“Hey, Zeke, got any good ideas? Let’s team up and work on it together!”
“Even if you say that…”
The assignment allowed multiple people to form a team. However, the more people involved, the more substantial the expected results were.
Easy and quick, something convenient… Zeke laughed, but an idea struck him.
“Ah…”
“Hm?”
Paris didn’t miss that moment.
“What? What’s up? Something going on?”
“Well, you know…”
As Paris crawled towards Zeke, looking almost creepy, Zeke answered while giving him a kick as if to say he found it disturbing.
“Creating a magic-powered music box… wouldn’t that be interesting?”
“A magic-powered music box?”
Paris and Costas questioned with a hint of skepticism as they observed Zeke’s phone screen, where he showed an explanation.
“See, something like this.”
“Hmm…?”
The sound of a magic-powered music box played from the smartphone. The metallic, beautiful notes resonated, bringing a bit of tension to their relaxed bodies. The sound was soothing and gentle.
However…
“…What’s different from a regular music box?”
Paris asked. The sound of the magic-powered music box from the smartphone seemed no different from a typical music box.
“With this, you can keep playing the music for a long time if you accumulate magical energy. It used to be popular for room background music or before bedtime… or so I heard?”
“I see… Certainly, regular music boxes only play for about five minutes.”
Costas remarked, and Paris nodded in agreement.
“Presenting the old and forgotten culture of the past as a research topic, discussing the circumstances and lifestyle of that time through literature research, and then creating and submitting a self-made magic-powered music box – that should be acceptable, right?”
“But Zeke, even if making a magic-powered music box is a good idea, won’t researching the process be quite a hassle?”
“The method is something I already know.”
In response, Paris tilted his head.
“Huh? Already? How?”
“…Well, I had a bit of interest before and looked into it.”
“Really?”
It was a lie. Zeke had been involved in the job of creating magic-powered music boxes in his past life. While he had never made one by hand, his work dealt with the internal mechanisms and structures, making him quite knowledgeable.
“Why did this magic-powered music box become obsolete?”
Costas asked.
“Because portable CD players were released later on. It’s easier to enjoy music with those.”
“Ah, I see… If you put the music of an ordinary music box on a CD, you can pretty much reproduce it.”
“Magic-powered music boxes were more expensive too… Well, that’s how it goes.”
Zeke slightly averted his gaze and exhaled.
“By researching the history of that time, understanding how it became popular and later declined, you can create a substantial research report. It might be a bit challenging to find the materials, but that’s the same for any research. It’s part of the necessary expenses.”
Zeke explained, utilizing the information from his past life stored in his head. Paris agreed.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s not bad. Making a magic-powered music box might take some effort, but it’s definitely easier than searching for a theme and blindly researching stuff in the dark. But what worries me is whether we can really make a magic-powered music box ourselves.”
Paris expressed his concern.
“Things like that are usually made in factories or by craftsmen, right? Can we really do it on our own?”
“For mass production or if high quality is required, you’d need a factory or skilled craftsmen. But this time, as long as it produces sound to some extent, it should be fine. Individuals can manage that.”
Despite Zeke’s laugh about it being easy and quick, he had confidence that he could produce something of decent quality. While he primarily worked with factory machinery, Zeke had experience crafting magical music boxes as part of his job. It was expected that he could create something better than a student-level project during summer vacation.
“Alright, it’s decided! Let’s quickly get it done and then enjoy our summer to the fullest! What do you think? Costa, are you in too?”
“Nah, I’ll stick with poisons. I’m good.”
“You never change, huh.”
Paris chuckled.
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
“We can probably finish it in a week.”
“Great, let’s wrap up the complicated stuff as quickly as possible. Good talk!”
Paris stood up, raising his voice. He placed his handheld gaming console on the floor, displaying great enthusiasm. Paris was particularly eager for the summer break.
And then, the unexpected happened.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“I heard your story!”
The door to Zeke’s room burst open with a loud bang, and a loud voice echoed.
