episode_0141

It’s been a week since I started living in Betga.

A man came into the house and asked me.

“Who are you?”

Late at night.

A man came into the Betgar, his face covered in soot, his clothes smelling of oil, and he looked like a thief. He was so shocked when he saw me that he ran out of the house. Then he came back in with a puzzled look on his face.

“Is this my house?”

I guess that’s because there’s a girl I don’t know. I know her from Victoria’s memories.

“Mr. Maurice Bett, right?”

“Oh, by the way. Who are you? Your daughter’s friend?”

“Similar. If it were Beatrice, she would have suddenly gone out because of an urgent call from the company. If it were Victoria.”

I pointed behind me.

“Hey! I can cook too! Look! This brilliant light of alchemy! Huh? Dad?”

Victoria, who had been making the dish, comes out smiling and waves.

First of all, the dish that needs to be made is something like ratatouille.

It refers to a vegetable stew made with eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and bell peppers. The only difference is that it contains plenty of fruit and mustard sauce.

By the way, the last two are not in the recipe.

It means homemade food.

“That’s our dinner.”

A look of regret passes across Maurice’s face. It’s food made by his daughter, so how about eating it deliciously?

anyway.

After a brief self-introduction, the three of us sat at the table and had dinner.

What was surprising was that it was more delicious than I thought, so I ate it all, while Maurice and Victoria only had a few bites and left it all behind.

“Eat everything. Especially the person who made it.”

“Hinghing.”

I watched Victoria crunch the whole thing.

Morris? He didn’t say much because he was the victim, but how many families wouldn’t eat what he made if his daughter asked him to save her?

I don’t know about the so-called genius daughter dad, but since both parents work, Victoria is often alone.

Okay, I’ve said it all.

“Didn’t you tell me to taste it when you made it?”

“I did! It was edible! And Belle ate well!”

Of course, it has mustard and other ingredients used to season stews, so that’s why. But after two bites, the taste is completely different, so it’s strange. And tasting it when you’re hungry and tasting it when you’re full is different, right?

And Victoria’s point can be avoided like this.

“We lived in a time when spices were hard to come by.”

The first era had reasonably well-cooked food, but the second era had few spices.

Since I had the Cheonma, I could obtain it in various ways, but I couldn’t use it as abundantly as I do now.

“Was it like that in the old days?”

“Oh, Toriya. Is this person a long-lived person?”

Somehow Maurice seems restless.

I guess that’s because I kept talking to Victoria because I thought she was the same age as me.

“Yeah. I guess he’s older than my dad and mom combined?”

Maurice stood up hurriedly and hesitated to greet me, his posture stiff and hesitant. Beatrice had adapted easily, but this man looked to be having a hard time.

After we both fed them enough to at least get the proper nutrition, I did the dishes. In the meantime, Victoria told Maurice what had happened to me.

It’s mostly about Victoria’s adventures.

After a while.

“So, you came from another world?”

“You are my lifesaver, Dad!”

It’s a lifesaver, but it changed the future, so it’s probably bad overall.

I hid that part from Beatrice, so I don’t plan on telling her about it in the future.

anyway.

Victoria chatters to Maurice as she demonstrates the abilities she has acquired. Despite the clothes being soaked in the smell of iron and oil, she is not put off by them.

In the first place, it’s because of Maurice that Victoria chose the career of a clockwork engineer as her future. So it’s not strange.

Rather, the more I added, the more I got.

At the end of the story, Victoria shows off her abilities.

It either takes moisture from the surroundings and creates water droplets, or, conversely, disperses the water droplets into the air.

Morris, who was looking at it as if it was a miracle, suddenly got up from his seat and ran somewhere. And after a while.

Bring the whole box containing various tools and test your abilities with Victoria.

There are tools similar to the ones I remember, and there are also tools whose purpose I don’t know. I hold them and examine the water floating in the air, or attach measuring devices to various parts of Victoria’s body to take measurements.

“How on earth does this happen?”

“Why, Dad?”

“No magic power at all. I don’t know what power is used to create this strange phenomenon. Even spirits create special phenomena through the magic power around them… … .”

Maurice’s gaze turned to me.

“What on earth is the law that makes this happen?”

I guess it’s the kind of personality that’s often said to be like a scientist, with a keen curiosity. But I shook my head.

I have various memories and information, but I have never used them to do anything. If you look through the memories of Daegon or Wonshicheonjon, there are many items that are questionable, but I have no shame in saying that I know about them.

“I don’t know either. Not everyone who signs a contract will develop superpowers, and even if they do develop superpowers, they rarely get exactly the same superpowers. Rather, they’re different for each person.”

And that superpower, at least for the moment, gives him the ability to solve whatever problem he’s facing.

