In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 2

Chapter II: Babylon Rising 

“Heh, that’s a unique way of using your divinity...” Moroha was looking over at me with crossed arms. Evidently, she was impressed. 
I was currently in the middle of exerting my own divine power. The other Gods seemed to do it as easily as breathing, but using such power left a grave toll on my body. 
Due to that, I started wondering if there was a way for me to draw out my power a little bit instead. 
I concentrated on my arm, and gradually a blade composed of divinity shrouded the area up past my wrist. 
I was practicing in a wooded area, far from prying eyes. 
“We don’t usually have to suppress our power when we activate it, so I never thought about trying it that way.” 
“Frankly I just don’t want to get another haircut soon...” I was honestly a little anxious about hair sprouting out of my arms, or a beard coming out of my face... So I was glad it worked out. 
“It’s hard to maintain its form, though. I gotta focus.” There was effectively a beam saber extending from my arm, but as my focus waned, so too did the weapon. 
“It’d probably be easier if you applied it to a held object.” Moroha tossed a twig over in my general direction. 
I caught it in my hand and began to channel divinity through it. Oh... Wow! I managed it quickly. I didn’t have to concentrate so hard about maintaining it either. 
I swung it around, and, with the finesse of the least dexterous man in the world, chopped down a tree with the twig. ... What the heck?! This thing’s stronger than a phrasium blade! 
I let go of the twig and picked up a nearby rock. I broke it into little bits with a squeeze of my empowered arm. Then I tried to crush another one with my de-powered arm. It hurt a bit, and obviously didn’t work. 
Hmph... My whole right hand is like it belongs to someone else. I decided to punch a nearby tree. Painlessly, my hand sank into the structure, cracking open a massive hole. The divine power wrapped around my arm had simple bored open a hole into the tree. I was pretty sure that if I kept pushing, the tree would keep relenting. 
Divinity was never a power designed for use in mortal realms. That’s why my sisters hadn’t used it for anything other than dealing with the servile god. But I wasn’t necessarily limited in that sense, so I thought I’d better get used to it. 
Frankly I didn’t want to have to use it. But I knew there were more Dominant Constructs like Gila around. That’s why I needed it. Only that kind of strength seemed like a good enough countermeasure. 
I headed back to find Sakura and Linze chattering in the courtyard. It was nice to see the two of them getting along so well. They had a lot in common. Both were quite shy, but in different ways. Linze was passive and more cowardly, while Sakura was generally just indifferent to stuff. 
“What’s up?” 
“Ah. Grand Duke...” 
“Ah, Touya... Sakura here told me she wanted to learn magic, so I was testing her magical aptitude.” That explains the spellstones over there... That’s how I did it, back in the day. 
Demonkin typically didn’t employ magic. It wasn’t that they couldn’t on a whole, it was just that they normally didn’t. Their subspecies had evolved in such a way that specialized their bodies and made them less reliant on magic. Ogres, for example, were remarkably powerful compared to a human. Alraunes could manipulate forests, and harpies could fly at great speeds. 
From what I understood, this lack of magical usage actually made them less magically adept through the generations. I knew of some demonkin species that had no magic potential at all. 
Sakura had never formally studied magic due to her age. She knew [Teleport] but didn’t know how to control it. Even so, that meant she had Null aptitude at the very least. 
“So, what are her elements?” 
“Null, water, and darkness.” 
Oh my. Three? That’s pretty good. Null magic is personal though, so she only really has two elements. 
“She has a vast amount of magical power, too. Not quite as much as Leen, but definitely more than me.” Well, she’s from the Overlord’s lineage, that makes sense. I’m not surprised she has a lot... But I am surprised that Leen has more. Still, Leen was clan matriarch of the Fairies, so that’s a given. 
“I can teach you water spells, Sakura. But the null magic is something you’ll have to figure out yourself. As for darkness... Touya or Yumina should be able to help you out there.” Oh, right. Leen can’t use darkness. 
In total, our magical aptitudes were: 
Touya - All Attributes 
Elze - Null ([Boost]) 
Linze - Fire, Water, Light 
Yumina - Earth, Wind, Dark 
Yae - None 
Lu - None 
Sue - Light 
Hilde - None 
Sakura - Water, Dark, Null ([Teleport]) 
Leen - Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Light, Null ([Program], [Transfer], [Protection]) 
And that was that. 
Wait, didn’t Leen mention she had four null spells? Guess she neglected to tell me one. If I remember right, every Fairy has at least one null spell. 
“Hm? What’s everyone up to?” They said speak of the devil and he shall come. That apparently applied to Leen. Paula was there too, wobbling along with a carefree gait. 
Paula held her arm up in the air as if to say “What up!” She seemed full of energy... As full of energy an animated bear could be, anyway. 
“Leen. You have four Null spells, right? I know the three obvious ones, but what’s the other?” I asked what was on my mind right away. I doubted she had anything to hide. 
“Oh, right. It’s a spell that works a bit like your [Search] one. It’s called [Discovery].” Huh... Wonder what it does. 
“You use it while imagining an object, and you’ll get a vague idea of where it is. Though if you can’t picture the object clearly, you’re not gonna get far.” 
“Huh. Sounds useful for finding stuff.” 
“Let’s say I wanted to find an apple that I left laying around. I use the spell, right? But if someone came along and took a bite out of that apple, its image would’ve changed a bit too much for me to accurately locate.” Wow... It gets rendered useless that easily? Apparently the spell didn’t account for things changing form. 
“In the case of apples specifically, it might also lead me to a similar-looking apple. So it’s pretty hard to find generic things. I only really use it to track Paula when she goes too far.” Heh... Like tracking a lost kid. Sounds like a rough bit of magic, though. If this was the old world it probably would’ve been used to find car keys or the TV remote. When you think about it like that, it sounds a lot more useful. 
After that little mystery, we went back to prepping Sakura for a crash course in magic. 
In the modern era, dark magic was synonymous with summoning magic. 
Lizardmen, silver wolves, and countless other creatures could be drawn from the void and made to do the bidding of their summoner. 
Kohaku and the others told me that most summoned beasts lived in another world that I decided to tentatively refer to as Beastworld. The Heavenly Beasts were called by chance every ten years or so, but they’d never been called by anyone tough enough to forge a contract before me. 
My current hypothesis was that the magical beasts that roamed the world were likely offspring of summoned creatures from Beastworld. 
If a silver wolf, for example, bred with a regular wolf, and then returned to its world... Then the offspring would be a completely different species. That was probably the root cause of such strange monsters. Summoning magic affecting the ecosystem. 
I didn’t really have any way to prove that, though. 
Dark magic also had other aspects to it. 
“There are spells that mess with the mind like [Confusion], [Sleep], and [Temptation]. These are offshoots of dark magic. Those spells were lost to time, but I’ve managed to revive them a little thanks to the grimoires in the Babylon’s library. They won’t work on people with high magic power, though.” Sakura looked at me with a disappointed face. I knew it... She wanted to charm me! Truth be told I’m plenty charmed by her and the others already, but... Th-That’s a little embarrassing to say out loud. 
“How about we try a test summoning?” 
“Okay... I’d like to try that.” 
Sakura gave me a little nod. Leen taught her how to deal with the summoning while Linze and I drew out the magic circle in the courtyard. Paula helped, in the best way she could. What a nice little bear. 
We finished the preparations and Leen helped Sakura pour her magic into the circle. Black mist began to pool around the summoning circle, gathering in the center. 
“I wonder what we’ll get...” 
“I’m looking forward to seeing what Sakura can summon.” Linze had picked up Paula and was holding her in a gentle embrace. The two of us whispered a bit. Sakura had an aptitude for music, so I wondered if she’d draw out a siren. It’d be nice if she could make a choir or something. 
Gradually the mist abated, and a small, crouching shadow was all that remained. It stood up, thrust a blade into the sky, and... Began to yell. 
“A cat that fights for the sake of mankind! Mankind that gives its lifeblood to a cat! The heavens cry! The earth cries! The cats cry! Bear witness to my kitty-cat chivalry! Meow!” 
Long boots... A feathered hat... Gloves... A cape... A rapier... A little belt... It was a bipedal black cat. ...What’s with this little fella...? 

