The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology
Chapter 230
In Restamia Kingdom, most people would name the Golem Museum as the top tourist attraction.
With Lilith's "Restamia Capital Sightseeing Map" in hand, we were enjoying touring the capital since morning.
While the nights were quiet, the city was bustling from early morning. Especially, morning markets were held grandly in various places, and everywhere was so crowded it was surprising to see so many people.
We also got up early to visit the morning market, enjoying various foods from street stalls. After that, we visited a confectionery store patronized by the royal family for teatime, and then came to the main attraction, the Golem Museum.
"Hmph. My soul resonates with this body clad in pitch-black darkness..."
Seori was gazing at the display of a three-generations-old automatic golem, succumbing to her usual obsession with her beloved pitch-black darkness (black golem).
It's certainly stylish and cool, being made entirely of jet-black artificial magic stones.
However, according to the description, this automatic golem was quickly improved because, despite its high performance, it was so black that golems had trouble recognizing each other at night. This might be why they started to glow white.
The museum also had a very authentic collection, including all automatic golems from the first generation to the current ones, samples of artificial magic stones, soil quality differences from various countries, results of geological surveys, relationships between ground and earthquakes, and so on. It was very enjoyable.
"This is Lili's first visit too. They seem to be doing some quite interesting research."
Lilith was interested in the research on the correlation between drive formulas and soil quality. This research appeared to be a joint project with the Central Magic Society, with comments from several participating society researchers also displayed.
Saaya, who was carefully reading the explanations, noticed something.
"...Huh? Isn't this name that person?"
"Oh, it's the pervert. So he really was a senator."
One of the joint researchers was listed as Belgand, Senator of the Nogana Republic.
He was a pervert I'd rather not remember, but it seems he was indeed a competent mage as he claimed.
"Huh~ It says that person is an authority on earth magic. Hey Elenora, why don't you research with him sometime?"
"No."
Eleni flatly refused.
While there were no other familiar names among the researchers, the research content was indeed all interesting.
However, magical theory is knowledge that will never intersect with my life, so I forgot it five seconds after reading.
By the way, during the tour, Seori was constantly hanging around the automatic golem exhibition corner, while Punisuke was sleeping soundly on Eleni's head. They're quite predictable, those two.
"Man~ That was really interesting."
"Yes, it was educational. It's a shame there weren't detailed descriptions of the formulas though."
"Well, they can't exactly put state secrets on display, can they?"
We took our time, spending about several hours going around.
By the time we left the museum, the sun was already starting to set.
As we were opening the tourist map and thinking about where to go next, it happened.
"Ruru-- [unintelligible]"
"Hm?"
I heard a voice again.
I immediately looked up and scanned the surroundings. My companions looked puzzled.
"Hey, didn't anyone just call my name?"
"Huh? I didn't hear anything."
"Nagi didn't either. Have you finally started doing drugs?"
"No, no... I clearly heard it."
This time, it was definitely calling my name.
It was a woman's voice. A voice like a beautiful melody, giving me a nostalgic feeling. It was a voice that seemed familiar, as if I'd heard it before.
But apparently none of my companions heard it.
"That's strange... I'm sure I heard it."
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, really, I did hear it."
"I'm not doubting you. But they say when you hear things you don't usually hear, it means you're tired. Let's rest somewhere just in case."
Following Saaya's concerned suggestion, and since I was thirsty anyway, we decided to stop at a nearby cafe.
Lilith took over looking for a shop, and just as we were about to head there...
"Kyaaaaa!"
A scream came from down the street.
Stopping to see what was happening, we saw a woman crouching down, clutching a shopping basket. Next to her was an automatic golem, its face stone glowing bright red.
The woman was bleeding from her leg, and there was blood smeared on the golem's sharp arm.
The golem raised its arm again, this time aiming for the woman's head - Dangerous!
"Nagi!"
"Oni-sou Style - 'Sotetsu-giri'!"
In an instant, Nagi closed the distance to the golem and sliced off its arm.
The golem's face stone flickered as it immediately distanced itself from Nagi.
"I don't know the situation, but it's the leader's orders. I'll help."
