Chapter 216: The dormant weapon, part 4
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
The inhabitants of the ruined city had been staring at us for a while now.
And they didn’t seem any less hostile than the mechanical dog.
「Are they staring at us?」, asked Orlando.
「Looks like it」, answered Almeria.
「Quite the warm welcome.」
「Save the sarcasm for later, Roland.」
「You’re right」, I muttered. 「Let’s go.」
「But what was that thing?」
「You said the fake Lyla-dono melted, right? Could it be…?」
「Probably a magical weapon — another of Van’s creations.」
The dog’s body seemed to be made of metal, which I had learnt when I punched it. My initial assumption was that it was powered by magicka. However, upon closer examination, I realised that it was powered by a magical incantation, and could move of its own accord.
I had not expected it to melt away, though.
We checked that there were no humans in the area before darting into what was left of an abandoned house. Keeping our guard up, we looked through a window on the second floor. The residents had crowded around the puddle of what had once been the mechanical dog.
「Are we a nuisance to them?」, muttered Almeria.
「We could very well be disturbing the peace here」, I said. 「That magical weapon might have been summoned by with the intention of driving us intruders away.」
That had been their intention, at least. Unfortunately for them, we had bitten back. As for us, searching for Lyla and Rodje was no longer top priority.
「Orla knows what that is.」
「You could’ve said that earlier, Orlando-dono…」, sighed Elvi with a shake of her head.
「I’ve never seen it in person, but…」, continued the elf. 「It has to be a ‘Gun-Dog’. I read about it two centuries ago. It’s a magical weapon with four legs and three miniature cannons.」
「‘Gun-Dog’… a magical weapon.」
「Exactly. There was a massive war a millennium ago, during which it was destroyed along with the technique used to create it.」
Destroyed, huh? But that thing earlier looked perfectly healthy, I thought. It must have been revived one way or another. I guessed that the same went for the inhabitants of the city, even though I didn’t really care enough to confirm it.
「That Van has the ability to create fake copies of myself and Lyla.」
「And the magic sword I received.」
「Mhm. I think his skill is centered around ‘creation’. He seems to be able to restore, and maybe even replicate, anything as long as he has a part of it.」
「That’s… doesn’t that mean that he can also work with a bone from a buried cadaver?」
「It’s possible.」
If that was the case, then we might be able to find some clues at a graveyard.
「He has a pretty sick hobby」, said Almeria with disgust.
「We’re being treated like intruders right now」, I said. 「The ‘Gun-Dog’ might not be the only magical weapon lurking here.」
News of our appearance must have already travelled.
To be able to discern friends and foes, attack said foes, and to be fully autonomous on top of that… that’s pretty advanced technology given that it was created a thousand years ago, I thought.
「Where could Lylael be?」
「If she’s here, then she must be there.」
「Where?」
「The highest spot.」
The two noblewomen looked in the same direction.
「The castle?」, asked Orlando.
I nodded.
We came all the way here, Lyla. If you know that, then the least you can do is say hello.
◆Lyla◆
From the window of her room, Lyla watched the ruckus unfolding in the streets below.
The ‘Gun-Dog’ had yet to return, and she wondered if some unexpected visitors had come. Opening the window, she channeled magicka to heighten her sense of hearing. She immediately heard the frightened residents saying that the ‘Gun-Dog’ had been destroyed. That’s strange, she thought. It should be able to eat any run-of-the-mill thief or monster for breakfast.
Van had recreated the ‘Gun-Dog’ from mere fragments that he had unearthed, so it was no surprise that he had been able to replicate Roland using only his right arm.
As Van’s advisor, Lyla had made herself at home in the castle and offered advice whenever asked. Once she knew of Van’s kingdom-building ambitions, the first thing she had done was to restore peace and order. She had exterminated the monsters prowling the area and driven away the bandits that had made the place their nest.
