It was storming that day.
Rain struck the ground as if trying to wash it away, and enormous bolts of lightning fell towards the earth.
The light from these strikes illuminated the inside of a certain house.
A single house, standing in a barren plain.
In that house, two Mad Scientists laughed.
“Hahaha!! MUWAHAHAHAHAH!! FINALLY! IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!”
“YES! AFTER ALL THIS TIME! IT’S FINALLY COMPLETE!”
The two Mad Scientists danced around the room hand in hand.
“To have come this far, it’s all due to Shishou’s peerless techniques.”
“No, no. It’s all due to your boundless knowledge and design. Without that we would never have completed it, Zanoba.”
The two were Rudeus and Zanoba.
The two praised each other and stopped dancing.
In the room with the two of them, a dais was set.
It was a stone dais emitting a strange light.
On that dais, a lone girl lay there sleeping completely bare.
“It truly took a long time to make it this far.”
Rudeus thought about all their continuous failures.
The first time they tried to activate it ended in failure.
To complete Prototype Unit No.01 many tens of versions and minor changes were necessary.
As a result, what they got after activation was a golem that could comply with simple commands.
This in itself was something which would be in great demand, but what the two strived for was something much different.
For Prototype Unit No.02 an Artificially Intelligent core and a body closer to a human’s were to be developed.
Of course, the failures continued.
The body gradually became more human-like, but to make its movements more human, changing the flesh was very difficult but but tampering with the core to the same end could cause it to fail to activate.
To make it as human as possible they had to achieve the perfect balance.
Failures led to more failures.
They re-examined the memoirs of the Eccentric Dragon King Chaos many times over.
They even asked the Armoured Dragon King Pergius for advice and gained insights into magic formations and spirit summoning.
The Dragon God Orsted gave them rare magic stones and knowledge of many materials.
But despite that, the failures continued.
The unreachable domain of the Mad Dragon King. They shed tears at the thought of never touching it.
They failed, shed tears, tried once more, and failed once again.
But each time they failed, they learned something new, slowly making progress.
And finally, one month later.
At last, they had succeeded.
They had succeeded in activating a doll of temporary composition.
The Prototype Unit No.03.
It had no face but without a doubt, it activated.
They were overjoyed at the success.
After taking the Data from the Prototype Unit No.03 they immediately began work on the next unit.
The Prototype Unit No.04
The Prototype Unit No.04 had specs quite close to the finished product.
The body and face of a human, lips that moved when it talked and it made full use of its limbs to move freely.
But in actual fact, the two of them hadn’t completed all the experiments on the Prototype Unit No.03.
They hadn’t examined for all possible flaws.
In their pursuit of their ideal doll and perfect form, they did not have the patience.
And so, they brushed the process aside and began work on the almost complete Prototype Unit No.04.
But that in itself was a good thing.
Everything Prototype Unit No.03 could do Prototype Unit No.04 could too.
They still had to perform the system check on the Prototype Unit No.04 and test its compatibility with the tasks that they would have the finished product undergo.
That was fine, they thought.
This is the next step, they thought.
What we want to see it beyond this, they thought.
This is the Automaton that we want to see, they thought.
“Now then! I’m activating it~!”
“Yeah!”
Zanoba reached out to the magic stone on the girl’s modest chest with an excited expression.
Within that magic stone, in the chest of the girl was the core.
The tiny complicated magic formation in the Core was the girl’s heart.
After the Core activates, the Doll would stand on it’s own feet, learn, make it’s own decisions, and absorb mana with it’s own power allowing for semi-permanent activity.
It’s was perfect autonomous doll.
Of course if that happens it’s possible that it could collapse from mana exhaustion.
But if that happens it would just need to be rested on the platform until all it’s magic recovered.
But when Rudeus first proposed that, Zanoba had said:
“If it needs a human to restart it, doesn’t that make it incomplete?”
But Rudeus replied to him:
“Of course not, that in itself is perfection.
When people fall and can’t get up by themselves, it’s by borrowing the hands of others that they can stand once more.”
“…”
Zanoba’s hand began to hesitate.
Would even he hesitate at having to touch the chest of a small girl?
No, he wasn’t someone to have doubts over something like that.
“…Shishou why don’t you do it?”
“No, the reason we made it this far was your hard work, you do it.”
Zanoba was frightened.
They were about to realise their ideal.
The thing they had been dreaming about for more than 10 years.
But he wasn’t originally a timid man.
He was someone unrelated to indecision.
“I understand… Then, I will activate it!”
“Yeah!”
Zanoba’s hand slowly reached towards the girl’s chest.
Slowly and carefully as if touching something fragile his hand crept along the girl’s skin towards the magic stone.
The mana needed for activation wasn’t that large.
It was an amount anyone could provide.
“…『Awaken, my beloved daughter』”
The moment Zanoba said the activation incantation, his mana was sucked through his finger.
The red light on the platform began to turn blue.
the second he confirmed that, he removed his hand.
“…”
Several seconds passed in silence.
The two men held their breath and watched the girl activate.
The post activation process was automatic.
After the chant and input of the initial mana, all that was left to do was watch.
“…”
The girl, silently opened her eyes.
She had dark black pupils.
And at the same time, the physical connection to the platform was severed.
After the connection was severed, the girl slowly sat up.
She had pure white hair.
She was so slender, you would think she didn’t have the slightest trace of muscle.
Her breasts were small but the shape was perfect and her figure was so beautiful you wouldn’t think it belonged to a young girl.
This was the crystallisation of Zanoba and Rudeus’s many years of experience in doll creation and art.
Her body was made of artificial flesh and her bones were of the same strength as the Magic Armour.
The artificial flesh used Rudeus’s earth magic clay as a base, mixed with the scales of Red Dragons and Phantom Butterflies that have high magic power and finally, the sap of an Elder Treant and Immortal Race blood.
This was the compound that was completed after continuous trial and error with high class materials. While possessing exceptional durability, it also had a feel extremely close to human skin.
What made the body move were magic formations carved into the bones.
These formations cause the artificial flesh to solidify and move like muscle.
The principle was the same as the Magic Armour.
But the joints were made from the powdered bone of Skeleton Deathbreakers.
The bone powder raised the magical conductivity.
Especially high rank skeletons have exceptional conductivity allowing extremely human-like movements.
The girl raised her hands stretched above her head and stretched backwards.
Her expression was human and her movements smooth.
Her overly calm actions that emphasised her chest were brimming with feminine charm.
*Gulp*
Rudeus swallowed.
“I didn’t notice it when we were making it, but those movements are much more dangerous than I realised.”
“…”
Zanoba didn’t respond.
But you could see on his face that he felt the same.
The girl, still silent, lay back down and raised her knees.
Her young buttocks came up with her knees and she then began to extend them and with her feet still in the air she began to open and close her thighs.1
The secret place of the doll was exposed in front of the two.
Coincidentally, these movements were not to flaunt her body in an erotic sense.
Upon activation a self check program of joint movement would be initiated.
If the check ended in failure, it would give an error message.
From her own mouth.
“Activation successful.”
Finally, after removing her hair from in front of her face, she proclaimed that it was complete.
The artificial voice was very similar to someone the two knew.
