Became the Villainess’s Guardian

Overthrowing a kingdom is not something just anyone can do.

If an impoverished girl suddenly demands those in power to relinquish their positions, no ruler would meekly bow their head and step down right away.
She would need to amass a sticky web of connections, power, wealth, and force an atmosphere where her demands cannot be easily ignored.

So this implies that Freugne possesses some means to seize power.
But no matter how I think about it, the only picture that comes to mind is rallying people who, after tasting the spicy flavor of slum life, want to skewer the bellies of capitalists with their bayonets.

‘I can’t live like this anymore! My only child is starving!’
‘What has this kingdom ever done for us? Is this the reward for our devotion?’
‘Let’s sell out humanity, who has done nothing for us, to the Demon King and at least secure our own safety!’

That seems like a plausible motivation for her actions.

Therefore, unless I planned to flee to the wilderness and live out my life where no one could reach me, I needed to rise to a position where I could intervene appropriately.

If I couldn’t find Freugne or a solution to prevent humanity’s destruction, running away would have been a serious consideration.

‘There’s still a chance to do something about it.’

But now that there was hope I could still struggle, the situation was different.

People consider shiny, stimulating, and flashy things to be good spectacles.
For example, glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs or transforming giant robots.

In reality, people were so obsessed with massive, grand things that they would hold events crashing two locomotives head-on.
Imagine those hundreds of tons of mechanical behemoths colliding! How could anyone resist that? So they carried on, even with people occasionally dying from debris.

And at the apex of such spectacles was magic itself.
Shiny, stimulating, and flashy – it was intuitively structured to be popular.

Had the game’s setting been medieval times, magic would have been the exclusive domain of a few intellectuals. But this was the modern era.
The city’s citizens were relatively educated, and while they may not use magic themselves, they were certainly familiar with its applications.

Providers of entertainment. Doesn’t that sound like a familiar profession?

“So let’s all welcome with applause, the electromancer Edan!”

“Here I am.”

“Waaaah!!”

“Give me a hug!”

That’s right.
Magicians were the idols of this era.

After walking around the stage drawing all eyes, if I stretched my arms towards the sky, letting lightning spread in streaks, they went wild with delight.

A human taser, they just couldn’t resist that.
On top of that, if I borrowed some ideas from modern stimulating media and performances that I was steeped in, the effect was quite good.

The more often I appeared in public, and the more I achieved in my research,
Once I built up a suitable level of skill and reputation, the path to such advancement would finally open up.

The highest glory a magician could attain in this kingdom?
Nine out of ten would answer: membership in the Royally-endorsed Academy, the ultimate destination.

Of course, even with decent crafting abilities and skills handling magic tools, it was still an arduous climb for a mere orphan.

However, one thing stood out as an opportunity.
As is often the case with new technologies, regulations and laws were not properly established yet.
Truthfully, in an environment where factories allowed workers of all ages, there wasn’t much expectation for protective regulations either. But still.

And isn’t it the norm for safety standards to be written in blood?
Moreover, unlike other forms of magic like fireballs that simply blast things, electromancy additionally borrowed its power to operate massive machinery.

It was commonplace for careless brushes to result in body parts being crushed or severed in the trial-and-error process of operating magic tools.

“Kyaaah!! Edan, your arm…!!”

“Ah, ouch. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“How can I not worry when you’re bleeding profusely! Just wait, I’ll call for a carriage to take you to a doctor-”

But who am I?
I’m Edan, the planarian of Londinium, am I not?

-Sluuurp

“Edan? What’s gotten into you all of a sudden…”

“Hah, regenerate!”

“Kyaaaaaah!!”

If a malfunctioning blade grazes my arm and it goes limp, I just eat some bread with my other arm and it’s fine.
While my research assistant colleagues at the magic university were even more disgusted by such displays, at least my body was intact, so it was probably alright.

They say half of scientific progress is made by intelligent people twirling pens at their desks.
The other half comes from the thought process of ‘I wonder what would happen if I blew this up’ and actually carrying it out.

In the fantasy world, magic took that place.

But unfortunately, this modern fantasy world was not one where introducing modern concepts would immediately elicit praise like ‘Wow, the technology of this other world is amazing!’

As I’ve said again, this is the era of modernity and romanticism.
A time when daring souls would strap on model wings and leap off cliffs in attempts to fly.

Let me give you an example.
Since I couldn’t transcend the era’s limitations with practical issues to invent air conditioning, I made a fan to provide cool relief from the sweltering heat and exhibited it at the product demonstration fair.

“What is the purpose of this pinwheel-like contraption?”

“Ah, you don’t know. This is called a ‘fan.’ The spinning blades create a cooling breeze.”

“I see.”

And an investor who came to the product fair just nodded without much interest before moving to the next booth and asking:

“And what is this machine with a hand-held fan?”

“It’s an automatic fan-waving machine.”

“Oho.”

“The fact that humans have been using hand-held fans until now is proof that fans are the most effective way to beat the heat. That clumsy pinwheel can’t even compare.”

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Really? You think that’s better?”

While the smiling magician seemed a bit unlucky, I could understand up to that point.
But then the investor moved to the next booth and asked:

“And what is this huge contraption…?”

“A fan.”

“It looks like a torture device?”

At the ends of the cruciform wooden boards were belts to strap in the hands and feet.
The magician shook his head vehemently at having to explain this much, and added:

“While other methods are fine, the best way to experience the wind is to embrace it with your whole body. Like the refreshing spring breeze of the plains.”

“So how is that related to this contraption?”

“The ultimate fan is to become the fan itself. You may get a bit dizzy while spinning around, but at least the heat will be gone for sure.”

And then he strapped himself onto the crucifix and began rotating, causing a centrifugal spinning motion, but no matter how much of a sideshow I put on, I couldn’t draw any attention.

At that moment, I was convinced. In this place, they had no sense of commerciality or what would actually be successful, so they just crammed in whatever outrageous functions they could think of.
In the end, in order for this soft 21st century human to survive among these native modern people, actual achievements were the only battleground left to me.

Fortunately, while my origins in the 21st century robbed me of creativity, it gave me at least the discernment to pick out proper products – to avoid landmines like pre-peeled eggs.
Come to think of it, the items that survived the long history of creation until the present day were the true winners and in genuine demand, were they not?

And capitalism’s wheels are turned by supply and demand.

By giving up romanticism and shock value in favor of profitability and practicality, I was able to accrue a decent amount of reputation and money as a result.
At least at this point, if I were to strike out on my own in the job market, I wouldn’t be easily swept away.

But just finding Freugne alone wasn’t enough, I couldn’t afford to sit idly twiddling my thumbs until the event of humanity’s downfall.
To aim higher, to reach a position where I could do more, the status of a university research assistant was insufficient.

After showcasing all sorts of newly invented magic devices on stage, as the next participants set up their various contraptions, I muttered to myself:

“I should… become independent.”

Moreover, thanks to my boldness in providing sponsorship funds, I now had quite a few dependents.
At this point where I had inadvertently become a breadwinner, it was almost fate.

After passing out magnetic slate souvenirs to the front row audience,
As the people basking in the afterglow of the demonstration all filed out and I was tidying up the experimental equipment,

I looked up after finishing the cleanup. Across the table was an elderly professor neatly packing away delicate magic tools.
I addressed this mentor who had taken me, a mere wandering orphan from the lectures, as a research assistant.

“Professor Magni.”

“What is it?”

“I think I’ll be resigning from my assistant duties soon.”

Catching a whiff of slave desertion, the professor froze in place.