CH 57.1

Since ancient times, rulers have often been reckless.

They make people build huge tombs, seek immortality, and sometimes, destroy people in other regions for the sake of ornaments.

Even if it’s not that important, I am sure that he does some minor reckless things to the people around him every day.

On a cold winter day, I received such a reckless request.

「Giant….beast type construct, is it…..?」

「That’s right, it was the army that came up with this idea. For the time being, I dismissed it by saying who will stop it if has gotten an ego and started rampaging….」

「That’s great desu….」

I patted my chest at ease but was shocked by the professor’s next words.

「It seems like the royal family is involved….I think that the same topic will come up again soon so you have to prepare for it.」

「Eh, the royal family!?」

The topic Professor Marino and I were talking about far exceeded my imagination.

The project also already has a name which is “Gigantic Battle Construct Project”.

It seems like the people at the top intend to build a construct that is bigger than a castle and make it a keystone for the protection of a strategic location.

When I was told about their plan of operating such a construct, which sounded like only a fantasy mad scientist would do, I was so shocked that I almost fainted.

I knew that the top brass of this country was all out of their minds.

Do they only think of war all the time?

I can tsukomi on a lot of things however, the royal family is involved.

If the royal family directly tells us to do something, we have to do it no matter what regardless of our will.

And if the gigantic construct goes out of control, who do you think is going to get punished for it?

Not the army but me and Professor Marino.

For the sake of my unborn children and my wife, I can’t die yet.

From that day on, my desperate struggle began.

-0-

First, I decided to determine the conditions under which the construct’s ego would develop and once again, I carefully scrutinized reports from around the country.

I found that the constructs that developed ego the earliest are those from the frontline army.

Next was the 1st cavalry in the royal capital followed by the city guards of the royal capital.

All of these places have a crazy amount of personnel.

I was surprised to find out that some of the army garrison’s constructs had already developed egos in just half a year or so of being stationed there.

I came up with a hypothesis.

The difference between constructs that quickly developed egos and our bicorn, which took three years to develop an ego, could be the number of people it got involved with.

I built a test site in three days to verify it.

In times like this, I truly feel glad that I have my own organization.

The speed of things is so much faster.

After all, lives were seriously at stake this time so it was only natural to use everything available.

-0-

A restaurant filled with gentle light by using abundant indirect lighting is spaced out with chairs and tables in a soothing dark brown color.

On the table where the professor and I were seated, our family’s yellow flying dragon, Torf, saucers and cups filled with coffee, and pancakes with jam were all lined up.

Professor Marino opened his mouth with a curious look on his face seeing such a chaotic scene.

「So, you want to gather data here using the lowers?」

「Yes, we named it “Animal Café”.」

「A coffee shop where humans can play with monster constructs. I’m amazed that you were able to prepare it in such a short time….」

Professor Marino gazed intently at the interior of the store and let out a sigh of admiration.

The building facing the main street of Torquiva originally housed a coffee shop owned by our company.

It was a top-selling store in the coffee business but we couldn’t go on if we went the thrifty way.

「We can easily find manpower and we have contractors for several business needs.」

「No one will make fun of your slave business in the lab anymore….so, you’re going to let monster constructs live here while you deal with the customers. However, this will only be effective if you get customers, will you?」

「I don’t know. However, even if we don’t get any customers, I’m going to let the people from our house use it every day.」

「I see, I’m sorry about that. I’ll have them send you the working capital later.」

「Thank you very much.」

Professor Marino took a sip of his wiener coffee with cream on top, staring at the busy outside. Then, he turned to me with a surprised look on his face.

「This is good.」

「Thank you.」

「I guess even a store for the lowers can’t be underestimated.」

The professor was being bothered by Torf, a small flying dragon with too much time on its head, by tugging his clothes.

The professor chuckled as he placed it on his lap where it lay down and began to play by itself by flapping its legs and wings.

「This coffee shop is going to be a little noisy and I don’t think you’ll have to worry even without getting any customers.」

「Really?」

The professor, who has white cream on his mustache, grinned and pointed at the counter.

From the counter, I could see the eyes and ears of a hiding rabbitkin girl who was gazing at Torf with eyes full of curiosity.

When the professor approached her, she trembled. The professor smiled and handed Torf to her.

「You can play with Torf for a while.」

「Ah….yes! Understood!」

The professor and I chuckled as the waitress disappeared behind the counter.

「I wish there would be a lot of girls like her.」

「I’m sure there will be.」