After the spirit release ceremony ended, the atmosphere gradually shifted into a small celebration. Elves from all corners of the capital came one by one, offering their gratitude to Nico Mustang. Some bowed deeply, others placed a hand over their chest, and a few even brought small gifts—bread, dried fruit, or simple wildflowers.
Ren—also known as Nico—did his best to return every greeting with a polite smile. But over time, his face grew stiff from constant smiling, and his body ached slightly from bowing too much. Eventually, he looked for a quiet corner and sat at one of the long wooden tables set up at the edge of the event area.
"Haah..." Ren let out a long breath, releasing the weight in his chest, tilting his head back just a little.
"You alright?" came a casual voice beside him.
Ren glanced over and saw a tall figure in a silver cloak sitting comfortably—Commander Ryul. The middle-aged man sipped wine from a large wooden cup as if this festival was just another day for him.
"If you must know," Ren muttered, "I think I just spent half my energy receiving thank-yous."
Ryul chuckled, his shoulders shaking. "That means you’re genuinely liked, human."
"Yeah... Being popular isn’t as glamorous as it sounds," Ren replied sarcastically, making Ryul laugh harder.
The night breeze carried the scent of wildflowers, mingling with soft music coming from the city center. Ren looked up at the clear sky, then closed his eyes for a moment, letting the weariness slowly fade from his body.
(This isn’t so bad...) he thought, letting the peaceful atmosphere fill the quiet space in his chest.
Next to him, Ryul, who had been relaxing in silence, suddenly spoke up. "So," he began, his tone slightly more serious than before.
Ren looked at him. "Hmm?"
"You’re heading to the Penal Plateau after this, right?" Ryul asked, taking another sip from his cup.
"Yeah... I’ll have to go through the southern forest and the Mandalay Desert to get there," Ren replied with a nod.
"If you go by regular caravan, that trip can take three to four weeks," Ryul said, scratching his lightly bearded chin. "But with that ’car’ of yours... you might not need that long."
"That’s the idea," Ren said with a shrug.
Ryul then reached into his cloak and pulled out a necklace with a polished fang-shaped pendant. He handed it to Ren.
"What’s this?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow as he accepted the item.
"You’ll need it when you cross the Mandalay Desert," Ryul replied casually.
"Explain," Ren muttered, his tone cautious. "I don’t like accepting things I don’t understand."
Ryul smirked, as if expecting that response. "I know. You even refused the healing elixir Queen Beatice offered back in the hall. That was one of our national treasures." He chuckled. "You said you don’t want to accept anything you don’t feel you’ve earned. Honestly, I respect that. It’s not a principle I see often."
Ren bowed his head slightly, turning the fang between his fingers. "It’s not just about worthiness," he said. "It’s about discipline. If you get used to accepting whatever’s given to you without thinking, you’ll start to depend on it. And that’s dangerous."
Ryul nodded slowly, a new respect in his eyes as he looked at Ren. "I understand. That’s why I want you to listen carefully. That necklace—the fang—it’s not just a trinket. I got it from an old friend, someone highly respected in the Mandalay Desert."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Your friend... from the beastman tribes?"
"Exactly," Ryul said. "When it comes to the desert, there are two major powers. First, the Samsara Sultanate—the desert humans. Second, the Beastman Kingdom. You’ll pass through beastman territory before reaching Penal."
Ren absorbed the information in silence, still gripping the fang tightly.
"The beastmen in the desert are split into many clans," Ryul continued. "There are rabbitmen, tigermen, even wolfmen whose blood runs wilder than most. They respect strength—and tokens of friendship. With that necklace, it’ll be easier for you to talk with the clan leaders, at least in neutral zones."
Ren grinned slightly. "So... this is like a desert pass, huh?"
"Something like that." Ryul patted his shoulder. "And believe me, you’ll need it. The Mandalay Desert isn’t kind to outsiders."
Ren nodded and tucked the necklace into his coat pocket. "Alright. I’ll accept it this time. Let’s say... it’s the price for traveling through dangerous lands."
Ryul just chuckled, his voice fading into the increasingly cold night wind.
Since Ren was heading into the desert, his vehicle needed an upgrade—one tough enough to survive the harsh and unpredictable terrain. Several components had to be replaced, reinforcing the car’s resistance to extreme heat, and enhancing both its suspension system and cooling unit to withstand brutal temperatures.
