125. Dungeon, Explosion, Reward (3)
125. Dungeon, Explosion, Reward (3)
"I'm not joking. I mean it."
"Honestly, I don't really understand it either."
...They didn't understand it?
I wasn't sure which part he couldn't grasp. I pulled the blueprint back over and checked it again. I didn't think I'd written anything all that difficult. I set the blueprint down and asked Principal Merlin a question.
"What is it you don't understand?"
"What is an ergonomic design?"
"...It means a design optimized for the human body."
"Why are there so many parts?"
"You need at least this many to replicate the joints of a human body."
I planned to simplify it further, but reproducing the movement of a real elbow would still require considerable refinement.
For now, my plan was to make it as intricately as possible, then slowly simplify it.
"What is this circled part?"
"That's where an elastic material needs to go. When the arm takes an impact, the material has to absorb and disperse the shock so the arm can move smoothly."
"Hmm... Interesting. Then what is this device attached to the forearm?"
"It's for self-defense."
"Why attach such a thing?"
"Having at least one would help in an emergency."
"Remove it."
Tsk. Without a shred of mercy, I drew a big X over the blade deployment mechanism I'd planned for the elbow. Watching this, Viola pointed at my blueprint and spoke up.
"How can anyone understand it if you draw the entire design on one sheet? The more complex the object, the more you're supposed to draw separate blueprints for each part as you build it!"
"I see."
"Not 'I see'... No, never mind. Continue."
Viola, who had been shouting at me, glanced at Merlin and fell silent. Principal Merlin stroked his beard as he watched her, then chuckled and spoke to me.
"Ha ha. Viola is correct. If you cram everything onto one sheet, even what should be understandable becomes impossible to decipher. Take out six sheets and draw separate blueprints for the hand, wrist, elbow, forearm, upper arm, and full arm assembly."
If that was what it took. I took out six sheets of paper and drew a separate blueprint for each part. Breaking every section down and redrawing it in detail produced much cleaner plans than before. Once I had finished all six, I handed them to the two of them.
"Is this a bit easier to read?"
"Much better than before."
"Still looks complicated..."
Viola and Principal Merlin passed my blueprints back and forth, staring intently at them. It seemed they still needed time to process the input, so I sat with my arms crossed and waited for them to understand the designs. Ten minutes passed before they looked up and spoke.
"Remarkable. To think you could pull such elaborate blueprints straight from your head."
"You can pull something like this straight out of your head...? These blueprints would take at least a month of racking your brain to produce."
"I'd been thinking about it for quite a while."
That was a lie, of course—an excuse I gave because explaining would have been a nuisance. I pulled over the full-arm blueprint, traced a finger from the shoulder to the back of the hand, and looked between the two of them.
"I'll make the parts myself. Principal Merlin, you'll engrave the mana circuits and inscriptions. Viola will wear the prosthetic and test it."
"Mana circuits, you say?"
"I plan to try two approaches. We'll either make it controllable by inscribing a control magic circle like a golem, or we'll integrate it fully with the body so the wearer can move it naturally."
"Interesting. But how do you intend to integrate it? It's still a prosthetic arm."
He did not seem to be asking because he lacked the answer. He wanted to see how I'd respond. Still, I couldn't refuse to explain, so I slowly put the answer into words.
"How do you suppose the human body moves?"
"Hmm. The brain sends a signal, the muscles contract, and the muscles move the bones. Is that not how it works?"
"Then how does it send those signals?"
"Hm. I'm afraid I don't know."
"The brain's signals travel through the body's nervous system in the form of electrical signals."
In truth, I had been a humanities major and was explaining from the few hazy memories I still possessed. It was probably not wrong.
"So, you intend to inscribe lightning magic onto the prosthetic?"
"Correct."
As expected of an Archmage, he understood quickly. Viola, meanwhile, watched me with an expression caught somewhere between comprehension and confusion. Perhaps she was slower because this sat awkwardly outside the field of alchemy. I explained how the human body moved in simpler terms for her.
"Ahhh, I see. I understand now."
"Good. Then I'll have you assist Principal Merlin."
"Don't you need any help before that?"
"No. Once I have made each part successfully, I can reproduce it with my Skill, so—"
"Ah, you mean that Skill."
Having seen me use my Skill to dig tunnels and raise buildings in the Rift, Viola caught on immediately. So the question came from the Archmage standing next to her.
"Say, what is this Skill?"
He looked ready to die of curiosity. To satisfy the old scholar who had devoted so many years to learning, I fetched a suitable block of wood and used my Skill.
"Craft."
The block of wood wobbled like a slime, then quickly took the shape of a small figure. It was a figurine—no, a statuette modeled after Karina. That was the only thing I could think of at the moment.
...That wasn't going to get me arrested for blasphemy, was it?
"To think such a Skill exists. I feel as if my eyes have been opened anew."
"How does that Skill work? I'm curious about the mechanism."
"It skips the process for anything I can make with my own hands. That's all."
"What an incredible Skill. I believe it could be classified as a Unique Skill."
Unique?
"Ah, are you unaware of the classification system for Skills?"
"I've never paid it any mind."
I knew how Skills were classified in the game, but I did not know whether this world used the same system. It wasn't particularly important, though.
"Skills are divided into Normal, Rare, Unique, and Legendary."
