Chapter 684 – It Doesn’t Work? And This Works?

000

About twenty people dressed in robes were lined up in an orderly manner, waiting for the appointed time.

The only thing that echoes in the room is the sound of the second hand made by the pocket watch as its mainspring turns.

In a room full of trembling tension where even the slightest breath was not tolerated, the members of the Exiled Church were waiting for orders with swords on their belts, rings on their hands, and masks on their faces.

Although most of them were laymen, they were drawn to this temple by the ideology of the exiled sect, and were prepared to give up their lives to achieve the sect’s ideals.

However, even so, the primal and fundamental fear of death could not be erased, so some of them would not have been able to hide their disappointment at being dragged into this mission.

Even so – it wasn’t something that could be done.

If you are to blame, you should blame yourself in the past for knocking on the door of a religious order that demands such fanatical sacrifices.

In any case, what the commander, Owl Mask, ordered them to do was pass through the portal that would open when the operation began and cooperate in subduing all humans at the destination.

No, I should speak clearly.

Probably, among the followers of the Exiled Church gathered there, there was no one who thought that it was possible to injure or kill the dark magic swordsman and his companions with this ineffective steel sword in their hands.

This was especially true for those who knew very well just how much damage the dark magic swordsman had caused to the church and turned their plans upside down.

So, ultimately, the role entrusted to them is to stand in front of them as a meat shield.

The believers understood their role even if no one said it out loud.

Now that they are in a situation where they cannot escape, what they choose is to stop thinking and accept this situation.

It would be more correct to say that there is nothing else that can be done.

He opens his mouth and yawns, as if the only thing free from this tension is Dharma.

As I glance at the dharma through the owl mask, I watch as the hour hand of the pocket watch slowly moves between 1 and 2, getting closer to 2.

He twitched his eyebrows, trembled, and raised his head as if he sensed something.

“I received a call. It seems like the lights in the dormitory where the black magic swordsman is staying have gone out.”

“I’ve waited a long time. Good. Then, shall we leave quickly?”

In response to the owl mask’s words, Dharma bends his neck from side to side and makes a crunching sound.

And the owl mask speaks, looking back at the soldiers who are nodding their heads and waiting for his orders.

“Listen, brothers and sisters.”

The way he spoke while spreading his arms was like a priest talking to believers in a cathedral.

“From now on, we are going to destroy our father’s enemies. They are foolish people who fight using the power of the devil and deny the order of the new world that the Father will create. Among them there will be women and children, but we should not hesitate. Although their appearance and form may deceive us, we must not be fooled by them. They are all beings who pose a huge risk to the world. They are the seeds of destruction.”

Is it also a kind of fate for those who have the potential to overturn the laws of the world with their own to gather by the side of the black magic swordsman?

There was a reason why Adam considered them especially dangerous.

“What you are doing is a ‘holy war.’ As those who shoulder the task of saving this world, they sacrifice their lives for what is right. So don’t be afraid. And show no mercy. Your soul will be passed on to the Father so that you can be reborn in a new world. You will have the honor of being the first to travel to our Eden.”

Even if their job is to sacrifice their lives by holding the party’s feet or creating an opening, even if just for a moment.

An owl mask that talks as if there is no problem as long as it is for the Father of all things.

Then, the believers who hear it gradually become stained with his thoughts and begin to turn their eyes away from reality.

Yes, unlike the foolish commoners, they are wise men who realize the truth of the world and sacrifice their lives in the fight to fight evil.

Do you think your life will end up like a dog’s death?

Thinking that they have a promised future, they gradually begin to become paralyzed by the fear of death.

Dharma, looking at this, stuck out his tongue.

Because of the foolishness of laypeople who are brainwashed even if they say something that has no content and can be said by anyone.

The foolishness of believing in everything without even being certain that Eden really exists.

Of course, I wouldn’t say it directly.

“Then. Let’s go. May the protection of the Father of all creation be by your side.”

As he says that, he presses the button that activates the portal opening device located in the distance – the part that ties the strap of the pocket watch.

With a clicking sound, the minute, second, and hour hands of the clock stop at the same time and then rotate rapidly.

And, if you think it stopped at 12 o’clock – now, finally.

There is a dimension door in the space where the dark magic swordsman is –

＂…＂

─It did not open.

＂What, it won’t open?＂

When Dharma opens his mouth like that, the owl mask looks down a little at the pocket watch in his hand.

Then he closed his eyes for a moment, opened them, and tried pressing the clock again.

But if nothing happens-

“… It seems that the device that opens the dimension door is broken.”

＂…＂

With no one saying anything, among the gathered laymen, Dharma, and the owl mask

Only silence and time passed by in vain.

001

When a rustling sound is heard, Lila lifts the hammer in her hand and sighs in relief when she sees that the object she was aiming for has been completely destroyed.

