In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 12

by Patora Fuyuhara

  “Oi now... We can’t afford to miss watchin’ the people we might end up facing! We’ll come for day one. Micah can watch the place in the meantime.” Dolan nodded his head firmly. I told them I’d pick them up on opening day and then I left Reflet.

  When I returned I called up the king of Belfast and Duke Ortlinde, along with various other royals, and roped them in as invitees.

  We were going to have a baseball tournament and a martial arts tournament at the same time, so I invited the knights from other nations to come and join in as well.

  I’d organized the other two events to drum up a little more interest, since shogi alone wasn’t exactly brimming with wow factor. Plus, people who weren’t familiar with the complicated rules of baseball and shogi could enjoy the more simplistic martial arts tournament.

  In the end, we had ourselves a pretty crazy lineup...

  “...Oh geez, this list is a little...”

  “Y-Yes... This is a bit much, even if I understand why they’d want to join...” Yumina grimaced slightly as she looked over the list of participants.

  ■Shogi Tournament Participants

  The King of Belfast (Belfast)

  Duke Ortlinde (Belfast)

  The Regulus Emperor (Regulus)

  The Refreese Emperor (Refreese)

  The King of Palouf (Palouf)

  Duke Rembrandt (Palouf)

  The Roadmare Doge (Roadmare)

  Dolan (Belfast - Reflet)

  Barral (Belfast - Reflet)

  Simon (Belfast - Reflet)

  ■Martial Arts Tournament Participants

  The King of Mismede (Mismede)

  The Knight King of Lestia (Lestia)

  Knight Commander Gaspar (Regulus)

  General Leon (Belfast)

  Captain Lyon (Belfast)

  Captain Garm (Mismede)

  Baba Nohbuharu (Brunhild)

  Yamagata Massakage (Brunhild)

  Kokonoe Jutaro (Eashen)

  ■National Baseball Team Participants

  Brunhild

  Belfast

  Mismede

  Regulus

  Lestia

  Refreese

  Lihnea

  Roadmare

  We ended up having quite the gathering... And that was only the people we’d invited.

  “...Will we have enough security?”

  “We’ll keep it subtle. I’ve asked all the people we invited to wear special protective charms that can’t be seen by anyone else, and we’ll have their personal guards come along in disguise, too. Obviously, we’ll post guards as well. I’ve got Mr. Mittens keeping watch for suspicious people.” I’d also asked that Kohaku summon a couple of dependent animals to keep watch as well. Frankly, I was more worried about Doctor Babylon... She hadn’t said anything about the shogi tournament, even though I knew she’d want to join... And neither Moroha nor Karina had mentioned the martial arts contest either... I’d kind of let on that I didn’t want them to participate.

  I didn’t want them participating if I could avoid it, but I also feared they’d ask me for something unreasonable in return.

  “...It’s basically a festival at this point.”

  “Well, I guess you’re right. We’re gonna have little events and street stalls up as well... Just a shame we didn’t have much time to prep.” It all started on a whim, after all. I felt a little bad for roping so many people into it, but they all seemed pretty excited in their own ways, so I didn’t mind so much. If we did something like this again, I’d give more of a grace period for preparation.

  Kousaka was just upset that I didn’t give him a month of planning time, he said we could’ve made a lot of money if we’d been able to hype it all up. I understood his concerns, but it was just one of those things.

  “Yae, Hilde, and Elze want to join the martial arts contest.”

  “Yeah, but I want them on call for security. There’ll be other chances for them to show their stuff in the future.” Those three were unreasonably powerful, anyway. They were being trained almost every day by Moroha, and they were influenced by not just my Divinity, but my sisters’ as well.

  That divine protection on them was really something... If they continued to be influenced, they’d grow further beyond the capabilities of regular humans.

  Although the effect depended on the person being blessed, rather than the one granting them. Just because they had Moroha’s divinity influencing them didn’t mean it’d help them in swordplay, for example. Yumina had manifested the ability to glimpse a few seconds into the future. I assumed that was because she was being influenced by my divinity, but the ability itself was probably something inherent in her that needed to be brought out.

