"Say Gin… are there actually tech from our world that has been adapted here?"

"I think it's kind of a mess. I don't know if there are many changes after the two years that we are away but they have the basics here. Light bulbs, old-fashioned fridge, stoves, and even insulation and heating. They basically have electricity now. That said, all communication is still through letters."

"So it's like Meiji, huh."

"In some very small ways, yeah."

Shy of forty chapters after the preceding one and only a few days have passed since we came back here in Avarco.

Most of the time, isekai characters don't really get to know why they suddenly got transported to another world, and it was the same for us even back then. It didn't seem very logical that there can be a summoner here as there is no mana here, and I don't think we'll ever know the reason why we got here.

It does not seem like this world has any kind of nantara kantara that would make it a fantasy world, and it seems to be that everything revolves around monarchy, but we're not really one to get ourselves involved in any of that.

It's immature and a bit narrow-minded but the only thing we can do is settle for a simple coincidence that led us here. While we have so more questions than answers, there really isn't much to do but to get used to this environment again.

That being said, I should be working right now, but we found ourselves on our room just chatting nonsense.

"Anyway, Shiro and I really can't leave the castle, huh?"

"Yeah… I'm thinking of ways to hide your appearance but I haven't thought of an actually good one."

As I always bring a white handkerchief with me, it also came with me in my pocket, and so I technically have a mask and a shield. However…

"If you were to use my mask, it will only bring about confusion and panic, honestly. So that's out of the question."

"So about the other nobles you mention, are they always roaming around here?"

"Thankfully, they are in a neighboring palace as this one is where the top and the royal knights reside. But just like here, they also have their own aides so we really can't be so carefree.

Oh, oh, oh. The time. Want to help out on Nero's office? Surely you're getting really bored."

"That's better than lying around all day."

~ ~ ~

"Hmm… what should I do about my hair…"

Meanwhile in Sera Quira's office, the same discussion was being held among the three women.

"In my opinion, I think it's better if you let it down," Rin suggested. "Anyway, I like how you do your hair either way~"

"I guess it'll be more discreet if anything.

Also, I'm very sorry that I had you lend me your clothes, Princess…"

"Like I said, it's fine."

"Hmm, I suppose you and Nacchi have to get your own clothes. Should we have a system for the two of them, Sera?"

"If you have an idea, may you state it?"

"The only thing I can think of is a permit that requires your and Nero's mutual allowance to have them step outside."

"I'll talk about it with Nero later but I think it can work for the meantime."

"But the main issue is how can we conceal our faces from the public," Shiro added.

"We can make you two wear some covering on the face like some mask and place a direct order that you are to be accompanied by Sir Gram or Miss Raiha as guests of the country."

All of a sudden, Rin looked around for no apparent reason after it heard as though a window of only a split second between Shiro's inquiry and Sera's suggestion.

"…

You aren't as quick-witted as her, Shiro."

"Shut up…"

"For the moment, I suppose we can proceed in that way, but if Gram and I gets an idea, we will relay it to you and Nero immediately."

"Thank you, Miss Raiha."

"It is nothing, Princess."

"Hmgh…! Shall we take a break for a bit?"

"Do you want to drink tea, Miss Sera?"

"…

I would love to, but let us have it on the balcony. Please go there ahead of me. I will have to relay a message to the auditor."

"Yes'm."

~ ~ ~

In a jiffy, Rin brought out a tea set over a tray with a textured tray whose surface sees no luster and placed the lips of the cup down while the pot was being held by a sunken portion of the tray.

"Wow… so you did this everyday, Ringo?"

"Indeed. I surmise that we spent a month and a tad in our past stay in this nation, but I was bewildered with how the people had accepted us so simply.

Ah, can I trouble you to bring the kettle with you? Please be careful as it is still hot."

"Huh…"

"Is something bothering you, Shiro?"

"Are you really Ringo?" she asked jokingly and added, "I've never heard you speak like that. Now it feels like 20th century."

"Eh? W-Wha… Did I really…?

