Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“Hmm… Height: 159 centimerte. Weight: 46 kilogura. Magic capacity: 7,180… Yeah, by my visual analysis, this is definitely the real deal.”

To dispel mine and Cestlavie’s suspicions, Coppelia chimed in with a casual confirmation.

I may not trust her judgment, but when it comes to Coppelia’s analysis functions, I can rely on her—well, somewhat (I’d never go so far as to say fully). But if she says this is the real Eliza, then the odds are high that it really is her…

“Is something wrong? You’re looking at me rather strangely… Ah, wait, are you wondering if I might be a fake, a leftover scrap, maybe something that Red Ram over there cobbled together to deceive you? Don’t worry. I’m definitely the Eliza you know. And frankly, just look at her—she’s barely clinging to life. She doesn’t have the strength left to make a fake.”

She gestured toward Maria Lou, who was coughing faintly and repeatedly.

“Clinging to life…? What do you mean, Maria Lou?!”
“……”

Even with Colin’s desperate questioning, Maria Lou remained silent. But I bit my lip, realizing that my suspicions were correct all along.

Then, in her place, Eliza raised her staff.

“This is what I mean. 「Invisible hand, remove the obstacles that block my path.」 — 「Ether Apse 」.”

As she chanted the incantation, the surface of the waste pool before her dented downward, as if an invisible force had pressed down on it.

The sunken area was about thirty centimertes in diameter. Since the Echidna had already brought the sludge close to the surface, the dent only deepened the pool to about knee-height in that section.

“Alright. That should do.”

Eliza peered at the water’s surface, nodded once—

“Wait—stop!!”

Ignoring Cestlavie’s sudden shout, she jumped without hesitation straight into the depression from Echidna’s mouth. The fluid below was supposed to be a pseudo-Alkahest—something that could dissolve cotton towels and bandages in seconds. He had every reason to expect a gruesome sight next, but—

“She’ll be fine.”

I said it confidently, just as a small splash rang out and Eliza stood calmly in the pool. Naturally, her legs were completely unharmed.

“What the hell…?” Asked Cestlavie.

“I’m just guessing,” I prefaced, “but I think… this facility has been shut down for a very long time. During that time, groundwater and other impurities probably seeped into the pseudo-Alkahest and degraded it. Most of its potency is likely gone.”

“But a towel did melt when we first got here.”
“Probably because, like oil floating on water, there was still a very thin layer of Alkahest clinging to the surface. But that’s all. Didn’t you notice how Coppelia’s underwear didn’t melt even after being swirled around in that wave earlier? Even though it’s made of silk—which is almost impossible to get anymore.”
“Fair point… (Also, stop bringing up underwear.)”

While we talked, Eliza had begun walking slowly forward. The Air Barrier circle moved with her, gliding across the surface, until she reached the still stone golem—where Maria Lou sat cradled in its arms, pale and barely conscious.

She stopped there.

“This proves it. The Echidna can only survive within the pseudo-Alkahest. That’s its limitation. And this environment is no longer viable for it to live.”

At her words, Maria Lou’s gaze sank, silently acknowledging the truth.

Totally Unrelated to the Main Story

① Eldest Pig: Pryui Shiel (Elf)
Comment: “If it were up to me, I’d build a house in a tree.”

② Middle Pig: Jill (Main heroine of the main story)
Comment: “NOOOO! I refuse to play a pig! Absolutely not!!”

③ Youngest Pig: Estelle Liese Behrens (Luke’s childhood friend from the book version, and one of the richest girls in the Imperial Kingdom)
Comment: “Why the hell am I playing the little sister of that cow-t̲i̲t̲s̲ woman?!”

One day, the mother pig tells her three daughters it’s time to leave the nest and build their own houses.

The eldest pig builds a house of straw, but the big bad wolf comes and blows it down.
The middle pig builds a house of wood (or maybe a treehouse?)… and well, you know how the story goes.

Now, the three pig sisters have holed up together inside the middle pig’s protective barrier, whispering frantically about what to do next.

“Tch… I can’t believe that Wolf smashed my brick house with a hammer…”

The youngest pig grits her teeth in frustration. The eldest, ever cautious, tries to console her while keeping an eye out.

“Well, considering we pigs used tools to build our houses, we should’ve expected the wolf might use tools too.”

The middle pig chimes in with a more fundamental point:

“I’m just saying, wasn’t it a mistake to try living in a place where wolves attack this often?”

The youngest pig shoots back instantly:

“So what, we just run away?! No way! My pride won’t let me run from some mangy wolf! I won’t allow it!”

“Still, we can’t exactly fight if we’re dead, can we?”
The eldest sides with the middle pig’s more pragmatic plan to flee.

“Even if we run, there might be more wolves wherever we go! We should take this one out here and now!”

The youngest pig is adamant about standing her ground.

“But Jill—er, I mean, the middle pig—can’t keep the barrier up forever.”
“Then we just need to build a new base—together! Stronger than bricks! An impenetrable fortress!!”
“A fortress? What, you thinking of building a steel house now?”
“Wait, hold on—I have a metal allergy! I wouldn’t be able to enter!”

The middle pig tilts her head in confusion while the eldest panics, but the youngest grins confidently.

“No, not cheap iron. I’m talking about the strongest, most classic fantasy material there is: ORICHALCUM! We’re building a house of orichalcum!!”
““S-Say WHAT?!””

The older pigs are stunned—but only for a moment.

“Brilliant idea! I can shape orichalcum with magic!”
“Indeed. I can touch orichalcum with no issue. But can we actually gather that much of it?”
“Leave that to me! With my overflowing wealth and expansive trade network, I’ll buy up every last piece of orichalcum on the continent!”

The youngest pig declares proudly, and her sisters break into applause.

Meanwhile, in the royal palace of some country…

“Your Majesty, emergency! All the orichalcum across the continent has vanished!!”
“What?! Absurd! Without orichalcum, we can’t forge the Hero’s Legendary Sword!”
“Yes, sire. And according to the oracle, the Demon King has already returned. We’ve even chosen the Hero…”
“Search the land! FIND THAT ORICHALCUM! If we don’t, the kingdom is doomed!!”
“Yessir!!”

And so, after much chaos and commotion, the three pigs completed their orichalcum fortress and successfully repelled the big bad wolf.

…Some country might have fallen to the Demon King as a result, but oh well.
And they lived happily ever after.