"I call it the Dimensional Disruptor Mk. II! It's completely identical to the first,
though." Doctor Babylon and I were in the Garden. She was pointing right at an
uninstalled portal device right next to the one that was already installed.
It was a silver archway that vaguely resembled France's Arc de Triomphe. Just
like the first edition that was installed, it had several small meters installed
around it.
"These two objects are linked by chronomancy, space-time magic. They're
fixed to each other no matter where the other one goes. Basically, they're
connected. If you install the Mk. II on the other side, then we'll have an anchor
to the Reverse World."
"Makes sense... So I just need to find a safe place over there, right?" The
Dimensional Disruptor wouldn't activate unless it had vast quantities of magic
poured into it, so I wasn't really worried about visitors from the other side
coming in... But on the other hand, I didn't want it being in a dangerous place
where it could get trashed.
I thought putting it in the middle of nowhere and erecting a protective barrier
would probably be the safest approach.
It'd be even better if I could get my hands on a Gollem over there. I could task
it with protecting the portal.
"Then that means... We'll be able to visit as well?" Linze spoke up quietly,
causing Doctor Babylon to shift her eyes a little.
"Well... Mostly, I guess? It still needs some adjustments, honestly... If
someone wants to go with Touya, there are limitations in place right now."
"Do you mean the number of people that can go, do you?" Yae tilted her
head. Crap, I can only take a certain amount of people? But I wanna take
everyone!
"There's no limit to the number of people... The limit is actually weight-based.
People other than Touya need to weigh no more than 48kg each. Probably 45kg
just to be safe..." Doctor Babylon's words caused the girls to freeze in place.
Yikes... That's uh... Weight's a sensitive topic...
I'd made a changing room in the castle with an accurate scale, so everyone
should have had a vague idea of how much they weighed.
I didn't really want to pry, but I had no doubts that Sue and Doctor Babylon
would be lower than 45kg. Leen, Yumina, and Lu were probably petite enough
to meet the standards as well.
Sakura was expressionless as ever, but Linze, Yae, Elze, and Hilde were all
looking around in a small panic.
The girls were around fifteen to sixteen years old... It would be weird for them
to weigh over 50kg, wouldn't it? I realized I didn't actually know. I had no
standard to compare.
It seemed that even in this world, girls were conscious of their bodies. Men
didn't really seem to care so much in general, I noticed.
"Come to think of it, I need to locate the safe space on the other side first,
right? You guys shouldn't all come with me right away... Something bad might
happen, and you don't want to be stranded over there!" I smiled over at the
girls to try and give them a little way out, and suddenly the girls all started
speaking at once.
"Y-Yes, Touya-dono! You are right, you are! We cannot say that the world
over there is safe, we cannot!"
"Yae's right! We can't make assumptions!"
"Yeah! It's not like we're in any rush! That world ain't going anywhere!"
"Y-Yes, I don't mind waiting a little longer for our group trip..." I could tell
what they were really thinking, but I decided to let it go. There were some
matters that a man had no business intruding on.
Yumina and the smaller girls raised no real objections. They probably couldn't
argue with the fact that it was a bit soon to bring them anyway. Sue got a little
grumbly, but she soon settled down.
"That makes safe sense to me, really. I'll make some fine adjustments while
we wait for a better setup on the other side." Doctor Babylon nodded in
agreement. You should've just said that from the start!
I shrugged my shoulders and shoved the Dimensional Disruptor Mk. II into my
[Storage]. Then I started channeling magic into the active portal. Even though
I'd completely filled it last time, just one trip drained the reserves entirely.
We needed to improve the energy conservation features on the portals as
well... It was true that it meant I was the only one who could really use it, but I
wondered if that was actually safe enough. The meters filled up on the arch as
the inside of the structure began to shimmer. The image of a wide-open plain
fell into clear view.
The Mk. II was in my [Storage], so it had just connected to some random
location in the Reverse World again.
That was fine, though. I could easily use [Gate] to warp to Allent, that capital
city I'd visited.
Last time Kokuyou, Kougyoku, and Sango came with me, so I decided to take
Kohaku and Luli with me this time.
"Are you fine taking those two with you, Master?"
"I do hope they don't squabble..."
"I certainly worry..."
"We won't fight!!"
"Enough, let's go." Kohaku and Luli were grumbling at the other Heavenly
Beasts, but they reassured them it'd be fine. I didn't have time to deal with the
fuss, so we just headed off.
"Alright, I'm off. I'll be back either tomorrow or the day after." Time dilation
often happened during the teleportation process, so it'd probably take at least
a day to find a safe spot. I was sure it'd be fine.
"Don't do anything insane like you usually do, Touya..." I felt like Yumina had
stabbed me right through the heart with her words. It wasn't as if I meant to do
all those crazy things... They just happened to end up that way.
"It is not just the fault of Touya-dono's surroundings, it is not."
"He always takes spur-of-the-moment actions."
"Don't go poking your head into any unnecessary trouble, alright?"
"A-Alright. I'm off!" Yae, Hilde, and Elze all performed follow-up attacks to
Yumina's words, so I escaped by jumping through the portal.
The weird sensation of passing through a rubbery membrane overcame me
again, but the plains I'd seen through the arch finally came into proper view.
I saw a rocky cliff face not far ahead, and the area behind me seemed dusty
and dry. The place kind of resembled the American wild west. I wondered if
horse-mounted gunslingers would appear...
"So this is the Reverse World..."