Ehehehe, I guess it was a force of habit. I kinda enjoyed the polite language so it immediately came back to me when we got to this world again."

The princess's office was located at the second floor of the central building which makes transporting a cart to the upper floor impossible. On that note, Shiro watched on Rin's back as such a dignified and sophisticated figure as she held the heavy tray on her hand with astonishing finesse harmonizing to her walking.

Escaping the trance and enjoyment of watching the ends of Rin's long coat flutter out and about Shiro attempted to satisfy another of her inquiry.

"Are you really okay with things like this? Knowing you and Gin, it feels uncharacteristic for you to do this kind of work."

"As a servant, you mean?

I thought the same too but it wasn't bad after all. Sure, we didn't really like it when we were going to work for the royalty because of their high standing, but we were too early to judge.

Nothing in this place reminds you of 21st, or even the 20th century. It felt like we traveled through time and are now in the past! It's not all that peaceful but at least you're not dealing with the chaos on the internet.

Anyway, this country is nice, so now we think that we're too privileged here because of our work. We accompany the prince or the princess, go around places, and use the blue blood's name for some things. But this world being so different makes the experience not so bad."

"Hmm."

"Well, the loneliness can't be removed from it. Our only escape tonthat was to be in this position. But I'm glad that even when Nero and Sera are on a much higher standing than us commoners if you may, they still consider us as a friend which blurs the line, but work is still work."

"That didn't sound like just a month of experiences but I'll take it.

Wait, why are we going through a narrow hall again?"

"You'll see~"

An almost blinding light exploded upon their exit from the passageway, and opened up the field of white roses cultivated on soil held by the marble.

"This is Nero and Sera's favorite spot in the entire castle. Apparently they used to play here a lot as they were friends from late childhood. This is also where we set up Nero to confess to her."

"You did what…?"

"You know, I think Nero will pass out immediately if Sera's father has every possibility to kill him. Although take that with a grain of salt for Uncle Junpei. But be proud of that. Nero doesn't have a backbone.

…?"

Turning around after her explanation, Rin watches the now squinting eyes of Shiro from the amazed face she had.

"Hahh… The ISO is too high here…"

Truly, it was brighter than normal, even more than the brightest of the day because of the array of the pure white flowers as though stippled close together without nearly any gaps.

"Is it cold in here all year long, Ringo?"

"Apparently? It's probably like Aomori? They said it snows a lot here when it's winter. Right now I don't know if it's summer but it's still plenty cool isn't it?"

"I'm back!" in Sera's return, she ran on small steps as she folded the ends of her sleeve, took a watering can and filled it with water from a faucet.

"I know it's been two years, but it's finally sinking in that you're now living in this country, Miss Sera."

"Right. At first, it felt like I was only acting as a delegate here but it slowly sunk in afterwards. It was a nice escape from my very lively home."

"Well, it was probably difficult dealing with the news with the prince finding his betrothed~"

"M-May we talk about something else…?" the princess's face flushed.

And so did her Orion counterpart.

"B-B-B-Betrothed?!"

"Ahaha… I guess Shiro wouldn't really know already…

May I please explain it, Miss Sera?"

"I do not want to cause a misunderstanding, so please do…"

"Whaddya mean a misunderstanding? It's the truth, isn't it?

Basically, the concept of dating from our world is different from here or rather… how to say… it's from the older times when dating is purely on the purpose of marriage in mind, unlike the rather shallow concept that we now have."

"Eh? Isn't that basically your and Gi- I mean, Gram's relationship then?"

"Is that true, Miss Raiha?!"

"Ehehe… It's not like that, though… It's only him…"

"Then stop fawning," Shiro naturally butted.

"L-L-Let me just serve the tea…"

"What will it be today, Miss Raiha?"

"It is apples, please enjoy."

"W-Woah… I thought tea has already hit a ceiling. This is worlds apart from the ones from milk tea, not like I really drink it."

"Well, it is literally worlds apart, silly!

Hahh… what is even this girls' talk…"

"Girls' talk?" the oblivious princess asked.