“Haa…”
The two, releasing their tense expressions, breathed a sigh of relief.
They had failed countless times at this step.
Like the time when she raised her arms and her hands flew towards the ceiling like a rocket punch, or when her hip bent at a weird angle, or when her crotch split and it looked like some odd work of art, or when both hands started spinning…
And among the Prototype unit No.03 some simply exploded.
The problem was that the skeleton was the same as the magic armour.
When he had first boarded the Magic Armour, Rudeus had to learn to control its strength.
But that required a large amount of experience in both magic and bodily control.
But a doll has no experience.
And in that case, if it was always using maximum strength it would destroy itself.
Therefore it was necessary to install all kinds of limiters.
But it was still made to the same standard as the Magic armour.
Even with a limiter, the threshold is still high and movement on the level of a Saint Class swordsman is possible.
“It seems like there’s no problems.”
“Yeah.”
As if reacting to their conversation, still lying down, the doll looked at Zanoba with its glassy, inorganic eyes.
And then it spoke.
“Master, what is your name?”
“It’s Zanoba!”
“Master Zanoba registered. What are your orders?”
“Please register this man as Sub-Master.”
“Understood. What is your name?”
“It’s Rudeus.”
“Sub-Master Rudeus registered. What are your orders?”
This exchange was something they had repeated countless times with the Prototype Unit No.03.
To first register the Master.
“Well then, if you would please get up off the table and stand on the floor.”
The doll got off the table and quickly stood up.
Seeing this, Rudeus clenched his fists.
“Alright, it can properly register Master’s names and follow commands.”
Rudeus was extremely excited looking at the doll.
The first time around, they had experienced major issues.
When he had said “It’s Zanoba” the doll had registered “Master It’s Zanoba”
Or another time when it didn’t move at all not understanding that “If you would please” was the beginning of a command.
They had gotten advice from Pergius to deal with it.
The hint that they had gotten led to all kinds of changes to the magic formation and they had restarted from square one a number of times.
And that’s how they had ended up here.
The completed summoning magic formation that was carved into the Core contained all human instinctual responses.
“Jump up and down lightly.”
“Yes Master.”
The doll began jumping up and down with both feet.
Quite a powerful jump.
The artificial flesh had enough power to destroy the skeleton but it seemed like the proper amount of control was in place.
“Keep jumping and raise both hands above your head.”
“Yes Master.”
“Spread your feet apart and… Stop.”
“Yes Master.”
“Now start jumping again while spinning both hands around.”
“Yes Master.”
“Now each time you jump, alternate between opening and closing your legs.”
“Yes Master.”
The doll moves exactly as Zanoba says.
He hair bounced around her swinging arms.
The balance was also perfect.
“Now make a funny face.”
The doll stopped for a second at Zanoba’s abrupt command.
“Yes Master.”
She hit her cheeks with her hands and her face warped.
From expressionless to odd.
You might not be able to call it funny.
But the doll thought for itself and reached a conclusion.
In other words, exactly what they wanted.
“Hmm, it seems promising.”
“Yeah…”
But Rudeus was frowning.
What he was looking at was her small chest that would occasionally shake and her exquisitely designed nether regions.
I say this for the sake of Rudeus’s honour, but it was not a sexual gaze.
It was something he made himself after all.
But each time it got more complete, he was afraid.
Was it his own talent?
No.
“But it really is similar… The face, and while it might have been an accident, the voice too.”
Then Rudeus looked at the doll’s face.
The doll looked Rudeus in the eye but it didn’t smile.
They had made it to be able to smile, but it probably wouldn’t without an order.
But that wasn’t Rudeus’s problem.
“This is definitely going to make her mad…”
The doll’s face resembled someone they knew.
“You mean Nanahoshi?”
Yes, Nanahoshi Shizuka.
Their otherworlder friend sleeping in the sky castle.
The doll resembled her.
Her face, her different length black hair, her figure, and height all resembled Nanahoshi.
A naked doll that resembled their friend.
With sensual breasts and functioning genitals.
“Idiot, I’m talking about Sylphy!”
Right, what he feared was his wife’s anger.
“You could tell her that you needed someone to take over for Nanahoshi-dono while she sleeps?”
“Maybe.”
Right, they had a reason.
In the case that they find Nanahoshi’s friend that was transferred with her.
Although they could simply tell him her name, it would be better to hear it from someone who resembled Nanahoshi.
They had that reason so they made the doll to resemble Nanahoshi.
“The women of your house should also be aware.”
“They know we’re making an automaton but they don’t know that it looks like Nanahoshi.”
That said, Rudeus didn’t think that making a doll that looked like Nanahoshi would make his wives mad.
They had a proper reason and Nanahoshi herself was also fine with it.
If he explained it properly they’d probably accept it.
“The problem is the chest and crotch.”
But explaining the fact that a doll of his friend functioned sexually was a different problem.
Thinking that his wives might find out, Rudeus was anxious.
Based on the way he explained it his bed could end up very cold.
Sylphy would end up looking offended and say “Since you went to all the trouble to make it, why don't you just sleep with the doll instead?”, or she might just burst into tears and get depressed.
Either way, it wasn’t a good thing for Rudeus.
“It wasn’t necessary to make it this elaborate.”
“You can’t say that, with Shishou’s masterful techniques you have crafted a magnificent shape. Especially the nipples, they’re quite erotic.”
“Idiot, after I purposely went out of my way to be vague don’t go saying nipple.”
“I apologise.”
Why had they made the chest and crotch so elaborate.
True, when they were designing the project, they had an ideal.
The ideal of a Dutch wife.2
But at this point they had separated from that ideal.
They should have held themselves back.
It wasn’t necessary to make the chest and crotch 18+. It didn’t need nipples to make tea..
In the first place, this was merely the Prototype Unit No.04.
There was no reason to make the prototype look like Nanahoshi.
Rudeus got ahead of himself.
“In any case, let’s keep this a secret from Sylphy and the others.
“Shishou is whipped after all.”
“Please at least call me devoted.”
Currently there weren’t many who knew that the doll looked like Nanahoshi.
Orsted, Pergius, and Nanahoshi herself.
Of course, they planned on unveiling it after completion and informing various people.
They had plans to mass-produce them after all.
But if those people involved knew how detailed they had made it, they would probably give them a cold stare.
Roxy might just look at him softly and ask “That doll has a better figure than me doesn’t it?”, or maybe just draw away from him with a melancholic look.
Having Roxy draw away from him would leave Rudeus with no other option besides Seppuku.
“Hmm, I can't think that your wives would be as upset as you believe. Everyone is quite aware of how energetic you are.”
“If we were making a normal one I’d think so too, but it’s just because it looks like Nanahoshi I can't help but feel trouble coming.”
Rudeus, while nodding to himself, poked the doll’s chest.
It was a slightly different sensation to that of a human but it was still extremely soft.
If he hadn’t made it himself, he would get quite excited.
That excitement might be considered cheating.
If Eris found Rudeus cheating she would probably give a “Hmph” with her mouth in the shape of a へ and after removing the fist she lodged in his nether regions, push him down and climb on.
To make sure he would never cheat again, she would completely make Rudeus her’s.
