Both Runa and Mika stood thinking in silence before responding.

And since neither of the two replied immediately, Ryan added, maintaining his usual relaxed posture against one of the workbenches, crossing his arms with complete patience.

"If it is a very complicated process to calculate right now, don’t feel pressured to give me an exact date."

Then Mika became a bit flustered, waving her hands with slight nervousness, thinking that the silence from both of them had been interpreted as an inability by their leader.

"No, it’s not about that, Your Majesty! We can manufacture them, of that I’m sure. It’s just that... I don’t know how I should phrase it. Let’s see..."

But while the elven alchemist tried to find the right words to explain the technicality, Runa intervened roughly, crossing her arms with the serious expression of a veteran artisan who took no unnecessary risks with her creations.

"It’s not about the manufacturing time itself, Ryan. We could have a first functional prototype in your hands by tomorrow morning if we work without sleeping, there is no doubt about that. But we must run rigorous tests, and that is what will take much more time than expected."

"Yep, exactly, that is what I was trying to say." Mika added, recovering her confidence and taking a step forward to back up the dwarf.

"Let’s look at this example. Let’s say you are fighting a battle to the death in the lands of the Demon King, Your Majesty, and in that precise instant of chaos you receive an urgent communication from Miss Beatrice."

Mika brought the palms of her hands together applying light pressure, simulating the compression of the functioning relic.

And then she slowly let go, pulling them apart while wiggling her fingers to simulate waves of interference in the air.

"The saturated mana in the area, altered by the brutality of the battle, the high-level magic of the enemies, or the colossal pressure of your own aura, could interfere and completely block the communication in that critical moment."

She paused briefly, swallowed hard, and continued.

"And that is just one hypothetical case out of the many unfavorable scenarios that could present themselves out there. That is why we are going to require at least a week, after creating them, to subject them to pressure tests and add improvements."

Ryan processed the explanation for a moment. His calculating mind immediately understood the concept; the girls were talking about quality testing under extreme combat conditions.

It was a brilliant deduction and something that he himself had overlooked when requesting the earrings so abruptly.

"Alright, that makes a lot of sense. And it is also a quite reasonable development time. You have my permission; take the entire week to perfect them."

They left the conversation there so as not to delay the start of the project any further. He said goodbye to the artisans with a gesture, leaving them completely focused on their blueprints and mumbling about material alloys, and stepped out of the hot workshop into the cool breeze of the village, followed by Helen and Mirian.

All around him, the elves and beastmen worked in complete harmony, raising new structures under the light of the village’s artificial sky. However, something in the dynamics of his own group felt strangely heavy.

Helen and Mirian were completely serious and in total silence, which was not at all usual for either of them, especially the loud and energetic Helen, who always found a reason to complain or joke around.

Ryan glanced at them out of the corner of his eye without stopping. They were walking much slower than normal, dragging their feet and keeping an unusual distance behind him, their gazes fixed on the ground with notably dark expressions.

Ryan stopped in the middle of the path and let out a sigh of genuine exhaustion. He didn’t need to read their minds to understand the logical problem behind that childish attitude.

"Listen, I am not excluding you two at all." Ryan pronounced with a firm and clear voice.

After saying that, he turned around completely, facing them. Both heroines stopped instantly, but they kept their gazes downcast, like two little girls who had just been scolded but refused to admit their guilt.

"If I asked them to manufacture the communication relics for Alicia and Beatrice first, it is strictly due to their roles." Ryan explained, using his most analytical tone to defuse the drama.

"Because of the type of work I ask them to do, they must remain far from my side, gathering information or managing the village. Information is something highly valuable in the current state of things, and the speed at which you obtain it to react in time is even more so."

Seeing that neither of the two lifted their faces to look at him and remained submerged in their silent tantrum, Ryan took a step forward, abruptly closing the distance.

With a quick but incredibly gentle movement, he extended both hands. He held the soft cheeks of each of them and firmly lifted their faces so they would look directly into his eyes.

Helen and Mirian opened their eyes wide in surprise at the sudden physical contact, feeling the warmth of Ryan’s hands.

Both of their hearts raced having the Templar’s face so close, looking at them with a deep, dark intensity that left absolutely no room for evasion.

"And you two, for now, do not require them." Ryan continued, maintaining eye contact.

"The roles you have demand that you be glued to my side at all times as my main bodyguards. Do you understand? Right now I am only looking to be as efficient as possible with the resources we have available. You shouldn’t feel silly jealousy over a pair of earrings, much less feel excluded from my party."

After finishing the sentence, he stood there looking at them in silence for a few seconds.

His thumbs lightly caressed the skin of both before letting go and taking a step back, returning their personal space.

"W-well... if you put it that way..." Mirian said, stuttering slightly as she averted her gaze to the side.

An evident and strong blush dyed her pale cheeks, and she began to play with a strand of her blonde hair.

"Jealousy? Who the hell said I’m jealous?" Helen added quickly, crossing her arms defensively and furrowing her brow to hide that her own face was just as red as the heroine’s beside her.

She continued to mutter excuses under her breath, but despite her stubborn attitude, she could not argue against Ryan’s impeccable logic.

The simple fact that he clarified that their duty was to be glued to his side at all times, recognizing them as his sword and shield, had dissolved any trace of insecurity in both of their hearts.

’I guess this explanation will be more than enough to keep them calm and focused for the time being.’

The two heroines hurried their pace immediately, now walking one on each side of him, their spirits completely restored.

’Now all that’s left is to wait for the deadline to be met.’ Ryan thought, lifting his gaze over the rooftops of the village, looking in the direction of the massive glowing rift that served as the entrance portal to his domain.

’Tomorrow is the day. We will see what kind of information, plans, or disasters the highly anticipated meeting with Ophelia brings with it.’