Author: Yume Neiji

The swords of the samurai girls, Karen and Fana, collide with each other many times.

However, at first, the battle between the two seemed evenly matched, but gradually the difference in ability became clear.

“Guu……”

“Mm!”

This is evident from the difference in their facial expressions.

Karen is clearly anxious, and Fana is as expressionless as ever.

“Just as I expected.”

It turned out exactly as I expected.

“It’s true that the sword ability alone may not be so different, but the experience level is too different between that samurai-oneesan and that Fana-oneechan.”

Both of them are unfamiliar with each other’s swordsmanship, so the conditions are the same in that respect. However, the ability to deal with such an unknown opponent is very different between the two.

That samurai girl seems to have had her fair share of battles, but she must have fought only similar swordsmen.

Fana, on the other hand, has fought not only swordsmen, but also opponents who wield other weapons and magic, and has even defeated various monsters as well as humans.

Therefore, it didn’t take long for her to be able to see through the samurai girl’s swordsmanship and deal with it.

“That silver-haired girl is so strong!”

“Hey, samurai girl, don’t be pushed around! I’ve bet 5,000 yen on you! Do your best!”

“Don’t lose! Show her your samurai spirit!”

As the jeers flew around, Karen realized that she was in a bad position and distanced herself.

“I can’t believe I was being pushed back… I don’t want to, but I have no choice but to use this technique!”

She seemed to be planning to perform some big moves, and she held her sword in a unique posture.

“Yagyū Shinnen-ryū: Thunderclap!”

Immediately afterwards, Karen’s figure seemed to disappear.

“Hoh~. So there’s a technique here that looks like shrinkage.”

Shrinkage is a technique where one closes the distance between the opponent in an instant. Karen showed exactly the same trick.

A normal opponent would have been caught off guard by this.

But—

“Huh!?”

As soon as she unleashed a slash, Karen’s eyes widened. After all, her sword, which seemed to be absolutely unavoidable, slashed the air.

Fana’s figure is now above Karen’s head.

“Mm, if you don’t know what kind of attack it is, then you can just avoid it.”

The crowd belatedly realized what had happened and soon exclaimed in shock.

“S-she’s floating in the air!?”

“She can fly!?”

“Is it some kind of karakuri!?”

Of course, Fana is just flying with wind magic. In a country where magic is not very common, it seems that it is not immediately apparent.

“Magic? Can you use magic!?”

“Mm.”

“I-in other words, you’ve been saving magic until now……”

As a samurai girl, it would have been a shock.

The opponent who was more than equal to her in a sword-only battle was actually not just a swordsman, but a magic swordsman.

“It’s time to decide the fight.”

Fana’s whole body is enveloped with wind. She had a high enough agility before, but now she’s twice as fast, if not more.

“Uh-, I can’t—”

The samurai girl, who had lost sight of Fana even for a moment, could no longer do anything about it.

There was a loud metallic clang, and the sword flew from the samurai girl’s hand, spun around, and plunged into the ground. At the same time, the tip of Fana’s sword was pointed at her back.

“I win”

“……I-, I lost.”

The young samurai girl collapses to her knees in despair and admits defeat.

“Ahhhhh, I lost!!!”

“I bet on you, you  know!? Give my money back!”

“That’s right! Give me my money back! You are a disgrace to a samurai!”

Even though they had made the bet of their own accord, the crowd roared mercilessly.

Seeing that, Fana spoke with a slightly irritated look,

“Then you can just take it back yourselves! If you beat me, you will get ten million.”

“Uh……”

“I’m available anytime. So, who’s up for it?”

“O-oh, I remember, I had an errand to do!”

“M-me too!”

“I have to get back quickly! S-so, I’ll fight you next time!”

The crowd suddenly changed their attitudes and left like a scattering of spiderlings.

“Apparently, not everyone has samurai pride.”

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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“I will fight.”

“Hoh? So, you’re a swordsman from the West huh. Fufu, you’re quite an interesting opponent.”

Noticing Fana’s volunteering, the samurai girl smiled fearlessly.

“The participation fee is 10,000 yen.”

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have any money here…… Can I pay later?”

Right.

In the first place, we were trying to exchange money because we didn’t have any currency of this country.

“No, no, I can’t give you that kind of special treatment. I don’t even know if you can be trusted.”

The samurai girl shrugs her shoulders, implying she can’t do anything about it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely pay you. From that 10 million.”

At Fana’s words, the samurai girl’s eyebrows twitched.

“……What do you mean by that?”

“I’m going to win, so I’m going to get 10 million. So you should not worry.”

The samurai girl chuckled faintly, but her eyes were clearly not smiling.

“You think you can definitely beat me? You’re underestimating me, aren’t you? I’ve already fought fifty battles like this against people who I’ve known for their skills, and I’ve never lost even once.”

“Maybe it’s just that your previous opponents were weak. I won’t lose for sure.”