Although, this wouldn’t necessarily be something Rudeus would hate.
“…”
Incidentally, the doll had carefully watched the finger that poked it, but hadn’t given any other reaction.
It was simply the sensation of being touched.
They hadn’t inputted the sensation of sexual pleasure.
If Elinalise or Ariel had been more deeply involved in the production process, it might have turned out that way, but the two were currently engrossed in child rearing.
“Well then, shall we scrap it now?”
As he said that, his face darkened.
To Zanoba, scrapping a doll was not something enjoyable.
No matter the doll.
“…No! This one in itself is complete to a certain degree. Scrapping it would be a waste.”
Rudeus folded his arms and began to think.
Worst case scenario, they would scrap this one and begin work on the next model.
Exchanging just the crotch and chest would be impossible with their current technology,
They would need to think about it for the mass production model, but currently it was a unique item.
“We need to think about what to do in case someone finds out…”
“Nobody will know. Isn’t that why we’re doing our research all the way out here.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
They were currently in the Fittoa region of the Asura Empire.
They had borrowed a section of land in the Fittoa restoration zone from the Boreas house and built a research lab.
There weren’t many who knew its location
“It doesn’t matter to you. If we get found out, no one’s going to get very mad at you.”
“No, I told you about it before, but recently, Julie has been getting angry at me.”
“Ahh, right, that’s true.”
Even Julie who was supposedly working on the project with them didn’t know about the lab.
She had helped out with the artificial flesh and the skeleton but she didn’t know how they were being used.
She was cut off.
That is to say, lately, whenever Zanoba brings back any kind of erotic doll, Julie would get obviously displeased.
Although she wouldn’t go as far as to destroy them, there were times when she would move them out of sight.
There was no helping it.
Although she had long since grown up, age wise she was at that time… Adolescence.
The two knew that a growing girl had a rather fragile spirit.
“But isn’t it possible that Julie could find the transfer magic formation in the basement.”
The magic formation leading to the lab was in the basement of Zanoba’s workshop.
If Julie were to go into the basement, stumble on the magic circle and decide to activate it out of curiosity…
She would witness the naked automaton girl.
It would probably be rather shocking.
“I made sure to lock the door from behind and I have the only key.”
“Julie could easily get past that. I taught her how to open locks with earth magic after all.”
“No, Julie wouldn’t open a door I locked myself. She has promised that.”
“Good.”
Julie and Zanoba were still master and servant after all.
Julie understood that there was a line she shouldn’t cross.
“Let’s get back on track. What should we do about this?”
Rudeus again began to fold his arms and think.
Thinking about it, besides the nipples and crotch, the rest was all fine.
And besides, this was the Prototype Unit No.04. If they were to dispose of it, taking all its data wouldn’t take too long.
“Alright, although it’s a waste, let’s take the data from it and scrap it.”
Rudeus reached a conclusion.
Ruseus had decided to go through it but Zanoba was still hesitant.
It had taken quite a large amount of time and money to make and they still hadn’t completed the experiments that they had to do on the Prototype Unit No.03
Destroying it just because the nipples were erotic was too much of a waste.
It was then, a light bulb suddenly popped above Zanoba’s head.
“Wait, Shihou!”
“What?”
“We can just put clothes on it!”
“Hm? Hah! Right! We can just do that!”
At Zanoba’s suggestion, Rudeus also realised.
As long as no one can see it, there’s no problem.
With clothes on, the erotic parts would be hidden.
As long they weren’t a rapist, no one would suddenly tear off it’s clothes.
Meaning that as long as they didn’t tell anyone it would be fine.
“Alright, wait here a minute.”
Rudeus said that and rushed into the next room.
There were the clothes he had prepared in advance.
A thick beige dress, the kind you wouldn’t see often in the Magic City Sharia.
And also a bra and panties.
Or course, brand new.
They had originally planned to clothe the doll.
The two had completely forgotten about it and simply trembled at the frightening seductive power of the naked girl.
“Alright, put on these clothes.”
“Yes Master.”
“After that, lie back down on the platform.”
“Yes Master.”
After the doll put on the clothes Rudeus gave it, it went and lay back down on the dias.
For the time being, now that it had clothes on, the dangerous sexual aura had disappeared.
It was now simply a girl who looked like Nanahoshi lying still.
There was no immorality at all.
Although the fact that it didn’t blink was somewhat unnerving...
But like this, it seemed like all their problems had been solved.
“I’m kind of tired now. It’s a bit early but let’s leave it at this for tonight.”
“Sure.”
After deciding what to do next, Rudeus sat down.
They didn’t end up conducting extensive experiments but the outcome looked good.
There was no need to rush, they could teach it all kinds of things tomorrow.
Rudeus clapped his hands together and stood up.
“Tonight we celebrate! Our plan has taken a great step forward.”
“Of course! Since I thought you would say that, I had planned something in advance. Over here!”
Zanoba picked up a barrel that was sitting in the corner of the room.
After carrying it to the middle of the room he broke the top open with his fist.
It gave off a large bang and a little spilled out.
“Well aren’t you well prepared!”
Zanoba grabbed cups he had also put together and scooped some out from the barrel.
The cup was filled a translucent violet liquid.
It was the wine of the Asura Empire.
“Oh, do we have anything to eat?”
“All we have is preserved stuff.”
“That’ll do.”
After collecting a mountain food from the cellar, the two began filling their cups.
They raised their cups into the air in a toast.
“To the advancement of the doll project!”
“To our dream!”
“Cheers!”
And the merrymaking began.
“But still, what should we teach it?”
“Since we’ve already confirmed that it can complete simple tasks, we should see just how adaptable it is and test the extent of its independent thought.”
“There’s a whole heap of things to look into. Let’s just get through whatever we can.”
The two were discussing their future plans while drinking.
After it had successfully activated they didn’t make it do anything considerable.
But it did manage to skillfully interpret a vague order
She had the fundamental knowledge of the earlier models and would continue learning by herself.
But they still didn’t know just how far it’s intellect would stretch.
Like the extent of what it could learn or things it couldn’t do.
Or how far it could think for itself and make it’s own decisions.
“Leave it to me. I’ll take responsibility and teach it all kinds of things.”
“Don’t go teaching it anything you shouldn’t.”
“I would return those words right back at you.”
“That’s rich coming from you.”
“Hahahahaha.”
The two were drinking merrily and thinking about what to do next.
But then Zanoba changed the conversation topic.
“Right, the『byproducts』that you made have been selling well too.”
“We did end up making all kinds of other things in the middle of research. Have you been selling them at the store?”
“The frog bag is particularly popular.”
“Oh really…”
To get the proper consistency of human skin, Rudeus tried all different kinds of combinations.
Among them was the cheek pouch of the Rain Force Frog. It was extremely long and thin but also very durable.
He had originally thought to use that to make the skin.
In the end they decided to look for something different to use and made something else from it.
That was…
“The contraceptiveCondom3 is it.”
“Luke-dono is especially pleased with it. He created a factory to produce them in Asura.”
“Asuran nobles really do like that kind of thing…”
“Although you say that, you use it too don't you?”
“Well yeah.”
Yes, Rudeus used them too.
Almost every night.
