Chapter 12
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 12: I Cannot Forget His Touch
The top of the Magic Tower, the Tower Master's office.
The master of the Magic Tower and one of the most powerful mages, Tower Master Veronica, almost dropped the teacup she was holding while looking at Pandora standing in front of her eyes.
"You... What's wrong with your body?"
The state of Pandora, the Golem Guardian Stone Statue, was a marvel itself.
The transparent crystal outer shell that was always murkily blocked was shining transparently like a freshly crafted jewel, and the white sludge that had existed since she first met Pandora had disappeared, with blue mana vigorously fluctuating.
It wasn't a perfect state, but her body was definitely in a repaired state.
Even the Magic Tower's expert technicians clicked their tongues. Saying this couldn't be fixed. Saying that repairing an old golem was only possible by replacing all the internal devices. Because she is a golem impossible to repair with magic, they said they had no choice but to watch her output drop now.
That body of hers was in a state where a considerable portion had been repaired.
As if she had been rejuvenated.
"Where, no, from whom on earth did you get repaired?" "It is not a repair."
Pandora answered with a calm mechanical voice.
"I received laundry. From Boss Kim Jinsoo of 'Sanctuary Laundry'." "What? Laundry?"
What does that mean? Laundry is the act of washing clothes. How can the word 'laundry' be used for repairing a golem?
"I'm not understanding very well right now, you see? Could you explain properly?"
Veronica's brow crumpled fiercely. Because it was a combination of words she couldn't understand.
"It is literally that. I entrusted the laundry of my body to a laundry. And he washed me excellently." "..." "Moving forward, I plan to receive regular maintenance there." "...You're going to keep receiving it there?" "Yes. Over a long time, I have confirmed that the Magic Tower cannot repair my body. Therefore, I intend to repair my body with a new method. This is a very rational judgment, and an essential process to maintain this unit's body." "No."
Veronica firmly drew a line.
"I cannot accept the reason. He is the benefactor who perfectly fixed me." "Pandora. You are the guardian of the Orbis Magic Tower, and the symbol of our technological prowess. If a rumor spreads that you left 'Wiz Clean', the Magic Tower's premium management facility, and are receiving management at a neighborhood laundry, what would happen to the Magic Tower's prestige?"
She snapped, tapping on the desk.
"I can absolutely never permit it. Contact with outside businesses is prohibited moving forward."
Pandora stared into empty air for a moment. As if computing some data, she soon reached a conclusion.
"...If that is the case, I will quit the Magic Tower." "What?" "I request termination of the contract."
Veronica's purple pupils shook greatly as if an earthquake had occurred.
You're throwing a resignation letter at the workplace where you worked for 500 years over just one laundry session?
"Are you out of your mind right now? Just because of that laundry boss?" "It is not 'just'."
Pandora placed her hand on her crystal chest and spoke with a very minutely trembling voice. It was a strangely flushed voice that could never come from a machine.
"I... cannot forget his touch." "...What?" "That hot temperature, the vibration digging deep inside. That overwhelming touch that made me pour out everything that had been tightly blocked... I have become a body that can never be satisfied with the Magic Tower's crude mechanical brushing ever again."
It was a shocking wording perfectly prone to misunderstanding, no, one that couldn't help but be misunderstood. Even Pandora's face as she spoke was slightly flushed.
At the fact that a golem incapable of expressing emotions, a golem where expressing them is impossible, expressed her emotions with excitement in the middle of speaking. Veronica's face went beyond blushing to turning pale white.
"What on earth did that crazy man do to our golem!!"
Veronica's scolding heavily pounded the Tower Master's office.
"The office is quite noisy since morning?"
The firmly closed door of the office opened, and a woman wearing a splendid red dress entered.
The Chairwoman of Ignis Industry and a Red Dragon. It was Carmilla Ignis.
"Chairwoman Ignis? What brings you here without an appointment." "I had something to discuss regarding the investment in Wiz Clean under the Orbis Magic Tower this time. But..."
Carmilla's golden pupils passed Veronica and headed towards Pandora standing next to her.
"Hoh."
Her eyes narrowed as if intrigued. The eyes of a dragon, a race of magic and known to have reached the pinnacle of all magic, pierce through the flow of mana.
