Yappy's desperate hammering gave Leon the armor he needed to claim victory.
With such a victory, it's no surprise that Leon's first priority was to revive Yappy.
But the reactor and fuselage, damaged in the battle with Rakshar, would not respond to divine resupply.
"Iron God, why does Lord Spinner not awaken?"
In response to the Lionheart King's question, Heto lamented in frustration.
[I doubt I'll be able to fix it even if I descend myself, and even if I can keep the reactor that powers it, the fuselage is too damaged, tainted by some sort of unknown magic.]
Heto speculated, looking at the damaged fuselage of Yappy beyond Leon's line of sight. It would be more obvious if he descended directly, but the vast amount of divinity expended on him is harmful to the pantheon.
"Beatrice, what do you think?"
Unlike the gods in the pantheon, who could only see through the gaze of a Holy Knight or Grail Guardian, Beatrice could touch and examine Yappy's body.
Using all of her magical knowledge, Beatrice examined Yappy and determined the cause.
"It's been tainted by Rakshar's magic, and aside from the reactor and some parts that are protected by the divine, I think this fuselage will have to be abandoned."
"I hope it's just a matter of needing a new fuselage."
Leon, with Heto's help, disconnected the reactor from Yappy.
"But what about Lord Spinner's new fuselage?"
[------]
"Heto?"
[That can only be done by Yappy, none of us have the knowledge to create such an advanced fuselage.]
Leon tilted his head.
A new fuselage is needed for Yappy to be resurrected, but Yappy must build it himself?
Isn't that a contradiction?
[Well, once Yappy opens its eyes, it will find a way.]
"What if?"
[Our knowledge does not allow us to build or connect to Yappy's advanced fuselage, so we will have to make it our specialty.]
If we can't build a fuselage, we'll build a 'body'. I'll put him in a body that will awaken his consciousness, and then he can build his fuselage.
In short, their idea of creating a temporary body may not have been too far-fetched. Except------
[I hope it's a girl, I want it to be small and cute.]
Demera, the goddess of life and fertility, agreed with Petos, the god of war and flame.
[Lord Spinner is a great warrior, so why not give it tall stature and well-defined muscles.]
[Hmm, it's good to be muscular to be good with a hammer. The warrior has a point.]
Heto, god of iron and smiths, agrees. But Fle, the goddess of dreams and death, disagrees.
[War and Iron disagree, and I vigorously disagree: we must take the human factor from my priest, and turn it into the flesh of a young girl.]
[Eh, muscles? It is right that it should be a warrior with the factor of a warrior.]
Petos interrupted, and this time it was Arianna who spoke up.
[If you're going to ask for a base, shouldn't it be Leon, the knight of the goddess and agent of the All-Gods, who is more favored by the warriors?]
[Leon is beautiful, but he lacks the bearing of a mighty warrior. If only he were 40 centimeters taller and weighed twice as much as he does. Vulcanus may be a bit of a jerk, but he's got a nice body.]
[There is nothing wrong with the height and weight of my knight; no more comments War.]
[Unjust, Light!]
[War shall have no further comment before the variable rate of borrowed holy power is applied.]
[Off!]
With Petos sunk, Heto was the only one left with the idea of turning the Yappy's new body into a lean, muscular forage.
[No, my blacksmith, I have priorities------]
[It is life that animates the flesh, and it is the forest that sprouts it, so perhaps you are not the only one with priorities.]
Irmin, the goddess of forests and trees, was the creator not only of the Tree Men, but also of a race of big-eared beings called fairies. Of course──
[I like to be pretty and beautiful, too, but Leon is better, even as a man.]
[------Don't women know the beauty of muscle.]
The god of the sea and waves chimed in on Heto's sulking.
[I think a beauty is better.]
[Shut up, you lecherous bastard who hangs beauties on the mast.]
Thus, it was decided that the body that would resurrect Yappy would be a female body based on Beatrice.
"Chiruuk?!"
Of course, Yappy's own opinion was not included in the slightest.
* * * * *
In front of the Ryugyong Hotel, where the World Tree grew, the Knights of the TTG Temple and the Man at Arms were in the process of cleaning up.
As the center of the battle for Pyongyang, the downtown area of the Ryugyong Hotel was damaged in the aftermath of the battle, and it was necessary to call in a lot of specialized contractors to clean it up.
"Contractors?
