Chapter 266, a (15)
[Northeast 16, Lower Level
Suppression of the Neurotic Curse Caster (Priority 2 / Summary Execution)
It seems that one of the upper-class residents tempted the curse caster, aiming to seize his personal assets, and then betrayed him.
The fraudster who triggered the incident is currently seriously injured.
The curse sorcerer's side is causing chaos, vowing to kill all associates of the perpetrator and leave them to suffer alone in the world. Since 60% of the lower-tier residents in the city are already dead, swift resolution is urgently needed before the massacre continues further.]
[West 11 Mid Level
Contract-related fraud (Priority 3 / Free action)
Door-to-door sales scams targeting commoners are rampant.
They deceive people by pretending to sell good products at very cheap prices, but when the deal is made, they press a brittle contract written in 42,000 characters. The magical contract contains unfair curses, so if you finish the deal by declaring "I agree to all the above terms," you risk having your vital organs seized as collateral.
Originally, curse magic was limited to being cast on specific targets the caster despised, but the mages who have appeared this ti seem to have realized how to materialize curses based on obtaining consent.
Until now, the activities of these swindlers have been limited to the upper levels, but recently they have expanded their operations down to the middle-layer waters. Therefore, intervention by a Magic Master-level authority is necessary before the damage grows worse.]
[East 09 Entire Water Area
Wanted (Priority 1 / Capture)
Na ●●● Volu 1320 Eyes 5 Tentacles 8 Blue Yellow
A robber has fled with a Class-1 grimoire from the Eastern Palace.
Suppress with top priority before this information spreads to the public.
At the sa ti, they possess a rare unique magic, be sure to bring them back alive for analysis.]
[South 663 Upper Level
Notice (No priority / Ignore data)
Southern Hemisphere iceberg interior research facility.
Report of an unidentified luminescent object detected near the surface ice floe area.]
Incidents and accidents keep flooding in from all over today as well. At this point, let explain how I work. I am arch mage-level intellect based on weapon golem studies, so due to the nature of the spells I primarily use, my physical body hardly moves at all.
[This is a work-from-ho place.]
I leave the head and chest that cast the spells resting quietly at ho. The latest work thod is to move your mind here and there and possess a golem on the ground to go to work. After I put consciousness on a suitable golem, I usually go out to the field with automated dolls that I had set various behavioral guidelines for in advance.
Golems. Anyway, in this day and age, things don't work without this concept.
[Shall I start by handling the urgent matters quickly?]
And I also felt a fair amount of pride living in the era of golems. I was naturally gifted at handling golems, and had no trouble using that skill. When I got into a well-made device, I could experience the bodies of fascinating creatures—birds, sharks, and sotis insects or other imaginary beings.
[So is that why our boss changes bodies every day?]
The correlation between experience and the soul. A rough contemplation on that topic floated through my mind. But I quickly put those fleeting thoughts aside. Now is the ti to get to work.
I lowered the consciousness of my main body and activated a specific spell—then, as always, the sensation returned. A replica modeled after the Alphaurians in appearance, but in reality, the material leaned far more toward rigidity than flexibility—this imitation of the planet's rulers...
A humanoid golem.
[That's it.]
The body moves smoothly. I completed a brief check and imdiately began with the highest-priority task.
[East 09, Entire Waters - Most Wanted (Priority 1 / Capture Alive)]
Today's first task is to capture the fugitive robber, but it shouldn't take long.
[Let's see, the last confird location was sowhere around here...]
My assigned jurisdiction as the First Magic Master covers 80% of the Northern Hemisphere. And naturally, the limits of the detection magic I can deploy also roughly match that range.
Today's work was easy. After a short wait, sothing triggered a response on the magical net I had spread underwater. It was the characteristic magic of a being rightly punished for forcibly stealing soone else's property.
.
.
.
Several hours later. Inside the warm water zone at the northern end of the planet.
—Clank, clank, clank.
Noisy sounds echoed from all directions. A room with a flat square-shaped floor designed to neatly stack objects. And strangely, a dry environnt with not a single drop of water.
Oh, it's here.Is it already that ti?That's why I told you to make the windows in the storage room bigger. Because of the damn airtightness, all four sides are blocked, so even though a day has passed, it doesn't feel like it.
Just as was ntioned earlier, this place is a storage facility. If you ask what's stored here, naturally it's the planet's specialty: golems. Military models, agricultural ones, and labor dolls for various other purposes—all lined up in this research archers' hall.
[Now that I think about it, even that insignificant lizard golem costs about two and a half months' wages for an ordinary citizen just to afford a single tail...]
But the problem is the price.
