Episode 122 — Golden Spices and the Lazy Man’s Defense Line

"It’s ready. Here you go—curry and rice. It wasn't much effort, really. I just heated the pouches in water and tore them open."

A powerful, complex aroma of spices filled the living room. I placed three plates of instant curry—prepared via microwave and boiling water—on the table. Gustav and Léonard stared at the rising steam and the deep amber sauce as if they were beholding a forbidden treasure.

"...What is this scent? It’s a stimulation that pierces through the nose and hits the brain directly. Zect, you’re saying you 'just heated this up'?"

Léonard picked up a spoon and tentatively took a bite. In an instant, his eyes widened, and he froze.

"...! What is this profound depth of flavor? The sweetness of the meat combined with a heat that stings the tongue. Gustav, brother, you have to eat this. This one dish is enough to make every chef in the royal palace fall into despair and retire."

"Yes... as expected, the 'meals' Mr. Zect provides transcend all logic. To produce a flavor this complex in such a short amount of time..."

Gustav, too, was trembling with shock as he moved his spoon. Both of them, seemingly forgetting their royal etiquette, began silently shoveling the "instant miracle" into their stomachs.

"Zect. Do you have any intention of selling this 'amber sauce' or the mysterious tools in this manor? With even one of these, you could flip the Kingdom’s logistics and economy overnight. You’d become the wealthiest man in the world in the blink of an eye."

Léonard wiped the sweat from his brow and asked with a dead-serious expression.

"Hmm, no. I have no intention of putting them on the market. If I scatter gadgets and ready-made products around, the people of this world won't be able to repair or replicate them. Once I’m gone, they’ll just turn into high-impact trash. That’s just a bad deal for the environment."

"You won't sell them? Then what is your goal? Is overhauling Felsen merely a hobby for you?"

"My goal is the same as I told you earlier: to live in peace. To achieve that, I need an environment where Felsen can operate autonomously. I’m not interested in selling gadgets; I want to transmit a 'framework'—a system where this world keeps updating itself even after I’m gone. A world that runs perfectly without me is my ideal world."

Léonard raised an eyebrow in surprise at my answer.

"A world that runs without you... Do you think you’re a god? Or perhaps the designer of this world?"

"Just a lazy man. But let me make one thing very clear."

I shifted my recliner up slightly and looked Léonard straight in the eye. I let the temperature of my voice drop several degrees.

"I’d prefer to keep things peaceful. But if anyone tries to invade Felsen—or if anyone tries to forcibly rob me of my silence—I will call upon 'weaponry' from my world. I have tools that can turn a knight’s armor into scrap paper and level a city in an instant. I can bring them here whenever I want. I just don't want to because the cleanup would be a pain."

The air in the living room froze instantly.

Léonard held his spoon still, seemingly trying to read the "cold calculations" behind my eyes. Gustav turned pale and gripped Léonard’s shoulder tightly.

"Léonard... Mr. Zect is not joking. If this man says he will 'do it,' then it is a fixed future. When my knights tried to force their way into this manor before, our lives were held entirely in the palm of his hand. Do not anger him."

"...Ahaha, how terrifying. Truly, you are a fearsome man."

Léonard started laughing again and swallowed the last bite.

"But I understand now. Zect, you don't want to destroy the world. You simply have the ultimate fangs to protect your own bed. As you said, for the sake of everyone’s peace, it’s best for you to just stay here and pet your cat. I certainly have no desire to be foolish enough to make an enemy of you."

"I appreciate you being so quick on the uptake. Want a second helping?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Léonard held out his empty plate, looking quite pleased.

(Threatening the First Prince and heir to the throne by dangling modern weapons of mass destruction... What kind of hospitality is this? Still, if this successfully updated the 'Zect' protocol in his head, it was worth it.)

"Meow. (Don't you dare bring out any weapons. The cleanup sounds like a nightmare, and I don't want the garden getting ruined.)"

Tama yawned on my lap.

Surrounded by the scent of golden spices, the strange dinner between a former prince, a current prince, and a lazy designer continued in an uneasy, yet stable, peace.

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