Once word got out that the Nemu Buster had better performance than regular computers and could trample all existing AIs, people immediately started analyzing how it could manage such feats.

The method? Simple. Reverse Engineering. If it were something rare, it might’ve been tough, but the Nemu Buster was one of the easiest items to get your hands on.

From basement YouTubers to professors at famous universities and even scientists from government organizations—

Countless wannabe scientists began snatching up the Nemu Buster for their analyses.

But no one could grasp how this tiny wind-up robot achieved such remarkable performance.

“What the heck?”
“Just how can this little circuit produce this kind of power?”
“This doesn’t even make sense! It’s like physics doesn’t apply here!”

The scientists were puzzled. No matter how they thought about it, they just couldn’t figure out how a toy could yield such astounding results.

It was as if medieval folks had stumbled upon a smartphone. They had the product in front of them and could use it, but understanding it? Forget it.

Naturally, all attempts to recreate the product were met with failure.

“You failed to replicate it?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Does that even make sense? You bribed factory workers, got the blueprints, and even the completed product was right in front of you! But you still can’t replicate it?”

Facing such scrutiny, the scientist fumbled around his throat, clearly embarrassed.

“There seems to be a special manufacturing process not outlined in the blueprints…”
“Then find it out!”
“We’re continuing to try. However, if the manufacturing steps are concealed in the blueprints, figuring it out will be nearly impossible.”
“What’s so hard about this replication?”

“Sure, having both the blueprints and the actual item means that following along step-by-step might work eventually, but the necessary quantities are astronomical…”

The person in charge sighed heavily upon seeing the scientists whining about their failures. Being from the humanities, there was no way he could grasp what the scientists were saying. All he understood was that some scientists couldn’t replicate something even when they had a blueprint.

“So what about that unknown mobility? Did you discover how that much energy could come from a wind-up mechanism?”
“The wind-up itself isn’t much different from the ones we usually use. The most it could do would be to light up an LED briefly…”
“Wait. Then how does it generate that kind of power? How do you activate the internal circuit?”

“It’s likely there’s a hidden function in the circuit. The power needed to operate it seems to be barely sufficient for that….”

Barely enough to light up an LED.

And yet, it outperformed cutting-edge graphics cards and had a high-output engine propelling the robot.

Hearing that, the boss finally realized the level of circuitry built into this toy robot. He also understood just how monstrous Evil Corp must be for creating it.

“…What kind of company is Evil Corp?”
“Maybe they caught an alien or something?”
“Is that so…?”

The boss seriously contemplated reporting to the Hero Association that poor aliens might be locked up inside Evil Corp.

“I really want to see the person behind this.”

*

Out of nowhere, Aile asked me out on a date.

“Uh, uh, Scientist-san… do you want to go shopping with me?”
“Huh? Sure. When?”
“R-right now!”

It was surprising to hear Aile, who seemed uninterested in such things, suddenly suggesting shopping. Following her to the mall, I quickly realized that was only the beginning of my surprises.

Aile was hugging her hands full of Magical Girl merchandise, smiling brightly.

“—Hehehe, th-thank you, Scientist-san.”

“I was wondering where this sudden shopping spree came from…”

“W-well, if I go alone, I can’t buy that much… Each person has a purchasing limit…”

She said, cradling her Magical Girl merchandise in her arms. Whether it was that exciting or not aside, I didn’t think she was struggling to get the items she wanted.

It made sense. After all, she was an evil Magical Girl. A high-ranking member of the evil organization, for that matter. She must have money to spare, given she could just pry some off the boss.

“Why not buy it secondhand? Resellers should have no trouble finding what you want.”

“S-secondhand!? I can’t see my Magical Girl in someone else’s hands…!”

“Your Magical Girl? They aren’t even yours…”

“An-and I hate those who resell things! If the Magical Girl makes some profit, that’s one thing!”

“Alright, I can agree with that.”

As we bantered back and forth while walking, I heard voices raised in an uproar from inside a passing shop. The tone of the customers oozed frustration.

“—Why is the Nemu Buster not here! I know you have them all in stock!”

“I’m sorry, sir. That product has already sold out…”

“No! I know you have them! Don’t try to hide it! Bring it out now!”

A man asking for Evil Corp’s latest product—the Nemu Buster—made me chuckle bitterly. I appreciated his eagerness to buy a product made by our company, but just by looking at him, it certainly didn’t seem like he was after a toy for a child.

“It looks popular… the Nemu Buster.”

“I heard prices shot up online.”

“Oh, so that guy is…”

“Definitely a reseller.”

News of the circuitry in the Nemu Buster being superior to modern graphics cards had spread like wildfire, prompting those who heard to sweep up remaining stock in no time.

Thanks to that, the market price for the Nemu Buster skyrocketed to over a thousand dollars, skyrocketing over 100 times from its original sale price of under ten dollars.

Obviously, with prices rising, they weren’t coming down anytime soon. Evil Corp had already halted the production and sale of the Nemu Buster.

‘At least they haven’t recalled them.’

If a recall had been issued, it would have stirred up a much bigger commotion. Thankfully, Regalia simply opted to stop the sales instead of doing a full recall.

The reasoning was simple: there was nothing wrong with the product itself, and the performance was just overwhelmingly good. If they pulled it back, the company image would take a hit.

If a recall happened because of something they thought was an undeserved accident, Evil Corp would infer that they had just issued a limited-time exclusive and maintain the image of their technological prowess.

