That night, Steven left the village and returned to his small wooden cabin.
His excuse?
"There's no place for to sleep here. And if I suggested that Talulah and Alina take turns keeping company in bed, I know neither of them would agree."
Talulah, however, was certain that this guy just wanted to rush back and tinker with his pile of strange and miraculous contraptions.
After all, he'd thumped his chest with absolute confidence, saying, "Just leave Alina's safety to . I got this."
Still, even though he left, he didn't just leave the village unguarded. Instead, he set up two things that were impossible to ignore.
Talulah stood outside the door, staring at the two towering, three-ter-tall figures patrolling the village—massive beings that looked like sothing straight out of ancient mythology, like steel giants brought to life.
For a long mont, she had no idea how to react.
This is way too ridiculous.
She knew that with the right Originium Arts, creating a steel giant wasn't that difficult.
But these two?
They didn't require any sort of external control. They just… moved around on their own. That was completely unheard of.
Even weirder, despite the sheer presence of these powerful-looking beings, she couldn't detect any Originium energy flowing through them.
—Was this so kind of purely chanical construct?
Curious, she reached out and tapped one of them—the slightly more sluggish-looking one with a big, blocky head.
The iron behemoth paused for a second, its oddly expressionless, big-nosed face turning toward her in what could almost be described as a side-eye.
Then, as if losing interest, it went right back to patrolling the streets.
If it weren't for the fact that Steven had completely maxed out his reputation in this village—where the elderly folks practically worshiped him and were one step away from building a shrine in his honor—this scene would've definitely caused an uproar.
But since it was Steven who brought them here?
The villagers had rely gasped in surprise for a mont before shrugging it off as just another Tuesday.
Besides, Steven had assured them that these things required no maintenance, no cost, and would actively protect them from wild beasts or anything dangerous—all while never harming a villager.
That was all they needed to hear.
In fact, when Steven went one step further and handed out two whole boxes of eggs to every household—calling it so kind of "exclusive user experience gift"—the villagers were completely sold.
Even the village chief personally declared, "These two iron beasts? They belong to us now! We'll take care of them, clean them, and keep them in good shape. Anyone who says otherwise is picking a fight with !"
Honestly, if Steven had led with the free eggs, things wouldn't have even reached this level of discussion.
Two steel giants?
Pfft.
If Steven wanted to breed explosive Originium Slugs right in the middle of the village, as long as he promised they wouldn't harm anyone, the villagers would probably volunteer to help him raise them.
But Talulah knew the real reason he left these two things behind.
It was to prevent the Collapsal from attacking the village while he wasn't around.
Still, she couldn't help but be fascinated by their design.
From what she observed earlier, these iron giants clearly had so level of self-awareness.
And yet…
All she had actually seen was Steven pulling a few iron blocks out of who-knows-where, stacking them together, and then slapping a carved pumpkin on top.
And just like that—bam! The two giants ca to life.
This isn't magic. This isn't science. This is just… nonsense.
But what bothered her the most was that, despite how absurdly simple their assembly was, these two constructs didn't feel cheap at all.
If anything, just looking at their massive, powerful fras gave off an overwhelming sense of strength.
What made these two constructs even more bizarre was their level of perception, which didn't seem to match their bulky, chanical fras at all.
Talulah had seen it with her own eyes—one mont, the two steel behemoths were silently patrolling the village. The next, despite being hundreds of ters away, they sohow sensed movent in the nearby forest.
Before she could even react, one of them had already rushed forward and smashed an Originium Slug with a single punch—completely obliterating the poor creature.
Internally, Talulah did so rough calculations, estimating how many of these things she could take down if it ever ca to a fight.
Her conclusion?
—A very, very depressing one.
If it ca down to raw physical strength, she probably wouldn't even need to fight both of them at once.
One was enough to completely crush her.
Their only weakness seed to be their lack of speed—but with their overwhelming strength and near-indestructible bodies, that barely mattered.
And the most absurd thing?
It was painfully obvious that Steven could mass-produce these things whenever he wanted.
The thought sent a chill down her spine.
If Steven really wanted to, he could casually churn out an entire army of these chanical monsters.
Pair that with the other abilities he'd displayed so far…
Talulah suddenly felt a very strong urge to kidnap this guy and keep him at her side forever.
With his help, even sothing as ambitious as freeing all the Infected didn't seem entirely impossible anymore.
Hell, even standing against Ursus—a literal giant among nations—didn't feel like an unwinnable battle.
