Product Launch

The next evening, Subaru paid the tavern kitchen to prepare a whole tableful of food to celebrate.

The test had been a complete success! The "oil" from the oil pool perfectly met every requirement of a Zippo lighter! Subaru had succeeded in bringing modern technology to another world!

Although asking the blacksmith, Baren, to hand-produce the first batch of lighters had used up nearly all the savings Subaru had accumulated over the past month, everything would be different starting tomorrow.

Subaru hadn't wasted the basin of animal fat Rem had rendered, either. The main dishes in tonight's lavish dinner had been fried in the fat she had prepared.

There were fried chunks of meat with crisp crusts and juicy centers, bread brushed with a thin layer of oil and baked until fragrant, and balls made from some unknown mixture of vegetables and meat and fried.

Subaru had also wanted to try making mayonnaise, but considering that the taste and texture might be iffy with animal fat, he chose to play it safe and didn't rush into it.

"So you looked at Rem all troubled and asked for that oil just because you wanted something tasty?"

Rem, who had come to deliver his dinner that evening, was naturally pulled into the impromptu little celebration by Subaru. The blue-haired girl sat in Subaru's shabby little room, which he had furnished with a few simple pieces, and surveyed the table full of golden fried food.

"Well... not entirely. But Rem's cooking really did give me a huge surprise. Come on, have some more. You've made me so many meals, Rem. It's time I paid you back properly."

"Rem is only here to keep an eye on you. Bringing you leftovers was just something she did while she was at it. Just while she was at it, so don't read too much into it."

That's it, that's it, that's the stuff! A textbook tsundere!

"I see. But without the 'leftovers' you bring me, I'd have to go to bed miserably hungry every night. So Rem-chan deserves all the credit! Please allow me to offer my overwhelming gratitude!"

He pressed his palms together, both exaggerated and sincere.

"Please keep feeding me your leftovers. Thanks to you, Rem-chan, I can fall asleep every night happy and full."

Subaru noticed the tips of the girl's ears quietly turn pale pink, while she struggled to keep the corners of her mouth from curling upward.

She was clearly pleased, yet insisted on pretending not to care. It was unbearably cute.

"...Honestly. All you ever do is cause Rem trouble. It's just something she does while she's at it anyway. If she didn't bring them here, she'd only throw them away."

Subaru smiled and nodded without pointing out that nobody's leftovers should still be steaming hot.

After they had finished their calorie-packed feast of fried food, Rem stood up and began clearing the dishes from the table.

As she tidied up, Rem spoke. "Did you pay the tavern to make all this food?"

"Yeah. I'm not as amazing as you, Rem. To be precise, I can't cook at all."

Subaru could play the guitar, sing, put on makeup, skate, sew clothes and make dolls, and even talk a little about astronomy-but he couldn't cook.

Or rather, it was precisely because his parents had taken such good care of him in that regard that he'd had so much spare time to learn a whole bunch of miscellaneous skills.

"Even if you have contracted a Lesser Spirit, squandering the money you earned like this is far too wasteful."

"Yeah, I've spent just about all the money I earned..."

"You spent it all? How could you?"

"I spent it on a necessary investment. But I'll work hard to earn it back." Subaru smiled and gave a vague answer. He couldn't very well say he'd staked everything he owned on the lighter business opening tomorrow.

Rem continued clearing the table, her hands moving deftly, but she wouldn't let up, launching into the usual complaints about him "getting carried away" and the like.

Subaru sat to one side, watching her briskly wipe the table and arrange the dishes. When had she suddenly started cleaning up? Of course, he wouldn't say that aloud.

"...Rem can lend you five silver coins."

"Huh?"

"Because sister has been eating a few too many snacks lately, Rem doesn't need to buy her any more. She doesn't know what to do with the money she has anyway, so she might as well find somewhere to get rid of it instead of letting it gather dust. Don't get the wrong idea. Rem doesn't care one bit whether you go hungry."

The blue-haired girl spoke at least twice as fast as usual, every word coated in tsundere.

