3.29.

Dig. Dig.

Rummaging through her own closet of random items, among them clothes, Risa searched for that 'thing' which she had stowed away since her arrival to this world.

"I remember putting it in that box.. or was that wrong? It's got to be here somewhere," she sat on the ground, staring into the abysmal compartment with a contemplative gaze.

She flipped through every drawer and box she could find.

"Hold it–"

She stood up and peeked under the bed. There, she pulled out a small basket.

"It's here.." Risa knocked her head with her knuckles and stuck her tongue out.

Blowing the dust off, she opened the lid. Lying dormant within was..

Her smartphone.

Both Shiro and Risa had their phones in their pockets during their transmigration. Though it was against school rules to bring phones into the class, the teachers usually turned a blind eye to it.

As they had come to a world without a controlled use of electromagnetic frequency– wifi, there was almost nothing they could do with these devices.

Yes. You heard that right. The nightmare of every NEET– the absence of wifi, rendering most functions of their phones useless except for the few offline games they had downloaded.

Though this world used magic power as a substitute to electrical energy, it didn't mean that electricity doesn't exist. Just, the understanding of electricity wasn't as comprehensive in that people could utilize it as a source of energy to supply power to their homes.

As such, without a stable source of electricity nor a phone charger, their device would simply be left to rot.

Well, until now at least.

"Alright! Let's see if big brother can do something about this," Risa grinned to herself.

Rushing down the hall towards the living room, Risa hastily greeted the maid that she passed. While surprised by her enthusiasm, she nodded in response.

Bam!

Risa pulled open the sliding door with great force.

"Big brother, I got something you…"

"Ah, Risa. What is it?"

Risa went silent at the sight of Shiro giving Linzy a lap pillow. Having the time of her life, this girl was enunciating gentle purrs to his every stroke, snuggling up to his belly, rubbing herself on him, tempting him with her white fluffy ears.

"Risa?"

"N-Nothing. Shh, don't be so loud. If she wakes up we're done for," Risa said with a frown. She carefully made her way over to Shiro.

"What's this?"

"My phone. I want you to try and charge the battery using your gift."

[Scientific Magic: False Physics]

It was a gift that enabled the possessor to bend the physics of matter, space and perhaps to a degree, time. And in addition to that, not limited to other physics-related concepts like electricity, friction, heat, inertia and pressure.

It was a gift that required a lot of mana. However, if used right, it could really turn things upside down.

"This..? Let's see.." Shiro took Risa's phone into his hands.

It had been months since he had last seen this. He felt a sense of longing. He began wondering if his parents were alright.

Risa's phone has got the cute cartoon casing with bumps in the corner to cushion a fall. The screen was black, reflecting the room and his own image.

"I have no guarantees it might work.. I don't know about how lithium batteries work. I know ions, I don't know anything else."

"Can't you create an external perpetual power source and stick it in?"

"Perpetual power source.." Shiro stared at the screen for a good while.

'The infinite power concept still doesn't exist because magic is itself another form of energy which other forms of energy can be converted into.'

"I'll just see what I can do about this."

"Master.." Linzy muttered in her sleep. She nuzzled closer and squirmed for his attention because of the absence of the soft head pats.

"There, there.."

"..."

"I'm sorry If I break it."

"Just go for it. If you can't make it, it's a lost cause to begin with."

[Scientific Magic: False Physics]

The edge of the phone seemed to glow slightly..

Pop.

A clear sound of explosion. A small spark.

Smoke began to rise from within, the colour of the screen changing into a weird oily rainbow colour. A horrendous stench of melted metal quickly filled the room, Shiro panicked and turned the phone into steel.

Linzy's nose and ears twitched. She clipped her nose as her eyes watered to the astringent smell. She opened her eyes slightly to peek, and the moment she saw Risa and her master together, her expression darkened.

"No way. I can't fix this. I'm sorry."

"Fuck.. my phone.." Risa thought that she was going to faint. Her memorabilia from her original world had turned into a useless slab.

"The smell is horrible, we need to do something about this.. bueeh?! Linzy?!"

The girl quickly wrapped herself around Shiro and pushed him down on the ground. She hissed loudly at Risa.

"..."

"What's this smell?! What's going on here?" Evelyn happened to be tampering with her magic staff nearby when she noticed something amiss.

"I tried to fix this thing, but it broke," Risa waved the now small slab of metal at Evelyn.

"The smell is horrible.." Evelyn pointed her staff into the room, the orb glowed, a fresh breath of air blew in, driving out the bad air out through the window.

"I'll be leaving," Risa got up.

"Linzy, can you let go please.." Shiro requested.

"..."

The girl remained unwilling, keeping Shiro in her arms as she glared at the two girls that were in her sights.

Risa gave them one more glance before walking out of the living room. Evelyn watched as her figure left, sensing a tone of loneliness sticking to her silhouette.

The princess didn't know what to say about this matter either.

===

Dinner.

The meals were prepared by top chefs in Riestallia Academy, sent directly to the dining room.

The food items were never the same each night. And if it happened that there had been a particular dish that one wanted to eat again, a special request may be made to have the chef prepare the dish.

