NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21 part1
The Taste of Betrayal
Baba, the Mechanic
Part 1
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Baba told us her story.
She told us that she was from a different world, and that she used to be a queen there.
She told us how she was actually 905 years old.
She told us about how traveling between worlds is a one-way ticket, and that inter-dimensional travel between Earth and her former world would now be completely closed.
She told us about how she was bored to death by how peaceful her former world was, so she came to this world in search of adventure and to defeat the demon king.
She told us how she was convinced that Shouta-kun is the hero who is fated to defeat the demon king.
She even told us that she was capable of making a weapon for the hero that could defeat the demon king.
It was like a fantasy novel, but I couldn't deny the obvious evidence from the DNA testing.
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At first, I was in shock. Then, I became upset, which I immediately felt so guilty over that I wanted to die. This world is disgustingly realistic and routine, but superpowers are real. Since superpowers exist, it makes sense that there are other worlds as well. But I never really thought it would appear in front of me.
And Baba arrived too late. Why couldn't she have come five years earlier!? If I was still a college student, I would've been incredibly excited over the existence of a "isekai elf loli-baba". Why did you have to come now, when I've already completely given up!? Damnit, it's not fair! I also want to be a hero and have an elf as my companion! I want to go defeat the demon king together! Why not me!? Why now, now that I’ve grown up and was beaten down by reality?!
…Well, at least I'm not as bad off as Kaburagi-san. Now that we know that magic actually exists, but you can only use it in other dimensions and not on Earth, her dream of being a magical girl has been completely crushed. As usual, this shitty reality has destroyed the possibility of any fantasy-like things happening.
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What’s worse is that reality is just as much of a let-down in different worlds as well. Apparently, the demon king that Baba is looking for on earth is; "An evil man who plays with other's hearts, attacks innocent people, is accompanied by powerful subordinates, and is so powerful that they could even destroy stars". However, no matter how I think about it, that's obviously supposed to be me. And following that line of reasoning, the "Person with a strong heart that never breaks who opposes him" would probably be Shouta-kun.
Baba, who earnestly longed for a battle between the hero and the demon king, abandoned her home, gave up her position as queen, and decided to travel to a different world and never return. But it turned out the "demon king" of the world she arrived at was nothing more than a carefree man's match-pump for youths.
Sorry, I'm not at the level you're looking for. It's not on purpose, but what's done is done. I've trampled on Baba's momentous decision and the once-in-a-lifetime battle that she was so desperately searching for.
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What am I going to do?
Baba came too late for me to be happy about it. Kaburagi-san, whose dream has been crushed, has completely collapsed. Baba came to look for the demon king, but there never was a demon king in the first place. The long-awaited extraordinary life that I had hoped for is supposed to have come, but no one is happy!
Wait, no, there are the two middle-school students. They, at least, are incredibly excited.
To be honest, this is a difficult situation. It seems that Baba believes that the demon king is manipulating the world's darkness from the shadows in order to spread violence throughout the world. That answer is only partly correct. I feel sorry for Baba, who's earnestly discussing strategies for defeating the demon king with the two students, but I have to put a stop to all this. If I let this continue, my life could be in danger.
I usually ask Kaburagi-san for advice in situations like this, but the shock she received just now was too great. In order to recover from the fantasy she always longed for being shattered into a million pieces, she needs rest. She needs to take at least a week or two (possibly even a month) off, and slowly heal her broken heart. In the meantime, I'll figure out how to deal with the problem of Baba on my own. Somehow.
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Baba can't use magic, but she learned Japanese language and culture at an aggressively fast pace, so it definitely seems that she's cultivated a lot of knowledge. Baba said that she would first make a weapon to kill the Demon King and give it to Shouta, who she had deemed to be the hero. After that, she would be in charge of weapon maintenance, and accompany the hero in his journey to search for and ultimately subjugate the Demon King. Before things could get too out of hand, I decided to take Baba alone to Amaterasu's secret underground base and have a personal interview with her. We sat face to face on sofas across a desk.
While I do plan on admitting Baba into Amaterasu, the question still remains; will she on the side of the manipulators, or will she be the one who is manipulated? Baba herself seems to be willing to be manipulated. I understand that feeling, and I want to make it fun for her, but I don't want things to get too out of hand and end up dying from it. Therefore, I need to know exactly what Baba is capable of. This information is of the utmost importance.
When Baba saw the hidden door and the basement behind it, she got so excited that her ears were constantly swiveling while she was looking around. Do they not have things like this in her world? I guess not. If they did, she wouldn't have needed to come all the way to Earth. It’s sad that there’s no fantasy in the fantasy world.
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It was hard to stick to my "silent character" act while conducting her Interview, so I decided to talk normally. But this "Baba" is a clever "baba".1 I'm pretty sure she won't tell the others that I'm just pretending to be silent.
"Kaburagi-san is resting, so I'll be interviewing you in her place. Please answer the questions I ask of you."
"…I'm surprised. I thought you couldn't speak. Why are you only talking now?"
"Because it's necessary. Don't ask useless questions."
Baba nodded deeply. Good, she catches on fast. I immediately started questioning her.
"Why do you think that the 'demon king' is the one behind the world's darkness? Actually, are you sure that this demon king even really exists?"
"I'm positive they exist. They absolutely do exist, because they were found to be in this world. You want to know why I think they're responsible for the world's darkness? Because, although the power of the king varies depending on the world, the power to manipulate strong subordinates was a power I wished for this king to have."
"I see."
In other words, it's that, right? She thinks that either the appearance of the demon king caused already-existing monsters to become violent, or that the demon king himself created the monsters. Well, the second one isn't technically wrong.
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"What about this 'weapon that can defeat the demon king?' Is it a magic sword?"
"There's no magic in this world. Instead, I'll make a mechanical sword."
"A mechanical sword, huh."
Wait a minute. Isn't that more science-fiction rather than fantasy? I guess that's the consequence of there not being any magic here. At least it's still a sword, rather than guns or missiles.
"The technique for making a sword that can defeat the demon king has been passed down through Alves' queens for generations. And I'm one of the best."
Baba proudly held out her hands to demonstrate. Her wrists smoothly rotated a full 360 degrees, and each of her five fingers were able to rotate that much as well. I feel sick! It's beyond what you can accomplish just by practicing. Even if she looks human, she's not human after all. The DNA doesn’t match.
"What would the sword be made out of? If you need something like mithril or orichalcum, then it's impossible."
A sword made out of materials that don't exist on Earth is a wonderful, thrilling romance; but the problem is the "doesn't exist on Earth" part of it. Baba may be a queen as well as a mechanic, but it's doubtful whether her knowledge and skills can be utilized on Earth. No matter how great a swordsmith is, nothing can be done without iron. Can the same raw materials used on Baba's home planet (Midorikyuu, I believe it's called) to make the sword really also be found here on Earth?
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- Making a pun on her name (This "old lady" (Baba) is a clever "old lady" (baba)). ↩