“It’s a cat sith. A summoned catbeast.” 
“Don’t be kitten around! I’m a cat knight, got it?! A fur-midable, cathletic, cat knight!” The cat knight corrected Leen, and then began to make horrible cat-based puns. I hated it. 
It wasn’t much larger than a regular cat. I honestly doubted its ability to fight. A talking summon was really rare, though... 
“I wish to make a contract. Please tell me your terms.” Sakura turned toward the cat. He proceeded to remove his hat in an overdramatic fashion. 
“Are you fur real, lass? You know, I’ve got a pretty good feline about you. In the old tails of yore, knights served purretty young ladies, no? You already have my sword!” 
“What if a man summoned you?” 
“I would pawsitively reject him! With my claws!” The cat knight answered me instantly. Whew... And they said chivalry was dead. 
“You’ll be able to fulfill the contract if you give him a name.” Leen nudged Sakura, who then turned to me. 
“A name... Grand Duke... Do you have any ideas?” 
The cat knight, on the other hand, began waggling its finger in disapproval. It went all “Tsk, tsk, tsk...” on me. It was kind of annoying, actually. 
“Let meow make one thing purrfectly clear. Paw-don my rudeness, but I can’t just be named by any old man. Despite my looks, you mustn’t furget that I am a cat of honor, a cat of integrity, a cat of-” 
“...[Gate].” 
I opened up a portal next to the cat knight, and out popped Kohaku. 
He froze in place immediately, clearly terrified. His teeth began to chatter and his form began to shake. All the hair on his body stood on end. 
“Y-Y-Y-You g-gotta be kitten me... Wh-Why is the White Monarch h-here?!” 
“My liege. Who is this little cat?” 
“He’s a little friend that Sakura summoned. I was thinking of giving him a name, but he doesn’t want me to name him.” Kohaku cast a glare toward the cat knight, causing him to prostrate himself and bow repeatedly. 
“You object to being named by my master?” 
“N-Now hold on! L-Let’s put this situation on paws! I’ll listen, sorry!” Well, that was a quick one-eighty. What shall I call you...? 
“...Mr. Mittens.” 
The cat looked absolutely mortified the moment that name passed my lips. He had quite a range of expression considering he was a cat. 
“We could call you that, or... D’Artagnan. Which do you prefer?” 
“I’ll take D’Artagnan!” The cat knight came out of the magic circle after Sakura named him, and he heaved a sigh. He was keeping his distance from Kohaku and me, but that was fairly understandable. 
“So, Sakura. How much magic power is Mr. Mittens eating up right now?” 
“Hm... Well... I think... Right now he won’t even last an hour, so quite a bit.” 
“Are your ears full of hairballs?! I’m D’Artagnan! Not Mr. Mittens!” 
Obviously I know it pisses you off, you cat brat! D’Artagnan’s a fine name, but you’re Mr. Mittens to me. 
I took out a ring from my pocket and passed it over to Sakura. She took it without any hesitation. 
“There’s magic power stored in this ring. You can use it to keep Mr. Mittens here manifested. It should be enough to last about half a year. Lemme know when it runs out, alright? I can recharge it immediately.” 
“Alright. Thank you very much.” 
“It’s D’Artagnan!” Heheheh... He’s pretty funny, so I guess we can keep him. He could probably be like Spica and work as our bodyguard. I’ll toss him over to Moroha. Doesn’t really matter if he’s a human or not, we’ll rank him up into a super cat knight. 
As the cat fussed and whined, Paula gave him a gentle pet on the shoulder. 
Just as I amused myself with the image of those two working together, Kougyoku appeared and perched on my arm. 
“What the heck?! Even the Flame Monarch’s here too?! What a cat-astrophe...!” Kougyoku looked at Mr. Mittens for a moment, and then back at me. She began talking, completely ignoring him. 
“My lord. We’ve found the final ruin, we believe.” 
“For reals?!” Holy cow, if it actually is a Babylon ruin, then that’ll be it... The research laboratory will be mine at last. 
After I discovered the storehouse I wasn’t as motivated to explore and find Babylon ruins. As far as I understood it though, the research laboratory was the place where Cesca and the other gynoids were born. It was supposed to have a bunch of experimental facilities. 
Man, in the end I never found a single gynoid who wasn’t a hassle in some way... Well, whatever. Time to finish building my castle in the sky. 
 
