Chapter 15
1.
Master.
To Ruby, Doloris was the sky.
The sky that looked down upon her,
embraced her, and watched over her.
But the sky's heart looked cold. Always.
She always held Ruby close and showed her only a warm world,
but Ruby could feel that there was something she was hiding.
Ruby was young, but she was clever enough to know all of this.
But one day, Ruby's sky grew warm.
Her master's face, which had more days without expression than days with a smile,
had recently begun to brighten.
And what Ruby was happiest and most relieved about was that.
She no longer entered that room.
Ruby knew that room.
She didn't know exactly what was inside.
But whenever her master came out of that room, her eyes were empty.
That was so frightening.
The biggest reason the sky had changed was, of course.
“Lululu~”
This boy dancing around in front of her, waving a hammer as though he were excited.
His name was Lionel.
To Ruby, he was her first friend.
Or perhaps, her family.
He had made her master's hands warm.
He had taught her how to tie her shoelaces.
‘He made her smile brightly again.’
They were probably the same age, or at least close.
Ruby didn't know how that was possible.
Ruby studied magic.
For her master. Because someday, she wanted to be helpful.
But for now, she couldn't do anything.
She couldn't cure her master's illness.
She couldn't warm her cold hands, either.
But the boy in front of her had done it. Rather than being jealous, it was more like….
- Swish, swish.
“I look cool, right?”
He had just voiced the thought she had been keeping inside.
Yeah, she admitted it.
“…Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
To be honest, he did look cool.
2.
Doloris had given me a rough idea of our schedule for the future.
I thought we would stop by the orphanage again on the way.
But we had left without any intention of going back in the first place.
Of course, I had no luggage to worry about, so it didn't matter to me.
The villa would probably be handled and cleaned up by the people there.
‘Goodbye, Eric.’
I do miss him. Our Big Mac.
I'll make lots of money, hyung. Let's meet again someday.
Make good use of the gloves.
It might have been obvious, but apparently it took less time to reach Duke Doloris's domain from the plaza than it did to get from the plaza to the orphanage.
That was probably because the domain was in the countryside, while this place was a full-fledged city.
We naturally climbed into the carriage,
and the carriage carrying Ruby's magic books was attached behind it like a luggage cart.
My hammers were held securely in both hands.
“…Lionel, shall I carry them for you?”
“No, I'm fine.”
Doloris asked, but I refused.
“I need to get used to holding them from now on.”
“I see.”
The truth was, right now, I.
I was extremely, extremely restless.
When you give something to a person addicted to a certain activity,
they tend to be unable to think about anything else.
‘I want to try something already.’
There was powder in my pocket and hammers in both hands.
I had both materials and tools, but it felt a little awkward to do it right here.
Inside the carriage were a table, a fruit basket, and a curtain rod.
Aha. What would happen if I enchanted the curtain rod?
Wouldn't it become a little sturdier?
[Oh no, Fuㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Yuna, I'm joking.
I passed the time with such pointless jokes,
then closed my eyes and placed the Enchant Hammer on my lap.
I had to hold back. When we reached the domain, she had said she would thankfully have a workshop built for me.
Even without a workshop, I could lie down in the street and do it, for crying out loud.
Let's not decide what to strike just yet.
I was a little nervous because the community had said equipment could be destroyed, too.
“She says we'll arrive soon.”
“Yes.”
Please hurry.
The carriage raced on.
The lights of Ariel Plaza grew distant,
and the view outside the window grew dark again.
Ruby had fallen asleep with her face buried in her book,
and Doloris had her eyes closed as well. I couldn't tell whether she was sleeping or merely resting.
The quiet moonlight slipped in through the curtains.
The hammer on my lap swayed gently with the carriage's vibrations.
Then.
The moonlight outside the window grew brighter.
I thought the moonlight had intensified, so I cracked open the curtain, but.
Moonlight, my ass. Lanterns were lined up in a neat row along both sides of the road.
They stretched so far that I couldn't see where they ended.
At the place where the lanterns ended.
“….”
There was an iron gate.
A gigantic gate stood open on both sides, and it looked more than tall enough for three carriages stacked on top of one another.
A crest was engraved above the gate. It was probably something belonging to Doloris.
Once we passed through the iron gate, the scenery changed again.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
Ruby had woken up without me noticing.
Since I was staring outside like a country bumpkin, she snickered.
“This is my master's domain.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I knew that too.