It conducts magic well. It has good elasticity. And on top of that, basic durability.
A golem is a cutting-edge machine that consus such dream-like materials without hesitation, so of course it wouldn't lack value or quality.
[I get it, but honestly, it still feels a bit expensive emotionally.]
The total value of the golems stored here amounted to an astonishing sum equivalent to the national budget for 15 years. Because of that, the managers always maintained the building's interior at optimal conditions to preserve their materials as long as possible.
Not for living beings, but these inorganic materials benefit from a dry environnt and room temperature.
[Hmm.]
At this point, they're less like golems and more like nobility.
Engineers clad in all sorts of safety gear busily moved about inside the storage facility. As ti passed, it seed assembly work had begun sowhere—a transport golem loaded with a pungent, acrid-slling adhesive rolled by. But, as usual, I passed it by without much thought.
Wanted criminal capture. Curse sorcerer subdued. And even the large-scale contract fraud ring was wiped out. I've been working all day without eating or resting, and only just before clocking out did I manage to co here to finish the last task—so how could I possibly care about what others think?
[Yeah. If I fix it like this, tomorrow's operation should go a bit more smoothly.]
What all those technicians usually inspect is the exterior of the golems. In other words, repairs to the shell that accounts for most of the defense performance, lubrication between each chanism, and cleaning of the core pump. anwhile, what I modify day in and day out is the opposite—the inside of the golem. Behavioral protocols to be stored in the machine's mind, or morized spells that automatically activate under specific conditions, and the like.
[Oh dear, the spell here has already been erased? Looks like I'll have to re-engrave it.]
These magically engineered automatons can exhibit extre aberrant behaviors from even the slightest mistake in the response settings. They're not infants or anything like that. Every day after finishing their tasks, I have to check if any parts are damaged and whether the previous commands are still properly maintained. Only then can I minimize potential malfunctions.
[Okay. Now it's completely over.]
Well, even so—if I can put up with this slight hassle, there's a lot to gain in return...
[Everyone, keep up the good work today! I'm going ho.]
Hahaha. Yes. Yes.Go to sleep, Magic Master! It's really late.Goodbye-
Before leaving the storage room, I called out a greeting in a loud voice, and the engineers all responded in unison. With the sa warm farewell as always, I closed my eyes.
By the ti I had returned my thoughts, I saw the dark ceiling I face every morning. For reference, this place, like the storage room earlier, is a space sealed off by a barrier that prevents water from coming in, keeping it dry. I really like these automated dolls so much that I even keep machines full of them in my own ho.
[Golems are a great culture.]
I returned ho completely, and the thought in the midst of my drowsiness.
In the early days, the clay dolls couldn't even properly carry out simple commands like "plow the field" and would end up plowing the wrong places. But now, they handle various tasks with skill better than most experts.
With the advancent of golems, architectural styles in this world have beco very extravagant and developed on a large scale. Especially in the upper southern hemisphere—commonly referred to as the Southern Upper Layer—where many wealthy people live, all the houses are organically connected like a spiderweb, creating such vast living spaces that they even built structures resembling artificial waves under the sea.
[A residential complex that looks like sea foam...]
The day will co when I get to see that iconic building in the southern hemisphere. But since I'm a guardian of the northern hemisphere, it seems unlikely anyti soon. Well, there's no need to focus only on the wealthy neighborhoods far away. The standard of living for citizens on this planet has improved so much that it's incomparable to the old days.
In the past, only the wealthy could afford to raise mounts, but now, anyone can ride long steel dragons that don't even cost much to feed. Dangerous jobs that used to have a high risk of lasting injuries? Just leave them to the golems. With a single word, they'll handle all your housework, and there are even servant golems that give shoulder massages. What a wonderful era we live in.
I'm too sleepy now to have any more random thoughts. I've sohow managed to reach the point where I don't even need to eat, using all sorts of tricks. But no matter how much the tis advance, this thing called sleep is still impossible to defy.
[Ugh, so sleepy......]
It was when my mind was starting to get hazy.
Flash.
Suddenly, a clear image ford in my visual sensors, and a strange thought flashed through my mind, as if my brain had awakened upon colliding with thunder.
Wait a minute. How... exactly have I managed to stay alive all the way to this era?
[?]
And why does this body of mine need to sleep and consu organic matter like everyone else? Sothing's off. Because I'm... I an, I'm supposed to be... that is...
[...]
...I have no idea what kind of nonsense that thought just now was.
[Did I work too hard today?]
If only there were oil you could pour into the brain—but unfortunately, this world has no such thing as a lubricant that helps you think better. So in the end, I couldn't make sense of this strange feeling of deja vu. Even when I tried to reflect on it, no clear answer ca. The thoughts just floated in my mind like illusions, never quite forming into coherent sentences.
