Chapter 8: The True Calling of a Ship Enthusiast

At the moment, we were seated on chairs inside the magic research laboratory we had come to visit.

Looking around, the room was filled with experimental tools whose purposes I couldn't even begin to guess, along with half-finished magical devices lined up across the tables.

Perhaps to prevent outside factors from interfering with the experiments, the windows were tightly shut. The curtains were drawn as well, completely blocking out the sunlight. The place felt rather dim overall, and it made me want to advise the person living here to step outside for some fresh air once in a while.

Right in the middle of the room, Sebas-san had complained that the seat was far too plain for a king. But honestly, compared to being forced to sit on a soft sofa, this familiar wooden round stool was far more comfortable.

More importantly, I wanted to focus on watching the scene unfolding before me.

"That's why I told you!! If you keep acting the way you usually do in front of the king, it won't end with just getting scolded!!! Come on, hurry up and apologize so he'll forgive you!!!!"

"No, no, absolutely not!!! Why should I have to apologize!!!! I'm the master of this place!!! Which means I'm the god here!!!! Gods never apologize—ever!!!!!!!"

"What kind of god is that!? If you're really a god, at least learn to eat tomatoes first!!!!"

"B-But I hate tomatoes!!! They're all mushy inside and full of juice!!!!!"

The energetic, chuuni-flavored prodigy mage—Clarisse Burn.

Even in the game, she displayed her outrageous personality to the fullest. When it came to magic, she was a genius not only within this country but on a global scale. In particular, the Magic Eyes she possessed in both eyes allowed her to perceive the essence of things and analyze them with incredible precision.

Even in certain routes where the situation turned disastrous, her abilities shone brilliantly, saving the protagonist and the others from crisis again and again.

However, at her core she was exactly what she looked like—a spoiled child not even ten years old. Her long blue hair was braided, and she carried a staff taller than herself. Fully aware of her own talent, she hated being told what to do by others.

Selfish, reckless, and unstoppable. Her experiments had caused trouble more times than anyone could count, and it was practically a tradition for the protagonists to run around cleaning up the aftermath.

That was Clarisse Burn—the girl who served as the head of the Swordria Magic Research Laboratory.

"See!? Your tone slipped again!!! You really should stop talking like that old lady already!!!"

"O-Old lady!? T-That's not it!!! I'm not an old lady—I'm the Witch of the Forest!!! I read about it in a book!!! All great witches talk like this!!!! You idiot, Erius!!!"

"You have to pick the time and place!!! If you talk that arrogantly in front of the king, you'll get executed!!!"

"E-Executed!?"

The one standing on equal footing with her—no, gradually overwhelming her—was her childhood friend, a blue-haired boy not even ten years old who had been assigned as the laboratory's number two and her handler.

The boy called Erius.

Clarisse constantly caused problems, but she also produced extraordinary results. The authorities searched for someone who could rein in her rampages—and eventually found him.

Originally, Clarisse had been the granddaughter of the previous director, and she had even inherited his family name. In this world, receiving a surname meant that your family's status was formally recognized.

But since she had displayed her genius from a very young age, the adults around her never knew how to deal with her. They couldn't even bring themselves to scold her.

Erius was different.

Before and after her talent blossomed, he treated her the same way. If he thought she was wrong, he said so plainly. If she did something amazing, he praised it honestly.

Though mature for his age, he was still just a child. And yet he held that position because everyone agreed on one thing—

He was the only one who could keep Clarisse under control.

Of course, there were people who complained about it. But those people inevitably ended up caught in the chaos caused by Clarisse's experiments. When they saw Erius bravely rushing in to stop her disasters, they realized their mistake.

Only her childhood friend, Erius, could stop Clarisse Burn.

"Uuuuugh..."

"Come on, hurry up and apologize. The new king looks nice, so he'll probably forgive you."

"O-Okay then... Um... S-Sorryyyyyyyyyyy—!?!?!? Why are you smiling with such a creepy face!?!?"

"Oh, don't mind me. Please continue. Honestly, you can just treat me like one of those lab tools over there. Or even like a weed if you'd like."