There were two islands directly west of the Sea of Trees, just off the southwest coast of the Continent. 
The larger of the two islands was called Egrand. 
The smaller of the two was called Mallet. Combined, the two of them made up the territory of a single kingdom, Egret. 
Egret didn’t have anything that made it stick out at all. It was a lovely nation surrounded by water, so it was largely unspoiled and beautiful though. 
The country didn’t have much in the way of culture, and as a society they were behind most of the other nations. They did, however, have one thing other nations did not. 
A Sea Serpent. 
This great aquatic dragon lived around the shores of Egret, and was revered as a guardian of the islands. Around a hundred years ago, Sandora attempted an invasion of Egret. The legends say that this Sea Serpent sank the invading ships. 
Another legend stated that if people saw the Sea Serpent, they were guaranteed a bountiful catch of fish. 
“Have you heard of this Sea Serpent, Luli?” 
“I have. It’s one of my children, after all. It’s the kind that enjoys the company of humans, so it’s likely protecting the people of that island on purpose.” I’d heard about the dragon, so I went to Egret with Luli in tow. She turned into a huge azure dragon, and I peacefully rode on her back all the way there. It was nice and comfy. I’d still deployed a shield though. The wind was a pain. 
“Oh, I see it.” There was a small landmass visible in the distance. That must’ve been the Kingdom of Egret. 
“My liege. The Sea Serpent is here.” 
“Huh?” I looked down in response, and saw the face of a large dragon peeking out of the sea. It swam like a pro, causing waves to crash in its wake. 
It was huge. Bigger than Luli, even. The sea was probably the perfect environment for it, since it would’ve taken care of most of its weight. That was probably why there were so many large things in the sea. 
“It’s been some time, Sea Serpent.” 
“It is wonderful to see you again, Azure Monarch. It is a pleasure to meet with you as well, Mochizuki Touya. Welcome to Egret.” 
“You know me?” 
“That I do. The incident upon Dragoness Island is known across our entire kind.” Ah, that makes sense... From what I understand, what I’d done was basically a ghost story at this point. We did end up slaughtering half the dragons there, after all. The only reason there wasn’t a grudge was because I had Luli on my side. 
Dragons typically avoided fighting humans. They didn’t want to run the risk of humans seriously banding together for an offensive. The young dragons and their reckless behavior ended up causing a headache for a lot of people in the end. But ultimately the problem was that they hadn’t been taught how to behave properly. 
“So you knew we’d be coming?” 
“I heard about it from the Flame Monarch’s kin. The ruins you seek are within the depths of a cave that I’ve been sleeping in.” 
“Aha, is that right? Then you’re going to show us the way?” 
“It would be my pleasure.” The sea serpent began swaying side to side. We followed. 
He headed toward the islands of Egret, and entered a relatively narrow cavern near Mallet’s bay. We followed afterward and ended up coming out into a wide open space. 
It was basically like a secret base. I hopped off Luli’s back and clambered around some slippery rocks. 
“The ruins you seek are at the end of the cave, toward the back.” I followed the serpent’s motions, and nodded a little bit. It seemed pretty deep inside. 
They had some catching up to do, so I left Luli and the sea serpent to talk with one another, pressing on alone. 
The rocks were a little too wet and slippy for my liking. It was probably because of how high the tide rose depending on the time of day. 
I kept on going until I found the object. A bona-fide sphere. At a glance, it looked like a pure black globe. Five meters or so in diameter. But on closer inspection, I saw the spellstones embedded in its side. 
“Let’s pour some magic in, then.” I poured fire magic into the red spellstone. A red glow began to shine and spread across the surface of the globe, lighting up strange geometric patterns. 
The light gradually ran around the sphere until it made a complete rotation and returned to the spellstone. 
The blue, green, yellow, purple, and brown stones all reacted the same way. The white of the null stone joined the rest at the end, and caused the patterns to shift. A small entrance opened up. 
I stepped inside and immediately saw a strange pattern drawn out on the ground. It was glowing in formation. 
“The heck is this... What...?” The pattern was a series of square tiles. Each was separated from one another, and could be moved around freely. 
A sliding puzzle. Clearly one that was meant to line up in a certain order.

[01][02][03][04]
[05][06][07][08]
[09][10][11][12]
[13][14][15][16]

It was kind of like one of those, but the space where the sixteenth would be was blank, and I had to slide all the pieces of the teleportation circle together to get it shaped up right. 
It was likely that the puzzle would be complete when the teleportation sigil was matched up to its original form. Then it would probably activate or something. 
The problem was the number of panels. I counted, and it was a ten by ten space. There were a hundred pieces in total. Except there were actually only ninety-nine because one of the pieces was missing to allow for sliding. It would’ve been better if they were actually numbered though, because making a picture without a reference was a huge pain in the ass. 
“This sucks...” I sighed quietly and started sliding pieces on the ground. 
My grandpa had given me a trick to this kind of sliding puzzle, though.

[01][02][03][04]
[05][06][07][08]
[09][10][11][12]
[13][14][15]

If they were lined up like this, then you just had to get them like this...

[01][02][03][04]
[05]
[09]
[13]

Then the ones on the outside... Could be aligned with their inner parts like this.

[06][07][08]
[10]
[14]

Then after that, it was just a matter of...

[11][12]
[15]

Just like that! No matter how large the puzzle was, it could be put together simply like that. 
The problem was that this wasn’t numbers, it was a picture. I couldn’t confidently move them unless I knew which part was going to fit into the whole. 
I wish I had a frame of reference... 
I spent a long time fiddling with it. It was getting late, so I telepathically told Luli to head home. 
Ninety-nine pieces was just tiring, really. It wasn’t even a picture, it was a big old ground pattern. I had no idea of knowing if something was right until two parts lined up just right. 
Either way, I continued the mundane task. Eventually, I somehow got it... And I was swallowed up by light. 
I was sucked up into the usual swirling motion of light, and I saw the familiar sights of Babylon as I came to my senses. 
I was a pure white building nestled in between some trees. It must’ve been the research laboratory. 
As I went over to the building, someone came out and headed straight for me. It was the terminal gynoid of the research laboratory. 
She had brown, triple-braided hair, and was walking pretty darned fast. She looked to be about two or so years younger than me. 
“Mmh... Welcome to the research laboratory. I am the Terminal Gynoid and central manager here. My name is Atlantica, but you can call me Tica. Aah...” The girl was strange. Strangely polite. Her movements were swift and formal, like a business secretary. Her manners were extremely nice, too. She also spoke rather politely, too. Monica had warned me about her, but I figured it was just a case of contrasting personalities. 
“Tica, is it? Nice to meet you. I’m...” 
“Mochizuki Touya, mmh... Doctor Babylon has told me much.” 
“You heard about me from her?” 
“Aah... Yes I did. She saw you visiting the garden and the research laboratory thanks to her foresight artifact.” Oh yeah, that thing was in the Storehouse... I tried to use it, but didn’t get much out of it. It would only let me see someone with the same wavelength as me, and there wasn’t anyone around in the future with all elemental attributes, apparently... 
That basically meant that for the next five-thousand years, I was the last guy with every elemental affinity. Unless history changed, or something. 
Not like it mattered all that much, Parshe smashed it to bits. 
“How many pieces of Babylon have you acquired so far, Touya?” 
“This is the last, actually. All the rest are docked together.” 
“Mmh... I-I see. Ah, that’s more than enough to qualify then. The research laboratory is all yours. As am I.” Tica pulled what appeared to be a slightly large cotton bud from her pocket and passed it over to me. 
“Mmh... Please put this in your mouth.” I held the swab in my mouth for a little while, just as instructed. 
After she took it out, she put it into her own mouth. 
“Mmh... Registration complete. Your genes have been stored, master. The ownership of I, Babylon Airframe Number Twenty-two, Atlantica... And the research laboratory, have now been transferred to you.” 
“Th-That’s it?” 
“Ah... Something wrong?” 
“No, it’s just... Forget it.” 
No kiss...? I mean, wait! It’s not like I wanted a kiss! Right? Why do I feel disappointed?! 
The girl seemed to be a bit more straight-laced than the others. I was glad to have a more sensible one hanging around. 
“Well then, this way. Before I explain the facility to you, you have a mission.” 
“A... Mission?” Tica showed me inside the building. 
The complex was divided into various buildings and facilities, each with a different purpose. 
We entered the Primary Lab, apparently it was the place that Cesca and her sisters were all born. 
There were a lot of objects lining the walls much like the ones in the Alchemy Lab. Some sleeping pods and capsules lined the walls, too. The tubes all seemed to be empty, save for the mysterious liquids that I couldn’t even begin to identify. Some of the tubes contained strange, flesh-like things floating in what was most likely formaldehyde. This was the definition of a creepy, suspicious lab. 
The place kind of gave me the vibe of a human experiment freakshow... It definitely fit the aesthetic. I figured they probably had the capability to change the human body... Though in a sense they already had. Still, the gynoids weren’t exactly humans. They might as well have been, though. 
Tica showed me to a cylindrical pod in the center of the room. She pointed toward a small window on a chamber that vaguely resembled a coffin. 
A faint green light shone through the glass, and I could make out a girl’s face. She was floating in the tube with her eyes closed. She had long, beautiful hair. It was blonde. I couldn’t quite see all of her face, though. She vaguely resembled Tica in a sense, but there was something about her that reminded me of all the Babylon gynoids. 
“This is...” 
“The final Babylon Number, yes. Twenty-nine. Our littlest sister.” Ten in total, then...? Wonder if she was abandoned mid-development or if she’s asleep for a reason, then. Just as I was pondering, Tica dropped the bombshell on me. 
“Mmh... This is our mother, Doctor Regina Babylon. I’d like for you to wake her up, aah...” 
... You gotta be kidding me. 
 