"Ahh… so we start there, huh…"

▪ ▪ ▪

"Oh, right. Gram, I'm about to head out for a meeting with a duke. I'll have to assign you to inspect the mines for today."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"So that's why you prepared a carriage. Teach me how to ride a horse sometime."

"When I'm free. Here's the location for it. Do you still know the kingdom's geography?"

"Roughly, but I'll manage. Be careful on your trip."

"Alright. I'll be off."

"There's one six kilometers to the west from here and one at ten towards south southwest… Finally some exercise.

But I should probably pack lunch."

~ ~ ~

In the event that the prince and his aide are on their own ways tells only that Nagi has been left on his own. There was an unwritten rule that flatly relies on the current logic that he and Shiro shall not be treading alone within the castle's premises to avoid any further conflicts that may arise due to their appearance.

It goes without saying that their status quo is quite frankly very restricted and they are holed up on the rooms they use without the presence of a companion that can assure them reigns outside the seclusion. It may be a normal response to at least have their opinions in defense to the situation they are in, but several parts of the nineteen years Nagi has continued to live pulls him away from making any complaints.

It was the better situation for them, but obviously there can be the best solution.

Just merely existing had nearly brought their heads apart from their bodies in this world. Instead of being executed publicly in front of knights and the royalty, it was not in their minds to ask for more than being able to breathe an air cleaner than their home world and seeing a nature-rich horizon instead of the smoggy concrete jungle.

"May I come in, Nagi?" a few knocks, and she heard and has clarified that it was Shiro's voice.

"I'm on it-!"

Quickly opened, quickly closed. For a moment Nagi's heart throbbed in alarm in the sudden and lone visit of Shiro on the room.

"Did anyone see you?"

"Negative. The hall in this floor is very quiet so you can chill a bit. Besides we're just between the prince's and our room so no one really comes in this wing."

"I really hope so. What's up though?"

"Nothing. Just want to hang out here."

"You had me scared there…"

"Anyway, are you doing something?"

"Oh, Gin gave me a dip pen and some 2mm lead so I was sketching the view from the window. How come they have thought of making a lead holder but not an actual pencil?"

"Do you have spare? I want to draw too.

…

I guess we really can't do our usual work here, huh."

"Sure this world already has cameras?"

"The princess said they have, but in our standards it would be a really old one so they're expensive. Not really for the modern photography, sadly."

"I actually noticed something when we were being toured around here. Something felt off."

"Hoo, I didn't really see anything weird."

"I didn't see a single painting anywhere."

"…! Really? But it's obvious that they have pigment here."

"Maybe it's safe to assume that… the concept of painting hasn't been adapted here?"

"This world is weird…"

"Is Ringo with the princess right now?"

"Mhm. I left a note next door that I'll be here."

"Let's just talk about it later with her. I don't want our look-alikes to know about it if that is really the case."

"Maybe we can earn for ourselves with that?"

"It's better than always relying for their help. Let's practice?"

"Sure."

~ ~ ~

"Greetings, Sir Hews Cornerstone. Are you the engineer that I was told to meet?"

"That is indeed me. I take that you are Sir Gram Sancht? It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. As you may have been told, I came here in behalf of Prince Nero to do the inspection."

"Then shall we get into it? Although it might take us longer so I apologize that you might have to skip a meal."

"It is not a problem. I'm glad that I came ready."

"Anyways, we will be accompanied by Sir Goya Noigat from the knight's order."

"I shall meet him then."

…

It was a rough introduction. I don't know if it was the rather sour face that was rooted from several encounters on the battlefield, or his expression suddenly just changed in my presence, but either way I don't think he will treat me kindly. Well, I'm a knight and aide at the same time, but even in this world I'm still an anomaly if he has caught wind of my past situation.

But deep within the manmade caves amidst a smooth inspection, he did not beat around the bush when we were left alone.

"It is not like I have anything against your upbringing as a foreigner in our land, but some of the knights are, quite frankly, Sir Gram. But what I question the most is how did you gain the king and the prince's trust, and abruptly became a knight. I have spent my life practicing the sword and swearing my life to the king and this land, so I absolutely can't accept your standing right now.

