The Dis No. 2 Element Vehicle was finally completed.
By the time it was finished, night had already fallen.
Under a sky full of stars, the elemental lamps lit up the open ground of the private experimental zone, where the vehicle sat quietly in place.
After dinner, Puppet Ron boarded the Dis No. 2 together with Illya and Edith.
Edith was visibly excited—after all, the vehicle was named after her, giving her a strong sense of belonging.
Ron handed her a sheet of paper and pointed at the knobs in front of the driver's seat.
"The voice recording system is yours," he said.
"What each knob should say is written clearly here. Record them first."
"After that, you can try driving it."
Edith nodded eagerly, sat down in the driver's seat, and began recording carefully according to the instructions.
Most of the lines were things like:
"The vehicle is about to depart. Please hold onto the handrails."
Having two elven priestesses record bus announcements…
The people of Tansen City were truly blessed.
Then a thought struck Ron.
Could this be used for marketing?
For ordinary people unfamiliar with Element Vehicles, they might hesitate to even try riding one.
But if you told them:
"You can hear the voice of an elven priestess inside…"
Wouldn't that attract attention?
After all, Tansen City was inland—seeing an elf was rare, let alone hearing one.
Watching Edith work seriously, Ron smiled in satisfaction.
Kiel was right.
He really was a business genius.
"Your Highness," Illya said from the back seat,
"Since we have time, I'll try making a prototype Element Gun."
Ron nodded.
Illya took out materials from her storage space and began shaping them with magic—flattening, stretching, and molding them into a barrel.
Then came the rest of the components, assembled one by one.
Unlike firearms from Ron's previous world, the Element Gun didn't rely on complex mechanical precision.
In essence—
It was just another form of a magic staff.
The difference was in usability.
Staffs required mana activation → unusable by ordinary people
Element Guns used a trigger mechanism
Just like the knobs and pedals in Element Vehicles, the trigger was built using Illya's magic pattern linkage system.
Inside the gun:
Magic arrays were engraved
Part of the pattern was placed on the trigger
When the trigger was pulled:
The patterns aligned
The internal array is activated
Secondary arrays followed
A spell was released through the barrel
Result:
Even a normal person could fire magic with a simple pull of a trigger.
So appearance didn't matter.
What mattered was whether the internal magic patterns aligned perfectly.
And that was where Illya's expertise came in.
Though only a Tier 4 mage, her mastery of magic arrays rivaled Tier 6 specialists at the Royal Capital Magic Academy.
That was why she could always turn Ron's ideas into reality.
Without her, most of these concepts would remain theoretical.
In fact, Ron believed her greatest contribution was the invention of the magic pattern linkage knob system.
Combined with:
Mana storage arrays
Mana flow patterns
Magic arrays
It created a complete system usable even by ordinary people.
Something no traditional mage would ever consider.
To them:
Magic arrays = tools for mages.
Why would anyone design them for people without mana?
It was like asking a healthy person whether they needed a wheelchair.
Without demand, innovation never happens.
"Your Highness, your idea of the Mana Cartridge is brilliant," Illya said after assembling the basic structure.
In Ron's blueprint, the traditional magazine had been replaced with a Mana Cartridge.
Because Element Potatoes were too large, each was about palm-sized.
Attaching them directly to the gun would be bulky and awkward.
So Ron proposed:
Cut the Element Potatoes into equal-sized pieces
Store them inside a cartridge engraved with a mana storage array
In battle:
If mana consumption exceeded regeneration
Swap out the cartridge
Insert a fresh one
Meanwhile:
The removed cartridge would slowly recharge via the Element Potato's regeneration.
In theory—
A soldier with just 2–3 cartridges could maintain continuous fire.
An endless loop.
Compared to real-world magazines:
Bullets are consumed permanently
Limited supply
But Mana Cartridges?
They regenerate.
With rotation, the Element Gun essentially became:
An "infinite ammo weapon" from fantasy settings.
"By the way," Ron suddenly asked,
"If we cut Element Potatoes into pieces, will it weaken their effect or lifespan?"
"Not sure," Illya shook her head.
"But the oldest batch we've used has only been around two months, so we can't be certain yet."
"There are many variables," she continued.
Usage frequency
Types of elements absorbed
Effects of cutting
"All of these could influence long-term performance."
"But even now," she added,
"Their effectiveness is already astonishing."