There is a special kind of nourishment that can only be obtained from the pairing of a mischievous genius girl and her reliable childhood-friend boy.

These two clearly cared about each other. Having been together since childhood, they were widely regarded among enthusiasts as a truly precious childhood-friend couple.

Naturally, I was one of those enthusiasts. Back then, I used to watch their interactions through the screen with a stupid grin on my face.

And now the scene I could only see through a screen was unfolding right before my eyes.

That alone sent my excitement skyrocketing. I felt like I could forgive anything with a smile right now.

From the bottom of my heart, I thought—

I'm so glad I came to this world!!!

"Don't scare the kids like that."

"Ow!!!"

The one who snapped me back to reality from my daze—because I honestly wanted to watch forever—was Hikari, dressed in her maid uniform, delivering a firm slap to the top of my head.

Apparently, my trance-like state had frightened the boy and girl in front of me. I needed to reflect on that.

But still... isn't the sight of Clarisse-chan hiding behind Erius-kun in fear absolutely wonderful? And Erius-kun trembling while trying to protect his childhood friend—also wonderful.

"Sorry for scaring you two. Here, an apology... use this to buy some ice cream and eat it together. If possible, pick different flavors and share them."

"Eh? Ah... thank you... very much?"

"Don't shove money into their hands while apologizing."

Hikari smacked my head again.

My head isn't a musical instrument, you know? Just because it makes a nice smacking sound doesn't mean you should keep hitting it!

Still, she was right. This hadn't exactly been the best first impression.

I'd only ended up raising the kids' guard.

Ah, but even if they aren't my absolute favorites, a favorite ship is still wonderful... so incredibly precious. Every little interaction between them sparkled before my eyes. I'm certain they'll grow into a wonderful couple by the time they're adults.

Watching that happy future unfold is my ideal.

And to make that ideal come true, I have to protect this country.

The title of "Sword King" honestly hadn't excited me much before. But now that I had something I wanted to protect, I realized it wasn't a burden at all.

"Sorry about this, kids. This guy's a bit nuts. But he's not a bad person, so try to get along with him. He's the type who gets excited watching married dogs."

"I know that one. That's called a pervert."

"B-Being king is really stressful! It's understandable if he becomes a pervert...!!"

Wait.

I had just reaffirmed my determination, and somehow I ended up being labeled a pervert.

Well, I don't really feel like denying it... and I don't mind being thought of that way.

But if that makes them wary and prevents me from seeing their natural couple-like interactions, that would be a huge loss.

Yeah. Maybe I should restrain myself a little.

Though, honestly, I have no idea how much I can hold back.

For me, this is basically an instinct I can't get rid of even if I die. Apparently I was doing the same things even before my past-life memories returned, so it must be engraved into my soul.

Anyway, I should probably stop Hikari before she starts recounting my childhood oddities.

Ahem.

I coughed once, redirecting the attention of the two children—who had been completely absorbed in Hikari's story—toward me.

"Um, I'm Toma. I accidentally pulled out the Holy Sword and ended up becoming the 'Sword King.' I'll be learning a lot about magic from you from now on, so... nice to meet you."

"L-Look, Clarisse. The king greeted you."

"I-I know that already!!! Let me introduce myself properly again!!! I am Clarisse Burn, the head of this magic research laboratory!!! Even if you're the king, when it comes to magic I'm the superior one here. Since it's dangerous technology, make sure you listen to what I say!!!!"

The girl standing there with her hands on her hips, doing her best to appear dignified, was honestly quite endearing.

However, her ability was the real thing. Thanks to the power granted by the Holy Sword, I could tell that with my current abilities I stood absolutely no chance against her.

Starting today, I would be receiving magical instruction from them. I had to become a proper fighting force as soon as possible.

The protagonist of the original story had swung a sword since childhood just to survive on his own. But I was merely the son of a liquor store owner. I didn't have the luxury of taking things slowly. If I wanted to grow stronger, their guidance was essential.

"Now then, the first step is to measure your magic power and your attribute. Everything's already prepared, so let's finish this quickly."

