To the Demi-Human Kingdom Part 2

After I finished up with the requests of the more important guests, I ran out

of the party hall to take a rest. I noticed a couch in the corner of the corridor, so

I plopped down onto it and tried to relax. That was pretty easy, considering how

silent the place was compared to the party.

As I blankly stared at the corridor up ahead, something strange walked

through the place where the corridors intersected.

"What the—" An expression of disbelief passed my lips.

There was one thing I noticed about the... thing walking down the corridor in

the distance. To be blunt, it was a bear. Well, sure, the country of demi-humans

was bound to have some bear beastmen. I'd actually seen quite a few of them

at the party. The issue wasn't that, but the fact that the thing I saw was not a

beastman. It was a stuffed bear toy.

I couldn't say for sure, but it seemed about fifty centimeters tall, and no

matter how many times I re-evaluated what I was looking at, it was clearly a

plush toy bear... Why is there a toy bear walking around... Am I more tired than

I thought I was?

Suddenly, it stopped and looked in my general direction. Oh cripes, it's looking

me dead in the eye!

Staaare...

Staaaare...

Staaaaare...

Staaaaaare...

Hasn't this happened before...? What? The bear was moving its arm, clearly

beckoning me over.

Is it trying to ask me to come with it? Should I actually follow it? I pondered

for a moment and decided to oblige. I reasoned that if things started to look

bad, I could use [Accel] and get out of there.

The waddling bear led me to a room not so far from the party hall. It was

short and stubby, so it couldn't reach the doorknob. Undeterred, it skillfully

jumped up and spun the knob to open the door. It headed inside, but not

before beckoning to me again.

Guess it wants me to keep following... I entered the dimly-lit room and saw

moonlight beaming in through the window. The room was spacious and

properly furnished.

"Oh? You brought over quite a strange guest this time, Paula." Perplexed by

the sudden voice, I started looking around. Moments later, I noticed a girl

sitting on a red chair in front of the window.

Age-wise, she seemed close to Yumina and Arma. She had white hair tied in

twin-tails and eyes of gold. Wearing a frilly black dress, black boots, and black

headdress, she looked like a proper gothic lolita. Normally, my eyes would be

fixed on her clothing, but I couldn't keep them from shifting to the things

behind her.

A set of thin, semi-clear wings, shimmering in the moonlight. They weren't

like those you'd see on birds, more like those of an insects. It was safe to

assume that she was a fairy.

"So? Who might you be?"

"Ah, I'm Touya. Mochizuki Touya. Touya's my given name."

"Born in Eashen, I take it?" Oh, how I'd love for that to stop. Well, it's similar

enough, so I can't really say much else...

"I see. So you're a guest of this party. The famed Dragon Slayer, yes?"

"Dragon Slayer? Well, I mean... I guess that's not wrong. And you are?"

"Oh, do forgive me. I've forgotten to introduce myself. I am Leen, the clan

matriarch of all fairies. And this little darling here is Paula." Clan matriarch?!

This girl?! The surprise made my words catch in my throat, to which Leen

giggled, clearly amused.

"Despite appearances, I am far older than you. Longevity is but one of the

main characteristics of the fairy race, after all."

"You're older than me?! By how man—?" Wait, I better stop right there. It's

definitely not appropriate to ask a woman her age. Leen, however, didn't seem

to mind my train of thought.

"Well, I'm not too sure... I'm at least six centuries older, that much is certain."

"Six centuries?!"

"Thinking about this is a bother, so just assume that I'm six-hundred and

twelve years old." W-Wait, that's a pretty major assumption... I can't believe

this petite-looking girl is over six centuries old... No holds barred in this world, I

guess. That said, now that I know her age it's easier to accept she's the clan

matriarch.

"Do fairies age slowly?"

"...That isn't the case, no. We merely stop aging when we reach a certain age.

Normally, it happens when we reach the appearance of a human in their late

teens or early twenties, but it came earlier for me. That's all there is to it." I

could see her pouting as she muttered those words. I figured she wasn't too

happy with the body she was stuck with for eternity. Man, no matter how I look

at her, I can't see her as anything other than a person Yumina's age.

As if to comfort Leen, Paula clambered behind her and patted her on the

head.

"So, about Paula... is she some kind of contracted familiar?"

"She isn't, actually. She's a genuine stuffed bear. She can only move thanks to

my Null spell, [Program]."

"[Program]?"

You mean like a computer program or something? Is this bear a robot?! "The

Null spell, [Program], allows the user to give certain orders to inorganic objects

and make them act accordingly. For example..." She took a chair from the side

of the room and brought it over to me. Leen held her hand before the chair and

focused her power, making a magic circle form under it.

"Begin [Program]／ Motion: Two meters forward／ Starting Condition:

Someone sitting／ End [Program]." The magic circle on the floor quickly faded

away. Once Leen sat down on the chair, it slowly moved about two meters

forward before stopping.

"Oh, I forgot to set the speed. But you get the general idea. It allows me to

give magical orders to objects."

Yeah, I think I get it now. A name like [Program] is more than appropriate for

this one. Even if it's limited by the programming, the ability to make objects

move on their own is super useful.

"So, can you make Paula fly by adding an order that forces her to?"

"Something like that is impossible, I'm afraid. It isn't that great of a power.

[Program] only allows for simple movements. Though flight would likely work

fine for small model birds."

Alright, I think I understand better now. Seems like the spell has some

reasonable limits. Doesn't make it any less useful, though.

"I'll have a go at it."

"Sorry...?" I focused my magic on the chair. A magic circle formed on the

floor, and I began to prepare my own [Program].

"Begin [Program]／ Motion: Five meters backward at standard human

walking speed／ Starting Condition: Someone sitting／ End [Program]." Once

the magic circle disappeared, I quickly tested the program by sitting on the

chair. It began moving backward at a slightly higher speed than before and

stopped after five meters. Yup, this is useful.

