In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 13 Read online

  “Wow...”

  “Ping...” “Pong...” “Pang...” The Silver Dragon looked on in surprise, along with Ruby and her sisters. I guess the sudden action took them by surprise.

  I’d purchased this home a while ago. It belonged to a noble from Regulus, but I managed to get him to part with it for a pretty good price.

  I placed the home down and dug it deep into the firm foundation by using [Modeling]. The garden looked a little mediocre for the time being, but I figured I could save the flower-planting for later.

  “Would it be alright if other humans come to this house from time to time through teleportation magic? We won’t bother the other Dragons on the island, I promise.”

  “Not a problem. I will ensure that the other Dragons keep away from this place.” Even though I had the elder’s promise, I still erected a defensive barrier just in case. I felt there may still be some foolhardy Dragons around.

  I pulled the Dimensional Disruptor Mk. II out of [Storage] and plopped it down into the middle of the garden. Originally I was going to put it in a basement area, but this place wasn’t inhabited by humans so having it next to the house would be fine.

  Wait... There aren’t any people on this island. Why’d I bother setting up a house?! I could’ve just plonked the portal down and called it a day. Well, whatever. I guess it’s nice to have another vacation home.

  All that was left was to entrust the house to Ruby and her sisters... But I had my doubts they were ready. Plus I needed to take them to Doctor Babylon for a tune-up.

  “It’d be convenient if I could just bring Laim to live here...” Our super-charged butler would be able to manage this place, but I was sure him suddenly vanishing from the world he was born into would raise some questions.

  “To be honest, the Silver Dragon can probably tend to this place for you. Silver Dragons are rare and unusual in that they have an active interest in humans and human culture.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Indeed. Now and then I transform into a human so that I might enter their towns and learn more about their ways.” The Silver Dragon nodded his head slowly. It seemed he was as curious as he was mighty. I wondered if his species had gained the ability to transform into humans due to this burning curiosity ingrained into them. I wondered if he was attacked by the Gollem while he was wandering around as a human...

  “Then... Will you do this for me? You can use the home as if it were your own, and I’ll give you money to arrange food and furniture, however you like it.”

  “That sounds wonderful. I adore human culture, and always wanted to try living in a human home, so this works well for me.” I pulled out a bag containing my remaining coins. I asked that he use the money to keep the house in order and buy whatever kind of furniture he wanted. I also gave him a magic carpet, since I didn’t want him drawing too much attention during his shopping runs.

  “Oh, that’s right... You’re a Silver Dragon, but I didn’t catch your name. What is it?”

  “Ah, forgive me. I don’t actually have a name. If it is alright with you, I would happily take a name from the one who granted a name to Lady Luli...”

  Silver Dragon, huh... Hmm... Well, Yumina already named her wolf Silver, so I guess I can’t use that...

  I didn’t think a Dragon would appreciate being named the same thing as a wolf.

  “I’ll call you Shirogane, then... That’s a name that means silver in my mother tongue. I also used the name for a brief while when I was disguised.”

  “Thank you for your blessing...! Thank you so much... From here on I am Shirogane.” The Silver Dragon, Shirogane, bowed to me. I was more than fine giving him the name I once wore when I was the masked Oni.

  Alright, guess that means my business in this world is concluded for now.

  “Alright, we’ll be heading back for now. Next time I come, I’ll bring my friends with me... So please look forward to it.”

  “Of course. Until next time, my friend.” Shirogane smiled wide and bowed his head. He was definitely moving a lot more smoothly. Part of me wondered if this was really the same Dragon we’d seen earlier.

  I activated the Dimensional Disruptor Mk. II by pouring my magic into it. I made a mental note to install a magical reserve tank on this side later on.

  The meter filled up a lot faster than the one on Palerius island.

  Luli, Kohaku, and the Etoiles didn’t exceed the weight limit, so they were good to come through with me.

  We headed through the portal and safely came out into Babylon’s Garden.

