Became the Villainess’s Guardian

I had once heard about a device called a parachute.

Unless one deliberately jumped from skyscrapers or hot air balloons, it seemed rather useless, but apparently there were people who found a thrill in the terror of free-falling.

While not an emotion I could relate to, I wondered if this was what they had felt.

Looking over Edan’s back after alighting from his embrace, there was nothing in particular attached.
He had simply jumped, and they had landed safely on the ground without a scratch.

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes.”

After setting her down, Edan asked.
From her hazy consciousness, Freugne could barely muster a response, impressed that she had held on after inhaling so much smoke.

Soon after, with a deafening crash, a pillar collapsed and the ceiling caved in.
Flames, smoke, and dust erupted one final time amidst agonized screams.

Having confirmed the scene with half-opened, weary eyes while catching her breath, Freugne promptly lost consciousness.

And in that last moment, she felt herself enveloped in a warm embrace.

When she came to, it was a hospital.
After briefly pondering the implications, Freugne waved her hands in a dismissive manner and protested,

“But, I don’t have money for the medical bills…”

“They’ve already been paid, so no need.”

Her doubts about who had covered the expenses were quickly resolved.

“The child has awakened?”

“Yes, but they said she passed out from smoke inhalation, so further examination may be necessary…”

“Put it under Edan of Ceres Palace’s tab.”

She had seen Edan leaving just moments after confirming her awakening.

And after undergoing various tests at the hospital and receiving a clean bill of health, Freugne closed her eyes only to find herself back in the familiar orphanage upon opening them once more.

She must have slept through half the day, as the sky was tinged with the hues of sunset.
After checking the time, she began dressing out of habit, but then realized she no longer had a workplace to attend.

Not wanting to wake the other children, Freugne quietly lay back down on the bed. It had been so long since she last had such a restful repose that she could hardly recall.

While this world seldom saw the realization of justice akin to novels or plays,
At the very least, this particular case could be considered a happy ending of sorts.

“You were the night supervisor at the Brian Factory that burned down in the fire a few days ago, weren’t you?”

“That’s correct. But what brings the police sir here?”

“You’ll need to come with us for questioning.”

Starting with the night supervisor who had tried to dismiss it as an accidental occurrence, various personnel responsible for the scene were successively hauled into the police station.

The reason the involved parties were detained one by one to determine liability was not, of course, the same reason for violating over ten city labor and factory laws…
It was simply too absurd to let slide, even if they had tried to quietly sweep it under the rug.

“I was told you filed a report. We’ve secured eyewitness testimonies, so don’t even think about lying.”

“Y-Yes, yes.”

“And this whole mess happened because you ignored it.”

“I-I thought they were lying-”

“If you were in your right mind, wouldn’t you at least pretend to check in such situations?”

“……”

“Are you even human…?”

For the next few days, the newspapers were ablaze with headlines on this topic.
‘Are Londinium’s Factory Laws Acceptable As-Is?’, ‘Factory Fire – Were the Workers at Fault?’ adorned the front pages, as police and investigative mages swarmed the factory grounds.

And about a week later,
As sensational news like the Carriage Derby Madness and head-on locomotive collision shows started trickling in, public interest in the factory accident gradually waned.

As always, the world remained largely unchanged.
After all, in these slums where workplace accidents were frequent, a factory fire without casualties was hardly likely to cause major ripples.

And yet, Freugne’s perspective of the world had been greatly shaken.

On the leisurely return to the palace,
A nagging feeling persisted, as if I had forgotten something.

I had paid Freugne and the children’s medical bills. Undergone a brief questioning with the police.
It was only when I habitually slipped my hand into my pocket that I finally realized the source of this emptiness.

“…Ah, I left the blueprints behind.”

After a brief contemplation, I decided to simply head to the palace.
It was too much hassle to return to the West End, and after all that running around, I was starting to feel fatigued and in need of a good rest.

Discreetly entering through the employee’s rear entrance and making my way to the lab, I encountered Freyja descending the stairs, likely preparing for bed in her casual attire.

“What, you were still awake… Hold on, why are you in this state again?”

Stifling a yawn as she wiped away a slight dampness in her eyes, Freyja noticed my disheveled appearance and raised her voice.

“Ah, it’s nothing. My clothes just caught fire, is all. I’m not injured, so no need for concern.”

“I-Is that so? Well, that’s a relief… But how did the fire start?”

Rather than recount this lengthy adventure, I decided to gloss over it.
It wasn’t particularly important, after all.

“Seems there was a flaw in my design. The device exploded when I activated it.”

“Then our shareholder meeting next week…”

“Is a bust, I guess.”

Before the palace master could break down in despair, I slipped away to the lab after cracking that little quip.

While the air conditioner itself hadn’t burst, the fact remained that with barely two months left, I had nothing physical to show.