  I didn’t think it’d be fair to let anyone under divine influence enter a contest like that. I wanted everyone there to have a good time, in the end. I felt bad for them, but if I didn’t stick to my guns then it could end up being a slippery slope... Moroha would use it to justify her entry.

  As for the old farts Baba and Yamagata, they ignored my protest and said they’d participate in order to better defend the place.

  To be fair, there was always the possibility of people coming in to do harm, so I let them get away with it. We’d erected various barriers to prevent too much harm anyway.

  “Ah... That reminds me, the pope of Ramissh and Karen wanted to use the church in town, Touya.”

  “What for, prayer?”

  “They said they wanted to establish themselves a little consultation office, so they could hear people out and offer religious counsel.”

  Counsel, huh...? That sounds fine by me, I guess. Those two are the kinds to dispense life advice, anyway. I wonder if the pope will go in disguise or not, though... It’s kind of a big deal to have her out here.

  As I pondered to myself, my phone started to vibrate. Oh, a call!

  I took out my phone and looked at the screen. It said that the caller was... god. I was shook.

  “H-Hello?”

  “Ah... Touya. I was watching and I wondered... Would it be quite alright if I participated in this festival of yours? I felt a little bit like sightseeing in Brunhild, and perhaps speaking in the church about this and that... I promise I’ll be no trouble!”

  “...S-Seriously?”

  “I would also like to meet with the gods who are down there, and confer a little. You understand?” He laughed softly, but I was staring forward in shock. I forced myself to smile as if looking up at my viewer through a fourth wall.

  ...Ohhh no. Ohhh sweet lord. The big guy’s coming... The man himself? Down here...? Sightseeing?! I-Is the festival gonna be okay?! I mean... Surely he’s not coming down as a full god or something...

  Suddenly, the big fuss about gathering all the monarchs, disguising them, and keeping them safe just felt so... Trivial.

  I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.

  Interlude II: Stuffed Toy Fantasy

  “......” I rubbed my eyes at what I was seeing in front of me.

  I certainly didn’t remember drinking any alcohol... But how else could I explain it? I was seeing double... Since when were there two Paulas?

  “...Am I seeing things? Don’t tell me I’m still asleep...”

  “You most certainly aren’t. There are two...” Leen let out a little sigh and spoke in an almost disappointed manner.

  What, really? As if to greet me good morning, the Paula on the left raised her arm into the air and gave me a little wave. Then, she lifted the arm of the Paula next to her, making that one wave too.

  “...Is it a stuffed toy? Although... You’re a stuffed toy too, Paula...” Paula was the product of Leen’s Null spell, [Program]. She had been engineered to act life-like, with realistic reactions and responses.

  Paula was the result of over two hundred years of gradual programming. Leen could use every kind of magic except Dark, after all. The little bear was definitely impressive and could display a wide range of emotions, despite not actually being alive.

>   I picked up the stuffed doll that resembled Paula and raised it into the air.

  Oho... It even weighs about the same... It’s really well-made... Kind of weird that it isn’t moving, though.

  “Where’d this come from?”

  “Linze. She’s been into handicrafts and sewing lately, and created this little Paula copy as a test-out of her skills. Did you perhaps indoctrinate her, or something?”

  “Hmph... Obviously I didn’t. She just started getting interested because of that book.”

  I’d brought a book back from the Reverse World. It was a little one about handicrafts and little sewing activities. Seemed like it had a lot of advice on how to make toys.

  Linze picked it up and read it back to back. She grew up around a lot of children, so her natural talent for embroidery had seen a lot of practice over the years. It would probably be more apt to say that her interest was rekindled, rather than started up.

  I ended up giving her a full sewing kit and a lot of cloth I had as a present, as well. It was no problem since the stuff was just sitting unused in [Storage] anyway. I would’ve preferred it to have some kind of use in the end.