After his third and fourth daughters Lily and Christina were born there was a silent agreement that the next child to be born would be Sylphy’s.
Sylphy became the centre, so the nights he spent with Eris and Roxy decreased.
But because the Elves weren’t very fertile, she wasn’t able to conceive a third time.
The fact that Sieg and Lucy were able to be born might simply have been good timing or maybe god was bullying them…
They didn’t know, but when their turns began to decrease Eris and Roxy got restless.
Compared to before, Eris’s desire had settled down but she was still quite lascivious.
The gleam in her eyes was like a wild beast.
But if Rudeus would accompany her, she might end up pregnant.
And that’s where the condom comes in.
If it was used, the wild Eris could be satisfied and there would be no child.
Seeing Eris who was currently bearing her third child, Sylphy didn’t look upset, nor was the atmosphere of the house strained.
It was somewhat of a godsend.
“…Well, you know, it’s not too good for the amount of children to increase if the number of people to look after them doesn’t as well.”
“You could just employ a maid.”
“If I hired a maid, she wouldn’t look after me too. Six people is just too many.”
“Hahaha… That’s just like you Shishou.”
Zanoba laughed.
Seeing that Rudeus suddenly thought of something.
The question everyone was always thinking of asking.
“Right, what do you think of Julie?”
“In what way?”
“Like, as a second wife?”
“With Julie?”
“Well there is her age, and her status is quite low… But you don’t consider yourself royalty anymore right? It’s not a bad idea right? Being surrounded by kids, praising them, sometimes having to scold them.”
Zanoba listened and then firmly shook his head.
“I won't get married to her.”
“…Right.”
Hearing his firm reply Rudeus decided to let it go.
Everybody had a line that couldn’t be crossed.
It didn’t seem like he was saying that simply because he didn’t want to marry her.
There were plenty of reasons like his status as royalty, the fact that he was already married or the younger brother that he had killed, or Pax.
“It’s nothing major. Would you like to hear it?”
“If you’re willing to tell.”
“I’m a Miko and in exchange for my super human strength, my skin doesn’t have much feeling.”
“Meaning?”
“The inside of a woman is too soft, there is not enough stimulation.”
Hearing that Rudeus was shocked.
It was a juicy story.
But he also understood.
Like the reason why Zanoba would use bronze for statues whenever he could.
“Of course, that’s not the only reason.
There’s also other things like Pax and Julius.
But the fact that it would cause my partner pain to be able to produce children is the main reason.”
“I see… But still, if the opportunity comes, you should ask Julie about it. It’s fine if you don’t have kids… There’s also the option of adoption after all.”
Rudeus was so vague because he already had six children himself.
“Haha, I guess you’re right.”
Hearing Zanoba’s feeble laugh Rudeus decided that he should stay away from marriage and changed the topic.
Now was the time to celebrate.
They should be happily drinking.
“Let’s leave the rubber aside! What about the others? Are they selling?”
“The others are doing alright.They’re being treated like oddities, some of them have made it into eccentric’s collections.”
“I thought they were pretty convenient… Aisha was super happy about the vacuum cleaner.”
Rudeus’s byproducts were quite diverse.
Using magic formations to make all kinds of things like a fan or vacuum, waterproofing or a fridge.
Rudeus’s inventions were quite convenient but not many were widespread.
Mostly because although the magic wasn’t too hard to reproduce, the materials involved inflated the cost.
It’s possible that further research could lower the prices but that was in a different direction to their goal.
“They are convenient, but Asura and Millis both have magic tools to the same effect, so simply hiring a servant to operate them is easier.”
“I was thinking more about decreasing the servants work though”
Rudeus took a swig and sighed.
Even though Rudeus had lived happily here for years he still couldn’t forget the sensations of his past life.
“Well as long as the technology remains, it’s always possible that one day, someone else will put it to use so let’s at least leave behind how we made it.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. I’m sure that some time in the future, someone will succeed your will Shishou. They might think you’ve written some kind of phantom scripture.”
“I will name it ‘The Rudeus Anthology’”
“Haha, future magicians would never even dream that the grimoire written by the man called the Right Hand of the Dragon God would contain household appliances.”
The two were conversing and drinking happily.
Their faces slowly got red.
A whole barrel was a bit much for the two of them.
“It’s a shame that Cliff and Lord Badi aren’t here.”
“…Cliff-dono definitely wouldn’t approve of such an immoral doll.”
“Let’s call him after the next step. We could even have the toast at Cliff’s house in Millis.”
“Let us do that! Ohh, of course! After we put the finishing touches on this prototype, let us present the Automaton Model No.01 to Cliff-dono.”
“That sounds great! Ah, but if we do that, the girl type would be a bad idea… let’s make it a boy.”
“A boy would also be a good thing.”
“Oh, has this sparked his Majesty Zanoba’s curiosity?”
“I have no interest in homosexuality, I simply understand the merits of a doll in the shape of a young boy. Do you not Shihou?”
“I get it. Even if Sylphy was a boy, I’d still get it.”
“Hahaha, that’s just like you Shishou!”
As their celebration began to liven up, the two also got quite drunk on their everlasting liquor.
And because the two old friends were engrossed in their drinks and research….
“Alright, the next one will be a boy model. Let’s try our best to make a young boy good looking enough to make cliff jealous.”
“Haha, Ahahahah!”
…The two didn’t notice.
That their festivities were being closely watched.
And that the contents of their merry conversation was being listened to.
That person was sneering in laughter.
“Uugh… My head hurts.”
The next day.
Rudeus began to detox the pain in his head and got up.
Looking outside the window, the storm had blown over and a cloudless sky opened up before him.
“It’s already noon… I must have drank too much.”
But, for some reason, drinking together as men was too good.
Celebratory drinks especially.
Yesterday they were bewildered at the dolls shamelessness, but that was another thing.
Now that the Prototype was complete, the next step would be the fun part.
The dream before them. Their overflowing hope. Their bursting love.
Thinking those kinds of things, Rudeus looked towards the doll’s face and…
“…Wha?”
It wasn’t there.
The doll wasn’t on the dais.
All he could see was an empty platform.
“Wait a second, huh? What? Umm, Zanoba~? What’d you do with the doll~?”
Zanoba had probably woken up before him and gone to teach it.
Thinking that, he began to look around.
He then saw wrapped in a blanket in the corner of the room, Zanoba just waking up.
“Hmm~… Shishou, the doll is still suspended on the dais isn’t it.”
“Suspended?”
Rudeus suddenly remembered.
After they had put clothes on it they had definitely put it to sleep on the dais.
There was no doubt that they had put it asleep.
“……Did we suspend it?”
But to properly suspend it, it was necessary to give it the order to shut down.
You had to place your hand on the magic stone and recite the chant.
They hadn’t done that.
“S-Search!”
“U-Understood!”
The two began to search for the doll in a panic.
But they couldn’t find it anywhere.
Not in the lab or anywhere else.
The doll had disappeared.
―○●○―
1. This line made me feel weird translating it.
2. This it a term for hyper-reaslistic sex dolls, but with the context it's used in here 'sex doll' isn't an appropriate term. See This for details. Original term: ダッチワイフ
3. Kanji says contraceptive but is read "Condom"
It was storming that day.
