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“Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve properly explored magitech, isn’t it?”
“It’s completely uncharted territory for me. Even in the present day, it’s still considered a new field.”

Two days later, using the academy’s break, I passed through the checkpoint dividing Rigel with Momo in tow.

The streets of the Magitech District felt… futuristic, compared to the magic and magecraft zones.

Smoothly coated roads, stone buildings fitted with thin glass panels, and evenly spaced magic stone lamps. Everything in sight carried an air of unfamiliarity, as if each object pulsed with the power of magitech.

“It feels like a concrete jungle! It kinda reminds me of Japan!”
“Your homeland sounds bizarre. I’d like to hear more, but let’s save that for later.”
“ARE YOU LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?”

As I matched our current position with the map in hand, a golem shaped like a cylinder with wheels rolled up and spoke.

Its appearance was strange enough, but the fact that it spoke was even more surprising. It wasn’t as eloquent as the Koutei that the saint had with her, but the fact that it could communicate at all implied it had some level of independent thought.

“Whoa, it’s cute! Maybe it can guide us?”
“Looks like it. We came with a referral from Mintark, the Guildmaster of the Magecraft District. Can you show us where this building is?”
“I AM SORRY, I COULD NOT HEAR YOU.”
“Haha, look at this thing.”

“ARE YOU LOST? DO YOU KNOW YOUR MOTHER’S NAME?”
“Wait, no, Master! You’ll break it if you hit it with a spell like that!”
“Let me go, Momo. I’ll just dismantle it and remake it from scratch.”

“Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot! What the hell are you doing, you brat?!”

Just as I condensed an air bullet in my palm, a young man in a lab coat stepped between me and the golem.

He glared at me like I’d killed his family, lifting his hand— and pointed a ring-shaped staff, identical to Momo’s, directly at me in warning.

“What the hell?! No. 73 is the most advanced communication model we have! Don’t just break it!”
“Wait… are you the creator?”
“Of course he’s mad! Apologize, Master!”
“Well… yes, I admit that was a careless remark. I apologize for that. More importantly, are you perhaps one of the magitech researchers Mintark introduced us to?”
“……Hah? Wait a second, are you the wizard my grandpa was talking about?”

✦✧✦✧✦

“Ahahaha! Mintark wouldn’t shut up about how brilliant you were, so I was expecting some kind of a giant. But look at you— just an adorable little lady! Sorry for my idiot grandson’s behavior!”
“We were the ones who acted out of line first. My deepest apologies. My name is Laika Galactica, and this is my companion, Momose Kaguya.”

The young man in the lab coat (along with the golem from earlier) led us to a bizarre workshop that Momo described as ‘kind of like an office building.’

Inside, numerous cables stretched across the room, pulsating with magic power as they linked to cylindrical tanks filled with a purple liquid. Suspended within those tanks were various types of golems, all in different stages of assembly.

Despite it being just before noon, the room was brightly lit by magic stone lamps, starkly contrasting the gloomy wizard workshops.

“I’m Arnitta, head of the Magitech District, and this idiot here is my grandson, Zaif!”
“Wait, you’re really just a kid…? Ow, dammit!?”

The elderly man named Arnitta, who brought his massive fist down on Zaif’s head like a hammer, clearly had formidable strength even without his title.

His towering, bear-like frame radiated an overwhelming amount of magic power, fitting for someone of his size.

He probably could’ve made a name for himself as a wizard, yet he chose the path of magitech instead. Was the allure of this field really that powerful?

“You moron, acting all tough! Even this tiny little lady already apologized, and you’re still standing there like a fool!!”
“Master, you shouldn’t get angry…”
“What are you talking about, Momo? Do you honestly think I’m such a petty person that I’d get upset over being treated like a child?”
“But you got really mad at that tiny golem earlier.”
“Anyway, about the reason we’re here today—”
“You just blatantly changed the subject.”

I could hear Momo mumbling something behind me, but the clattering of the prototype golems whirring in the back completely drowned out her voice.

“Yeah, I got the gist of it. So… it’s the pink-haired missy over there, huh?”
“That’s right. It’s… well, unprecedented, but I’d like you to run some tests.”
“Why is everyone looking at me like I’m some kind of anomaly?”

I’d already sent word ahead, but ‘swallowing a dragon gem’ was an absurdity beyond common sense.

Yet, it was the truth— and to make matters worse, the one who swallowed it was standing there completely unbothered, as if nothing had happened.

“Uh… have you noticed any changes in your health? Loss of appetite? Any pain anywhere?”
“I can kind of do a breath like a dragon now.”
“Are you sure you’re human, miss?”

“At the very least, her mental state is a mystery.”
“How can you say that, Master!?”
“Well, sane folks don’t usually end up in my lab anyway. Fine by me— rare test subj… patients are always welcome.”
“Master, did he almost say ‘test subject’ just now!?”

Maybe I was imagining it, but the researchers around us seemed to be eyeing Momo with an intense, almost predatory curiosity.

A rare case like this must’ve set their researcher instincts on fire. I could only hope they wouldn’t fillet her like a fresh catch of the day.

“It’s just your imagination, missy. ‘Test subject’ is actually a local dialect term for a ‘brave soul worthy of the highest praise.’”
“Oh, wow! Ehehe, you’re making me blush with all these compliments~!”
“Well then, since you’re so brave, mind if we draw a little blood? Head on back to that room for me.”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all! I am brave, after all!”

The moment the door to the back room opened, I caught a glimpse of what looked like comically oversized syringes and a dazzling array of sharp instruments.

But, completely oblivious, Momo just giggled and let herself be ushered inside.

“…GYAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! M-MASTER!!! HELP MEEEEEEE!!!”

I might have heard Momo’s shrill scream echoing moments later, but the noise of the prototype golems clanking away behind me conveniently drowned it out.

So I decided to pretend I didn’t hear a single thing.

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