Chapter 120
This year's New Year's holiday, Hiyori would be staying over at my house.
Outside, white snow was steadily piling up from early morning. Ever since the first snow fell a few days ago, Fuyou had been finding one excuse after another to call Mokutan over, hold Mokutan close, and bask in the warmth.
As for me, I was warming myself in a kotatsu heated with Mokutan-brand charcoal while sharing a simple breakfast of grilled salmon, miso soup, and rice with Hiyori, who had come by early that morning.
I felt bad for Hiyori, but meals really were tastier when I made them myself.
But if Hiyori's home cooking and mine were both in front of me, I'd still find my hand reaching for Hiyori's. Strange how that worked.
As I removed the bones from my grilled salmon with chopsticks, I warned Hiyori, who was serenely sipping her miso soup.
"Like I said yesterday, dismantling the Demon King Gremlin is reaching its crucial phase. I'm going to forgo the New Year's holiday and hole up in my workshop. It's fine for you to stay at my place, but I won't be able to spend time with you."
"I see... Why don't you take at least New Year's off? It's not as if you have any reason to hurry."
Hiyori set down her bowl of miso soup and pressed the matter sadly, but I had my reasons too.
I am a man of principle. I have my pride as a wandmaker. Even if the most beautiful woman in the world tempted me to slack off, I could repel her with a will of steel.
"Listen, Hiyori. I declared this on our first date, but I will never neglect my work as a wandmaker just to prioritize being lovey-dovey with you! The schedule for dismantling the Demon King Gremlin keeps getting pushed back. If I keep putting it off with excuses, it won't be done even in a hundred years."
"I see. I was thinking we could eat New Year's soba together."
"...We'll eat New Year's soba together. But once that's over, I'm going to hole up in my workshop."
I succumbed to an invitation far too tempting and devious to refuse and nodded, but I am a man of principle. I would fill my schedule after dinner with work, without exception. I was not some weak-willed loser who neglected my true profession to dote on my private life with her.
"You know the Spider Witch built a bell tower at the temple, right? She invited me to ring the New Year's Eve bell with her."
"...We'll go ring it together. But once that's over, I'm going to hole up in my workshop."
I had yielded to a devious temptation that sounded far too much fun to turn down, but I am a man of principle. I would fill my schedule after the New Year with work, without exception. I was not some frivolous loser who neglected my true profession to indulge in a holiday with her.
"I'll be waiting in the bedroom tonight."
"...All right. But from New Year's morning on, I'm going to hole up in my workshop."
I had fallen for the devious witch's sweet words, which stoked desires that even the New Year's Eve bell couldn't dispel, but I am a man of principle. I would get serious starting tomorrow morning.
"Also, Mokutan invited me to watch the year's first sunrise."
"...I'll go to that, too. But once we've finished watching the first sunrise, I'm going to hole up in my workshop. I'm a stubborn craftsman who never slacks on his main job."
"Yes. Oori is serious."
"What are you laughing at?"
Hiyori didn't answer. Instead, she entwined her feet with mine under the kotatsu.
W-wait, the way you're tangling them is kind of sexy. This early in the morning, too. What are you doing?
Feeling embarrassed, I opened the newspaper and hid my face from Hiyori's grinning gaze.
The newspaper was full of retrospectives on 2111.
In spring, the Witch of Rekindling returned.
Only days later, Mr. Yamagami announced the magic calculator.
In early summer, the giant-monster battle between Tiamat, Geyzer, and Hiyori took place.
News of the discovery of resurrection magic sent shockwaves through not only Japan but the entire world.
In summer, the magic spiral was discovered.
Of course, at the end of autumn, the auction set an all-time high for wand transaction prices.
The Okojō Professor's recently identified Okojō back-route technique was not in the newspaper because it had not yet been officially announced.
I thought a lot happened in a year, only to find it described as "a year of upheaval." Apparently, this isn't how every year goes. I suppose that's only natural.
I looked back over the events, thinking that my grand comeback as the legendary wandmaker had triggered so many of them, but that wasn't really the case.
The magic calculator had nothing to do with my return, and neither did the clash between Tiamat and Geyzer-kun.
Some events had been triggered by me, but many others had happened independently of me.
