Felix

After spending a night at the Perelkus family’s mansion, I returned straight to the Academy the next day. With the winter vacation in full swing, the Academy was deserted except for the library, which was warm and open to everyone.

​

There weren’t even people passing by, so there was no chance of running into anyone on the way to the club room. I opened the door and saw Kane lying on the sofa, legs dangling out, reading a book in a relaxed posture.

​

Kane must have sensed my presence because he glanced up, and when his eyes met mine, he jumped up in surprise.

​

,What, what’s wrong with your face? Why is your hair so long?

​

Kane got off the sofa and approached me, circling around me like a merchant inspecting a product at auction, meticulously finding the changes in me.

​

…Even your eye color changed? What the hell did you do?

​

Kane’s surprised voice reminded me that I hadn’t properly checked my appearance since returning from the other world. I turned and walked to the mirror next to the door, the one Aria used to fix my bangs every day, and checked myself out.

​

Indeed, the image in the mirror was so different from the one in my memory that it felt unfamiliar. My hair had grown longer, and my blue eyes, once full of melancholy, had become sharp like Raellean’s. And for some reason, my blue eyes had turned into eyes with a black base mixed with a bit of blue.

​

Perhaps it was because the synchronization rate had decreased, and my original black eyes had returned. Considering that Ross of Aspiration had lost all synchronization and looked like Jin Sian, that was highly likely.

​

I turned to Kane, who was observing me with curious eyes from across the mirror, and gave a wry smile.

​

…It was quite a tough training.

​

At the Perelkus mansion, I had made up my mind. I would not tell the Messiah members about the other world. Not that I was a possessor, nor about Roel and the Order.

I understand that this isn’t a situation where I can afford to be carefree. But the fight I have to wage from now on will be one where I endlessly wallow in the mud and destroy myself. I am the one who promised the members happiness. If someone has to fall into hell, it’s enough if it’s just me.

​

Anyway, when I made that excuse, Kane seemed to remember that my teacher was Lykan and immediately nodded with an understanding expression.

​

Well… Professor Lykan’s notoriety is famous even in the Alchemy Department. It must have been no ordinary training.

​

I smiled at the sight of him shuddering and trembling, imagining himself being trained by Lykan. Kane, who had been making a fuss, put his arm around my shoulder.

​

So, are you ready to eat my perfect pizza?

​

At Kane’s playful smile, I cleared the distracting thoughts from my head.

​

Yeah, I’ve been looking forward to how delicious it will be.

​

Hehe, forget about the Kane who only failed. Now I’m a pizza master who can make perfect pizza!

​

*

​

I headed to the island beyond the closet after a long time. The island was just as I remembered it.

​

Kane’s words that he could make the perfect pizza were not an exaggeration. Whether it was because his practice hadn’t been in vain, the wood-fired pizza Kane made was perfect.

​

It was in the top three of all the pizzas I’ve ever eaten. The comparison was with cheap franchise brands, but even more than that….

​

Something… it tastes like something I’ve had before?

​

Pizzas are all similar, but this delicious pizza was special. And I felt like I had recently eaten a pizza with this special quality.

​

Kane flinched greatly at my evaluation.

​

Well, pizzas are all like that.

​

I narrowed my eyes at Kane’s strange reaction and looked at him suspiciously. Kane rolled his eyes with a nonchalant expression and avoided my gaze.

​

…Actually, I tried to imitate the pizza I used to eat with my mother. It was a pretty big pizza place in the capital, but it’s gone now so I can’t eat it anymore. So I tried to remember and make it as similar as possible.

​

At Kane’s words, I reflexively snapped my fingers. Now I get it. There was a reason why it felt like I had recently eaten it. The pizza I ate in the other world when I accidentally met young Kane and Kane’s pizza tasted the same. Maybe the name was….

​

…Löntgen Pizza Shop?

​

Oh, oh?! You, you’ve eaten that pizza too?

​

Kane, whose butt had slightly lifted off the chair, looked surprised. Instead of answering, I shrugged. Saying that I had eaten it in another world in the past wouldn’t be convincing unless I conveyed my memories.