“What do you mean... Doctor Babylon?” 
“Mmh... In layman’s terms, this is a relatively fresh body with the Doctor’s original brain transplanted into it. The body and brain were then synchronized, and had their magic potential tuned properly. The process took a long time, but she’s still the Doctor. Ahh...” 
Gross. So she’s not a clone, she’s a straight-up new body... With a brain jammed into it?! “But she looks like she’s ten... Why?” She had to have at least been in her twenties. The woman I saw on Cesca’s video message was that age. Unless she went and fulfilled the dream of women everywhere... Eternal youth. Isn’t she a little too young, though? 
“If she’d been aged any further, there was a... Mmh... chance of magical rejection, and the tuning process could’ve failed. Her memories would’ve also been at risk, aahh...” 
“...You jammed an adult brain into a kid’s head?” 
“It’s there, yep. Whole thing. Mmh... Squished in with magic.” Tica squeezed her hand as if she was groping something soft. I shouldn’t have asked. This is honestly freaking me out. Scientific sense just doesn’t apply to magic at all. I should’ve quit while I was ahead. Applying logic is fruitless here. 
I listened to the whole story, and apparently the Doctor didn’t pass away from old age, she had her brain shunted into the new body while she was still in the prime of her life. 
The body of a Babylon Gynoid was much more durable than a human body, after all. Fam had been operating for five-thousand years without a hitch, after all. It was almost like immortality. I wondered if she’d cultivated cells from elves or something. 
“So what am I supposed to do?” 
“Mmh... Just pump her full of magic energy to wake her up. You have the same biorhythm as she does, master... You’ll be able to wake her up, surely. Aahh...” Guh... What a pain. Wouldn’t it be better if I kept her sleeping? This woman’s gonna be a real pain and I know it. 
According to what I’d heard, genius or not, she was a grade-A pest. I had no idea what to do. If I woke her up, she’d likely get me in a ton of trouble. Surely it wouldn’t be an issue if I kept her floating in there. 
“Mmh... Sorry to bother you about it, but there isn’t much time left, aah...” 
“Huh?” I was deep in thought, but Tica quickly dragged me back to reality. 
“What do you mean by that?” 
“Mmh... Master, when you got here, a countdown started... Her capsule’s life support started shutting down. I’d say that she has about five minutes before she finishes, er, is finished...” 
“Wh-What the hell?! Why would something like that get installed?!” 
“A-Aah... It was her choice. She, mmh, said that living on would be pointless if you never wanted to wake her up.” Oh that old hag! She knew I’d be reluctant so she put this in place! Gaaaah! I can’t just let her die! She knows me way too well, this isn’t fair. This kind of shit makes you wanna scream out “She played me like a damn fiddle!” I’ll refrain, though. 
“...Where does my magic go?” 
“Place your hand on this spellstone on the capsule, and slip your throbbing energy inside. Mmh...” I put my hand on the crystalline spellstone and started pouring magic into it. 
After a while the machine began to clank and whir. The capsule began to open up like a clamshell, but it wasn’t quite exposed to air yet. 
A strange liquid began pouring through the capsule. It sparkled and shone, but was ultimately drained away. 
“Biorhythm, nominal. No issues with magical synchro. Bodily functions, also nominal...” Tica was fiddling with a control panel, pulling levers and pushing buttons. She pushed a huge button and the capsule finally popped open, the top of it sliding away cleanly. 
A naked little girl, about ten years of age, exited the capsule. Her long golden hair flowed down to her waist. I didn’t feel the slightest bit turned on or anything. But that was normal, this was a literal child. Tica, on the other hand... 
“...Why’re you breathing so heavily?” 
“M-Mhh... Ohhh... Hhah... N-No reason, mh... D-Don’t worry about it!” The gynoid next to me was completely red in the face. Her breathing was going haywire, and blood was dripping from her nose. 

