Chapter 93 - Episode 9: "That Stick Is Not Needed in This Settlement"
Good day to you. I am Violia Nico Fortesia. I am currently observing the golem workshop of the Lunette Doll Shop.
The sight of exquisite human-shaped golem parts scattered about is just like the scene of a grotesque murder.
...However, all those human-shaped golem parts are things moved by magic.
It seems Chesta had his prosthetic arm made at this shop... but he shouldn't be able to use magic, should he? I wonder how he is able to move that prosthetic arm. It is quite intriguing...
While I was listening to the explanation of the golems and being shown various unusual things, Chesta, who had come along, began to get restless.
...I have a general idea of why he is restless.
In short, he is crashing.
Yes. I understand what a druggie would be thinking. I made sure he was clean today so he could guide me here, and I've made him abstain from alcohol as a substitute. It must be about time he started craving his fix. Yes.
"Chesta. You may head back first. I shall be fine on my own."
"Eh, is that okay?"
"Of course. If you had some business with Rugel-sama, I could have left first, but you have been restless for some time now."
When I pointed it out, Chesta looked a bit embarrassed, but then he immediately gave a smirk.
"If you've already figured it out, then fine. I'm heading back. Later, Rugel. Take care of things."
With that, Chesta quickly left the workshop.
"Come back soon, Chesta-kun!"
When Rugel-sama called out after him, a hand fluttered just before disappearing behind the door.
...Watching Chesta leave, Rugel-sama let out a small sigh... and then turned toward me.
"...Violia-san, do you know why Chesta-kun was so restless?"
"Yes. I assumed he was mostly suffering from withdrawal."
Since Rugel-sama seems close to Chesta, he must know that Chesta is a druggie, so I spoke without hiding anything.
"...Ah, so you know."
"When I first met him, he was completely high."
I still remember it. On a cloudy night, in a cave where the sky wasn't even visible, he was cackling about how 'the stars are beautiful'!
"I see."
Rugel-sama made a complicated face, and then suddenly asked:
"...What do you think of that?"
"What do you mean by 'what'?"
"That... Chesta-kun is using illegal drugs. How does that look to you, Violia-san?"
Even if you ask me that...
"Well, I have no intention of trying them myself. However, the fact that he is a druggie has nothing to do with me. I make him sober up when I want him to work, and so far, there have been no problems. Of course, if you ask whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, it is on the unpleasant side."
Of course, if he were to quit drugs entirely, I feel it would be a waste as he might be even more high-performance.
But it is up to the individual to decide what to do with themselves. It would be out of place for me to say this or that about Chesta.
"...I see."
Rugel-sama made a complicated face, and after a bit of hesitation, he started to speak.
"The reason Chesta-kun started using those illegal drugs... is my fault."
"It must have been about ten years ago. Doran-kun brought him here, saying there was a boy who had lost his left arm."
"Doran did?"
I was a bit surprised... no, knowing Doran, he would do that.
If he thinks something is 'worth picking up,' he'll pick up anything. I'm sure I was picked up for the same reason...
"...Chesta-kun, who lost his arm after getting caught in a fight between Royal soldiers and civilians in the Capital, was in a terrible state."
Rugel-sama spoke while continuing his work without stopping his hands. It was as if he were trying to separate his head from his fingertips.
"Normally, he should have been taken to a doctor immediately, but at that time, there were no doctors in the back alleys of Elsemarin. Since Chesta-kun had just clashed with the Royal soldiers, we couldn't exactly take him to a doctor on the surface."
...I can imagine the general situation.
Such 'sad accidents' happen from time to time.
The rampages of the Royal soldiers are nothing new, and it is also a fact that many citizens lose their lives being caught up in those rampages.
However, those are 'accidents.' It's like being struck by lightning by chance. Like encountering a monster by chance. In short, it is something that 'cannot be helped.'
"At that time, I also... well, I didn't see things very clearly. I just thought I wanted to save this boy somehow, and that desire just ran ahead of me."
There, Rugel-sama suddenly stopped his hands and brought an arm from a shelf.
"This is a normal prosthetic arm. Can you tell it's different from Chesta-kun's?"
When I was shown it... I could immediately tell it was something properly made as a prosthetic, not a golem part.
It is something used in place of a person's arm when it has been blown off. Yes. Indeed, like Chesta's left arm.
...But, unlike Chesta's arm, which is clearly a prosthetic at a glance, this one was much closer to a human arm. The way magic was integrated was much cleaner and less noticeable...
...There, I remembered a major question.
"This prosthetic is for a magic user, isn't it? It seems designed so that someone with a certain amount of mana can move it with their own power. ...But Chesta cannot use magic, can he?"
Yes. Chesta should not be able to use magic. He doesn't seem to be hiding his origin or lineage like Giovan, so he truly shouldn't be able to use even a lick of magic.
"That's right. When connecting a golem prosthetic to a human limb, there are plenty of ways to do it if the person has mana. You just have to move the arm with that person's mana. But Chesta-kun wasn't a boy who could use magic, so..."
Rugel-sama said with a bitter face:
"We connected the prosthetic directly to the nerves in his arm."
Connecting. Directly. To the nerves. ...How chilling.
"...Well, yeah. You'd make that face. You know it would absolutely hurt."
That doesn't just 'hurt,' does it...? Digging out nerves from the cross-section of a torn-off arm, connecting them to wires made of magic silver or something, and then cauterizing the cross-section to stop the bleeding, and then stabbing all sorts of things into it to connect it to a machine... no matter how you look at it, that is torture.
"Was... was Chesta alright?"
I found myself asking even though I knew he must be alive now.