"Interesting seeing it with my own two eyes." The two of them looked around
with curious gazes. It wasn't like the whole world looked like this... I'd been to
cooler places.
"Alright let's see... Wow, I'm a ways off from Allent." I looked up my location
on the map and I was far to the south-east of the Reverse World... The adjacent
location to where I was in the regular world would be around Sandora. Allent
was approximately located in Roadmare's territory if we were mapping
equivalents.
Not like it mattered, I could easily open up a [Gate] and warp over to
civilization.
"Hmm... Now then... I could always just install the portal here... There's not a
soul around." I could only see vast, dry plains. There was no trace of human life
in this place. It kind of seemed like a place that no human would ever visit. It
was basically a perfect spot.
"My liege, this place isn't necessarily safe. There may be wandering beasts
around..."
"Good point..." Kohaku was right. I remembered that two-headed monster I'd
encountered when I first came to the Reverse World, there could easily be
similar creatures.
I could always set up an invisible barrier by casting [Shield], or disguise the
portal as a rock or something by using [Mirage], but it was better to be safe
than sorry.
Having a piece of land or a house would be the best bet. That way I could
safely install the portal in the basement or something.
Having someone mind the house would be useful, but probably not practical.
I could always call a summoned beast to act as a guard... But it'd vanish the
moment I went home. That was unideal, too... I should've asked Doc Babylon to
make another magic storage tank...
"It might just be in my best interests to get a Gollem after all..." Thus I
decided my next course of action. Sancho told me that anyone in this world
could get a Gollem, so long as they had the absurd amount of money required
to buy one.
I'd seen Gollems acting as bouncers or bodyguards in town. I could maybe
pick up a cheap one and upgrade it or enchant it so it'd be stronger...
"Guess I need to earn some money, then." I didn't have any money to my
name in this world. I'd sold some gold ingots to Sancho, but I ended up betting
all of those earnings away at a casino...
Wait... I helped the Red Cats with that orichalcum and adamantite... They still
owe me!
The last time I'd seen them, I'd helped them escape from the knights
attacking their hideout. I had no money right now, so I knew what to do. I just
had to collect what I was owed!
"Uhm... Let's see here... Search... Red Cat..." I searched for Nia, their leader.
She was currently in a place the map referred to as the Kingdom of Streign.
Specifically, a town named Carne.
She wasn't directly in the town, though. They called themselves chivalrous,
but they were still a band of thieves. It was only natural they'd want to keep
things on the down-low.
I checked the location further and found they were in a forest. The marker on
the map showed that there was a stone-built structure there... It was called the
Douze Fort Remnants... So they were probably using that place as their current
forward base. My map app wasn't sophisticated enough to show me more than
basic info.
I searched for other members of their group, but there weren't even thirty
there. That seemed like too few, so I wondered if they were on a mission.
Well... Nia's gonna be able to help me, I'm sure. I guess I know where to go.
I couldn't use [Gate] since I'd never been before, and [Teleport] was an
unstable choice since the place was too far away to get an accurate destination
in mind. If I used it without proper care, I could end up in the middle of
someone's house, or a lake. Luckily the spell didn't let you phase into existing
solid matter... That was a small relief.
[Teleport] really wasn't suitable for long-distance travel.
But I rationalized that it was a forest location, so I probably had room for
some margin of error. I checked the map once more, and none of the Red Cats
were in the forest other than the ones at the fort. It wouldn't have been a
problem even if they saw me, though. They should've been informed of my
abilities. Thus I decided teleporting was the best idea.
Let's see...
It's in that direction... So... Let's do this...
"[Teleport]." Immediately the desolate plains around me became a lush
forest. My feet were about ten centimeters above ground, so I briefly
stumbled... But I managed to catch myself.
"Wow... So I really could cover that amount of distance in one go..." I looked
at the map and found the fort was still a few kilometers away.
It went well, but not as well as I'd hoped. It was kind of like throwing balled
up trash into a garbage bin. If you were used to it and practiced, you could
probably hit the target just right. But you needed to practice.
Still, that wasn't a big deal. The fort was close enough that another
teleportation burst would bring me into it.
I didn't want to alarm them, so I decided teleporting right in front of Nia was
probably the smartest move to make. I opened up the map and checked on
Nia's location. She was alone, in a place that looked like a courtyard on the
map, that was ideal.
I shrugged my shoulders and cast my spell once again.
I didn't realize the horrible mistake I had made. I should have thought about it
more deeply. I should have reconsidered. But I didn't. And now I can tell you
what happened.
"Huh?" She wasn't in a courtyard. She was in a small room. It wasn't really a
room, it was more like a green, circular tent.
Before my eyes was Nia, leader of the Red Cats.
"...Ah." Her eyes were wide in shock as she glared down at me. Her red hair,
usually up in pigtails, flowed freely down.
Her hands were in the middle of lifting up her shirt, but were now frozen in
place. Her pants were at her feet. Her lower body was only covered by some
tiny red underwear...
I'd teleported in on her changing her clothing.
"...Why you...!"
"Ah, no, wait... Please understand. This was an accident!" I felt an impending
sense of dread ripple through the air as her cheeks became just as red as her
underwear.
This tent had clearly been erected in the middle of the courtyard. She'd
clearly stepped into it to get changed. My map was too limited to show
temporary structures like that.
I looked up at Nia, who was now clenching her fist and glaring at me with an
awkward half-smirk on her face.
"Any last words, punk...?!"
"Well..."
"Well?"