“……hope you’re not all talk……”

The samurai girl’s whole body shook with rage. Samurai were known to have extremely high pride. It seems that the girl in front of us was no exception.

“In that case, I’ll offer you a special challenge! However, if you lose, you must pay me 10 million yen!!”

“Mm, that’s what I want.”

The crowd erupted in excitement at their exchange.

“This is going to be fun!”

“Eastern Swordsman vs. Western Swordsman! And they’re both beautiful girls!”

“Hey, Miss! Don’t give up! Show us your samurai spirit!”

Fana and the samurai girl faced each other in the center of a vacant lot, holding their swords.

It was a good turn of events for us.

After all, if Fana wins against that samurai girl, she will be able to get a lump sum of money at once. We no longer have to go out of our way to exchange for some money.

“My name is Karen. You should keep this name in your heart. It is the name of the samurai who will make you taste the bitterness of defeat.”

“Mm, I’m Fana. You’ll be the one crying when you lose.”

The two of them argued, sending sparks flying at each other.

“Well then, I’m going to give the signal!”

As one of the spectators said this, he picked up a stone that had fallen at his feet and hurled it in a bow toward the center of the two.

The moment it falls to the ground, the young swordsmen from the east and west kick the ground at the same time.

“Shiii!”

Karen, the samurai girl, unleashes a flash as she pulls her sword out of its scabbard. Perhaps because she slid the blade inside the scabbard, it was a slash with unbelievable speed.

“Fuu!”

However, the speed of Fana’s slashing is not to be outdone.

It accelerates super-quickly by using not only her arms but also her entire body, and if she were facing an average swordsman, she would have sliced her opponent’s torso into pieces in no time.

Gakiiiiiiiing!

The swords of the two clashed. The shock wave that ensued knocked several spectators upside down.

“Hoh~, you can do it huh! You blocked my sword. You weren’t just an overconfident little girl!”

“That was my line.”

From there, a fierce battle ensued.

Every time the two swords collided, a shockwave swept through the crowd.

“Come on, girls!”

“What an amazing fight! Who would have thought I’d see something like this on the street!”

“This is making me want to drink in the middle of the day!”

Even if they are blown away by the shockwave, they don’t seem to care and kept on cheering happily.

Maybe they’re used to this kind of sword fight.

“That Eastern girl is really good. She can go toe-to-toe with Fana. She’s putting up a large amount of money in a street fight for a reason.”

Anje was impressed.

“That’s true. But… fortunately, it looks like we’ll definitely be able to get 10 million yen.”

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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In recent decades, it is said that in the country of Edou, a tool called karakuri has suddenly developed and become widespread. Its progress has been remarkable, and it is now commonly used in daily life.

In particular, there is always one in each household as three types of sacred artifacts: karakuri that automatically washes laundry, karakuri that automatically heats food, and karakuri that automatically cleans.

“I see, so this is the ‘washing machine’ thing huh.”

There was a shop selling karakuri in the city of Edou, so we took a look and saw a large box-shaped tool lined up. It is said that if you put dirty clothes in this box and close its lid, it will automatically wash it clean.

『From the looks of it, it is a little different from a magic tool. 』

(That’s right. Magical tools are tools that use magic, but from the looks of it, this one is not like that. It doesn’t seem to be powered by magic either.)

I replied thru telepathy and agreed at Lindwurm’s point.

For example, I also made some magic tools used for washing and cleaning, but they used water magic and wind magic, respectively.

However, there is no magic circle engraved anywhere on this washing machine to activate magic at all.

(It might be better to call it a ‘machine’ rather than a magic tool.)

『Machine?』

(Yes, magic is a force twist of the laws of physics, but machines are more in accordance with the laws of physics. In some ways, it may be more difficult than magic.)

It is a region where magic itself is not very developed, so it may have developed in this way. 

Of course, magic tools don’t necessarily ignore the laws of physics. This is because if you try to achieve your goal with magic alone, you will need a more complex magic circle, and you will need a huge amount of magical power for it.

For example, the magical flying ship I built also achieves energy savings by taking into account air resistance and lift.

(Hmm, so it’s a mechanism that lets you pour water in from the outside and it spins the contents around huh. But, how does it spin? I can’t tell just by looking at it from the outside. I wonder if it is okay to take it apart?)

『Absolutely not, it’s for sale you know. 』

(Then I can buy one.)

I was curious about how this Karakuri works, so I decided to buy a washing machine.

But—

“I’m sorry, but we don’t accept this kind of money in our shop.”

The clerk said so with a look that says I’m a suspicious person.

“Oh, I see! The money used here is different from the one in the west!”

I can’t help but scratch my head. I hadn’t thought about it.

“Eh? You mean we can’t use our money in this country?”

“Yes. Well, Anje-oneechan is penniless anyway.”

“S-shut up!?”