During that time, Van had visited a nearby ruin and came back with a successfully restored relic. Or ‘magical weapon’, as he had called it. It had once been used to maintain law and order.
「Lylael-sama」, came Rodje’s voice from the other side of the door.
The elf had come to find her not long after her own arrival in Jorvenssen. Upon hearing that her master was helping Van rebuild the kingdom, she had expressed her own reservations, which she rarely did. When Van struck a deal with her, however, she too agreed to help.
「You may enter.」
「Aye.」
Rodje entered and told Lyla what had transpired outside.
「That man has come.」
「No wonder.」
「One of the ‘Gun-Dogs’ has been destroyed. I’ll let Van know about this, but he should have another magical weapon at his disposal soon enough.」
She paused.
「…Do you really not want to meet him?」
「Mhm.」
The elf looked like she had something to say, but after some hesitation, simply shook her head.
She bowed and left the room. Lyla watched another elf through the crack in the door, who Rodje had met shortly after coming to Jorvenssen. This second elf was none other than Rodje’s younger sister who had been slain by humans long ago. That had been Van’s terms — help him, and he would let her see her sister again. Rodje had been deeply disgusted by his powers of ‘resurrection’, but her beliefs had made way for the chance to be reunited with family.
『If you show that this place is safe and habitable, people will naturally return.』
That was what Lyla had advised. However, Van had chosen to take the easy route and simply resurrected droves of people from their buried remains. They numbered about two hundred, and he could easily increase this number in the future by visiting another cemetery.
Van’s replicas were indistinguishable from the originals, even if they were ‘different’ people. The population would only increase from now on, and the successful establishment of a supply chain would jumpstart the kingdom’s restoration at full throttle.
Lyla had decided that she would leave after that.
「…」
Footsteps could be heard in the corridor. They belonged to not two or three, but many more. The door was carelessly flung open, and ten or so well-built men spilled into the room.
Van had wanted to establish a peacekeeping force, but knew that training soldiers and commanders in an organic manner would be a Herculean task. He had thus simply resurrected all of those who he expected could do the job.
「Diakitep」, said a man. 「We have to kill you on Master’s orders.」
Lyla sighed in exasperation.
「He has taken me for granted all this while — and that is none other than an insult to me. Does he think you can do anything to me? Please. You will regret this insult for eternity.」
Undaunted, she laughed as the men charged at her wielding their swords and daggers.
「This won’t even be fun.」
She cast ‘Searing Cannon’, an eighth-order spell. Reddish-brown balls of magicka materialised in mid-air, and flung themselves at three assailants on Lyla’s command. Without so much as a magic circle or an uttered incantation, they were instantly reduced to piles of soot.
「How boring — and so much for cooperation.」
The survivors fell back. Their sooty comrades melted away and evaporated with another wave of Lyla’s hand. This melting was signature of Van’s reanimated remains. She had believed that Roland’s doppelganger was an exact copy of the original, but after seeing its sticky remains, she now knew that they differed vastly in composition.
「I’m bored, you know? Will you put up a fight at least?」
The assailants yelled and charged at her. All it took was the point of a finger to vaporise another two of them. Lyla then noticed an unfamiliar weapon being pointed at her from the corner of her eye. She remembered from her readings that it was some kind of gun.
Lyla activated ‘Dimensional Wall’ — a second-order spell that deflected all attacks physical and magical. It was the blanket solution for weapons and attacks that she had never seen before.
With a deafening explosion, the assailant fired.
My ‘Dimensional Wall’ will be enough, thought Lyla. When the dark gray projectile came closer, however, she realised that it wasn’t an ordinary bullet. There was a mysterious incantation inscribed into it, as if it was a magical weapon in itself.
「…」
The Demon King turned on her heel, activating a mobility spell to evade the bullet in case it pierced the ‘Dimensional Wall’.
It did.
And she was too late. She took a bullet in the shoulder before she could cast the spell.
The next bullet sank right into her chest.
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