“Whew… I’m glad.”

[Confirmation of complete destruction of target. Well done.]

The one speaking calmly to Laila was an automaton whose upper abdomen was open and showing the inside of her body.

“You. If there is such a thing, please say it exists…”

As Lila lifted the broken parts of her mechanism, she pulled out the magic stone that was inside it, which had now lost its power.

She thought about whether it could be used if it was repaired properly, but she shook her head, thinking that it would be safer to dispose of something like this by incineration.

Then the automata says this in response to the story it received from Lila.

[Speech about that part was prohibited by higher command.]

＂Higher command authority… It is strange that there is a command authority higher than Cleon’s stamp of domination… In order to reestablish that part, I wonder if there is a need to initialize the command authority…”

For now, it’s good that he listens to her, but in the important part, Lila sighs as she looks at the automata that has been refusing her orders with this excuse.

Knock, knock. As the sound was heard, Cleon’s voice came from beyond the door.

＂The sound was very loud… What happened?＂

“That was a big deal.”

Layla then got up from her seat, walked to her door at a brisk pace, avoiding her obstacles, and opened her door.

Cleon’s eyes momentarily scanned the scene as the room was still untidy, and he immediately shifted his gaze to Lila.

“So? “What happened?”

“Inside that automata’s body was a device that could remotely open a portal. If we had left it as is, they would have invaded here.”

At Lila’s words, Cleon’s expression hardened for a moment, but when she heard Lila speak more calmly than she thought, she decided that the problem had already been solved.

“… You were right when you said you would dissect it.”

“What. Because it’s me~”

Cleon smiles as he puts his hand on her waist and puffs out her chest, looking at her proudly.

Then, she makes eye contact with the automata, whose upper body is placed on Lila’s work desk and is looking towards her.

Looking at the mechanical parts of her body that were clearly revealed in the part of the ship disassembled by Lila, the automata moving in that state looked a little bizarre.

[Master. Entity name Lila is clearly an excellent engineer. Since she understands exactly what I explained, I think I can leave her maintenance to her.]

＂Right?＂

The automata speaks as if it was worried for no reason, and Cleon answers.

“I’m not an engineer or a mechanic, I’m a wizard, right? I’m just good at alchemy.”

After Lila lightly tackled her for calling herself her engineer or something, Cleon approached her.

“Aside from that device, aren’t there any other dangerous devices?”

[Discussing the black box of my internal design is prohibited by higher command.]

An automaton that repeats the same story it told Laila.

Lila and Cleon make eye contact with a small sigh after hearing the answer.

“It’s been like this since a while ago. Although your imprint of domination primarily brings control, being the holder of higher command seems to be part of her deepest design.”

＂It’s troublesome… If the higher-up command comes and tries to retrieve her…”

＂You will be dragged away like that. Well… Before that happens, we’ll have to do something.”

Cleon looks at her and asks a question about Lila’s answer.

＂Is there some way?＂

“Method? Hmm… The simplest way would be to reset her head?”

As Lila said this, she pointed the wooden handle of the hammer to her head.

＂In the head of these automata, there is a memory device just like a human… No, since it is an automaton, would it be more appropriate to call it a recording device? Anyway, there is such a thing. All important information is in it. Of course, this person is the one with the highest command authority who was singing earlier…”

To Lila’s words, the automata made no reply.

Is it because of the speech restrictions placed on her, or is it—

Cleon couldn’t tell whether the reaction was due to rejection of the story about losing one’s memory.

It is said that a heart of steel does not pulse, and a machine brain does not feel emotions –

When the story about resetting her memories came out, she seemed very agitated.

“… But then, wouldn’t all the information that Automata had about her exiled church disappear?”

Cleon thinks for a moment and then speaks to Lila, and she responds by nodding her head, shrugging and lifting her shoulders.

“What. Yes. But isn’t it better than having it taken away again? I’d like to say… As I said, it’s the simplest and most uncertain method. So – method two. To be honest, I don’t feel like it, but…”

As Lila says this, she moves the handle of her hammer and points it from her head to her open stomach.

＂By encroaching on this guy’s black box with magical power, the upper commanding authority is forcibly changed to Cleon. ＂

Is there anything like that in the part she pointed to? That was what I thought, but there was confidence in Lila’s eyes.

＂Are you saying to use the stamp of domination?＂

＂Similar yet different. As you know, it is honestly unclear how the imprint of domination works on beings that are not physically living beings.”

Cleon’s two partners, the demon sword and the holy sword, have strong and strong egos, and unlike those who follow Cleon on their own, the automata in front of them are influenced by the imprint of domination, and Cleon has taken over the middle command authority.

Because there are few related cases, it is not easy to say – Laila added, but there were two things that had to be done.