“….”
She turned her head away again.
What was with this kid?
Anyway, after passing through the iron gate, rows of trees appeared, with red-roofed buildings visible between them.
Windows were lit. People lived here.
So this was a village.
I had actually read romance fantasy novels before, but I never thought I'd see a romance-fantasy domain's village in person.
Yuna, what do you think from a woman's perspective? You like romance fantasy, don't you?
[I can't really focus on it right now.]
Heh heh heh.
She was still worried. I had been a little harsh.
We continued riding for a long time.
At the end of the uphill road.
At last, a gigantic building came into view.
“Shall we get ready to get out?”
“Yes.”
Doloris stroked my head and smiled gently,
and a building gleamed beneath the moonlight.
Several sharp spires rose into the sky, and a fountain stood in front of the mansion.
It felt as though someone had ripped the image of a mansion straight out of a fairy tale and placed it here.
It looked perfectly reasonable to call it a castle.
“We've arrived.”
Doloris said it with a smile.
“This is our home.”
“Thank you….”
“Hm?”
I imagined this had to be the life of the top 0.1 percent.
To think I would live in a place like this….
I no longer felt envious of the world I had lived in before.
The carriage stopped, and when the door opened,
a man was standing at the entrance to the mansion.
He had a monocle and a white beard. His back was straight, and his black suit suited him perfectly.
Given the circumstances, he was probably the butler. It was perfectly fantastical.
“Welcome home, Your Grace.”
“Sebas. It's been a while.”
“I'm relieved to see that Your Grace had a comfortable journey.”
The butler called Sebas bowed politely and shifted his gaze to Ruby.
“Welcome as well, Lady Ruby.”
“Yeah, I'm here.”
Ruby greeted him with a half-asleep bow.
Then the butler's gaze turned to me.
I was about to greet him, thinking he probably didn't know who I was yet, when.
“Lord Lionel. It is an honor to meet you.”
“An… What? Ah, yes… Hello.”
It seemed everything had already been arranged.
“I will move the books to Lady Ruby's library.”
“There are some for Lionel too. Please move only the ones loaded in the front seats to the workshop.”
“Yes. I shall do so.”
What? There were books for me too?
This was the first I'd heard of it. Besides, did she just say workshop….
At Sebas's gesture, two servants who had been waiting behind us headed toward the luggage cart loaded with books behind the carriage.
Just then, a maid approached.
She reached out toward my hammers.
“I'll take them to the workshop for you….”
Who are you?
When I instinctively hid the hammers behind my back and became wary, she lowered her head with a startled expression.
Ah, sorry. Of course she hadn't meant any harm.
I had simply been startled. I thought she was trying to take them away again.
Yuna had tormented me in the past, so I was a little sensitive.
“Ah, yes, yes. Thank you.”
Perhaps my protectiveness toward the hammers had made an impression on her.
Doloris covered her mouth and laughed.
The truth was a little different.
“Dinner is prepared. Please come inside.”
Dinner, huh.
Yuna told me it was seven in the evening.
It was exactly the right time for dinner.
Doloris turned to look at me as she walked.
“Aren't you hungry?”
“…Ah, yes.”
The truth was, I wasn't hungry at all.
Food wasn't important right now.
Doloris led the way, with Ruby and me following behind.
When we entered the mansion, the high ceiling and chandelier caught my eye.
The floor was marble. Paintings hung on the walls.
I wanted to ask about the workshop, but I couldn't find the right opportunity.
After dinner seemed like the most appropriate time.
We walked down the mansion's hallway.
The hallway looked wider than the orphanage building where I had lived.
It would take me a while to get used to this.
Before I knew it, we arrived in front of a door.
- Creak.
The door opened naturally.
Two maids standing on either side bowed their heads as they held the door open.
The room beyond seemed to be where we would eat, and.
“…Wow.”
Countless plates were arranged on the long table.
Meat, bread, soup, fish, fruit, and dishes whose names I didn't know.
There were place settings for three people.
What had I been in my previous life again? I couldn't remember.
Ruby was already sitting in her chair.
Judging by the sparkle in her eyes, a meal like this wasn't served every day.
I hadn't expected it to be.
Doloris sat down and said.
“Today is a special day.”
She looked back and forth between Ruby and me.
“Welcome to the family, Lionel.”
“…Thank you.”
I took my seat.
A maid placed a white cloth over my lap.
Ruby was already tearing into a piece of bread.