"Red's a little mature..." The moment I dared to speak, Nia's right hook got
me clean in the jaw. I could've dodged it, but I had to man up and take it. I
deserved it. Her punch was hard enough to rattle my brain around in my head. I
collapsed right on the spot.
◇ ◇ ◇
"...I see. So that's how it is. You really should've just walked here normally...!"
"I'm sorry, really..." I was bowing down in the tent, apologizing to Nia.
"My liege, don't worry about it." Kohaku tried to reassure me about it, but
her way of doing so was a little... Simplistic.
Still... They did look nice... But I couldn't find myself sinking into the pitfall
that was that line of logic.
"It's probably a good thing you accidentally stumbled on Lady Nia, rather than
Est. She would not have let you off with a mere punch."
"Est certainly shows no mercy... She works people hard and doesn't so much
as care a bit about it." Euri, a member of the Red Cats with soft and wavy hair,
spoke in a calm and casual manner. Nia nodded along with her.
It seemed like their second-in-command, Est, was absent. The ponytailed girl,
Euni, wasn't present either. They were currently in Allen, the capital of the
Allent Theocracy. I wondered what they were investigating... Still, it was clear
that I had been saved from a grim fate.
"That doesn't mean I'll just forgive you, though!" Nia grinned sadistically in
my general direction.
I had a bad feeling about that expression of hers.
"...What do you want from me?"
"What I demanded when we last met. Teach me magic. Something simple is
just fine!"
"Ooh! Teach me, too!"
Oh come on... Is this seriously happening? Magic is known about in this world,
right? It can't be that hard to find a teacher. Hell, I was reading a book about
magic earlier! How come I've gotta be the one to do it?
Bah... Fine, I guess I can teach her something basic.
"...Fine, then. But you gotta promise not to abuse the power."
"Abuse?! When would I ever?"
"Just remember that a good person won't use magic in a way that'll bring
regret down the line." I thought it was probably futile talking about ethical
magic use to the leader of a band of merry thieves, so I just opened up
[Storage] and took out a couple of spellstones.
I placed them on a table in the middle of the tent, next to a dimly lit lantern.
"Ohh... What are these pretty little rocks?"
Mm... I had a feeling spellstones didn't exist here. Come to think of it, that
could be why magic didn't develop as much in this world. They're kind of
necessary to determine aptitude and stuff.
This world did have something they called Leylight stones, which could've
possibly been some kind of equivalent to light-type spellstones. It was entirely
possible that there were other elemental stone equivalents I just hadn't come
across.
"These are spellstone fragments. We can use them to determine the types of
magic you have an affinity for. But don't be surprised if it comes up with no
results. There are a lot of people who can't use magic, after all."
This world especially had a low amount of magic users, and I had a theory that
even the mages in this world didn't have much magical power in them, either. If
you think about it in the analogy of a faucet, water won't flow out unless you
turn the handle. Perhaps the tap was never turned due to the handle being too
stiff.
Then, after several generations of being unturned, the handle would begin to
rust. However, that meant the potential for water flow would still be there. It
would just be even harder for later generations to turn the rusted handle and
activate the faucet.
From what I'd heard, there were magic schools in the Reverse World, but they
weren't exactly common institutions. Unlike the world I'd traveled from, the
world with Yumina and the others, magic wasn't considered anything
particularly important here. That was probably thanks to the fundamental
reliance on Gollems that this society had.
Honestly, Nia becoming so fascinated by magic was a rare instance, too.
That was probably because she'd gotten interested in all the weird stuff I
could do with my own powers.
"So, what should I do?"
"You just need to chant an incantation while holding the spellstone. If the
stone reacts, then it means you have an affinity for the magic type related to
the stone you're holding."
I wanted to show her an example, but I remembered what happened back
with Linze at the Silver Moon when I was testing my own aptitude and thought
better of it...
My magic power was a teensy tiny bit too immense for practical examples in a
casual setting.
I told them the incantations they needed to know, and the results were in. Nia
had an aptitude for Fire, and Euri had an aptitude for Light.
Wow, I'm surprised... Didn't expect them both to have an affinity. To be
honest, though, I wish they'd both just turned up without any aptitude at all so I
could forget about this... I better not tell them that, though.
"Do you know about how to direct magic flow?"
"I do, yes. You need to use the flow of magic power to manipulate a Gollem.
Actually, that reminds me, Rouge is late today... Where did he go, I wonder."
Rouge was the name of Nia's Gollem, if I recalled correctly. I'd never actually
seen it myself. I hadn't considered that it'd be an autonomous unit, I wondered
what it was off doing by itself.
Seemed like that orichalcum I gave them for repairs was more important than
I'd thought.
Still, I had to focus on magic lessons. I was glad they already knew how
magical flow worked, since explaining that was the hardest part... According to
Linze and Leen, at least.
Even when Sakura studied magic, it had taken her a while to grasp the basics
of magical flow.
"Alright, so... You need to gather the magic power in your body, visualize
what you want to happen in your mind, and then chant the incantation."
Imagining the result made it easier for the spell to be cast.
"Come forth, Light! Tiny Illumination: [Light Sphere]." A small orb of light
appeared out of my fingertips.
"Oooh! Amazing! It's all shiny!"
"Wooow... It's so pretty..." I made it float around the tent and then snapped
my fingers, ending the spell.
"Can I do that spell, too?!"
"You can't, no."
"Whaaat, how come?!"
"Remember what I said. There's a reason we checked your aptitude. That
spell just now was a light-element spell. You only have an affinity for the fire
element, Nia. So you can only use Fire spells." Nia sulked a little, then Euri
raised her hand.