Ten sushi types laid over large Mugwort leaves made from meat of various fantasy creatures, and egg roes that came in more than just orange and black. A smoky charred scent from one, a nice zesty fresh kick another.

Vegetables in miso soup cut into flowers, zucchini-like salad sliced to exquisitely fine pieces, fruit platter arranged on a miniature boat–

Linzy pushed Risa off her chair.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? What did I ever do to you!?" Risa yelled.

Without any explanation, Linzy returned to Shiro's side and clung to him, acting defensive.

Shiro tried to pry Linzy's hand away to assist Risa but the girl kept her hands tight… trembling even. A perplexing dilemma surfaced in his heart. Though it was something that he had considered earlier, he had always pushed it back down, thinking that time would settle things.

It doesn't seem to be the case.

Why was Linzy acting this way?

"Linzy, let go."

"No," she cutely pressed her face into Shiro's chest.

'She's a kid..'

"Sorry Risa.. maybe, it just takes a while for Linzy to get back to herself after.."

"A while? How long has it been? You call this a while? It's been over a week now!"

"Risa, Linzy is just.. she's a kid.. you know.."

"Is your sister not a kid too? Why do you pamper her so much huh? Just because you like fluffy ears and tails?"

Linzy turned to her and hissed.

"You fucker.." Risa cursed as she got back up.

She withheld the urge to punch the damned slave in the face..

Oh, wait. Linzy is NOT a slave– she's not actually bound by contract magic anymore. She simply just treats Shiro as her master because she respects him as one– or so he thought.

Shiro felt a headache coming on.

Risa took the seat on the opposite side of the table where Evelyn was. With a big frown on her face, Risa chomped down on the food. Linzy eventually got off from Shiro and took the seat which Risa had earlier sat in. Yet, despite this, Shiro didn't seem to find any misgivings about this slave's impudence.

'Is he blind? Or does he just care about the damn slave more than me?'

Risa thought back to the beginning of when it happened. She couldn't quite pinpoint when the issue became a disturbance, but it likely started when Linzy began collecting Shiro's teeth. Shiro's outburst towards Sequencee amplified it.

'Possessiveness? A slave can be posessive?'

Risa used [Blessing: Appraisal] to confirm something about Linzy. Beastkins were different from other races in that they had different natures, three types, in fact. Appraising the details regarding the three natures, Risa recalled what Sequencee had said in the past. Things began to click in her mind.

Meanwhile, Linzy stared right back at her with challenging eyes.

===

Risa sat at the veranda, sitting in a lotus position, she watched the night sky change ever so subtly to the elements.

Unlike Earth, the world here operated on the concept of biomes. There was no equator, and it's a wonder if they were actually on a planet. Risa had some doubts to Rika's theories. Though there were various proofs, it also came with contradictions.

While the regions like Rika Nation, and the capital of the empire, among other places may not experience four seasons, it doesn't mean that a country with changing seasons doesn't exist. Countries like these are known as volatile biomes.

Biomes are dependent on what people refer to as 'spirits'. There are many different kinds of spirits, and the balance of these spirits in a particular region, depending on the arrangement and concentration, would lead to different biomes.

For the Elven territories like Eluive Kingdom, the weather is much warmer and more humid. Naturally, this was due to the high number of nature spirits and forest spirits that gather around the rich greenwood regions which prefer this kind of weather.

And the infamous, Tnudra Kingdom, a kingdom located southwards. Snow spirits, or perhaps even time spirits that like the slow cold conglomerate here, creating a world of eternal ice and snow.

While there existed snow spirits in Rika Nation, the density of these spirits wasn't high enough to turn the place into a frozen wasteland.

Risa shifted her focus from the sky to the two sparkling beads before her.

Sequence had taught her how to perform condensation of elements and the method of masking their presence. She grasped his teachings quickly, but had reservations over turning his extreme methods of training into her own.

For now, she just opted to spend around an hour or two each day doing this condensation exercise with two of her primary elements.

Light element.

And, holy element.

"Risa."

"What is it?" She responded with a deadpan voice without turning around.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's Linzy. Don't mind it."

".. I'm really sorry."

"The hell can apologizing do, big brother? If you're aware, you should do something about it."

".. I know."

"..."

Risa noticed the beads before her fluctuate.

'Oh. So like those battle mangas, strong emotions do have an effect on magic skills.. still, don't just come to me and apologize.'

"I'll try to see if I can calm her down.." Shiro gritted his teeth.

"Have you checked her stats?"

"Her stats?"

"Did you not see the alpha symbol?"

"I.. have seen it.." Shiro's voice cracked a little, realizing what she meant.

"Congradulation on getting a ticking time bomb big brother. Be careful not to lose your head," Risa also cursed herself for not noticing it when they first onboarded Linzy into their party.

"..."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen.. hopefully.." Risa muttered, a sprout of concern now planted in her heart. "I don't hate her, nor do I hate you big brother. I just wish she'd be less possessive. It's making me feel distant."

".. Right."

Brother complex? Too bad the [Blessing: Appraisal] doesn't give such detailed info. But if it did, it would surely be there.

"Good night," Shiro said.

"Un. Good night."

For a moment silence ruled the space. And when Risa turned around, he had already left.