‘Essentially, a method to hide my identity…’

That made me smile wryly. Honestly, I didn’t expect technology to be so far behind here. The standard of weaponry was incredibly high.

From fighters that could achieve 20 times the speed of sound to space suits that could safely drop someone from orbit… there were quite a few pieces of technology that would require substantial progress to achieve.

However, upon further inspection, it turned out those were all created using superpowers instead.

‘Who would assume that’s all made with superpowers?’

A.k.a., superpower engineering. They just slapped on a convincing exterior while relying entirely on the abilities of superpower users for the rest—the whole thing was a magician’s trick masquerading as engineering.

However, as someone who came from Earth without superpowers, I could never have fathomed such engineering existed, leading to these types of misunderstandings.

‘I’ll have to be extra careful from now on.’

This incident made it abundantly clear how coveted the knowledge I possessed was in this world and how easily I could slip into danger because of it.

If it fell into the wrong hands, technology that could easily spark a global warfare could spread… I could understand why Regalia was so anxious.

“Uh, um—Scientist-san?”
“Huh? What’s up?”
“I’m sorry to ask this, but… could you hang out a bit longer with me?”

I nodded in agreement to Aile’s request. There wasn’t much point in going back anyway, considering I had nothing to do. Aile smiled at my answer and quickly pulled out her smartphone to search for something.

“There’s a Magical Girl collab cafe nearby! It’s usually packed with the popular kids, so I haven’t had the chance to go…”
“Oh, so you finally found your voice.”
“W-well, normally I’d go with friends or a boyfriend, but I don’t have either…”
“So today, I’m your not-so-secret boyfriend?”
“Y-yeah, wait—! D-don’t kid around!”

Seeing Aile flutter in surprise from my tease, I couldn’t help but laugh softly, accepting her playful hits as we headed to the Magical Girl cafe.

On the way, she suggested stopping by the bank since she was running low on cash. I thought she could just use a card, but it seemed she didn’t want to waste even a single percent of her money on a Magical Girl.

Before we got to the cafe, we met a robber. A bank robber using superpowers.

“—Everyone, don’t move!”

With a whoosh, the robber incinerated the security guard in an instant, then threatened the people with flames protruding from his hands.

“Get down, or you’ll burn to a crisp!”
“Uh, uh…!”
“AHHHHHHH—!”
“It’s a robber!”

Everyone swiftly dropped to the floor. Having witnessed one human turn to ash so quickly, I didn’t want to be next, so I pulled Aile down with me.

Aile, who found herself stuffed close to me, glared fiercely at the bank robber and bit her lip. Noticing this, I whispered softly in her ear.

“Don’t.”
“…But—! You want me to just sit here!? How can I just—!?”
“Transforming here will reveal your identity. If they find you out, I’ll be suspected too. And besides, we’re not heroes.”

Aile clenched her fists and trembled. Not long ago, she was an incompetent person who recently acquired powers as an evil Magical Girl. I understood she didn’t want to miss an opportunity to use her powers.

But she wasn’t a heroine. Nor was she a hero. She was a high-ranking member of an evil organization. A villain.

“But… if we just sit here, the citizens…!”
“It’s alright. Where do you think we are?”

This was the main bank that traded with Evil Corp. In other words, it was a crucial facility in City E. There was no way it would be lightly guarded.

As if on cue, just as I finished that sentence, someone in a police uniform dashed in.

The bank robber turned his head at the noise, but the speed of the rushing police officer was something barely visible to the eye.

In an instant, the cop subdued the robber and pinned him to the ground, quickly slapping a blindfold on him and cuffing his hands.

“Ugh—!? What the—! Let me go!”

The robber’s last-ditch effort saw flames erupt from his shackled hands. Strikingly, the police officer braced himself and took the heat head-on, perhaps to shield the civilians.

This was the same flame that just incinerated a person in seconds. Upon witnessing such bravery, the crowd gasped in horror.

But astonishingly enough, the police officer didn’t just survive the flames; he retaliated with a punch aimed squarely at the robber.

“Gah—!”

The robber slumped to the ground, knocked out cold. The officer then spat on the ground, only to realize his shirt had completely burned off moments later, quickly covering his chest with his arms.

“—Ahem, citizens. The robber has been subdued! Now, you can rest easy and return to your activities!”

“Woahhhhh!”

As the officer spoke, the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. While he accepted their admiration with a flustered expression, a fellow officer approached him and offered him a jacket.

I turned my head away, trying to avoid eye contact as I watched the outfitless officer walk towards us. Did he catch me peeking earlier…?

“Aile—!”
“Leviathan!”
“What a coincidence to meet you here!”

However, the officer didn’t approach me but instead went straight for Aile. Here I was thinking she mentioned she had no friends to join her shopping…

I stared at the officer in surprise. When our eyes met, he gave me a teasing smile, like a hunter spotting his prey.

“Is this the infamous Scientist-chan?”
“D-do you know who I am?”
“Huh? Didn’t the boss tell you?”

With that, the officer put his hands up next to his bunny ears, striking a cute pose.

“Bunny bunny—an officer from an evil organization, Leviathan! Call me Levitan—!”
Seeing the police officer prancing around with those bunny ears made me chuckle. I couldn’t help but think this city was utterly absurd.

Who would’ve guessed that just moments ago, this guy was risking his life to protect citizens from a robber, yet he was also a villain?

No one could ever see that coming!