Volume 6 - CH 7.3

Side Story 3: Genia and Merula’s “Let’s Test it!” 

“It’s time for Genia...” 

“...a-and Merula’s...” 

““...Let’s Test It!”” 

The two who shouted this and pumped their fists into the air were overscientist Genia, who had just gotten engaged to Ludwin Arcs, the Captain of the Royal Guard, the other day; and Merula Merlin, from the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan, the high elf whose too-strong curiosity had gotten her accused as a witch, and put her on the run from the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria. 

The two of them were now in the ruined dungeon workshop owned by the House of Maxwell. 

“...Um, was there some meaning behind that call?” Merula asked Genia, her pale face having turned red. 

“Huh? It was obviously just a spur-of-the-moment thing.” 

“Spur-of-the-moment...? Now, listen, Genia...” 

“C’mon, Merumeru. Time’s finite. Let’s get to testing!” 

“Please, don’t call me Merumeru!” 

Ignoring Merula’s protests, Genia pulled something out from behind her. It was a squalid bag, about the size of a sandbag used in boxing practice. 

“This here is the item up for testing today,” Genia declared. “Dun-du-du-duuun: the Hero’s Sack.” 

“The Hero’s Sack?” 

“This sack was said to be used by the first King of Elfrieden, who, just like our king (Souma), was summoned from another world as a hero. It may not look like much, but it can hold a lot, and recently Sir Poncho’s been using it to store the ingredients he gathers all over the continent and brings them back.” 

“The first king... Wait, isn’t this a real treasure?” Merula asked, poking at the sack. 

If this was the first King of Elfrieden they were talking about, he was a great hero who united the many races to form this kingdom. His story was told of in legend, and he was still loved and respected by the people. If the first king had used this, it was probably an incredibly prized possession. 

“It’s technically a national treasure, yeah,” Genia said like it was no big deal. 

“N-National treasure?!” Merula jumped back in surprise. “Wait, is it okay to treat a national treasure so poorly?!” 

“When I told the king ‘I want to study it,’ he said, ‘Don’t break it,’ and let me borrow it.” 

“So easily?! Like you were asking to borrow a new pocket watch that he just bought?!” 

“It sounds like the king wants to research overscience relics,” Genia shrugged. “You think something happened?” 

“I-I wouldn’t know...” 

Having learned there was a connection between his former world and this one after the incident in the Star Dragon Mountain Range, Souma directed his research organizations to do more specific research into the overscience relics that were no doubt key to learning what the connection was. He hadn’t gone so far as to explain that situation to them, though. 

“Anyway, today I think we’ll run tests on the Hero’s Sack.” Genia picked up the relic. “Now first, let’s see about its weight and volume. As you can see, at present, even a delicate basement-dweller with thin arms like me can easily lift it up.” 

“Was the self-deprecation necessary? But yes, it certainly does look light.” 

“But, get this, there’s already a whole lot of stuff inside. Okay, my golems, bring it on out.” 

With that, Genia had the dirt golems she made with her own ability bring over a large, rectangular water tank. It had to be as large as a sizable shed. The base was about four by five meters, and it was more than four meters tall. Genia had to put up a ladder just to stand on the edge of it. 

Merula, who was left looking up at her, asked, “Um, Genia? What is this for?” 

“The thing about this sack is, it’s already been left immersed in a river for half a day.” 

“What are you doing to a national treasure?! Won’t you be punished?!” 

Merula was confused, but Genia didn’t care. 

“We can’t let little things get in the way of academic progress.” 

“I... I always thought I was too obsessed with research, but... it’s a big world out there.” 

“Haha! Please, don’t compliment me like that, Merumeru.” 

—Slightly before Genia called Souji over— 

“I suspect the reason why food that’s put in the sack doesn’t rot easily is because the time it takes the food to rot is being extended,” Genia said. 

“By which you mean?” Merula asked. 

“I think the flow of time inside the sack is different from the flow of time outside the sack. Perhaps the reason the fish that had been inside for half a day were still so energetic also stems from the flow of time being different. So, here’s the idea.” 

Genia pulled out an hourglass. When turned upside down, the sand that was filling the top part began falling to the bottom. Genia put the hourglass into the sack in that state. 

“This hourglass is designed so that it takes five minutes for all the sand to reach the bottom. We’ll wait five minutes with it like this.” 

“...I see. So that’s how it is.”

—Five minutes later— 

When Genia pulled out the hourglass, the sand still hadn’t fully fallen. More than that, there was little change in the amount of sand at the top at all. 

Genia brought her hand to her chin and groaned. “Hrm... I expected the sand not to have fully fallen, but if the amount in the top hasn’t noticeably changed, does that mean time is practically stopped?” 

“Time’s stopped inside this bag?! Is that possible?!” 

“Our common sense doesn’t apply when it comes to the way overscience relics work, my dear Merumeru.” 

“Don’t call me that... But how can we tell if time is stopped inside or not?” 

“Hm... It seems we’re forced to use our last resort.” 

“L-Last resort?” 

Merula gulped as Genia flashed her an indomitable smile. 

“Going inside to see.” 

And that was why Souji was called over. 

Merula turned a cold look on Genia. “So you’re not going to go inside.” 

“I am an observer,” Genia said. “I have a duty to leave records of the experiment.” 

“Honestly... This is really going to be okay, right?” 

“You’re worried about the old man?” Genia smirked, and Merula turned to look away. 

“Even if it was him, I’d have trouble sleeping at night if anything were to happen.” 

“It’ll be fine,” said Genia. “You saw how energetically the fish were swimming around, didn’t you?” 

“They may have looked that way on the surface, but there’s no way to tell if the fish are really fine when they don’t speak.” 

Then Souji came over. “You called, Young Miss Genia?” 

“Hee hee! I know this is sudden, but we’re going to have you help us out a little.” 

“Help? ...Wait, whuh?!” 

Without waiting for his response, Genia pulled the Hero’s Sack over the top of Souji.