Don’t worry about it?! Of course I’ll worry about it! You’re no good too! 
The little girl opened up her light green eyes. She then rubbed at them and started looking around. Eventually she noticed me, grinned broadly, and hopped down from the drained capsule. 
“Nice to meetcha, Mochizuki Touya, Touya being your given name. I used my foresight to see you a lot in the future, so it doesn’t really feel like I’m meeting you for the first time ever... Even so, howdy.” 
“You’re... Seriously Doctor Babylon?” The young girl grinned maliciously as she spoke up again. 
“In the young, nubile flesh. Doctor Regina Babylon. Foremost magitechnician of the Partheno Kingdom, scholar supreme, and your destined lover...” 
“Nah, I’m good. Put some clothes on.” 
“The hell?! No need to be rude!” I already knew that if I reacted in exactly the way she wanted me to, I’d be playing into her hands and I’d probably die. 
The doctor walked over to a nearby wall, pulled a white lab coat from the wall, and wore it loosely around her tiny form. It didn’t have any buttons on the front, so her bare belly and... other extremities were on full display. She clearly had no shame. 
I’ve heard of naked apron, but this is ridiculous... I sighed and shook my head. Even underwear would be better than this. 
“Wearing that robe is pointless...” 
“Ahh... N-No, I disagree!” Tica flashed a thumbs-up as blood spurted from her nose. What the hell?! Why’s she acting like that?! 
“Doc, what’s wrong with Tica?” 
“Ah, Atlantica just has a thing for little girls.” 
“...Don’t say something so horrible so casually.” That probably explained why she didn’t kiss me like the others had. 
“I quite like them too.” 
“Too much info, hag!” I was truly facing down the root of all evil. The base for all the impure Babylon Gynoids I’d faced so far. 
“This is a bother... I didn’t have clothing prepared for a body this size. It’s not like me to be so lacking in foresight...” I considered going back to the castle to borrow from Renne or Sue. But I didn’t want to be scorned by asking for their clothes. Asking for their underwear was out of the question. I’d probably have to come clean with them about what was going on. 
“Don’t tell me that coat’s five-thousand years old too...” 
“Sure is. Problem? I enchanted it with a protective spell, so it’s always clean.” No wonder it looks so new... My coat’s enchanted with [Protection] too, so it never needs cleaning. 
Still, the key issue here was that she was still completely bare about the front. I removed my belt and wrapped it around her, forcing the oversized thing to cover her body like a makeshift yukata. 
I decided to have the research laboratory head in Brunhild’s direction. 
Tica activated the monolith and set the course. I wanted her to wipe her stupid bleeding face. 
“This body’s not bad, honestly... Surprisingly agile. It’s regrettable that I won’t grow any more, but I suppose it’s a fair trade for longevity.” 
“Hm? You won’t grow any more?” 
“This body is composed of tissue from various... Voluntary donors. It only grows for as long as I remain within the capsule, and once I’m freed, it won’t grow any longer. Atlantica has had that body of hers for a long time, you know?” That certainly made sense. Tica and the other gynoids would keep their looks until they died, if they even did die... That trait made them similar to elves and dwarves. They couldn’t have children either, as their bodies didn’t account for reproductive function. 
“Now, whenever I looked at the future, your movements were fairly erratic. I didn’t get to see much of your life consistently. But what I’m most interested in is that artifact you carry.” 
“Uhh, artifact? What do you mean?” 
“It’s a small, black device. A communication device, but also a multimedia display. A... Smoffo, you called it?” 
“Oh, you mean my smartphone.” I took out my smartphone and showed it to Doctor Babylon. 
“Yeah, that’s the one! I tried making one of my own but I didn’t understand the fine details. Mind if I borrow it a while?” 
“I guess that’s fine. Just don’t break it.” I’d put a lot of enchantments on it so I was fairly certain it wasn’t gonna break easily. It’d be bad if she messed around and changed the settings, though. 
She probably understood the basic functions already. After all, she’d already made a cable that could interface with Cesca. I wondered if she was interested in the technological aspects of it. 
“Hm... These letters and images are most unusual... H-Hm... And it’s operated by touch? Fascinating. What country are these letters from?” 
“Japan.” 
“Japang? Er, Japan? Never heard of it. Is it a place that exists in this era? Were you born there?” 
“Ah... Fine, you’re right... I guess it’s gone on long enough. I’ve been wanting to tell everyone for a while anyway.” 
“Huh?” 
Doctor Babylon looked at me with a raised eyebrow. 
 
“Good grief, you mean to say that this child is Doctor Babylon herself...?” Leen was just as surprised as I was. Elze and Yae were also perturbed as they watched the little girl quickly find herself surrounded by the Babylon gynoids. 
“Well... I guess this is par for the course.” 
“I suppose this is not impossible, it is not.” Linze, Hilde, and Lu nodded in quiet acceptance. 
The Doctor was talking with Rosetta, Flora, and Cesca. She’d borrowed some clothing from Sue, and basically just looked like a normal kid. 
Tica had Monica locked in a deathgrip on the sofa. She wouldn’t let go. There were blood-dyed tissues stuffed up her nose, and her cheeks were bright red. 
“Release me, damn it! Like, get offa me!” 
“Oohohohoho...” I understood now what Monica had meant when she said she didn’t do so well with the research laboratory’s gynoid. Tica’s... petite fixation was definitely bad news for the small-framed Monica. Sue was so freaked out that she was clinging to my side for dear life. 
I had all the Babylon gynoids, along with my fiancees, gathered in a room in the castle. Noel was sitting in the corner with her head on Liora’s lap. She was out cold. 
Did I even have to bring her over...? 
There were a lot of them, though... 
Francesca of the hanging garden. 
High Rosetta of the workshop. 
Bell Flora of the alchemy lab. 
Fredmonica of the hangar. 
Preliora of the rampart. 
Pamela Noel of the tower. 
Irisfam of the library. 
Lileleparshe of the storehouse. 
Atlantica of the research laboratory. 
And finally, Doctor Babylon herself... 
It was quite the gathering... Fam, Noel, and Liora didn’t come to the ground all that often, though. 
Monica and Rosetta were focused on their work, so they mostly stayed up stairs too. 
I also asked Parshe to stay up there if possible. I didn’t want her causing an international incident with her clumsiness. 
I watched Tica squeeze Monica, and decided it’d be for the best if she didn’t come to the ground very often either. I wouldn’t want Renne to get traumatized or anything. 
“Well, Touya. What did you gather us for?” Yumina squeezed herself between me and Sue, and asked me a question. 
“Well... The Doctor asked me about this, really. But I want everyone to know the truth. It’s about what I’ve been keeping from you all up to now.” Everyone suddenly stared at me. I stood up, steeled my heart, and took a deep breath. 
“Look... The only reason I didn’t mention this before is because I was scared I wouldn’t be believed. I didn’t even know if I should tell you. But I’m going to be living with you all for the rest of my life, so you deserve to know the full truth about me.” I used my Smartphone to project a series of images on the wall. I scrolled through various clips on a video, showing images of London, Paris, Washington, New York, Jakarta, Bangkok, New Delhi, Beijing, Moscow, and last but not least, Tokyo. 
Everyone was at a complete loss for words. 
“What I’m showing you here is my former world. These locations are all on a planet called Earth. I was born there, and then I came here.” 
 
