Recruiting Village Residents #3
The Dune Strider crumbled into ash, scattering into the air. At that moment, the Necro Puppeteer thrust out his arm. The drifting ashes were sucked straight into his palm.
[Geon-tul-lit. This one's already dead, so I'll turn it into a puppet and use it as a desert village resident.] It seemed he could resurrect even ash into a puppet just by absorbing it.
"Puppet, didn't you say you'd gather the ones you make into a separate puppet village later?"
[A few won't matter. That village is for elite puppets only anyway.]
The Necro Puppeteer pulled out the corpses he'd stored inside him.
[I'll synthesize some of the corpse materials left by Dolmaker.]
He began recreating the Dune Strider as a puppet. While I waited, I looked up at the Solorb that had obliterated it in one strike and asked,
"...Solorb."
[Sorry. I meant not to interfere so you could tame it, Explorer... but its arrogance got under my skin.]
"Nah. Not complaining about that. If you don't like it, kill it—that's natural."
[...True enough. Thanks for understanding.]
If it had been one of my tamed monsters, I'd have said something. Even if they weren't direct subordinates following my orders, I'd clearly laid out the plan to recruit village residents beforehand and urged prioritizing captures alive. But Solorb wasn't tamed by me. And it was an SSS-grade monster I couldn't afford to piss off. No way I'd complain to something like that. Best to pretend no hard feelings. That's how affinity builds slowly.
[So why did you call me?]
"Oh. Right before that Dune Strider showed up, you were about to say something, yeah? Called you to ask about that."
[......]
"Why the silence?"
[Did I mishear? I said nothing.]
"..."
I hadn't misheard. It had definitely muttered something. The Dune Strider's arrival had cut it off—I remembered clearly. But I didn't press. It clearly didn't want to revisit it.
Solorb's got a subtly tiresome personality.
"Yeah, must've been me. My bad."
[You must be exhausted lately. Your current body is so frail—take breaks until the seal fully lifts. Don't overdo it.]
"Thanks for worrying."
But had I ever told Solorb about the seal? ...Couldn't recall. Probably learned through Bastet Daong or something.
—[Codex illustration complete, Explorer.]
[Geon-tul-lit. Puppet production finished.]
The voices of the Art Pega Unicorn and Necro Puppeteer overlapped.
I checked the Art Pega Unicorn's illustration first. A Dune Strider sitting against a desert backdrop. Flawless perfection.
"Your speed's improving daily. Quality's leaping up too."
—[Too kind. Speed's up, but skill's still lacking.]
Next, I inspected the puppet Dune Strider. No visible changes.
"Puppet, what's different from when it was alive?"
[Kept the appearance, but added an ability via synthesis.]
"What ability?"
[Temporarily weakens the opponent's strength. Found a monster with that among Dolmaker's leftovers.]
"Sounds like my nerf ability."
[Far inferior to yours.]
A perfect fit for a Dune Strider. The Puppeteer seemed sharper by the day.
After a brief chat, I turned to the Dune Strider.
"Dune Strider, head to the desert village and help with work. Iris already relayed your info, so run that way—you'll meet a robot coming to greet you."
[Yes sir!]
The puppet Dune saluted sharply and dashed off in the direction I pointed.
Tower of Life. A structure drawing up and purifying oasis water, distributing it via underground channels to the whole city. Omega suggested placing a water-manipulating monster there—ideally one that could generate water.
And.
[Nyaaaa!]
Luckily, I found one matching perfectly. Actual threat: S-grade. Nerfed threat: B-grade. A crab body with a cat face. It spat water from its mouth and conjured it midair with its claws. I named the species Cat Crab.
Anyway. The Cat Crab was subdued instantly. It charged us fearlessly, only to get helplessly wrapped in Kinogine Arachne's threads.
[I'll use Mind Control right away.] The Necro Puppeteer stepped forward.
I nodded and crouched by a nearby puddle in the sand.
The water the Cat Crab had sprayed at us. I cautiously touched it with a finger.
The instant it made contact, it gurgled and burst like a balloon, unleashing a massive torrent—like a hot spring erupting.
"...Not normal water."
Didn't know the principle, but this liquid was water hyper-compressed. Infiltrate the body, then burst it inside—that must be the Cat Crab's standard attack. Most creatures would drown from the flood.
"Ellis is right. Could make a tsunami to drown a nation."
Maybe relatively weak for S-grade. But irrelevant now. Water generation alone was plenty satisfying. Combat prowess? Secondary.
—[Explorer! Codex complete!]
"...Was gonna draw this one myself."
—[Ah, sorry!]
"No need to apologize. Show me."
—[Yes! Displaying on Iris!]
Iris's screen showed the Art Pega Unicorn's Cat Crab illustration.
■ Cat Crab
—Actual Threat: S-grade.
—Current (Nerfed) Threat: B-grade.
—Abilities: Water Generation, Water Compression.
"Well drawn. Good work."
—[Thank you!]
—"Yangyang! When's Geon-tul-lit coming back yang! Made lots of tasty stuff—hurry home yang!"
The Art Pega Unicorn cleared the drawing to show her face, and Merino Ulla popped in beside her.
"Can't be too soon... but won't be too late."
—"Yangyang!"
Afterward, taming the Cat Crab went fast. Hostility was high, but Puppeteer's Mind Control sped the color shift.
As we prepared to move on Giant Caterpillar,
[Explorer. Like that one?]
Solorb spoke up again. Chatty today. Bored?
"The Cat Crab? Yeah. Desert village needs water generators."
[Beg earnestly, and I'll specially reveal their colony spot.]
"For real? Where?"
[Your begging lacks desperation. Show it.]
"Pass. I'll find 'em myself."
[......]
Solorb fell silent, then spoke.
[Huhu... Can't resist such earnest desire. Past that rock ahead, straight on.]
Guided by Solorb, we headed to the Cat Crab colony.