Chapter 60

In the evening, when Zenjiro returned to the harem, he immediately shed the unfamiliar ethnic costume of the Kingdom of Carpia and changed into his own T-shirt and cotton pants.

"Let me turn on the air conditioner first."

Zenjiro, who had gone into the bedroom, turned on the air conditioner and quickly returned to the living room.

While Zenjiro was away, the temperature in the bedroom, with its doors fully open for ventilation, had risen to almost the same level as the other rooms in the harem. There was no reason to stay in the bedroom until the air conditioner started to take effect.

Back in the living room, Zenjiro immediately opened the refrigerator, took out a silver water pitcher, and poured its contents into a glass.

"Phew... I feel alive again."

After drinking the cold water in one gulp and feeling more at ease, Zenjiro headed to the table in front of the sofa.

Zenjiro, who had sat down on the black leather sofa, picked up a long, brown stick from the table.

"Hmm, it's still quite thick. This can't really be called a silver wire. At best, it's a 'silver wire.'"

What Zenjiro held was a silver wire he had commissioned a royal silver craftsman to make.

The brown color came from the cloth wrapped around it and the glue-like substance that had been applied and hardened. To use it as an electrical coil, the surface of the wire needed to be insulated, or it would be difficult to handle. If the wires stuck together when wound, they wouldn't form a coil.

However, the silver wire was quite thick, and if handled carelessly, it could easily break.

"Well, there's no help for it at first. Even if it fails, he said it wouldn't be difficult to repair."

Zenjiro, who had convinced himself of this, took a wooden stick he had prepared and carefully began to wind the silver wire around the round wooden stick.

The wooden stick was about the thickness of two or three of Zenjiro's fingers. Ideally, he wanted to wind it more thinly, but if it was too thin, the silver wire would break under the strain.

"Alright, that's about it."

Although it was quite uneven, Zenjiro managed to wind the silver wire around the round wooden stick and carefully removed the newly made silver coil from the stick.

In its place, he inserted a long, dragon skin tube that had been sewn to the same diameter as the wooden stick.

"First, I should try it with just one dry cell. Hmm, I might be a bit too nervous, but it's better to be cautious."

Zenjiro, who had considered performing the first electromagnet experiment right there, quickly changed his mind.

Activating the electromagnet would mean spreading magnetic force around.

Although he didn't think the magnetic field generated by a single dry cell and a loosely wound coil would affect the appliances in the large living room, Zenjiro, as a complete novice, decided it was better to be overly cautious.

"Alright, let's move to a different place."

Zenjiro gathered the necessary equipment for the electromagnet experiment and stood up from the sofa.

To conclude, the experiment could be considered a success, albeit with significant issues.

In a room of the harem where only simple furniture was placed, Zenjiro, who had finished the experiment, stood with his arms crossed under the window where the setting sun shone, frowning.

"Hmm, at least I confirmed that it functions as an electromagnet. That's the only achievement this time."

He said this with a very unsatisfied look.

Indeed, the electromagnet experiment was fraught with problems.

While he had succeeded in generating a magnetic field, it was extremely weak. The iron clips and small nails did stick to the electromagnet, but when he carefully lifted the electromagnet, they fell off due to gravity.

Naturally, with such a weak magnetic field, it was impossible to magnetize iron to a practical level. Even after attaching an iron nail to the electromagnet for a long time, it hardly became magnetized.

When he tried it with a sandbox, only a few grains of sand stuck to it, so it wasn't completely useless, but practical application was still a long way off.

"Anyway, I need to find a more effective insulation method. This thing might burn me if I keep using it."

What frustrated Zenjiro the most was that the glue covering the silver wire had melted due to the heat generated by the current.

Silver is a material with high electrical conductivity and equally high thermal conductivity. He had expected it to heat up over a long period, but the glue was more heat-sensitive than he had anticipated.

The silver wire he had brought in had the glue melted in various places, sticking to the dragon skin tube.

Furthermore, when he got close, he could even smell a faint burnt odor. The cloth he had attached to the silver wire might have burned.

"Ah, maybe I should use bare silver wire for the next experiment? Anyway, with the current thickness, it's impossible to wind it tightly without gaps. In that case, it might be better to wind the bare silver wire with some room. However, that would reduce the number of turns, making the coil's magnetic force weaker. Hmm, there are so many problems, and I don't know where to start."

In the quiet room with the setting sun, Zenjiro sighed deeply.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

That night.

After finishing dinner and a bath, Zenjiro, dressed casually, sat in the air-conditioned bedroom with his wife, Aura, and talked about the day's events.

"I see... Prince Francesco certainly made a troublesome 'slip of the tongue.' It's indeed a dilemma whether to be happy or troubled."

After listening to the events of the day, Aura leaned back in her chair and said this.

"However, regardless of the process, confirming the effect of the marbles is a significant achievement. You did well."

"Thanks, but it's not really my achievement, and I can't claim it as such in my position. But, what do you really think, Aura? If Fabio is right, and I was the first to hear it, it has created a rather complicated situation. Was it intentional?"

"Hmm."

Aura closed her eyes lightly and thought for a moment.

"Indeed, it is a troublesome situation. Honestly, if my husband were not you, it would have been a significant setback for me, though not fatal."