Looking at the international section, the only event I knew about this year was the bankruptcy of Kranom Co. (the company that had been conducting illegal research on Tiamat). Everything else was one unfamiliar story after another: Prime Minister Maharshi being reelected in India, the end of the Ireland–Britain conflict, the worsening marine ooze problem, Suu Yenran's world tour, the New San Francisco earthquake, and so on.
I only know about what happens around me. You could also say that the incidents in my immediate vicinity keep me plenty busy.
Ever since I met Hiyori, it felt as if nothing but incidents had been happening. And we were living such a quiet, modest life deep in the mountains, far from human settlements.
Newspapers took New Year's Day off, so with no New Year's Day edition, the New Year's Eve paper was thicker than usual. After finishing the newspaper, Hiyori and I made and packed osechi, prepared New Year's gift money for Mokutan, Sekitan, and Fuyou, and did the year-end cleaning. Before I had a chance to make any progress on dismantling the Demon King Gremlin, it was already night.
That night, as promised to Hiyori, we went through all sorts of New Year's events, then everyone went to watch the first sunrise of the year together (though all we did was gather at Fuyou's roots), ate ozoni, and slept until noon because we were exhausted from staying up all night. At last, I was able to concentrate on dismantling the Demon King Gremlin.
I put a "No Entry" sign on the workshop door, rolled up my sleeves, and got to work dismantling the Demon King Gremlin. I was at the most intense part. I didn't want anything to disrupt my concentration.
The dismantling of the Demon King Gremlin was currently 70 percent complete.
The outer shell was done, and the inner core was nearing its crucial stage. The Demon King Gremlin used different proportions of materials in its exterior and interior, and the core contained materials that had not been used in the outer shell.
I thought I'd identified the number of special Gremlin types used in the Demon King Gremlin.
There were eleven types of Gremlins in the Demon King Gremlin altogether.
First, there were five whose manufacturing methods were known.
The ordinary, standard Gremlin (α Gremlin).
The melted-and-resolidified Gremlin, which had been melted with heat once and then hardened.
The elastic Gremlin, obtained by growing Gremlins under zero gravity.
The high-strength Gremlin, made by compressing Gremlins under deep-sea water pressure.
The Ghost (Invisible) Gremlin, obtained by defeating a ghost monster with exorcism magic.
The remaining six had unknown manufacturing methods.
The magnetic-response Gremlin, which loses its function as a magic activation medium when it reacts to magnetism.
The liquid Gremlin, which is liquid at room temperature and normal pressure.
The mimicry Gremlin, which is normally semi-transparent but changes color to match the Gremlin it is touching.
The Weight Gremlin, which is abnormally heavy despite having ordinary strength and hardness.
The unidentified Gremlin, which is visible to the naked eye but does not appear in mirrors or photographs.
The β Gremlin, whose difference from an ordinary Gremlin can be identified only by someone capable of controlling magical power.
More than half of the materials still had unknown manufacturing methods.
But the mysteries were slowly and steadily being unraveled.
For example, the melted-and-resolidified Gremlins from the Demon King Gremlin that I had entrusted to Magic University eighty years ago were analyzed, revealing that they were made by layering many thin Gremlin sheets on top of one another.
This produced a new manufacturing method called vapor-deposition lamination, which developed into a refund mechanism that gives back some of the magical power consumed when magic is used.
Elastic Gremlins could now be manufactured by combining Tiamat-type zero-gravity materials with the repulsive force fields produced by Kvant-style Gremlin chains, and Mr. Yamagami was already using them in the magic calculator.
In preparation for the Yamagami Institute's scheduled start of operations in spring, Mr. Yamagami designed the blueprint for an addition-and-subtraction calculator incorporating elastic Gremlins. He wouldn't give it to me even when I said, "Gimme that blueprint," so I got it in exchange for complete replica components of the Demon King Gremlin's tensegrity structure, along with notes speculating about how they could be used.
Until just six months ago, every sentence of Mr. Yamagami's correspondence conveyed how thoroughly apologetic he was. But after interacting with far too many important people from every field, he had become completely accustomed to social situations and grown remarkably thick-skinned.
These days, even if I send him ultra-high-precision geometric components I've made, he won't faint or walk around staring fixedly at them until he bumps into a wall (according to Professor Ohinata).