"What... What did you do just now?" Leen was staring at me, blinking hard

and slow.

"Well... I used [Program], didn't I?"

"Why are you phrasing it like a question...? No, forget that for now. You were

able to use [Program] just like that?"

"Erm... ahaha, I guess so..." She looked at me with great suspicion in her eyes.

Staaare...

Staaaare...

Staaaaare...

Staaaaaare...

This happened with Paula already! They say pets resemble their owners, but I

don't know if that's quite right here... Soon enough, she heaved a sigh and

folded her arms.

"There's a lot I'd like to ask you, but I'll leave it for another time... I told Paula

to bring any interesting humans to me, and she didn't fail me in that regard.

You might even be a better find than Charlotte was."

"Charlotte?" I couldn't help but react to the familiar name.

It can't be the same Charlotte, can it? "Yes, one of my disciples. I hear she's

Court Magician in Belfast now." Oh. I guess it could. Wait, then, hold on... That

means...!

"Ah! So you're the demonic teacher that made her cast spells until she

collapsed, then forcibly restored her magic and made her cast more spells until

she collapsed again, right?!"

"What?!"

Oh man, she's scaring me. Please don't glare at me like that, I'm fragile. I'm

not the one who said it to begin with! S-Sorry? Should I say sorry?! I should say

sorry!

"Well, never mind that... Charlotte will be getting a slap next time I see her,

though. That aside, Touya, your magical talents are really quite remarkable.

Besides Null, what other elements do you have the aptitude for?"

"All of them."

"...Well, at least nothing will surprise me anymore." After another long sigh,

Leen pondered something before slowly opening her golden eyes. She looked

over at me and clasped her hands together.

"Very well, then. You shall be my new disciple."

"Come again?" The twin-tailed gothic lolita made her wings quiver as she

smiled in my direction.

◇ ◇ ◇

Yesterday, the matriarch of the fairies, Leen, told me to become her disciple,

but I politely refused. Seriously, who would willingly work under someone so

relentless? I'm not a masochist or anything, you know? Still, she seemed pretty

annoyed by my rejection.

Later on, the party reached a calm end. We returned to the rooms we were

given and went to sleep on our soft beds. It'd been a while since I slept on

something nice, so it took some time for me to fall asleep. Before I realized it,

however, it was already morning and I was well rested.

Alright, there's something I wanna try out today! I browsed several sites on

my phone and used [Drawing] to get transcripts and pictures of just about

everything that looked useful. Think that should be just about everything...

Once I was done with the light breakfast they brought me, I gathered the

bundle of papers I prepared and got Kohaku to join me in going to see

Chancellor Glatz.

I told him that I wanted to leave for a bit, so he gave me a medal that doubled

as a permit for crossing the castle gates. He also asked me if I could use

[Drawing] to make a portrait of him. In all honesty, he was the one person I

hadn't expected to request one.

After that, I met up with Lyon and gave him the shogi set. Sensing a small

opportunity, I also told him that Reflet was planning on becoming the official

town for shogi.

"Oh? Are you going out?" Once Kohaku and I were done with our business in

the palace, we set off for the main town. But not before we ran into Yumina

and Linze. It seemed they had just eaten breakfast and were about to go out for

a walk in the courtyard.

"Yeah, Kohaku and I were gonna go shopping. You two wanna tag along?"

"Of course," Yumina responded immediately.

"I-I'll come too," Linze replied hesitantly. I was thinking of inviting Elze and

Yae as well, but Linze said they were training alongside the Mismedian soldiers

in the arena... I could only hope that His Beastliness wasn't there, too.

The four of us crossed the palace gate and went out to town. Alright, now...

wait.

"Where can I buy metal?"

"M-Metal?"

"Yeah. Iron, copper, brass. Things like that. Ideally they'd be pressed into

ingots."

"I'm not exactly sure what 'ingot' means, but I think you might find what you

want at a blacksmith's," Yumina replied.

Well, that makes sense. I took out my phone and ran a search for smithies.

There were some points here and there. I figured I couldn't go wrong by

choosing the closest one.

We took the street heading eastward and found the place on the corner near

an intersection. I could hear the hammering before we even got there.

"Morning. Welcome all. You here for a repair job? Or maybe your blade needs

sharpening?" A horned employee greeted us with a smile. They were more than

happy to sell pressed metals to me, so I bought some iron, brass, and lead.

Several ingots about as thick as two small paperback books, to be exact. There

was a tool shop right in front of the smithy, so I took the opportunity to buy

some wood and rubber. The kind used on shoe soles.

"And now for the gunpowder..." I ran a search for it and easily got a hit.

Seems like it's at a magical goods shop... Well, I guess gunpowder is kind of

magical.

I went there and bought three medium-sized bottles of the powdery stuff. I

think that's everything I need, then!

"...What are you planning to make?" Linze looked at all the goods I bought

and couldn't help but ask.

"Gonna forge myself a weapon."

"A weapon...?" After they tilted their heads in confusion, I took them to a

nearby back alley and used a [Gate] to return to my room in the palace. I

grabbed the meter-long Dragon horn I had left there earlier, and used another

[Gate] to go to the forest we crossed before getting to the Mismedian capital.

Good, nobody'll see us out here.

I placed my papers on a nearby stump and put an ingot on top to stop the

wind from blowing them away.

"Now I just need to take this Dragon horn, and..." Crap. I can't actually make

use of the horn right now, can I? It's a little bit too long. Ah well, I'll just trim it a

bit first... Wait, it was too tough to cut with any of my gear, wasn't it?

"Linze, can you use magic to cut it? Somewhere around here, please."

"N-No problem!" I showed her where to cut and she got to it pretty quick.

