The God of Magic and Science (Part 1)

"Ruben, please, please."

In the dim basement, the pleading girl and the impassive young man made for a perfect scene—except, of course, it did not exist. Mayuna had merely abandoned her dignity in order to eat delicious sweets.

This was how it happened: not long ago, Mayuna had discovered a new use for Dragon—using him as a search engine to find tasty food from Earth. As for how many times the unwilling Dragon had been tormented before he finally submitted, that was another story.

Earthlings' technology might not have been advanced, but their food industry was absolutely at the forefront of the universe. In any case, Ruben could make anything he found. This time, she had set her sights on a dessert called Black Forest cake. A woman's intuition told her that this cake was good—absolutely amazing—and definitely tastier than any cake she had eaten before.

"I'm not making it. Go away."

Ruben had initially wanted to criticize Dragon for selling him out. He really could make cakes, and his were the best in the world, but that did not mean he wanted to make one. Just gathering the ingredients would be difficult enough. However, when he saw the battered and bruised Dragon, he gave up on it. After all, they were both members of the exploited class.

"How could you be so heartless? Such a beautiful woman is begging you! Anyone else would have gratefully accepted!"

Mayuna puffed out her cheeks indignantly. She was the God of Magic! Even if he did not respect her status, he should at least give a beautiful woman some face, right?

"Then go find someone else. Assuming anyone else can make it."

"W-Well, what do I have to do for you to agree?!"

Mayuna knew she was the one asking for a favor, so she could only soften her tone again. This was the only way to deal with Ruben; it was not as though she could suppress him with force.

"Hmm, let me think."

Ruben's gaze swept over Mayuna's body before he entered his laboratory and came back out with a pile of leaves, beginning some handicraft work in front of her.

"Hold out your hand."

Ruben quickly finished a bracelet made of green leaves. Though it had been hastily put together, it was exquisitely made, and Mayuna thought it suited her quite well.

"Oh."

"Hey, isn't this magic-testing grass?"

Mayuna quickly recognized what her bracelet was made of. This plant was generally used by academies to test the magic power levels of new mages, because it rapidly withered upon encountering magic power. Different grades of magic-testing grass only withered when exposed to magic power of the corresponding level. The one Ruben had given her was naturally the lowest grade—the sort that withered even from a first-level spell. Mayuna immediately had a very bad feeling.

"That's right. I want you to wear that and take a trip around Dris. If it breaks, say goodbye to your cake."

"No! You can't do this! How did a sick freak like you even come up with such a twisted condition? You're making the God of Magic unable to use magic?!"

Mayuna cried out. Magic was everything to her, a daily necessity. Ruben's demand was no different from breaking her arms and legs.

"You only do those stupid things because you rely too much on magic in your everyday life. Take this chance to experience what it feels like to be an ordinary person. Of course, I won't let you run into any danger. Look, I have plenty of tools I made here. You can try using them to experience the wonders of science."

Ruben had finally gained the upper hand in his daily battles with Mayuna. Dragon secretly gave him a thumbs-up that he had conjured, expressing his relief.

"So I still agreed... I'm such an idiot!"

In a corner of Dris Town, the God of Magic crouched by a wall and cursed Ruben. Thanks to him, she could not even use Idle Person Repulsion now. Walking down the street, she was a stunning sight, and the gazes mixed with all kinds of emotions made Mayuna want to go berserk. But for the sake of the cake, she could only endure it, planning to squat there until sunset before going home.

"Um, big sister, are you alone?"

Just as Mayuna grew bored enough to start counting the ants on the ground, a child's voice suddenly rang out beside her. She looked up to see a brat of around ten standing in front of her.

"Go away, go away. I don't have time to talk to some brat."

In her terrible mood, Mayuna waved the child away and rejected his attempt at conversation.

"Big sister, you're so pretty, so you must be a really powerful mage, right? Can you help me with something?"

"I used to be a very powerful mage, until my knee... No, never mind. What do you need help with?"

Mentioning mages made Mayuna feel depressed. Thinking that she was bored anyway and might as well play along with the brat, she asked.

"Well, my ball got stuck on a tree branch. Can you use magic to get it down?"

The brat pointed at a tree five or six meters tall nearby. A black-and-white ball was caught among its branches.

"Huh, isn't that a soccer ball?"

"You know what it is? A big brother with spiky hair gave it to me. My friends and I usually use it to pass the time. He's such a nice person."

"That guy again..."

Mayuna had not expected to see Ruben's handiwork even here. As for how to get the ball down, she had no idea for the moment, and could only stare at the brat.

"Don't tell me you can't get it down?"

"I can't climb trees."

"No, no, no. You can just blow it down with the second-level spell [Breeze of Warm Spring], right?"

"Well, actually, I..."

"Don't tell me you can't even use a second-level spell? At your age, that basically means you'll never become a high-level mage, ma'am."

The brat was completely speechless. Second-level magic should have been an everyday necessity every adult knew how to use. He could not understand how Mayuna had lived to such an age, and his form of address changed from big sister to ma'am.

"Ugh... ah, my heart..."

Every word the brat said felt like a knife stabbing into Mayuna's heart. On this day, the God of Magic had been told by a child that she had "no chance of becoming a high-level mage," that "this was all she would ever amount to," and that "she could only be a pretty ornament from now on"—though the latter two were entirely in her imagination.

"Forget it. I'll go find another adult."

"Wait! Even though I can't use magic, there should still be a way to get the ball down."

Mayuna stopped the brat. If she let him leave, this would definitely become a stain on the God of Magic's entire life. Besides, Ruben had given her plenty of strange tools. Surely one of them would be useful.

"Really?"

"Let me see... this thing called a telescopic rod seems pretty good."

Mayuna rummaged through her spatial ring. Ruben had thoughtfully attached instruction manuals to all the items he gave her, so she did not have to guess how they worked. Before long, she took out a rod about as long as her arm.

"Big sister, you have a spatial item? That's so cool!"

"Mm... well, at least the magic power needed to activate the spatial ring isn't enough to make this thing wither."

Mayuna was rather relieved. Then, following the instructions, she pulled out the rod's internal sections one by one. It grew longer and longer until it could fully reach the height of the tree.

"What is that? It looks amazing!"

"It really is..."

Mayuna stared blankly at the rod she had assembled. No one could have guessed from its simple appearance that it possessed such a strange ability. Then, with a light poke, Mayuna knocked the ball down, and the kid quickly caught the falling soccer ball.

"Thanks, big sister! You've got lots of strange stuff in your hands, just like that big brother. Bye!"

Having gotten his ball back, the kid was naturally delighted. After thanking Mayuna, he ran off. As a passerby in someone else's life, this was all that was needed—there was no need even to ask each other's names.

"Without using magic, it still put that kind of smile on a kid's face... Maybe science really is something incredible."

Mayuna put away the strange tool and prepared to continue looking around. But just as she sighed in admiration, she unexpectedly heard the cry of the kid from earlier. Turning around, she saw that he had already been surrounded by several burly men.

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PS: What does a nameless extra need a name for? Why ask for a bicycle when you've got one?

PS: Next chapter: Magical (Scientific) Girl versus beginner village mobs. Yep.

PS: Thanks to Everyone Becomes F, Big Eyeballs on the Moon, and Blue Meteor Shower for the 100 reward.