Published: September 10, 2025
※2016/2/15 Typo corrections made.
※2016/8/10 Some parts revised.
This is Satou. Daily life isn’t always peaceful, but I think it’s important to sometimes forget work and immerse yourself in hobbies. Accepting the occasional crisis that follows is part of it...
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“Hmm, it wasn’t as hard to recreate as I expected...”
I muttered while gazing at the prototype “floating core” drifting gently in the air.
“As expected of our Satou.”
“No, Lady Tina. This is our Satou.”
Behind me, the princess and Sera, who came to watch, exchanged some strange rivalry.
Seeing them smile at each other warmly, I almost saw the illusion of dragon and tiger clashing.
If I had to choose, I would be happy to say I belong to Ms. Aze.
“By the way, Satou, is this magical device different from the aerodynamic engine?”
“Yes, it’s based on a completely different principle—”
I explained the results of my research in response to the princess’s good question.
Unlike the aerodynamic engine that converts magic power into wind attribute to generate lift, this floating core is made mainly from high-purity dark stone, using the “absorption” effect of the dark stone to act on gravity and absorb the gravity acting on its core location, exhibiting a fantastical power.
If my physics teacher heard this, I’d probably get a lengthy lecture on gravity as it’s a non-scientific mechanism.
It seems it doesn’t reverse gravity like anti-gravity devices do.
Until now, the dark stone was only used for magic cancellation or creating dark rooms, but it looks like it’s about to come into the spotlight.
“Kyaaah!”
“Lady Tina!”
It seems the curious princess got too close to the floating core and entered its effective range.
Sera rushed out to save the princess who was floating weightlessly, but ended up bumping into her and started spinning around on multiple axes.
They’ll probably exit the effective range soon, but it wouldn’t do for the skirts of these young ladies to be flipped up, exposing their underwear.
I called out, “I’ll help you right away,” then gently caught both of them with my “magic hand” and lowered them safely to the ground outside the danger zone.
“Did you see that?”
The princess blushed and asked, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.
“The spinning was too fast; I didn’t see anything.”
Of course, that was a lie.
The princess wore white shorts embroidered with snowflake patterns on the sides, and Sera wore a risqué thong that you wouldn’t expect from a former priestess. Quite... well. Quite scandalous.
The former was made of ordinary silk, the latter used jade silk produced in the Duke’s Capital.
Princess and Sera used to wear bloomers and chest bands—the standard equipment in the Shiga Kingdom—but after living with Arisa and the others at the Isolated Island Palace, they were influenced and switched to modern-style underwear.
I think these are made by the Echigoya Trading Company, so I should instruct them to add garter belts to their lineup.
“You’ll have to take responsibility for this, you know.”
“You didn’t have to worry so much; I wasn’t really looking.”
Sera’s face turned bright red despite her light tone, making it hard to tell if she was joking or serious.
I brushed it off lightly, took their hands, and led them outside the research area.
“Master~?”
“Master, that’s right!”
Tama and Pochi, spotting me, jumped up excitedly.
Since both of them wore golden armor, they were probably going to the Jade Domain or the labyrinth to play.
“Out for a stroll?”
“Picnic~?”
“Lulu made us lunchboxes.”
When I asked, they showed me the lunchboxes they took out of their Fairy Bags.
“Meat, meat, meat~ a meat burger~?”
“Today’s a meat burger with steak and hamburger inside!”
I stopped them from opening the packages and told them to check the enemy’s strength with the scout monocle first, then sent them off through the gate to the Jade Domain.
This “scout monocle” is a magical artifact I made that roughly displays enemy strength on five levels—“weak,” “somewhat weak,” “about the same,” “strong,” and “absolutely unbeatable”—based on the wearer’s level.