Rain struck the ground as if trying to wash it away, and enormous bolts of lightning fell towards the earth.
The light from these strikes illuminated the inside of a certain house.
A single house, standing in a barren plain.
In that house, two Mad Scientists laughed.
“Hahaha!! MUWAHAHAHAHAH!! FINALLY! IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!”
“YES! AFTER ALL THIS TIME! IT’S FINALLY COMPLETE!”
The two Mad Scientists danced around the room hand in hand.
“To have come this far, it’s all due to Shishou’s peerless techniques.”
“No, no. It’s all due to your boundless knowledge and design. Without that we would never have completed it, Zanoba.”
The two were Rudeus and Zanoba.
The two praised each other and stopped dancing.
In the room with the two of them, a dais was set.
It was a stone dais emitting a strange light.
On that dais, a lone girl lay there sleeping completely bare.
“It truly took a long time to make it this far.”
Rudeus thought about all their continuous failures.
The first time they tried to activate it ended in failure.
To complete Prototype Unit No.01 many tens of versions and minor changes were necessary.
As a result, what they got after activation was a golem that could comply with simple commands.
This in itself was something which would be in great demand, but what the two strived for was something much different.
For Prototype Unit No.02 an Artificially Intelligent core and a body closer to a human’s were to be developed.
Of course, the failures continued.
The body gradually became more human-like, but to make its movements more human, changing the flesh was very difficult but but tampering with the core to the same end could cause it to fail to activate.
To make it as human as possible they had to achieve the perfect balance.
Failures led to more failures.
They re-examined the memoirs of the Eccentric Dragon King Chaos many times over.
They even asked the Armoured Dragon King Pergius for advice and gained insights into magic formations and spirit summoning.
The Dragon God Orsted gave them rare magic stones and knowledge of many materials.
But despite that, the failures continued.
The unreachable domain of the Mad Dragon King. They shed tears at the thought of never touching it.
They failed, shed tears, tried once more, and failed once again.
But each time they failed, they learned something new, slowly making progress.
And finally, one month later.
At last, they had succeeded.
They had succeeded in activating a doll of temporary composition.
The Prototype Unit No.03.
It had no face but without a doubt, it activated.
They were overjoyed at the success.
After taking the Data from the Prototype Unit No.03 they immediately began work on the next unit.
The Prototype Unit No.04
The Prototype Unit No.04 had specs quite close to the finished product.
The body and face of a human, lips that moved when it talked and it made full use of its limbs to move freely.
But in actual fact, the two of them hadn’t completed all the experiments on the Prototype Unit No.03.
They hadn’t examined for all possible flaws.
In their pursuit of their ideal doll and perfect form, they did not have the patience.
And so, they brushed the process aside and began work on the almost complete Prototype Unit No.04.
But that in itself was a good thing.
Everything Prototype Unit No.03 could do Prototype Unit No.04 could too.
They still had to perform the system check on the Prototype Unit No.04 and test its compatibility with the tasks that they would have the finished product undergo.
That was fine, they thought.
This is the next step, they thought.
What we want to see it beyond this, they thought.
This is the Automaton that we want to see, they thought.
“Now then! I’m activating it~!”
“Yeah!”
Zanoba reached out to the magic stone on the girl’s modest chest with an excited expression.
Within that magic stone, in the chest of the girl was the core.
The tiny complicated magic formation in the Core was the girl’s heart.
After the Core activates, the Doll would stand on it’s own feet, learn, make it’s own decisions, and absorb mana with it’s own power allowing for semi-permanent activity.
It’s was perfect autonomous doll.
Of course if that happens it’s possible that it could collapse from mana exhaustion.
But if that happens it would just need to be rested on the platform until all it’s magic recovered.
But when Rudeus first proposed that, Zanoba had said:
“If it needs a human to restart it, doesn’t that make it incomplete?”
But Rudeus replied to him:
“Of course not, that in itself is perfection.
When people fall and can’t get up by themselves, it’s by borrowing the hands of others that they can stand once more.”
“…”
Zanoba’s hand began to hesitate.
Would even he hesitate at having to touch the chest of a small girl?
No, he wasn’t someone to have doubts over something like that.
“…Shishou why don’t you do it?”
“No, the reason we made it this far was your hard work, you do it.”
Zanoba was frightened.
They were about to realise their ideal.
The thing they had been dreaming about for more than 10 years.
But he wasn’t originally a timid man.
He was someone unrelated to indecision.
“I understand… Then, I will activate it!”
“Yeah!”
Zanoba’s hand slowly reached towards the girl’s chest.
Slowly and carefully as if touching something fragile his hand crept along the girl’s skin towards the magic stone.
The mana needed for activation wasn’t that large.
It was an amount anyone could provide.
“…『Awaken, my beloved daughter』”
The moment Zanoba said the activation incantation, his mana was sucked through his finger.
The red light on the platform began to turn blue.
the second he confirmed that, he removed his hand.
“…”
Several seconds passed in silence.
The two men held their breath and watched the girl activate.
The post activation process was automatic.
After the chant and input of the initial mana, all that was left to do was watch.
“…”
The girl, silently opened her eyes.
She had dark black pupils.
And at the same time, the physical connection to the platform was severed.
After the connection was severed, the girl slowly sat up.
She had pure white hair.
She was so slender, you would think she didn’t have the slightest trace of muscle.
Her breasts were small but the shape was perfect and her figure was so beautiful you wouldn’t think it belonged to a young girl.
This was the crystallisation of Zanoba and Rudeus’s many years of experience in doll creation and art.
Her body was made of artificial flesh and her bones were of the same strength as the Magic Armour.
The artificial flesh used Rudeus’s earth magic clay as a base, mixed with the scales of Red Dragons and Phantom Butterflies that have high magic power and finally, the sap of an Elder Treant and Immortal Race blood.
This was the compound that was completed after continuous trial and error with high class materials. While possessing exceptional durability, it also had a feel extremely close to human skin.
What made the body move were magic formations carved into the bones.
These formations cause the artificial flesh to solidify and move like muscle.
The principle was the same as the Magic Armour.
But the joints were made from the powdered bone of Skeleton Deathbreakers.
The bone powder raised the magical conductivity.
Especially high rank skeletons have exceptional conductivity allowing extremely human-like movements.
The girl raised her hands stretched above her head and stretched backwards.
Her expression was human and her movements smooth.
Her overly calm actions that emphasised her chest were brimming with feminine charm.
*Gulp*
Rudeus swallowed.
“I didn’t notice it when we were making it, but those movements are much more dangerous than I realised.”
“…”
Zanoba didn’t respond.
But you could see on his face that he felt the same.
The girl, still silent, lay back down and raised her knees.
Her young buttocks came up with her knees and she then began to extend them and with her feet still in the air she began to open and close her thighs.1
The secret place of the doll was exposed in front of the two.
Coincidentally, these movements were not to flaunt her body in an erotic sense.
Upon activation a self check program of joint movement would be initiated.
If the check ended in failure, it would give an error message.
From her own mouth.
“Activation successful.”
Finally, after removing her hair from in front of her face, she proclaimed that it was complete.
The artificial voice was very similar to someone the two knew.
