“I’m thristy,” Lady Demy suddenly muttered and stood up.
“Let’s make some tea.”
She took a kettle and twisted a faucet on a large, flower-vase-looking earthenware.
It seems like this is some kind of a water jug, she filled the kettle with just the right amount of water.
I was wondering how she’s going to boil the water without a stove or fireplace or hearth, but she twisted a lever on the handle and left it alone.
Surprisingly, that was all she had to do to make steam come out. It’s just like an electric kettle.
Well, since there’s magic at work here it probably isn’t right to call it an electric kettle, but the main point is the same, anyway.
Lady Demy poured the hot water from the kettle to a teapot. This part is no different from our world.
Ah. Isn’t this supposed to be the attendant’s job….
When this stupid me finally understood, the black tea was already done.
This world’s black tea looks no different to ours, but it had the slight sweet smell of cake.
She seemed to have put in a drop of brandy, so that was probably why.
“Thanks.”
I said my thanks and tried the tea, Lady Demy also smiled and sipped from her cup.
“That reminds me, I have something I want to ask.”
I broke the silence and took out a certain thing from the E:ID phone.
The jewel left from when I defeated the monster.
“……. what is this?”
From her response, this looks to be a common thing in this world.
Rather than that, Lady Demy seemed to have more interest in the E:ID phone.
“I think it’s called a ‘Demon Core’…. I think. I don’t know about it too well.”
“My, to not even know about magic cores.”
Lady Demy took one of the magic cores, thought about something, and took a candlestick.
Then she struck the magic core on the candle’s wick several times, and chanted…
“Millifire.”
Then the tip of the magic core sparked a flame, which spread to the candlestick.
Lady Demy blew the flame left on the magic core, extinguishing the flame as if saying the magic core has finished its duty.
“Just like a match,” I said.
“A ‘match’…?” Lady Demy asked in doubt.
Seems like matches don’t exist in this world.
This is the core that enables the use of magic. A blessing from the G.o.ds endowed to everyone.”
I don’t recall ever learning that in science.
Things are becoming more and more fantasylike.
“You said the core of magic, does it mean you have to learn magic to use it?”
“No. Magic training and education is for mastering the use of the magic core hidden inside oneself. Magic cores themselves are easily usable even by children.”
“It’s complicated, huh.”
“Seems like it…. But recently, the art of mastering one’s own magic has been called ‘magic arts’.”
Since it’s a new term, it’s still not very much in use. Well, since there’s no television or internet then the spread of information is likely slow.
According to Lady Demy, magic cores are a daily life necessity. It’s a consumable regularly used in hat electric-kettle-lookalike earlier.
It was something the magicians, no, they’re called magic artisans now, it’s something they developed and marketed worldwide.
I can probably think of it as a battery and leave it at that.
“Where did these come from?”
“Before we met ojousama, I fought off some huge wolves and these came out.”
“Beowulves…… a lot of those monsters roam this area, don’t they.”
I found out how ‘monsters’ are different from ‘animals’.
They were artificially created weapons of war.
They were created in times of war, a robot army of sorts to invade enemy territory with. Which is why when they were defeated, they dropped their remaining energy.
They were in use in conflicts large and small since ancient times, but being unable to be totally defeated, they went feral and started attacking people.
The plants where the monsters are built seemed to keep operating in secret, so their numbers don’t decrease even one bit.
Much less to say that this world is in the middle-age, feudal era.
The neighboring country Cidre would often send in monsters and conversely, they would stealthily send out monsters to pester each other.
“In that case, it looks like more monsters are going to be sent across borders from now on…”
“Why?”
“…… probably, there’s going to be a huge war that’ll involve the whole world.”
“That’s impossible. We royalty won’t do anything like that.”
“Well, I mean for the next era.”
“The next… era?”
Ah—.
I made an arbitrary guess and said something strange.
I was somehow thinking, “If they’re in the middle ages now, then they’re probably going to have some major world war next.”
“Nah, don’t mind me. It wasn’t anything serious,” I said, and Lady Demy smiled.
“Please rest at ease. Before long our country will unite the surrounding countries and try to put our hearts as one. That way we won’t have anything like large wars.”
“Well, everyone says that and then you get into a big fight.”
“Eh?”
Oh c.r.a.p.
Lady Demy looked like she was taken aback, she froze.
It wasn’t really good of me to speak about my world… particularly about ‘the common sense of the next era.’
“T…… that’s a strange thing you were saying. For Ivan to unite the countries together is a task mandated to us by the heavens. Are you saying we shouldn’t do that?”
“No, well… That kind of thing, I’m sure your neighbors think the same way. Anyway I was really just saying something trivial so please forget about it.”
“Even so, Cidre has been releasing monsters into our country, and even now we haven’t attacked them. Don’t you think bringing the morals of the Born Light is the path to a righteous peace?”
“Yes, well, you said so yourself, didn’t you, Lady Demy. “Unification.” The other side is probably thinking the same so the fault lies in both sides, right? Then it’ll end up in a fight. Uh, seriously, I didn’t mean to say that!”
“No, Cidre’s wickedness is intolerable! They quietly employed pirates, cutting off our sea routes, disrupting our country’s trade!”
“You know, these things aren’t about being right or wrong. Common sense is influenced by culture, the land, and history, so they aren’t the same everywhere. Also, n.o.body seems to have noticed, but unless you keep pursuing your interests it shrinks on it’s own, and there’s no rule that says ‘you can’t employ pirates.’ Everything at our convenience… Hey, seriously, can we please stop? Even if we have a hot debate here it won’t do anything!”
I tried to cut things off like that, but Lady Demy started thinking,
“I’ve never really thought about it, but it’s just like you said…. If we propagate Ivan’s truth, the surrounding countries are going to resist, on the other hand, we don’t have any intention to live under Cidre……. This will inevitably lead to friction. Uuh…….”
She became troubled, and then….
“Yuuki-san, you’ve got the gift of foresight. You might have what it takes to be a philosopher.”
“N, nonono, you’re thinking too highly of me! I’m only…….”
“Only?”
Only saying what general knowledge I learned in cla.s.s, but if I used that explanation…..
“……”
I wonder if it’s okay to tell her my ident.i.ty.
I’m a little troubled, but, well…. whatever.
“I’m about to say something weird, can I?”
“You’ve been saying weird things since a while ago.”
“You got me there. ……. I, I’m not a person from this world. So probably, my world lives in an age further ahead than this one. That’s why…… just by learning history, I came to know these things.”
Lady Demy showed a slightly surprised face, but she slowly nodded.
“I thought so, that’s where you’re coming from,” she said.
“Eh? …… You knew?”
“Rather than knowing, when I met you the other day I had a sort of a hunch. Ah, they’re not ordinary foreigners, something like that.”
Well…… that’s true.
We’re way too suspicious.
“In that case, I can understand why you don’t know about magic stones. …… So it really exists, the ‘World Given Light’.”
“……?”
Another strange phrase appears.
I tilted my head, and Lady Demy laughed, “fufu.”
“There’s still some time before lunch. Let’s go for a little walk, shall we,” she said as she stood up.