Initially, Ren had envisioned his vehicle as a mini-bus—a versatile transporter big enough to carry plenty of equipment. But after weighing the need for speed, mobility, and flexibility across rough terrain, he had to abandon that plan and opted for a van instead.
At the very least, choosing a van still gave Ren enough interior space to do his work—room for his technical gear and support systems. He knew all too well that in the desert, a small workspace could mean the difference between life and death.
As for its computing capabilities, Ren made some serious upgrades. Beyond boosting the processor’s cooling system and speeding up the core computing unit, he also added an auxiliary server cooled with mithril-based technology to ensure peak performance under extreme heat.
These upgrades were crucial, especially in this region, where a rich bauxite deposit had been discovered—unlike in Vermont, where bauxite was sparse and mostly considered waste due to local tech limitations.
It was the same here—three kilometers outside the city lay a stretch of reddish rock canyon dismissed by locals as nothing more than unremarkable landscape. But to Ren, it was a hidden goldmine.
Beneath those dull red rocks lay high-grade bauxite reserves. The ore’s composition was nearly identical to the finest bauxite ever found in Earth’s Australia—making it a prime material for Ren’s future projects.
At the same time, Ren began developing something considered pure science fiction back on Earth: hologram technology. Armed with his knowledge and local resources, he managed to create a rudimentary hologram system—a huge leap forward compared to this world’s existing tech.
He’d already installed this system into his combat helmet, even if it was still in its early stages. Limited by materials, he had to make do with what was available, tinkering with components far from ideal for something this complex.
Yet with the rare elements he’d secured from the elven kingdom, Ren managed to push his technology further—turning imagination into reality. The hologram system gradually evolved—becoming more stable, sharper, and more responsive to his commands.
It was reminiscent of the interactive holograms he’d seen in Earth movies, especially Tony Stark’s creations in the Iron Man series. With interfaces that could be touched, moved, and manipulated mid-air, Ren was no longer just analyzing data—he was interacting with it as if the virtual world was physically real.
Back on Earth, hologram technology had once been in development during Ren’s time—but real progress was slow, hindered by budget constraints, academic red tape, and a lack of industrial support.
In truth, Ren had already built a fully functional prototype. That prototype now sat quietly in a storage shed back in his old home in Kyoto, forgotten among piles of abandoned projects that never saw the light of day.
But all of that was in the past. What mattered now was that Ren remembered every design, every working principle, every base algorithm of that system—rebuilding it here was no challenge.
He sat in a folding chair beside his upgraded van, gently brushing a hand over the helmet now equipped with the basic hologram module. He tapped lightly on the side of the helmet, activating the interface.
"Ultro..." Ren called softly.
A smooth mechanical voice responded in his earpiece, calm and precise as always.
『Yes, Master. Hologram system is functioning at 67% capacity. Further optimization is required for full deployment.』
Ren gave a small nod as silver-blue holographic data panels hovered before him, softly glowing and gently rotating in mid-air. He swiped a finger across them, shifting some panels aside to open an old file stored in the helmet’s memory.
"Let’s resume our research on the Primordial Stone Rune—the one we left unfinished. I’ve got a new idea for how to approach it."
Ultro processed the command in a fraction of a second before replying in its analytical tone.
『Understood, Master. However, previous attempts on the Primordial Stone Rune ended in failure—its energy could not be stabilized using conventional methods.』
Ren sighed deeply, his gaze focused on the image of the Primordial Stone Rune spinning before him. The stone was dark greenish-black, with engraved patterns that seemed to shift and writhe on their own—almost alive.
"I know, Ultro. But back then, we focused too much on external manipulation of magic energy. This time... I’m going to try synchronizing the frequency directly from within the rune’s structure."
Ultro paused for a moment, processing the thought, then responded with a more contemplative tone.
『An intriguing approach, Master. Failure risk remains high, but if successful, we could control rune energy flow with up to 87% precision.』
"That’s more than enough for a first step," Ren replied with a faint smile. "And if I can pull this off, it won’t just level up our hologram tech... it’ll push every future project of ours into new territory."
The surrounding holograms pulsed a little brighter, almost as if resonating with Ren’s renewed determination. In his quiet world, it was just him, his machines, and an ambition that never burned out.