CH 107

Chapter 107 – Benefit

“‘I think it would be best to establish communications first.”

“I think so, too.”

“Yes-nanodesu.”

“Is that so? I think we better go home quickly…”

“Either way, if we can’t communicate, it’ll be a problem in the future.”

“I see. That’s true.”

Ellen ― that is to say, negotiations with the Adel religion nostalgia is a plan based on the premise that communication with the Golem communicator is sufficient. In the first place, if we can’t use the golem communicator, there’s no point in talking about the plan.

“But why don’t we just wait for them to improve it? To begin with, I can run to Erichburg and make this portable golem communicator there.”

“Are you sure this thing is not broken?”

“Eh? No, there’s always a chance, but…”

“But if it does break, we won’t be able to communicate, and the whole plan will fall apart-nodesu.”

“That’s for sure…”

Should I make a spare unit and the parts for one additional unit? No, the problem is materials… The golem core won’t even wear out, and it won’t need a spare. I’ll just make a casing without the golem core, and if the communicator malfunctions, I can have the golem core transferred to the spare casing.

After that, it would be best if I could make it so that I could replace the parts that are prone to wear out easily… To be honest, I don’t know which parts are prone to breakage because I don’t have much experience in using them. In the first place, I don’t understand the detailed structure and specifications of the items I make in Item Creation, so it’s difficult for me to make them.

I suppose you could say this is a drawback of my ability. But there are some advantages that make up for it. It’s not that I can’t disassemble, analyze, and reverse engineer what I’ve made. In fact, that’s how the craftsmen of this world came up with the Goatsfoot Crossbow, which uses the principle of leverage to pull the string easily.

“I’m going to build a spare casing, increase the range of communication, and wait for communication from the other side.”

“That’s a good idea. We’ll get the materials.”

“Scrap metal is fine, right-nodesu?”

“Yeah, I’ll go――”

“Why don’t you just stay here, Kosuke?”

The slime girls hurriedly disappeared into the depths of the underground passage. All that is left is a magical ball of light, me and Melty.

“Ah… well, it looks like that’s the way it’s going to be, so shall we rest?”

“Let’s do that.”

I took out a sofa from my inventory and sat down. Melty also sat down next to me.

“Isn’t it too close?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

I think that’s the case. The sofa is large enough for three people to sit side by side, but you’re sticking close to me, Melty.

“Err… is the area where you cut your horn okay?”

“I’m not really okay. I feel strangely light and out of sorts, and my senses seem to have dulled. Besides, it hurt like hell when I got it cut, and I dream about it… at night. Sometimes it throbbed and hurt.”

“It’s hard… for me, really.”

“Don’t apologize. I did it on my own… But I’d be happy if you could take a look at it.”

“I don’t have any expertise in that field.”

“Even if you just put your hand on it and rubbed it, it would make a difference.”

After saying that, Melty rolled over and used my lap as a pillow. Her gray, moist eyes, illuminated by magic light, staring up at me.

“Well then…”

“Mmm…”

I put my hand into the rich, slightly nappy strawberry blonde and ran my hand over the area where the horn should have grown, and something obviously recognizable hit my fingertips. The center seemed to be porous.

“Is it okay? Does it hurt when I touch it?”

“Mmm, I-I’m fine… Mmm!”

“Is it really all right…?”

No matter how I look at it, she has teary eyes, and her body is shaking. She doesn’t seem to be all right.

“I-it’s not painful at all. I’m just a little sensitive…”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

It seemed that touching the spot in the middle of the horn with my fingertips was too stimulating, so I touched the area around it and the scalp at the base of the horn as gently as I could. As I did so, her eyes became glazed over, and she began to let out a muffled cry from her half-open mouth.

“Haaaa… Aaah…”

“What can I say? It’s kind of poisonous to the eyes.”

The destructive power of Melty’s debauched expression, which was always difficult to read because of her smiling face, is unbelievable. My vocabulary is so bad that it’s killing me. My reason is likely to be destroyed.

“I have to figure out a way to get your horns back on.”

“Hmm… It’s fine, you know? As long as you can treat me like this once in a while.”

“I’ll do this any time. But I still want to restore it, you know? It’s my responsibility.”

“Fufu… Mmh, then, oh, wait… Mmh.”

“Would you please stop making that seductive voice?”

“Fufu, is there something wrong with it?”

Please stop it. Stop moving your head around. I won’t tell you the reason, but don’t provoke it; it’s dangerous.

“They’ve taken care of you, haven’t they?”

“No, no, no, I have Sylphy and Isla and the others, remember?”

“I don’t care if there are one, two, three, four, or five more of them. I’ve already talked to Sylphy and the others about it. Besides, you said you’d give it a positive consideration, didn’t you?”

“No, no, no, no, I did say that, but a little slower, okay?”

“I’ve waited long enough already.”

Melty’s eyes, looking up at me, begin to take on a golden glow. It’s no use.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for you to take care of me. As a powerless internal affairs officer, I should never get involved in a fight.”

“No, it was different…?”

“No? I’m a powerless internal affairs officer. I always have been, and I always will be.”