  “Oooh! So these must be the Gollems I’ve heard so much about! I see, interesting! How amazing!” I brought all three of the Etoiles to the research laboratory, where Doctor Babylon immediately began to fawn over them with a wild grin.

  “Ohoho... Oh yes... They’re all the same model? Female? Mmhm... I can’t wait to check them out. Hey, sisters... Don’t worry about a thing, okay? I’m gonna spread you open and dig around your insides, aaha! Ow...!”

  “Knock it off. No sexual harassment cases, please.” I karate-chopped Doc Babylon on the head. The three Gollems honestly looked a little nervous.

  “That hurt...! Come now, it was just my innocent curiosity running wild. It’s my job here to be interested in unusual technology, isn’t it?!”

  “I understand that, but these Gollems have a learning system. I can’t afford to have you teaching them weird stuff during their development.” I warned the annoying little pervert. I didn’t want Ruby and the others turning out like her. I definitely needed a more proper individual for their education.

  “Mm... Goodness... Ahh... Given their sizes, they’d really suit cute clothing... P-Panties, too! Aahaha! D-Doctor, can you m-make their bodies more squishy, too?!” Tica, the one in control of the research laboratory, started to breathe heavily as she surveyed the Gollem trio. What the hell are you doing here, you wannabe diddler? Keep your dirty eyes off them! To be honest, the Babylon sisters were pretty similar to Gollems if we lumped artificial lifeforms all together.

  Well... No point keeping them active while this is happening. I sent the three Gollems into a dormant state, halting their functions for a while.

  I told them the basics that I’d learned from Nia, and informed them that they must never touch the G-Cube or the Q-Crystal.

  “[Analyze].” She’d definitely be able to understand more than I’d picked up.

  “Hm... Interesting... There are components here that I’ve never heard of. Some of these raw materials may not exist in this world, but I can substitute them. As for the abilities these three house... I have no idea, I can’t figure that part out.”

  “The other world has a line of Gollems called the crowns that are capable of performing incredible feats. There’s a small chance that it was a crown that came to this world so long ago and made contact with old man Palerius.”

  “An interesting hypothesis, but I don’t fully buy into it yet. If we are to assume that the Gollem repaired the boundary, then what happened to it afterward? Is it still in this world?” That wasn’t impossible... But I’d done a search for Gollems via my map and nothing came up. It probably went back to the Reverse World, if there even was one to begin with.

  Its ability might have been similar to how Ende could travel between worlds.

  “Well, no matter. I’ll thoroughly analyze these three. I’ll probably learn something valuable in due time.”

  “Gotcha. Seriously, though... Don’t go overboard, alright? And don’t modify them with any weird extra parts.” I made sure the two knew I didn’t want any funny business and moved to leave the research laboratory.

  Oh damn, I didn’t get to pick up any souvenirs over there... Everything ended up happening so fast that I just wanted to come home...

  I shrugged my shoulders and opened up a [Gate] to my room in Brunhild castle.

  Chapter IV: Everyday Life

  A few days had passed since my voyage into the Reverse World, and we were holding a meeting of nat
ions.

  Though it had such a fancy title, it was more of a gathering for us to eat, make merry, and build personal relations. It was really more like a house party than a political arrangement. I kind of wondered how I’d managed to cultivate that kind of atmosphere, but I didn’t mind it too much. So long as the world leaders were getting along, I was satisfied.

  We’d decided that Xenoahs, Palouf, and Felsen would be joining the alliance. We also agreed to change the alliance’s name to the League of Nations.

  Xenoahs would be represented by the overlord, Zelgadi von Xenoahs.

  Palouf would be represented by its king, Ernest Din Palouf.

  Felsen would also be represented by its king, Boulanger Frost Felsen.

  These three kings would be participating in the next meeting.

  Elfrau, Hannock, and Ryle were up next for consideration. After they were done with, I wanted to push for Eashen and Palerius to join us as well. I was going to head over to Palerius the following day, so I’d try to broach the idea then.

  “Whoooa... I-It’s shaking so much!”

  “C’mon Ernie, get up!”