"Lady Clarisse, today was only meant to be an introduction. The lessons are scheduled to begin tomorrow, so..."

"Fool. If we don't even know the amount of magic power or the attribute, we can't prepare anything for the lessons. If the legends are true, the fact that he pulled the Holy Sword means magic power won't be a problem. But the method of instruction changes depending on the attribute. It won't even take five minutes, so just wait."

Sebas-san tried to stop Clarisse-chan from starting the experiment immediately, likely because the schedule was already packed. But she shut him down with a perfectly logical rebuttal and continued her preparations.

As this showed, aside from when she was interacting with Erius-kun or when she was completely absorbed in magical research, she could be quite sharp-tongued and often silenced people with her arguments. That tendency made it easy for her to make enemies, which was precisely why Erius-kun's role was to keep things under control.

"Now hurry up and press your palm against this crystal. When you do, it will glow. The color of the light shows your attribute, and the brightness shows your magic power."

"For example, red means fire, blue means water, and yellow means lightning."

"Some people have two attributes, so the colors can mix. If that happens, we'll run a more detailed examination to determine which one you're more suited to."

"Huh. So that's how it works."

This part had been in the game too. Hearing it explained like this brought my old memories back. No matter the topic, none of it was useless information, so it was important to listen carefully.

"Hey, can I try it first?"

"You may. I've been curious about Hikari's attribute as well!!"

While I nodded along, Hikari must have grown bored waiting for me to touch the crystal. She stepped forward and placed her hand on it first.

The moment she did, a brilliant green light burst from the crystal, illuminating the entire room.

Green was the wind attribute, if I remembered correctly. The protagonist's attribute in the original story changed depending on the starting settings, so it was impossible to predict. But wind magic tended to have a lot of useful spells.

My childhood friend really was impressive. I couldn't help feeling proud.

"Hmm. Hikari also has enough magic power to use magic. In fact, she might even have more magic power than I do. It's a waste to leave her as just a maid. How about studying under me?"

"Nah, I'm good. I appreciate it, but... you know how this guy is. As his childhood friend, I feel like I need to keep an eye on him."

"I get that. I totally get that. You worry about what they'll do if you don't watch them. That's pretty much why I'm here too."

"What did you say!?"

Somehow I felt like I'd just been lumped together with the problem child of the laboratory. Should I ignore that?

Well... to be fair, she did often have to stop my rampages or help deal with the aftermath. Yeah. Maybe I should reflect on that a little.

The Erius–Clarisse pair looked like they were about to start another adorable argument, and I really wanted to watch it unfold. But we couldn't stay here forever.

"Alright, my turn."

"Wait a moment. If your magic power is overwhelming, it might blind us. Sunglasses, sunglasses..."

According to legend, the Holy Sword could only be drawn by someone most loved by magic. If that were true, my magic power would probably surpass Hikari's.

So Clarisse handed out sunglasses to everyone present, and finally it was time to measure my magic power.

Not knowing what would happen, I nervously placed my hand on the crystal.

"Whoa!?"

The moment I touched it, pitch-black darkness burst from the crystal.

I had expected light, so I couldn't react at all as my vision was instantly swallowed by darkness.

Startled, I pulled my hand away from the crystal, but the lingering magic continued to spill out. The darkness still blocked my sight.

Completely confused, I stumbled backward and started waving my arms around.

"Hyah!?"

"Huh?"

As a result, I ended up grabbing something unbelievably soft.

I heard an incredibly cute voice, but in that moment I couldn't even process who it belonged to.

Then the darkness finally faded, and my vision returned.

Standing in front of me was Hikari.

And my right hand was firmly gripping her chest—which, I now realized, was surprisingly large.

Her face was completely red.

"...Do you have anything to say?"

"...It was unbelievably soft, and the voice was really cute."

Realizing what was about to happen to me, I answered her question honestly while she stood there blushing with embarrassment and fury.

From experience, I knew that lying in situations like this would only make things escalate in a much worse direction.

"You pervert!!!!!"

Her uppercut landed squarely on my jaw.

My body lifted into the air and was launched all the way out of the magic research laboratory.