​

Kane, who was greatly excited that I knew about Röntgen Pizza Shop, suddenly asked me a lot of questions.

​

That’s great! How does it compare to Röntgen pizza? The recipe disappeared, so I made it using other pizza recipes. Don’t you think I should add more cheese? I put in a moderate amount of toppings now, but I think there were more toppings in my memory. The tomato sauce is also made by crushing tomatoes directly on the dough….

​

His speech speed was much faster than usual. It was enough to make me breathless just listening. Kane, who had taken off his mask of annoyance, had turned into a talkative enthusiast who was very compatible with Aria.

​

While eating pizza and answering Kane’s barrage of questions, I remembered what I had thought about while returning to the Academy, dusted the powder off my fingers, and opened my mouth.

​

Now that you can make pizza perfectly, what are you going to do in the future? Do you have any plans?

​

I’ve recently become interested in beauty. The book I was reading earlier was also related to beauty. How about it, if you want, I can give you a neat haircut.

​

Seeing the strange enthusiasm filling Kane’s eyes, I quickly raised my hand to extinguish the fire that was trying to grow.

​

It’s okay. Now that it’s grown this long, I was thinking of showing it to Luna once before cutting it.

​

I wanted to see Luna’s surprised expression when she saw my suddenly long hair. It was hard to find anything in this world as enjoyable as seeing Luna’s various expressions. Just imagining Luna looking at me with surprised eyes made the corners of my mouth turn up.

​

Kane, looking at me like that, repeated nodding his head slowly with a satisfied smile, as if he was having some unpleasant thoughts.

​

…What.

​

No, it’s nothing. It just looks good.

​

I sighed at Kane’s expression, who smiled slyly again.

​

If you don’t have anything to do right now, let’s go on a trip for a while.

​

At the word “trip,” camping enthusiast Kane’s eyes lit up.

​

Trip?! I’m always ready to leave. I’ve prepared dried food in advance to match the number of members, and I’ve also prepared sleeping bags and tents. I’ve also prepared enough flint and oil in case we need to camp-

​

I interrupted him because it seemed like he was going to talk for a long time.

​

No, I didn’t mean to go on such a full-fledged trip.

​

As soon as I finished speaking, Kane’s excitement rapidly subsided, so I quickly continued.

​

It’s just a short trip to keep a promise.

​

Promise?

​

Looking at Kane, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression as if asking what promise, I answered with a smile.

​

I promised to help you grow, didn’t I? I’ve come up with a good way.

​

At those words, Kane nodded with a serious expression.

​

Really? I’d be grateful if you helped me, but I can’t help but think that I’m just receiving too much from the club president….

​

Aren’t friends the ones who don’t make such calculations?

​

When I said that in a deliberately nonchalant voice, Kane, who understood what I meant, scratched his head with an awkward face.

​

Well, if you say so, I’m grateful. Then, if you want to eat my pizza in the future, just say so anytime. I’ll give my friend special cheese and extra toppings.

​

I’m all for it.

​

We looked at each other and smiled. Kane, who had stuffed the remaining pizza into his mouth, moved his mouth diligently for a while, swallowed the pizza, and asked.

​

So, are we leaving right away?

​

No, there’s something I need to prepare first.

​

***

​

Luck really comes unexpectedly.

​

Just like how Felix Junior III, who runs the magic engineering workshop ‘Felix,’ accidentally bumped into a girl while delivering goods and fell in love at first sight, starting a family.

​

Luck had come to him several times while running the workshop. There were also accidents, unhappiness, and unfair things, but Felix was not the type of person to keep bad memories in his head for long.

​

Felix, who thought of himself as a lucky person and lived a positive life, prepared to greet customers at the counter today, and habitually opened the old brown leather book.

​

It was a book containing the blueprints for an artifact that his father, who had passed away a few years ago, had been developing until his death. It was a long-distance voice transmission artifact that used the unique properties of magic stones, but its effective range was so short that you could hear the voice without using the artifact, making it useless.

