124. Dungeon, Explosion, Reward (2)
124. Dungeon, Explosion, Reward (2)
"O-oh, take off my clothes?!"
"Yes. You need to undress so I can examine your arm."
Don't look at me with such contempt.
It was written right there in the contract: 'Obey the employer's orders no matter what.'
I sighed as Viola covered her chest and backed away from me. I didn't have much time, and I hated being delayed like this. I turned toward the workshop door and shouted.
"Millia!"
"You called?!"
She really had been there. I pushed Millia away with one palm as she clung to me with sparkling eyes, then pointed at Viola.
"Pull her shirt halfway off so I can see where her arm was severed."
"Yohan, are you a pervert?"
Don't ask that with such innocent eyes. Looking at me that way made me seem like a real pervert.
"I need to examine the state of Viola's arm."
"What are you making that requires looking at my body?"
"A prosthetic arm."
"A prosthetic arm?"
"Yes."
"And what is that?"
...So this world really did not have prosthetics.
I had assumed a fantasy world would at least have prosthetic limbs, but apparently it did not. That meant I would become the world's first maker of prosthetics, which might turn into serious money.
The problem was that making a prosthetic was anything but easy. It meant reproducing human joints through engineering alone, which was no simple feat.
I had heard that even the twenty-first century could not properly reproduce an elbow joint. Could it be done in this world, where precision work was even more difficult?
...Or so I had thought. Come to think of it, was there not a fairly simple solution?
That thought decided the product I would develop over summer vacation: a prosthetic arm. Hiring Viola had changed my plans. I had originally intended to move between dungeons and make a few practical bombs, but instead I decided to develop prosthetics while putting Viola to work.
If it succeeded, it would be a good deal for Viola and a good deal for me.
After all, there was no telling how long I could survive in this world with all four limbs intact.
"Viola. Have you ever studied golems?"
"Golems? I studied the theory during the first semester, but I've never built one."
The simple solution I'd thought of was a golem. I'd smashed countless golems while trying to obtain my Wizard license, and I'd encountered another in the dungeon. From simple lumps made by sticking a few rocks together to shapes relatively close to human, golems came in a wide range of forms.
The defining trait of all those golems was that, while they could take orders, they moved on their own without separate control.
"I plan to build a golem arm and attach it where your arm used to be. If the experiment succeeds, you will no longer have to live one-armed."
"Make a golem's arm and... attach it to my arm?"
Viola reacted negatively to my idea and shook her head.
"Hold on, old guy... Do you even know what golems are made from? Every material used to make one is heavy. I could end up with an arm heavier than my entire body."
"What if we engraved a weight-reduction spell?"
"You know engraving a weight-reduction spell costs a fortune, right? And to keep it from interfering with the control magic and mana circuits... wouldn't we need an Archmage?"
"Or we could make it from a lightweight material."
"Most materials light enough for that wouldn't hold up. They'd break."
So, one way or another, it was riddled with problems.
"I do think you came up with a good idea, old guy. But you couldn't even attempt this without serious capital. And you don't look like you have that kind of money..."
Money. So it came down to money.
My pockets were, admittedly, completely empty.
I'd get some money after raiding the dungeon in a week, but even a generous dungeon reward was unlikely to exceed one hundred gold unless I took the entire reward for myself.
Was there any way to raise the money...? Ah.
Why hadn't I thought of that?
"Viola. Sorry, but we need to get ready to leave right away."
"Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Yohan, where are you going? Can I come too?"
Millia, who had been listening to us with a thoroughly bored expression, slipped into the conversation like a cat. I waved her off and answered.
"I'm going to do something boring, so don't follow me."
"But whenever I follow Yohan, something interesting always happens."
Did I look like a clown to her? I stared at Millia in disbelief. She apparently had some conscience, because she avoided my gaze and subtly hid behind Viola. The sight was irritating enough that I deliberately curled my lip before speaking.
"You were supposed to study with Karina after lunch."
"...Tch."
She'd planned to use me as an excuse to skip her lesson. I gave Millia, already showing signs of becoming a delinquent student, a light knuckle rap on the head. Then I addressed Viola, who was watching us with a slightly bewildered expression.
"I'll get ready now, so wait here."
"What? All of a sudden? Where?"
"To get money."
Wasn't this exactly why he'd offered me help in the first place?
--------------------------
"So you want me to fund the development of a new magical tool?"
"...N-no, you never said anything about the Principal...!"
Viola had followed me to the main building looking confused, grown suspicious when we stopped outside the Principal's office, and turned deathly pale when she finally came face-to-face with Principal Merlin, who was drinking tea. She tried to jab me in the side, staggered, and whispered.
As if finding Viola's reaction delightful, Merlin giggled like a child, then set down his teacup and spoke.
