”

“Indeed. This will greatly reduce the need for me to move back and forth to protect Aria.”

“By the way, except in combat situations, it won’t activate like that, so you don’t have to worry about everyday life.”

The hero, the knight, and the saintess were done. The only one left was the elf princess, who was glancing at her with unspoken anticipation.

“Raphilia…yours only has one function. I couldn’t add any more after including that formula.”

Raphilia’s gloves had more intricate patterns compared to the others.

“Ah…well, i-it’s okay.”

“The ability absorbs surrounding mana and automatically creates wind magic to enhance the trajectory of your arrows…”

“…Wait, what? Wind? Huh?”

“Think of it as an aiming assistance device.”

“…??”

Since she couldn’t shoot arrows right now, Raphilia would have to test them later.

“These are the equipment I can give you for now. I wish I could give you more, but I’m short on time.”

There were various magic tools in her equipment storage, but they weren’t suitable for the four of them. They were prototypes, so there could be side effects. For example, one spoon-shaped magic tool had the side effect of making everything taste like strawberries.

“No…this is more than enough…”

“With this, I can better match Aswell…”

“Weren’t magic tools supposed to have only one or two formulas? I really don’t know…”

“Is everyone hungry? I’m not, can we go back to the inn?”

Fortunately, the reactions weren’t bad. The bad first impression seemed to have been somewhat mitigated by the gloves, but she couldn’t stop there.

‘Should I work on weapons next, or armor?’

Or maybe auxiliary tools similar to the gloves? She would have to think about it.

“Food’s here! Where’s the carrot soup?”

“Ah, right here.”

Yes! Her favorite carrot soup arrived just in time. Eating a warm bowl of soup and then sleeping soundly at the inn would be the perfect way to end the day.

She started eating the appropriately cooked, soft carrots with her small but diligent mouth. Since becoming this body, her mouth had become smaller, so she had to eat this way to keep pace with the others.

The next morning.

Knock, knock.

“Mmm…”

“It’s Raphilia. Can I come in?”

Raphilia?

The elf princess’s voice instantly woke her up. Learning from yesterday’s mistake, she quickly changed her clothes before opening the door.

‘They’re big today, too.’

“Can I come in?”

“Yes. Ah, be careful there.”

Raphilia carefully avoided the tools scattered on the floor and sat on a chair. She sat on the bed and waited for Raphilia to state her business.

“…I tried the gloves you gave me earlier.”

“Already? This early?”

“Early? It’s past 10 a.m.”

10 a.m. was practically dawn.

“Anyway…it’s true. My accuracy has improved. 47 out of 50. I hit seven more shots.”

That was within the expected performance range. She felt a sense of pride as the creator of the gloves.

“That’s good to hear.”

“And, um…I wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize?”

“Yes. For being a bit irritable yesterday.”

“Ah…?”

Irritable? Had Raphilia been sharp with her? She couldn’t recall it no matter how hard she tried.

“Aswell brought you along so suddenly, I thought you were after him.”

“Aha…”

As if. She had absolutely no interest in the hero.

“Things like this have happened a few times before. Every time, Aria would be restless, and Serin would practically disappear. And Aswell, the person involved, is completely clueless.”

The hero might be praised as an all-rounder, but when it came to awareness, he was a criminal.

“So, I decided to take on the role of driving those people away.”

“I see.”

Apparently, several women had approached the hero before, aiming for a night with him or his child. Each time, Raphilia used her position and wisdom as an elf princess to repel them.

“So I thought it was the same this time. I apologize for that.”

Raphilia was more serious than she had thought. Since the only Raphilia she knew was the one infatuated with Aswell in the novel, she had underestimated her.

‘Good. You pass.’

She had decided. The first heroine she would help, under the pretense that she wasn’t after the hero, would be Raphilia.

“I joined the party to obtain ingredients.”

“Yes, I heard.”

“So I have absolutely no interest in the hero.”

Even yesterday’s pajama incident didn’t faze her.

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. So, I was thinking of helping you, Raphilia.”

Helping her?

Raphilia tilted her head slightly. She gave her a slightly haughty look. As a reader who had perused the entire novel more than twice, she knew more about the hero than Raphilia did.

The hero’s party would soon leave the village and pass through a location that triggered an event. She would turn that place into Raphilia’s stage.
She would just nudge things along, create opportunities for them to be together, and then enjoy the show with popcorn.

“How to seduce the clueless hero.”

Raphilia’s eyes suddenly widened.