[Intermission] Imperial Researcher

I am Fujiwara Ema.

I conduct research for the Empire.

Recently, Taro returned from the northern nation.

He's always been granted special privileges regarding magical stones, and we trade information he's gathered during his adventures. In return, I lend him updates on the Empire's research status and my own findings.

This journey seems to have brought back an enormous amount of new information. That must have been quite a difficult trip.

It exceeded my imagination.

A method to bond activated and degraded magic stones for use, reviving the degraded stones, and applying this technique to selectively destroy only human-turned magic stones.

Each of these alone could support a lifetime of living. I was so astonished I almost suggested turning them into papers.

All of them groundbreaking discoveries—found with such ease.

Who on earth is he? Could he be a top researcher from some major country?

When I returned home on business, I heard from the housekeeper my mother employs that he's a wanderer—no one knows his exact origins.

It's unsettling to have someone so inexplicable around, and I'd normally avoid getting close, but fortunately he's low-risk and friendly, so my mother seems eager to make good use of him.

The real problem is that he's friendly toward me, too.

It's well known that noble families control the research of magic stones and magic.

If someone like me—non-noble—engages in such research, nobles tend to interfere.

To get around this, I've become an apprentice to noble families I've had ties with, conducting my research under the guise of a noble representative. There are quite a few people from common backgrounds doing research this way.

But he is not acting on behalf of anyone. He works independently and has achieved such remarkable results. Moreover, he brings those results directly to me.

Naturally, feudal nobles find this unpleasant. They've already started raising objections to me in the form of debates and inspections.

Yet, should we really suppress his talent for the sake of science?

If we keep thinking this rigidly, science will never progress. It would be better if anyone could conduct research and publish results freely.

I must protect his findings at all costs.

I'll have to navigate this situation even more skillfully than before... Honestly... I just wanted to focus solely on research, but lately I've ended up taking care of junior researchers entrusted to me by colleagues... It doesn't always work out as conveniently as I'd like.

Lately, my own research hasn't been going well, and I've been feeling a bit down.

I slap my cheeks to rally myself. I need to stay focused—especially since, by sheer luck, I overheard him mention a technique that combines a degraded gemstone with an activated one, and that sparked an idea.

There's still much to verify, but I'll try everything. Right now, I'm working on this magical tricycle. Once completed, it could greatly transform logistics. I can do this too.

From then on, I continued researching the magical tricycle, struggling through countless challenges.

Thanks to days of nonstop work, I finally made progress on the power mechanism—it now appears to be functioning properly. That means it could be used in any situation. All that's left is to have the blacksmith help me craft the parts.

Taro doesn't seem eager to share his discoveries with the outside world.

If he published all his findings, he'd surely be recognized as a brilliant scholar and receive plenty of research funding... Still, he's quite an unusual person.

That's probably why he's only published information about the activation phenomenon of degraded crystals. Even so, it's more than enough.

The content I published spread throughout the empire and among the nobility, as I expected, drawing visitors from all over. It's even said to have reached other countries.

After all, it's the claim that one can both neutralize activated crystals made from previously discarded degraded crystals, and simultaneously reactivate the degraded crystals themselves.

It was said that degraded crystals would crumble and rot if used continuously, yet now they can be brought back to life.

There's nothing quite like this. Especially magical items that are difficult to process will see their lifespan revolutionized as tools.

Now, I'm quietly excited, curious about what kind of changes will unfold, stirred by a touch of mischief.

A few days pass, and I'm growing weary from the daily stream of letters and visitors.

The reason? It's Tarou-san. People coming to meet him—apparently hoping, if possible, to absorb him into their own plans.

It seems Tarou-san ended up challenging the dungeon without anyone noticing. When told that the only way to meet him was to enter the dangerous dungeon, he immediately became quiet and obedient.

Despite all his talk, he's surprisingly timid. If we'd met him here earlier, we could've gained an advantage over everyone else...

Tarou-san is Tarou-san, though. He did what he could and then vanished. It's unfortunate—this discussion from here on out is important, after all...

Suddenly, he asked if he could use the magic tricycle we'd been testing as a prototype during the dungeon clearance.

I don't mind at all—it's a great chance to gather experimental data—but I'm a little worried. I'm concerned about Tarou-san's safety, but I've heard he's fairly strong. He'll probably be fine.

I'm worried that Tarou-san might not be seen as a combat tool. He said he only wanted to borrow it for carrying supplies, so that's fine, but I can't help being concerned.

In the meantime, I shoved all the letters onto him. Seeing his round eyes made me feel relieved.

A few days passed, and Tarou-san and the others returned from the dungeon. I was shocked to see the monster head they brought back, but it seems the Magical Tricycle proved useful after all.

Taro came back right away to return the Magical Tricycle. It seems the axle broke, but thanks to that, we’ve figured out where the structure was weak.

When I asked about its use inside the dungeon, it felt fine. Honestly, I don’t know how it connects to combat—being a layperson, I can’t say for sure.

All I can do is pray it never becomes a weapon of war.

Just then, I received an invitation to a citizen party from Her Majesty the Empress. I was overwhelmed with surprise—my head spun.

Right now, I'm standing at the main gate of the party venue.

Alex, who's teaming up with Tarou, is here too. We've been invited as citizens who've recently made remarkable achievements. It's flattering to be chosen, but I can't help feeling nervous.

I didn’t really want to rely on my family’s influence, but this time I couldn’t help it—I ended up using their connections to bring in a tailor and also invited some noble families I’ve been on good terms with to serve as my support staff.

Inside the venue, I was constantly approached by numerous nobles, leaving me no time to catch my breath. Worse still, most of them were only interested in asking if I’d consider marrying their daughter or becoming a daughter-in-law for their son. Honestly, I was getting quite fed up.

Occasionally, people ask me about the magic trike. When I explain it as a tool for transporting cargo, they give me a look that’s half understanding, half confusion.

Explaining its usefulness is quite difficult.

Just as I’m struggling to explain it, the Empress herself came to listen. As I earnestly explained, she nodded along, murmuring "uh-huh" in agreement.

She didn’t have any questions, but that’s fine—I’ll just keep working on making my explanations clearer from now on.

The Empress is a kind person. I think she’ll handle the Magical Triforce peacefully.

Our meeting with the Empress ended rather quickly.

After that, I grew weary of the endless matchmaking talks and ended up drinking quite a bit—I don’t remember much. I hope I didn’t say anything strange...

When I woke up, I was lying in my old family room. Later, I heard quite an embarrassing story from the butler. Be careful with alcohol.