CH 42

After parting ways with Earl lady Lisa, Kanata walked around the artisan district.

It was fun to look at magical equipment you would never see in the Kingdom. It was like leaving the house and looking at a game or electronics store.

“I know they export some to the capital, but I’ve never seen a real store like this before.”

As he said earlier, it made him remember his past life.

Even though it was the Principality, a different country, it had the same status system as the Kingdom, and it looked like there was the same polarization between commoners and those of high status.

There didn’t seem to be blatant discrimination, but those who appeared to be nobles didn’t seem to approach stores run by commoners.

“It’s a shame.”

And as he was looking to find some good stuff.

“Well, is there anything good in this store?”

“I wonder. This store smells so poor.”

“Hahaha, no wonder they don’t have a customer.”

Kanata came across some men wearing uniforms having such a conversation.

They were probably students here, but with that conversation, Kanata had to retract his previous statement that discrimination didn’t seem to exist.

“It’s disgusting, man.”

Kanata sighed and started walking as if to change his mood.

“Oh…Ohh!!”

As expected of the place known for its advancements in magic equipment, everything he saw was fresh and new.

There were items that could compensate for the lack of magic power, even if you had little, items that could alert the owner of imminent danger from far away, and many other things sold around.

“… That’s good. I’m not really interested in that.”

They were all of practical use in this world, but Kanata was looking for something he could use for streaming, so he didn’t look at them much.

“…?”

And while he was in the middle of it.

Kanata found a boy about his age inside a store with his back to the outside, making something.

“… Eh, this…”

As Kanata approached the store, he saw a familiar-looking item.

“I think they’re earbuds.”

Yes, they were earphones.

Whether or not these were earphones, the round part that would fit into the ear and the thin cord connecting it was similar to the earphones.

“Oh, a customer?”

“Yeah.”

He normally used honorifics, but Kanata spoke to him casually.

“What is this?”

“It converges the sound from the terminal onto it so that only the person’s ears can hear it, not the world outside.”

“That’s a… earphone, ain’t it?”

“Earphone?”

“Ah, never mind.”

Apparently, these were indeed earphones.

However, he tilted his head at the word ‘earphone,’ which Kanata uttered on the spur of the moment, and since they did not have a name for them, the word ‘earphone’ did not exist after all.

“It’s unusual. No one would even look at this thing, let alone make something with it.”

“For real?”

“Yeah. I guess it’s partly because I’m a commoner, but basically, it’s hard to do business here if you don’t have connections.”

“… I see.”

Kanata could tell from his expression that he was going through a lot of hardship.

As it was rare for customers to come to this store, he welcomed Kanata inside and served him a drink.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah, and you don’t have to be so formal. We’re around the same age, apparently.”

“… I see. Then I’ll do that too.”

“Alright!”

He smiled again.

Though his hair was unkempt and he had freckles, his charming facial features made it hard to feel distant from him.

“My name is Cid. And you are?”

“I’m Kanata, and I’m from the Kingdom.”

“From the Kingdom? Heeh!”

Kanata felt very nostalgic, even though it was just an exchange with another guy.

At the academy in the capital, he was looked down upon by the nobles as a commoner, and even his fellow commoners didn’t like him because of his good grades in magic.

As a result, he had very few guy friends. So, talking to Cid, the boy who introduced himself as such, was refreshing and brought back memories of his past life.

“Hey, why did you decide to make this?”

“I’m glad you asked! Actually, I got the idea from a guy named Haishin.”

“Hmm?”

Cid’s sudden mention of Haishin surprised Kanata, but he listened attentively to what he had to say.

“I’m just a listener, but Haishin is really popular among women. So I thought that if I could create a device that would allow people to hear the best voices in the closest way possible, it could sell well.”

“Oh, so that’s how you created it?”

“Exactly! Although… it’s not selling at all.”

Cid’s shoulders dropped in disappointment.

It was true that even if he could develop such an item as a commoner, it would be difficult to get recognition without connections.

“Can I use it for a bit?”

“Yeah. Of course!”

It wasn’t developed like earphones to have a jack. Instead, it seemed like it picked up waves from a device by sending magic power into it.

“Ah~ Ah. Ahhh.”

“!?”

Kanata recorded his voice on the device and then transferred the recording to the earphone-shaped item by sending magic power into it.

Without noticing Cid’s surprised expression, Kanata listened to his recorded voice through the earphones.

“… Ohh!”

The sound quality was better than he had expected. Although there was occasional random noise, Kanata was deeply impressed by this item that reproduces the earphone’s functionality in this world.

He decided to buy a few for the people who came to his mind first, but it was then that he finally noticed Cid’s shocked expression.

“What’s up?”

“Just now you…”

“… Ah!”

Unintentionally, Kanata remembered what had just happened.

He felt so moved that he made a recording with Haishin in mind, and Cid, who listened by his side, must have noticed it.

He could try to make an excuse that it was just an impression, or he could lie and say it was not his voice, but either way, he would be suspected even more.

“Umm… well… it’s a…”

Kanata was thinking about what to do when two well-dressed men walked into the store where only Kanata and Cid were present.

“What a dump of a store.”

“And there’s even a customer. Get out of here. This is a poor man’s store.”

The two men laughed mockingly. They seemed not to have any intentions of buying anything and just wanted to mock Cid.

It’s unclear whether Cid didn’t say anything in response because he was used to it or because they were nobles.

“… I…”

However, Kanata couldn’t stand staying silent. 

He looked at the two nobles and said.

“I think this is a wonderful store. Everything here has soul in it, and what’s more, the person who runs it is nice. Even as a tourist, I find it strange that this store isn’t doing well.”

“… Tch.”

“What’s your deal, huh?”

They changed their target to Kanata in plain sight.

One of them reached out his hand, but Kanata swatted it away by releasing a small amount of his magic power.

It was similar to when he had extinguished a fire in class at the academy before, but it was enough to show these two the unusual power of Kanata.

“Hey, you…”

“F**k that…”

They quickly ran out of the store.

Words couldn’t convince them, and he didn’t have great conversation abilities. In these sorts of situations, this sheer impact of magic becomes really useful.

“… They’re everywhere, those kinds of people.”

Sido replied, “Yeah, it looks like it,” after a short pause.

They stared at each other for a while. Kanata scratched his cheek and opened his mouth. The situation wouldn’t develop into love since they were of the same s*x.

“Well, there’s a lot of things, but it’s a big help if you don’t say anything.”

“… I understand. It’s hard to believe, but I’ll keep your secret, as a customer who said that much for me.”

” … Haha.”

“Hahaha.”

They laughed together.

From then on, the earphone-shaped item got named ‘earphone’ as Kanata called it.

After buying the earphone, Kanata decided to make a suggestion.

“Hey, Cid, can you make something that’s perfect for me to record my voice? I have something that I’m personally thinking about right now.”

“Oh, what is it?”

Kanata consulted with Cid, and he showed great enthusiasm saying he would try it.

Although he didn’t say it directly, Cid knew about Kanata but didn’t say anything extraordinary to him.

For Kanata, Cid was his first guy friend.

… And so this encounter later revolutionized the whole world.

What Kanata asked Cid to develop was a certain item, which would later lead to the completion of an aforementioned combination Kanata would share with his listeners as Haishin.