Magical Tool Master Dahlia Never Compromises ~ Starting Today: Life as a Freelancer ~

"Yeah... For example, there's a rule of aristocratic etiquette that says 'you must compliment a woman you meet for the first time.' Last year and the year before, I kept praising her beauty, which seemed a bit out of place... My friend, a magic tool master, said it's not good to only compliment her appearance."

"That's hard work. So what should I praise?"

"Clothes, accessories, and the like... I can't tell. Besides that, you could praise someone's skill in playing an instrument, their intelligence, and so on, but our family hardly interacts with nobles, right? I have no idea what they do on a daily basis, so I can't really praise them."

"Is everything ok? If your stomach hurts, it's better not to join..."

"That won't do. Baron is an honorary title, and he also receives a salary."

Carlo turned his eyes away from his uneasy daughter and cleared his throat. The powder seemed to be stuck in his throat.

"I'll probably be at the Baron's party all day tomorrow, so why don't you try to make a 'voice transmitter'? The blueprints are in the drawer. You can use as much siren hair as you want, and we have plenty of sterling silver."

"It's so small, it feels a bit difficult. Especially adjusting the sound..."

"Isn't it nice to think about being able to make a voice you like? Just make a voice that sounds like a handsome man."

"Damn! What's that noise?!"

He couldn't help but laugh at his angry daughter.

He couldn't bring himself to tell Dahlia.

The female voice he heard from the magic voice transmitter at noon was the voice of Theresa, Dahlia's mother.

When his daughter was little, he wanted to sing a lullaby to her in her mother's voice, so he made that magic tool. However, when he tried to sing, the sound would split and he couldn't sing well, so he kept it hidden deep in the shelf.

There was another thing that I couldn't tell her.

Noble etiquette is indeed troublesome. However, many barons were originally commoners, so minor mistakes are not taken seriously. Moreover, "beautiful" is a universal word, so it is impossible to be blamed.

His stomachache had other causes. Just thinking about tomorrow made him feel depressed.

This baron gathering was held at the mansion of a certain duke.

Carlo was led to a large hall where he could admire a garden filled with vibrant, exotic flowers. Beautifully dressed men and women, mostly men of higher rank than himself, came and went. The sound of conversation mingled with the soft music of the orchestra.

"You seem to be doing well, Carlo-senpai."

"You too, Oz."

Someone he knew came to chat with him. It was Oswald, a fellow baron and a junior in the school's Magical Equipment Department. Honestly, he was relieved. However, he was a little taken aback when Oswald introduced him to his wife.

"My name is Fiore Zola. Thank you for taking care of my husband."

He didn't recognize this woman with light red hair and light green eyes. She didn't seem to be the same person he remembered as Oswald's wife.

I remember he remarried after his first wife ran away. Could it be that—

"I'm the second one."

Fiore saw through his doubts and smiled gently. She was young but very steady.

Oswald simply stood by, smiling. Should he say, "Excuse me," or just laugh it off? After becoming a baron, he'd read many etiquette books, but he'd never seen anything like this.

In short, he first leaned close to his junior's ear and whispered, "Congratulations." Then he patted him on the back.

"Carlo, I see you're here. Someone wants to talk to you about the water heater. Oswald, sorry to interrupt your conversation, but could you lend me Carlo?"

"Yes. Carlo-senpai, Jada-senpai, I wish you both a wonderful day."

Oswald said goodbye with the grace befitting a nobleman, and the two of them turned and left.

The man who came to take Carlo away was Leone Jedda. He was from a viscount family and had just become the president of the Merchant Guild.

Although the other party was of prominent status, Carlo and this senior had known each other when they were studying at the advanced college, so he was allowed to speak to him in plain language.

"Leone-senpai, you seem very busy."

"Yeah. After becoming the guildmaster, I've been spending less time with Gabriella. I can't stand it."

The senior mentioned his wife right away, and Carlo thought to himself, "You two are still as loving as ever."

When chatting with his heavy-hearted wife, Carlo would try not to mention Gabriela, otherwise the conversation would last too long.

"Mr. Rossetti, I got a new water heater with a larger capacity. It's working quite well."

"Thank you for the compliment."

A certain guild leader who frequented the guild approached him with a smile. I remember he was a viscount.

Carlo sells all the water heaters he makes through the Orlando Chamber of Commerce, which is run by a close friend. This person seems to be using them.

"Increasing the capacity is really convenient. Is there a way to make it even bigger?"

This request is often made, but Carlo himself does not intend to make the water heater too large.

"I want to increase the capacity and temperature so more people can take a shower at the same time."

"It's not impossible, but to be safe, it's better to buy a few more."

"From the perspective of the Merchant Guild, I also recommend that you buy a few more."

Leone spoke up to echo Carlo who was pretending to think.

The topic of water heaters ended here, and the three of them talked about popular shops in the capital and magical tools that are expected to be popular.

After a while of chatting, the Chamber of Commerce president said goodbye to the two, and Leone was called away by someone who looked like a noble.

Carlo asked a nearby waiter for a drink to quench his thirst.

"Are you Mr. Rossetti? It's an honor to meet you."

A young woman claiming to be the Baron's daughter came to talk to him.

For a lady attending a baron's party, the slit of her dress was a bit high and a bit too eye-catching.

Besides, he hadn't introduced himself to her yet.

The two chatted casually about the topic of magic tools, and as they were talking, a pair of bare white fingers grabbed his shirt.

"Mr. Carlo, I'd like to talk to you about the work of a magic tool maker..."

This woman was certainly beautiful, but she addressed him by his name when they first met, and her coquettish voice sent chills down his spine.

If he were ten or twenty years younger, would he be a little moved? Thinking of this, the only thing that came to mind was his late wife's smile, which showed how deeply he missed her.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little tipsy—I'm not feeling well, so I'll go outside for a while."