  “But this is really something... Are you sure it’s not an exact copy? By the way, did you make Paula originally?”

  “I didn’t, no. Paula was actually created for me by Eris. That girl was always good at that kind of thing.”

  I see... So Eris is your mom, Paula? If I remember right, Eris is the court magician of Mismede and the girl who gave me a little bit of trouble when I went to the fairy village... I guess I caused her some annoyance...

  Paula turned to Leen and made a gesture. Leen had gotten pretty good at understanding her from the slightest movement.

  “Hm? No, that’d be impossible. Even if I applied programming to this little one, it wouldn’t become like you for a couple of hundred years. And to be honest... I can’t remember what I did to you to begin with, Paula.” Paula looked a little downtrodden by Leen’s words.

  I see... Guess the little bear asked if it could have a playmate... Well, that’s kinda cute.

  Leen had slowly added different features to Paula over time, so it would make sense that she wouldn’t remember the individual processes that led to Paula as she is now.

  That also made Paula make seemingly random motions and actions now and then.

  For example, if Paula was hit, sometimes she’d react with anger... but other times she might act sad. Paula also had a fight or flight response, but it wasn’t something learned. It was something programmed into her.

  Even if there was a “Get angry” response, that might manifest as “stomping your foot,” or “raising your hands.” It was hard to tell exactly what situation would prompt what response. And so, it was no wonder Leen had trouble recalling how to map the responses in the same way.

  I enchanted Paula’s ribbon with [Storage] and allowed the inanimate Paula to slip inside. She just had to tug the left side of the ribbon to store something and tug the right side to release it. It could only store one thing, but it would allow her to carry around her new “friend” without any hassle.

  “Thank you, Darling...” Leen smiled sweetly toward me.

  Man, Linze really is amazing, though... I’m not bad at painting, but this takes a whole other level of finesse.

  I decided to go see Linze because I was concerned. I hadn’t seen her at breakfast so I wondered if she was still asleep, it was unusual for her not to be there in the morning.

  I invited Leen to come along, but she said she was going to oversee Sue and Renne. She liked to do her own thing, and I certainly didn’t begrudge her that.

  I climbed up the castle stairs and came out into the private area. The knights in our castle weren’t allowed to come up here. Laim and the maids came through, but they typically didn’t interfere much, same with my sisters.

  I knocked on Linze’s bedroom door. Even though we were engaged, I wasn’t about to go and exhibit bad manners.

  “Linze. Can I come in?”

  “H-Huh? A-Ah... Yes, okay!”

  ...She okay? Something was funny about her voice, but I opened the door anyway.

  “Hey, how are y— Ah?!” I involuntarily made a funny noise.

  The room’s filled with stuffed toys! There’s a whole mountain of them in here... Don’t tell me... Did you make all of these, Linze?! The girl herself was sitting in the middle of the room, gently rubbing at her eyes.

  “...Were you sleeping sitting up?”

  “S-Sorry... Seems I fell asleep...”

  That’s dangerous! There are needles and scissors around, you know! I took some coffee out of [Storage] and handed it over to her. She looked at it with a frown, but perked up slightly when I brought out some milk and sugar for her as well.

  The caffeine in this world was considerably stronger, so it’d definitely wake her up. I wanted her sleeping properly going forwards, though...

  “Mmm... Tastes good...”

  “Glad you like it, but... did you make all these, Linze?”

  “N-Not all of them... I bought a few to use as reference.”

  Hm... I can still tell which ones you did make, though... I looked on top of the chest of drawers and recognized one of the plushies there immediately. It was a white tiger, and it looked just like Kohaku.

  I also noticed plush versions of Sango and Kokuyou, as well as a cute stuffed Kougyoku. They all had really cute, chibi designs going on... and looked very well made.

  “Wait, that one’s...”

  “Hm? Oh, eek! N-No, wait! D-Don’t look at...!” It was a stuffed toy that resembled a young man. He had a white coat and black pants.