“Can I join in on that story too?”
“Anya…”
Letting out a sigh, Zeke faced the sudden entrance. Paris and Costa stared wide-eyed.
“Hey, is she breaking and entering? Is that okay?”
“I got permission from the lady!”
Anya proudly proclaimed, swaying her light blue hair.
“Paris, seriously.”
“Ugh…”
Paris frowned, feeling a bit uneasy.
“I want to keep it easy! Let’s have fun! Finish it quickly and make some free time! Right?”
“Yeah, I totally agree with that chaos. Let’s finish up and play.”
“And with the leftover time, we’ll study! I can’t keep losing to Zeke forever!”
“…Sorry, but I can’t agree with that at all.”
Paris stepped back again. Although Anya lacked common sense, she was an earnest girl when it came to academics and had a strong competitive spirit against Zeke.
“Down with the free research! Oh!”
“Oh!”
“Sigh…”
Surrounded by the two like hyenas, Zeke slouched a bit. He had to handle these troublesome two for the summer project.
“By the way, Anya?”
“What, Paris?”
“Is it always like this, barging into Zeke’s house?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
Paris raised his eyebrows.
“Is it okay for girls to invade a guy’s house? Won’t there be misunderstandings?”
“…Misunderstandings? What’s that?”
Anya answered with a puzzled look. She genuinely seemed to not understand what Paris was talking about.
“Seriously…”
Paris was left speechless, mouth half-open.
“You’re in trouble, Zeke.”
“It’s too late now, too late…”
Costa patted Zeke’s shoulder. Zeke almost felt like crying from his friend’s kindness.
“Why…?”
Anya, with a question mark floating over her head, just tilted her head, clueless.
Later that night, Zeke called Sophie.
“Oh, that story is really helpful! Please add me to the team, Zeke-kun.”
Sophie also joined Zeke’s group. She seemed to be having trouble with her own research, so Costa had asked Zeke to invite her.
“I want to ask for your help too. Please take charge of the troublesome duo, Anya and Paris.”
“…I’m not confident in that role at all, but I’ll leave it to you, Zeke-kun.”
“Hey.”
Zeke and Sophie were both burdening each other with challenging tasks. Thus, the team of Zeke, Paris, Anya, and Sophie began their summer project. Originally designed to take advantage of the benefits of being a reincarnated individual, under Zeke’s leadership, the flow of the project was clear, and they made steady progress.
“What songs should we put in the music box?”
“Hmm… I want to include songs that fit the historical background of that time. Maybe even some popular ones used in magical music boxes back then.”
“What kind of songs are those?”
“Let’s include some nursery rhymes from that era. Like this one…”
Zeke searched on his phone and played the song.
“…I don’t know this one.”
“Never heard of this song.”
“Haha, it’s a song you don’t hear these days…”
The song was a children’s song that was popular at that time. However, over the past few decades, the song had become less common. Like the magical music box, this children’s song had faded away with the changes in time.
Zeke gathered information on the historical context, compiled it, and came up with sentences for presenting the issue and arguments. He also went to the Music Box Museum staff to get some insights.
“Hey, Anya! Your work is sloppy! Do it more carefully!”
“Come on! As long as it makes sound, it’s fine, right? Just as long as it makes sound!”
“Ugh, thinking of sentences is annoying… Let’s fill the rest with pictures… Paris, let’s just fill the rest with pictures…”
“Hey, don’t slack off, Paris! Can’t you add more diagrams?! Write some words, you idiot!”
“It’s too bothersome!”
“Too bothersome…”
“Do the bare minimum of your work! You idiots!”
The work was progressing smoothly. The time spent on gathering materials was minimal, and there was little work to be done. In just eight days, they were able to complete their summer research project.
“We’re done!”
“It finished smoothly!”
As intended, their easy and quickly finished research project was a success. Thanks to Anya and Paris cutting some corners, there were a few rough sounds in the actual magical music box. Nevertheless, it was of high quality as a senior high school research project.
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