Chapter 16: A Tool, Not a Person
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 16: A Tool, Not a Person
Echidna Philias.
Age: Unknown.
Formerly of the Philias line, she had been expelled by her sisters due to "ideological differences."
The real reason for her exile? She was a hopeless romantic with a pathological habit of falling in love with every handsome face she saw.
She had disheveled black hair and dark circles under her eyes so deep they looked like heavy goth makeup. Her lips were stained black, and her skin was as pale as if it had never touched a single ray of sunlight. She exuded the quintessential, gloomy aura of a wicked witch.
In total silence, one might have considered her a beauty, but that peculiar, unsettling vibe ruined the illusion entirely.
And as for whether she actually acted like a witch...
"Hello! I'm Echidna~"
Her childish, sing-song way of speaking was so at odds with her appearance that it shattered any lingering sense of mystery.
"Ehehehe..."
She smiled with the air of a good-natured person, but the expression was so awkward it only amplified her gloominess. Everything about her made it difficult for her to mingle with ordinary society.
The moment she laid eyes on Jed, she had accepted the offer unconditionally.
However, they still had to discuss the actual terms of her employment, so Ferda entered the witch’s house to face her.
"You said you'd do it no matter what, but do you even know what the work involves?"
"No. But it doesn't matter!"
Echidna’s dark pupils surged like a stormy sea.
"I-I'm just so happy to be with such handsome gentlemen and such a cute young lady... Ehehehe. If you tell me to, I'll be your dog."
The characteristic madness of a witch began to seep into her voice.
Ruri grimaced, and Jed, feeling a sense of visceral revulsion, recoiled. Only Ferda remained composed.
"Echidna Philias. You create golems, don't you?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. What about them?"
"Can you carry out golem production at our Valdrova Castle?"
"O-Of course! I can do that! Hehe. If you tell me to, I'll be your dog. Woof, woof!"
She barked her acceptance over and over without asking a single practical question. This behavior was an outlier even for Ferda.
‘I thought she’d be a bit more stable in the past, but it seems I’ve caught her during her most severe phase.’
Compared to when Ferda had first met her in his previous life, she was currently a total mess.
"Lord Ferda," Ruri whispered, nudging him in the side. "Did you really come all this way to recruit a woman who just makes golems?"
"I-I can hear you, you know?"
"Yes, just golems," Ferda replied.
"I said I can hear you!"
Golems were giant creatures made of clay or stone. At best, they could manage a simple walk; aside from their size and durability, they were little more than animated corpses. There was a reason "golem-like" was used as a common insult for the dim-witted.
"Do you have any golems you've made recently?"
"Huh? I... I do, but... I haven't finished it yet, so it's embarrassing..."
"It doesn't matter. I'm not the one who'll be embarrassed."
"Oh, then... I'll show you!"
Echidna clapped her hands twice.
Suddenly, a wardrobe burst open, and something stepped out. It was a wooden doll crafted in the shape of a sturdy man. Its eyes were large and sparkled as if they might spit out jewels, and its lips were sharply defined. Its face and physique looked like something a child would draw while fantasizing about a perfect prince.
Seeing the three of them staring intently at it, Echidna twisted her body bashfully.
"Ehehe. It's not finished yet, so it's embarrassing..."
"The face could use some more refinement," Ferda remarked.
"No. The doll itself is complete."
"...This is?"
Jed couldn't hide his astonishment. That was the completed form?
The golem creaked as it walked out, its face briefly turning toward Echidna. She gave it a bright, encouraging smile.
Creeak— creeak—
The wooden golem moved with the sound of stiff, grinding joints. It reached for a tea set on the cupboard and began to brew tea. What was truly surprising was that the golem accurately picked out a specific blend.
"There are many types of tea in that cupboard. Why did it bring that one?"
"Um, well, as for how this works... Oh, it's a bit of a boring story, so I shouldn't explain it in detail, um, uuuuh..."
Echidna stomped her feet, clenching her fists in frustration. Ferda opened his mouth, intending to answer for her.
"It's because—"
"Wait! I-I think I can do it!"
It took her nearly three minutes just to find the words, and she was breaking out in a cold sweat from the social pressure. Finally, Echidna finished organizing her thoughts.
"To put it simply, it senses my mood and brings the tea I like. I'm in a good mood today, so it brought Darjeeling."
"A golem... did that?" Ruri asked, sounding incredulous.
Echidna scratched her head sheepishly.
"Ehehe. I just really wanted to make one like that. So, I'm in the middle of creating the magic for it."