So it followed the game in that respect. This world mixed game settings and reality in equal measure, making it extremely difficult to judge. I placed the statuette of Karina on the windowsill and changed the subject.
There was no need to hear what I already knew.
"We have plenty to discuss, so let's return to the main subject."
"Very well. But what were we discussing? My memory is a little hazy."
"It was when we started talking about inscribing lightning magic onto the prosthetic, I think."
At Viola's suddenly deferential answer, Principal Merlin stroked his beard and nodded.
"Right. You're inscribing a lightning magic circle onto the prosthetic?"
"That's correct. But it has to be extremely weak. The electrical signals in the human body are minuscule, so we'll have to match them."
"That will be quite a difficult spell."
"Isn't there a risk of getting hurt? What about controlling it the same way as a golem?"
"That approach has its own problems. Most importantly, if the wearer cannot control it properly, the prosthetic could damage their body instead. Excessive force could strain the shoulder, or imprecise control could cause an accident."
That method might have been better for combat, but for daily life, connecting mana circuits that acted as artificial nerves would be far safer than controlling it like a golem.
"Wouldn't it be fine once you get the hang of it? And wouldn't testing it directly be the surest way to know?"
"You could get hurt."
With Karina here, nothing was likely to go seriously wrong, but taking such a risk was still undesirable. Viola grinned as though my concern were needless, tapped the shoulder on her missing side with her good hand, and answered.
"My body's already as damaged as it can get. Let's proceed."
"Then I'll make two versions: one using mana circuits to replicate the nervous system, and one using a control magic circle to issue commands to the arm."
The only difference would be the magic circles engraved on them, so I merely had to make another identical arm. I recalled the required materials and declared.
"Now that we have settled everything, I'll begin development..."
-----------------
"How is it?"
"It feels strange... Almost too light?"
Had the weight-reduction spell been too strong? I watched Viola move the arm back and forth.
The steel prosthetic moved so lightly it was hard to believe it was made of steel.
At that weight, even an elderly or infirm person could probably use it.
"First, try picking up that cup."
Still unused to the prosthetic, Viola approached the table with an awkward gait, carefully grasped the cup with it, and lifted it.
"I'm definitely holding the cup, but I can't feel anything, so it's weird."
"Replicating a sense of touch is impossible, so that's an unavoidable problem."
Reaching that point would probably not be possible for another thousand years.
"Ha ha. Still, for a first attempt, it's not bad at all."
"I didn't expect you'd manage to make it in three days..."
"It was only possible because we compressed the design process."
I'd barely slept while making every gear and frame component by hand. Still, seeing Viola wearing the steel prototype—the mana-circuit model—made all that hardship feel as though it were washing away... My ass.
I needed to go crash immediately.
I was so sleepy I could die.
People needed sleep to live, and I had been doing this for three days straight. I genuinely felt as though I might die.
"Well? Does it move as well as you thought?"
"Mm, a little awkward... but I think once I've used it a couple of days, it'll be fine."
"Then I'll ask Karina to give you a guest room. Stay here and use it for two days while I monitor your condition."
"Do so. It'll be much easier to check the condition that way."
Viola nodded reluctantly, as though she had no choice. Watching her, I pressed my fingers firmly against my eyelids.
"The basic work is complete, so I'll leave the fine-tuning to you, Principal Merlin."
"Very well. Go get some rest."
Finally, I could sleep.
I staggered to my feet and threw myself onto the bed set up in the corner of the workshop.
Ah, right. I needed to take off my shoes before sleeping.
Because sleeping with shoes on was a violation of basic human decency...
-------------------
"Haah."
The Archmage in his nineties watched the man who had instantly plunged into sleep and smiled with deep satisfaction.
'There was once a time I worked that hard, too.'
It was already something from decades ago.
The passionate young man he had once been was now an old man waiting only for death. That made Yohan's fresh youthful passion look all the more enviable. Merlin looked away from Yohan and toward Viola, who was lifting and lowering objects as she adjusted to the prosthetic.
"How is it? Can you move it?"
"It feels strange, like I'm using a pair of tongs to pick things up instead of my hand... but I think I'll get used to it. I'm not sure about strenuous activity, though."
"This is only the first step, so don't be impatient. With enough development, you will be able to use it like a real arm."
"Okaaay..."
Viola answered in a tearful voice and lowered her head. She saw the prosthetic—slightly crude, but moving according to her will. She opened and closed its fingers one by one. At that simple motion, tears suddenly welled in her eyes.
It wasn't just one or two people who had turned their backs on her simply because she had lost an arm.
Viola gripped the prosthetic with her good hand. It felt crude and rough, yet to her, the sensation could not have been more precious.
Now no one would be able to look down on her for being one-armed.
Principal Merlin watched Viola with fond eyes, then turned and cast a silence spell on Yohan so he wouldn't wake. He spoke to Viola in a playful voice.
"I'll step out to the restroom. The silence spell is working properly, so don't worry."
Before Viola could stop him, he darted out of the workshop with speed no one would have expected from an old man. Viola stared blankly, eyes wide, at the light leaking through the gap in the door.
And then, tears began to fall to the floor.
In the silent room, the pent-up anguish deep inside her burst free in a torrent.
There was no sound.