"I didn't expect you to ask for a handout so soon! May I hear what sort of idea you have?"
I explained the prosthetic idea to Principal Merlin in detail from beginning to end. Proving that his title as the world's greatest Archmage had not been earned for nothing, he listened, slapped his fist into his palm, and exclaimed.
"What a fascinating idea!"
"That is why I need a considerable research budget."
"Count me in!"
"You intend to take part in the development yourself?"
"That is right! Don't leave me out of something this fun!"
What was he talking about now? I stared at Principal Merlin, who had declared with an excited expression that he would join us, and sighed inwardly. He was suddenly participating in the prosthetic development? I'd only planned to take his money.
"...Having the Principal participate would put a little pressure on us."
[If only Contractor had more mana. We could have brainwashed him and put him to work.]
...The idea was tempting, but there was no chance it would work. I ignored Rue's nonsense, which suited her sinister appearance.
My tiny amount of mana made brainwashing impossible, and if it failed, I would have to fight him on the spot. There was no way I could defeat that monster in the first place.
Even if I stacked the board and squeezed out every possible advantage, my odds of victory would still be below ten percent.
Though if I used any means necessary, there might still have been a way to subdue him.
"Do not worry! I'll not interfere with your work, and I will follow most of your instructions!"
"In that case, I won't refuse, though it may be fairly difficult."
"I may not look it, but I am an Archmage."
"I plan to produce a prototype within one week."
"That is not much time. Are you not being too impatient?"
"With an Archmage participating in the development, isn't that amount of time sufficient?"
I'd originally expected the work to take half the vacation. With an Archmage participating, however, perhaps we could just manage to produce a barely usable prosthetic within a week.
"Hmm. I shall give it a try."
"Ah, um, Principal. Even so, having you personally take part is..."
"Viola, don't feel too burdened. Think of this as an educator meddling because he does not wish to see a promising student's future cut short, and accept the help without feeling burdened."
"Principal..."
[He stole the best part. Contractor, aren't you going to sweet-talk him like you always do?]
When had I ever done that? I stared blankly at Viola, who was shedding tears of emotion, and Principal Merlin, who was patting her shoulder to console her.
Ah, I wanted to go home.
-------------------
"Y-Yohan?"
"I believe this is our first meeting, Saintess."
"Y-you're much older than I am, so you can simply call me Karina, Principal Merlin."
"Heh heh. How could I address the Saintess so casually by name?"
"You don't need to be so formal. I will soon be a student myself, and if you act that way it makes me uncomfortable."
"Then might this old man call you Miss Karina?"
"Of course."
[Wow. Look at her acting all demure.]
Karina couldn't hide her surprise at seeing Principal Merlin arrive with me. She looked back and forth between us with a baffled expression that clearly asked what on earth was happening.
I explained in a gentle voice so as not to startle Karina.
"He's decided to help with the research."
"R-research... He came to help with the research, you mean? Principal Merlin did?"
"Indeed."
That was the first time I had seen Karina look so shocked. I saved her adorable expression as a mental screenshot. Whenever I felt down, I'd recall it and run my happiness circuit.
"P-p-p-p-p-p..."
"Miss Elisa?!"
Elisa had fainted upon seeing the Principal and lay sprawled in the hallway. I sighed, walked over, and decided to carry her to her room. When I lifted her and looked back, Principal Merlin was staring awkwardly at Elisa in my arms.
"This is quite a novel experience..."
"I'll take her to her room and come back."
"Go ahead."
I immediately laid Elisa on her bed and returned, then addressed Principal Merlin, who was speaking with Karina.
"Principal. Let's head to the workshop now."
"So it's already time. Take care, Miss Karina."
"Until next time, Principal Merlin."
[You've got a real talent for causing chaos, don't you?]
"...Be quiet."
I'd been pushing events forward so quickly that I hadn't considered things like this. More accurately, I was so accustomed to doing everything alone that I had never imagined this sort of situation arising.
In any case, once Viola, Principal Merlin, and I reached the workshop, I immediately fetched paper and drew the blueprints on the spot. Most prosthetics I knew came from old movies and anime, so I only had to draw whatever I remembered.
"It's as quick and precise as if you were tracing it. Have you drawn this many times before?"
"I worked the design out in my head in advance."
"Still, to draw with such confidence is remarkable."
"Normally just drafting one blueprint takes at least a few hours... Something this complex, in a flash?"
"You get used to it if you do it enough."
Leaving Viola's admiration behind, I looked at Principal Merlin. He stared intently at my blueprints, deep in thought. I didn't interrupt him and simply waited for him to speak.
About five minutes later, Principal Merlin finally spoke.
"I don't understand a single bit of it."