"Ah, thank you!"
The woman nodded, her face pale, looking at the golem with frightened eyes.
She looked like an ordinary housewife doing her shopping. She didn't look like a criminal who would be attacked by a golem.
The people around were also hurriedly moving away, so it was clearly an abnormal situation.
Lilith nodded.
"Yes. I've heard that when the magic stone turns red, it's detecting an abnormal operation in the magic circuit. It's probably going berserk."
"I see. That was close."
I felt relieved.
It seems we were right to help on the spur of the moment.
"Nagi, if it looks like it's going to go berserk again, you're free to act."
"Understood."
Against a golem, Nagi is in his element. With Nagi's sword that can cut through magic circuits and magic stones, no mere doll stands a chance no matter how it struggles.
As Nagi glared at the golem that had distanced itself, its face stone flickered and then returned to white.
Seeing this, Nagi sheathed his sword.
"It seems to have returned to normal. Now, let me see that injury... It's a bad stab wound, Saaya."
"Ah, yes."
Called by Nagi, Saaya rushed to the woman's side and immediately started healing her with recovery magic.
It seemed to be quite a severe injury, with her calf pierced through, but Saaya quickly healed it completely with "High Heel," a spell she had recently learned.
The woman thanked Saaya and Nagi tearfully, and the two advised her to see a doctor just in case. After all, what healed her was magic. Like potions, it's not natural healing, and it's certainly better to have her nerves and other functions checked for any abnormalities.
The woman bowed her head several times and then left.
The golem with its arm cut off was, for some reason, standing still in that spot. The onlookers were either watching from a distance or leaving as if fleeing, not approaching us.
Now, what should we do?
"Should we report this to the soldiers or something?"
"Yes. We do have an obligation to report, since we did damage a golem."
This is troublesome.
Well, it was unfortunate to be present for a golem's rampage, but the most important thing is that the victim is safe.
As I was about to look for a soldier, it happened.
"What are you doing!"
A whistle blew.
From down the road, soldiers came running, leading a group of automatic golems.
Oh, seems we didn't need to search after all. Someone must have reported it.
As I was about to wave to welcome the soldiers,
"You lot, put your hands up and get on the ground! Otherwise, we'll use force!"
"...Huh? You mean us?"
"Who else is there but you! That appearance, adventurers... You're caught red-handed damaging a golem, behave yourselves!"
The automatic golems were positioned to surround us.
Seems like there's some kind of misunderstanding.
"Look, this golem went berserk and attacked a civilian, so we stopped it..."
"Don't lie! Can't you see it's clearly maintaining a normal state!"
"It returned to normal after we cut off its arm."
"As if that's possible! First of all, do you think we'd believe such nonsense about a new model automatic golem going berserk! If you're going to make excuses, at least come up with a better lie!"
It doesn't seem like they're going to listen to us.
I guess it's a rare occurrence for the latest golems to go berserk. It's the crystallization of this country's proud technology, so they must have their pride.
But the fact is, it did go berserk right in front of us.
"If you don't believe us, why don't you ask the onlookers or the victim?"
"Are you trying to confuse us? First of all, where is this victim you speak of!"
"Ah, right. We already sent her home."
Maybe we should have kept her here a bit longer.
"Caught red-handed and refusing to admit your crime, you're just crude adventurers after all. If you resist, you'll be in for a painful experience."
"We're not planning to resist. If you'd just listen to us..."
"How dare you act so high and mighty... Just drop your weapons already!"
"Hm, should I take them down?"
"Wait, Eleni. If we actually fight back, we'll really be committing a crime."
I calmed down the hot-blooded lamb girl.
It's disappointing that they won't believe us, but the soldiers are just doing their job based on circumstantial evidence. We knew from before coming to this country that our words as adventurers wouldn't carry much weight.
"...What should we do?"
"What are you dawdling for! Drop your weapons and get down now, or else--"
"Excuse me, soldier, if I may?"
Lilith gently addressed the soldier who was about to resort to force.
"Are you one of their companions too... Ah, no, with that attire, might you be of noble rank?"
"Yes. My name is Lilith Muuteru. I am from a ducal family of the Kingdom of Mataisa."