"Does that mean I can...?"
"It does, yes. Gather your magic power and imagine a little ball of light, just
like the one I made. Say the same incantation I did, and you should be able to
cast it."
"Uhm... Come forth, Light! Tiny Illumination: [Light Sphere]! Aaah!" A teeny
tiny ball of light, around the size of a small coin, appeared at her fingertip.
She was so surprised by its appearance that her concentration lapsed, and it
vanished. But she'd still succeeded. It was a basic type of magic and wasn't
really hard at all, but a win was a win.
I was glad to see that this world had people in it who were capable of picking
up magic at a decent pace.
"It vanished..."
"That's because you lost your concentration. When you get used to it, you'll
be able to cast the spell even without concentrating. That being said, you could
use it to generate a blinding blast if you create an intense light and then
immediately turn it off." I was talking like a wise and knowledgeable teacher,
but really I was just regurgitating what Linze had told me. If employed
creatively, even basic spells could become invaluable tools.
"Wow... I was able to use some magic, that's so amazing!"
"No faiiir! Let me do it! Hey, teach me some fire stuff!" Nia started to
grumble, so we stepped outside the tent. We couldn't exactly have her setting
off fires while we were surrounded by cloth.
We couldn't have her setting off fires in the nearby forest, either...
And a lot of the stone walls in this old fort were overgrown with dry ivy and
other plants. In the end, we settled for a relatively safe-looking corner of the
courtyard.
"Come forth, Fire! Hail of Red Stones: [Ignis Fire]." A small bundle of fire
dispersed from my fingertips. The flames hit a collapsed beam near a stone wall
and wrapped it in flames. I'd held back a bit, so the heat wasn't enough to melt
stone. Some of the moss ended up burning up, but the flame burned itself out
after a small while.
"Whoa! That was a fire alright!"
"It's not enough to kill, but it's a valuable tool in itself. It's the most basic Fire
spell there is."
Nia seemed excited to hear my explanation. She faced the same stone wall I'd
faced and chanted the incantation herself.
"Come forth, Fire! Hail of Red Stones: [Ignis Fire]!" Nia's chant caused a small
ball of fire to come out from her fingertips, blasting at the wall much like mine
did. Hers seemed to pack quite the punch, destroying a tiny bit of the wall's face
on impact. I was surprised to see that kind of power from a novice.
"I did it! Yahoo!" Nia began to cheer as multiple bundles of fire-like shots
volleyed from her fingers. Seemed like she had quite the reserve of magic
power. And then I realized what I should've been paying attention to the whole
time. Wait a goddamn second. How's she casting the spell again so quickly
without chanting?! I-I mean, it's possible to do that, but that's an advanced
technique! You can't just keep doing it right off the bat, what the hell?!
Nia only had an aptitude for one element, and it was true she knew how to
flow magic already thanks to her Gollem... But to cast like this required an
extremely experienced degree of magical control. Her skill was honestly unreal.
"Touya! Do you know any other spells?"
"Hm?" There were plenty, but Fire magic was mostly made up of offensive
spells. Something small like [Ignis Fire] was fine to show her, but I didn't want
the entire forest going up in smoke. Still, maybe I could teach her something
else...
"Rise thus, Fire! Flaming Defenses: [Fire Wall]."
"Wow! It's a wall of fire!!" I showed her a more defensively-oriented Fire
spell, but that spell was definitely more advanced, so I knew she wouldn't be
able to use it herself. "Rise thus, Fire! Flaming Defenses: [Fire Wall]!"
SHE CAN USE IT?! Nia effortlessly repeated the spell I had just cast. Okay, no
way... This is seriously a little much.
I was beginning to feel how Linze must have felt when I was first starting to
learn magic from her. In my case, it was because of god's blessing... Well, more
because I'm incredibly overpowered, but what about Nia's? I wondered if
maybe every human in the Reverse World actually had incredible magic
potential. To test that theory I had Euri try a more advanced Light spell, but she
couldn't muster it at all. She had a good aptitude for magic, and she'd be able to
do it after a bit of practice... But she couldn't hold a candle to Nia.
I decided against showing her stronger magic spells for that session at least. If
she could cast something like [Mega Explosion] there's no telling what kind of
horrors she could unleash.
I decided it might be wise to talk to Est about how to proceed here.
"Say, Touya... Why'd you come here, anyway?" Euri turned to me and asked a
fairly simple question. Oh, now you ask me? "I wanted to get myself a Gollem,
but I don't have any money. I came by to get the payment for the orichalcum
and other stuff I sold you guys last time."
"Aaaagh! I completely forgot about that!"
What.
I didn't expect her to try and skirt on paying me, but saying she forgot already
was a little much...
"It's true we haven't paid you yet, but we can pay! Euri, fetch Touya's money
from the safe."
"Yes'm!" Euri saluted and marched into the fort. ...You forgot about paying
me, but you still had the money prepared and locked in a safe? Well, whatever...
I guess that whole deal was a while ago.
Euri returned with a small sack in her hands, which she promptly dropped into
my palm. It certainly felt heavy, and I could hear the coins rattling around
inside.
"Uhhm... That should be about... A hundred and fifty royals? That's totally
gotta be enough... It took a lot to get that much!" I wasn't sure about the
exchange rate, but I learned the money I held in my hands was roughly one and
a half billion yen.
I couldn't believe a band of thieves would have this level of money on them...
Or maybe they had this much precisely because they were thieves.
