The Genius of the Ability-User World

The Genius of the Ability-User World

It was still early June, only a few days after the seasonal clothing changeover, and I had come to Miyu-san's house again.

More precisely, I had come to the room I rented for work.

I spread the completed pulp paper across the desk. I gave it a cursory glance, but as expected, I could not sense any mana from it—or rather, every sheet was already in the process of becoming an empty shell.

I moved the failed sheets aside and laid out the next batch of pulp paper. Then I moved my eyes over them in the same way.

"...Huh?"

My gaze fixed on one of them.

"W-wait, what...? What?!"

I immediately picked it up and stared at it for about ten seconds.

My Demon Eye was definitely sensing mana from that sheet of paper.

Even though I had made it without adjusting the mana at all during the process.

"I did it—aaah...!"

Still holding the paper in both hands, I threw my weight against the back of the chair. The momentum nearly sent me toppling backward, and I hurriedly regained my balance.

I checked that the paper in my hands had not torn and let out a sigh of relief. Well, it would not really have mattered if it had torn. I had carefully written down the recipe.

How far the fibers could be pulverized. The ratio of 'Wakou' to ordinary water. What kind of bleach I had used. How long it had taken to dry. I had recorded everything I thought was worth noting.

I retrieved the memo I had attached to the drying rack and put it into a clear file along with the pulp paper in which I had successfully fixed the mana.

"All right... yes!"

Only after doing all that did the reality of it finally sink in.

In theory, as long as I prepared the materials, this meant 'anyone could make mana-infused paper.' With this, I might be able to accomplish the 'three things' I had been thinking about.

There was still a mountain of things to investigate: whether the process was reproducible, whether it worked with different equipment, whether there was a more efficient method, and so on.

But for now, I decided to bask in the glory of this achievement.

Maybe I was actually pretty amazing. Instead of some incomprehensible nickname like 'Mother of Humanity,' shouldn't people in later generations be calling me the 'Einstein of the Ability-User World' or the 'Father of Scroll Technology'?

I headed for the garage at once to brag about—or rather, report—my experimental results.

Riko-senpai was supposed to be here today for Kenning's maintenance. I decided to indulge in a truly smug expression.

I restrained myself from unconsciously skipping and headed to the garage with slightly exaggerated strides.

I changed into the sandals placed on the step in the connecting passageway and opened the door with great enthusiasm.

"You two! I've got big news!"

'Three days ago, the United States finally completed a golem for combat against monsters!'

"...What?"

Didn't I just hear some ultra-big news?

They were standing in front of Riko-senpai's laptop, which sat on a workbench along the garage wall.

The two of them turned toward me, and our eyes met.

"Hey, Otaku-kun. I think we're feeling exactly the same way you are..."

"...Oh. Right."

I nodded, instantly deflating, as Riko-senpai smiled through her cold sweat.

Maybe I really was not all that impressive after all.

＊　　　　＊　　　　　＊

The computer screen showed an official video uploaded by the United States government.

Apparently, a dubbed version was already available, and the video played with a fluent Japanese narration.

'Behold the capabilities of this machine, the Gladiator!'

A scholar-looking man with a confident smile gestured toward a humanoid robot standing there.

It stood approximately 1.8 meters tall and weighed around 110 kilograms. Its silhouette resembled that of a soldier I might occasionally see on television.

It was covered in white armor, with only the joints painted black. Its featureless face contained nothing but a pair of camera eyes.

'Let us take a look at the Gladiator's capabilities!'

When the scholar-like narrator announced that, the screen changed.

A steel fist repeatedly sank into a large punching bag. As if to finish things off, it delivered a roundhouse kick that broke the chain suspending the punching bag.

Next came footage of the Gladiator running one hundred meters in the seven-second range, alongside a track athlete who was left behind despite running with it.

There was also footage of it crawling on its stomach, as well as leaping over hurdles and other obstacles.

Finally, the video showed the Gladiator shooting at a target with a handgun. Its accuracy appeared to be high: it hit thirteen of fifteen shots on a target ten meters away, eight of them striking the target's head.

The scholar-like man stood between the bullet-riddled target and the Gladiator, which had had its handgun taken away, and began speaking with a smile.

'This Gladiator possesses power, speed, and toughness beyond the limits of human beings. At the same time, its skill with firearms is no worse than that of an active-duty soldier.'

'This was made possible not only by modern science, but by the use of magic as well. By combining golem technology with humanoid technology, we completed the Gladiator.'