​

However, Felix, a graduate of the Magic Engineering Department of Transcendence Academy, could not give up his father’s legacy. He had tried to improve it several times, and even changed the entire formula with the help of a close alchemy department classmate, but… it was still useless.

​

Still, Felix didn’t give up. Today, he picked up a pen and unconsciously rubbed the furrow between his brows with the back of his hand while checking the blueprints. Felix put down his pen and stood up at the sound of the door opening.

​

Welcome to Felix Workshop.

​

Felix, who reflexively threw out the greeting he always said when he heard the bell on the door, looked at the customers entering the workshop. They were two young men who looked like students.

​

One was a sickly-looking young man with black curly hair who still had a boyish charm, and the other was, on the contrary, a young man with a muscular body that looked like he had been working out, with long blonde hair tied back, and sharp, gloomy eyes.

​

We have something to custom order.

​

At the blonde young man’s words, Felix quickly took out an estimate form from the drawer with a business smile.

​

What are you planning to order? It takes about three days to engrave a name on an artifact, and products with separate blueprints may take longer depending on the difficulty.

​

As he said that, he picked up a pen and finished preparing to write down the customer’s requests. The blonde young man’s voice reached Felix’s ears.

​

Bronze gloves with copper fingertips.

​

…You want to make bronze gloves?

​

Yes, it shouldn’t just be a decoration, it should be gloves that can be equipped on the hand and can hold something. No other metals should be used, only bronze and copper.

​

Since he had a partnership with a blacksmith workshop, casting the gloves themselves was not a difficult problem. Felix listened to the customer’s explanation in more detail and wrote out an estimate.

​

Since it’s a special order, there may be additional charges in the end.

​

That’s fine. Can you make it as quickly as possible?

​

Because of reservations, even if it’s fast… it will take at least two weeks.

​

When the blonde young man nodded, Felix skillfully priced the estimate. Felix, who had received the deposit, gave a business smile.

​

Excuse me, how much is this?

​

At the question of the other customer, who had been looking around the store while he was writing the estimate, Felix smiled and quickly approached him to explain the product. He looked like he was interested in the product at first glance.

​

This is the new magic stone torch. You can control the firepower by using this, so you can use it in various places. It can also be used for cooking, and it’s easy to carry, so it’s essential for camping these days.

​

As he showed him how to operate it and explained the product in detail, the sickly-looking customer decided to buy the magic stone torch, as Felix had expected.

​

Felix, who was happily smiling and taking the product to the counter, shouted loudly at the sight of the blonde young man leaning his upper body over the counter and peeking at the blueprints.

​

What are you doing!

The young man, startled by Felix’s shout, shrugged and pulled his body back. Felix, who strode to the counter, covered the open book and glared at the customer with an angry face.

​

It’s a crime to steal someone else’s blueprints!

​

It was his fault for leaving the counter with the book open, but it was the customer’s fault for leaning his upper body and peeking at the blueprints. Even though it was a failure, the blueprint was his father’s legacy.

​

Ah, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but look….

​

Felix’s anger didn’t subside even with the customer’s apology. He even suspected that the customer had deliberately made another customer pretend to be interested in the product to get him away from the counter in order to steal the blueprints.

​

Felix, who put his hands on his hips and was seriously considering calling a security guard with a stiff face, scratched his forehead and opened his mouth.

​

I’m sorry for peeking… but that blueprint is wrong.

​

Felix, who didn’t understand the customer’s words, asked back with a bewildered expression.

​

…Huh?

​

The calculation method is also wrong, but the structure of the formula itself is not efficient. If this happens, the output of magic power will be significantly reduced, so the amount of magic power will be less than calculated. No, the initial design itself is wrong. The nature of the magic that is the basis is not compatible with the structure of the formula.

​

Felix, who had forgotten his anger that had been bubbling like lava at the sight of the customer saying that with a confident voice as if his words were the answer, had no choice but to ask back with a stupid face once again.

​

…Huh?

​

The customer sighed at Felix, looking at him with a look that seemed to say, “Why can’t you even understand this?”