Instead, he freely places orders, asking for components like this or whether I can make something like that.
I'm sad that he no longer gives such entertaining reactions. Give me the innocent Mr. Yamagami of those days back.
On the other hand, since Mr. Yamagami was knowledgeable about Gremlin processing, he introduced me to some recommended machining-tool shops. Thanks to him, I had acquired a complete set of the latest precision-machining equipment made from custom magical metal. I tested how each tool felt in actual use and made small modifications myself, which helped improve the speed at which I dismantled the Demon King Gremlin.
I provided Mr. Yamagami with precision components and data on dismantling the Demon King Gremlin.
Mr. Yamagami provided me with theories and design data that only he could provide, along with the latest information from research institutions around the world, organized in an easy-to-understand way.
That's Win-Win.
I hoped to continue having a good relationship with Mr. Yamagami from here on out. On paper.
I absolutely wasn't going to meet him again, and I didn't want to hear his voice, either. Professor Handa thought he'd heard a voice and then died in an explosion, after all. It would be a problem if Mr. Yamagami exploded and died. Stay alive, Mr. Yamagami.
I dismantled what seemed to be the most interesting and important part of the Demon King Gremlin's core in one concentrated push after holing up in my workshop for two weeks.
Other than eating, bathing, sleeping, and using the toilet, I was cooped up in the workshop the entire time. My eyes were dry and smarting, my fingers and shoulders were exhausted, and my rear hurt from sitting nonstop.
But thanks to that, the worst was over.
The rest was just cleanup. At this pace, I should be able to finish dismantling it around the end of February or the beginning of March.
Then I'd go to the Kingdom of Rus to investigate Kvodenenets. I might need to start planning my itinerary for the Kingdom of Rus soon.
When I entered the living room to take a break with some tea, rubbing the deep furrow between my brows, I found Hiyori sitting in the rocking chair with a furrow no less pronounced than mine, muttering to Kyanos.
"――――Right... let's meet on Fiji."
"Tokyo works too!!? I don't think Conrad will complain!!"
Hiyori was muttering at a normal volume, but Kyanos replied with that deafeningly loud voice I remembered so well.
Too loud! I know whose voice that is instantly! It's the Witch of Hell! Long time no see! How have you been!?
In theory, Kyanos could intercept the magic-powered communications device connecting America and Japan.
It must have involved a fairly complicated process, but Hiyori had apparently mastered operating Kyanos well enough to hack into communications.
I didn't know why she was talking to the Witch of Hell, though.
"If it's Fiji, it'll be about equally distant from both Tokyo and America. It's closer to the destination, too."
"I see, that's what you mean!!? Got it!! Hiyo-chan is taking a boat!!? Going by dragon!!?"
"I'll transform into a dragon and go. I'll fly over land... See you at the Fijian consulate in three days."
"Okay, I'll tell Conrad too!! Then see you again in three days!! Give my regards to the craftsman!!"
"Yeah. See you."
Hiyori silenced Kyanos and spent a while thinking with a deeply troubled expression, one hand covering her mouth. Then, just as she was about to stand, she finally noticed me putting tea leaves in the teapot.
"Whoa!? Oori, you were here?"
"I was, I was. I heard the conversation too. What's up? Some bad news? That was the Witch of Hell just now, right?"
"Yeah. Well..."
Hiyori's reply was hesitant.
Hmm?
"I heard Fiji and America mentioned. Are you going on a trip or something? Wait, don't tell me the Demon Lord has been resurrected or something."
"Uh... no, but it's close."
"Huh?"
I had said it half jokingly, but I panicked when I got an answer I never expected.
What? What was that call about? This is scary!
Hiyori looked at me with a troubled expression for a while, then hesitantly explained.
"Do you remember the concept of vacant slots among Transcendents?"
"Uh, I think Transcendents have slots, and when one dies, the slot becomes vacant, and somewhere in the world another Transcendent of the same type is born, right?"
As I answered while trying to remember, Hiyori nodded and said something outrageous.
"The Witch of Hell has found a puppet wizard... the wizard who inherited the Iruma slot. I'm going to join up with the Witch of Hell and Conrad to deal with it."