She grabbed my arm with a very strong grip.

“That’s a lie! It’s a lie that you’re a powerless internal affairs officer! It must be a mask to hide from the world ― Ah, ah, aa, no, you can’t, I said you couldn’t! Whoa! My leather armor is like a piece of paper! Wait, calm down! Calm――”

An excited sheep is dangerous. I just learned this…

☆★☆

“I’m sorry, I got overexcited…”

“Yeah, that’s okay… Sometimes these things happen.”

Melty was downhearted as she looked at the remnants of my leather armor and clothes that she had torn to pieces.

I changed into the brand new clothes I had in my inventory. Literally, everything was ripped off. I guess the stress of all the things she had accumulated, the stress of having her horns cut off, the stress of infiltrating alone, and so on exploded.

After getting things done and settling down, Melty may have fallen into a state of intense self-loathing and is crying and crying. It’s refreshing to see Melty like this. I had always imagined her as a smiling woman who never lost her composure.

“You don’t have to be perfect in front of me.”

“Yes…”

I gently hugged Melty’s head and patted her back to soothe her. It’s like dealing with a little girl. Maybe her mind is out of balance because she lost her horn. It seems to have been quite painful to cut it off, and for a subhuman with horns, it seems to be a place of comfort or confidence. I don’t have horns, so I can only imagine.

As I took care of her, Melty fell asleep in my arms, breathing softly. Perhaps she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since she entered the area occupied by the Holy Kingdom’s army.

“…That was intense!”

“Just like a beast-nodesu!”

“Kosuke, are you all right?”

“Where did you come from, girls?”

As soon as I thought I heard voices coming from all around the room, slime girls came out of corners, ceilings, and cracks in the floor. It literally is.

“I was afraid that she might hurt Kosuke in the heat of the moment.”

“It was a necessary measure-nodesu.”

“She might be mistaken her strength.”

“Oh no, that’s scary.”

It’s true that if she were to use her grip and physical strength to tear off the leather armor as if it were a piece of paper, she might be able to break many things. It happened so fast. I’m not going to say what it is, though.

“So, did you bring the materials?”

“We didn’t miss a thing-nodesu.”

From the room entrance, a group of slime girls brought in swamp iron ore one after another. They were doing an excellent job of mining while keeping an eye on me. The only problem with this swamp iron ore is that it smells a bit bad. I decided to store it in my inventory quickly.

“Beth, can you give me some magic fuel?”

“Sure.”

This room isn’t very big, so I can just about operate the smithing facilities from the sofa. I started smelting the swamp iron ore, taking care not to wake Melty. When the copper is extracted to a certain extent, I mix it with a small amount of mithril to refine it into a mithril-copper alloy and use it as a material to make the casing for the portable golem communication device.

・Portable Golem Communication Device (Case) ― Materials: Mithril Copper Alloy x 2 Iron x 20 Copper x 15 Silver x 5 Gold x 2 Mechanical Parts x 18

For the one that’s not a casing, you’ll need a Golem Core (medium) for the communicator in addition to this. Well, I think the cost is pretty high. And that’s with the mitigation skills. Do they round down the fractions? I don’t know the original numbers now, so I can’t verify that.

The mechanical parts are the main problem, I guess. The improved workbench has made some improvements, but it still takes a lot of time to make them. Even the blacksmiths had a hard time making mechanical parts, or rather screws.

They looked as if they had been struck by lightning when they saw the lathe attached to the improved workbench I made. Having a foot-powered lathe makes a huge difference in the time it takes to make small parts. Not that it matters to my crafting abilities!

So I worked quietly, trying not to wake Melty, and finished the spare casing just as it was getting dark outside. Just about that time, Melty woke up and was in agony, remembering what she had done before she fell asleep. Specifically, she curled up on the sofa with her head in her hands for a while.

“…I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”

“Don’t worry; it’s not a problem at all. In fact, I think Melty should be more lenient with me. It must be exhausting, playing the role of perfection.”

“…I think it’s unfair to say that.”

“I will have Melty and Sylphy spoiled by me, and I will have Isla, and the Harpies spoiled me.”

“Ara? It’s okay to be spoiled by us, too, you know?”

“Yes?”

“Right?”

“I’m afraid I’ll fall into the depravity of having you spoil me…”　

I don’t know how happy the slime girls are to spoil me, but when I leave them to themselves, I don’t have to do anything, and I can have the greatest of ease. I really don’t have to do anything. I don’t even have to walk by myself, and even my breathing seems to be taken care of. That’s not good.

“Everything in moderation, right?”

“That’s right. But Melty should be more lenient. In the meantime, I’ll serve you as much as you want for dinner tonight, as long as I can make it.”

“Are you sure? Something sweet, then.”

“Dinner?”

“Something sweet.”

“Yes.”

Since I said I’d take whatever she wanted, I couldn’t break my promise. I decided to let out all kinds of sweets that I had. The slime girls were very excited about this.

I, on the other hand, ate a hamburger by myself while watching them. I’m the kind of person who can’t fill up on sweets, you know.