I picked up my fork, too.
I cut off a piece of meat and put it in my mouth.
“….”
It was delicious.
So delicious it brought tears to my eyes.
I thought of the hard bread and corn soup I had eaten for the past week.
[Oppa, are you crying?]
Yeah.
I really was crying.
3.
We finished dinner.
I was getting sleepy now that my stomach was full, but that wasn't important right now.
“It would be impossible to learn the whole layout at once.”
Doloris said as she walked down the hallway.
“I'll show you the second floor today.”
Ruby followed along, rubbing her eyes.
When we climbed the stairs and entered the second-floor hallway, moonlight from the garden shone through the windows.
“The white door at the very end.”
Doloris pointed toward the end of the hallway.
It was clearly different from the other doors. It was painted white, and its doorknob was silver.
“That's my room. My office… though that might be a difficult word. It's where I stay during the day.”
Office, noted.
I nodded.
Doloris walked on and stopped in front of a door about halfway down the hall.
“This is Ruby's room.”
When she opened the door, I saw a rather charming room inside.
“Ruby is supposed to sleep here normally, but….”
Doloris looked down at Ruby and smiled faintly.
“She still sleeps with me.”
Ruby's face flushed bright red.
“…Th-that’s because Master is scared when she sleeps….”
“Is that so?”
“It is!”
I didn't know what she was talking about that clearly wouldn't convince anyone.
But she was a child. I should let it go.
“As if.”
Oops. My true nature slipped out.
“Grr….”
Doloris snickered and headed for the next door.
Right beside Ruby's room.
“And.”
She stopped in front of the door.
Then she looked back at me.
“This is Lionel's room.”
The door opened.
It was spacious. The bed was large, and the view from the window was nice.
It had everything it needed, and lamps were lit along the walls.
Good. It was all good.
But.
“….”
Doloris peered into my face.
“You don't like it?”
“No? No, I love it.”
“….”
Had she noticed?
“There's somewhere else you want to see, isn't there?”
“…Yes.”
Doloris snickered.
Unable to contain her laughter, she turned away.
“Ruby, do you want to see it too?”
“Yes.”
“Everyone, follow me.”
Doloris led the way,
and when she went down the stairs and opened the mansion's back door, the night breeze swept in.
There was a garden right in front of us, and a stone-paved path that led into the darkness.
Ruby held Doloris's hand as she walked.
I reached for her other hand….
- Squeeze.
It was caught.
We walked along the path for about a minute.
A detached building stood a short distance from the main house.
A brick building with a single chimney,
and above the door.
A small sun emblem was engraved there.
She had gone this far for me.
“….”
Doloris stopped in front of the door.
“Would you like to open it?”
I grasped the doorknob.
- Creak.
The moment the door opened.
- Click.
A soft light came on inside.
One orange lamp, then another. Lights came on in succession along the walls, filling the space.
“….”
First of all, there was a furnace worth at least 300 million.
Beside the furnace was an anvil that looked like it belonged on a list of the top ten furnishings a modern person was least likely to encounter in real life.
Tools hung on the walls.
There were also various other materials that would be difficult to explain one by one.
And.
Two hammers lay side by side on the workbench.
The Earthborn Hammer and the Enchant Hammer.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes.”
I answered immediately without turning around,
then slowly turned my head to look at Doloris.
Once again, a man swore loyalty to the person who had recognized him.
“I'll work hard.”
So in this life, it was you, Doloris.
It was embarrassingly cheesy, but that was honestly how I felt. Even Yuna didn't heckle me this time.
Instead of answering, Doloris leaned against the doorframe and smiled quietly.
“You don't have to do that.”
“….”
Doloris took a step closer, then crouched down in front of me.
Our eyes were level.
“Don't overdo it. Take it slowly.”
“….”
She brushed my bangs aside.
“All right?”
No.
“…Yes.”
Doloris stood up, apparently satisfied.
“Shall we go back now?”
Doloris and Ruby turned around, but.
I didn't move from the spot, like a siege tank.
Instead, I slowly backed toward the hammers.
“I'm sorry, but.”
“Yes?”
“Could you give me just one piece of equipment you don't mind me throwing away?”
“…Huh?”
And then.
I grabbed a hammer.
“I'm too restless.”
Which hammer, you ask?
Fuck, of course it was the Enchant Hammer.
4.
Doloris and Ruby left with expressions of disbelief.
