Chapter 11: Ah, I See

“Oh… Lady Rishali. Is something the matter?”

“I have important business, Juugi. Do you happen to have formal attire with you at the moment?”

“If I return to the estate, I do.”

After talking with Lululu, I headed back to the laboratory.

Then I asked Juugi to change into formal wear.

“When I told Sister Lululu about the steam engine, she seemed quite interested.”

“O-Oh!”

“You’ll be able to explain it more accurately than I can, Juugi. Would you mind taking care of it?”

At first, Juugi looked a bit suspicious, but once he heard the story, his face lit up with joy.

He’s a man who’s staking his life on making the ‘steam engine’ known to the world.

Even if it’s a sudden request, the opportunity to present to the First Princess must be just what he’s been dreaming of.

“Leave it to me. I, Juugi, will explain it with all my strength!”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

“However, since you’ll be coming to the royal palace, that outfit…”

“You’re absolutely right. I’ll go get changed.”

Juugi was full of enthusiasm, practically snorting with energy.

That’s the spirit. Do your best out there.

“In that case, we should bring the small steam engine model. And fuel…”

“No, burning coal inside the palace is a bit much. I might end up coughing blood.”

“Good point.”

Juugi looked positively giddy as he debated which experimental tools to bring.

He was probably overjoyed that his invention was finally going to get some recognition.

“We can have Takeru use his fire magic as a substitute.”

“…Mmh. Understood.”

Meanwhile, all Sister Lululu really wants is to hang out with a cool, intelligent guy.

…Should I be worried?

“Yes. Very good. You look absolutely dashing, Juugi.”

“Eh? Ah, thank you very much.”

At first glance, Juugi only looked like a thin, high-strung man.

But once he changed into proper clothes and put on some makeup, he looked surprisingly handsome.

That slightly unhealthy-looking slimness of his even gave him the vibe of a character out of a girls’ manga.

“Juugi, are you ready?”

“Yes. Leave it to me, Juugi.”

He packed several iron blocks into his bag and flashed a confident grin.

He looked completely ready to present.

“I’m counting on you. Now, onward, to Sister Lululu!”

…Now it’s just a matter of whether Sister likes him or not.

No—this will work. Boys in girls’ manga are always unrealistically thin.

If anyone can meet her expectations, it’s scrawny little Juugi.

---

“So, you’re Juugi, huh.”

“It’s an honor to make your acquaintance.”

“Hmph.”

So yeah… reality wasn’t that sweet.

“I’m Juugi Wetto. I work as an associate professor at the Saripa University laboratory.”

“…Hmm?”

I’d confidently introduced Juugi to my sister, but—

—Her reaction upon seeing him was… underwhelming.

“Thank you for granting me this valuable opportunity today.”

“Mm, well…”

Lululu was staring straight at me with a look that clearly said, “Wait, this is the handsome guy?”

D-Did I mess up? I thought this kind of sickly-skinny body type was supposed to be a hit!

“Well, fine. I’ll hear you out. Explain this ‘steam engine’ of yours.”

“Gladly.”

Wait, now that I think about it—Sister did say she liked slender men, but…

Wasn’t it lean with muscle, the kind that doesn’t look flimsy?

Damn it! Her type was ‘lean and toned,’ wasn’t it?

“What I’ve brought today is a prototype—a small model…”

“Hmm…”

Ah, this is bad. That’s Lululu’s ‘I’ve lost interest’ face.

It’s the same expression she makes when I get all fired up talking about butt-cutting beetles.

The “I’ll listen because my little sister asked me to, but that’s the only reason” face!

“You put fuel in here and heat it up. The steam expands…”

“…”

“Guard, could you apply some heat here?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

Please don’t look so disappointed, Sister.

I did only tell you that he might be smarter than you and cool-headed. That’s all.

You’re the one who mentally converted that into “intelligent, cool, handsome older guy.”

“Yes, as you can see, when air is heated, it expands and produces energy.”

“…And then?”

Honestly, Lululu’s standards are just too high.

There are plenty of slim guys, but “lean and toned” is rare enough.

And an intelligent, cool, lean-and-toned handsome guy? That’s basically a fantasy creature.

Don’t confuse daydreams with reality. If you keep that up, you’re never getting married.

“In short, it utilizes the expansion property of heated air to drive physical motion.”

“…”

“By heating here and cooling here, we can generate an up-and-down piston motion…”

“…………”

Lululu, listening to the steam engine explanation, looked utterly blank—like a doll.

Juugi, on the other hand, was totally unfazed and continued his explanation without even glancing at her.

“By producing high-pressure airflow and channeling it through this cylinder…”

“………………”

“The steam generated can be alternately cooled, allowing for…”

Even after Sister’s expression vanished, the explanation just kept getting more complex.

At this point, I’d given up thinking and was counting butterflies in my head.

“Finally, we connect it to a system we’ve named the turbine, which produces rotational motion.”

“……………………”

“This enables more efficient use of the generated energy—”

Ah. So that’s it. Juugi is bad at presentations.

He assumes that since he understands it, the other person will too.

