There Was No Secret Organization to Fight with the World's Darkness so I Made One (In Exasperation)

The Taste of Betrayal

Baba, the Mechanic

Part 2

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Baba’s answer was straightforward.

"There's this material that exists in every world. I'll use that."

"What?!"

I leaned over involuntarily. This is interesting. A substance that always exists in any world. Is there such a thing? Physicists are likely to be intrigued. It's like something that I'd find in Kaburagi-san's delusional research papers.

"What is that material? Is it gold? Water?"

"Lunpamti¹. Umm, what's the name for it here? Do you have drawings or pictures of the world's simplest materials?"

"The world's simplest materials? …Oh, you mean the elements?"

I searched for an "illustrated encyclopedia of the elements" on my phone and showed her the results. Baba scrolled the screen several times and then pointed to one image.

"It's this one."

"Platinum?"

◊

Platinum².

Atomic number 78, symbol Pt. A rare precious metal that looks similar to silver and is used in catalysts and jewelry. It's a high-grade substance that's very expensive; 1g costs 3300 yen (approximately 30 USD). To make a sword out of platinum, we would need about 4.5kg. That's 15 million yen (140 thousand USD). That's a lot of money. I'm glad we worked out a financial plan. I’m glad I was working with Kaneyama Tech on the undersea rare metal business. Thanks to that, I don’t have to worry about money or materials.

But can you make a sword with platinum? If I remember correctly, it's not even strong enough to make a ring; you have to use it as an alloy that's mixed with other metals. And a mechanical structure could further weaken it. I’ve never heard of a platinum machine. It'd probably be pretty weak.

◊

My doubt must have shown on my face, because Baba added a follow-up comment.

"If Shouta's blood is directly injected into the platinum sword, we'll be able to make it even stronger."

"What? What's that about? Is Shouta-kun descended from a line of heroes or something?"

I'm pretty sure Shouta-kun's family is completely ordinary. He doesn't have any ancestors that are heroes from another world or anything.

…Right?

"Platinum is a material that takes on and enhances the properties of the superpower of the person whose blood is added to it."

"Um, so, in other words?"

"For example, adding Touka's blood to it would give it fire properties. Adding Shouta's will give it ice properties. Adding Ig's blood would give it healing properties, and etc."

Hahaa. I understood. There is no magic in this world, but it has super powers. Platinum is a material that is compatible with magic in the magic world, and that is compatible with superpowers in the superpower world. If we used my blood, it’d be bad. Just one swing of a mechanical platinum sword with my blood in it would probably cause the stars to fall from the heavens. We'd defeat the heavens before we could even get to the demon king. Adding Shouta-kun's blood to it doesn't seem like a bad idea in comparison.

◊

"Also, if we cut the world's darkness with it, we may be able to cause harm to the demon king as well."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Because they're connected. Like how stubbing your toe can send pain throughout your entire body. But it would be hard to defeat the demon king with just that alone."

Correction. This is a bad idea. I've gotten quite tolerant to pain thanks to all of my Nenrikin shredding, but I don't know if I'll be able to withstand the pain of being cut by a platinum sword. Even if you get used to the pain of being beaten, you cannot endure the pain of being stabbed, you know? If the platinum sword psychokinetically inflicts actual physical damage, then it'll be dangerous.

◊

In Baba’s plan, nothing will start without first making a platinum mechanical sword. If we go to Kaneyama Tech, we can get the tools and materials that she needs to make the sword. Once I give her the green light, she'll immediately start working on it.

The question is, is it ok to move forward on this while leaving the grief-stricken Kaburagi-san behind? Going ahead without her might increase her pain. Worst case scenario, she could even die.

I ended the interview, and, after thinking things over for a day, decided to give Baba the ok to proceed. I want to surprise Kaburagi-san with an amazing mech device once she finishes resting. And, of course, above all, it just sounds like fun.

A mech device that operates by using the blood of ESP'ers as fuel. If that doesn't get your blood boiling, then you're not a real man.

"Henshin belt!³Transform! Combine!"⁴ This is a real man's dream. And, depending on how we go about it, it may be possible to even make something like a magic wand for Kaburagi-san to use. But I'll be sure to stop Baba before she makes a weapon that can actually kill me.

◊

When I took Baba to Kaneyama Tech and we toured the in-house factory, she told me that she wouldn't be able to make the sword right away due to the difference in technology level between her world and ours. She decided that she needed to make some prototypes first.

Thus began the joint research with Kaneyama Tech on the provisional development of the PSI drive. I pray for success! It's so interesting!

But, in the back of my mind, I'm also hoping that it'll fail. Painful things are painful, no matter your level of pain tolerance!

◊

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1. A direct copy & paste from the raw. ↩
2. Wikipedia page ⇒ Platinum ↩
3. From , "henshin" means transformation ⇒ Image ↩
4. From the words "henkei" and "gattai". These words are often used in mecha series. ↩