"Then I'll take care of you..."

"It's okay, I just don't seem to be feeling well."

He covered his mouth and walked away quickly. Fortunately, the other party did not catch up with him.

The bathroom in the Duke's house is very large.

It was filled with the fragrance of countless flowers, without any smell of a toilet.

Carlo sat on a plush black leather sofa against the wall, a place for people to put their shoes on, and loosened his tie.

He sighed as he remembered the look in the woman's eyes and the look in the Chamber of Commerce president's eyes who had spoken to him before.

The other party didn't take him seriously. His appearance, personality, and title probably had no interest in either of them.

All they care about is their skills as a magic tool master.

To be precise, it was the people behind them who wanted his technology.

"Has 'he' not forgotten yet..."

Carlo muttered glumly.

The first time "he" came to talk to him was during school, when Carlo made the magic tool of the sprinkler.

Originally intended to be a wall cleaner, the Magic Tool Research Club members got playful and cranked up the power to maximum. Just for fun, they were testing the effect, but ended up shooting through the school building wall, causing an unexpected disaster and earning them an unexpected scolding.

Although the seniors, who were nobles, easily paid the compensation, it was incredible that they were not suspended.

The next month, Carlo was called to the vice-principal's office. As the first inventor of the sprinkler, Carlo thought he was about to face a belated scolding, but the person waiting for him was not the vice-principal.

A black three-piece suit, paired with over-polished leather shoes. A fair-skinned man who was clearly aristocratic, with a doll-like smile on his face.

"Carlo Rossetti, are you interested in becoming a magic tool maker in the royal city and creating magic tools for the nation?"

He had never expected that someone from the royal city was trying to recruit him. This was the path to success that many students in the Magic Tool Science Department dreamed of.

"I promise to provide you with a generous salary and good treatment."

She used formal honorifics and a gentle tone when speaking to him, who was still a student.

But the man looked back at him with eyes like a snake, eyes that were completely devoid of warmth, and Carlo immediately rejected him.

He nervously replied, "I want to inherit my father's work and create magical tools for the common people. My test scores aren't great, so I'm not really going to be of any use in the royal city."

The man showed no displeasure or regret, and acted as if this was a settled matter.

"Rosetti-san, if you change your mind, please contact me. We'll see you next time."

He remembered that as soon as he left the room, he was sweating profusely from nervousness.

He returned home in a panic, worried that he might cause trouble for his parents, and sought advice from his father.

The father was not surprised, but asked him:

"It's probably related to weapons or espionage. The pay should be quite good, but do you want to make that kind of magical tool?"

"No. I want to make a living magic tool, a magic tool that can bring smiles to people's faces."

He immediately denied it, and his father smiled brightly and patted his shoulder.

"That's what I answered as well."

The next time I saw that man was not long after I made the magic voice transmission device.

He only did the voice transmission because he wanted to help his teacher Lina, who was teaching him the magic tool department, to cure her hoarse voice.

He had a sudden inspiration and added a voice-changing feature to make his teacher and friends laugh, and that was the only thing he should have done.

However, at Lina's suggestion, the magic tool was commercialized to treat patients with hoarseness due to illness.

The next month, he was inexplicably called to the dean's office even though he had already graduated from the school.

Teacher Lina, the one leading the way, looked pale. As the two of them walked silently down the corridor, Lina's palm flashed for a moment, and on it, faint handwriting read, "Reject Him." A sense of foreboding lingered.

As expected, it was that man again.

"The Voice Transmitter is truly an excellent magical tool. We will do our best to meet your offer in terms of compensation and conditions. It's okay if you don't work in the Royal City; we will proactively come to find you at the location you specify. So, would you please create a magical tool for the nation?"

The pleasant voice and overly polite attitude were exactly the same as before.

The same goes for the eyes.

He first thanked the other party for affirming his ability, and answered directly without any reservation:

"I can't create magical tools that can harm people."

The man's smile vanished from his face, like a shattered mask. A rather nervous expression emerged from beneath.

He maintained this expression, narrowing his eyes and raising the corners of his mouth high.

"See you next time, Mr. Rossetti."

This sentence was exactly the same as when we met last time, except that the address had changed from "classmate" to "Mr."

How many years have passed since then?

His only commission in the Royal City was to repair a large water heater. He hadn't built the machine himself, but rather a magic tool maker from the Royal City. This commission, received through the Merchant Guild, involved using the Sirius Fang to grant "wind magic to prevent thermal runaway," and that was all.

Since he didn't see the man at the time, Carlo thought he had forgotten about him and let down his guard.

However, not long ago, he had been asked to make large-capacity, high-temperature water heaters, which were clearly not intended for use by the nobility.

When Leone reminded him, "Carlo, have you been receiving strange requests lately?", he first thought of Dahlia, and then of the man.

Although the inventor's name is attached to him, the hair dryer and water heater are magical tools invented based on Dahlia's ideas.

Furthermore, my talented daughter has successfully created a waterproof fabric that can keep moisture out. After further testing, she plans to register it with the Trade Guild. This versatile magical tool will undoubtedly prove extremely useful.

Dahlia is a skilled magic tool maker and inventor—but she also has a very dangerous side.

Carlo is forced to face a truth he has long refused to acknowledge.

As a child, Dalia had drawn flying metal birds on construction paper. She had drawn ships sailing the sea. She had drawn boxes that could carry people across the land without horses pulling them. He had smiled as his daughter described these fairy-tale-like objects. But when he saw her stuttering as she tried to explain the principles behind them, Carlo became puzzled and asked her how she knew.

When his daughter replied with a smile, "These are things from the previous life," he suddenly realized.

The Chosen One—this is how this country calls those with rare talents.