While Tiana and Electrone were away paying their respects to Lilia, I summoned Nebula, and together with Canalis, the three of us began preparing for the barbecue.
"I believe this goat meat is quite exceptional; it has no gaminess whatsoever," Canalis remarked. "Tahaa~ though, the goat milk was a bit of a disappointment."
"Discovering such incidental quality is the true joy of trial and error," Nebula added. "It certainly appears quite palatable, with minimal scent or aftertaste."
"This is my first time trying goat meat," I said. "I wonder what it’s like?"
"It has a lean, clean flavor. Generally, the area near the skin has a very pungent scent, so people usually use things like ginger to mask it. However, this particular goat meat has almost no odor, so I think it will be delicious just as it is!"
Nebula answered my question about the meat Canalis had provided with great enthusiasm. It certainly looked like lean meat, with an appearance similar to beef round.
At the moment, Canalis was prepping the meat and vegetables, I was threading them onto skewers, and Nebula was busy mixing the barbecue sauce. Getting everything ready while chatting together was proving to be quite a bit of fun.
As I was leisurely going about my work, Tiana and Electrone returned.
"Welcome back. Did the introductions go smoothly?"
"We're back. And hello, Nebula... Yes, the meeting went well."
"Outputting impressions..." Electrone's mechanical voice chimed in. "<I am glad she seemed pleased with the souvenirs we prepared~> ...I offer my repeated thanks for Kaito-sama's advice."
"...Souvenirs?" Nebula tilted her head curiously at Electrone's mention of the word.
Come to think of it, Nebula hadn't been there when we picked them out.
"This unit and the Bipolar God presented items to Lilia Albert," Electrone explained. "Following Kaito-sama's guidance, they are models constructed entirely from materials found within this world."
"We heard that Lilia-chan loves dragons," Tiana added, "so Electrone and I each made models of the dragons from our home worlds to give to her as gifts."
"I see... By the way," Nebula asked, "are those items reproducible using this world's current level of technology?"
Tiana and Electrone both froze, staring at her as if they’d been hit with a question from left field.
"To give an example," Nebula continued, "one could build machinery from Machina-san's world using local materials, but because this world lacks the technical foundation for things like mechanical engineering, such Mechanical Products would be considered completely unknown artifacts."
"This unit's contribution... is likely technically possible... perhaps," Electrone said tentatively.
"Oh... wait," Tiana muttered. "I might have overdone it. My model was created through Materialization by Fusing the Four Great Elements, but that technique..."
"Does not exist here," Nebula finished. "Even if it did, the only ones capable of such a feat would be a tiny fraction of the absolute elite, like Kuromueina-san."
"Is... is that bad?" I asked.
"Well, it would be difficult to tell just by looking at them that they were made with Materialization by Fusing the Four Great Elements... so it should probably be fine."
I hadn't realized it either, but it seemed the model Tiana had crafted was something that simply couldn't be replicated with this world's current technology.
"It is one thing to give such a gift to someone in a special position like Master, or to use it yourself," Nebula advised. "But when presenting gifts to someone like Lilia, you must be mindful of the technical complexity, not just the rarity of the materials."
"Understood," Tiana said.
"My apologies," Electrone added. "This unit was also short-sighted."
Now that she mentioned it, Canalis also makes incredible things, but only when they're for me or for her own use. I remember that when she was creating the Ordering Tablet, she had checked beforehand whether it was reproducible with the technology of this world. I think she mentioned the tablet was based on the technology used in the Magic Tool that Sends a Letter in a Box to a Paired Box?
"Should I go back and apologize to Lilia-chan?" Tiana asked.
"No, an apology is likely unnecessary. It would only make her feel more pressured," Nebula said. "However, you should return to Lilia once more and clarify that the models you gave her can be enjoyed privately and do not need to be made public. No matter how much you interact with common sense and courtesy, the fact remains that to Lilia, you are Overwhelming Superior Beings. She might fear that it would be lèse-majesté if she didn't display gifts from such beings in a prominent place. You should tell her it's perfectly fine to keep them in the collection space she received from Machina and enjoy them there."
"I see... Then I'll go back and let her know."
Nodding in agreement with Nebula's advice, Tiana vanished. She had likely headed straight back to the estate.
"...Man, Nebula, you really are amazing. You think of everything."
"I am the Absolute One, after all! An Absolute One must be capable of viewing all things from every possible perspective!"
"I see. As expected of Nebula."
I smiled at Nebula as she puffed out her tiny chest, and when I patted her head, she narrowed her eyes and gave me a happy, beaming smile.
Absolute One: "...Clean it up."
Stomach Pain Devil: "...A-Ah, yes."
Serious-senpai: "She dismantled the Continuous Stomach Pain Generating Device instantly!? S-So this is the power of an Absolute One..."