"Creating magic... Does that mean you're drawing the runes yourself?"
"Yes, that's right, little lady! I studied reaaaally hard for that!"
Even Ruri, who usually looked down on humans, felt a sense of genuine awe. To create a sophisticated magic circle from scratch, one had to master Rune Making—the process of condensing abstract meaning into physical symbols.
Being able to create original runes was the domain of masters; there were fewer than ten such people in the entire Serdes Continent. She wasn't just a simple golem maker or a gloomy witch.
‘A Rune Maker.’
She was a witch who possessed the power to rewrite the laws of magic.
Ruri looked back at Ferda. Unlike her initial look of pure disgust, her eyes were now filled with wonder.
"How do you know people like this?"
"I just happened to find out."
The reason he remembered her was, naturally, rooted in resentment. She was one of those humans who wasted their talent to an infuriating degree.
‘It was enough to make me cough up blood.’
Echidna Philias liked handsome men to a pathological degree. Her obsession was so great that it had eventually led her to the Red Circle. However, due to her witchy gloom and total lack of social skills, she had ended up in a situation where she couldn't actually meet any men.
While others might have thought to improve their personality or tone down the gloominess, she had thought differently:
—If I can't date one, can't I just make a boyfriend?
She found it distasteful to turn people into taxidermy or use them as puppets like other witches did. Her solution, born from a mindset somewhere between human and witch, was to use golems to create something human-like.
Her efforts led her to master incantation commands and rune creation, turning her into a Rune Maker.
‘She used Rune Making—something even I, an Archmage, couldn't master—just to make a boyfriend.’
Ferda felt like he might cough up blood even now just thinking about it. To think she was developing a power that could overturn the world just to create a "boyfriend."
‘But thanks to that, I know that golem soldiers capable of responding to fluid command systems are possible.’
The homunculus was the pinnacle of alchemy—an artificial lifeform. They could learn through experience and perform work in areas humans couldn't reach. However, their production was limited, and they couldn't be fully controlled.
On the other hand, golems could be mass-produced but lacked the ability to perform complex movements. Echidna’s golems took the best of both worlds.
‘Driving the monsters out of the Far East Front is no longer an impossibility.’
She could provide technology just as innovative as the Magitech led by Marquis Burnell.
"Then I believe our discussion is finished. I shall give you your appointment letter."
"An a-appointment letter?"
"You are now a Chief Researcher of Valdrova. There is already one other Chief, but your fields are different, so you won't need to mind each other."
"Oh, is that so?"
There was another person. Hearing that, her black eyes darted around before she spoke up shyly.
"Is... is it a man?"
Ferda nodded. Her face flushed, and her fingers fidgeted.
"It is a man."
"Is he... hand...some?"
Echidna’s eyes sparkled as if this were the most important question in the world.
"He looks like an ordinary scholar wearing glasses."
"Oh, really? Well, that's fine..."
Echidna looked disappointed. Her eyes then drifted toward Jed. Being a natural gigolo, Jed reflexively gave her a bright, practiced smile.
"Ehehe, ehehehe..."
Seeing that sinister aura, Jed’s face gradually stiffened. He wanted to step back, but there was nowhere to run.
"Can you leave immediately? Or do you need time to prepare?"
"No. I have subspace storage magic, so I can pack everything and leave right away. Hehe..."
Subspace storage was 5th Tier magic. This meant she was at least at the 5th Circle. It also meant her obsession with handsome men was truly monstrous.
"Good. You all take the carriage and head to Valdrova Castle first."
Jed whipped his head around, panicked. "Aren't you coming with us?"
"I still have one more person to bring."
"Then let's go together! I'm your attendant!"
"There's no need for that."
"No, don't be like that..." Jed said with a strained smile. "Let's go together. Please."
The word "please" was laced with pure desperation. It was a plea not to be left alone with that woman.
‘I can't do that.’
Ferda knew. The perfected golem that the future Echidna would eventually create... it would bear the likeness of Jed Swallow. It was Jed Swallow’s appearance that would eventually plunge her into a state of single-minded devotion.
‘So, I have to keep them together for the time being.’
To temper Echidna’s madness, he had to keep Jed by her side. What kind of future Jed would face due to that obsession was unclear. And frankly, Ferda didn't care. He’d figure it out.
* * *
Thus, Ferda succeeded in recruiting three talents.
The pioneer of Magitech, Marquis Burnell.
The great thief, Jed Swallow.
The Rune Maker, Echidna Philias.
And the final person remaining was...
"Helus Fobidas, the Sage of Water."