"Come forth, Water! Feel My Blade, Both Cold and Clear: [Aqua Cutter]!"

With a watery sound, the Dragon horn was cut down to a more proper size.

Whew, good thing I brought Linze along. I took the result into my hand, and it

was far lighter than it looked. I felt as though I was holding plastic. The lightness

made me doubt its strength, but it was a cold hard fact that it was far tougher

than iron. I was pretty amazed by it all.

Wait, I didn't come here just to admire this thing. I've got a job to do!

I glared at the papers I brought and memorized all the relevant parts. Well,

even if they came out wrong, I could just use some fine-tuning to fix it up.

Alright. It's time.

"[Modeling]." The horn began to slowly change shape. Barrel, cylinder,

hammer, trigger... I made the parts, one after another. After that, I used the

wood I bought to create a grip and put them all together.

Ten minutes later, I held a slick black revolver in my hand.

I based it on a gun known as the Remington New Model Army, but it turned

out a bit short. Well, it wasn't too different, so I didn't really care.

Since I wanted something that could rapidly fire, I turned a single-action gun

into a double-action one and messed around with the cylinder, so the insides of

this gun ended up completely unlike the original. I only used it as basis because

I thought the design looked cool. Taking it in hand, I examined how it felt.

Not too shabby, to be honest. Maybe it's a little light? Actually, that's

probably not a negative.

"Now, for the bullets." Using the ingots and gunpowder, I made the bullet

heads, cases, powders, rims, and primers, just as they looked on the internet.

By the time I was done, I had fifty bullets of several varieties. That's enough

for now, I thought.

Alright, time to load up all six revolver chambers... Oh wait, before that...

"[Enchant]: [Apport]." I enchanted the gun with my item teleporting spell.

And now...

"Begin [Program]／ Starting Condition: Wielder says 'reload'／ Action Upon

Start: Hastily eject empty cartridges, use [Apport] to refill any empty

chambers using bullets located within a range of one meter／ End [Program]."

And with that, I was done. Manually reloading was a pain, after all. I could've

just made an automatic weapon instead, but my taste was more important than

that. I considered revolvers to be the coolest gun, that's all there was to it.

I filled the chambers, aimed at a nearby tree, and pulled the trigger. The

bullet went flying with an explosive sound. Whoa! The recoil's way stronger

than I thought it'd be. Linze and Yumina put their hands over their ears. Despite

the grand presentation, it seemed that I actually missed my shot.

I followed it up with two more bullets and noticed that my accuracy was

pretty low. Am I just a bad shot? The bullets aren't firing straight at a— Oh...

Right, I forgot to make the rifling. Rifling refers to the helical grooves in the

inside of a gun's barrel. I read that it gyroscopically stabilized the bullet by

forcing it to spin, which made it travel straight.

And so, with another [Modeling] spell, I crafted the rifling for my gun. I shot

some more bullets, and the difference in accuracy was clear as day.

Once I emptied the whole cylinder, I decided to test the reloading mechanism

that I'd programmed earlier.

"Reload!" The moment I said that, the empty cartridges were instantly

ejected and fell to the ground. Then, six of the bullets I had placed on the stump

disappeared and reappeared inside the gun. I pulled the trigger again. Another

bullet fired out. Yup, it works like a charm.

"Are you finished?"

"Yep, I'd say so. This is something called a 'gun.' It's a weapon made to attack

at long distances. You can use it with one hand and it's stronger than bows and

arrows."

"...Amazing. It's like a small cannon." Linze quietly spoke, gazing at my

creation. It was true that not-so-sleek cannons also existed in this world, but

since any single wizard who knew the [Explosion] spell was far more effective,

they didn't see much use.

"I finished making the gun, but there's still one more thing I wanna try." After

removing all the bullets from the cylinder, I took one into my hand.

"[Enchant]: [Explosion]." I imbued it with explosive magic. Let's see here...

"Begin [Program]／ Starting Condition: The bullet head escapes the gun's

muzzle and impacts something／ Action Upon Start: Activate [Explosion]

around the bullet／ End [Program]." I placed the enchanted bullet into the

cylinder and shot the same hole-riddled tree.

With a fierce roar, the tree I shot and the ones unfortunate enough to be near

it shattered into thousands of splintery pieces. The [Explosion] test worked.

"Wha...?!"

"W-Whoa!" Linze and Yumina fell to the ground, seemingly too shocked to

stay upright. Good. That solves my issue of using offensive magic without an

incantation. Then again, having to [Enchant] and [Program] everything is a bit

of a pain, too... Wait, I could just do it with multiple bullets at once, so it's not so

bad.

I could probably enchant some rubber rounds with [Paralyze] for non-lethal

takedowns. Weapons this handy are few and far between indeed! Oh wait,

[Paralyze] wouldn't work if they had any magic-warding amulets on them.

"Touya, may I also have one of these... guns, was it?"

"I-I'd like one, as well..."

"Huh?" Yumina and Linze's sudden request made me ponder for a bit. I could

understand why they, being rearguard fighters, would want such a weapon, but

I couldn't help but worry. Am I just being too overprotective?

Yumina has a bow, a pretty dangerous thing in its own right, and Linze has the

ability to clip a Dragon's wings, so worrying about them handling a gun safely is

kinda stupid.

Also, being able to use magic without any care for affinity would be pretty

advantageous. With a gun, even Yumina, someone without any aptitude for

fire, could use [Explosion].

"Sure, why not? Pick a design you like." I ran an image search for various guns

and put them to paper using [Drawing]. After a long moment of staring at the

options, Yumina finally chose a Colt Army Model 1860, while Linze went for a

snub-nosed revolver known as the Smith & Wesson Model 36.

Linze's was fine, but I was a bit worried about how Yumina's choice would fit

in her hand. Then I remembered that it was just a design and I could handle the

size myself. My gun was also made to suit me, after all. Right down to the specs

and caliber.

