CH 125

Chapter 125 – Completion of The Golem Workbench

“It’s painful.”

“You okay? Do you want to touch my tail?”

Three more mornings after the tragedy, I was completely exhausted and went to prepare breakfast for Grande, but she was extremely worried about me. Yeah, I appreciate the concern, but touching that lumpy tail doesn’t soothe me at all. I’ll just take the feeling and be grateful.

“I think your mating partners should know a little more about restraint.”

“I’m sure they’re taking it easy on me.”

There are just too many of them. I don’t know if it’s because Melty is embarrassed or what, but she was very hard on me, but Isla was kind to me. Whenever I’ve been alone with her lately, she’s always been like that, whether she likes acting as a big sister or not.

“I mean, my heart is full. Everyone is nice to me. It’s just physically hard.”

“I see… Do you need my blood?”

“I’m fine. I don’t want to cause any pain to Grande so lightly.”

“…I see.”

Grande slaps the ground with her tail as she chews on her hamburger. It looks like Grande is in a good mood again today, thanks to the hamburger.

Even my physical pain will go away after a bit of rest because of my constitution. Nothing too serious. Yeah, you’re right. It’s not a serious problem. At least it’s not like I can’t remember the last time I tried to sleep. When I wake up in the morning, I’m delighted to find Isla sleeping with a high body temperature or wrapped up in the Harpies’ natural down quilt.

But I want Melty to take it a little easy on me… That’s the first time I’ve ever done that, or maybe it’s just that I can’t get used to it… She’s gone crazy with excitement. She needs to calm down a bit, or I need to be able to control her better. Well, at first, Sylphy and Isla were like that, too, so I guess she’ll eventually get used to it.

“So, when will you be leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning, probably. We’ll have you fly out after breakfast. We’ll have to make some stops along the way.”

“That’s all right. It’ll be interesting for me to see the habitat of the little ones up close.”

“It would be dangerous to get too close.”

“Yes. Magic, arrows, and spears will be flying at us. Most of them don’t work, but sometimes they hurt, so it’s not easy to get close to them.”

Grande clears her throat. I feel like I’ve been talking to Grande like this a lot lately when I’m tired. I wonder if this is what they call pet therapy. Grande is a little too big to be a pet animal, though.

“Anyway, since that’s the case, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Umu, come back in the evening. Let’s see what I’ll be hunting today.”

I left Grande and headed for the research and development department. In the past three days, I’ve gotten a good idea of how to build a golem workbench, and I want to finish it before I leave.

☆★☆

As it turned out, the creation of the golem workbench was in its final stages.

“This is the newly developed magic sparkling stone reactor.”

“Ooh… A box, huh.”

What Isla took out was a shining silvery white cube. It’s just about the size of a Rubik’s cube, and even Isla can hold it in one hand without difficulty.

“Yes. But what’s inside is amazing. It contains a magic circuit made of pure mithril and three large magic sparkling stones. The exterior is also made of mithril. The monetary value alone is immeasurable.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

The first large magic sparkling stone I made was about the size of a ping pong ball. If you think about the fact that there are three things inside of the box that can be used to buy a country, the value is certainly immeasurable. In addition, both the contents and the exterior are made of a lot of pure mithril. It would be improper not to classify it as a national treasure.

“The most amazing thing about it is its performance. It generates magic power inexhaustibly.”

“That’s terrifying.”

“Yeah, it’s terrifying. If you misuse it, it will blow up a large area. Within four days’ walking distance from the center of the explosion, the land will be cleared. What kind of impact would that have on the world if such an explosion were to occur…?”

“That’s really terrifying.”

A day’s walk is about 30 kilometers, right? So, if it’s within four days, that means a 120km radius will be blown up? Isn’t that going to destroy the world?

“I don’t know; I’m suddenly afraid to keep it.”

“I already gave it to you. Don’t say that you won’t take it.”

Isla made a hatchet with her hands and stepped aside. The other research and development department members are huddled in the corner of the room, holding the pot shield they made some time ago. No matter what they hold up, if this thing explodes, that won’t protect them; that’s just as effective as shoji paper.

“Even so, couldn’t you have made something a little more light-hearted instead of this crazy thing?”

“It’s the nature of an alchemist to want to make the best when there are the best materials available.”

“Really…?”

When I turned my attention to the people holding the pot shield, I could see a hand with a thumb up reaching through the gap in the shield. They’re all sick!