He was the only person on the list that Ruri recognized. He was a late-bloomer mage in his mid-forties. However, he had become famous for his ability to see through the essence of things with his brilliant wisdom and insight, earning him the title "Sage of Water."
He lived in a mansion in a quiet rural village. He followed a philosophy of non-attachment, refusing to belong to any organization, driven by his belief that he must always be near water.
"How do you plan to persuade a man who said he wouldn't join even if the Arken Empire offered him a fortune?"
Currently, Ferda’s recruitment score was two successes and one pending. Since she hadn't known the others, it had been hard to predict, but this time the target was a celebrity. Ruri judged that it would be impossible for Ferda to sway him.
‘I don't think he'll try to use authority or intimidation...’
She couldn't help but be curious about what brilliant idea he had.
Ferda replied, "I have no interest in the Sage of Water."
Ruri furrowed her brows. "Then why are we here? You wrote 'Sage of Water' on the list, came all the way to his house, and now you say you're not here for him?"
"The one I'm looking for has no name. I simply used Helus Fobidas’s name as a substitute."
"Are you tricking me?" Ruri glared at him with a sharp, narrowed gaze.
"Only half-tricking you."
Ferda looked up at the mansion. The windows were wide open, and the back door used by the servants was slightly ajar.
Seeing this, Ferda asked, "Where do ordinary village women usually do their laundry?"
"Why are you asking me that?"
Ferda scanned her from head to toe. He saw a girl in a maid uniform with an expressionless face.
"Aren't you technically an attendant?"
"Even attendants have ranks. Besides, I handle everything with magic. I'm not some brat who beats laundry with a wooden paddle by a stream."
"By a stream, then. Thank you."
Following Ruri’s unintentional advice, they headed toward the stream. Just as she said, it wasn't hard to find.
"You stupid, worthless girl! You can't even do this!?"
The sound of a middle-aged woman’s verbal abuse echoed over the quiet babbling of the water. There stood a plump, middle-aged woman and a skinny girl. Their clothes were exceptionally clean for village folk; it was clear they were servants of a noble house.
The plump woman poked at the girl’s laundry and shouted.
"If you've beaten and wrung the laundry, you have to put it in the basket! Why do I have to tell you every single time!? Beat it! Wring it! Put it in! Do you understand!?"
The blonde girl nodded cautiously.
"Ugh, to think I'm stuck teaching such an idiot! What did I do to deserve this... Ugh!"
The middle-aged attendant beat her chest and grimaced. The girl showed no sign of fear. She simply looked down with hollow eyes and silently resumed the task she had been told to do.
"Is she a handful?"
The middle-aged attendant jumped in surprise and stood up. Her eyes quickly scanned Ferda before she forced a polite smile.
"Oh, my lord. I'm so sorry. I've shown you something unsightly. Haha. I was just raising my voice a bit to train one of our dull-witted servants..."
"Was that training?"
"Of course. A noble lord like yourself wouldn't understand. You have to give them a shock like this for them to listen, don't you? That's why I'm doing it."
Ferda’s eyes drifted toward the girl. He rubbed his chin and let out a hum.
"Hmm. To me, that didn't look like training; it just looked like you were venting your frustration. Besides, there's no need to train that child."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Don't you think your commands were simply flawed?"
The middle-aged attendant blinked. "I'm sorry, my lord. I don't understand..."
"From what I saw and heard, you made her repeat the actions of beating and wringing the laundry. But it seems you didn't tell her where to put it afterward. If you had told her that, she would have undoubtedly continued her work."
"Goodness, do I really have to explain every little thing? A person should have some intuition, but she's just so dim-witted..."
The attendant glared at the girl. The girl, seemingly uninterested in their conversation, just kept kneading the laundry.
"Exactly. The problem is that you're viewing her as a person."
"What does that mean? Are you saying this child is some kind of tool?"
"If you had thought of what you're handling as a tool rather than a human, things would have been different. Don't you think it's asking too much to expect a tool to think for itself?"
The attendant looked like she didn't understand a word he was saying. Ruri, listening nearby, was also struggling to grasp Ferda’s meaning.
"Where in the world is there a tool that eats and sleeps? If she were a tool, I'd just throw her in a warehouse or toss her out..."
"Why haven't you tossed her out?"
"Do you think she'd stay gone if I did? The Sage of Water dotes on this thing."
"Hmm, is that so?"
"She's like a stray dog he picked up from who-knows-where."
The attendant continued to pour out curses. Ferda listened calmly before asking:
"If you dislike her that much and find it hard to get rid of her, why don't you hand her over to me?"