Published: September 10, 2025
Satou here. They say the line between a fool and a genius is very thin, but since I’ve never met a genius in real life, I can’t say for sure if that’s true. Besides, it feels impossible to find a single genius among countless fools.
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“What a dull, rectangular building.”
“So this is the headquarters of ‘Brains’...”
Liza and Ms. Zena murmured as they looked up at the Brains headquarters.
It looked like some kind of research institute or business building.
Two knights from the palace knights (templar knights) stood at the entrance with bored expressions, glaring at the security guards on our side.
Apparently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which the security guards belong to, and the palace knights don’t get along well.
“Ah! They’re here! Miko, Alex is here!”
The automatic glass door barely opened before a familiar black-haired girl waved her arms enthusiastically.
Behind the black-haired girl stood three purple-haired reincarnators.
One of them was Tomiko, who invited me here, and according to the AR display, the other two were the director and deputy director of this place.
“Oh, so he’s the actor representing the Shiga Kingdom.”
“I’ve heard that the Shiga Kingdom is strict about manners with nobility. You’d better not be too casual.”
“Ah, that sounds troublesome.”
The director, dressed in a white lab coat, frowned like an angel losing its smile.
Still, no matter how handsome he was, he was male, so his beauty fading was not exactly heart-stirring.
According to the AR details, this human tribe man was level 41 and surprisingly did not conceal his skills. He possessed unique skills called “All-Purpose Drafting” and “Precision Processing.”
He also seemed to have several other production-related skills.
The deputy director concealed his skills, so it was hard to tell, but judging by the pair of Japanese swords at his waist, he likely specialized in close combat skills.
“I’m Kuro of the Shiga Kingdom. Since I’m just a messenger without noble rank, you don’t need to be so formal with me.”
I introduced myself as I stepped closer to a conversational distance.
“Oh? Did you hear that earlier? I’m Kenji Aurelian, the director. It sounds like a fake name, but it’s my real name in this life, so please remember that.”
The director seemed more easygoing than I expected.
Interestingly, his AR display just showed “Kenji.”
Adding the family name Aurelian was probably because he valued his family after reincarnation.
After exchanging brief greetings, they guided me inside.
The Zaikuon security guards had been quickly isolated and weren’t here.
“It’s bright—are you using Light Droplets?”
“No, no, that’s LED.”
The director answered lightly to my question.
“L-E-D?”
Ms. Zena’s pronunciation was somehow cute.
“Kazura is gone, so we have to do our best to reproduce it ourselves or else we can’t restock.”
“A shame to lose someone like her.”
At Tomiko’s remark, the deputy director responded without much regret.
“It would be easier if we found a reincarnator with a useful unique skill that could synthesize rare metals, but despite the emperor’s orders for merchants to search worldwide, no new reincarnators have been reported, so it might be impossible.”
I see, that’s why there are many reincarnators in the Weasel Empire.
“If we have the materials, either Saeki or I can make it.”
I checked the map; Saeki was someone with no special skills and a level in the single digits, probably a technician who developed LEDs in the original world.
Oh, I need to confirm one thing—
“So, since you have LED lighting, do you have a generator?”
“Hm? Yeah, but gasoline depended on Kazura, so now we store electricity discharged by electric turtles and electric frogs in batteries.”
“You’re using monsters as generators...”
I almost bought it but realized it was a joke.
“—No way, right? If it’s just to run steam turbines, coal would suffice.”
“You catch on quickly. We even have a dummy power room for visitors.”