I told everyone about the person I was before I came to this world. 
I told them about the nation named Japan, the planet named Earth. My life as a student, and the fact that I couldn’t return to that life. 
It seemed like the invasion of the Phrase helped them process the idea of something being from another world, and the fact that other worlds than their own existed. 
“Is that right... I always thought you were quite unusual, Touya... but this is quite unexpected.” 
“Another world... I could never have even begun to guess, I could not.” Yumina and Yae both exhaled heavily and let their shock be known. 
“Ah, then... what about Karen and Moroha?” 
“Well, you might’ve guessed by now, but they’re not my blood-related sisters. But they’re my sisters all the same, my family in this world. There are others I’d consider the same way, too.” I promptly and honestly answered Linze’s question. I’d awoken to my divinity, after all. It probably meant I’d be considered ‘related’ to most of the gods. I was directly linked to God Almighty, after all. 
I decided to hide the truth of the God situation and the real identities of my sisters. I didn’t want people depending on the Gods instead of fighting with their own power, and that information was secret to begin with. I decided to tell them after getting permission later on. Plus, unloading information about being a literal God would’ve been a lot to swallow along with the other world stuff. 
If I called down the old man, they’d likely believe it... It worked with the pope, after all. But asking him over for something like that felt a little bit trivial for someone so almighty. 
“Then... guns, and bicycles... They’re inventions from the world you came from?” 
“They are. They’re fairly normal in my world. Ah, well. There weren’t really many guns in the country I lived in, though.” I quickly corrected my response to Lu’s questions. I didn’t want her to think that shooting guns was a regular thing where I came from. 
“Well... origins aside, it doesn’t really change anything about you, right?” 
“That’s right. It doesn’t change a thing about our love for Touya...” 
“If anything, I’m a little mad he didn’t think to mention it sooner!” Leen, Hilde, and Elze all came to their own conclusions. Their expressions seemed oddly calm, like they weren’t hiding anything. It seemed like they didn’t care all that much that I was a man from another world. 
“Touya’s Touya at the end of the day. I’m glad you thought to tell us, though.” 
“Me too.” 
“Thanks Sue... And you too, Sakura.” I was happy they were so accepting of me. I thought that they might be creeped out, if not outright disgusted. After all, I was effectively an ‘invader’ from another world. I thought they might come to a conclusion that matched me up as something similar to the Phrase. 
“Most incredible!” The little doc in the corner suddenly let out a yell. Shivers ran up our collective spines. D-Don’t call out like that! “A man from another world! Such technology, such culture! Unseen knowledge, unlived histories! There’s simply nothing more mentally arousing! Not at all! Take me, Touya! Marry me!” 
“NO WAY!” Whoa... All of my fiancees screamed their rejection in unison. They all strafed me from all sides, circling as if to protect me. It was frightening... But I could understand their stance, they didn’t anticipate any other brides, after all. 
“That’s fine, then. I’ll be a concubine. My body doesn’t ovulate, so he couldn’t knock me up anyway. Sound good?” 
“OKAY!” 
“Wait what?!” I nearly broke my neck at the double-take I had to perform. What the hell?! Don’t approve her as a mistress, stop that! You’re not supposed to be okay with that! 
“We decided that we don’t want any more wives for a fairly simple set of reasons. Firstly, we don’t want royal families from around the world trying to pawn off their daughters on to you, Touya.” 
“We also don’t want to create a succession crisis. That’s why we can easily differentiate brides from concubines, it won’t cause a national incident.” Yumina and Leen explained the situation as best as they could, but I didn’t really get it all that much. I just didn’t understand this whole polygamy business on a fundamental level. 
Still, it was better than them fighting amongst themselves. I didn’t want them trying to lay claim to me like “Back off, bitch! He’s mine!” or something... Although maybe being so aggressively pined for wouldn’t be so bad, either. That being said, it just meant they clearly understood that love wasn’t the same as possession or obsession. 
“Alright! Wife permission obtained! Looks like we’re gonna be one big happy family, hm? Oh, and don’t worry about who’ll succeed the throne or anything. All your children are girls except one.” 
“WHAT?!” Whoa, whoa! Talk about a major spoiler leak! What the hell are you doing?! 
“Y-You mean to tell us that you are being truthful, you are?!” 
“Damn straight, my little eastern angel. It’s not a huge deal, I just happened to overhear a conversation while peeping at the future once. It went something along the lines of ‘All nine queens have given birth, but this country only has one prince.’ Or something like that, I guess.” 
Huh, wow. So that means one of these girls will bear a son... and the others will have daughters? I kind of feel like I just got spoiled on my own fate. This is a little lame... Hmph... At least eight daughters, then... I’m kind of worried about that. Am I gonna be able to relax at all as a dad? 
It was, of course, entirely possible that a second son could be born after the point that the Doctor had seen, but I wondered if I’d want to have ten kids. There were gonna be way too many. Even nine would be too many, though... 
Tokugawa Ieyasu had sixteen or so children, and Cao Cao apparently had twenty-five... Well, the Tokugawa house ended up having an obscene amount of successors, anyway. 
But having too many children certainly played its part in the downfall of his Shogunate. It certainly placed a financial burden on the place. If you asked me, I’d say he had a little too much fun. 
“Hmph... This situation’s going to be something interesting, isn’t it?” 
“What’s that supposed to mean, Leen?” 
“Isn’t it obvious? Those daughters will surely marry someday. As princesses of Brunhild, they’ll likely mingle with royals from other nations. It’s likely that by the end of all this, Touya’s blood will be in every royal family on the continent.” 
“Oh, I see... Our family will probably spread out far, then. Our grandchildren may end up being the kings of each nation... This is... something, yes.” 
Leen and Hilde were chattering away, but I decided to purposefully tune it out. Our kids aren’t even born yet, don’t talk about them getting married off! 
