Ignismens 17, 1617 Central Calendar
Le Brias, Altaras Kingdom
Nothing quite matched the simple pleasure of idling away a gentle summer afternoon. From their lodging on the quieter corner of Le Brias' coastline, they could either look north across the strait or turn east and south toward the modernizing capital in the distance, where the influx of modern technology from the Holy Empire had greatly transformed Le Brias' silhouette.
That was the thought drifting lazily through Annette's mind as she reclined on the balcony, a magazine resting in her hands and a glass of fruit juice set within easy reach on the table beside her.
Annette had been only half-reading the magazine, letting her eyes wander over the pages more out of habit than interest, when a particular advertisement near the bottom of the spread snagged her attention. And then, with a sudden little snort of amusement, she leaned closer as if the ink might rearrange itself into something less ridiculous if she stared hard enough.
It didn't.
"Hehehe..."
The little giggle was enough to draw the attention of Irmiya, who had been about to walk past.
"What's so funny?"
"Hm? Oh. Here—"
Annette turned the magazine around toward him, tapping the lower corner of the page with one finger. Irmiya leaned closer, mildly curious, until his eyes landed on the bold print and the overly proud illustration beneath it.
"Walcans. The Future of Portable Fuel Storage!" it said, promoting a product from a Milishian company known as Gründer Manufacturing.
Below the slogan was a clean illustration of a rectangular container with reinforced edges, a tightly sealed cap, and three handles. The ad showed a man casually hoisting one with a single hand while another poured fuel from it into what was clearly meant to be an engine—a Manadriver tech-derived engine, no less. A "portable liquid canister," basically. The original versions were made of pressed steel, though the featured model was a newer design built from high-density polyethylene, one of Meteos Roguerider's more benign contributions.
"Ooh, that thing. I've been seeing them everywhere lately," Irmiya commented with a sagely nod.
Annette arched a brow at his unbothered reaction, then added pointedly.
"Hmm. I bet you can guess who came up with this..."
"Don't fall for it, Irmiya! She's setting up a joke just to mess with me!"
Walman suddenly butted in from out of nowhere, startling the Altaran boy. Before either of them could react, he swooped in, snatched the magazine right out of Annette's hands, and with a quick flick of his wrists rolled it up into a stiff paper tube.
"Hey!"
He pointed the rolled magazine at her like a baton of authority.
"Don't you start, Lady. I can already see it in your eyes," he scolded, wagging the magazine accusingly. "...So what if I made those cans? Huh? What's so funny about it?"
Annette blinked, then she puffed her cheeks out and leaned back in her chair with an indignant huff.
"Tch. You're no fun."
Unrolling the magazine, Walman looked back down at the advertisement with twitching eyelids. He could already imagine his father sitting at a desk somewhere in the Holy Empire, hands folded, nodding to himself like he'd just solved world hunger.
"Of course we'll call it Walcans. It's efficient. Memorable. Strong brand identity. Let's make it a noun!"
Strong brand identity my ass...
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Just A Reincarnation Story (Summoning Japan Edition)
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