Chapter 1-37 : The Girl And The Dark Elf Try The Otherworlder’s Magic Tool (part 2)
「Japowneezee…?」(Ingrid)
「No, Japanese. I think it’s a pretty common type of ancient language.」(Elle)
「I see. Did your master teach you how to read this… Umm, Japaneeze?」(Ingrid)
「Close. Japanese. And yes, he did. He had a huge underground library underneath his house, and he would teach me ancient language when he had time to spare.」(Elle)
「Not only did he teach you how to enchant a magic ore into a magic stone and mine one, but he also taught you a lot of other things, I see.」(Ingrid)
「Yeah… He was a great master to me.」(Elle)
While looking at the copy of the ancient blueprint in her hands, Elle reminisced about Moritz and smiled.
「Speaking of Japanese, I remember reading a book about an outworlder hero. They came from a place called ‘Japan’ a long time ago. This ancient language seems to be their mother tongue.」(Elle)
「An outworlder hero? Wait… Does that mean that this magic tool came from another world?」(Ingrid)
「Yes, most likely.」(Elle)
「What!? Unbelievable!! So, I discovered a blueprint of an otherworld magic tool!? Hahaha! I thought it was an ancient magic tool or something, but turns out it’s even better! My decision to return to this city was right!」(Ingrid)
Ingrid was so excited.
Seeing her reaction, Elle became interested in this magic tool.
「Ingrid-san, you almost finished this thing, right? Can I see it?」(Elle)
「Yes, of course! It’s upstairs. Come, I’ll show you!」(Ingrid)
Ingrid looked so happy when Elle said she wanted to see her work. She took her to the second floor, where she stored the magic tool.
Yoyo and Neige, who had been silently watching the two talking, followed them upstairs.
There were three rooms on the second floor; two seemed to be storage rooms, and the other was a bedroom. There was also a ladder leading to the attic.
「There it is.」(Ingrid)
Ingrid opened one of the storage rooms and pointed at the square object in the middle of the room. The thing was covered in a thick blanket, and it had a wooden board placed on top.
Following Ingrid, Elle entered the room, which was as cluttered as the workshop on the first floor, and approached the mysterious magic tool.
「Wow… You managed to put it together by just looking at the drawings in the blueprint? That’s impressive!」(Elle)
「Haha, thanks! But it took me years to get it to this point.」(Ingrid)
Ingrid couldn’t read the instructions written on the blueprint, so she tried as best as she could to work on the magic tool based on the drawings alone, starting from gathering the materials and assembling them one by one.
Elle was amazed by Ingrid’s talent and patience. Even professional magic tool engineers wouldn’t get this far without reading the instructions.
「I don’t know what it’s called, so I just simply call it an ancient blanket for now.」(Ingrid)
「Umm, according to this blueprint, this thing is called ‘kotatsu’.」(Elle)
「Kyotatzzu…?」(Ingrid)
「Kotatsu.」(Elle)
「Ugh, Japaneeze is hard…」(Ingrid)
「It’s Japanese.」(Elle)
「…..Oh, well. Anyway, is there anything else you learn from the blueprint? Any small bit of information will be helpful.」(Ingrid)
「Hmm, let’s see…」(Elle)
Elle spread the blueprint in her hands and began to read every word and every sentence carefully.
「It seems that this ‘kotatsu’ thing is popular in Japan. People there always use them to warm their bodies, especially in winter.」(Elle)
「Warm their bodies? I knew it! It’s some kind of heating device, right?」(Ingrid)
「Yeah, I think so.」(Elle)
「I knew I wasn’t wrong! But… Why is it not working?」(Ingrid)
Ingrid was confident that she had made the kotatsu the right way, but because she couldn’t read the instructions, she always encountered problems and hadn’t been able to make the kotatsu work.
「So, what’s exactly the problem?」(Elle)
「High power consumption… For some reason, it consumes so much mana. Since it’s a heating device, I thought I just needed to put a fire magic stone in it, but it didn’t work. I then came to the conclusion that regular fire magic stones won’t do.」(Ingrid)
「I see. That’s why you think my fire magic stone will work.」(Elle)
「Exactly. But… I still have no idea why it needs so much mana. I mean, it may be an otherworld magic tool, but it’s a simple heating device. I don’t think it needs much energy.」(Ingrid)
「Let me see if I can find the reason. Hold on a second.」(Elle)
Elle shifted her gaze to the blueprint again and continued reading.
「Hmm… It’s indeed a heating device, but it’s not just simply warming your body. It’s also supposed to provide a healing effect.」(Elle)
「Healing effect? Aah, I see now!」(Ingrid)
It seemed that kotatsu was a magic device that warmed people’s bodies and provided a healing effect at the same time. It could remove fatigue from working all day.
Because of that, it required a huge amount of mana that ordinary magic stones couldn’t provide.