With no opportunities to leave the lab, time flew by.

Matters must have been urgent, as Freyja even abandoned her own research to join me in developing the air conditioner.
Seizing this chance, I successfully retrieved the high-quality magic stones and magic-enhanced motors I had squirreled away in the palace vault.

“Why isn’t this working…?”

“Just wait a moment. The magic stone alignment seems off. Let me adjust this part… There, that should do it.”

-Whirrrrr

“Oh, indeed. It’s working now!”

“…But I haven’t connected the power source yet, so why is it operating?”

“Huh?”
-Kwaaaanng!

While I did briefly consider chaining ten refrigerators together, leaving their doors open, and calling it an air conditioner until the very last moment,

-Whirrrr

“It works, it works!”

“What does?”

“I’ve finally… completed it.”

In any case, I had somehow managed to meet the deadline.
The aspects that were difficult to implement due to alchemy and chemical engineering constraints, I was able to finesse through with magic in true fantasy world fashion. Electromagnetism was a piece of cake.

“So is it finished?”

“Not quite. We need to conduct trial runs.”

As soon as I was confident I had accounted for output and commercial viability, I hung this great invention all over the palace.
Successfully earning the title of ‘Cooling Deity’ from Ceres Palace’s other mages and securing my own research team.

And after spending a few more days thoroughly testing it with the entire palace to ensure no defects, that day arrived.

The presentation hall on the first floor of Ceres Palace.
Investors who had received letters claiming ‘this time it’s truly different’ and inviting them to ‘come see for themselves, just this once’ visited the palace on this sweltering day, a mix of readied disappointment and slight anticipation.

Compared to the usual verbose introductions starting with ‘As the palace master…’ and going on about working diligently, showing modest progress, and how results would come soon, this exuded confidence.

And indeed.

“…The air feels different.”

“Did you stay up reading novels last night?”

“No, really. The air is different?”

A few investors tilted their heads quizzically as they took their seats.

After allowing them to revel in it for a moment, once the appointed time arrived and all attendees had gathered, I took the stage and offered a slight bow.

Following a brief self-introduction, I swiftly delved into the main topic of interest.

“Allow me to introduce you all to this.”

I drew back the curtain behind me.
The massive machine that had been emitting a cool breeze into this hall revealed itself.

“The air conditioning system – or ‘air conditioner’ for short.”

“How did you even shorten it to that-”

“The air conditioner.”

I was confident I had implemented nearly identical functionality, aside from luxuries like temperature control.

“Isn’t it just a refrigerator?”

“No, even leaving the door open all day can’t achieve this level of power.”

“Indeed, that’s quite remarkable!”

“It seems Ceres Palace has finally produced something proper this time.”

The reaction was not bad. No, on a clear day without a cloud in the sky like today, the effect was even more pronounced.
Scheduling the presentation for right after the peak heat of noon was no coincidence.

“As for its applications and uses, I believe our investor guests can sufficiently envision various possibilities.”

These leisure-class individuals with enough stakes to be invited to shareholder meetings, be they capitalists or intellectual elites,
Most would likely own factories or modest palaces of their own, so they seemed to grasp my implication well.

“Aye, I should install this cooling device in my factory!”

Yes, this would hardly be unfavorable from the perspective of palace masters or factory owners.
From the workers’ standpoint as well, being spared the heat would allow them to labor more diligently and reach their full potential, would it not?

I had poured into it the bitter memories of my own arduous youth, sweating profusely in stifling factories devoid of fans while Myar reactions occurred in real-time.

And my offering to alleviate the summer suffering endured by all for the sake of improving quality of life in Londinium was met with:

“If they’re comfortable, we can make them work longer hours!”

“We can just deduct the electricity costs from their wages. But even so, productivity would increase.”

“Ah, umm…”

The modern movement that unexpectedly thrust itself upon us sapped my dedication of its strength.

Initially, I had planned to spend an hour explaining why air conditioning was necessary, but I made some adjustments to the plan.

Instead, I frantically rambled about the satisfaction and concentration data from the palace’s operational results, insisting productivity would naturally rise so wage cuts would be unnecessary.
And in response the next morning, Ceres Palace’s stock chart was impaled by a devastatingly bullish candlestick.

While sales had yet to commence, there was no doubting the results.
Some did raise concerns like ‘We’re already in debt, so why spend more on this expensive gadget?’, but every survival from the chaotic modern era to the present day must have had its reasons. Climate control had transcended mere summer comfort into a matter of survival.

In any case, full-fledged sales and performance could be worried about later.

“With this urgent matter resolved, I should be able to take a few days off, right?”

“Sure, you haven’t properly rested at all, so go ahead. Where are you headed?”

“The orphanage.”

I had decided to check on what Freugne was up to.