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The old library behind the main library, which we discovered early in our school days, became our favorite place for me and Alfe.

While I was intrigued by the new books in the main building, my memories and knowledge from the time as Glass formed the foundation. Therefore, it was necessary for me to renew my understanding of the current world’s history and culture.

“Hey, Alfe. Instead of these old books, wouldn’t it be better to use the new books in the main building for your class preparations?”

Selecting books carefully to avoid giving away the connection to Glass Dimelia, I subtly encouraged Alfe to go to the main building.

“I like being with you, Leafa.”

As expected, Alfe’s answer was always the same. It seemed that, for Alfe, the top priority was being by my side.

Given that she had requested to stay by my side with the ‘request,’ it must have meant a lot to her. I was curious about how Alfe would react if she knew the real me. It was an impossible change in my mindset compared to when I was Glass, but perhaps even I had it in me to accept Alfe’s goodwill with whom I had spent time since infancy.

Still, I couldn’t fathom having the kind of ‘love’ Alfe talked about in my heart.

“…Leafa?”

It seemed I had unconsciously been staring at Alfe. Meeting my gaze, Alfe blinked her eyes rapidly.

“Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”
“About me?”
“…Well, who knows?”

Being stared at with Alfe’s Pure Eye made me feel as if my inner thoughts were being laid bare. Although I reassured myself that it wasn’t actually the case, I chuckled, shrugged my shoulders, and showed her a wry smile.

“Is it okay if I go back to reading already?”
“Yeah. I won’t disturb you.”

Alfe nodded, pulled the chair next to me, and took out textbooks and notebooks from her bag.

Since there were hardly any books in the old library’s collection that Alfe could read, she seemed to use this time for review and preparation. As for me, I had already gone through all the textbooks and supplementary materials on the first day, so I knew there was no need for me to prepare.

However, in several classes, there were opportunities to learn the ‘common knowledge’ and ‘established theories’ of this era. It was probably important for me to perceive and react to this knowledge as something new to make me appear more childlike.

It’s been three hundred years since Glass’ death, and the aspects of the world have changed significantly. What currently intrigued me the most was the development of a field known as magical engineering.

According to the books, modern civilization and technology underwent a major transformation about thirty years after Glass’ death. This was due to a series of industrial revolutions and an energy revolution involving the rediscovery of magical energy, such as Aether, and steam engines.

Three hundred years ago, the primary means of transportation in cities were horse-drawn carriages and walking, but now steam vehicles dominated. In Torch Town, buses that circled the city were frequently seen.

In the era when horse-drawn carriages were prevalent, traveling between cities always carried the risk of danger. In the present day, floating inter-city ships make such journeys safe from aggressive wildlife and other threats.

There were also astonishing changes in people’s daily lives.

Especially, the technological advancement of magic activation simplification techniques using runic characters—such as simplified spell formations—had made remarkable progress, bringing about a leap in manufacturing efficiency to the world.

As a result, various magical devices were created, permeating not only weaponry but also deeply integrating into people’s daily lives.

However, this didn’t mean that magical devices as weapons were lost. With the advancement of technology, wars and conflicts continued, and research in magical engineering persisted as cutting-edge technology.

The current state of the mecha soldiers, now treated as military secrets, and how much they have evolved, is beyond my imagination. Perhaps if I ask my father, he might provide some information, but it’s a dilemma. Ordinary children wouldn’t have an interest in such matters.

Alchemy is now incorporated into magical engineering as a part of ‘industry,’ and research is specialized in the field. The philosophy of ‘truth-seeking’ that I dedicated my life to as Glass seems to have been lost. Perhaps the pursuers of that truth were also ‘executed’ by the will of the goddess.

While I had a strong interest in the development of alchemy, the more I researched, the more disappointed I became with the current state of affairs.

Feeling disappointed means I still have a lingering attachment and expectations with alchemy.

In terms of personal pursuit, contemporary alchemy didn’t seem worth exploring for me. However, considering the benefits as convenient tools for daily life, it didn’t seem like a bad means of repaying favors to my parents and those close to me.

Either way, in terms of simple technological standards, my alchemy — what Glass Dimelia practiced during the time of the Human-Demon War — was far from being matched.

Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to the research on homunculi. I asked the librarian to select literature related to homunculi.

Several books on homunculi seemed to have been banned, and a few were brought from the main library.

In conclusion, homunculus creation was still being carried out, serving as a mass-producible human resource. However, it has become a human rights issue, and various restrictions were imposed on the manufacturing process. Of course, there was no application like what I was researching—swapping souls or being a vessel for that purpose. The current homunculi were vessels for souls bestowed by the planet.

Perhaps the research in this area had interference from the Goddess or Kamut. Just to be sure, I checked with the librarian, and she informed me that the banned books were disposed of simultaneously worldwide. Given this background, it’s easy to imagine that the Kamut were involved.

I finished reading all the books related to my purpose and grasping the history up to the present day. As for Alfe, she was diligently taking notes beside me. Judging by the textbook spread out on the desk, it seemed like she was preparing for tomorrow’s study on magical engineering.

Studying magical engineering in advance shouldn’t be a problem. After all, it’s a technology that didn’t exist in my time, and it had close ties to daily life. Understanding how it works and how to use it should be very helpful when helping around the house.

The era of kindling fires with magic was long gone, and in this day and age, magical devices took care of all the magical aspects of life. Even without magical talent, one could ignite a fire with the push of a button and maintain a comfortable indoor temperature with air conditioning magical devices. Moreover, the fuel didn’t rely on one’s own Aether; it was supplied from a Liquid Aether tank installed outside the house.

It seems that the era of relying solely on “magic¹” for everything has come to an end.

Nevertheless, there were still classes in magic, and individuals with strong magical abilities received special education even to this day.

This fact strongly influenced the circumstances that led Alfe and me to enter St. Salaius Elementary School.

“Leafa, are you finished?” Alfe noticed my gaze had left the book and promptly asked.

“Oh, no. I thought I might as well do some pre-study for tomorrow. Have you finished your pre-study in magical engineering, Alfe?”
“Nope! I’ll finish it soon, then I’ll review it! I’ll teach you too, Leafa!”
“That’s reassuring.”

Perhaps due to my showing interest in the same class, Alfe’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

1. TLN: This is a concept that is often lost in translation, but there are many terms for “magic” and “magician” in Japanese, and there are no strict definitions and differences for each. The typical way of referring to magic in the sense of shooting spells and creating supernatural phenomenon is ‘Mahou’, which is the word used here. There’s also ‘Majutsu’ (sometimes translated as magicraft or sorcery) which often refers to a more technical/academic aspect of magic involving formulas, theories, constructing magic circles, and such. There is also ‘Madou’, which, in this novel, is used for technological/applied aspect of it, so everything under magical engineering (technology that incorporates magic) like magical appliances are ‘madou-XX’. As such, what Leafa means here is that ‘mahou’ (typical magic) was no longer as relevant to daily life as before since it was replaced by ‘madouki’ (magical technology).