Leon dismissed the idea when he heard that they would need to mobilize hundreds of workers and heavy equipment from the South.
"Why hire labor when we have serfs?"
"We'll knock down all the buildings around the World Tree except the important ones, and we'll use the serfs for labor!"
The number of serfs that TTG Temple acquired in this war was enormous.
The government had been so relentless in punishing the "demon's followers" that the vast majority of the people's army had been sentenced to serfdom, depending on the severity of their crimes, and there was no shortage of free labor.
"Go, Comrade Overseer!"
"Don't you dare talk to me, you serf!"
"Hic---! Sin, I'm sorry!"
Sir Galatan of the Burning Sword Knights fiercely splits the air with his whip. After scolding the lowly serfs, he asked them about their business.
"Lowly serf, why did you defile the ears of a noble knight?"
"That, that------"
The former People's Army serf opened his mouth cautiously in front of the steamed medieval knight, who was more imposing than the propagandist who claimed to have come directly from the Party.
"We need you to provide us with some heavy equipment for the job. How can we move a boulder weighing more than a dozen kilograms by human power alone──?"
The People's Army serf was cut off by Galatan, who glared at him with a fierce gaze. He swung the whip with such force that the crack echoed fiercely.
"Hicc---!"
The serfs screamed in terror and Galatan growled fiercely.
"You pathetic bastards! When I ruled my lands, the serfs could build walls all day long and never complain!"
'Couldn't complain.'
"Those wretches spent five years building a wall, and you can't lift a few stones and make a fuss?"
The longest survival period for a serf in Lord Galatan's domain is 5 years.
"You're not strong enough! I'm going to have to start over with your education today! Everyone stop working! I'm going to give you a labor education!"
At first glance, it seems like a relief to stop working, but Lionheart's treatment of his serfs is anything but merciful.
They'll soon be screaming to be let back to work.
Watching the scene, Han Soo-ho asked Chun So-yeon with a worried expression.
"Is this okay? Aren't we going to use people like we did in Naju?"
"It's okay, they're the ones who received the 'indefinite serfdom' sentence."
"Ah~"
The serfs captured from the Archduke of Slaughter territory were used up because they were demon followers with terrible crimes, but the People's Army serfs were a bit more ambiguous.
Basically, minor crimes were freed, so all of the people's soldiers who received serfdom were felons, but that didn't mean they were soul-crushing criminals.
Some, like Ri Chul-woong, had unavoidable circumstances, while others were sentenced to five or ten years of serfdom after proper rehabilitation and religious education.
The knights treated them with moderate harshness because they were guaranteed to survive and would be released as free men after their sentences were completed.
But indefinite serfs were different. They actively followed the demons, and if they died during their sentence, they would be absorbed into Lord Gratas' holy book.
In other words, they were condemned to the ultimate punishment, one they wouldn't mind dying for, and one they wouldn't be comfortable with afterward.
"I wish they would hold on a little longer."
"What? Why are you saying that?"
Soo-ho, who has been imbued with the Lionheart mentality of the Knights of the Ten Thousand Gods, tilts his head at Chun So-yeon's unexpected remark.
"The more labor, the better. That's all money."
"I'm getting scared of you ------"
Leon says it's fine, but Soo-ho wonders if it's okay for modern people to do this.
"Isn't that your sister over there?"
"Huh? Sister!"
Soo-ho walked toward Ha-ri, who was traveling on horseback. Ha-ri spotted him and waved.
"Soo-ho, are you doing well at work?"
"Uh, yeah. But behind sister------"
He spotted a woman following closely behind Ha-ri, and he was speechless.
"Wow------"
She was stunningly beautiful.
Her long hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her sharp features and delicate face were as perfect as if molded by the gods.
Above all, the girl's beauty reminded him of one person.
'She resembles Queen Beatrice------'
No way. No, of course not.
"What are you trying to say, Organism Individual Han Soo-ho?"
"Eh?"
A cold voice that would chill even a thousand years of love was heard. The tone was so familiar that Soo-ho couldn't believe his ears.
"Are you kidding?"
"Yes, that's right. Lord Yappy."
"Ma, no way------"
Soo-ho looked disbelieving, but So-Yeon, who was following, was not.
"She's awake?"
"Uh, So-yeon, did you know?"
"You two must have been too busy attending the camp to hear."
Chun So-yeon was the head of the Knights, so she was usually the one who received all of the latest information from the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods.