「So that’s why it requires so much energy.」(Ingrid)
「It seems so. But, are you sure my magic stone will do?」(Elle)
「Well, there’s only one way to find out. Let’s put it in!」(Ingrid)
「Alright.」(Elle)
Elle just read the blueprint briefly, but it was enough for her to learn the simple structure of the kotatsu.
She put away the blueprint and helped Ingrid set up the thing.
First, they removed the wooden board on top and the blanket covering the device. It then revealed the main frame, which looked like a small square table with short legs.
They both then carefully lifted it and flipped it over, revealing the box with the drawing of a magic circle attached in the center of the table. It seemed to be the core of the device.
Ingrid then opened the box and carefully installed the fire magic stone she received from Elle.
After she was done with the installation, they turned over the device and put it back together with the blanket and the wooden board.
「Alright. Before I turn it on, can you read the blueprint again and make sure there’s nothing we didn’t miss anything?」(Ingrid)
「Alright.」(Elle)
Elle spread the blueprint and read it again. But then she squinted when she read the sentence written on the bottom right.
「Wait, there’s a warning.」(Elle)
「A warning?」(Ingrid)
「It says… “Be careful! It can cause extreme laziness!”.」(Elle)
「Extreme laziness? What does it mean?」(Ingrid)
「I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound harmful.」(Elle)
「Hmm… Anyway, let’s see if it works first.」(Ingrid)
「Yeah.」(Elle)
「Alright here we go… The moment of truth…」(Ingrid)
Ingrid swallowed as she turned the switch on. She looked nervous.
After waiting for a few seconds, a magic circle appeared on the wooden board, indicating the magic tool was activated.
「Oh! It’s on! It’s working!!」(Ingrid)
Ingrid couldn’t hold her excitement. She had a big smile on her face.
「This is amazing!!」(Ingrid)
「I’m glad for you.」(Elle)
「It’s all thanks to you! Other magic stones didn’t work, but yoursー Your exceptional magic stone works like a charm! Thank you! Thank you so much!」(Ingrid)
「You’re welcome!」(Elle)
Ingrid wasn’t the only one who was happy with the result. Elle also felt the same.
She was glad to be useful to someone, especially to a kind person like Ingrid.
「So, are we going to try it?」(Elle)
「Of course! Let’s try it!」(Ingrid)
Ingrid grabbed the blanket, crawled down, and got inside the kotatsu.
「Ugh, it’s so hot here. It’s hard to breathe too!」(Ingrid)
「Umm… I don’t think that is the right way to use it. You’re not supposed to put your entire body in it.」(Elle)
「Really?」(Ingrid)
「I think you only have to put your lower body in it like when you’re using a blanket.」(Elle)
「I see. Like this?」(Ingrid)
Ingrid stuck her head and upper body out of the kotatsu and sat down on the floor.
「Ahhh~ I see now~ It’s so comfy here~ Come join me!」(Ingrid)
「U, un.」(Elle)
Elle crouched down and carefully put her lower body into the kotatsu.
Soon after, her feet that felt sore from all the walking and running around the city began to feel better. The healing effect seemed to be working.
「It’s so warm and it feels relaxing… It’s a strange feeling, but I like it.」(Elle)
「Haha! I know, right? Your companions should join us, especially your cat. I think cats will like it here.」(Ingrid)
「Hey, I hear you! And I’m not a cat!」(Yoyo)
「Fufu. Yoyo, Neige, come here.」(Elle)
「Well then, ladies. Please excuse us~」(Neige)
Yoyo and Neige joined the two sitting in the kotatsu.
「Whoa… Not bad.」(Yoyo)
「Ahh~ It warms the cotton in my body~」(Neige)
The two seemed to like it as well.
「So, this magic tool is kinda like a table, but it’s short and has a blanket on it. What a weird magic tool.」(Elle)
「Now that you mention it, it might be what tables looked like in the world where it came from.」(Ingrid)
「You may be right. I wonder if the people in Japan don’t use chairs.」(Elle)
Usually, people sit on chairs facing the table. However, it seemed to be different in Japan.
Elle thought that Japanese people normally sat on the floor like that.
「It’s a weird custom, but I have to say, I kinda like it. Perhaps I should try working like this.」(Ingrid)
「That’s a good idea.」(Elle)
「「Aaaaaahh~…」」(everyone)
Feeling the ultimate comfiness of the kotatsu, the four of them exhaled in unison and relaxed.
Ingrid and Elle were leaning their heads on the kotatsu while Yoyo and Neige were lying down on the floor.
「Ugh… I suddenly need to go to the bathroom… But I don’t want to leave…」(Ingrid)
「Aa…」(Elle)
Hearing what Ingrid said, Elle realized something.
「What’s wrong?」(Ingrid)
「Now I know what that warning means…」(Elle)
「Hm? …Aahh… I see…」(Ingrid)
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