'And above all, because the Gladiator uses golem technology, it can recognize and attack monsters that should ordinarily be invisible!'

'Experiments have already been conducted inside dungeons, with impressive results. The day when Gladiators are deployed in the field and become heroes protecting America—and the world—is fast approaching!'

'Even if the world has returned to the Age of the Gods, humanity has already advanced to the next stage.'

'This is the age of humanity!'

That was how the video concluded.

Even though they could not possibly hear me, I found myself applauding in front of the screen.

"Wow... That's incredible. I can't believe they've already completed something like this."

Humanoid robots were romantic enough when they were piloted by humans, but machines the size of human beings were an entire bundle of romance.

Countries had been researching them since before the Day of Return, but the fact that their performance had reached this level was enough to make me take my hat off to them.

More than anything, an unmanned machine capable of recognizing and fighting monsters... Compared to that, the plans I had been considering were nothing but garbage.

The world really was vast. There were geniuses far more impressive than me moving the times forward.

"Yes. It is an impressive machine."

Miyu-san shifted her gaze from the screen to me and nodded.

"This was my first time seeing one as well. So robots like that existed in this era."

"...Huh?"

I tilted my head, sensing something strange in her deeply thoughtful words.

"Wait, there weren't any in the future? Ah, or have you seen a successor model?"

"No, not at all. I never saw or heard of anything like that on the battlefield."

"...Seriously?"

"Yes. If anything that could be called a successor to that machine had existed, the war might have been somewhat more favorable to humanity."

Miyu-san folded her arms beneath her enormous breasts and nodded deeply.

Something was wrong. How could someone who had fought for years in the future world never have seen the Gladiator or any of its successors?

Was it merely absent from the world she had lived in because this was a parallel world? Or perhaps...

"Hey, Otaku-kun."

"Yes?"

Riko-senpai spoke to me while operating the mouse.

She appeared to be looking at a website written in English. I could not make out the specifics.

"I've got a few questions. Partway through the video, they briefly showed something that looked like a magic formula, right? What do you think of it?"

"Ah, that one."

It was a magic circle that had appeared on screen for only a few seconds, surrounded by numerous spells.

I could tell how amazing it was just from a brief glance.

"I can only describe it as magnificent. It is truly the work of a master craftsman. They did not show the whole thing, but even the portion we saw was a flawless magical theory without a single wasted element. Above all, inscribing something like that would require extraordinarily delicate mana manipulation..."

It was only after saying that that I realized what had been bothering me.

A bead of unpleasant sweat trickled down my back.

"Let me ask you frankly. If you were to 'handwrite' that magic formula onto the internal components, how long would it take?"

"...I'm clumsy, you know."

So I was not exactly a useful yardstick. I was definitely not a good reference point or anything...

"No. I do not know the field in detail either, but I believe Kota-san's scroll-making speed is well above average."

"That's what she says. So how long would it take? A rough estimate is fine."

"...Just the portion shown would probably take a week. Once I got used to it, maybe five days or so..."

"You said that formula is only a portion of the whole. How large do you think the complete thing is?"

"I have no idea. But I think what we saw was probably less than one-tenth of the whole. None of the important sections were shown, after all."

"Okay. Next question. Could the Gladiator operate with only the part above its neck?"

"Impossible. As Riko-senpai knows, humanoid golems stop functioning the moment they cease to have a humanoid form. On the other hand, if it were made using human mana characteristics, I doubt any shape other than that one would be possible."

"Right. So mass-producing only the crucial part that lets it perceive monsters is impossible. Then here's the last question."

Riko-senpai finally turned toward me.

Her face was twisted into an expression of utter dismay.

"This is only based on information from the internet, so it may not be very reliable, but it looks like each unit uses incredibly rare metals from dungeons and handmade magical tools made by ability users. Do you think it would be possible to mass-produce complete units?"

"There are geniuses in both the ability-user world and the non-ability-user world. Someone will create a breakthrough. Probably. Most likely. Maybe."

I gently averted my face from Riko-senpai.

I could not think of even the slightest way to mass-produce something like that, but there were plenty of amazing people in the world. Surely they would figure something out.

Come on, all you geniuses of the world! Humanity's future rests on your shoulders!

There was no way the machine was merely a 'crowd-pulling mascot for capitalists' or 'a doll to reassure the masses.' The truly impressive part had to be coming later... surely!