"Senior Ha-ri, what are you bringing me here for?"
"To tidy up Lord Yappy's hair and to have a meal. She's not used to being in a human body yet."
"I'll help, Soo-ho, you go ahead."
"Uh, uh, uh------"
A man shouldn't interrupt a girl's playtime. Not to mention whether or not Yappy is a biological female.
* * * * *
The door to the beauty salon in front of the Ryugyong Hotel opened and a middle-aged woman greeted the customer.
"Welcome, Miss Han Ha-ri and Director So-yeon!"
Ms. Han, who used to run a barber shop in Naju, recognized them instantly.
"Are you going to get a haircut?"
"Oh, I'm fine, I'm just asking for this lady over here."
"Hmm? Wow, she's very beautiful."
Ms. Han looked at Yappy and couldn't help but admire her.
Her hair was long, as if it had never been cut in her life, but it was stunningly perfect.
Even a well-manicured idol's hair wouldn't be this shiny.
"Here, have a seat. This place used to be used by the North Koreans, but it's in the middle of Pyongyang, so the facilities are good. Wash your hair first, and then──"
Yappy's hair was so long that shampooing it was a chore, but touching the fluttering strands put her in a good mood.
"Now, how do you want me to cut it?"
"Shave it off."
Yappy's fiery remark stopped Ms. Han in her tracks while Ha-ri and So-Yeon were stunned and exclaimed.
"Oh, Lord Yappy, why are you shaving off that hair? What a waste!"
"Hair is a crude winterization tool evolved by humans for survival, not applicable to me. Shave it off for efficiency."
It took quite a bit of convincing to convince Yappy that shaving it off for efficiency was not the right thing to do.
"Moe, you can't cut it! I can't shave off such beautiful hair!"
Ms. Han's sense of professional ethics also played a role.
* * * * *
"Wow, that's a really nice cut."
"Your hair is so nice, you should have just done the basics."
"Meaningless."
Yappy responded bluntly to Ha-ri and So-yeon's sincere compliments.
Even though she trimmed her long, floor-length hair down to her buttocks, she still felt it was long and uncomfortable.
However, she feels ineffective in refuting Ms. Han's desperate persuasions.
It was an emotion that stemmed from the feeling of being a nuisance, but Yappy didn't know that now.
"Shall we eat then?"
"The organism's eating behavior is not concerned with the inefficient act of powering itself. It only wants to obtain nutrients to move this inefficient mass of organic matter."
"Awww, it's a human body, you should eat a lot of delicious things."
Ha-ri made a rueful sound, but Yappy looked at her wistfully and then spoke.
"An organism's inefficient eating behavior is itself evidence of inferiority. Do you not think of the energy wasted by an organism's eating behavior?"
Yappy did not relent, pointing to the carbon emissions of livestock and the enormous waste of energy to manufacture feed as evidence.
"Then what are you going to eat, battle rations?"
"Organisms only need a minimum amount of nutrients."
With that, Yappy turned with awkward steps toward where the People's Army serfs sat down to eat on the ground.
"Lord Yappy?"
So-yeon tried to stop her, but Yappy walked boldly to the table.
"Plenty of sugar-salt water and nutritional pills are enough."
"Eh--- You're going to eat that?"
Remembering the pain of eating only sugar-salt water in the past, Ha-ri was disgusted, but Yappy reluctantly accepted the glass of sugar-salt water rationed to the serfs.
"Just enough to fulfill my nutritional needs."
"Mmm, would you like to sit there and eat then?"
"You'll have to take it slow------"
The two knew just how salty that sugar-salt water was and how much it hurt their tongues.
They sat down in a corner and drank it slowly, one sip at a time, barely able to get it down their throats.
"I can't share with such lowly peasants."
Yappy gulped down the sugar-salt water in one gulp, unconcerned by the stares of the lowly People's Army serfs.
-Phew!
As expected, the sugar-salt water spilled out.
"Lord Yappy, are you okay?"
"Phew! Fuhep! Gwueh-eh!"
Yappy gagged and spit out all the sugar-salt water she had drunk.
"What? The pain. What is this?!"
"It's sugar-salt water, isn't it? It's a bunch of sugar and salt------"
"How can I eat this shit!?"
Yappy threw the glass of sugar-salt water, shattering it. The People's Army serfs watching the scene thought in unison.
'You fed it to us.'
Regardless, Yappy continued to gag, disgusted.