57 - Lyell's Answer
We arrived at Damian's laboratory.
Today, unusually, Novem, Aria, Miranda, Poyopoyo, and Clara had come along with me.
The reason I brought Clara was that the Third Generation strongly recommended it.
In the laboratory, Damian was looking at the Porter, moving it to observe its behavior. Today's objective was to hear the opinion of Damian the Puppeteer.
I was having Damian confirm whether it was suitable to serve as both a luggage carrier and the party's shield.
The weakness of our party is that we have no shield during combat. At the same time, we cannot move if we are carrying a large amount of luggage.
When I thought about supplementing the lack of manpower with dolls, the first question that came to mind was: does it have to be humanoid?
Damian looked at the Porter and asked me a question.
The three automata, [Number One], [Number Two], and [Number Three], who usually handle cleaning and other tasks in Damian's laboratory, were for some reason standing by near Damian.
Their gazes occasionally shifted toward Novem.
"Do you still intend to change this?"
I nodded.
"I've tested it in the labyrinth a few times, but I think the size could be a bit larger."
The Porter is an unfinished product.
I had tested it in the labyrinth many times, identifying points for improvement. I was doing this because Poyopoyo had strongly demanded it.
"I think this is fine for a prototype. However, it's a build that is truly specialized for the Labyrinth of Alamsars. I wonder if it could be used elsewhere."
Labyrinths differ greatly depending on the location. The Labyrinth of Alamsars, with its relatively flat floors, is a rare case.
However, this time, the goal was to break through the thirtieth underground floor of the Labyrinth of Alamsars. I believe the Porter is fine as it is for that.
If necessary, I can add further improvements later.
"I intend to go with a specialized type. So, what are your impressions after moving it?"
Damian, moving the Porter in the spacious laboratory, spoke while pushing up his glasses with his index finger.
"It's no problem for Lyell or me. I think it would be fine for a mid-tier support adventurer or higher... but the number of people who could actually use it is truly a handful."
Damian said there was a problem with the size.
If it's no problem for me to use, I think that's fine, but—
A voice came from within the orb.
The Fourth Generation sounded frustrated.
'Tsk, a change of plans is necessary. I thought that if we had the Porter, the popularity of golem magic would skyrocket all at once... but there's a problem, huh?'
That's right.
The Fourth Generation had been enjoyably creating a plan to make money.
For that reason, I had asked if other adventurers could use it.
"If it's the girl from the library..."
Damian looked at Clara.
However—
"...Maybe not. If I attach a shield to her, the weight will increase. No, maybe just barely..."
Damian fell into thought.
Then, Novem spoke.
"Why not try teaching the golem magic to Clara-san? She likely has the aptitude for it."
Would he really teach it that easily?
I thought so, but Damian did exactly as he was told.
"True. It's faster to just try it. Library girl, I'll teach you, so try using it."
—He was that kind of guy.
Clara spoke while letting out a sigh.
"Haa... I never imagined I would be taught in this manner."
Having been taught, Clara used the Porter on the spot.
Seeing this, Poyopoyo reacted.
"Ah, the Porter... the crystallization of love between me and that chicken coward!"
Since he had started acting alone, I left him be, and Miranda-san gave her impressions upon seeing it.
"Doesn't it look good? I feel like it's moving quite well for a first timer."
Damian agreed.
"Yeah, as that woman over there says, she has talent."
Hearing that, Aria spoke to Damian.
"That woman over there... Miranda was your student, wasn't she?"
Damian looked at Miranda. Then—
"Was she? Huh? But it's like I know her, and yet I don't... It's strange, since someone like you should have remained in my memory."
Miranda-san smiled at Damian, who tilted his head in wonder.
"You're cruel, Professor. But it's reassuring that you're just like a professor."
A voice came from the orb.
It was the Fifth Generation.
'Her atmosphere increased all at once. She's become more eye-catching. She resembles Mireia... though her personality is a bit different.'
Apparently, the personality was different, but she had come to resemble Mireia-san, who was an even earlier ancestor.
Clara gave her impressions.
"I can move it, but is it the legs? I feel it's heavy when I use this. I think it would be no problem normally, though."
Hearing that, Damian nodded.
"I remember your ability, but you were mid-tier level as a support, right? If it's barely manageable at this level, it has to be made smaller for ordinary people to handle. To reduce the consumption of magical power, I think there are many more points to improve. However, the wheels are good."
Damian was praising it.
Poyopoyo was glancing at the three automata and grinning.
The three had frustrated expressions. I could only say that their acting was truly detailed.
Damian gave his conclusion.
"For general adventurers to use, a more compact one would be better. As for stairs... maybe make the legs shorter so it feels like it's crawling? That way, it won't move much."
Regarding golems and dolls, Damian indeed gave better opinions.
Miranda-san spoke.
"In that case, will you be shutting yourself in the warehouse again for a while to improve the Porter?"
I nodded, but before that, I made a few plans.