“Hey, c’mon! We’re family now, right? Out with it! Tell me your otherworldly secrets! What’s with those big buildings?! What are those mysterious lights with three colors?! What’s that metal box thing? Does it move with magic?!” 
“Hey, hey! Slow down already... I can’t answer if you spit all your questions out to me at the same time. I don’t know the ins and outs of stuff, either. The tall buildings are multi-level apartment buildings. Those three-colored signs are traffic lights. That metal box is a train, and it doesn’t run on magic. I don’t really know how they’re made, though. I also don’t know how they all work.” I stammered out my response as the insane doctor lunged towards me. She probably had more questions than I had time. 
“I see... Mmm... If only I could figure out more information from that world!” She sighed slightly as she looked at the images projected in the air. ...Ah. 
“Look, if it’s information you want, I can give you it. I can get anything from the internet. You might even be able to understand stuff that I don’t know, doc. But, still...” 
“What?! Tell me about it! If there’s a way to get the information then I gotta know about it!” I was a little apprehensive about giving her that kind of info. If she got a lot of knowledge and tried to make a nuke or something... That wouldn’t be good. The union of this world’s magic and my world’s tech could create something remarkably dangerous, after all. 
“My old world has a lot of unbelievably dangerous knowledge. Two world wars already occurred there, and if a third one happened the entire planet would probably end due to the current weaponry we have. I don’t know if I want to equip you with that kind of knowledge.” Albert Einstein had said something wise about it. 
He said “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” If a third World War happened, then the world would surely end. It was a message with a warning about the future. 
“I see... That’s a justified fear, indeed. I can’t promise I wouldn’t abuse that knowledge, either... So why don’t you give me cultural knowledge for now instead? Myths, legends, history, and so on.” 
“Hm, good idea. Alright then. How about we watch some movies?” 
“Movies?” Earth stories, huh...? I shouldn’t give her anything too fictional, then. Otherwise it’ll just be a fantasy showing. 
What about a historical drama, then... Something from the Three Kingdoms? King Arthur, maybe? The Chushingura? Or hell, maybe a more modern soap opera might be good if they wanna know how society works... 
The movies and shows I’d let them see so far didn’t have too much that would give away the society they were made in, but at this point I didn’t really have any reason to hold back. 
If I want them to understand Japan, then this movie should be good... Otoko wa Tsurai yo, It’s Tough Being a Man. That would do nicely. 
I made my smartphone project the movie into the air, and we all settled down. 
After that, I showed them a lot of Japanese and western movies. They got a better understanding of Earth thanks to that. 
“So this is bothering me a little... That device you have, Touya. Does everyone in your old world actually have one of those?” Doctor Babylon was pointing at my smartphone. She certainly had taken a liking to it. Oh right, there were some in a couple of the movies. 
“The one I’m carrying is different to the standard ones in my old world. I’ve enchanted it a lot since coming here, after all. It was originally created as a communications device, capable of talking over long distances, recording events, and other utility features.” 
“Hmm... Can I please analyze it a little bit? I’m wondering about replicating it and distributing the results to others.” Hmm... It’d be pretty convenient if everyone had one for communication, I guess. If we worked magic into it, we wouldn’t need phone networks or anything. Plus she already made radio-wave communication in the Frame Gears, right? If anyone can do it, it’d be her. 
Only my smartphone would be able to connect to the internet of my old world, anyways. I didn’t see the harm in letting her try. 
“So, can I borrow it a little?” The Doctor took my smartphone into her hands and began to focus magic energy in the hand that was holding it. I had no idea what she was doing. “[Analyze].” A small light came from her palm and flowed into the phone. It must have been some kind of Null magic. 
“Hoh... Interesting. I see, I see. I know how it works now. We should be able to make something like this with materials in our world, but there’s a small issue...” I took back the smartphone and looked it over. The Doctor started muttering and complaining about something, though. 
I was actually curious about that spell, though, so I tried it myself. 
“[Analyze].” Whoa, whoa! What the heck?! Design schematics and annotated information began flowing through my mind. I understood the construction of a smartphone, where every part went, what every part did. It was an incredible, suddenly enlightening experience. 
I also knew all the materials that went into the construction of a smartphone. Aluminosilicate... What’s that, anyway? I wondered if in the Doctor’s case, the materials had been translated into something she could understand. 
Either way, she had an incredible analysis spell. If I used it on a human, it would probably make me the equivalent of a walking MRI scanner. It’d be extremely useful magic for a doctor, though I’m not entirely sure having full knowledge of someone’s innards would be a good thing... 
“Well, whatever! I’ll manage one way or another! I might not be able to make the exact same thing, but I can definitely make something along those lines! Come, Rosetta! To the Workshop!” 
“I wouldn’t mind, ma’am! But you can’t order me around anymore! Touya’s my master, yessir! So he has to give you permission...” 
“Hmm? Oh, right. Touya, may I borrow Rosetta?” I certainly didn’t mind, so the two of them left in a hurry. Rosetta seemed especially keen to get back. 
“They’ll probably hole themselves up in there for a while now.” 
“Indeed, she hasn’t changed at all. In fact her current body will probably be even harder to stop. With her endurance and lack of need to sleep, she will indeedily become a most industrious force.” Cesca and Liora let out little sighs. 
Hm... I hope they don’t overdo it. They better end up okay. Mass producing smartphones would certainly change the playing field, but I hope she doesn’t add anything weird to it. 
When I voiced those concerns to Cesca, she just stared at me blankly and pointed at my phone. 
“The only one who’s added reckless and unusual things to their device is you, master.” 
She was right, honestly. 
 
