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“…Ah, the rain’s stopped.”

When I happened to glance out the window, the torrential downpour that had been raging just a while ago had vanished without a trace.

Through the gaps in the cloudy sky, sunlight streamed down like ladders. In a little while, that dry, scorching heat would surely return.

“Well, I guess that makes sense… it has been two days since then…”
“Yaaay, break time, break time—wait, gyaaah!? Momo’s all shriveled up!!”
“Ah, Ms. Hoshikawa… it feels like it’s been a while.”

*Dear Mom, Dad,*
*How are you doing back in Japan?*
*As for me, I’m dying here in another world, buried under piles of difficult books inside a castle.*

“Wow, so many thick books! The king’s collection? How’d you manage to gather all these?”
“Ugh… I’ve been studying for all sorts of reasons. Since there’s still time before the staff is finished, I thought I should use it productively.”

Every book stacked around me was one I had been allowed to borrow with the king’s permission.

I couldn’t afford to waste even a moment of the six months I had. Somehow, I had to gain knowledge—anything that might help me find a way to extend Master’s life.

“But I can’t understand any of it at all…!”
“Yikes, well yeah… they’re all technical books. Hmm, nope, I don’t get it either.”
“Uaaaaah… at this rate I’m just going to drag Master down…”

While Master and the others focused on making the staff, I had thrown myself into the books. Yet I hadn’t even managed to decipher ten percent of them.

As expected of the king’s collection, the contents were completely beyond me—far too many technical terms.

Thanks to Babel’s power I could read the words, but I still couldn’t make sense of what they actually meant.

“You’ve got the motivation, but not the level. It’s like a beginner trying to climb Mount Everest. Want some cocoa?”
“Thank youu… Oh, wait, speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be with Mr. Arnitta’s group?”

Mr. Arnitta’s side had been working with all their might, thrilled at the chance to use such rare materials.

But it wasn’t as if they were hoarding precious scales for themselves. They were desperately trying to create the best work they could.

Ms. Hoshikawa’s crafting ability should have been useful there too. That’s why I had assumed she’d be working alongside them.

“Ahh, I’m working on something else right now. Remember that big object that fell from the sky? I’m analyzing that.”
“Oh… the one that skewered Mr. Valka…”
“Yep, that one. You called it a meteorite, but it feels like that’s not exactly right, doesn’t it?”

Thinking back, it really hadn’t been a meteorite at all—it had been a massive iron pillar.

But if it wasn’t stone, then where in the world had such a pillar come from, one large enough to impale Mr. Valka like that?

“By the way, Momo, have you ever heard of the ‘Rods from God’?”
“Nope!”
“Wow, that was a confident answer. Umm, well… it’s kind of an urban-legend-type weapon. You know how when a meteorite crashes into the ground, the impact is huge? Do you know why that is?”
“Ummm… because it falls from a super high place?”
“Exactly. Even if it’s the same size and weight, the higher it falls from, the more destructive it is. So the idea was—what if you launched an artificial satellite, and dropped a massive hunk of metal from orbit? That kind of weapon got the nickname ‘Rods from God.’”
“Hooooh… wait, but that sounds insanely dangerous!?”
“Well, it’s just a theoretical weapon, y’know. Some people say maybe some country’s working on it in secret, but whether you believe that or not is up to you.”

Ms. Hoshikawa tried to dodge the subject with vague words, but that wasn’t the real issue.

Because I had actually seen it in this world—iron pillars falling from the sky. More than once. Dropped by Theo’s own hand.

“Yeah… judging from what you’ve told me, the accuracy’s way too good, too. If something like that really was falling from orbit, there’d be no way to avoid it…”

Our eyes naturally drifted toward the window.

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still heavy with clouds. No trace of blue, much less of any satellite.

And even if there had been, there’d be no spotting it with the naked eye—unless we had a telescope…

“…Ah, so that’s why Theo destroyed the workshop’s telescope?”
“Ahh—makes sense. Momo, that’s a sharp guess.”
“Come to think of it, Ms. Hoshikawa, ever since we came to this world we haven’t once—”
“Hey, Momo. So this is where you were. I’ve been looking for you.”
“Ah, Master!”

The one who opened the break room door was Master, dressed in an oversized work outfit.

Even though her clothes were stained with oil and soot, somehow they still looked good on her. Unfair.

“Bhehehe, you’re cute as ever, Laika. A sight for sore eyes…”
“The rain’s stopped. I’m heading out to investigate the ruins now. Want to come with me?”
“You’re just pretending not to notice Ms. Hoshikawa now, huh. Is the staff already finished?”
“That’s already in the realm of magitech. They don’t need me there anymore. Besides, in this body there’s only so much I can help with.”

True, seeing Master in work clothes was a novelty, but I couldn’t picture her actually wielding tools and helping Mr. Arnitta and the others. If anything, she’d probably just get in the way.

“Also, Perve-… Hoshikawa, you’re coming too. There might be traps again, and I’ll need your sensing ability.”
“O-oh, is this a date invitation!?”
“…Maybe I should just go alone after all.”
“No, Master, you can’t! If you collapse from exhaustion again it’ll be terrible! Ms. Hoshikawa, please look after her for me.”
“Huh, Momo, you’re not coming?”
“I’m going to focus on studying for a bit…”

If I tagged along right now, I’d probably just stumble into some trap and end up making things harder for Master.

With Ms. Hoshikawa there, I could relax. …Probably. Hopefully. Yeah, it would be fine.

“Make sure you ride Daigorou to get around, okay? And no using magecraft unless it’s absolutely necessary! And also, um, and also—”
“Got it, got it. You’re like a nagging sister-in-law. I’ll just check the flooding near the entrance and be back right away. Don’t worry.”
“In that case, fine. But be home in time for dinner!”

Once I saw Master and Ms. Hoshikawa off, the room became so quiet it almost felt lonely.

All that remained was me, and the mountain of incomprehensible books piled around me.

“…Alright! I’ll do my best to at least understand something in here!”
“Mm, First Disciple also… studying?”
“UWAAH!? Stell!? Since when have you been here!?”

I hadn’t noticed her presence at all until she spoke. I hadn’t even heard the door open.

Yet there she was, sitting right next to me, already flipping through one of the books. Just when had she slipped in?

“Came with Teach… Asked to watch over First Disciple.”
“Ahhh, so she saw right through me. Can’t beat Master, huh.”
“Mm. If it’s studying, I can help. Open that book.”
“Uh, this one? I managed to follow the first three pages or so, but after that it’s just wall-to-wall technical terms…”
“It’s fine. I’ll teach you. Like Teach.”
“Stell! No, wait—Professor Stell!”

The little home tutor’s teaching was incredible. As expected, someone who had lived in this world had a completely different foundation of knowledge about magecraft than I did.

Thanks to her explaining everything in a way even I could understand, by evening I had managed to grasp about thirty percent of the book’s content.