Or he gains the power to most certainly fulfill his own desires.

Broadly speaking, they mean the same thing.

“Isn’t it that you’re giving me power by making a contract with me?”

Maurice looks at me strangely. I wonder where he is mistaken. He thinks that if he makes a promise with God, God will give him power.

“I can’t use the universal power of magic to interact with creatures and bring my will into reality. So, superpowers are probably functions that only those who have made a contract can have.”

Then Victoria raised her hand next to me.

“That’s right, Dad. I think so too! I get really hungry after using this ability! It’s not like I can’t use magic though!”

By the way, Victoria can use magic. And of course, so can Maurice. Since this is a world where magical power is used as a power source, the technicians who handle it can use magic to some extent.

However, since I am not a professional magician, I only learn and master techniques at a level slightly higher than what an average person would use.

For example, it’s like someone learning earth science learning statistics.

Victoria floated a small magic orb in one hand and created a mass of water in the other. She then put both hands together and placed the magic orb inside the mass of water.

They float without interfering with each other.

After separating them again, the water is turned into steam and the horsepower is recovered.

Looking at it, Maurice clutches his head.

“Where does the heat that must be lost during the change come from… … .”

Isn’t that what ability is all about?

But the corners of his mouth are smiling as if he has acquired a new toy.

“Oh, can I make a contract too?”

And Maurice points to himself and asks:

Hmm. It’s not a problem for me. I’d rather do it. But if I sign a contract here, Beatrice will shoot me in the head.

Maybe it’s because he’s made a lot of contracts with other people, but he was suspicious of the contract he made with me.

It’s just a simple phrase, but it’s interpreted strangely.

But aren’t all human contracts originally dirty?

I don’t know for sure what a toxic clause is, but I know that there are clauses that could cause great harm at some point.

When such people gather together, they form a society, which is human society.

What if I make a change to the contract and get caught doing it wrong and get ripped off?

So, we don’t change the contract.

anyway.

“Not everyone gains the ability. And if it’s a contract, I recommend talking to Beatrice before doing it.”

I made a gun shape with my fingers and then raised it slightly.

“Mom reacted a little sensitively. I think if you don’t want to be nagged by your mom, you should talk it out with each other first. When your mom gets angry, no one wins in our house.”

“That’s… … . That’s right.”

Victoria pats Maurice on the back as he sighs sadly.

I looked at the two of them and asked a new question to change the subject so they wouldn’t think too deeply about the contract.

“But are the two of them taking turns on purpose?”

In Victoria’s memories, there were many Maurices. But when Maurice wasn’t there, there was Beatrice.

That is, when midnight came, one of the two was with Victoria.

Both of them made time for Victoria, and it was Maurice who made time regularly. When I asked him to confirm this, Maurice nodded.

“I received a letter saying that something urgent had come up and I had to go out.”

“Mom, how long will you be gone this time?”

“It did say 3 days.”

“Ah, then where did the contracting party make a mistake? If it’s been more than 5 days, it’s already blown up.”

The two of them whisper and understand each other.

It’s nice to see them like a family.

“Dad. Are you going to work tomorrow anyway?”

“Huh? Yeah. Right. Why?”

First of all, when I saw the news on the TV, I remember that tomorrow was a holiday.

“Then why don’t you go play at your dad’s workplace? There’s a bell this time, so it wouldn’t be bad to look around, right?”

Maurice looks troubled at Victoria’s words, which are full of selfishness. When I glance at him and shrug my shoulders to tell him to do as he pleases, he lowers his head.

“Yeah. I guess that’s better, since we can’t be together even on the weekends. Instead, I have to wake up early. If you can’t wake up, I’ll leave you behind.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Victoria smiled brightly and smiled with satisfaction.

As a clockwork engineer, I guess it’s a pleasure to go to the place where clockwork engineers work.

Or maybe she’s just glad she can go to where her father works.

Or, both.

I won’t be bored tomorrow.

As I was organizing my to-do list for tomorrow, Maurice grabbed Victoria’s arm, who was smiling brightly.

“Huh, Dad?”

“Daughter. First, that superpower. Let’s take a closer look. If you feel hungry when you use your superpower, it means that energy is flowing in and out in some way.”

“Oops.”

Victoria looks at me, perhaps sensing an unfortunate omen of what’s to come.

But I’m not on her side, and I’m just as interested in testing her abilities.

“Help me to restrain you.”

“Oh, is that okay?”

“You can just say it.”

“No, then you can let go of that too… … .”

“My honorifics are a handicap. I can’t fix them, so please understand that part.”

Morris, who suddenly had an expression on his face like a fist had been punched in the face, nodded and started measuring Victoria’s body again by applying various devices to it.

And Victoria used her powers late into the night, eventually running away and going to her room.