“The black box is the most important part of automata. The heart is ‘Losim’ made of ‘magic stone’. If the ‘recording device’ is the ‘brain’, then the black box is…”

Lila continued her words, but at that point she paused and thought about something for a moment.

＂…?＂

Cleon then looked at Lila, and she answered like this.

“Sorry. It seems that there is no part of the human body that corresponds to the black box.”

＂What is that…＂

She spoke as if she couldn’t think of an appropriate analogy, but the automata opened her mouth there.

[The black box is the ‘genital organ’ for the automata.]

＂Ha?!＂

When Lila suddenly says something in confusion, the automata look at the two and answers.

[Our black boxes contain key information protected by the strongest protection that cannot be stored in recording devices that pose security risks. The blueprint of the body, the ideology of the creator. And the pattern of the formed artificial self as well.]

The automata moves its arms and places its hands on its stomach.

It was like a pregnant woman with her own child stroking her stomach.

[It is not much different from human genetic information. The information accumulated in this Black Vox is used to create the next generation of automata.]

After hearing her story, the two people silenced her for a moment and looked at her quietly.

More than I thought – of course it was surprising that he thought like a human, but the fact that it was ‘reproduction’ in the standards of automata was also a bit interesting.

Even if you don’t inherit her blood, if you continue her own lineage, wouldn’t you be able to say that you are blood relatives?

But Lila soon came to her senses, cleared her throat, and continued explaining to Cleon.


“Uh, anyway. Just as Cleon used her blood to flow his magical energy into this child’s body, engraving the imprint of domination near her brain. Another stamp of domination will be engraved on the black box. Of course, the black box has much greater magic resistance than the recording device. It won’t work with just the right amount of magic attribute─＂

“—The story is going strangely for a moment, but you can’t believe it. Are you telling me to do something with this guy?”

Wasn’t it a joke what you said about the ten fingers a little while ago?

“That’s the fastest, right? It’s the way we always do it.”

＂…＂

Lila said this while looking at her Cleon and her face blushed slightly.

＂Well, that’s it. Just because I am, doesn’t mean I condone everything. If you think about it, this guy is a machine, not a human. Your emotions and ego are also vague, right? So, should I say that it is a little different compared to what I do with other people…”

＂Is that the standard…＂

Cleon sighed and shook her head, but still looked at her automata with an expression of unwillingness.

＂In the beginning. It’s strange to think that magic power is being injected into a guy made of metal.”

“Then… I’ll do it for you, so just put what comes out into this guy.”

As Lila said that and tried to take off the gown she was wearing, the automata looked at Lila and said “Wait a minute” And stopped.

[There is no need for that. I am equipped with functions and parts to extract magical power from outside and use it as a power source in an emergency. Open the cover below where the black box is located.]

At those words, Lila had a blank expression for a moment, then opened the cover of that part as she said.

Then – a straight, translucent pink organ in the stomach was located.

Looking at the wrinkles on the inside and the space at the end to store magical power, I could tell that it was an organ modeled after a woman’s vagina and uterus.

＂… What on earth was the guy who made this thinking…!＂

Lila talks as if her head hurts, but she doesn’t care and the automata continues.

[This part is made using a very soft material, even compared to other parts. Ingredients: Elastomer. To put it simply, it is elastic rubber. It also has the function of internally secreting cleaning fluid and lubricant.]

“It’s so explicit that I honestly feel a little bad…”

If Cleon also responds as if he sympathizes with Lila’s words, the automata are the very end of the organ-

The part corresponding to her local area may have been the insertion hole, but when she was seen from the outside, that part was not a mound as one might imagine, but rather a blocking area.

[This place is open with the permission of the person in charge. However, because the Exiled Church banned the use of this organ, it has never been used until now. Humanly speaking, I am a virgin – that is, a virgin.]

＂…＂

[Do you want to use it?]

When she spoke in a pushy tone, Cleon silenced her for a moment.

“… Uh, what do you want to do? Cleon. If you do, you can use my bed…”

＂First… Let me think about it a little…＂

Unable to easily respond to Lila’s words, Cleon met the automata’s eyes.

At first glance, she may be nothing more than a calm lens that shows no emotions, but for some reason, I was able to sense her human personality in a subtle way.

Could it be that it is the pattern of the artificial self-contained in the black box she mentioned earlier?

Although she is reluctant to reset her recording device, she actively responds to having her magic power introduced into her body.

That’s why she hates touching the recording device – maybe.

She is interested in magic infusion…

＂… Okay.＂

[All right. Then, Lila. Please reassemble my body.]

＂Are you serious…? Well… Could it be because it’s Cleon… “

Lila approaches her despite her slightly rude remarks.

“But we don’t even know your name yet.”

At that time, when Cleon said that, the automata blinked her eyes and then answered.

[Arnia. My entity name is Arnia.]