"Can I get a Gollem with this, then?"
"You can buy a factory model, sure. I don't know if you'd be able to get a
legacy, though... They're pretty special."
"It's pretty rare to even see a legacy model on the open market." That was
interesting. I'd have personally preferred a legacy model, but a factory model
would also end up sufficing for my purposes. After all, I planned on having
Doctor Babylon inspect and upgrade whatever Gollem I ended up getting.
"Then again... We could find you a legacy model... If we go there, I mean."
"Ah... That's right. We could definitely find one there..."
"Where?" I looked at the nodding duo in front of me in confusion, and Euri
opened her mouth to explain.
"Legacy Gollems are discovered by adventurers that delve into ruins, for the
most part. There are places where they're sold without going through the
proper legal channels... There's also a place where you can buy Legacy Gollems
you wouldn't ordinarily find for sale... Maybe because these Gollems were
stolen from somewhere else, or maybe because they're unusual and just not
wanted anymore..."
"There's a place like that? Would I seriously be able to get a Legacy Gollem
there?"
"I think so, yes. We'll be able to take you there, okay? It's... A dangerous
place, to be sure. But I'm sure that's no problem for you, Touya." Dangerous?
That certainly sounds foreboding... Before I could ask for more details, Nia
grinned and opened her mouth.
"We're off to the black market."
"The black what now?" That's certainly an ominous name... It certainly
conjures up a clear enough image of what kind of place it is... But I wonder if
we'll be able to go there without any trouble. "It's a great place for
underhanded dealings. You can buy anything and everything there. There's far
more than just Gollems for sale there."
"That sounds dangerous... Is it connected to some kind of underground
organization?"
"That's correct, yes. The black market is operated by an underground
organization called the Black Papillon. They're different to us, there's nothing
they won't do for money. Someday my goal is to use the Red Cats to bring them
down... Wait, you could help me defeat them, Touya!" Nia started to concoct a
plan without any of my consent at all.
"Hold it, don't get any funny ideas. Don't drag a kind and upstanding man like
me into your plans."
"The type of kind and upstanding man who peeks on a girl when she's
changing?"
Ugh... That's completely irrelevant here...
"Well, let's put that aside for now... If you want a legacy model, then we're
going to have to go down to the black market. Ruins don't always yield them,
after all." Exploring ruins was certainly an option... But I decided to just go along
with this idea for now.
Plus, I was somewhat intrigued by what I'd been told about this place. It was
possible I could get my hands on something weird.
"The market isn't dangerous if you're there to buy, but there's one golden
rule you must follow... Never ask about where something came from. If you
follow that rule you'll most likely be safe." Euri explained a little more. That
made sense, if the place dealt in stolen goods. It'd be suspicious to start asking
questions about the wares. In the worst case scenario, the Black Papillon might
end up targeting whoever was asking around.
"What are we doing, my liege?"
Hrm... Well, as the saying goes... Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
"Alright. Take me there. But let me just be clear, I'm not going to help you
fight this organization, alright?"
"Tsk... Ah well... That's fine. I'll use the chance to snoop on the enemy for a
little bit. Now we just need to wait for Rouge... Oh wait, there it is." Nia's gaze
turned toward one of the fort's side entrances. I saw something small walking in
from the forest.
Its body was red, a dark and burning crimson. It almost looked like a knight in
full armor, but it was also incredibly tiny. It had spikes jutting up from its head.
Despite its size, it was lugging along a massive wild boar, one about the same
size as a car.
It clearly had an incredible amount of strength... It dropped the boar down in
front of us with a heavy thud.
"Welcome back. How far did you go?"
"Northward. Deep in the forest. Met unexpected danger."
"It talks...?" The voice was somewhat mechanical, but the red Gollem had
clearly spoken. I remember that the wolf Gollem alongside Elluka had also
spoken, but a bit more eloquently. It was about as conversational as any of the
Babylon sisters were.
"Rouge, this is Touya. He's the one that gave us the items we used to repair
you. And Touya, this is Rouge. It's my partner. Technically, its full name is Blood
Rouge, but Rouge is easier to say casually."
"I have heard of you. Gratitude is extended."
"Ahh... Don't worry about it, really." The Gollem bowed its head. It felt like its
appearance and its manner of speaking clashed a little... But honestly, it felt
pretty human in its motions. Est's Gollem, Akagane... That one definitely felt a
lot more robotic than this one.
If I recalled correctly, Rouge was part of a special Gollem sub-type called the
crown series. Apparently, the crowns were legendary legacy models with
exceptional skill. They were supposed to outclass all the other Gollems in the
world... But frankly, I hadn't seen too much to be impressed by from this little
guy.
"Rouge, we're headed to the black market. Wanna come?"
"I shall accompany you. Master." Rouge nodded softly toward Nia. They kind
of resembled an older sister and little brother more than a master and robotic
servant. Then again, Rouge was clearly far older than Nia was.
"So, where is it?" I whipped out my smartphone and used it to project a world
map.
"Here's the fort we're in right now... Currently, the black market is in the city
of Goldose, which is to the south... Right here. Goldose is a casino city, come to
think of it."
"W-Wait a second... Is it a big, gaudy city that shines out into the night?"
"Yes, are you familiar with it?" That city of all places... The place where I went
and gambled like crazy that one time... Weird that I didn't catch its name until
now.
Then again, I did lose all my money there... I was probably more focused on
that.
"So wait, is that city controlled by the Black Papillon?"
