◇

"Thank you for inviting me to the tea party today--"

I bow like a retainer would before Princess s.h.i.+stina, the sixth princess of s.h.i.+ga Kingdom.

The ones that have come to the tea party are only Arisa, Mia and me.

The three beastkin girl and Nana have gone to the labyrinth. They wished for it since they hadn"t moved their bodies for awhile, so I sent them to the marine area deep in the first layer. Of course, Lulu who brought cooking tools were also with them.
In addition, Crow and s.h.i.+ro are attending the royal academy like usual, and Hikaru is watching s.h.i.+n boy.

I finish my greeting, and look around the room while being careful as to not make it seems rude.

As might be expected of the room of the princess of a large kingdom, eight lady"s attendants and maids are packed inside.
Every one of the employees is a beauty.

"Welcome Viscount Pendragon. Arisa and Misama too, welcome."
"Good day s.h.i.+stinsama. I have brought the snacks I talked about the other day. It has been put inside the magic refrigerator storage, so please go ahead and enjoy it."
"Morning."

Arisa was talking about crepes.
It was topped with strawberry and lulu"s fruit ice cream, so I ended up making a magic refrigerator for it too. I made it in the name of one of my alias, Trismegistus.

This is the first time I"ve been invited to a tea party by the princess, so I"ve brought some presents that"s just right coming from a Viscount.

Adding up the princess"s preferences I heard from Arisa, I brought things like stationery with flower fragrance, self-made paper that felt nice to write on, a pen made from water stone that didn"t need ink, and a box with lock for putting letters.
Every one of them is adorned with pretty decorations that suit the princess, made in the name of Michaelangelo. They were quite good considering they were made in half an hour.

In addition I also gave six-colored paper tags. They"re Arisa"s and Mia"s favorites, so a researcher should be happy with them.

I also gave things like pastry and perfumes to the personal attendants of the princess.
They"ve been taking care of Arisa and Mia, so these much is alright.

"This is the first time I"ve seen such a small refrigerator. Perhaps, Viscount Pendragon made it?"

The princess asked with eyes full of expectation, but I can"t exactly tell her YES.

"No, it"s a work of Trismegistus-s.h.i.+."
"That"s the name of the up-and-coming mysterious magic tool engineer isn"t it. If I"m not mistaken he"s contracted exclusively to Echigoya Firm."
"The princess knows well, it was brought by my personal merchant. It is quite useful when I need to bring cakes."

After hearing my conversation with the princess, one of the princess"s attendant looked subtly dejected.
A small-sized magic refrigerator is convenient after all, so she probably wanted to have one nearby.
Unlike the pen and the letter box that use the user"s magic power, magic refrigerator uses a crimson treasure manufactured from a philosopher"s stone as its magic source, so I can"t give it.

Beckoned by the princess, we sit on the sofa and then her personal musicians begin to play a soft elegant tune.
Mia seemed to be interested with the musicians, but she sat besides me with a thump after Arisa urged her to.

When the princess touches the crystal pillar-like magic tool beside the sofa, wind begins to circulate around us and the musicians" performance can"t be heard anymore.

"I"ve used the anti-listening device, so you can talk with ease."
"Thank you, Tinsama."
"Nn."
"You too Viscount Pendragon, please relax more."

The princess"s way of speaking changed.

I see, so it"s a free and easy party.
Looks like Arisa and Mia are good friends with Princess s.h.i.+stina.

Apparently, even the special music is nothing more than a way to check the magic tool"s function.

"And so, Viscount Pendragon--"
"You can call me with just Satou."

My house name is a bit hard to say, so I tell her to use the easier one.

For some reason, Mia and Arisa who are sitting beside me are grinding my arms and rubbing their heads, but they stop acting strangely after I slip my arm away and pat their heads.

"Then Sir Satou. Could you please tell me about the firework and the > that you made in Oyugock Dukedom?"
"Yes, it"s fine. At first I asked about the firework that was made from gunpowder from Hero Hayato--"

The Deception skill was doing great after a long absence, so I succeeded telling a fabricated story about the making of the firework spell without any trouble--

--Or so it should have been....

"Then! Satou-sama really made the firework!"

The princess links her fingers in front of her chest looking so happy, staring at me with a gaze full of admiration

....Oops.
Maybe I should have told her that I found it in ancient doc.u.ment from Ancient King Yamato"s era and recreated it.

No, it"s widely known that the firework is my creation in the Duchy Capital, so telling a lie would get it exposed.

"Nn, genius."

Mia nods.

Afterward, we had a break when the maids brought the snacks and the tea, and then the four of us discussed about magic lively.

She stated her knowledge about magic and spells so fluently I"d have never thought she was the same taciturn person like when she was in the Forbidden Library, she was debating with Arisa and Mia about magic.

It"s been two hours already, but their liveliness don"t seem to be fading.
They look like Akiba warriors when they talk about anime and games they like.

◇

I hesitated as to whether I should show the spell that was requested through Arisa or not, but thinking that the princess probably won"t use it for anything strange, I take out the doc.u.ment about the spell I"ve brought.
Even if I got caught in something annoying because of this, I could probably do something about it through Nanas.h.i.+.

"This is, don"t tell me!"
"I had found some right spell, so I altered it a bit and made it so that it fulfills the request."

I pour water on the silver tray and then pour it with thick colored fruit juice.
After stirring it with a wooden stir stick, I ask Mia to use the spell.