Honestly, my gun-crafting was rough. I was sure any gun nuts out there would

give me a real earful. If I needed it to just shoot something out, a BB gun

would've worked just fine. Even so, there were things you just couldn't help but

get picky about. Basically, I always wanted to fire a real gun.

I had Linze cut the Dragon's horn again and used it to make their guns for

them. Just to be on the safe side, I programmed their weapons in a way that

prevented anyone else but them from pulling the trigger.

I created about a hundred rubber bullets, divided them between the girls, and

let them get the hang of wielding and firing their guns.

Being made from a Dragon's horn, they were lighter than standard firearms

and weren't too hard for girls to use.

Alright, now it's time for the main event. The gun was actually nothing but a

base for the creation of my real weapon.

"[Modeling]." I took more of the Dragon's horn and once again began giving it

the form of a gun. However, unlike the other ones, this one was building up to

be a bit strange.

Extending from the trigger guard and tracing the lower part of the barrel,

there was a blade. The grip made a bit of a curve and gave the whole object a

somewhat straight shape. Overall, it was less of a gun and more of a

shortsword.

An unholy fusion of gun and knife! Though, "knife" wasn't too apt either,

considering the blade was thirty centimeters long and pretty broad. However,

there was a reason for that broadness.

"Begin [Program]／ Starting Condition: The wielder says 'Gun Mode' or

'Blade Mode'／ Action Upon Start: Use [Modeling] to quickly transform the

blade piece from shortsword to longsword in the case of 'Blade Mode,

' or

from longsword to shortsword in the case of 'Gun Mode'／ End [Program]." I

also programmed it with the same reloading mechanism I'd tried earlier. I

reloaded quickly, readied my weapon, and pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang

out, and the bullet easily destroyed a branch. Great, the gun works just fine!

"Blade Mode." In response to my words, the thirty centimeter knife instantly

became an eighty centimeter sword. The broad blade lost about two-thirds of

its thickness and gained some length instead.

I swung the elongated blade around. It didn't feel the least bit heavy.

"Gun Mode." The blade became short and broad again. Alright, the

transformation function works just fine.

"Amazing. So it can be both a gun and a blade?"

"Elze and Yae are purely vanguard fighters, while you two are purely

backliners, so I decided to be a little more flexible in my approach." To be

honest, I've been wanting to do this for a while. The duel with the beastking

made me consider that there'll be situations where I can't effectively use magic.

The answer to that problem? A gun.

"...So, what are you going to name your weapon?"

"Well... 'Brunhild' works fine, I guess." I answered Linze with a grin on my

face. Instead of using the name of some legendary weapon like "Excalibur" or

"Balmung," I went for the name of the strongest weapon in one of my favorite

retro games. Man, did I have fun playing that one... It was really old, though. In

fact, it was a part of my grandfather's collection.

As I looked at my new weapon, Brunhild, I realized that I was actually part of

those fantasy worlds I yearned for in my younger years, which made me aware

of just how much my life had changed.

◇ ◇ ◇

After a few test shots and debugging of my program, I tested the durability of

Brunhild's blade mode.

Though it was made of many parts, the whole section that was unaffected by

the transformation was almost perfectly merged with the blade and the entire

object had the toughness of a Dragon horn. I could easily cut down a rather

thick tree. The sharpness was incomparable to my previous sword.

Soon after that, we returned to the town around the palace and bought three

leather sheaths for daggers and one for something a bit larger. I turned them all

into holsters for our guns with my [Modeling] spell. They really stood out, after

all.

While I was at it, I also took the opportunity to buy three waist pouches for

bullets. Since we were in town, we didn't have to worry about being attacked

by monsters, so I only gave the girls rubber bullets imbued with [Paralyze]. I still

had a bunch of real bullets with me, though. It suddenly dawned on me that

there was the possibility of them standing next to me while reloading and

accidentally getting my real bullets into their guns...

To prevent such a disaster, I reprogrammed their weapons. Now, the guns

would only load the bullets that the wielder wanted. That was perfectly doable

thanks to [Apport].

That meant we only had to consider the enchantments to put on the bullets.

Since Linze used [Explosion] back in the ruins of the old capital, I was fully

aware that it had the firepower to blast away a whole load of ruins, and it was

lacking in utility. Maybe [Ignis Fire], then? One shot and they'd be engulfed in

flames... No, that's totally overdoing it as well.

Well, as long as the opponent is human, [Paralyze] should work just fine. Even

if they have amulets protecting them, the rubber bullets'll still hurt a lot. Hm...

guess I'll need to think about it more later.

"Wanna grab some food while we're in town?"

"Great idea. I'd love to try the local cuisine."

"Y-Yes, me too. I've heard a lot about this local dish called 'Cully.'"

Cully...? Hmm... that's piqued my interest. Guess I'll try it too. It was sold at a

nearby food stall, so we went right for it. There was a menu with "pork cully,"

among other variants. That smell's pretty familiar...

Yumina ordered a beef cully, Linze got a chicken cully, and I got a pork cully.

Kohaku didn't want any, for some reason. We sat at the nearby table and

waited for only a few minutes before it was ready.

This color, and this smell... I knew it! It's curry. Not rice curry, though, since

there was no rice.

"Uh, guys? Just so you know..." I was about to warn them about the potential

spiciness, but they had already brought some of it to their mouths.

"Ack!" "Gah?!" They covered their mouths as tears formed in their eyes.

Ah. I guess it is spicy, then. Shame it isn't the sweet kind. Judging from how

those two are acting, it must be super hot...

They reached for the water jug on the table, almost fighting one another over

it, as they poured some water into their cups and quickly gulped it down. As I

watched them, I tried the curry myself, and wow, was it hot. That evaluation

was coming from yours truly, who'd tasted quite a number of spicy curries, so I

could only imagine how hard it hit the girls.