"No, the black market venue changes every month. This time it just happens
to be in Goldose, but that doesn't mean Black Papillon has anything to do with
that city. Though it does mean someone in the city's higher-ups has
accommodated them." They probably circulated their location to prevent being
caught out by the government. Nia certainly knew a lot about them.
"Only a thief can catch out a thief. We have our own methods of catching
information, you know." Euri grinned as she brought a finger up to her lips. The
Red Cats were certainly a group of chivalrous thieves, but they still employed
underhanded means. They could then use any information gained via such dark
channels to their advantage.
I kind of felt like they shouldn't have been telling an outsider like me such
sensitive info, but it's not like I was going to do anything with what they'd told
me.
"We can travel to Goldose without a problem... But are you guys fine to come
with?" Nia was the leader of the Red Cats, so I had some reservations about
taking her out into the open. She responded by waving a dismissive hand and
grinning.
"Very few people know I'm the leader of the Red Cats, you know. Plus, Rouge
will be with me... It'll keep me safe from harm." It seemed like even though the
Red Cats were infamous, their leader's identity wasn't widely known. I'd
planned on using [Mirage] to disguise us if it came to it, but that didn't appear
to be necessary anymore.
We informed the other Red Cats in the fort where we'd be headed and left
behind a small mouse that I'd summoned for them.
They'd be able to communicate to the mouse if anything suddenly came up,
and the mouse would convey the message to Kohaku and I.
Nia excitedly watched the summoning and immediately begged me to teach
her how to do it. She looked crestfallen when I informed her that it was Dark
magic, and she didn't have any kind of talent for that school.
We walked together to the outer district of Goldose, which wasn't too far
from the forest. Even a city as gaudy as this had a dark side to it. This city's
underbelly was, of course, the slums... A place where the destitute wandered
around, the last stop for those with no more dreams.
Once we made it there, we headed into a back alley and used [Gate], then
used it to enter the main street of the city itself.
The neon lights weren't blaring since it was daytime, but the city still looked
just as flashy.
We headed up toward the central district and paid a toll at a gaudy gate to
enter.
It kind of felt like paying an admission fee to enter an amusement park...
"So, whereabouts is it?" There were several dome-shaped casinos in the
central district, owned by different people. I imagined that at night, this place
was like a battlefield, with each competing to attract more customers and
revenue.
There were also regular buildings surrounded by emptier land here and
there... The casinos weren't open during the day time, and I was mostly curious
about where the market was. "We're heading to Goldman's Casino... Or rather,
where the casino used to be."
"Used to be?"
"A few months back, the owner of the casino was arrested for a lot of illegal
deeds, including running a gambling ring based on combat. He was having
slaves fight Gollems to the death, and profiting from it. We'd intended to defeat
them ourselves, but we were beaten to it..." Nia started to pout a little and kick
at the ground. I wondered what was up with her when Euri chimed in.
"The owner of the casino ended up being defeated by the owner of a black
crown, much like the boss. She's in a bad mood because one of her rivals took
all the glory before she could."
"Don't say that!" Nia grumbled and flicked Euri on the forehead. The
assaulted girl flinched and brought her hand up to the point of impact, tears
welling up in her eyes. It certainly made a nice painful noise there.
A red crown and a black crown? Could the crown series be color-coordinated
or something? "Regardless, the new owner of the casino dome is working with
Black Papillon and letting them host the market there." That made sense. I
opened my map and looked at the city's layout. Thankfully the name of the
casino hadn't been formally changed yet, so I was able to locate it with little
difficulty.
We walked over to the dome and found ourselves being stared at by two
gatekeeping Gollems. They were about three meters tall and were made of
steel. They were huge... Not exactly as huge as my Frame Gears, though. They
seemed very old-fashioned and sturdy, that much was for sure.
A group of thuggish looking men was hanging around the entrance, and they
wandered over to us.
"We got customers?" The roughest looking guy stared me down with a sneer
on his face. If this place was actually a casino, his behavior certainly wouldn't
have been acceptable.
"If ya came here to buy, it's one gold a person. If ya came here to sell, show us
yer wares."
"...We're here to buy. Three gold, right?" The man just nodded along to my
words. He clearly wasn't here for conversation.
It was around a hundred thousand yen per person... Gollems didn't seem to
count as people in the eyes of the black market, but we had to pay for Rouge's
admission when we entered the main district of the casino city. Though I didn't
have to pay for Kohaku or Luli, so I didn't really understand their standards.
I handed over three gold coins to the man. He wordlessly gestured toward the
Gollems with his head.
We passed through the entrance and came out into a completely barren hall.
It seemed like all the casino decorations had been completely cleared out.
Compared to the casino I'd entered the last time, this one looked
tremendously shabby.
There were no poker or roulette tables, there was no fancy chandelier...
There was just a bunch of grubby-looking tents and stalls lined up around the
wide open space.
It was mostly set up like a flea market, but both the customers and the
shopkeepers looked incredibly gruff or suspicious. The place certainly gave off a
great big criminal underworld vibe.
"It's rather lively, my liege."
"Kind of feels like an antique market, yeah..." There were all kinds of things on
sale in this place. There was jewelry, weird-shaped vases, even peculiar animals
I'd never seen before. I found myself starry-eyed, looking around at everything I
could find. There were a lot of devices that incorporated magical power into
their design... I found a few magic artifacts, too.
Oh, crap. I'm getting off-track here...
I looked around the entire place, but I couldn't see anything even vaguely
resembling a Gollem. I felt duped.