“Haa…”
The two, releasing their tense expressions, breathed a sigh of relief.
They had failed countless times at this step.
Like the time when she raised her arms and her hands flew towards the ceiling like a rocket punch, or when her hip bent at a weird angle, or when her crotch split and it looked like some odd work of art, or when both hands started spinning…
And among the Prototype unit No.03 some simply exploded.
The problem was that the skeleton was the same as the magic armour.
When he had first boarded the Magic Armour, Rudeus had to learn to control its strength.
But that required a large amount of experience in both magic and bodily control.
But a doll has no experience.
And in that case, if it was always using maximum strength it would destroy itself.
Therefore it was necessary to install all kinds of limiters.
But it was still made to the same standard as the Magic armour.
Even with a limiter, the threshold is still high and movement on the level of a Saint Class swordsman is possible.
“It seems like there’s no problems.”
“Yeah.”
As if reacting to their conversation, still lying down, the doll looked at Zanoba with its glassy, inorganic eyes.
And then it spoke.
“Master, what is your name?”
“It’s Zanoba!”
“Master Zanoba registered. What are your orders?”
“Please register this man as Sub-Master.”
“Understood. What is your name?”
“It’s Rudeus.”
“Sub-Master Rudeus registered. What are your orders?”
This exchange was something they had repeated countless times with the Prototype Unit No.03.
To first register the Master.
“Well then, if you would please get up off the table and stand on the floor.”
The doll got off the table and quickly stood up.
Seeing this, Rudeus clenched his fists.
“Alright, it can properly register Master’s names and follow commands.”
Rudeus was extremely excited looking at the doll.
The first time around, they had experienced major issues.
When he had said “It’s Zanoba” the doll had registered “Master It’s Zanoba”
Or another time when it didn’t move at all not understanding that “If you would please” was the beginning of a command.
They had gotten advice from Pergius to deal with it.
The hint that they had gotten led to all kinds of changes to the magic formation and they had restarted from square one a number of times.
And that’s how they had ended up here.
The completed summoning magic formation that was carved into the Core contained all human instinctual responses.
“Jump up and down lightly.”
“Yes Master.”
The doll began jumping up and down with both feet.
Quite a powerful jump.
The artificial flesh had enough power to destroy the skeleton but it seemed like the proper amount of control was in place.
“Keep jumping and raise both hands above your head.”
“Yes Master.”
“Spread your feet apart and… Stop.”
“Yes Master.”
“Now start jumping again while spinning both hands around.”
“Yes Master.”
“Now each time you jump, alternate between opening and closing your legs.”
“Yes Master.”
The doll moves exactly as Zanoba says.
He hair bounced around her swinging arms.
The balance was also perfect.
“Now make a funny face.”
The doll stopped for a second at Zanoba’s abrupt command.
“Yes Master.”
She hit her cheeks with her hands and her face warped.
From expressionless to odd.
You might not be able to call it funny.
But the doll thought for itself and reached a conclusion.
In other words, exactly what they wanted.
“Hmm, it seems promising.”
“Yeah…”
But Rudeus was frowning.
What he was looking at was her small chest that would occasionally shake and her exquisitely designed nether regions.
I say this for the sake of Rudeus’s honour, but it was not a sexual gaze.
It was something he made himself after all.
But each time it got more complete, he was afraid.
Was it his own talent?
No.
“But it really is similar… The face, and while it might have been an accident, the voice too.”
Then Rudeus looked at the doll’s face.
The doll looked Rudeus in the eye but it didn’t smile.
They had made it to be able to smile, but it probably wouldn’t without an order.
But that wasn’t Rudeus’s problem.
“This is definitely going to make her mad…”
The doll’s face resembled someone they knew.
“You mean Nanahoshi?”
Yes, Nanahoshi Shizuka.
Their otherworlder friend sleeping in the sky castle.
The doll resembled her.
Her face, her different length black hair, her figure, and height all resembled Nanahoshi.
A naked doll that resembled their friend.
With sensual breasts and functioning genitals.
“Idiot, I’m talking about Sylphy!”
Right, what he feared was his wife’s anger.
“You could tell her that you needed someone to take over for Nanahoshi-dono while she sleeps?”
“Maybe.”
Right, they had a reason.
In the case that they find Nanahoshi’s friend that was transferred with her.
Although they could simply tell him her name, it would be better to hear it from someone who resembled Nanahoshi.
They had that reason so they made the doll to resemble Nanahoshi.
“The women of your house should also be aware.”
“They know we’re making an automaton but they don’t know that it looks like Nanahoshi.”
That said, Rudeus didn’t think that making a doll that looked like Nanahoshi would make his wives mad.
They had a proper reason and Nanahoshi herself was also fine with it.
If he explained it properly they’d probably accept it.
“The problem is the chest and crotch.”
But explaining the fact that a doll of his friend functioned sexually was a different problem.
Thinking that his wives might find out, Rudeus was anxious.
Based on the way he explained it his bed could end up very cold.
Sylphy would end up looking offended and say “Since you went to all the trouble to make it, why don't you just sleep with the doll instead?”, or she might just burst into tears and get depressed.
Either way, it wasn’t a good thing for Rudeus.
“It wasn’t necessary to make it this elaborate.”
“You can’t say that, with Shishou’s masterful techniques you have crafted a magnificent shape. Especially the nipples, they’re quite erotic.”
“Idiot, after I purposely went out of my way to be vague don’t go saying nipple.”
“I apologise.”
Why had they made the chest and crotch so elaborate.
True, when they were designing the project, they had an ideal.
The ideal of a Dutch wife.2
But at this point they had separated from that ideal.
They should have held themselves back.
It wasn’t necessary to make the chest and crotch 18+. It didn’t need nipples to make tea..
In the first place, this was merely the Prototype Unit No.04.
There was no reason to make the prototype look like Nanahoshi.
Rudeus got ahead of himself.
“In any case, let’s keep this a secret from Sylphy and the others.
“Shishou is whipped after all.”
“Please at least call me devoted.”
Currently there weren’t many who knew that the doll looked like Nanahoshi.
Orsted, Pergius, and Nanahoshi herself.
Of course, they planned on unveiling it after completion and informing various people.
They had plans to mass-produce them after all.
But if those people involved knew how detailed they had made it, they would probably give them a cold stare.
Roxy might just look at him softly and ask “That doll has a better figure than me doesn’t it?”, or maybe just draw away from him with a melancholic look.
Having Roxy draw away from him would leave Rudeus with no other option besides Seppuku.
“Hmm, I can't think that your wives would be as upset as you believe. Everyone is quite aware of how energetic you are.”
“If we were making a normal one I’d think so too, but it’s just because it looks like Nanahoshi I can't help but feel trouble coming.”
Rudeus, while nodding to himself, poked the doll’s chest.
It was a slightly different sensation to that of a human but it was still extremely soft.
If he hadn’t made it himself, he would get quite excited.
That excitement might be considered cheating.
If Eris found Rudeus cheating she would probably give a “Hmph” with her mouth in the shape of a へ and after removing the fist she lodged in his nether regions, push him down and climb on.
To make sure he would never cheat again, she would completely make Rudeus her’s.