Carmilla instantly noticed the miracle that had occurred in Pandora's body.
"This, it's not the Magic Tower's skill?" "T-that's..."
At Ignis's words, Veronica shut her mouth. It's a correct statement. Because the miracle that occurred in Pandora's body was not accomplished by the Magic Tower.
Didn't Veronica also issue a warning to Pandora just now because of that very fact?
To think she'd quit the Magic Tower because she couldn't forget his touch. It was something a mage's pride could not tolerate.
"He melted and extracted the mana dregs with physical waves. It's a perfect cleaning that absolutely cannot be imitated by the hands of mages."
Carmilla approached as if possessed.
"Ahem, it's not the Magic Tower's skill, but the skills of our Magic Tower's technicians could sufficiently accomplish it. And if I step forward..."
Veronica opened her mouth as if making an excuse. But Ignis approached Pandora without listening to her words and lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Who is it? What artisan left such an artistic touch?"
Veronica urgently tried to cover Pandora's mouth, but the machine's speed was faster.
Pandora opened the storage space on her chest, took out a crumpled piece of paper, and handed it to Carmilla.
"...Hmph~."
A deep arc was drawn on the lips of Carmilla, who checked the flyer.
In her head, the face of the bold man sweating profusely while extracting the Dragon Flame Thread flashed by.
"It's a place I know too." "It's a place Chairwoman Ignis knows?" "It's the place that mended my dress. It's also a place that accomplished something absolutely impossible at Wiz Clean." "..."
At the words looking down on the business under her Magic Tower, Veronica looked at her with a displeased face.
"Chairwoman Ignis, I'm sorry, but we are a place that specializes in laundry, not a place that does mending..." "I know. That place even does mending. It seems they can even do laundry repairs that the Magic Tower couldn't do."
Ignis's eyes scanned Pandora one more time.
"How on earth did he do it?"
At that question, Pandora answered instead.
"He stroked every nook and cranny of my body. Appropriate vibration and massage, and a trustworthy voice telling me to entrust everything to him. Everything was used for the treatment of this unit."
At the words of Pandora answering with a slightly flushed face while imagining that situation, Carmilla's brow crumpled slightly.
"Every nook and cranny?" "That is correct. In order to resolve the sludge and the mana backflow and blockage phenomena residing in this unit's body, he carefully pressed here and there." "..." "Then he meticulously wiped all the liquid that seeped out from my body and told me I did well..."
Words that sound somewhat suspicious. At the statement that makes one doubt whether that process was really for the sake of laundry, Carmilla swallowed her breath.
"So you're saying not only did he see this lady's body, but he was also wiping another woman's body in every nook and cranny?"
It was a strangely pointed muttering tinged with possessiveness.
"How insolent. It seems he definitely needs some education."
Carmilla tried to take the flyer from Pandora. However, Pandora did not permit her touch.
"The corresponding flyer is an item necessary for the continuous treatment of this unit. No matter if you are the Chairwoman of Ignis, this is an unacceptable action." "How amusing? Are you saying you want to try me?" "Currently, with my body condition, the possibility of defeating the Chairwoman is non-existent, but I believe an act of making an enemy of the Magic Tower is not logically sound, though?"
At Pandora's cheeky retort, the corners of Carmilla's mouth twitched.
"Right, that's not wrong. And scraps of paper like that are commonly scattered everywhere anyway. The important thing is I can just go find him myself and ask, isn't it?"
Having finished her words, Carmilla turned her body without lingering attachment.
"Chairwoman Ignis, you said you came to talk about the investment!" "I think I just stated my business. Since a slightly more excellent business seems to have appeared, I plan to postpone the investment." "What?" "If it's a laundry that resolved this lady's problem, wouldn't it be more outstanding than Wiz Clean." "What does that... Do you think such a small laundry can handle the scale of Ignis Industry?" "They can't. Most regular laundry will still be entrusted to Wiz Clean. But if it's special laundry, the story is different." "..."
Carmilla smiled, looking slightly at Veronica.
"Because it seems that place can resolve it. Unlike a certain place that just makes you throw it away because they can't handle it, you see." "I clearly said, we too..." "I'll continue the contract. But I plan to reduce the investment amount. Consider it known." "Hey, Ignis! Carmilla!"