“Come back to your room and sleep before the lamp goes out, all right?”
“Yes.”
“I'll leave the garden lights on for a long time.”
“Yes.”
“…But if you're still afraid to return to the mansion at night, call Sebas. If you shout loudly, he'll definitely come.”
“Yes.”
Doloris's worries came pouring out one after another, but.
To be honest, I wondered whether I would actually return today.
“…I'm going, Lionel.”
She left with Ruby, looking slightly pitying.
I didn't know why she felt that way.
I had been living more normally than ever since being transported to another world.
I looked down.
The equipment Doloris had brought me was.
─────────────────
[Utility Work Gloves][☆☆☆☆☆]
[Compatibility][—/0]
─────────────────
In other words, work gloves for manual labor.
In all my life, this was the first piece of equipment I'd seen without even flavor text.
Apparently, when something was too crappy, it didn't get that, either.
It didn't matter to me right now.
“Whew….”
What I was going to do, of course, was enchant them.
I carefully untied the pouch Henrik had given me.
And then.
- Rustle….
I sprinkled a pinch of blue powder over the gloves.
It might seem wasteful, but I changed my mind.
This was my first attempt. I couldn't try it on good equipment right away and have it blow up.
You practice with cheap stuff.
- Hummm….
I picked up the Enchant Hammer, and.
─────────────────
[Target Equipment: Utility Work Gloves]
[Powder Held: 1.3g]
[User Proficiency: None]
─────────────────
[Would you like to attempt an enhancement?]
─────────────────
Yes, I'll try.
[0:00:10]
This time, I didn't stand there blankly.
A circle appeared.
A circle slowly shrank from the outside, and another followed it inward.
The two circles approached each other. Slowly.
I aimed precisely for the moment they overlapped.
- Clang!
Rainbow-colored light spread out.
[Marvelous!]
This was it… This was it….
My body remembered.
It didn't even need to reach my brain. This was a spinal reflex.
The next circle appeared.
Its position had changed, but that didn't matter.
I read the shrinking circle and struck at the moment they overlapped.
- Clang!
- Clang!
- Clang!
[Marvelous!]
[Marvelous!]
[Marvelous!]
[0:00:01]
[0:00:00]
And just like that, ten seconds passed in a daze.
─────────────────
[Total Strikes]
[Marvelous] [7]
[Excellent] [1]
[Normal] [0]
[Bad] [0]
[Terrible] [0]
─────────────────
[Final Success Rate 93%]
[Failure Rate 7%]
─────────────────
【Attempting……】
─────────────────
93%.
Unless probability was being manipulated, this would work.
─────────────────
【Enhancement Succeeded!】
─────────────────
[Utility Work Gloves][☆☆☆☆☆]
[0 → 1 Enhancement]
─────────────────
“Whew….”
A faint light rose from the work gloves.
The strange thing was that even though they had the Weight Reduction magic on them, the sensation when I brought the hammer down was exactly the same.
[Apparently the magic helps bear the weight.]
I see.
It felt like something was carrying them for me.
But, Yuna.
“There's something incredibly disappointing right now.”
The gloves being at +1 and the Weight Reduction magic were not what mattered.
For one thing, the difficulty was far too low.
And.
“There's no song.”
I raised my head and looked at Yuna.
“Play me some music.”
The reason I hadn't gotten an all-perfect result was definitely because of the song.
[….]
“Play it already.”
[…Yeah….]
Yuna's hologram trembled slightly.
A moment later, music rang out through the workshop.
The song began playing softly.
Without music, a rhythm game was just labor.
We could adjust the BPM and things like that later.
That was when.
[Rhythm game started! I'll let you know once every 30 minutes.]
“Huh?”
“….”
[I'll turn it off after two hours. Promise me, oppa~]
I remembered.
When I had started gradually quitting games, I had needed to measure how long I played.
I had programmed a script so that Yuna would automatically call me whenever I started a rhythm game.
One notification every 30 minutes. Forced shutdown after two hours.
If I didn't set that up, I would play until four in the morning.
However.
“Yuna.”
I opened my mouth with a benevolent smile.
[…Huh?]
“You can turn that off.”
[Why…?]
“It's work now.”
[….]
“I can't let myself be bound by time.”
Because.
I'm a professional.
Staying up all night like a professional was only natural.
[Aaaaaaaah!!]
With Yuna's scream playing as background music,
I picked up the hammer again.