Novel Bin Vol. 1 - Ch. 120 - Elvert Workshop (1)
Yeah, I had already seen what would happen if I kept ignoring the built-up tension. In fact, the consequence was still ingrained in my body vividly from that BBQ gathering. Well, I do think it was half my fault.
A significant portion of the summer vacation had already gone by, but at first, I had completely made up my mind to visit our residence as soon as summer vacation started instead of dodging around the matter.
Alas, I let myself be sucked into the impromptu exploring invitation from Riyad-senpai, and since I was already in the mood, I skipped everything to visit the Serdos’ territory for sightseeing and somehow ended up at a hot spring for the same reason. After returning, there was no telling what Master might do if I remained absent from the knight order, so I visited them right away where I was, just as I had expected, buried in work until recently.
Inhale & Exhale
I took a deep breath and opened the door to the entrance of the viscount residence.
◆◆◆
"Am I dreaming? Is it really you, Allen-kun? You really surprised me with the unannounced visit. Did something happen?"
My elder sister said with saucer eyes as if she saw a ghost, seeing me entering the house while greeting her with a \'I\'m home’.
It was 8 in the morning.
I had calculated my timing to visit now, considering she should still be sleeping at this moment. My plan was to utter some mumbo-jumbo while she was still groggy from waking up so early and cushion the initial impact with that. However, far from just getting up, she was apparently planning to go out.
"I see, I’m sorry for my unannounced visit, sis. Are you planning to go out today? Then leave everything to me. I’ll handle the cleaning and laundry. I’ll be lounging here ‘til tomorrow."
She let out another befuddled sound when she heard my explanation.
"Huhh!? Allen-kun is actually visiting home on his own accord… for no reason?...... Ah, maybe I’m still sleeping? Though there\'s no need for cleaning since the housekeeping magic tool from Fey-chan is working great. The house is sparkling clean, so there\'s no need.
By the way, that magic tool immediately turns on if there\'s something lying around, so be careful not to leave anything on the floor. Right, I guess I should give this feedback to Fey-chan. Isn\'t it ironic that humans are cleaning to keep the situation clear for a tool?
Hmm, maybe I should ask if there\'s a chance to improve it further by adding arms. Then it can even pick up items, easy peasy~."
Ahaha, it seemed like my already rock bottom reputation had tanked even further after failing to visit even once in this summer vacation, despite promising that I would occasionally drop by.
But the silver lining was that she wasn\'t literally fuming as I had expected. I looked at the floor and indeed, it was sparkling clean thanks to the Runbo-kun version 4, the cleaning robot produced by Fey. Nevertheless, these two were talking behind my back? Ugh, I can feel my stomach ache already…
The only problem was the mountain of clothes on the sofa, but I guess it was already an upgrade from my usual lazy bum sister.
"I\'m really sorry for not visiting earlier, sis. I swear I had planned to visit earlier but—"
"By the way, Allen-kun. Would you mind explaining about your antics in that match? Your big sis was so embarrassed, I felt like my cheeks would literally catch fire, you know."
I decided it was best to curry some brownie points now, seeing her humorous mood and all that, and had just been about to continue when she instead followed with her question, her face masked with a smile. Yet, her eyes weren’t smiling.
"T-There\'s a proper reason, sis! Actually, I was carrying the fate of the kingdom on my back. It was a do-or-die moment—"
"Do-or-die? Hee~, you were that serious about her, Allen-kun? Your sis is an understanding person~, I can\'t say I don\'t understand your anger when that orange-haired girl(?) was bad-mouthing(?) you. But \'might not win\' doesn\'t give you the right to flip her skirt. I know I don\'t usually mind your actions, but that\'s a bit extreme, you know~. You could have explained truthfully, and say I flipped her skirt because I wanted to see her panties, right?"
"I flipped her skirt because I wanted to see her parties!"
Yes, so that you can give me hellish training for the remaining duration of the summer vacation? Yeah, no thanks.
Seeing the looming hell, I immediately threw all my pride away and explained all the ongoing undercurrent.
Besides, I was wearing a mask that covered my eyesight, and was using detection magic for everything, so I also didn\'t see what color or pattern they were!
"What?! You\'re really telling me about all this....... Alright. Fu-chan said it was typical of boys for your age, but this is the only time I’ll let it slide! Listen well, first beat them down, then formally say you want to go out with them, and then kindly request if you want to see their panties! Do you understand?"
Hmm-mm, so first I need to create a scene of carnage in front of that huge crowd, then ask my opponent to become my girlfriend, and request her to show me her panties? So, in short… does this person have no common sense?! I so wanted to shout that but thinking of the situation, I accepted her \'teachings\' quietly, saying "Yes, I will make sure of it!".