"A ducal family!?"
The soldier boy was flustered.
Understandably, he's bewildered to have a duchess from a major country right in front of him. Well, mishandling this could lead to a diplomatic incident.
Speaking of which, a diplomatic incident... I see, so that's the card we can play.
"They are indeed adventurers, but they are acting as my guards. Their responsibility is my responsibility. I vouch for their words. While it may be hard to believe that an automatic golem went berserk, I ask that you first conduct a proper investigation. I have now revealed my identity, and we have no intention of running or hiding."
"I-I see, so they're your guards... However, without confirming evidence of your status as a duchess, I can't really say..."
"Here is my identification. It's my student ID from the Ladies' Academy, could you please confirm it?"
"...Indeed. I apologize for my rudeness, Lady Lilith. In that case, I would like to request that you and your guard adventurers accompany us to the barracks."
"Certainly. Everyone, let's go."
Lilith quickly deflated the soldier's momentum and peacefully resolved the situation.
So this is the power of a duchess.
We walked down the street, surrounded on both sides by automatic golems.
The one-armed golem that had gone into standby mode was being carried by other golems.
As we walked, I spoke to Lilith.
"By the way, is there a record left when they go berserk?"
"Normally, yes... but this time it might be a bit difficult."
Lilith frowned and said in a low voice,
"I checked the berserk golem with my 'Eye of Analysis', but I couldn't identify any cause that would make the magic circuit go berserk. If it was spontaneous, it's unlikely to return to normal, and if it was intentional, there should be visible traces..."
"Are there past events that even those eyes can't see?"
"It's only a royal-class skill, so there are limitations. For example, I can't see any indirect information like who wrote the formula. And of course, I can't see any traces of higher-rank skills or formulas at all."
"Higher than royal-class? That's pretty rare, isn't it?"
"Whether it exists or not, the fact that I can't see it is what's troublesome."
Lilith looked grave.
While I was finding this near-false arrest situation annoying, Lilith seemed more concerned about not being able to identify the cause of the malfunction.
Still, I think it must have been some kind of accident, because temporarily making a golem go berserk seems too difficult for a prank, and there's little to gain from it.
Slightly perplexed, we were taken to the barracks.
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Author Notes:
[Afterword Tips ~ A Brief History of the Kingdom of Restamia ~
・About 150 years ago
During the warring period in the southern part of the continent, a genius in earth magic was born in Restamia Duchy, one of the small countries. He joined the national army. Using his unique golem technology, he won every battle. The Duchy of Restamia advanced through wars with overwhelming momentum, unified all countries, and the Kingdom of Restamia was born with him as king. In the same year, they signed a mutual technology provision treaty with Stoania.
・About 130 years ago
Three disciples of the king cooperated to create the Golem Corps. The king established a specialized research institute for golems and invited skilled earth mages from other countries to develop unique formulas. The first automatic golem was born.
・About 110 years ago
Despite being a small country, they signed an alliance treaty with Mataisa Kingdom, one of the three major countries.
・About 105 years ago
They signed a mutual technology provision treaty with the Central Magic Society. The Golem Corps reached its largest scale ever.
・About 100 years ago
In his later years, the king decided to invade Bargia Dragon Duchy, the hegemon of the continent. However, they were easily defeated and the dragon species surrounded and subjugated the royal capital. The king took responsibility and committed suicide, passing the throne to the second king.
They signed an alliance contract with Bargia, which was essentially a reparation contract, becoming a virtual vassal state.
・About 70 years ago
The second king passed away, and the third king ascended to the throne. "Fortress Golems" were developed and deployed at all border checkpoints except those with Bargia.
・About 25 years ago
The third king passed away, and the throne was passed to the current king. The new king actively promoted urban development, and the orderly cityscape and stable governance by automatic golems led to the area around the royal capital being rated as having the best public safety on the continent.
Incidentally, the reason adventurers are not treated well in the Kingdom of Restamia is that most monster subjugation and bandit suppression near the royal capital is done by the kingdom's Golem Corps, leaving little work for adventurers, resulting in only rough individuals remaining or many turning to crime.]
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