“Touya... What is this?” Every member of the alliance was staring at the thing I’d handed to them. 
It was a little larger than mine, and it was white. That made it pretty easy to differentiate from the original. 
“This looks somewhat similar to the artifact you have, Touya, but...” 
“That’s right. It’s called a smartphone, but you guys can just refer to it as a phone if that’s easier. The ones I’ve distributed to you all are a basic edition, somewhat inferior to mine.” I began to explain the situation to the king of Lihnea. 
“Press the button on the upper right, and it should start up. Give it a go.” 
“Whoa?! Something happened?!” 
“Small images...? Hm...? This display is curious...” I was relieved to see they all worked fine. The interface had also been translated into the written language used commonly in this world. 
“If you look at the top, you’ll be able to see the time, and the battery- er, magic power. If it goes down to 0%, it’ll switch off and be rendered useless. But even if it turns off, you just need to pour some magic into it to charge it back up.” I scrolled down my contacts list and chose “Emperor of Regulus,” then opted to make a call. 
“Eh?!” The ringtone suddenly started playing, and the emperor was so surprised he ended up dropping his phone. 
Everyone stared over, and some of the people had stood up in shock. 
“Don’t worry. This is a phone call. It’s a means of contact. Emperor, can you tell me what it says on the screen?” 
“Y-Yes I can. It says Grand Duke of Brunhild.” 
“So, the image displayed is who’s attempting to talk to you. Try touching the green button underneath the name, and put the phone up to your ear.” 
The emperor very cautiously touched his finger to the screen, and the call picked up. 
“Hey, hey. Can you hear me?” 
“Ooh! I can hear your voice in my ear, Grand Duke! So this is how it’s used for communication?” Everyone was familiar with the Frame Gear’s comms network, so they were fast to grasp how it worked. 
“Touch the button that says Contacts on your phones, it should show a list of names. If you touch a name, it’ll contact that person. Let’s try contacting the people sitting opposite us, as a test.” It started to feel like a technology session for the elderly. 
After that I slowly taught the rulers of each nation how to use their phones. 
There weren’t a lot of apps installed on their devices though. It looked like a smartphone on the outside, but on the inside it was Babylon’s derived design. 
I installed the phone, the camera, map and compass, calculator, personal notes, clock, texting, flashlight, calendar, and basic game apps on each. That seemed enough to me. 
The maps didn’t really give them the edge that my [Search] did, so their phones were inferior to mine. They could still use it to find their current location and nearby landmarks though. 
They looked like children with brand new toys, every ruler was eagerly playing around with their phones. They were texting and calling each other gleefully, but eventually I had to get them to settle down. 
“I’ve told you all you need to know, and these phones are yours now. But if you lose it, or if it’s stolen, let me know. I should be able to recall it for you.” 
“My my, this is rather impressive... Won’t international communications become trivial with this?” Doge Audrey looked over her phone with a satisfied expression on her face as she spoke. 
“Touya. I’ve been curious... This application here, the one called Games. What is that, exactly?” 
“Ah, right. Consider this a little trial. There are a few games and activities installed in that app. You can connect to others to play Shogi with them in two-player sessions. Connecting four will let you play Mahjong with them over long distances, too.” 
“OOOH!!” The four old men from Belfast, Mismede, Regulus, and Refreese all cheered in excitement. That was only natural, given their inclinations. 
“However, I’ve placed a limit of two hours per day on this app.” 
“NOOO!!” Don’t give me that! It’s important. You guys’ll just keep playing forever. If you guys just game all day instead of doing your jobs then there’ll be a political crisis! I’d have to apologize to your nations. 
I believed that allowing them to text and call each other would deepen the bonds between nations, so I had high hopes for the new communications functionality. 
“If you take pictures using the camera app, I’ll be able to print them out for you, so let me know if that ever becomes necessary.” I showed them all a photo of Karen that I’d printed earlier as an example. The king of Belfast rose from his seat right away. 
“...I must return home. I need to take a picture of my little Yamato at once!” He was a crazily doting dad as usual... 
Things were wrapping up, so I decided to call the meeting to a close for the day. Her Holiness the Pope decided to come up to me after the meeting. “Ah, uhm... are there any pictures of Lady Moroha? If there are, I would like to have two copies printed out!” Hm... I wonder if that’s quite alright... Ah well, I suppose you’re a devout enough lady. 
After the meeting wrapped up, I received a phone call. It wasn’t from one of the world leaders, though. The only words on my screen were ‘Doctor.’ Service was never an issue, as she’d engineered the phones to connect based on the magic in the atmosphere instead of electromagnetic signals. Apparently such a thing was a trivial technology during the renaissance in which Doctor Babylon had been born into. 
“‘Sup.” 
“Yo, Touya? What’s ‘Sup’ mean? Supper or something?” 
“Oh, it’s just a basic greeting from my old world. It’s like a contraction of “What’s up?” So you usually expect the other person to say something next.” That’s how I understand it, at least. I never really thought about it too deeply. 
“Ooh, I see. Anyway, how did the world leaders react to their phones?” 
“Very well. Everyone took them back happily.” 
“That’s wonderful news. But I’m disappointed you gave them such a neutered edition of my master work.” 
“The first version you showed me was way too complex! Who the hell needs a self-destruct function for a phone anyway?” She’d added way too many stupid things to the original build, like a supersonic frequency generator that could shatter glass, and a camera that could see through walls or clothes. All kinds of weird crap like that. 
I wasn’t too surprised though, Doctor Babylon was a weirdo. The saying “There is a fine line between a genius and an idiot” flashed through my mind a little. 
“Ah well, no worries. Oh, right. The new Frame Gear that Rosetta and Monica are so busy with... How about you let them focus on that, and let me focus on making the Frame Gears for Leeny and Linzey?” 
“Oh, sure... I was thinking they’d both be more attuned to magic, but the Phrase are resistant to magic. So I was thinking of something that would take advantage of the Fragarach system, or magical defenses.” 
“That’s a good idea. Were you thinking of employing the Satellite Orbs? Are you thinking of weapons based on stuff from Earth?” 
“I guess.” Well, more like based on anime from Earth. I kept quiet about that part because I didn’t want that dastardly doc knowing about that stuff too. I didn’t want her trying to make an extravagant space battleship or something. 
After I put down the call from the doctor, I got another call from Sakura. I wondered what she wanted. “‘Sup.” 
“Ah, uhm... ‘Sup. Grand Duke, is it alright to talk?” 
“It’s fine. Is something bothering you?” 
“Ah, well. My mother wants to talk about the school.” 
“Fiana? Alright.” Fiana was scheduled to work at the upcoming Brunhild school, which was about eighty percent complete. We decided to run it as a test to begin with, and add more buildings as more students showed up. 
“Where’s Fiana right now?” 
“She’s with me at the school site.” 
“I’ll be over in a second.” I dropped the call and opened up a [Gate] to the schoolgrounds. I saw Fiana and Sakura once I got there, along with old man Naito and Mr. Mittens. 
“Ah, Touya. Sorry for calling you here so suddenly.” 
“Not an issue. What’s wrong?” 
Fiana gently bowed her head. I wondered what had happened. 
“Uhm, well. I spoke to a lot of families when we first started discussing, but word spread faster than I expected it to... There are a lot of people who want to get their children an education. More than I can actually handle at this point...” 
“Huh? How many?” I turned to Naito and asked him for hard numbers. 
“Almost eighty prospective students in total.” 
“What? I didn’t even know there were that many kids in Brunhild.” 
“We’ve had more immigrants lately. Retired adventurers, land workers, merchants, builders... They’ve brought children with them too.” That made sense. Not everyone was single, after all. Entire families had moved in. 
I’d originally only planned for about twenty or so students. The projected number now was four times that much. 
“Alright, then. Should we get one or two more teachers brought in?” 
“That would be wonderful. I’d truly appreciate the support.” Fiana let out a small sigh of relief. More work for me... Guess I’ll have to conduct some interviews. 
I needed to tell Kousaka about the new staff I’d be calling in. I also needed to have Naito extend the buildings to accommodate the new numbers. 
I turned my attention to another matter. 
“What’re you doing, Mr. Mittens?” 
“It’s D’Artagnan! Purrlease remember that! Naturally I’m guarding the meowther of my venerable lady!” 
“Heh...” Mr. Mittens puffed out his chest pridefully. I thought for a moment that Sakura might have assigned him to the job since he was a pain, but I didn’t feel like hurting his feelings too badly. He was probably happy to be doing a good job anyway. 
“D’Artagnan is really useful, he’s a lovely kitty.” 
“Ah, venerable meowther... You call me by my pawsitively proper name... Even milady was calling me that cursed name...” 
“It’s easier to say, that’s all.” 
Sakura answered with a nonchalant shrug. It seemed like Mr. Mittens had taken quite a liking to Fiana. 
The problem had been sorted out, so I decided to drop by the Silver Moon for lunch. I decided to go with Sakura and Fiana. 
Just as I was about to invite them, my phone started vibrating again. Huh? Who is it? I checked the screen, and it was Kousaka. 
“Milord. Please return to the castle via one of your [Gate] spells. There are various documents that require your approval.” 
“Ugh...” I should never have given out these phones... 
I felt a lot of pressure all of a sudden. Or it was more like the reality of my situation was now within closer sight. 
I sighed and walked through my portal, internally grumbling about the problems of easy contact.