"No, no, no! I haven't sunk so low that I need a kid to support me... Don't worry, Rem-chan!" Subaru puffed out his chest and pointed a thumb at it. "I'll definitely make a fortune someday and make you see me in a whole new light!"

At noon, the village tavern was buzzing with voices. It was the liveliest place in the Oni village. Young men and burly men in their prime crowded around the long tables after a morning's work, some downing ale from wooden mugs, others hunched over their meals. The charred aroma of roast meat mingled with the salty smell of sweat in the air.

Subaru planted one foot on a bench and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"OK, brothers! Everyone, eyes on me-look here, look here! I've got an announcement!"

His voice was so loud that the noise in the tavern briefly faltered, and everyone turned to look at him.

"Shut up, brat! Have some respect for your elders! Who are you calling your brother?!"

"Don't get so worked up. Kids are cute when they act like this," someone beside him chimed in, drawing a burst of laughter.

"Starting today!" Subaru ignored their comments and raised a finger. "None of you will ever have to worry about starting a fire again!"

"What, little brother, have you decided to spend the rest of your life lighting fires around the village for free with your Lesser Spirit?" someone teased.

"Of course not! My dreams lie among the stars and across the seas-I finally made it to another world, so of course I'm going to make something of myself!"

Subaru reached inside his clothes and pulled out the little iron box, its metal gleaming coldly in the midday light. He held it high.

"I've brought you an iron box that produces a flame with a single press! It's called a lighter!"

Someone in the tavern started laughing.

"That thing can start a fire? Come on, little brother, don't make me laugh. With your meager magic skills, don't bother."

Subaru didn't get angry. He held the lighter out in front of everyone and flicked his thumb-the striker wheel spun, and a bright yellow flame leaped into the air out of nowhere.

"Don't try to fool us, little brother. We all know you've already contracted a fire-attribute Lesser Spirit," someone shouted, pointing at the red ball of light on Subaru's shoulder.

"I see. Then how about you give it a try, Mr. Blacksmith?"

Subaru held the lighter out to a burly middle-aged man sitting in a corner.

"If I remember right, you don't have any fire-attribute mana, do you? Every morning you have to spend ages huffing and puffing over a flint to get your forge going, isn't that right?"

Baren, whom Subaru had called out by name, set down his mug and put on an extremely exaggerated look of disdain. He took the lighter and clumsily flicked the wheel with his thumb.

Click.

A flame sprang up, its orange-red tongue dancing merrily in his rough palm.

"Wh-wh-what-?! How does this work?! There really is fire?! And it didn't use any mana at all?!"

Baren's eyes widened, his voice rose, and his expression changed from "disdain" to "shock."

A little over the top.

Subaru silently gave his assessment. As the person who had made the lighter's casing, Baren was naturally an actor Subaru had enlisted.

But he soon realized he had worried for nothing. The simple Oni villagers didn't care about Baren's acting at all. Their attention was already riveted on the flame that had appeared out of nowhere without the slightest fluctuation of mana.

"Is that for real...?"

"You can light a fire without fire-attribute mana?"

"Is there some mechanism hidden inside that iron box?"

The chatter erupted like oil in a hot pan. Several young men nearby put down their mugs and crowded over, craning their necks for a better look.

Subaru jumped down from the bench and took the lighter back from Baren, then demonstrated lighting it three more times in front of everyone.

"That's right! As you all know, I'm a human, and I come from a faraway country. This invention uses technology from my homeland-anyone can use it! Long-lasting! And refueling is a breeze!"

Baren puffed out his chest beside him.

"That's right! Even a five-year-old can use it with ease!" Baren's voice boomed as he clapped his hands twice.

The corner of Subaru's mouth twitched. That line hadn't been in the script. Oh well, improvising was a basic skill for an actor too.

"Ahem. Anyway-come on, come on, try it for free! If there's no fire, you get a full refund. That's our after-sales service! The first batch is on special now, just five silver coins apiece. Once it's sold out, the price goes straight back up to ten silver coins, and it comes with free fuel-"