  “Ahaha! Got you! Please don’t think poorly of me, King Palouf!” Three Frame Gears were projected on a screen in our game room.

  The king of Felsen, the king of Palouf, and his fiancée Rachael were playing in the Frame Units. The place kind of felt like an arcade.

  Everyone else was scattered around the room in various groups. Nothing formal seemed to be happening.

  Princess Ellicia, fiancée to King Felsen, was busy talking to the emperor of Regulus. He was her father, after all. Lu seemed to have joined in on their conversation as well. The overlord was showing off his new smartphone to his daughter and was desperately attempting to obtain her phone number... He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was begging.

  Pay attention to your surroundings, Overlord... Sirius is giving you a look... Why’d you even bring him here as your guard if you were just gonna fawn all over Sakura? Bah... Well, I guess she’ll probably fold and give you her number eventually. Maybe.

  I looked over at a nearby table to find the doge of Roadmare talking to the knight king about some kind of matter. King Cloud of Lihnea and Princess Lucienne were enjoying each other’s company on the balcony outside.

  My sisters, specifically the god of love and the god of hunting, smiled over at the happy couple while the pope stood nearby.

  “Things are going pretty well, huh...”

  “Quite. Just a few years ago this kind of atmosphere was unthinkable... Ah, that’s riichi.” The king of Mismede and the king of Belfast were playing mahjong with me and the emperor of Refreese, enjoying a leisurely chat.

  “International disputes have been solved, for the most part. I can’t help but admit that I’ve been looking forward to our meetings more with each passing one.” The emperor of Refreese nodded along.

  Hmm... It’s my turn... I drew a new tile. Ohh... A Green Dragon! Now I just need to discard, but... Ack, this is tense... I’m toeing victory and defeat... I made my move.

  “Ron. That’s riichi. Got an identical set. Read them and weep, that’s haneman.”

  Hngh! My face fell as the king of Belfast let loose a crushing blow.

  “Oof. Seems I was saved by your move, Touya.” The king of Mismede turned toward me with a grin. Damn it! How the hell did you guys already manage to outclass me in both mahjong and shogi?! Thus I was the overall loser of the game. It sucked.

  “Hey there, Grand Duke! I must say this is rather fun.”

  “Well at least someone’s enjoying themselves...” The king of Felsen walked over toward me, having finished playing around in the Frame Unit. He’d won against a literal child... He probably should’ve learned to read the air a little.

  “Ah, Grand Duke... About what we discussed earlier.”

  “Oh, right. Yeah, there’s no mistake. It’s the same as ours.”

  “Hmm? What are you two talking about?” The three kings seated with me took an interest in what I was discussing with the king of Felsen. I decided to explain.

  “I received a message from the king of Felsen a little bit ago. It turns out that explorers in his country found some ancient artifacts underground. Well... Lemme show you.” I brought out my smartphone and displayed the pictures that the king of Felsen had sent me. It was a large object in an underground ruin. It was rather large compared to the knight standing next to it in the picture.

  “Ohh... This is the same kind of thing that Sue uses on her Frame Gear...”

  “That’s right. It’s a magic train. It’s a vehicle from the ancient civilization that can be used to ride around a rail at high speeds.” I nodded to the king of Belfast, who’d noticed the similarities to the vehicles that came with his niece’s Frame Gear.

  It wasn’t exactly the same as Sue’s Laevateinn, though. Her train didn’t require rails to run.

  “Rails, you say? Like the thing you had under the trolley cart?”

  “Ah, that was fun! Yes, I recall that...!” The beastking laughed along with the emperor of Refreese. That thing went a little fast...

  “Here... I made this miniature model as a demonstration....” I activated [Storage] and pulled out a small, eighty-centimeter track, and a miniature train toy.

  I set it all up and put the model on the rail.

  “Pour some magic into the little model, and see what happens.”

  “Like this...? Oh!” The king of Belfast put a bit of magic into the train, and it began to slowly move along the rail on its own.