He glosses over technical terms as if everyone knows them, and without understanding each part, you can’t follow what comes next.

With explanations like this, of course nobody’s going to get it!

“Stop. Let’s take a break from the explanation.”

“Eh? But I haven’t finished the presentation yet…”

The sheer incomprehensibility finally forced Lululu to cut him off.

It’s over. We’re done for.

In a magical world like this, there was never any hope they’d understand steam engines…

“Explain how that turbine thing works.”

“Oh, that’s an adaptation of windmills and screws. By combining nozzles and plates—”

“To get that spinning, you’d need quite a bit of horsepower, right?”

“And the steam engine is precisely what provides that horsepower.”

While I was despairing and holding my head in my hands—

Genius Lululu was being genius Lululu, sweating from her forehead and clutching her head as well.

“Even with this compact model, it produces enough horsepower to lift a person. Guard, may I borrow a bit of your magic?”

“Wait, hold on a second—what is this? What exactly are you even trying to explain to me?”

“Look, just like this. It’s powerful enough to lift my body off the ground.”

Thanks to the steam engine placed on the floor, Juugi’s body floated about ten centimeters into the air.

Seeing that, my sister’s eyes went wide and she was completely speechless.

“If anything is unclear, I’d be happy to explain.”

“There’s nothing but unclear things! What’s with this gear alignment here… Wait, I get it. You’re converting vertical motion into rotational motion!”

“Exactly right.”

“And then it advances into this turbine system. Yes, yes… what is this madness!!”

Apparently, unlike me—who couldn’t keep up with the explanation at all—

My sister Lululu actually did manage to follow Juugi’s explanation.

…As expected of her. She really is something else.

“This is tech from hundreds of years in the future! Everything I’ve studied is child’s play in comparison! You could replace magic with this!”

“Oh! So you understand now!”

“Why hasn’t this research received any funding!? This turbine mechanism alone is a historic breakthrough! Everyone’s a complete idiot!!”

Now that she understood the contents of the steam engine, my sister started shouting in the sitting room.

She had come expecting to see a handsome guy, only to be hit with something far more dangerous, and now she was overwhelmed.

“And this—wait, don’t tell me. Even if you don’t have fuel, you can use fire magic as a substitute, can’t you!?”

“…It’s not impossible. But relying on magic tools feels like cheating…”

“Make it work with magic tools!! If you had, this would’ve been recognized way earlier, you big dummy!!”

When Lululu pointed out that it could be adapted for use with magic tools, Juugi sulked.

Now that I think about it, it’s true—this could definitely be adapted using fire magic instead of coal.

“But that defeats the whole point. The biggest selling point of the steam engine is that it doesn’t need magic.”

“It’s a world-changing invention that makes magic tools irrelevant, you utter moron!!”

Lululu, in a fury—?—grabbed Juugi by the collar.

After trembling for a few seconds, she let out a deep sigh.

“…Rishali, you realized how insane this research was, didn’t you? Good job.”

“Thank you very much!”

“I’ll talk to Papa and make him understand. Ugh, what even is this…”

My sister then dropped heavily onto the sofa in the sitting room.

With a hand over her face, she closed her eyes, looking thoroughly exhausted.

“Juugi Wetto. You might end up becoming royalty, you know.”

“…Excuse me?”

“If your achievement is recognized properly, you could marry either me or Rishali. As the heir to a marquis family, your status wouldn’t be an issue.”

“P-Pardon me!?”

Still covering her face, Lululu made that declaration to Juugi.

Indeed, if they were to choose a domestic husband for a royal daughter, the eldest son of a marquis house would be the logical choice.

There are huge political benefits to forming familial ties with powerful noble houses.

“N-No, that’s unthinkable. I’m what they call a low-magic ‘Poor.’ I’ve already been disinherited as heir.”

“……”

“There’s no way someone like me could ever marry a princess…”

Suddenly being told he might end up marrying me or my sister sent Juugi into a full-blown panic.

Apparently, he did have those kinds of feelings—his face looked completely red.

“You’re such an idiot. Once your invention spreads across the world, no one’s going to care if you’re a low-magic Poor or whatever.”

“──!!”

“From now on, you’re the one who’s going to change the world.”

Saying that, almost teasingly—

Sister Lululu turned away with a sly grin.

“Or what? Are you saying we’re not good enough for you?”

“N-No! Not at all!”

Ah, this is how she acts when she likes someone.

Sister Lululu rarely gives straightforward praise.

Instead, when she’s taken a liking to someone, she tends to tease them a lot.

“Hmmm. Looking closely, I guess you’re not such a bad-looking guy after all.”

“P-Please don’t tease me. I’d never dare dream of something so grand…”

That’s exactly why, seeing Lululu so amused while teasing Juugi like this—

It was undeniable proof that my sister had taken a liking to him.

“Well then, if you insist, I could always—”

“I-I’m not nearly worthy enough to be with Lady Rishali!”

“……”

And then, in his panic from being teased—

Juugi, face beet red, blurted out my name—Rishali—and turned away.

“…Ah, I see.”

“Ow—!”

That day,

For the first time in my life,

Sister stepped on my foot.