Carmilla didn't even look back. The sound of her red high heels cheerfully echoed down the hallway.
"I didn't know my exclusive tailor was even good at giving massages as a side job."
A strange displeasure was mixed in Ignis's voice as she exited the Magic Tower.
Her destination was already set.
'Sanctuary Laundry'.
It was the space where Kim Jinsoo would be.
"Elena." "..." "Elena? I need a little help for a moment?" "..."
Elena stared piercingly at me while sitting on the sofa. With her eyes narrowed, she only glared without answering my call.
"Elena?" "Pervert. Golem-fucker." "Where did you learn such a word?" "I never even thought the Boss would be someone who feels lust for a golem." "..."
Lust? I feel lust for a golem?
"Are you by any chance acting like this because of Pandora's cleaning method from yesterday?" "...I'm not, though?" "You are, though?" "I'm not. I'm ab~~~solutely not sulking because of something like that, you know? Moving forward, the Boss is someone who has to rip off, no, earn money from other brothers and sisters, but I'm angry that you got all drooly over a robot's body and did laundry for a price that's practically free!"
No matter who looks, it's a face sulking because of that.
"But it didn't cost any materials, and the base service fee is 3 million won, isn't it?" "...That's the problem! That the service fee for S-Rank equipment is merely 3 million won!"
Mm.
"With the Boss's level of skill, you can raise the base service fee more. It's already at the level where the equipment is reborn when you do laundry." "That's true, but in the first place, the material costs for mending and laundry are too expensive, so if I set the service fee too expensively as well, customers won't come." "It's not a wrong statement, but..."
Elena rolled her pupils.
"But still, it's unreasonable for such a laundry to be 3 million won!" "What exactly is unreasonable?" "T-that's..."
Elena, who hesitated for a moment, opened her mouth.
"I-if you process it that cheaply, you can't pay my salary!" "Don't worry. I can sufficiently take care of your salary." "Ugh!"
To think she was sulking because of money. Seeing things like this, she was an employee with a cute side.
It was a request mixed with the sharp wish of an employee wanting the boss to work hard. Don't worry. Elena. I can sufficiently take care of your salary.
"If I can't earn that much money, I'll even take on mercenary work elsewhere to take care of it." "I-it's not like that..."
She, who had been speaking, shut her mouth and let out a heavy sigh.
"No. Never mind." "You finally understand the boss's heart." "It's not like that, you know?" "It's not?"
I thought she finally understood.
"I wonder if customers won't come today?"
I definitely improved the condition of Pandora, the symbol and gatekeeper of the Magic Tower. It's not a complete cure, but I made it so she can be fully cured if she visits a few more times.
"Why aren't any mages coming?"
By this point, it would be plausible for one or two to come.
Don't tell me, Pandora.
"Did she eat and run?"
You clearly said you'd promote it. You didn't really just wipe your mouth clean, did you?
If so, I'll be very disappointed.
"Pervert."
My one and only employee is full of horns because of the massage I did yesterday.
It seems business today will unfold a bit difficultly, huh.
It was then.
Ding-a-ling-.
"Welcome."
The door opened and today's first customer came visiting. I thought, 'Still, there's no law saying we have to go out of business,' but.
"Store Manager, I came because I heard an interesting piece of news."
It was the Chairwoman of Ignis Industry, the Red Dragon Carmilla.
"Ah, Ms. Carmilla, you have arrived?" "I heard the news that the Store Manager touched another woman's body?"
Mm? What kind of sound is this again?
"What do you mean...?" "The Magic Tower's Guardian Stone Statue, Pandora. I think you'd know just by hearing this?"
Ah.
"You heard the rumor, as expected."
As expected of Pandora. There's no way she'd eat and run. There's no way a golem would break a promise, right?
"That is correct. Of course, the nuance might sound a bit strange, but the contamination existing in Ms. Pandora's unit, our laundry..." "I heard you groped the woman's body tremendously during that process?" "Yes?"
Groping her body tremendously. There's a reason for that...
But the dragon in front of my eyes seemed to have absolutely no intention of listening to my excuses.