  “The idea is that it’s a magical vehicle that takes magic power and changes it into dynamic energy. The model can move with a little bit of magic, but the larger one would require a lot more. The one they unearthed in Felsen can take in a lot of different people’s magic through different spellstones and run that way.”

  “Yes, the pictures seem explanatory... Our magitechnicians have said much the same thing, too.” The king of Felsen nodded in admiration as he watched the little toy move around the track.

  According to Doctor Babylon, the train in the photograph was one from Partheno. Felsen’s current territory was part of Partheno’s old territory, so I wasn’t too surprised they’d made a discovery like that. I wondered if the ruins they unearthed were a subway station or something.

  It could’ve been a situation where what was once a metro station was now a dungeon...

  “So, does that magical train move?”

  “No, it doesn’t... That’s why I asked the advice of the grand duke, here.” The king of Felsen responded to the beastking’s inquiry. Felsen was a kingdom renowned for its magitechnology, and its scientific advancements. But not even they could get the ancient train to start working again.

  I wondered if the researchers over there had given up. Doctor Babylon had come up with an answer, either way.

  “In conclusion, we need something similar to what the Frame Gears use. It needs a medium to transmit the magic power. It can’t just move on magic alone.” Something similar to the Ether Liquid we used in Brunhild was necessary. The lesser vehicles would move even with impure Ether Liquid, so that wasn’t a big deal. Still, Ether Liquid was like the blood that pumped through the body of a machine. It needed clear circulation. After enough time, it would deteriorate in quality and become completely useless.

  “I can make it move again, would you want to hand it over to Brunhild?”

  “I was wondering, actually... We could pay you... I think I’d rather learn how to reactivate and produce more magic trains in Felsen.” I wondered if it would be fine to just leave it to Felsen. Making stuff up in Babylon took up a lot of time and resources, after all.

  We did recently create a mana battery that helped circulate ether liquid... It was coated with Phrasium, too. I decided to just sell it to them and let them handle the production. I was sure the magitechnicians of Felsen would be able to handle it.

  “Can we make them in Felsen, then?”

&
nbsp; “I think you should be able to manage it. But you can buy the central systems from us, alright?”

  “Hoho... You’re getting rather shrewd, Touya.” The emperor of Refreese grinned. I didn’t mind, making money was fine. Besides, there was no need to teach outsiders about Ether Liquid or the mana batteries. Just selling them the equipment pre-assembled was fine. “Could we buy one of these trains from you, King Felsen?”

  “Hmm... Well, I need to be sure we can actually start producing them, first. I’ll buy some of this stuff from the grand duke for reference, first.”

  “If King Belfast’s in, then Refreese wants one, too!” Two magic trains had already been pre-ordered, apparently. Felsen could probably stand to make a decent profit from them. Mismede and Refreese would probably want in on it later.

  I set aside the mahjong tiles and spread a basic map out on the table.

  “First off, we’d want to connect Belfast and Refreese by rail. Then we’d want to extend that to Mismede if we can, and then to Regulus. We’d need a more formal discussion between all relevant parties, though. But yeah, I hope it works out.” If we had a few dozen mages that could handle Earth magic, it would probably be simple enough. Railroads were simple to construct, but they had problems that came with them. We’d need to make sure that public awareness of the railroads was made, so people didn’t sleep on the tracks or damage them. In a small country, it wouldn’t take long for word to spread, but in a larger nation like Belfast or Regulus, it would take some time.

  “Hmm... We’ll need to bring along some engineers from Felsen to teach us more...”

  “Or maybe we could send some of our engineers to study abroad.” The king of Belfast and the emperor of Refreese started to chat about their future plans.

  The beastking, on the other hand, turned to me while gazing at the map.

  “But what of Mismede? The Great Gau river separates us from Belfast... It’s not like we can just build a bridge or anything...” The beastking not-so-subtly stared at me.

  “...I’ll build a bridge.”

  “Come now... Don’t think too badly of me. I didn’t mean to pressure you.” Really? Cause it sounds like you did...