Chapter 9

The first transfer ended without him noticing, but the second transfer left Jiziro with a slight feeling of dizziness.

"Whoa."

Jiziro, who had stepped to the side and trodden on a tatami, shook his head to clear the distorted vision and looked around.

The road was solidified with asphalt. Countless cars were running on it. On both sides of the road stood concrete mixed-use buildings.

The familiar scenery and the smell of exhaust fumes in the air made Jiziro feel a sense of "I'm back."

The unchanged scenery even made him wonder if his experience in the other world was just a daytime dream, but the fact that he was now walking instead of riding his bicycle, and carrying a large carpet rolled up in his hands, proved otherwise.

And on his left pinky finger was the gold ring he had received from Aura.

These physical pieces of evidence confirmed to Jiziro that yesterday was not a dream.

"By the way, it seems to be continuous, but in reality, a whole day has passed, right? ...Right?"

Muttering to himself, Jiziro began to doubt his own senses. Having spent a day in the other world, Jiziro simply assumed it was Sunday, but there was no guarantee that the same amount of time had passed on Earth.

It might still be Saturday, or in the worst case, several days might have passed in this world.

However, since there were no significant changes in the surroundings, and the temperature and the angle of the sun had hardly changed, he thought it was probably fine.

"Damn, I need to check the current situation first."

Jiziro, who had let his imagination run wild in a negative direction, shivered and, still carrying the large carpet in both hands, hurried home.

"It's good. It seems there's almost no time difference."

Back in his one-room apartment, Jiziro checked the date and time on the radio-controlled clock and let out a sigh of relief.

The wristwatch he had brought to the other world and the radio clock showed the same time.

It seemed that the flow of time in the other world and this world was almost synchronized. This was fortunate. He had casually thought that if the flow of time was different, his life in the other world would be completely disrupted.

After all, the agreement for re-summoning was based on "thirty days in the other world." If the flow of time was different, Jiziro would have to live in constant fear of when he might be summoned.

In that case, bringing household items to the other world would be a dream within a dream. After all, to activate the magic carpet, he would need to drip a small amount of his fresh blood. It was impossible to keep bleeding continuously for 24 hours just in case he might be summoned.

In any case, now that Jiziro knew his biggest concern was unfounded, he sat in front of the computer set up in the corner of the room with a bright expression and turned it on.

"Alright, there seems to be time, but there isn't."

Jiziro slapped his cheeks with both hands, re-energized, and spoke aloud.

A month seemed long but was actually short.

It would pass before he knew it, while making appointments with clients, adjusting his schedule, and preparing presentation materials.

Jiziro started inputting search terms one by one, thinking of everything he could.

"...Ah! As expected, it's impossible, isn't it?"

A few minutes later, Jiziro was scratching his head in front of the computer, which had a search site open.

Most of the things he desperately wanted in the other world were electrical appliances: air conditioners, refrigerators, lighting, etc. None of them could be used without a stable power supply.

Therefore, the first thing Jiziro looked into was a small home generator, but, as expected, there was no such thing that could supply electricity for years in the other world.

"The easiest would be a diesel or gasoline generator. But the fuel..."

These generators, sold as camping equipment, could supply electricity easily without much setup, but they required special fuels like gasoline or kerosene.

He had heard about someone making biodiesel fuel and looked into it, but it didn't seem like something a layman like Jiziro could reproduce in the other world.

In broad terms, the materials for biodiesel fuel were "vegetable oil," "methanol (methyl alcohol)," and "sodium hydroxide."

Of these, only vegetable oil was available in the other world. Jiziro would have to make methanol and sodium hydroxide himself. Methanol could be made by distilling wood acid liquid produced during charcoal burning, and sodium hydroxide could be made with a dual water tank connected by an ion exchange membrane and a power source, but both were beyond Jiziro's capabilities.

Of course, he could buy large amounts of ethanol and sodium hydroxide from a pharmacy and bring them to the other world, but it would be faster to go to a gas station and fill a plastic tank with kerosene. Besides, the amount of fuel he could bring in one carpet wouldn't last a month.

"Thermal power is out. So, it's either wind or solar?"

Wind power was relatively realistic. The wind blows in the other world too. However, the concern was the unpredictable power generation. If it was a calm tropical night, it would be unbearable.

Solar power was out of the question. What Jiziro needed most was electricity for "night lighting."

Electricity that could only be used during the day was not very appealing. There were large battery-equipped models that could work at night, but batteries were short-lived consumables.

"Then, how about the hybrid wind and solar power generation that's popular these days? This isn't bad, yeah."

Jiziro sipped tea from a cup filled with bottled water and returned his hand to the mouse.

If he thought about it calmly, this hybrid generator was the safest option. The manufacturer's sales pitch said, "If you follow the instructions, anyone can use it immediately after assembly."

If he could believe that, Jiziro should be able to install it in the other world by himself.

However, what was troubling Jiziro, who was about to reach that conclusion, was the existence of another generator he had found by chance.

"A home hydroelectric generator? Such a thing exists..."

Jiziro muttered, captivated by its charm.

Unlike wind and solar power, which were limited by location, home hydroelectric generators were not as common, but the wave of small home generators had now reached hydroelectric power.

The charm of hydroelectric power was, of course, its 24-hour sustainability and overwhelming power generation capacity.

While it was difficult for wind and solar power to meet the power needs of a typical household even under ideal conditions, hydroelectric power was different. If the manufacturer's catalog specifications were accurate, even a small unit could exceed the total power consumption of a typical household.

However, there were problems with such an attractive hydroelectric generator.

"Is there a river or waterway near the palace?"

Jiziro, who had not stepped outside the palace during his stay, did not know if there was a water source sufficient to operate a hydroelectric generator.

He thought there must be a water source since hundreds of people lived in the palace, but this was a world with magic.

"Sir, the water is made by a dedicated magician every morning using magic."

Such a possibility could not be ruled out.

He briefly considered buying both the hydroelectric generator and the hybrid generator, but the budget was a problem.

Jiziro, who had been working for a semi-black company that didn't cheat on overtime pay for a few years, had a total savings of about