18-1 To Orston Territory After So Long

Now that my body had completely recovered, I decided to go here and there to deal with various matters.

First, I decided to go to Orston territory for a certain purpose.

I brought Fal and Remi with me.

Ever since that incident, Remi had been glued to me.

Apparently, she was worried that I might go somewhere again and come back badly injured.

Lately, I had not been able to pay much attention to Remi, so I was happy too.

This time, I sent advance notice in a noble-like manner.

It was a golem of ours, shaped like a lump of rock.

Antonio had a subtle look on his face, but Butler-san laughed.

This was actually not just a normal golem either, but a kind of master-slave unit synchronized with me through the power of spirits.

I visited with a joking greeting like, “Hey, Antonio-kun, how’re ya doin’?”

His wife also laughed, lightly shaking her large belly.

I thought it was good for the fetus too when the mother laughed.

After all, one year ago, no one in this family had been laughing.

Also, Yamamoto-san and Aoi-chan were coming with us.

I thought I would have them increase the variety of postpartum meal menus for mothers.

I was hoping for body-friendly menus with the power of Japanese food.

There was also the matter of consulting about baby food menus.

There were already trial samples.

I had asked Eri for that too.

Right now, she was enthusiastically preparing for Christmas, when she expected cake sales to be the highest of the year.

Since this would be the first time this event was held in this world, there was no way to know whether there would be prospects or not, but this was purely based on information from me.

Around us, including the royal family, we planned to advertise Christmas in a flashy way.

First, new customs had to be spread in the royal capital.

Either way, in this country, Kitchen Eri was the center of these kinds of things.

It would probably become a story of expanding from Adros to the Royal Capital Alba for the first time.

Considering the possibility that Margarita-san might have trouble producing milk, I was also thinking about developing powdered milk depending on the situation.

Well, since she was a noble, I did think she would have a wet nurse.

Structurally speaking, baby bottles seemed quite difficult to make.

Delicate and extremely specialized things like that were difficult to make even with my power.

I honestly wanted detailed design drawings owned by a baby-bottle manufacturer.

When I had things like that, there were quite a few cases where I could make them with “leave-it-to-me production.”

Also, information on the materials would help.

The submachine gun I made with that kind of ability had saved my life this time.

At first glance, it was plain, but it was a skill that could not be underestimated.

Also, detailed enlarged cross-section diagrams cut from various angles.

For that much, the curious people on the message board would probably do it if I asked them.

I could send the type of thing I wanted to test to them through online shopping.

As expected, I had not brought baby bottles to the camp, since I had planned never to use them at my house for all eternity.

They had not been sold at the convenience stores I stopped by along the way either.

Those also had a great variety of types, including material differences.

Even so, I wanted to try challenging it.

I thought I should anticipate various cases.

Margarita-san was wearing the safe-delivery charm I bought at that mountain, hanging from her neck as if it were precious.

I had asked a pattern-maker trainee I met online to select baby underwear data for me.

Since she was someone attending a vocational school, she even dragged in her school friends and handled it quite seriously.

The internet was also overflowing with free patterns for babies.

The children in our sewing group were looking at them while their eyes spun, unable to decide which to choose.

I prepared carefully selected patterns, cloth, and other materials, as well as things related to knitting, and I made proper knitting needles too.

Or rather, when in trouble, I relied on the sewing machine shop, asking them to measure things properly, and something good came out of it.

The knitting needles even received a passing grade from Aoi-chan.

She seemed oddly particular about this kind of thing, and she was quite strict when it came to quality.

When this old man was a child, knitting had been popular in elementary school, so even boys did knitting.

I had once learned from my mother and tried hand knitting, but since I was clumsy, I quickly threw it aside.

Wasn’t it the easiest-looking scarf that made me give up?

I had already forgotten how to do it.

After that, I decided to leave behind a variety of wrapping materials and samples that had evolved further under the guidance of Aoi-chan and her friend, as well as several improved types of sewing machines.

There were professional-use straight-stitch types, powerful types that could sew thick leather, types that could sew long items vertically, and types that laid that sideways.

I also prepared overlock sewing machines that could sew firmly.

For this area, after that, I somehow worked hard and asked the sewing machine shop to create the data.

When it came to professional sewing machines of this kind, unlike ordinary household sewing machines, it was especially difficult to obtain actual machines that worked properly.

I definitely wanted to try challenging two-needle sewing machines too.

As expected, embroidery machines were difficult.

Computerized sewing machines were a little…

Well, if it were a sewing-machine-shaped golem, I might somehow manage it.

If Takeshi Funabashi were assisting me, I thought we could surely make those antique-style sewing machines too, but that was obviously impossible.

For work in that area, I had no choice but to rely on Mari, who had apparently been his assistant.

Since general household types should still be sold around Southeast Asia even now, I also had them obtain a new treadle sewing machine.

Either way, they could only send me the data and photos here.

There were quite a few people who wanted treadle sewing machines, but not many who wanted to buy new ones.

Even online, I had never seen new ones for sale.

Since I had uploaded a super-massive number of impressive videos one after another, the advertising fees had become quite substantial.

I used that to cover the cost of sewing machine data.

Right now, I was improving Aoi-chan’s magic motor and beginning development of an electric sewing machine.

For everything other than the power motor, I was relying on the sewing machine shop.

The sewing machine shop owner had his main work too, so I had him proceed at a relaxed pace.

He also seemed to be elegantly enjoying work outside his everyday business.

Regarding sewing machines, which were his livelihood, even he had received a medal from the king.

For now, a proposal had emerged to build a sewing factory in Antonio’s territory.

Since that was the case, I tried making a test factory.

I repurposed our kindergarten building.

That had originally been built as a workshop-type property, so using it as a sewing factory felt completely natural.