"Touya, in a market like this, the more expensive stuff like Gollems are
located in a different area. Euri's already gone off to ask about it, so just wait a
bit." I'd personally thought the stuff I was looking at was pricey... But
apparently, this was the cheap stuff. That made me more nervous about what
Gollems cost.
After a little bit, Euri returned. It seemed like the more expensive transactions
were being made down in the basement.
We came to a heavy, black door. It was guarded by some beefy-looking men.
Once again, we had to pay a toll. Geez...
I was annoyed, but I had to bear with it. I paid enough for three people, and
we began our descent toward the basement.
We headed down into the basement and found a smaller room with various
Gollems on display. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some humanoid, some
animalistic, some big, and some small.
It was pretty amazing to see them all lined up, the atmosphere was almost
like being at an expo. Still, I was there to buy.
"Let's go."
"Hm...?"
Nia nagged me to keep moving. I was standing and gawping like a moron. We
navigated past various customers as we looked over the different models
available.
"I can't tell the difference between legacy and factory models..."
"When you get used to seeing them, it's pretty easy to tell based on the parts
they have. The design is often telltale, too. For now, just use the price as a
guide. Legacy Gollems are way more expensive than their factory counterparts.
From time to time you might even find custom-made Gollems, too."
Gollems excavated from ruins were known as Legacy Gollems.
Gollems that were mass-produced using modern technology were the Factory
Gollems.
Then there were one-of-a-kind units that were made to order, and they were
Custom Gollems.
Rouge was a Legacy Gollem, while Mr. Sancho's Crab Bus was likely a Factory
Gollem.
I looked at the prices and saw a few Gollems with an extra digit in their prices.
Interestingly enough, though, nearly all of them were labeled as having no
abilities.
It seemed like Gollems with skills were hard to come across.
"Over there, my lord."
"Ohoho." Kohaku pointed out a Gollem that didn't have the tag denoting lack
of skill.
The Gollem was green, around two meters tall. It was gorilla-shaped and had
extremely thick arms. There was also what resembled some kind of tank on its
back.
"Excuse me... Does this Gollem have a skill?"
"That it does, my boy. It has a limited range, but it can manipulate the earth."
That was interesting... It'd probably be a useful tool for engineering or labor.
That price-tag was a little steep, though... It was close to five-hundred million
yen. If it was left lying around, I wouldn't have been surprised to see it get
stolen... Though considering it was in the black market, I had my suspicions that
it was probably stolen already.
I wondered if the Black Papillon group was handling security here...
I was fairly confident that I'd be able to steal everything in here and make it
out, if I wanted... But I'd refrain from drastic acts like that.
"Oh, Touya. What about this one?"
"Hm? What about it?" Nia pointed at a set of machinery that looked more like
a wearable power suit than any Gollem I'd seen so far. It looked as though it
was meant to be worn over the limbs and back, like a powered exoskeleton. I
didn't realize Gollems could be so varied. "This one's a Gear Gollem. It might
not look it, but it's super useful. It works alongside its master and responds to
your mental processes when you wear it." It looked interesting, but I wanted an
autonomous model.
"What about this one, Touya?" Euri led me to a series of lined-up display
boxes. Specifically, she was pointing at the Gollem in one of them.
It was about the size of a child. Around Rouge's height and weight. This one
was white at its base and had a more feminine form. There were two other
identical models next to it, the only difference between the three were the
fluorescent colors adorning their bodies. One was green, one blue, and one red.
They even had glowing parts on their head that were meant to represent hair...
They were incredibly crafted, even I could tell that much.
"Humanoid models are really rare..." Nia muttered to herself as she surveyed
the three legacy units. When compared to the heavily-armored Rouge, or the
exoskeleton and gorilla models I'd seen earlier, these ones looked a little more
like humans.
To be honest I wasn't as impressed as the onlookers. Back at home, I had a
whole bunch of perfectly human-like gynoids living on Babylon. As realistically
human as they were, these Gollems were still clearly inhuman and doll-like
compared to the likes of Cesca.
"Do these ones have skills, then?"
"Sure do, son. Got my guarantee! But these little pretties ain't been activated,
so I can't tell you what abilities they actually have."
Gollems had devices in their central area that typically registered an individual
as the Gollem's master and then brought them online, but apparently, the
device wasn't working in these three models. For that reason, they'd never
been activated. The shopkeeper had taken them to an engineer, but he wasn't
able to fix it, so he just decided to sell them as they were.
"That's why I'm sellin' them for so cheap. Wanna buy one?" The chubby man
rubbed his hands together as he grinned.
Hmph... Is this seriously cheap? That's seventy royals, that's several hundred
million yen... That's a hella high price...
The gorilla one from earlier was only 500 million, and it had an ability, too...
Are you telling me these are better?
"Geez, kid... Look, right here. See?" The shopkeeper pointed toward the chest
of one of the Gollems. There was a tiny ☆ mark, a series of small numbers, and
some words I couldn't make out engraved there.
"Ohh... A star mark! That explains it... Are these Gollems part of the Etoile
Series?"
"Ahh... I see."
Euri and Nia seemed satisfied by the meaning of the symbols. Euri turned to
explain the situation. Apparently, Gollems marked with that star were part of
the Etoile Series, which are considered extremely advanced and highperformance models even amongst other Legacy Gollems.
The mark probably represented the person who originally crafted them.
I was also quietly informed of the small crown emblem engraved into Rouge's
neck. Apparently, that was the way to identify if a Gollem was part of the crown
series, too.
"Is it fake, then?"
