Part one hundred sixty six — Toys, Locked Away

　"I still have more to show you," Kai said, undeterred.

　Himari pressed both hands to her temples.

　"Does anyone here have any idea when he actually found time to make all of this?"

　Kai walked them through the weapons division next.

　Magical swords and spears, forged from Dragonsteel with embedded Astral Crystal cores and elemental attributes ranging from fire to gravity.

　Full Dragonsteel armor, with self-reinforcing capability at Royal Grade.

　Anti-magic weapons built around Anti-Mana Ore cores.

　Magic Cannons functioning as proper artillery.

　City-scale Defensive Barrier Towers, networked so destroying one wouldn't collapse the entire system.

　Enchanted Shields capable of automatically reinforcing themselves against incoming attacks.

　And Regenerating Armor, woven through with living Worldwood fiber that repaired itself after damage.

　By the time he finished, the room's silence had grown considerably heavier than it had been during the potion presentation.

　"We all agree," Chloe said slowly, "that none of this leaves this facility. Right?"

　A unanimous, immediate murmur of agreement swept through the room.

　"Why not?" Kai asked, genuinely surprised by the consensus.

　"Tell me," Himari said sharply. "What kind of war are you actually preparing for?"

　She narrowed her eyes.

　"Is it the end of the world?"

　"These are just toys," Kai said defensively. "In case some stubborn nation decides to attack us without warning again. Seems to be everyone's favorite hobby so far."

　"Doesn't matter," Elaine said firmly. "We're locking these away. We don't want other kingdoms deciding we're a threat purely because we're capable of building weapons like this."

　She looked directly at him.

　"Kai — stop making them."

　"I have two more things," Kai said, undeterred despite the room's collective exhaustion.

　He raised a hand.

　"Himari, I promise, these ones aren't dangerous at all."

　"You'd better be joking," she said, though something in her tone suggested she'd already resigned herself to whatever came next.

　"Memory Crystal," Kai said, holding one up. "Records events. Plays them back, like a television."

　"What's a television?" Elaine asked.

　One of the visiting Tearmoon scholars raised a hand.

　"I've heard of something similar, actually."

　"Doesn't matter what it's called," Kai said. "Point is, you can keep a proper record of anything that happens. Sound's built in too, so whatever you record, you'll hear it back properly when you play it."

　"How does one activate it?" the elf elder asked, curious now.

　"A little mana," Kai said. "For anyone who can't use mana directly, a small piece of mana crystal does the same job."

　"And this one," he continued, holding up a second, considerably simpler crystal, "is a Communication Crystal. Long-range. No more sending messengers back and forth for every update."

　He paused.

　"Keeps a record of past conversations too."

　A floating screen bloomed into the air as he demonstrated it.

　For the first time since the weapons presentation, the room's tension visibly eased.

　"At least these two don't seem terrifying," Himari said, genuine relief in her voice. "Who knows what the rest of the world will think about everything else you just showed us."

She has no idea.

　Kai kept the thought to himself.

That there's actually someone in this exact room who's already planning to report every single word of this back somewhere else entirely.

　Null-Subconsciousness had flagged the spy the moment they'd entered.

　A quiet, careful presence.

　Listening far too intently to be an ordinary visiting scholar.

　Once the demonstration concluded, everyone dispersed to their own work.

　Kai found Chloe privately.

　"There's a spy in the room," he said quietly. "About to leave and report back. I need you to track them — find out who sent them."

　Chloe's expression sharpened instantly.

　"Consider it done."