"Whath a shtrong tashte..." "Ow, it'sh like my tongue ish on fire..." So hot

they couldn't even speak properly... Once we left the cully wagon, we went to

get some fruit juice from another vendor. A few quick sips of that neutralized

the deadly spice.

"It's not that bad once you get used to it."

"You hadh a chance to eat khullay before, Touyah?"

"Well, something similar to it, at least." I gave Yumina, who was still having

trouble speaking, an ambiguous answer. Linze took the ice that came with the

juice and moved it around in her mouth. Come to think of it, I haven't had much

of anything spicy since I came to this world. In my mind, Belfast was almost

solidified as a kingdom of sweet foods.

...Huh? As thoughts of dinner circled my head, I felt someone looking at me.

This sensation's a familiar one...

«Master. Someone is observing us. I believe it's the same people as before.»

Kohaku spoke to me telepathically. I knew it.

«The ones who were watching us back in Langley? Alright. Let's say hello to

them. Where are they located?»

«Atop the tallest building to your right.» Pretending that I wasn't aware of

their presence, I looked up to where Kohaku had pointed out. I could see them

on the roof of a three-story building. They were pretty far off.

"Guess I should get ready... Reload." I filled my holstered gunblade, Brunhild,

with rubber bullets imbued with [Paralyze].

"Touya." My sudden reloading made the girls look at me with apparent

confusion, but there was no time to explain.

«Keep an eye on the girls, Kohaku.»

«Be careful.» It's go-time.

"[Boost]." I buffed my physical abilities and jumped upward. After landing on

one of the buildings to my side, I made another leap toward the roof ahead of

me. Roof after roof, I went straight for the building upon which I saw the

mysterious observers.

"Yo."

"Gh?!" "Hm?!" My sudden arrival and nonchalant greeting left them stunned.

At least, I thought it did. I couldn't see their faces. They wore similar-looking

black robes, and from the little I saw, the clothes under the robes were black, as

well. The faces under their hooded heads were hidden by white masks. Not

completely white, though, since there were strange symbols on the foreheads.

For a moment, I thought they were the same on both, but then I noticed that

one had a hexagon, while the other had a vertically stretched oval.

"Er, hey... can you talk? I'd like to know who you are and wh—" Suddenly, the

one with the hexagon took out a test tube-like object and threw it on the

ground. In a flash, the surroundings were bathed in an intense light.

"Khh...!" The flash momentarily blinded me, and once I regained my sight, the

observers had vanished. They escaped? Ha, not likely! I took out my

smartphone and ran a search for 'masked weirdo.' And there they were. The

two were running through a back alley to the north. There's still time to catch

up, good.

"[Accel Boost]!" Speeding myself up with magic, I ran across the roofs again.

The view went by me with insane speed, and moments later, I could see the

two running through the back alley.

I went ahead of them and stopped in their tracks.

"Mmph?!" "Gh!" I still couldn't see their faces through the masks, but I was

almost certain they were surprised. However, Hexagon Mask quickly reached

for another one of those test tubes. Not this time!

Without hesitation, I took out Brunhild and fired at the one trying to blind me.

The sound of a gunshot rang out as hexagon mask fell to the ground. No

protective amulets, huh? Too bad. Having lost an ally, oval mask looked at me,

then back at the one on the ground, seemingly not knowing what to do next.

That's my opening. Another gunshot rang out through the back alley.

"Alrighty! What now?" While they were still paralyzed, I tied them up with

coils I made using [Modeling] and placed them against the wall of the alley. I

could take their masks off and look at their faces, but with [Paralyze] active,

they were still conscious. It would be pretty bad if they had some weird, cultlike laws that'd force them to commit suicide or kill me if I were to see their

faces.

"I'll take away the paralysis, so don't struggle, okay?" I gazed into their eyes

and focused my magic.

"[Recovery]." A gentle light embraced them both. That should've taken care

of the paralysis. Now, if only we could have a proper exchange.

"So, who are you two? Why were you observing me?"

"..." Hmm... using their right to remain silent, huh?

A moment later, I noticed that Hexagon Mask was making slight movements.

Did I tie the wire too tight? No, probably trying to escape... It'd be quite a pain if

they used some weird tool, similar to the flash bomb, to melt away the wire or

something. To be on the safe side, I decided to remove their gadgets and

whatnot.

I placed my hand against Hexagon Mask's chest.

"Hyah?!" Hexagon Mask released a cutesy voice and I began to feel

something soft in my hand. Once I realized what it was, I began to sweat all

over.

"Y-Y-You're a girl?!" Hexagon Mask nodded slightly. I quickly withdrew my

hand, but I could still feel the softness I'd held mere moments ago. Oh geez. My

face was probably as red as a tomato. Wait... wasn't that voice familiar?

As I backed my hand away, I accidentally hit her and made the white mask

with the hexagon fall to the ground with a clatter. The face under it was that of

a woman I knew.

"What the—?! Lapis...?" With a blushing face, my maid, who should've been

at my home back in the capital of Belfast, gave me another nod.

◇ ◇ ◇

"We are 'Espion.' Intelligence operatives acting directly under the command

of His Majesty, the king of Belfast."

"The king?"

"Yes. Our current mission is to protect the princess." Lapis' explanation was

easy to process. With how he just handed her over to me, I always thought that

the king's attitude with regards to Yumina was a bit too relaxed, and this

explained it all. He was looking after her from the shadows.

Wait, I remember that time I heard something through the ceiling of the Silver

Moon Inn... I thought it was a rodent or something at the time, but it could've

been these guys. This "Espion" group sounds like a mix of traditional ninjas and

modern spies.

"Are you the only ones protecting Yumina?"