Come to think of it, I was in trouble when I came here before. However, now that they have exchanges with the West, we may be able to exchange money somewhere.

“We can sell something to make money. When it comes to goods from the west, we should get a reasonably high price.”

After leaving the store, we decided to look for a place where we could exchange money for the time being.

It would be nice if there was a government office or something……

“Uooooooooo”

Suddenly, a loud cheer rang out.

When I looked around, I saw that people had gathered in a small vacant lot.

“Is there anyone else who would like to challenge me?”

Shouting out from the other side of the crowd was a tall girl. She has silky black hair that is typical of Easterners, and I got this impression that she is not so different in age from Fana and Anje.

Her long black hair was tied in a bun behind her head, and she wore a kimono that seemed to belong to a man. She also carries a sword at her waist.

“If you can beat me, the prize money will be 10 million yen! Is there anyone who thinks they’re up to it? The entry fee is only 10,000 yen!”

Apparently they make money doing that.

“I guess 10 million yen is a pretty big amount of money. After all, that washing machine cost 50,000 yen.”

“Hmm, that sounds interesting. I’ll give it a try. I’ll get some money too, so it’ll be killing two birds with one stone.”

Fana was excited that an opportunity to spar with an Eastern swordsman had arrived, so she volunteered to take on the challenge.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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Edou, the largest country in the East.

It is a country that did not exist 1,500 years ago. The eastern provinces at the time were in a time of war, with local lords known as warlords engaged in fierce battles for supremacy.

Edou is said to be the country that was born after my death, when a warlord succeeded in unifying the East.

“That’s why even today, the rulers of this country are called General.”

I stopped the airship in the sky near the city, then we used the elevator to reach the ground.

There, a typical eastern cityscape spread out before us. The houses are made of exotic wood, with roofs covered in a special building material called tiles. Unlike in the West, people are dressed in so-called kimono, and many of the men have their heads in topknots.

“Pfft, what’s with that weird hair?!”

Anje points to the topknot, and burst out laughing.

“Anje-oneechan, don’t laugh. It’s fine for now because he is just a townsman, but if he was a samurai, he might suddenly come swinging his sword at you. They have a lot of pride you see.”

“Then I’ll take revenge!”

“You’re a complete nuisance of a foreigner……”

Among the people who came and went, there were many who carried swords at their waists. It is a unique type of sword that is not found in the west, and is also called a “katana”.

Even ordinary people enjoyed swords, and there were “dojos” everywhere in the city. Due to his rigorous training from an early age, the Eastern swordsman is very strong.

“Hmm, I want to fight them. Should I get into that dojo thing?”

“Fana-oneechan, don’t try and challenge dojos okay?”

Even so, it doesn’t seem to have changed much since then. Of course, the war have ended and peace have been restored, but—

Gasha,gasha,gasha,gasha!

—A metal doll about two meters tall passed by in the immediate vicinity.

『…… It doesn’t seem to have changed much since then huh.』

“No, no, no, it’s not like that at all! What was that thing just now? There were no things like that back then!?”

The metal doll was apparently pulling a cart. There is also a man who appears to be a merchant in the cart, but it doesn’t feel like he’s piloting that metal doll.

It seemed to be an everyday sight for passersby, and they did not seem surprised by the metal doll.

At that moment, the gate of a nearby house opened with a squeak.

“I’m off.”

“Have a nice trip.”

It’s a heartwarming scene of a wife seeing her husband off to work, but instead of walking, the husband is straddling a mysterious object.

Brung brung, brrrrrrung!!

Shaped like a horse, but with two wheels on the front and back, it sped out of the gate with great force, making a thunderous noise. With the man on board, it went far away in a blink of an eye.

Next, an old woman with lame legs passed in front of us on a moving chair, and then a huge box like vehicle carrying a large number of children went by.

“I don’t recall seeing such a scene!”

As we were startled, an old man spoke to us.

“Are you guys from the west?”

“Mm, yes.”

“Hahaha, you’re surprised, aren’t you? I’m an old man, so I understand how you feel. Recently, more and more convenient things have been invented, and I’m always amazed. The young people use them as if it’s natural.”

Apparently, this change was not so long ago.

“They’re all called ‘karakuri’.”

“Karakuri?”

“Yes, originally they were just cheap things that worked with simpler mechanisms. Lately they’ve been making things that are way beyond our understanding.”

Karakuri were dolls and musical instruments that moved with a simple mechanism and were performed at festivals and other events to entertain people.

It is said that this has developed rapidly, and large dolls that can do heavy lifting, vehicles that can carry people, and even tools that can easily cultivate fields have been made.

“Eh, so that the one I saw from the sky was also a karakuri!”

As I was startled, the old man suddenly shouted.

“Eh? A talking baby!? N-no that’s impossible. Then…… seems like they finally made a talking karakuri?”

Even I was mistaken to be a karakuri.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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