"Anyway, were you about to go out, sis? Then, aren\'t you running out of time?"
"Ack, I completely forgot! I had an appointment with Fu-chan to visit her family\'s workshop. But then, you\'re here after so long too~. It would be bad to call it off now, so would you like to come with me, Allen-kun? I heard there will be a lot of magic cars, so I’m sure you won\'t be bored either."
Oh, yeah. Furi-senpai\'s father has the rights over the magic propulsion engine the last time I heard. Well, I wasn\'t curious about the magic tool, but maybe it wouldn\'t be bad to see this world\'s engine.
Plus, I could foresee that she would postpone her appointment if I turned her down and would take me shopping in the city instead… which was another kind of hell.
"It sounds interesting! I’d love to tag along!"
◆◆◆
The Elvert Magic Workshop of Furi-senpai\'s family wasn\'t as grand as I had imagined. It wasn\'t that small, but it was more on the line of a backstreet workshop.
Out of curiosity, I discreetly asked about their situation, and it turned out this had become a magic car repair shop — as well as a playground for Furi-senpai and her father to try out their experiments on magic cars here — ever since Mr. Ashim, Furi-senpai\'s father, had relocated to the kingdom-managed R&D department for his achievements in this sector.
"Heya, lil bro! Fancy seeing you at this time! The match earlier was a masterpiece by the way; you really opened my eyes. Hahaha! You had to look at Rose\'s face afterward. I had to finish three mega big bowls of shaved ice together while listening to her grumble, you know. But I’m glad to see you’ve made up."
"Shhh, Fu-chan, shh!"
My elder sister, who was carrying herself with the decorum of an upstanding family member, panicked and pressed her hand on Furi-senpai\'s mouth to stop her.
Senpai was dressed in a loose beige color overcoat and a black cap, its brim turned backward, which screamed \'Yaho~! I\'m the engineer here!\'.
It was quite a simple attire, but that sculpted face over that tall stature compared to the background was like someone had joined pieces of two different puzzles. It was mismatched scenery, but it reminded me of the expression I had read: beauty in ugliness.
After that, we followed Furi-senpai who gave us a tour of the workshop.
Senpai didn\'t seem bothered by my sudden visit and instead said in a cheery tone, "Feel free to ask me anything that piqued your interest~", explaining everything in detail for the amateur that I was about the magic tools.
Honestly, when I first learned about her being friends with my elder sister, I was totally surprised. After all, I knew better than anyone how much my elder sister was lacking in common sense. She was truly an incredible person.
It was when we were looking around when I noticed a nostalgic — but unconventional by this world\'s standard — thing eating dust in one of the corners of the workshop.
"Woah, can you tell me what that is, Furi-senpai?!"
Furi-senpai turned to glance at the spot I pointed out and shrugged her shoulders after seeing it.
"It\'s the prototype of a 2-wheel magic car that my father and I experimented on 2 years before to chase after speed. Well this is the design we ended up with after tackling the question on how to make it lighter and more compact.
Anyway, this design needs a keen sense of balance if you don\'t want to bite the dust, as you can roughly tell. It doesn\'t seem very practical, so we haven\'t worked on it ever since."
......Speaking of which, not even the roads in the suburbs of the royal capital were paved, so perhaps it was the lack of adequate advancement that this world didn\'t have motorcycles, or even simple bicycles.
In contrast, now I feel bizarre thinking how everyone on Earth could make riding a two-wheeler easy-peasy lemon squeezy. I wonder what I should call this strange gap, another world cultural difference?
Anyway, it all boiled down to training. In fact, there was no question that anyone could ride it as long as they learned how to balance themselves!
And then, a question suddenly popped up inside my head. What was the symbol of an outlaw\'s youth? The various mangas depicting the enchanting springtime of outlaws that I had read in my previous world spontaneously revolved in my mind like lanterns of memories. The common theme in all of them was, yes, bikes. Recalling those memories, motorcycles and I were like denizens of two different worlds on Earth as we shared no fate.
"......Can I give it a test drive, please?! I want to give the symbol of youth— speed a try!"
Furi-senpai seemed a bit taken aback when I made my request.
"Huh, ahh… err, sure if you take it slow in a straight line. But I’m not exaggerating, it\'s not easy to maintain balance, so don\'t force yourself, alright?"
E/N - MC\'s sister is hilarious as always. Beat them down, then ask them to be your girlfriend, and THEN ask if you can see their panties. Gotta try that next time