Although, this wouldn’t necessarily be something Rudeus would hate.
“…”
Incidentally, the doll had carefully watched the finger that poked it, but hadn’t given any other reaction.
It was simply the sensation of being touched.
They hadn’t inputted the sensation of sexual pleasure.
If Elinalise or Ariel had been more deeply involved in the production process, it might have turned out that way, but the two were currently engrossed in child rearing.
“Well then, shall we scrap it now?”
As he said that, his face darkened.
To Zanoba, scrapping a doll was not something enjoyable.
No matter the doll.
“…No! This one in itself is complete to a certain degree. Scrapping it would be a waste.”
Rudeus folded his arms and began to think.
Worst case scenario, they would scrap this one and begin work on the next model.
Exchanging just the crotch and chest would be impossible with their current technology,
They would need to think about it for the mass production model, but currently it was a unique item.
“We need to think about what to do in case someone finds out…”
“Nobody will know. Isn’t that why we’re doing our research all the way out here.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
They were currently in the Fittoa region of the Asura Empire.
They had borrowed a section of land in the Fittoa restoration zone from the Boreas house and built a research lab.
There weren’t many who knew its location
“It doesn’t matter to you. If we get found out, no one’s going to get very mad at you.”
“No, I told you about it before, but recently, Julie has been getting angry at me.”
“Ahh, right, that’s true.”
Even Julie who was supposedly working on the project with them didn’t know about the lab.
She had helped out with the artificial flesh and the skeleton but she didn’t know how they were being used.
She was cut off.
That is to say, lately, whenever Zanoba brings back any kind of erotic doll, Julie would get obviously displeased.
Although she wouldn’t go as far as to destroy them, there were times when she would move them out of sight.
There was no helping it.
Although she had long since grown up, age wise she was at that time… Adolescence.
The two knew that a growing girl had a rather fragile spirit.
“But isn’t it possible that Julie could find the transfer magic formation in the basement.”
The magic formation leading to the lab was in the basement of Zanoba’s workshop.
If Julie were to go into the basement, stumble on the magic circle and decide to activate it out of curiosity…
She would witness the naked automaton girl.
It would probably be rather shocking.
“I made sure to lock the door from behind and I have the only key.”
“Julie could easily get past that. I taught her how to open locks with earth magic after all.”
“No, Julie wouldn’t open a door I locked myself. She has promised that.”
“Good.”
Julie and Zanoba were still master and servant after all.
Julie understood that there was a line she shouldn’t cross.
“Let’s get back on track. What should we do about this?”
Rudeus again began to fold his arms and think.
Thinking about it, besides the nipples and crotch, the rest was all fine.
And besides, this was the Prototype Unit No.04. If they were to dispose of it, taking all its data wouldn’t take too long.
“Alright, although it’s a waste, let’s take the data from it and scrap it.”
Rudeus reached a conclusion.
Ruseus had decided to go through it but Zanoba was still hesitant.
It had taken quite a large amount of time and money to make and they still hadn’t completed the experiments that they had to do on the Prototype Unit No.03
Destroying it just because the nipples were erotic was too much of a waste.
It was then, a light bulb suddenly popped above Zanoba’s head.
“Wait, Shihou!”
“What?”
“We can just put clothes on it!”
“Hm? Hah! Right! We can just do that!”
At Zanoba’s suggestion, Rudeus also realised.
As long as no one can see it, there’s no problem.
With clothes on, the erotic parts would be hidden.
As long they weren’t a rapist, no one would suddenly tear off it’s clothes.
Meaning that as long as they didn’t tell anyone it would be fine.
“Alright, wait here a minute.”
Rudeus said that and rushed into the next room.
There were the clothes he had prepared in advance.
A thick beige dress, the kind you wouldn’t see often in the Magic City Sharia.
And also a bra and panties.
Or course, brand new.
They had originally planned to clothe the doll.
The two had completely forgotten about it and simply trembled at the frightening seductive power of the naked girl.
“Alright, put on these clothes.”
“Yes Master.”
“After that, lie back down on the platform.”
“Yes Master.”
After the doll put on the clothes Rudeus gave it, it went and lay back down on the dias.
For the time being, now that it had clothes on, the dangerous sexual aura had disappeared.
It was now simply a girl who looked like Nanahoshi lying still.
There was no immorality at all.
Although the fact that it didn’t blink was somewhat unnerving...
But like this, it seemed like all their problems had been solved.
“I’m kind of tired now. It’s a bit early but let’s leave it at this for tonight.”
“Sure.”
After deciding what to do next, Rudeus sat down.
They didn’t end up conducting extensive experiments but the outcome looked good.
There was no need to rush, they could teach it all kinds of things tomorrow.
Rudeus clapped his hands together and stood up.
“Tonight we celebrate! Our plan has taken a great step forward.”
“Of course! Since I thought you would say that, I had planned something in advance. Over here!”
Zanoba picked up a barrel that was sitting in the corner of the room.
After carrying it to the middle of the room he broke the top open with his fist.
It gave off a large bang and a little spilled out.
“Well aren’t you well prepared!”
Zanoba grabbed cups he had also put together and scooped some out from the barrel.
The cup was filled a translucent violet liquid.
It was the wine of the Asura Empire.
“Oh, do we have anything to eat?”
“All we have is preserved stuff.”
“That’ll do.”
After collecting a mountain food from the cellar, the two began filling their cups.
They raised their cups into the air in a toast.
“To the advancement of the doll project!”
“To our dream!”
“Cheers!”
And the merrymaking began.
“But still, what should we teach it?”
“Since we’ve already confirmed that it can complete simple tasks, we should see just how adaptable it is and test the extent of its independent thought.”
“There’s a whole heap of things to look into. Let’s just get through whatever we can.”
The two were discussing their future plans while drinking.
After it had successfully activated they didn’t make it do anything considerable.
But it did manage to skillfully interpret a vague order
She had the fundamental knowledge of the earlier models and would continue learning by herself.
But they still didn’t know just how far it’s intellect would stretch.
Like the extent of what it could learn or things it couldn’t do.
Or how far it could think for itself and make it’s own decisions.
“Leave it to me. I’ll take responsibility and teach it all kinds of things.”
“Don’t go teaching it anything you shouldn’t.”
“I would return those words right back at you.”
“That’s rich coming from you.”
“Hahahahaha.”
The two were drinking merrily and thinking about what to do next.
But then Zanoba changed the conversation topic.
“Right, the『byproducts』that you made have been selling well too.”
“We did end up making all kinds of other things in the middle of research. Have you been selling them at the store?”
“The frog bag is particularly popular.”
“Oh really…”
To get the proper consistency of human skin, Rudeus tried all different kinds of combinations.
Among them was the cheek pouch of the Rain Force Frog. It was extremely long and thin but also very durable.
He had originally thought to use that to make the skin.
In the end they decided to look for something different to use and made something else from it.
That was…
“The contraceptiveCondom3 is it.”
“Luke-dono is especially pleased with it. He created a factory to produce them in Asura.”
“Asuran nobles really do like that kind of thing…”
“Although you say that, you use it too don't you?”
“Well yeah.”
Yes, Rudeus used them too.
Almost every night.