I have nothing against the king's will, but dare I say it was a foolish decision to make you an aide, who after all left the country for two years and came back as if nothing happened."

"…

I understand your sentiment, Sir Goya. I expect that you also have lingering suspicions about me of having an ulterior motive upon obtaining this role, but fear not. It is not a will of a knight, but I swore on my life that I will never take away another. However, I am confident that I can protect them with the utmost of my power.

That being said… I do have a confession to make that not even the king nor does the prince know."

Even on slight rustles of his armor, it was evident that he is clutching tightly on the handle of his sword.

"I do not wish to sound arrogant, but for the lack of better words, the kingdom is fortunate that I am not a threat, but an ally," I started as I removed the scabbard from my hip and handed my sword rid of the blade to him and prompted to pick up a rusting iron rod which snapped in half from my force.

In awe, he took the broken rod and tried to do the same thing. To his credit, he was able to bend it significantly.

"I am a monster of myself, Sir Goya. Should nothing happen to those important to me, I can keep it from going out of control. What you have seen is only a margin of what I can do, but be it snapping the swords of those against us, I will do, but I will never kill.

…

Please unsheathe your blade, Sir Goya."

Disoriented, the knight did as told and displayed it upfront while I rolled up the sleeve of my right arm and swung at least a centimeter deep of my flesh to the blade until the blood dropped off.

In the midst of the sight, the knight’s face darkened.

"Y-You would go as far as to initiate a shed to vow…?"

"Otherwise it will not get my message through."

"Ghh… Now this is reminding me of how much my huge wound hurt."

"I will call Engineer Hews in a second. He has first aid."

And so in my waiting, I raised my arm to lessen the bleeding.

An ancient tradition in Avarco that has never waned over generations is an agreement, a pact, or a vow through blood voluntarily. It was the highest and most significant form of expression that even deviants hesitate to take lightly, hence answering the extreme reaction the knight gave.

"I am grateful to you for treating my arm.

Shall we continue on the inspection?"

"Are you sure you will be fine?"

"It goes without saying that this is a wound and it is painful, but one has to shatter all of my bones for them to make me surrender."

"Apples, that's too prideful of me."

"This is as far as we have gotten in the past three months. We are carving on other directions as we are afraid that we might hit something dangerous."

"Indeed, it feels like it has gotten significantly hotter in here. Are there by chance magma is beyond this wall?"

"Yes. We actually uncovered a bit of magmatic regions but we stopped as we found out that we can't go further in this specific portion. Gradually, we weren't able to expand anymore because it appears that the natural rocks had appeared to have mutated to a very hard mineral. And after leaving it as is, we observed that some kind of web-like structures and hardened liquid began to appear all over the place… as you can see."

And as I can indeed see; take away the warm tones of the lava from a few tens of meters, and I can see that the object that was described just now appears to be gray in color, while the webs look to be translucent. On that note, there were still some that was being coughed out between the rocks. They were not as hot as the lava so I was at least able to go near."

"Sir Hews, please bring me a steel pail and water to douse myself."

"Are you planning on going in?"

"Part of this inspection is to bring back this mysterious mineral and get analyzed. If we get to find some findings, we will relay it to you immediately."

In this extreme heat, my wound once again started to cry in pain, but it was still enough for me to get close without the water evaporating.

I first got to the webs that only measures to a few millimeters in width but even with great pulling force, I wasn't able to take it off.

"I'll make this bit of the cave collapse if I go too far…"

But you can always rely on a white handkerchief in this kind of situations, which made it easy to thaw off. Yet truly, the rock walls surrounding had significantly became tougher.

"A deposit here, of all places…"

▪ ▪ ▪

"Yep. They know how to use latex paint here."

"Hahh… We really shouldn't compare our timeline or else it will just be a jumble on our head."

"I wonder if we can use acrylic… I don't really want them oil based."

"Sir Nagi, are you in there?" discussions interrupted, the alike voice of Nero came through the door.

"How can we help?"