"Aura."

Zenjiro couldn't help but smile at his wife's words.

It was a clear sign of trust from his wife. In essence, it meant that she was confident in his lack of ambition and desire.

While this evaluation might not be considered praise by the general standards of this world, it wasn't particularly important to Zenjiro.

He could confidently say that the value of such things was not worth straining his relationship with his beloved wife.

Smiling back at her husband, who looked pleased, Aura leaned forward, placed both arms on the table, and continued.

"Well, at this point, I agree with Fabio and you. We simply don't have enough information to make any definitive statements. It's more important to focus on increasing the accuracy of the information rather than worrying about their intentions.

It might be a good idea to give them one marble and see what they can make. While I think it's a bit paranoid, we can't rule out the possibility that Prince Francesco and Princess Bonna are in cahoots.

Most importantly, if it can genuinely reduce the time required for magic item creation, it would be a great help to me. I understand the effectiveness of materializing 'spatial magic,' but being repeatedly called upon for the procedure would consume a significant amount of my magic and time."

After saying this in one breath, Aura picked up a red cut-glass glass filled with ice water from the table.

Creating magic items requires not only a user of bestowal magic but also a user of the magic to be embedded in the item.

For simple elemental magic, the bestower can also be the user, but for 'spatial magic,' the cooperation of Aura, the only existing user, is essential.

Even though the time required for each session is very short, significantly reducing the period from a year to less than ten days is a significant improvement for Aura, who is constantly busy with her duties as queen.

"Well, it's certainly good that the period during which Aura is called upon for magic item creation can be significantly reduced. But, if the magic items are completed too quickly, that could also be a problem, right?

If information leaks from somewhere, it might trace back to 'my achievement.'"

While acknowledging the effectiveness of Aura's proposal, Zenjiro still expressed his concerns. Aura, who had taken a sip from the red glass and placed it back on the table, responded.

"In that case, we must keep things confidential. Even if the actual completion takes only a few days, we can delay the announcement for a year. Fortunately, the only people involved are you, me, Prince Francesco, and Princess Bonna. With such a small group, it should be possible to keep the secret."

"Is it really okay? It's Prince Francesco's promise, after all."

In response to his husband's skeptical gaze, the queen, unusually, hesitated a bit.

"Well... I must admit, I am a bit uneasy."

"A bit?"

"...I'm quite uneasy. However, considering the future, we should take the risk and proceed."

"Hmm, well, I'll basically leave that judgment to you, Aura. In that case, have you already decided what the first magic item to be created will be?"

Understanding that Aura's basic strategy was already set, Zenjiro moved on to the next topic.

If it was decided to transfer the marbles and have the Shalowa royal family practice their 'secret technique,' it was important to decide which magic item to request for creation.

It seemed that Aura also wanted to discuss this point with Zenjiro, as she leaned forward even more, showing the deep cleavage of her thin nightgown, and began to speak.

"Well, it's a difficult decision. While it's true that materializing a powerful and versatile magic would have significant advantages, considering the possibility that it might fall into the hands of an opposing force in the future, we can't take too great a risk.

The monopoly on 'bloodline magic' is a pillar of the royal family's existence. Materializing it means giving up some of its advantages.

For safety, a one-time 'disposable' magic item might be better, but that would limit its use. It's a tough decision."

While his gaze was drawn to the cleavage of his wife, who was leaning on the table and sighing, Zenjiro said,

"Hmm, so it's that kind of issue. In that case, materializing the 'secret magic' like 'time travel' or the most important magic, 'teleportation,' wouldn't be possible.

Other convenient magics that come to mind... 'Great Barrier' or 'Effect Continuation,' perhaps?"

Recently, Zenjiro had learned from Aura about the various 'spatial magics.'

"Hmm, those are the ones. If it's a disposable item, 'Spatial Vibration' could be an option. It's one of the few destructive magics in spatial magic. Creating this magic item and deploying it at the border fort would serve as a deterrent."

Aura nodded in satisfaction after saying this.

Spatial magic, as the name suggests, is magic that manipulates time and space in a limited way. While it offers many convenient and practical magics for daily use, there are almost no offensive magics.

"I see. Other than that... Ah, what about the 'interdimensional summoning' that brought me to this world? Isn't that a specially secreted magic?"

Zenjiro, sensing that what Aura was looking for was not precise judgment but multiple suggestions to stimulate his inspiration, spoke freely.

"Summoning from another world is out of the question. It can only be used once or twice every thirty years, depending on the alignment of the stars, so there's no point in making it into a magic item."

"But, I had a thought before. Since there are 'time travel' and 'time acceleration' magics, couldn't they be combined to use 'interdimensional summoning' even when the stars are not aligned?"

"It's not possible. Time manipulation magic cannot be used on objects with magical properties. Combining interdimensional transfer and time travel would only summon non-living objects.

Moreover, even to send a tiny object back one year using 'time travel' would require me to expend several dozen days' worth of magic power as 'future compensation.' 'Time acceleration' is less burdensome than 'time travel,' but what would be the point of using it to fetch something from a very near future in another world?

To be honest, it's not worth it."

"Hmm, I see. That's a shame."

Zenjiro looked up at the