"Nooo, there's several mooore. All of them are girls, toooo." My other maid

replied with her usual needlessly stretched pronunciation. Cecile, who

voluntarily removed her mask, was giving me a smile completely devoid of any

fear.

They're all girls, huh? Well, since their protective detail required hiding up in

the ceiling and similar places, girls were probably the better option as far as

Yumina's privacy was considered.

"Wait, how long have you been following us? Since we were still in Belfast?"

"That's what our mission was, yes," Lapis responded.

"Now that I think about it, neither of you were home when I used a [Gate] to

return there. I assume Laim is in on it, too, then?"

"Yes, hee is." Well, they sure had me fooled. I asked them some more

questions, and apparently, they weren't lying about being part of the Maid's

Guild. Maid skills were necessary for infiltration missions, so just about every

female operative of Espion was also a guild member.

"Ah, wait. So, the one who threw the knife at the Black Dragon was..."

"That was Cecile, yes. She's a knife-throwing expert."

"Eheheheeh. Oh, I'm not thaat good." Cecile's cheeks turned slightly rosy as

she blushed. So, that knife was thrown by this... puffy girl? Never judge a book

by its cover, I guess.

Suddenly, Cecile grew a bit despondent and fearfully looked up at me.

"Sooo, uhmm... are we getting fiiired?"

"Hm? Why would you be fired?"

"Well, sir, we're your maids, and instead of fulfilling our duties, we're here on

another job entirely..." Oh, that. So she felt bad about working for the king

while being hired by me, then.

"No, I don't plan on firing either of you. The king only gave the order because

he was worried about his daughter, after all. Also, if I fired you, I'd also have to

get rid of Laim." Do you girls think I'm that petty...? I was pretty confident I had

the emotional depth to sympathize with a father worrying over his little girl.

The two heaved a sigh of relief.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"We will keep on secretly protecting Princess Yumina... but before that, we

have something to ask of you, sir." This time, Lapis was the one to look up at

me, readying herself to say something difficult. Man, I just can't get used to

being called sir...

"Would you be kind enough to keep us a secret from the princess...?" Ah,

since it's a secret mission, being found out is obviously a huge problem.

"If she were to find out about our protection, the princess would get reeeally

mad at his Majesty." Oh, never mind. The real reason is a lot simpler. Well, he

acted as though he sent her off by herself because he believed in her, so the

truth would make it seem like he didn't believe in her at all. Gotta be tough to be

a dad, huh...? I don't mind keeping a secret, so it's fine by me. I let them keep

following their orders, walked away from them, and returned to Yumina.

I told Kohaku all about it through our telepathic link. To Yumina and Linze,

however, I just lied by saying that they ran away. Well, it wasn't a complete lie,

since they actually did run away once after blinding me. They gave me some

strange looks, but I was able to fool them and we all returned to the palace.

The following day, the kings of Belfast and Mismede were to have a discussion

regarding the details of the alliance between the kingdoms.

It was a proper summit meeting, but there was a minor bit of arguing over

which side would come over to the other. In the end, it was decided that Belfast

would come to Mismede, so I placed the mirror meant for teleportation

(officially, anyway) in the conference room.

Besides me, the other people present were Lyon, the other Belfastian knights,

His Beastliness, Chancellor Glatz, and a bunch of Mismedian soldiers led by the

familiar wolf beastman, Captain Garm.

I opened a [Gate] just in front of the mirror, allowing His Majesty and his

younger brother, Duke Ortlinde, to pass through.

The fact that a person actually walked out of the mirror surprised many of

those present, but that didn't last long, for it was time to give the king a proper

welcome.

"Welcome to Mismede, King of Belfast."

"Thank you for the invitation, Beastking of Mismede." They exchanged a

handshake. It was time for matters of state. Being an outsider, I decided to take

my leave.

I headed out of the conference room and into the corridor. All I could do was

hope that the two kings would get along.

Suddenly, from one end of the corridor, I saw the stuffed bear, Paula, toddle

along with her master, Leen. She was still clad in the same gothic lolita outfit as

the last time we met.

"Seems like the Belfastian king came over to say hi."

"Yeah, just now. They're having a conference in there." I answered her while

pointing at a nearby door, the only door with two guards standing by it.

"Well, do you feel like becoming my disciple yet?"

"How many times do I have to say no before you get it?" Refusing to give up

after my first rejection, Leen had been asking me to be her disciple just about

every time we met since then.

Last time she said I could be a "provisional disciple." Sounds too much like

"provisional club enrollment" to me. Wait, isn't that a lower position than

regular old disciple?! Paula stood by her side, beckoning me forward with a

small gesture.

"Man, for a stuffed toy, Paula sure is lively... It's almost like she's alive."

"That just shows how many times I've used [Program] on her, doesn't it? I've

been setting her with actions and reactions to various situations for almost two

hundred years now. She might as well be autonomous at this point. You

humans cry when in pain and get mad when made fun of, right? Same

principle." Two hundred years...? So Paula's behavior feels natural due to

countless uses of [Program] over a long period, huh?

Suddenly, I considered the possibility of creating a human-like doll via

[Modeling] and then using [Program] to make a pseudo-android, but then I

remembered that it took Leen two hundred years just for Paula. I wonder if we

could copy and paste her programming...

In response to my intense stare, Paula seemed to get a little uncomfortable.

She backed off slightly. Oho, so even that kind of response is programmed too?

"You said she's over two hundred, but Paula sure doesn't look it. Do you

rebuild her regularly or something?"

"That's not the case, no. She's under the effects of my Null spell, [Protection].

As the name goes, it's a spell that, well, protects from certain things. Paula is

protected against getting dirty, deteriorating, and getting gnawed on by bugs,

among other things."