"Hey, don't look away. Face reality. If it didn't exist in Miyu's future, then you know exactly what that means."

"...Well, maybe it just happened not to be in the same unit. Or maybe you saw one with an exterior nearly identical to a human and couldn't tell the difference..."

"More importantly, did mana actually flow through the surface of that thing?"

"It was only footage, so I really cannot tell..."

"Which means they would need to prepare mana-infused weapons and armor separately."

"...Even so! It's amazing! Surely it will become a hope for humanity!"

"You don't actually think that at all, do you!?"

"Humanoids will save the world! And eventually, downgraded versions will be distributed to every household, one each, as domestic helpers!"

"So you just like humanoids, don't you!?"

I could not help it...! Anyone would fall in love with humanoids after watching anime or movies centered around them!

And anyone would absolutely want to get lovey-dovey with a beautiful, sexy humanoid!

"I see. The world most likely tilted toward the monsters before the Gladiator could advance any further, and cost considerations prevented the development of successor models. What a shame."

Miyu-san seemed genuinely disappointed, and unusually furrowed her brows into an upside-down V.

I understood completely... It was romantic. Humanoid soldiers were romantic. And a thrilling buddy story about a human soldier and a humanoid soldier would be guaranteed to get me completely fired up.

"If it were unmanned, I thought it would be easy to resist mind control and carry out suicide charges."

I was wrong. This woman saw humanoids as nothing more than expendable tools.

Damn it...! Humanoids don't have human rights! Damn it!

Come to think of it, wouldn't it be more efficient to attach a bomb packed with mana-infused stones and metal fragments to a drone and send it in for a suicide charge? We could control it while riding Kenning.

"That aside, Kota-san..."

"Oh, yes."

Miyu-san turned toward me once again.

"What are that clear file and the paper inside it?"

"Oh, this."

I had completely forgotten about it after hearing that the humanoid for fighting monsters had been completed.

I took the pulp paper out of the clear file and showed it to them.

"It's mana-infused tissue paper that can be made in a factory as long as you have the equipment and materials."

"...Huh?"

Miyu-san's mouth dropped open with a little click.

Well, the surface of the paper was rather bumpy, so I would not recommend actually using it as tissue paper.

"Otaku-kun."

"Yes?"

"Why the hell didn't you tell us sooner, you dumbass!?"

"How was I supposed to know, you idiot!?"

Riko-senpai tried to land a Thai kick on my ass, so I dodged with all my might.

Because it was a humanoid, for crying out loud!? It was humanity's dream!

I... would never give up on a lovey-dovey life with a beautiful humanoid!

What was so great about them was that humanoids would not be afraid of me and run away... and as long as I maintained them, they would not even have a natural lifespan...

"Oh, and actually, I'm only at the stage where it might have worked. I haven't checked whether the process is reproducible yet."

"I see. Still, you managed it sooner than I expected."

"I was only testing different patterns. I'd been doing it even before I rented the room."

"I see. I don't know what the standard is for magic experiments, though."

"Neither do I. I imagine everyone is feeling their way forward when it comes to making things related to magic."

Could you stop inching closer while we were talking?

She was even making little sounds like "Hwaaah..." while taking stances resembling karate. Was she planning to kick my ass like some Masked ● Rider?

While we glared at each other, Miyu-san came striding toward us.

The oncoming wall of enormous breasts made me stop in my tracks, and she firmly seized me by the shoulder.

Oh no, not again?

"There is something I would like to ask you."

"Y-yes..."

"You previously said that mana-infused paper could be used for 'simplifying scrolls' and 'making monsters visible,' correct?"

"Not make them visible, exactly. It would only capture their shadows. The exact forms would depend on Kinue-san, or something like that."

"Is there anything else that can be done with that paper?"

"Ah, yes. Sort of. There's one more thing I'm almost ready to do..."

"Tell me."

Miyu-san looked at me with a frighteningly serious gaze, and I could not look away.

And because she was so close, her scent tickled my nose. I could tell from the sensation that her enormous breasts were about to press against my chest.

I became aware of my racing heartbeat. My ears were hot, and it felt as though my face might burst into flames.

"Actually, I think I might be able to make disposable 'Mana Packs'..."

Riko-senpai hit me with a full-force Thai kick. It hurt terribly.

Miyu-san released my shoulder and clutched her head.

"I know you're a different person, but I have to ask. Why... Why did you die at the harbor...?"

How the hell should I know?