"Naturally, you can't go through that while sane. But there were no sleeping medicines or anything, and it was an emergency..."
...Ah, before he even said it, I knew what was coming next.
"So, out of necessity, I decided to give Chesta-kun narcotics."
So that was it. I finally understand.
...Chesta lost a decent life in exchange for his life and his arm.
"As a result, he got his arm back and his life was saved. But even now, I'm not sure if it was right to do that even if it meant making him use narcotics."
...I think Chesta was fortunate.
Normally, in his situation, he would have died right there.
This was a golem workshop, and Rugel-sama had the technology to 'forcibly connect a living human body to a mechanical arm.' Furthermore, Doran was there to bring him here.
...A miracle, indeed. Chesta, an ordinary citizen who had his arm taken—and likely a street child from the back alleys at that—had his life saved. Yes. If this wasn't a miracle, then humans are incapable of performing miracles.
But... indeed, one might think about it.
Perhaps the life that was supposed to die would have been better off dying then.
"I wonder if he is happy now."
I suppose it cannot be helped that one would think that.
"...Well, I have known him for less than a year, so I do not know for sure. But for now, he seems very happy while he is high."
"W-Well, I suppose so..."
That is what the drugs are for, after all. Yes. That is exactly why narcotics sell so well.
"...But even when he is not high, he seems to be having a fair amount of fun."
However, if we only talk about narcotics, it is far too empty, so let us talk about something else.
"Recently, he has been raising dragon hatchlings. The dragons are very attached to Chesta. He seems to be enjoying himself."
"Heh, baby dragons..."
"Yes. Seven of them, just hatched from their eggs. He is surprisingly good at taking care of them."
The dragons were truly a surprise. I wondered if a druggie could even take care of living things, and from what I saw of Chesta when he was high, he didn't seem like the type who would want to care for them.
...But perhaps playing with dragons, being loved by them, and becoming close enough to fly on their backs is his true self.
"I see... I can't imagine that from the old Chesta-kun."
"Oh, is that so?"
"When he was brought in, he was doing his best just to stay alive, and after that... he was a mess because of the drugs. He's only alive now because Doran-kun was there."
...Losing an arm must be a tremendous shock.
Just because he happened to be in a 'sad accident,' his fate was twisted drastically. I wouldn't think it strange if Chesta had thrown his life away.
That is why the fact that he is living a somewhat normal life now, even while being a druggie... well, it is a miracle. Surely.
"I'm glad I could hear about the dragons. ...What constitutes a person's happiness should be something only they can decide, but for some reason, it was painful to watch him drowning in narcotics."
"Well, I suppose so. Even for me, watching him while he's high is not particularly interesting."
To seek 'righteousness' in happiness is surely arrogant. Especially for someone like me, who sells narcotics and attacks people, to say such a thing is nothing short of arrogant. ...And yet, for some reason, we still seek goodness and justice in happiness.
...Honestly, it is quite tiresome.
For the next week, I visited the Lunette Doll Shop whenever I found time to check on the progress.
Given Rugel-sama's character, it was unlikely he would slack off, but I did it for surveillance as well.
The rest of my time was spent exclusively on practicing the reassembly and operation of the golems.
Those practicing were me, Keeb, and Onii-sama. And also Giovan, who turned out to have some magical talent after all.
...Yes. It seems Onii-sama's attempts at making human-shaped golems were a series of failures. On the day I returned from the Lunette Doll Shop, a mysterious squishy object was performing a dance... It seems Onii-sama cannot create a golem that could be mistaken for a human.
But Onii-sama is multi-talented. He quickly became skilled at both reassembling and operating the golems, and was soon able to make them move in a way indistinguishable from humans.
"Oh, as expected of Onii-sama. To think you can already make a golem perform a tap dance."
"Fuhahaha! This much is nothing for me! Next, I intend to try having them play musical instruments."
...As expected of Onii-sama. I truly envy this dexterity...
"The tap dancing is fine, but could you move out of the way? You're interfering with my practice."
"Ah, my apologies, Keeb. I shall move them now. ...Right. Three-man simultaneous front flip!"
When Onii-sama operated them, the golems that had been stepping with a shitatun-shitatun rhythm all performed front flips together and moved away from Keeb. ...How truly dexterous.
"...For now, I'll just stick to practicing making them walk normally and vote..."
"Me too. At most, it would be great if I could operate about three at once while reassembling them. I won't practice making them dance."
Giovan seems to have his hands full just operating the golems, and Keeb has started practicing operating multiple units while he himself performs other actions.
We have many golems, but we only have one body each. We must practice managing them efficiently. Yes.
...And so, while spending our days practicing golem operation and visiting Rugel-sama to see him produce golem bases and parts one after another, we arrived at the point where there were only three days left until the Saint Selection.
That night, there was a beautiful full moon. It was a good night for keeping watch.
...I don't think the Royal soldiers will attack openly anymore, but I am keeping watch just in case.
Of course, rather than not being attacked because they noticed our vigilance, it would be more interesting to thoroughly claim we were attacked and fight back, so the watch is kept discreetly. I shall exercise my grace as a lady to the fullest while lurking in the dark of night, keeping watch around the Settlement under the bell of the church where Carol is sleeping.
...And so, when the moon had risen high.
Suddenly, an impure presence appeared.
The moment I sensed it, I notched an arrow to my bow and aimed toward the presence.
...Those who appeared abruptly within the Settlement.
They were... a swarm of Succubi and Incubi.
For now, I shall start the battle by shooting the incubus who seems to be the leader right in the groin.
It has been a while since my last fight. My heart is racing!