"O-Oh… So you're with Ms. Shiro. Was I interrupting something?"

"Not at all! We were just talking."

"I see… then may I bother you to come with me to my office? I need some of your help. Do you want to come too, Ms. Shiro?"

"Ah… Then please let us get our hoods."

"I will wait for you."

"We'll make haste."

…

"So Gram was not with you today, Prince Nero?"

"I wonder if he's up to something. He asked me to let him borrow a forge yet stressed that he was not planning to make a new weapon.

I told him to rest since he returned with a wound from the mines, but he didn't listen."

"We also don't get him sometimes."

"I apologize for bothering you, but I need your help to research some things from my bookshelf as I can't do them alone. I just need you to find the things I'm looking for. You don't need to understand them."

"Then we will begin with it immediately."

…

"Actually, Sir Nagi and Miss Shiro, may you pause for a while?"

"Yes?"

"Father entrusted me on the approval of this manuscript for a book. For someone, who did not reside in this country, I would like to hear some of your feedback."

"So even literature goes through the royalty?"

"Does the kingdom have an editorial, Prince Nero?"

"Yes, it has went through scrutiny before here, but I am also in the position to do its approval fairly as I have studied writing in general.

Still however, I suggested this format on one of our known writers, but I didn't expect this to be very difficult to understand."

It was indeed still a manuscript as the bundle, perhaps of 70 leaves, has not yet been found itself inside a hard cover. It was placed in one place with an organizer which appearance may not look like that of Earth's but easily reproduced.

On that note, Nagi flipped the pages to see samples of synopses and a winding length of narrative until they reached the third of the manuscript.

It was a huge leap from words. Some way or the other, the pages were parted with panels containing individual illustrations on ink and dialogues, which images reflects what could probably depict the art movement in the period.

"Interesting format…" Nagi blatantly acted out.

"It is, right? For this project to happen it took me the entirety of two years ever since Gram gave me the inspiration, and now I'm finally seeing it come to fruition.

It is however very difficult to make as the story needed a writer and an illustrator."

"It's very rough on the edges but at least they got that one on point."

"Do you have any insights that you can share?"

"A-Are you sure about this…?" Shiro reluctantly asked while the oblivious prince responded.

"I'll happily accept any kind of advice."

"Even if it is going to be critical?"

"To some extent… might I ask…?"

"I reckon it would be better if I start now if it is fine…"

While Nagi has taken a seat with his gaze locked on the manuscript, Shiro was repeatedly bowing her head just by Nero's desk in apology.

"It is not like I know everything that is to do and these are all my opinions but the first thing I noticed is that the panels are too incoherent. Most of the time it should follow some of Gestalt principles even if not strictly because the panels are all over the place. There should be an established margin if this is going to be published as a paperback and the major flaw of this illustrated manuscript is that the panels are being read from top to bottom. I suggest of the best format as left to right as I also assume that it will be easier to the eyes while reading. Another thing is that there are too many panels crammed in one page. Also, rectangles are just a sign of restraint but it is understandable at this point. Nevertheless, the things I'm saying can be very contradictory. I said that there should be a margin but you can even draw without a panel outline and outright use much more of the whitespace as long as it is going to be readable.

As for the drawings themselves, they are honestly amazing considering that these are all drawn by hand and ink without the aid of screentones and such.

But for the paper, it seems that this is the original manuscript. I would recommend using a slightly thicker paper as erasing can give the surface a beating."

They were all being articulated in a low mumble.

"Prince Nero."

"Yes, Miss Shiro?"

"Will you allow me to make a slightly violent act?"

"Um, what?"

She didn't listen anyway and went to Nagi with a loud whack on his head. Needless to say, Nero almost felt the pain on his head especially that the counterpart of her lover has hit him in a sense.

"I am very sorry about this, Prince Nero."

"I-Is… Sera going to do that to me too…?"

"She most likely would not. The princess is more of a woman than I am, and you should take pride that your beloved is like that. Dignity and confidence makes her beautiful even if we are of same visage."

"Going back to the manuscript… May I get a clearer rundown of it…?"