With that thought weighing heavily on her, Talulah found herself staring in the direction of Steven's wooden cabin, her lips pressed into a tight line.
This guy can do literally anything… So why is he always so laid-back?
Even when she wanted to negotiate for his help, it all depended on his mood.
Talulah was absolutely certain that if that Collapsal hadn't nearly gone after Alina, Steven would've continued turning a blind eye.
Forget offering his help—he probably would've just grabbed a bowl of sunflower seeds and watched from the sidelines.
Her thoughts spun in endless circles before she finally let out a silent sigh.
At the end of the day, she envied Steven.
The reason he could afford to act this way was because he had the power to back it up.
And like he'd told her before—he lived for himself.
Unlike her.
She lived to dedicate herself to her ideals.
Talulah didn't regret her choices. She firmly believed she was doing the right thing.
But still—seeing how Steven lived so freely…
She couldn't help but feel a little envious.
Just as her mind was spiraling deeper into thoughts of Steven, Alina's voice broke her out of it.
"What are you thinking about?"
Talulah blinked, turning to see her best friend standing beside her, a curious expression on her face.
It was rare for her to see Talulah looking so conflicted.
Her friend had always seed sure of herself—always pursuing what she wanted, always fighting for her goals without hesitation.
But now…
If Talulah was hesitating, then there was really only one possible reason.
Alina didn't even need to think twice.
"…It's about him, isn't it?"
Talulah sighed, then shrugged, pointing at the two tireless steel giants patrolling the village.
"Just wondering where the hell he even gets all this crazy stuff."
Alina shook her head.
"I have no idea. But… he hasn't used any of it to hurt people, has he?"
She glanced at Talulah aningfully.
"If he wanted to, he could've easily done anything by now."
Power. Wealth. Influence. Won.
With everything he had at his disposal, there was nothing he couldn't obtain.
And yet, instead of chasing any of that, he was just… living quietly in so random little village on the edge of Ursus, spending his days mining and farming like so retired countryside farr.
Alina smiled.
"But honestly? I think that's a good thing."
She looked back at Talulah, her expression soft.
"If he wasn't like this… we probably wouldn't have ever t him."
Her gaze drifted to the village, then to the two chanical guardians.
"And let's be real—we've both been on the receiving end of his help more tis than we can count."
Sure, Steven always asked for sothing in return.
And sure, his requests were often weird.
But compared to everything he'd done for them…
Those little conditions didn't seem like such a big deal.
"Well, yeah, you've got a point. I do know he's a good guy—it's just that sotis, I really can't wrap my head around his thought process."
Talulah sighed, shaking her head.
"Do you think he's—"
Before she could finish, Alina smirked.
"Into you?"
Talulah rolled her eyes and poked Alina's side in retaliation.
"We both know that he wouldn't go for a simple village girl like ."
"If anything, it's you he's into, Miss Noble Lady. You must have noticed how he looks at you—it's not just admiration, there's a possessive streak in his eyes."
Alina yelped as Talulah tickling began to increase in intensity, the village girl laughed as she swatted at her friend.
"Alright, alright! But seriously, I don't think he's just after your body."
Talulah's face darkened.
"Oh, he definitely is. But you know what he really wants?"
She huffed.
"My damn saliva."
Alina snickered.
"So~ In the future, there's going to be a Talulah-brand gas station?"
Talulah's eye twitched.
"Don't push it."
< >
anwhile, Back at Steven's Cabin…
Ignoring the two troublemakers, Steven had already returned to his cozy little wooden house and imdiately got to work in his basent.
He expanded the space even further, digging an additional level below the already storage-filled underground area. Once that was done, he neatly arranged several furnaces in a circle before tossing all the unrefined Originium ore from his inventory into them.
As he glanced around the still sowhat empty space, Steven decided to put the area to better use.
Right in the middle of the room, he dug a deep pit and carefully placed the core of that Fallingstar Beast he had defeated earlier inside.
The instant the core settled into place, a bright amber glow flooded the dimly lit basent.
A second later, Steven felt a familiar, unwelco sensation crawl up his skin.
"Oh, for fuck's sake…"
He could literally see the Oripathy buff applying itself to him.
So that's why that thing had such ridiculously high radiation levels.
Steven exhaled through his nose.
"Welp. Looks like I need to dig even deeper before I use this thing properly."
If he didn't, he had a sneaking suspicion that just walking past his house would be enough to give soone instant Oripathy.
Shaking his head, he stored the constantly-leaking core away and flexed his fingers.
It's ti to browse for so mod.
< >
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Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 172: That's Not How You Do the Math1
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