I had already become used to the work, so I built it in no time.

Wonderful applause rose from the territory residents who were watching.

I tried making a daycare center so that people could work even if they had children.

I built another building with a thud next to the sewing factory.

I also tried making things like the large goods for children to play with that were often installed in kids’ corners at commercial facilities.

If necessary, we could dispatch personnel from our Beast-Ear Garden on rotation to guide the people who would work at the daycare center.

I built another warehouse on the opposite side and tried making a connecting passage to the workshop.

I also tried making a carriage terminal for transporting raw materials and shipping out products.

I had already done this with the food court, so I already had the construction parts ready.

It was interesting, because it felt like I was assembling a real factory on a computer screen.

Eventually, carpenters would probably build them, but this was a factory sample.

Remi and Fal, who had been watching, were delighted.

Now that Remi had grown bigger, she could understand what this kind of thing was.

After all, it was a building of the same type as the house she lived in every day.

I had shown her the construction scene back then too.

If there were opportunities, I wanted to show this sort of work to the other children as well.

Countess Orston had also come out gently, so to commemorate the completion, I made it Fal-tan’s singing time.

Yes, one of my purposes for coming here this time was to have Fal sing a blessing song for the child who would be born.

After hearing the story, many territory residents gathered to catch a glimpse of Elion-sama.

And Fal sang the blessing song in a clear, ringing voice.

I summoned spirits and had it projected as aerial images throughout the territory.

The territory residents would be surprised, so I had Antonio greet them first.

I could have broadcast it with my own magic, but having manifested spirits do it gave it more sacredness.

“Long live Sacred Elion-sama, long live our lord,” the voices of the territory residents echoed.

It was probably a scene unique to House Orston, which had served the country and its people for many years.

Since Remi was hearing Fal’s blessing song live for the first time, she listened with her ears perked up.

And she looked a little proud.

It was like she was saying, “How about that? This is my little sister.”

And then I also talked about the other matter.

I wanted to talk about when I fought Nielsen.

At that time, I had observed a strange skill.

“Demon Realm Armor.”

At a glance, I understood that it was an extremely dangerous thing.

The kind of thing that absolutely must not be used.

This power of seeing was an ability I had regarded as extremely important since back when I was in Japan.

I thought that if I asked this martial family, they might know something.

“Hey, Antonio. Have you ever heard of this Demon Realm Armor?”

“No? I’ve never heard of it. What about you, Brother Andy?”

But Andy also tilted his head.

“No, I don’t know either. Father might have known something. Butler, do you know anything?”

However, upon hearing that, Butler-san turned pale.

“Duke Granburst, that skill alone must never be used. No matter who you may be, that alone must not be. Though it bears the name of a skill, it is a kind of curse.”

Ugh.

I thought it was dangerous, but I did not think it went that far.

Actually, I could not delete this.

Once I learned something, it stayed until I died.

Even when I asked Jessica and Rain, apparently this world did not have ability users who could steal skills like in novels, so it would not be stolen and disappear either.

I timidly asked.

Now that the conflict with the Empire seemed likely to end, I could not handle being told the final boss was appearing here.

The Garden’s events were just about to reach their peak.

Wasn’t there supposed to be no Demon King?

But since spirits existed, it did feel like it would not be strange for demons or something to exist.

There should be humans like me who ended up receiving the Demon King title because they had overwhelming abilities.

“Um… does the Demon Realm exist? Also demons, or Demon Kings?”

“No such things exist, but the soul is eaten by the skill and falls into darkness. For example, if someone like you became that, the world would… There are no such things as demons, but if one were forced to define it, there would be no problem calling someone with immense power who has fallen into darkness a Demon King or a demon. That skill is something of that degree. It is something that once shook the world to the point of nearly destroying it. Even books that describe it are treated as forbidden texts. In this day and age, there are likely few who even know of its existence. House Orston was a family praised as the sword of the kingdom, so that story has been passed down to us. The kings of each nation were also on edge so that no one would recklessly search for it. And now, after all this time, it has revived in this manner. Two years ago, it was believed to have perished along with the explosion of the aerial garden said to have been created by the first king. Please, engrave this old man’s words deeply in your heart.”

“Haha, I’ll do that.”

So that was why Nielsen had not used it until now, and why he had released it right away.

He had touched the taboo solely to defeat me.

Did that guy have some kind of skill or resistance that allowed him to oppose that kind of thing for a short time?

Or perhaps, during his research, he had found a countermeasure to keep himself from being swallowed by the skill.

At this point, there was no way to confirm it.

That bastard left behind an outrageous parting gift.

This was a very bad thing.

It probably consumed a lot of mana, so he must have prepared its activation in advance.

That might also have been why he could not use it for long.

The reason something had been wrong with me back then was probably because of that.

In a sense, was it something that stood at the opposite extreme from Sacred Elion’s blessing?

It gave me an image close to a spirit’s attack.

That was something emitted by spirits, so it was not something that violated the mind, though.

Come to think of it, Fal sang and healed me, didn’t she?

That was also thanks to Ars.

Ars had incredible flashes of insight at those split seconds.

When necessary, he had those insights as naturally as breathing.

He was a man far more suited to S-rank than I had been during my S-rank days.

That skill cursed equally everyone who used it and everyone it was used on.

In exchange, it was probably capable of piercing through every defense and dealing damage.

There seemed to be other dangerous things too.

Please do not tell me there are other users of that thing.

Seriously, I could die.

If I had not been a Seventh Senser, I definitely would have died then.

This was absolutely something that had to be sealed away.

I felt like I wanted to deposit it in the kingdom’s treasury.

But it bothered me.

Where the hell did Nielsen pick up something like this?

Maybe I should consult His Highness Michael about this too.