For now, without thinking too much, I forced myself to sleep—for the sake of tomorrow.
...But it was truly strange. That one thought—was it so kind of germ infecting my brain cells? From that day on, for three whole days, every ti I tried to fall asleep, the sa thought kept rising in my mind.
***
Day 4 of insomnia.
Ahhh! What are you doing? Can't you aim your magic properly?My tentacle almost flew off!
[uh... you're right. Sorry about that. Could everyone please step back a bit? Either way, we'll need to set up a new barrier over there too.]
As expected, sleep is an essential concept for any being with reason. After only a few restless nights, I was already suffering from aftereffects severe enough to disrupt my daily life.
[Anyway, even on days this exhausting, the work just never stops...]
The true nature of those aftereffects was a subtle aversion to honorifics.
It's really strange. Isn't it only natural for , who exists for the citizens, to use honorifics toward the residents of this planet? But lately, using those polite forms has suddenly started to feel awkward, uncomfortable, and sotis even downright botherso.
[Today, I'll finish up quickly and make sure to check my condition afterward.]
Clink!...clatter clatter clatter.
A noise filled the air. The mysterious sound just now was none other than light gemstone stakes clinking against each other.
The purpose of this mission is to use those catalysts to cast a powerful new barrier. The reason the mages have co all the way out to this farthest upper-layer ice zone to set up the barrier is because the planet Alphauri recently reunited with long-forgotten enemies.
Can a few barrier sheets like these really hold them back?
[Of course. According to ■■, the ruler of this planet...]
I answered the nearby resident's question sincerely.
[They said there's no other technique quite as effective against the Beta beings.]
'Beta beings.'
The Beta beings—those arch-enemies who once pushed the Alphauri people to the brink of extinction in history. According to information from higher-ups, surprisingly, the weaker satellite natives, whom we thought would wither away or completely block the Beta beings' invasions, in return, the citizens willingly offered their gratitude and loyalty to these strong protectors in the face of this crisis...
[The last attack happened on the day of the solar eclipse, so it's about ti they show up again.]
They had almost wiped the Alphauri people off the face of the world once before, so wouldn't the second ti be even easier? The fear and hatred toward the Beta beings were ingrained deep in the genes of the main planet's inhabitants. That's why the ruling class governing this era was willing to pour massive budgets—enough to cover ten years—into building and maintaining the Beta beings' invasions. In return, the citizens willingly offered their gratitude and loyalty to these strong protectors in the face of this crisis...
[Huh? Here it cos.]
It was then. A new signal entered my senses while I was lost in thought. The unique wavelength of the Beta beings.
Kaagh!Ugh, look at that sight. It's exactly like the story my great-grandfather told .I can't look at it because it's disgusting.
The main planet's greatest enemy, born on the upper layer, looked so fierce that even just the faint shimring of its form from afar caused an uproar among everyone. But I remained calm.
This project has a massive budget allocated to it. If you have any conscience, you should just do your job like a true professional.
[The new humans of the Beta beings are no longer fatally affected by mana burns. After weakening them several tis with the barrier's filtering sh as usual, attack when their coordinates are fixed...]
Boom!
Enemies were falling from the sky. To confront them, I pushed past the barrier mages and stepped boldly closer to the trouble spot. What ca into view was the terrifying and distinctive presence unique to the Beta beings...
Kaagh!Wait a minute, do they usually make such rough sounds? I tried using high-resolution echo-location again.
A hard shell. An asymtrical body. And occasional tiny breathing holes.
This was the form of the monster that appeared from the sky. Yeah. It was exactly as I rembered—no different at all. And that was the problem.
[They said these things evolved, didn't they?]
Surely, the Beta beings shouldn't be fatally hard by mana burns anymore. But can creatures with breathing holes like those structurally make that possible? Why is that? Why does sothing that went according to procedure until yesterday feel so off now?
[?]
I quickly activated my clairvoyance magic. Then new information ca in. Interestingly, inside the Beta being before were chanical parts that mimicked the movent of living organs with astonishing precision.
In other words, that white monster isn't alive—it's a replica made from golems... What the, damn it!
[A fake Beta being?!]
keeeee!
It was at that mont. I felt an inexplicable, intense pain coming from the round structure of my thinking body. It was such a painful sensation that I scread. Questions about life span, the awkward honorifics, and the strong sense of unease from the fake Beta being felt like a sealed dam bursting open all at once.
[This is crazy!]
I realized everything about this damn situation up to now. It ant my mories were returning in response to the continuous stimuli.
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