Protection magic, huh? I won't lie, it's pretty impressive that Paula still looks

so good. Using it on clothing would remove the need for laundry, right? Hell,

casting it on the body could remove the need to take baths... Though, that

doesn't seem quite right. Even if it protects from outside filth, it probably can't

do anything to the buildup of grime due to metabolic processes.

"Wait, how many Null spells can you use, Leen? There's [Protection],

[Program], and the [Transfer] one that Charlotte told me about."

"Fairies have a high aptitude for Null magic. In fact, fairies that don't have a

single Null spell to their name are few and far between. I only happen to have

four at present, however."

Four of the elusive Null spells, huh? That's pretty amazing. But I guess I'm not

really in a position to say that, given my own affinities. I can see why fairies are

considered a species built for magic, though. Now I'm curious about what Leen's

fourth Null spell is.

"Sir Touya? His Majesty, the king of Belfast wishes to see you. Please come

inside."

Chancellor Glatz opened the door to the conference room and peeked out.

Having no reason to refuse, I went in, which made both kings turn to stare at

me.

"Hey, Touya my boy. The talks went very smoothly. Thank you for all your

help."

"Well, that's good to hear." The Belfastian king's words made me heave a sigh

of relief. My job was as good as done.

"Very well. We shall now return to Belfast. We leave the rest to you. Thank

you for your time, King Mismede."

Once they were done with their goodbyes, I secretly opened a [Gate] in front

of the mirror and let the king and his brother leave. When they were gone, I

began acting out our plan. With everyone watching, I took out a hammer and

shattered the mirror into little pieces.

"S-Sir Touya?! What are you...?!"

"Ah, there's no need to be upset. Just give me a moment." Ignoring the

flustered Glatz for a moment, I looked away from him and focused my magic on

the fragments of the mirror.

"[Modeling]" The broken mirror and wooden frame lost their original shape

and turned into a number of small, oblong mirrors. Basically, I created some

small framed mirrors approximately two centimeters high and fifteen

centimeters wide. I picked one up and quietly enchanted it with [Gate].

"These mirrors are connected to Belfast. Now, when you have something

important to tell someone there, you need only put a letter into the mirror.

Though both sides will still have to use official documents to confirm their

authenticity."

"I-I see... So messages that normally take a twenty day round trip will now

reach them in an instant? That is most convenient! I will make sure to use it to

further our friendly relations." I handed the little mirror over to the beastking,

and he gave a small smile. With that, my job was done.

Finally, time to head home... Even though I have such a nice place, I haven't

had a chance to live there properly yet. I feel about ready to take a long rest.

◇ ◇ ◇

For the time being, Lyon and his knights decided they'd remain in Mismede.

From what I heard, not having any Belfastians there could cause any postmeeting formalities to stagnate.

There were those who insisted on protecting Princess Yumina on her way

back to Belfast, but she did a good job refusing. Basically, she just told them to

do their jobs.

In all truth, however, them coming along would've been a problem. We were

planning on getting home instantly using a [Gate] after all.

Before we left, I gave Lyon a set of "Gate Mirrors" for sending letters. I

thought the name I gave them was cool. They allowed people to keep in touch

despite all the distance. If he gave one to Olga, he could talk to her even after

returning to Belfast. Man, did he get fired up when I handed them over. To be

honest, it was a little unsettling.

I said my goodbyes to His Beastliness, Chancellor Glatz, Olga, and Captain

Garm. Leen and Paula were nowhere to be seen, though, so I left without telling

them anything. A shame, really, but there was nothing to be done about it.

We left the palace and decided to go around town to pick up some souvenirs

for Sue and the servants. While we did that, we also ran a final check of our

things. All that was left was to open a [Gate] and return to Belfast, but...

"Sorry, I forgot a souvenir I wanted to get." I slipped a white lie to the girls,

blended into the crowd, fired up my map app, and searched for the people I

needed. Okay, up on this roof then? I activated [Boost], jumped up, and got

myself right to where they were.

"Eek?!"

"Uwahh?! Ohhh, it's just you, sir. Don't surprise us like thaaat."

It was Lapis and Cecile, still wearing the masks from the other day. They were

my maids, but their primary employer was still Yumina's father — His Majesty,

the king of Belfast.

Apparently, His Majesty made Laim hire them, so I entertained the thought of

docking or outright canceling their pay, but since they seemed to be skilled

maids, I decided to let it slide.

You're definitely not getting paid for the next ten days, though! If you've got a

problem with that, bill the king!

"We're about to use a [Gate] to return to Belfast. I figured I should send you

two first." With all the spying they'd been doing, they surely knew about my

[Gate] spell already, so I figured I'd make the offer.

"Whaaat? To Belfaaaast?"

"Well, if we take the normal route home, we'll get back ten days after

everyone else... The princess would likely grow suspicious."

"That's exactly why I'm here." Smiling wryly, I opened up a small [Gate] for

them. I walked through, they followed suit, and we all ended up back in our

mansion. The living room, to be precise.

"Welcome back."

My butler, Laim, was a bit surprised by our sudden appearance, but he quickly

regained his composure and welcomed us home.

"We're back, Laim."

"We're baaack!"

"Please forgive us, the master of the house found out our true mission."

"So I see." Lapis began to explain what could be easily deduced from this

situation. In response, Laim could only offer a resigned smile.

I had the two girls change into their maid uniforms and act as though they'd

been here the entire time. Once they left to their rooms, Laim bowed his head

to me.

"Sir, please forgive me. His Royal Highness himself made me give the order to

them..."

"Well, I can understand a father worrying for his daughter, and it's not like

anything bad happened because of this, so I don't mind it too much. Not to

mention that it was probably really hard for you to refuse." I had no intention of

punishing him for such a minor slight. I wasn't that strict.