"…

Please let us demonstrate."

~ ~ ~

"You don't really have to do this every time, Rin."

"Can you name a time where I have done this back then?"

"Oh.

I guess I've always tended to my wounds by myself, huh."

"So… it's actually my first time in this forge. What exactly were you doing?"

"That… I'll just leave it as a surprise, okay? Really took me days to finish alone huh…

What's Nagi and Shiro up to these days?"

"I don't really know actually. Or rather, they're doing something but they're really secretive about it."

"Fair enough.

So much for so many days off, I have to work… Hup."

"No, you rest. I'll make you something.

There will be a family dinner of the royalty later so I'm helping out here and there but I managed to nab an eye round. Wellington?"

"OOOOOHHHHHHHH. I'd love that."

▪ ▪ ▪

I really missed a lot of days in this work, so much that I returned with the prince of this nations on a daze for already a few days on his desk.

It is not really my approach, but I suppose this serves as an opportunity for a small test on this rather funny looking lad. I then gestured Nagi to keep as quiet as possible on the side, hinting that I was not about to play a mere prank.

The heaviness and the density of my sword was then offset by the stronger grip and pulled out from the sheath towards Nero, synchronous to the charge of my right foot forward. By the time he had reacted, he only managed to pull out a third of his blade.

In the sudden tranquility, I sheathed my sword back, removed it from my hip and placed it on Nero's desk. As courtesy, I gave my utmost apologies.

"T-Th-That was too fast…"

"I overdid it a bit, I guess."

"I never expected that you will be quicker after being gone… but it was my bad for not being mindful. If that was in the battlefield, I would have lost my head on a split second."

"So, something on your mind?"

"At least give me some breathing room…

But it seems that history from now on will take a turn. I never realized how dull our nation is until Sir Nagi showed me."

"'Dull?' What do you mean, do you even know how intricate your architects have made the structures all around the nation?"

"That may be so, but I did not think that our artisans have neglected something simpler than that, and I'm now quite ashamed."

"Am I out of the loop? Something actually up?"

Under his desk, he brought out some kind of a square board under a white cloth that then unveiled what actually is a canvas board with a portrait of Shiro painted on it.

"…Nero…

Are you cheating on Miss Sera?"

"A-Aahh…"

"Well anyway…" I turned around as I nonchalantly took the painting from the prince's hands. "Of course there's no way you're planning on selling this, but this is worth several heaps of gold, you know."

"Apparently this is the first ever painting in this country…"

"Then that just bumps up the value more!"

"W-What are you two talking about…?"

"So he doesn't know, Nagi?"

"I haven't told him stuff yet."

"Well, I'm going to confiscate it and put this on our room for the meantime. We better find an alternative to fixative."

"Do you think clear varnish will work?"

"It's hard to experiment when we only have one."

"W-Wha…"

"Please don't worry, Prince Nero. As we speak, Shiro is in the process of painting the princess."

That's right. Shiro had developed a skill when she finally focused on photography. Her photographic memory is beyond amazing. And if she is painting quite literally herself, I wouldn't even expect less.

"Oh, right. I have a present for you and Shiro," then I threw a two wide strips of cloth to him.

Catching on, he faced the opposite way and flipped the underside of the cloth that revealed transparency in contrast to the off-white side.

"H-How did you…"

"If you know, you know. I haven't finished my report right, Nero?"

"Yes, you have not."

"Just one more day and I'll be able to release my information."

"Also, there's something I've been wanting to show you."

This time, he brought out two stacks of paper in front of me with one being significantly fewer than the other. But both of them had the same title in its cover.

I first examined the larger of the two and found myself immediately petrified after several tens of pages of scanning, then I met with the other one peeling my eyes open. Unconsciously, I let out a heap of chuckle and turned around towards Nagi.

"I've never thought you're a business-minded person."

"I'm not, but I'm a bit of an opportunity seeker. It's just a matter of problem solving otherwise I'll just get spoiled in this place."

"Opportunity, huh…

More like, you and Shiro just started an absolute breakthrough here."