  Is that... me? Heh... He’s a little bit cuter than I would’ve expected...

  It seemed like the doll Linze was scrambling for wasn’t the one of me, however. The one she’d grabbed for was another entirely.

  It was a doll with short, silver hair and a cute little hairband. The doll’s eyes were blue, the same blue as the blushing girl by my side.

  “...What a cute little doll.”

  “Wh-What?! U-Uhm... D-D-Do you really think so...?”

  Actually, I think both you and the doll are cute.

  “Can I have one of these...? I think it’d look nice in my room.”

  “O-Of course! I’m really happy that you like them!” Linze gave me permission to take one back. What a precious treasure.

  She’d made an incredible amount, though... I looked around the room in wonder. There were over a hundred, in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

  Most of them were little animals like cats and rabbits. They were all designed in a cute, slightly deformed style. Even I could appreciate it.

  “I lost track of time... It was so much fun that before I knew it, I’d ended up making so many... I just kept getting ideas for which one to do next...”

  “I understand being excited, but it’s important to get your rest. People will get worried if you’re falling asleep at random and stuff... It goes without saying that I’d get worried, too.”

  “Okay...” Linze was a delicate girl, so I didn’t want her to push herself past her limits. She wasn’t as energetic as Elze, after all.

  Then again, she was pretty similar to her sister in terms of stubbornness sometimes... But I actually really loved and respected that about her, too.

  “Hm? What are you making now, anyway?”

  “Ah, it’s not a toy this time... I was making some clothes. I thought my sister would like them.”

  You made these?! I took it in my hands and felt along the sleeve. There was a pretty lace sewn into the cuff, I didn’t know Linze was capable of embroidery this intricate.

  “Ah, uhm... I didn’t actually make the lace part... That came from Mr. Zanac’s store... I’m not so good at knitting, but I’d like to get better...”

  Oh, really? I wondered if she’d considered working for Zanac or something. His store was rapidly expanding its repertoire lately.

  As I was
thinking to myself, the door opened.

  “...Good morning, Linze. Oh, Grand Duke? Why are you here?” Sakura had opened the door and waltzed on in.

  You ever hear of knocking, lady? She looked at us with sleepy eyes and looked between me and Linze. She was holding a lot of cloth in her hands.

  “Sorry, I fell asleep earlier... Oh, did you do it?”

  “I did. I cut it along the paper pattern.”

  Sakura laid out the fabric along a desk, they were cut into various shapes. It seemed like they were the pieces for another stuffed toy.

  “Have you been helping her, Sakura?”

  “Yeah. It’s a puppet for my mother’s school... Linze was helping make it. We’ve been doing puppet shows... for the kids...”

  “Like this, see?” Linze held up a little cloth puppet with her hand and made it move around a bit. It was basically a hand puppet, the kind you’d see in kids entertainment shows.

  “There are a lot of animals in the story... so I stayed up all night cutting the pieces...”

  “Oh, interesting. I’d help, but [Modeling] doesn’t exactly cover cloth...” That spell basically allowed me to transform natural materials and shape them how I saw fit. It didn’t exactly work so good with stuff like cloth or leather.

  I couldn’t help with sewing or anything. I could make more needles and scissors, but that was about it... Oh, wait...!

  “You two, I think I remember seeing something about a magic sewing machine in Babylon’s storehouse...”

  “Sewing machine...?” Linze tilted her head to the side. It would probably be easier to just show her. I pulled out my phone and used the internet to find some sewing machine videos. I wanted them to see it in action, so they’d easily understand.

  “Wow! That’s fast! It’s sewing stuff really easily!”

  “...That looks useful. Mhm...”

  The two of them were practically glued to the screen. The sewing machine needle moved up and down at a rapid pace, easily stitching the fabric together.

  It was easy to find out how a sewing machine was structured on the internet, so building it was possible... But it was a little complicated for me. I’d maybe be able to make an older foot pedal one at the very most.