"■■■■　■　■　■■　■■■ Remove Different Water"

The mixed fluid on the tray is gradually separating.
Eventually, the water is on the left side, and the concentration of fruit juice is gathered on the right side. They"ll mix again if left alone, but this should be enough for the spell experiment.

I don"t know what she want to use this for, but this might be useful for cooking and such.

"Amazing! Satou-sama, you"re amazing!"

The excited princess holds my hands on the table.
Rather, she"s been adding "sama" to call my name since awhile ago.

"The color is a bit different than the original fruit juice isn"t it."
"Nn, condensed."

Arisa and Mia fold their arms while criticizing the magic"s effect.

I"ve also made other spells, one that uses s.p.a.ce magic and another that uses lightning magic, but the former has become an advanced level magic because it over-consume the capacity to pick up the molecules, while the latter makes use of the ionization tendency so it doesn"t meet the requirement of separating the fruit juice.

In the end, the water magic that makes use of osmotic pressure has the best cost to performance ratio.

"Your highness, what do you plan to use this spell for?"
"--Can you promise not to laugh at me?"

The princess replied seriously to my nonchalant question.

"Yes, of course."

I replied immediately, but the princess seems to be hesitating about something.

"It"s alright, Master won"t laugh at people who are earnest."
"Nn, no problem."

Arisa and Mia back the princess when they see her like that.
It seems the princess makes up her mind with that, she resolves herself and speaks.

"I"m researching the method to return monsters into normal creatures."

The princess began to talk with such a shocking statement.

"Do you know that monsters are born from the concentration of miasma?"
"Yes, I do."
"Ever since I heard about it as a child, I"ve had this question,  『If miasma turns creatures into monsters, can"t the reverse happen too?』--"

I did think about that too.

In every book I"ve read up until know, they"ve concluded that the process is irreversible, but I"ve been thinking even now that it should be possible to turn back monsters back with magic.
In fact, humans that had began to change into monsters after consuming Fiend Drug did stop their transformation when their magic power were extracted.

At the very least, I think that if it"s immediately after the transformation, they can turn back to the original creatures by pulling out the miasma inside their bodies.

There is a darkness magic that can control miasma and create monster, so I think it"s possible if I get that spell.
I didn"t see it in the Forbidden Library of s.h.i.+ga Kingdom, I think asking True Ancestor Ban or the knowledgeable Corpse in the Labyrinth"s lower layer might be worth it.

It seems the princess is researching separation magic like this in order to link it with her [Turning monsters back into normal creatures] research.

"--I think that if the miasma in monsters can be pulled out, turning them back into normal creatures, the living s.p.a.ce of people will open up more, and then even the people in the downtown will be able to live prosperously."

I agreed with the princess until the halfway through, but I couldn"t really agree with the last part.
If people become the ruler of the world, great wars between people are sure to happen.

Moreover, if the monsters are created by the G.o.ds to become the deterrence of war, then I can"t help but feel that making them disappear would mean violating the G.o.ds" taboo.

Furthermore, even if you can turn a monster back into a normal creature, I don"t think you will be able to make the monsters in the whole world disappear.
Rather, if you want to enlarge living s.p.a.ce, researching monster-repellent barrier should net you better result.

"That"s a splendid way of thinking."

Nevertheless, I read the mood, and affirmed the princess"s n.o.ble desire.
I agree to the first half at least.

Also, it"d be troubling if strangely denying her would make the princess progressing to some distorted way.
If there"s no one who sympathizes with with her, I"m worried that a remnant of the [Wings of Liberty] would take advantage of her, making her support the demon"s plot after getting tricked.

"I"m glad--"

After hearing my impression, the princess muttered and relaxed her shoulders.
So she really was afraid that her view would be denied.

"I think materializing it would be difficult, but the result of the research would be left for the future. Continuing the research while keeping the hope that it"ll blossom someday is alright."
"Yes! Satou-sama!"

In an indirect way, I had told her, "It might be useless, but your research might be useful for someone in the future", but it seems her heartstrings have been touched, the princess is staring at me with gleaming eyes.

For some reason, Arisa and Mia are glaring.
The stares of the maids beyond the anti-listening device are piercing.

Well now, what"s up with this place....

●Characters

【s.h.i.+stina】
The sixth princess of s.h.i.+ga Kingdom. 18 year old. Allowed to go in and out of the royal castle"s forbidden library. Her mother is the daughter of Duke Bishtal. A friend of Arisa and Mia.

【s.h.i.+n】
A good-looking boy with white hair that Arisa met in the Royal Academy. He seems to be a local hero.

【Trismegistus】
One of Satou"s aliases. Used when making magic potions and magic tools.

【Michaelangelo】
One of Satou"s aliases. Used when making artworks and accessories.

【Ban】
A reincarnated person who was formerly a j.a.panese. A vampire True Ancestor who takes up a residence in the lower layer of Selbira"s underground labyrinth.

【Corpse】
A reincarnated person who was formerly a j.a.panese. A mummy military otaku man who takes up a residence in the lower layer of Selbira"s underground labyrinth. Once a scientist of Furu empire. Once threatened the G.o.ds using nuclear weapons.

【Hayato】
Saga Empire"s hero who was summoned from j.a.pan. Currently chasing after a demon lord in the labyrinth of the weaselkin empire.

【Akiba Warrior】
Veteran volunteer. Possible to job-change into a wizard when they exceed 30 year old.
Devoted to do habitual image training in order to prepare for when they get teleported to another world.