Sure, if this had connected to a life and death situation or made me lose

something big, I would've reacted differently, but there was nothing for me to

care too deeply about in this instance. Hell, if you looked at it from one angle,

you could even say I had a new pair of guards watching my back... That might

be a little bit of a stretch, though.

"Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret from Yumina and the others." Since I was

about to leave and return with the girls, I asked him to be sure he'd welcome

me as though I was just returning from my journey.

"You took ages! What were you doing?" Using another [Gate], I walked out to

the same rooftop I left from, then headed straight for the others. Elze

immediately voiced her displeasure. I gave them some half-hearted lies before

we went to an empty alley, where I opened yet another [Gate].

Once we entered the living room, Laim welcomed us with a bow.

"Welcome back." After I accepted his greeting for a second time, the door to

the living room opened. Lapis and Cecile walked through, looking like the

proper maids they should've been all along.

"Welcome back, everyone."

"Welcome baack!"

"Lapis, Cecile. Nice to see you both again." We exchanged a natural enough

greeting. Everyone walked back to their rooms and then went to take a bath.

We were all pretty tired after the trip. I decided to go in after they were done.

It was a good chance to give everyone their souvenirs.

To Laim, I gave a necktie pin and cufflinks, while Lapis and Cecile received

different-colored tea cups. They said they couldn't accept them, but it would've

been weird if they were the only ones who didn't get anything from me, so I

practically forced them to take the gifts.

Julio and his wife, Crea, got a straw hat and a Mismedian cookbook. I also

gave the happy couple two matching bowls. The guards, Tom and Huck, each

got a decorated ceremonial knife. Sue would be getting her gift the next day.

I dropped on my bed and stretched myself out. Man, that was exhausting.

Not just physically, either. I didn't expect so much mental strain from traveling

into a new country, but it was actually a lot of stress. Then again, I guess this

whole world is new to me though, isn't it...?

All in all, I'm glad I made the trip, though. I came up with a ton of new ideas. I

mean, hypothetically, I can send a mirror enchanted with [Gate] to Eashen and

go there the moment it arrives. Plus, that new spell opens up a whole new world

of things to do. I can [Program] a self-moving carriage or even create an

automatic vehicle. The car idea is probably the best one... Wait, no, it'd probably

stand out too much. Oh... I can use [Program] to give the map app an auto-

targeting function! There's so much more I can do now... Man, this is all so

great!

I thought about the autonomous doll, Paula. I should make something similar,

yeah... I'll use a cat or a penguin plush toy and... uhh... Getting kinda... sleepy.

Huh? Oh, damn. Think I dozed off a bit there. Guess I was more tired than I

thought. I didn't change into my pajamas, so my body felt heavy. I decided to

head for the bath, thinking hot water would reinvigorate my spirit.

I took out a fresh pair of underwear and a bath towel from my dresser, then

made my way to the bathroom on the first floor.

The bath in the room was large enough to fit five to six adults. It was like a

modest public bathhouse. The girls often took baths together, but I always went

in alone. The butler and I were the only males who used it, so it always just

ended up that way. I had no intention of going in with Laim, after all.

"Well, it's one of the luxuries in my current life." My spirits raised, I placed my

hand on the doorknob and entered the dressing room.

"...Hm?" All four of them looked up as I entered.

"......Whoops?" Err... what are Elze, Linze, Yae, and Yumina doing here? All

of the girls were in their underwear.

Elze and Linze's were matching, having the same small ribbons, though they

were different colors. Elze's was pink, Linze's was blue. Both pastel. The lower

garments were tie-side panties. Yae, standing next to them, was wearing a

sarashi breast wrap and a fundoshi. That wasn't too surprising. Guess that was

the standard in Eashen. Ah, the whiteness of it's just blinding. Also, the sarashi's

a bit loose, so it's clear that she actually has the biggest pair out of all of the

girls. Last, but not least, Yumina. She was wearing expensive-looking, but not

overly wild, white underwear with frills and laces. Just like the twins', the lower

part was tie-side. I could only assume that it was the panty standard of this

world.

Weird, I don't remember casting [Accel] at all... It's impressive how much I can

process in so little time.

"KYAAHH!" All the girls screamed in unison.

"Gyaaah!!!" I screamed in abject terror. Their sudden screams returned me to

my senses, but all I managed to do was respond in kind. Was I actually staring at

them more than I should've been?! A teary-eyed Elze launched her fist at me.

Judging from the vigor of the attack, I could only assume that she had cast

[Boost] to amplify it. And with that, my temporal lobe was violently rocked. I

lost all consciousness.

"Well, you're right that we were at fault for not locking the door, but...!" Linze

muttered lowly.

"I would like you to be more aware of your surroundings," Yumina said. I'm on

the ground. The girls are surrounding me. How long has it been since they

started scolding me? Eons, perhaps?

"I thought you all were already done and out..." From what they told me, I

wasn't the only one who took a short nap after returning to my room. I walked

in just after they woke up, headed for the dressing room, and began to undress.

Talk about bad timing... Or, well, actually... maybe it was good timing?

"...You do feel guilty, don't you?"

"Huh? Ah, of course!" Linze glared at me with scornful eyes as I responded to

her question. Since she was usually docile, it was a strangely powerful

expression.

"I would prefer such events to come after the proper steps have been

taken..." Wait, what steps are you talking about, Yumina?! Don't say weird stuff

like that with your cheeks flushed red. You're really freaking me out here! Well,

it was a fact that I could've avoided the situation if I was more perceptive. On

top of that, I couldn't deny that I'd spent a long moment staring at them.

Honestly, I wasn't in a situation to talk back...

The scolding continued for a while after that, and when it finally ended, it was

already the dead of night. In case it wasn't obvious, I didn't get any sleep. After

all, that marvelous sight came back to me whenever I closed my eyes... Putting

the painful punch aside, it was actually a really great day!