"No way. You can't bring fake goods into the black market. He'd be barred
from coming back, or even killed..." That made sense enough. Even without
knowledge of what their skills were, just knowledge of the fact that they were
Etoiles was enough to drive up market price. That was the nature of the market,
for you...
"So, laddie? You buying or not, hm? These models don't usually go for this
cheap..."
"Hm..." In all honesty, I was looking for a much tougher robot to act as a
guard. A menacing one like Akagane would've been ideal. These three looked
more like they'd be suited to being caretakers or housekeepers more than
anything.
Doctor Babylon would be able to analyze them and safely activate them once
I brought them back home, I knew that much. Even if she failed, I knew she'd
keep trying until she figured them out completely. Thus, I made my decision.
"Alright. I'll take them... But before we ring it up, hear me out."
I activated [Storage] and pulled out an adamantite ingot, and showed it to the
suspicious trader. He looked at it for a while as the pieces began to click in his
mind. Then his eyes shot wide open.
"Th-That's... adamantite?! Where in the world did you..."
"Ah-ah-ah. Don't forget the rules. No asking about origins, right? I will take all
three of these Gollems off your hands for a hundred and thirty royals, and this
ingot."
"A-All three...?! H-Hmph... L-Let me be sure it's genuine first..."
He brought out a small device similar to the one Mr. Sancho had used and
determined whether or not the item I had was counterfeit or not.
"It's the real deal... Hrmph... Let me think... Mm... Hm..."
He began pondering to himself, eyes fixed on the ingot. I was hoping that this
transaction would be good enough, I'd already lost money by paying for fees
and stuff. I would have liked to have paid the full price with ingots exclusively,
but that would've looked too suspicious.
I could tell the man was weighing the worth on proverbial scales in his head.
He was measuring the worth of three unactivated Etoiles against a whole ingot
of incredibly rare material.
Eventually, he stopped focusing and smiled softly.
"Very well, laddie. I'll accept your offer. You can have all three for that much."
"It's a deal, then." I handed over the goods, and he happily relinquished the
Gollems. I bought all three so I'd have spares just in case anything happened...
Is what I'd say pragmatically, but a softer side of me felt bad separating them.
They looked kind of like sisters all lined up as they were.
I suddenly invoked [Storage], sucking up all three of them along with their
display cases. The shopkeeper seemed almost disturbed by the sight, but he
pretended not to be too bothered.
"Even if they are Etoiles, are you sure about having three of them?"
"Mmm... I dunno, but the way I look at it is these are really high-tier ones,
right? I might never get the chance to buy one again." I shrugged toward Nia's
comment. Either way, that was one objective down. Now all I had to do was
secure a place to set down the disruptor. I wondered if flying out to an
uninhabited island might be the best idea. Just as I was thinking about my next
step, I heard a sudden scream.
"...What's that?"
"...Huh?" I suddenly stopped in my tracks, prompting Nia to ask me what was
up. She hadn't heard it.
I heard it again. There was screaming mingled in with the hustle and bustle of
the crowd. I could hear it clearly. It wasn't just one scream. There were a lot of
people screaming now.
I looked to the side and found that Rouge had also stopped dead in its tracks.
It looked upward. Of course, upward... The screams were coming from the floor
above.
"La, la... Lalala..."
What the...? Just as the screams died down, I heard a happy singing voice take
their place.
In a flash, the heavy door that led to the underground was sliced in half and
knocked down.
The door was now on the floor in pieces, and I could clearly hear more of that
joyful voice coming from the darkness. The singer was coming toward us, down
the stairs.
"...Such beautiful, sparkling eyes...♪ Let's take a spoon to them...♪ From blue,
to green, to black, to red... Let's make a mess of them...♪"
"Wait, that voice...?!" Nia reflexively stiffened up and turned her gaze toward
the darkness behind the doorway.
After a short time, a lone girl appeared and clambered over the debris.
She wore frilly purple clothing with a bit of a gothic aesthetic. She also wore a
short skirt. She also carried a purple umbrella. Her aesthetic was similar to
Leen's, but a lot less prim and proper.
She also wore slim-framed glasses, but the deep purple eyes behind them
looked almost lifeless... She was smiling broadly, but there was just something
entirely wrong about her.
Her long, amethyst hair spilled down far past her shoulders. She resembled a
doll in some ways. And then, as she stepped fully into the light, it became clear
that both her skin and clothing were adorned with patches of fresh blood.
Perhaps what concerned me the most, though, was the Gollem standing next
to her. It was tiny, almost like a knight, and it was deep purple. The scythe in its
hand and the ragged black cape over its shoulders made me subconsciously
liken it to the Grim Reaper himself. The aura it exuded, and its physical
features... They were almost identical to the red Gollem by my side.
"H-Hey, who are they...?"
"That purple Gollem is a crown. Fanatic Viola. And the woman with it..."
"Luna... Trieste... It's her... The Frenzied Mistress..."
Frenzied...? She seemed calm to me... As I wondered how they knew her, or
what that nickname meant, the woman started to spin around in front of the
doorway while twirling her umbrella.
"Please, please...♪ Oh pretty, pretty please...♪ I'll gouge you oh-so-neatly, so
please give me your eyes...♪ Please let me take your heart...♪" She kept singing
to herself, as if oblivious to the blood smeared on her... As if oblivious to the
horrified crowd around her. But then, her smile widened. She stopped twirling,
and she acknowledged her onlookers.
"Please let me take your blood, your guts, your spine...♪"