“Anyway, if you put it in your inventory, I’m sure it won’t cause too much trouble.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

I put the magic sparkling stone reactor in my inventory. It seems that nothing unusual will happen. I was a little hoping that the moment I put the magic sparkling stone reactor in my inventory, I would wake up to magic power. However, it seems that things don’t always work out the way you expect them to.

“So you’re saying you’re going to see if I can use this to upgrade the improved workbench?”

“Yes, that’s right. No matter how powerful the golem workbench is, it’s useless if Kosuke can’t use it. Then I guess Kosuke himself will have to upgrade the workbench he uses.”

“That’s probably true.”

But when I think about it that way, it’s strange, isn’t it? When I was spending time in the Elven village, I was able to draw grain flour with the millstone that Melty brought with her, right? I wonder what kind of logic is behind why that was OK and the golem workbench was not? Hmm, I don’t know.

“Anyway, let’s give it a try.”

“Hmm, that’s better.”

I took out the improved workbench from my inventory, opened the menu, and looked for the upgrade item.

・Improved Workbench Upgrade――: Magic Furnace x 1, Magic Wood x 10, Magic Clay x 20, Magic Iron x 5, Magic Steel x 10, Mithril x 20.

“Here it comes! The upgrade is ready!”

“Good!”

Isla smiles at me as I shout with joy. It’s finally happened! I’ve managed to get all the materials I need, and now I can finally upgrade my workbench.

The amount of mithril required is a bit much, but it’s not a problem if I include the amount I secured from the trial digging of the mithril pickaxe I did the other day. I also mass-produced a certain amount of magic materials when I built the granting workbench, so there’s no problem.

“Okay, let’s upgrade it right away!”

“Hmm, I’m looking forward to it.”

“Oh, be careful with the glow.”

“Anti-flash protection.”

She then pulled her favorite triangular hat over her head to hide her face. It’s so cute.

“All right, let’s go!”

The moment I selected the upgrade option, I felt a violent flash of light. I thought I felt some kind of powerful shock but was it an illusion? There was no sign of any of the research and development department’s equipment being scattered. There is no sign of them, but…

“Kyuu…”

Isla was lying on her back, her eyes rolling. Some of the people in the research and development department who were holding pot shields in the corner of the room also seemed to have fallen over, eyes-rolling.

“W-what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I-it’s okay; I was just startled by a huge magic wave.”

“Magic wave.”

In the past upgrades, although there was a tremendous light emanating, no magic power was detected… Could it be the effect of the magic sparkling stone reactor? That’s the only thing I can think of.

“More importantly, Kosuke, you should check out the new workbench.”

“Y-yeah… But, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

When I saw Isla walking on her own feet and sitting on a nearby chair, I felt relieved. She didn’t seem to be injured or sick or anything like that.

“Let me see, let me see… Hoho.”

The appearance is very mechanically designed. The actual driving parts are made of golems and are the color of the ground, but the materials that reinforce the various parts of the workbench are made of magic iron or magic steel, which gives off a dull glow. And for the most important parts, such as the cutting process, it seemed that mithril was used in abundance.

For example, the blade used to actually cut the processed goods, the stand used to hold the processed goods, and the driving parts seemed to be made of highly durable mithril.

I opened the crafting menu.

“The number of items that can be crafted is not as numerous as I thought, huh?”

The number of things that can be crafted doesn’t seem to have changed much. Should I actually try to make something… like a mechanical part that takes a long time and is troublesome? They are troublesome items that take about thirty seconds per piece on a normal workbench, but let’s see what happens now.

“…Oh!”

The creation time per piece is less than two seconds. The effect of the reduction in creation time is remarkable. It seems that items that used to take a long time to process can now be made faster and in larger quantities.

“How’s it working?”

Isla asked, sitting in the chair.

“It’s pretty good. It’s much more efficient. If I could just get the right materials, I could mass produce bullets.”

In the past, the problem was obtaining saltpeter for gunpowder, but in a big city like Erichburg, there’s no need to worry about toilet soil. If the crafting time of bullets can be greatly reduced, mass production is not a dream. Whether or not it is possible, though, is up to me.

“The freedom of item creation may also be increased. Hmm, there are so many things I want to try! It looks like a lot of fun! Thank you, Isla.”

“Hmm, that’s good.”

She nodded her head and smiled.

This means I’ll have to give something back to Isla in the near future. I’ll have to get her something she’ll like during my trip with Sylphy.

I decided in my mind as I looked at Isla’s smiling face.