After his third and fourth daughters Lily and Christina were born there was a silent agreement that the next child to be born would be Sylphy’s.
Sylphy became the centre, so the nights he spent with Eris and Roxy decreased.
But because the Elves weren’t very fertile, she wasn’t able to conceive a third time.
The fact that Sieg and Lucy were able to be born might simply have been good timing or maybe god was bullying them…
They didn’t know, but when their turns began to decrease Eris and Roxy got restless.
Compared to before, Eris’s desire had settled down but she was still quite lascivious.
The gleam in her eyes was like a wild beast.
But if Rudeus would accompany her, she might end up pregnant.
And that’s where the condom comes in.
If it was used, the wild Eris could be satisfied and there would be no child.
Seeing Eris who was currently bearing her third child, Sylphy didn’t look upset, nor was the atmosphere of the house strained.
It was somewhat of a godsend.
“…Well, you know, it’s not too good for the amount of children to increase if the number of people to look after them doesn’t as well.”
“You could just employ a maid.”
“If I hired a maid, she wouldn’t look after me too. Six people is just too many.”
“Hahaha… That’s just like you Shishou.”
Zanoba laughed.
Seeing that Rudeus suddenly thought of something.
The question everyone was always thinking of asking.
“Right, what do you think of Julie?”
“In what way?”
“Like, as a second wife?”
“With Julie?”
“Well there is her age, and her status is quite low… But you don’t consider yourself royalty anymore right? It’s not a bad idea right? Being surrounded by kids, praising them, sometimes having to scold them.”
Zanoba listened and then firmly shook his head.
“I won't get married to her.”
“…Right.”
Hearing his firm reply Rudeus decided to let it go.
Everybody had a line that couldn’t be crossed.
It didn’t seem like he was saying that simply because he didn’t want to marry her.
There were plenty of reasons like his status as royalty, the fact that he was already married or the younger brother that he had killed, or Pax.
“It’s nothing major. Would you like to hear it?”
“If you’re willing to tell.”
“I’m a Miko and in exchange for my super human strength, my skin doesn’t have much feeling.”
“Meaning?”
“The inside of a woman is too soft, there is not enough stimulation.”
Hearing that Rudeus was shocked.
It was a juicy story.
But he also understood.
Like the reason why Zanoba would use bronze for statues whenever he could.
“Of course, that’s not the only reason.
There’s also other things like Pax and Julius.
But the fact that it would cause my partner pain to be able to produce children is the main reason.”
“I see… But still, if the opportunity comes, you should ask Julie about it. It’s fine if you don’t have kids… There’s also the option of adoption after all.”
Rudeus was so vague because he already had six children himself.
“Haha, I guess you’re right.”
Hearing Zanoba’s feeble laugh Rudeus decided that he should stay away from marriage and changed the topic.
Now was the time to celebrate.
They should be happily drinking.
“Let’s leave the rubber aside! What about the others? Are they selling?”
“The others are doing alright.They’re being treated like oddities, some of them have made it into eccentric’s collections.”
“I thought they were pretty convenient… Aisha was super happy about the vacuum cleaner.”
Rudeus’s byproducts were quite diverse.
Using magic formations to make all kinds of things like a fan or vacuum, waterproofing or a fridge.
Rudeus’s inventions were quite convenient but not many were widespread.
Mostly because although the magic wasn’t too hard to reproduce, the materials involved inflated the cost.
It’s possible that further research could lower the prices but that was in a different direction to their goal.
“They are convenient, but Asura and Millis both have magic tools to the same effect, so simply hiring a servant to operate them is easier.”
“I was thinking more about decreasing the servants work though”
Rudeus took a swig and sighed.
Even though Rudeus had lived happily here for years he still couldn’t forget the sensations of his past life.
“Well as long as the technology remains, it’s always possible that one day, someone else will put it to use so let’s at least leave behind how we made it.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. I’m sure that some time in the future, someone will succeed your will Shishou. They might think you’ve written some kind of phantom scripture.”
“I will name it ‘The Rudeus Anthology’”
“Haha, future magicians would never even dream that the grimoire written by the man called the Right Hand of the Dragon God would contain household appliances.”
The two were conversing and drinking happily.
Their faces slowly got red.
A whole barrel was a bit much for the two of them.
“It’s a shame that Cliff and Lord Badi aren’t here.”
“…Cliff-dono definitely wouldn’t approve of such an immoral doll.”
“Let’s call him after the next step. We could even have the toast at Cliff’s house in Millis.”
“Let us do that! Ohh, of course! After we put the finishing touches on this prototype, let us present the Automaton Model No.01 to Cliff-dono.”
“That sounds great! Ah, but if we do that, the girl type would be a bad idea… let’s make it a boy.”
“A boy would also be a good thing.”
“Oh, has this sparked his Majesty Zanoba’s curiosity?”
“I have no interest in homosexuality, I simply understand the merits of a doll in the shape of a young boy. Do you not Shihou?”
“I get it. Even if Sylphy was a boy, I’d still get it.”
“Hahaha, that’s just like you Shishou!”
As their celebration began to liven up, the two also got quite drunk on their everlasting liquor.
And because the two old friends were engrossed in their drinks and research….
“Alright, the next one will be a boy model. Let’s try our best to make a young boy good looking enough to make cliff jealous.”
“Haha, Ahahahah!”
…The two didn’t notice.
That their festivities were being closely watched.
And that the contents of their merry conversation was being listened to.
That person was sneering in laughter.
“Uugh… My head hurts.”
The next day.
Rudeus began to detox the pain in his head and got up.
Looking outside the window, the storm had blown over and a cloudless sky opened up before him.
“It’s already noon… I must have drank too much.”
But, for some reason, drinking together as men was too good.
Celebratory drinks especially.
Yesterday they were bewildered at the dolls shamelessness, but that was another thing.
Now that the Prototype was complete, the next step would be the fun part.
The dream before them. Their overflowing hope. Their bursting love.
Thinking those kinds of things, Rudeus looked towards the doll’s face and…
“…Wha?”
It wasn’t there.
The doll wasn’t on the dais.
All he could see was an empty platform.
“Wait a second, huh? What? Umm, Zanoba~? What’d you do with the doll~?”
Zanoba had probably woken up before him and gone to teach it.
Thinking that, he began to look around.
He then saw wrapped in a blanket in the corner of the room, Zanoba just waking up.
“Hmm~… Shishou, the doll is still suspended on the dais isn’t it.”
“Suspended?”
Rudeus suddenly remembered.
After they had put clothes on it they had definitely put it to sleep on the dais.
There was no doubt that they had put it asleep.
“……Did we suspend it?”
But to properly suspend it, it was necessary to give it the order to shut down.
You had to place your hand on the magic stone and recite the chant.
They hadn’t done that.
“S-Search!”
“U-Understood!”
The two began to search for the doll in a panic.
But they couldn’t find it anywhere.
Not in the lab or anywhere else.
The doll had disappeared.
―○●○―
1. This line made me feel weird translating it.
2. This it a term for hyper-reaslistic sex dolls, but with the context it's used in here 'sex doll' isn't an appropriate term. See This for details. Original term: ダッチワイフ
3. Kanji says contraceptive but is read "Condom"