"I'll do the improvements, but I'll challenge the labyrinth soon. If I don't move with the party much, I feel like I'll forget that I'm an adventurer."
Recently, I had been earning pocket change inside the labyrinth.
If there were adventurers moving with heavy luggage to dive deep, I would carry their luggage to the fifth underground floor using a Porter that wasn't carrying anything.
I received silver coins in return, and on the way back, I would pick up adventurers trying to return. I received silver coins there as well.
In this way, the Fourth Generation had calculated the amount adventurers could pay and was running a business in the form of 'so many silver coins for the trip there.'
It wasn't just once or twice that I was told, "I'll pay you gold coins as a proper support, so please come with me."
In response to that, the Fourth Generation thought about commercializing it.
Damian looked at the Porter and spoke.
"I've received new stimulation. Lyell really is interesting. Oh, that's right... regarding that boss's armor, one whole set remained after all. You're buying it, right? The academy said that since it's in the way, they'll make it cheap if you take it."
I was told that as long as the portion for research remained, the rest was unnecessary.
I had approached Damian to purchase the large amount of armor from the boss of the fortieth underground floor.
The purchase had already been decided, but it was grateful that it would be cheap.
Novem spoke.
"Since Lyell-sama has been earning recently, a certain amount should be fine."
Seeing Novem giggling, I wanted to make an excuse but stopped myself.
The demon of pocket-money earning had given me instructions, so I had no choice but to execute them. For me, being able to test the Porter was enough.
The Fourth Generation spoke.
'This is only the beginning, but if there are improvements to the Porter, I'll have to suspend business for a while... just when I've started getting customers.'
I was surprised by the Fourth Generation's skill, but I am an adventurer. I wondered about this way of earning, and the commercialization of the Porter never even occurred to me.
(I'll need to talk about this later)
Thinking that, I continued talking with Damian about the Porter.
Miranda and Aria also began talking about recent events.
"Aria, your atmosphere has changed somehow recently."
"I-Is that so! As expected, as an adventurer, I've—"
"You've become more manly."
Aria spoke to Miranda-san, who said this with a smile.
"...You really have a great personality. I didn't notice."
While the smiling Miranda-san and the anger-radiating Aria glared at each other, Novem, Poyopoyo, and the three automata—
"Um, is something wrong?"
Being stared at by four automata, Novem tilted her head. I think it's very cute.
Poyopoyo spoke.
"This vixen... such cute gestures..."
Number One through Number Three spoke.
"Calculated! Everything is surely calculated!"
"What is this? To have this much competitiveness! Who are you!"
"So she is an opponent that the piece of junk Poyopoyo cannot defeat. Very well, we shall be your opponents here!"
As the three automata struck poses, Poyopoyo shouted.
"Who are you calling a piece of junk! The only one allowed to call me a piece of junk is that chicken coward! I'll turn you all into scrap!"
Having attached a drill to his hand—where he got it from, I don't know—he entered a combat stance.
Come to think of it, while making the Porter, he had been saying things like "Drills and robots are romance."
(How lively)
I thought that as the laboratory became noisy.
And then, Clara—
"Um... am I just naturally flowing into joining the party? Lately, I've been invited normally, but I'm basically a solo adventurer and a temporary party member... are you all listening?"
Late at night.
Showing my face inside the orb, I asked about something that had been bothering me for a while.
It was the answer I had arrived at.
To conquer the Labyrinth of Alamsars, I had used golems to supplement the small number of personnel and provided defense—a shield role—which was the party's weakness.
I had heard previously that this was different from their own answers.
Therefore, I asked the ancestors what their intentions were.
The result—
"So that's it... there were several methods from the start? You were intentionally silent?"
When I said that, the Second Generation nodded and explained.
'That's right. My choice was simply to take time to raise my basic strength while searching for comrades I could trust. That girl Clara is a good target. Rather than being silent... I thought you'd notice, but since Lyell didn't notice.'
The Third Generation liked Clara.
'Clara-chan is great. She's a walking library. I'm sure she possesses plenty of knowledge. Ah, in my case, it was accompanying other parties and only defeating the boss. There was the problem of meeting a party I could trust that much, but you should have just asked Clara-chan.'
The Fourth Generation's opinion was quite something.
'It would have been fine to hire people with money. Ask for guards and go to the thirtieth underground floor. For me, I would have allowed the use of skills while studying other adventurers up close.'
What I lacked.
The Fourth Generation said that just noticing that would have been enough. No, to be precise, I should have learned in an environment where skills could not be used.
The Fifth Generation was close to my answer.
'I was thinking of supplementing the lack of personnel with golems. Prepare a shield role—just a shield—and deploy it when combat starts to fight safely. A strategy to build makeshift defensive positions within the labyrinth. It's simple, but certain, right?'
Being told that, I nodded, thinking it was indeed true.
It didn't sound like the opinion of an adventurer, but it was effective. I'll keep it in mind.
The Sixth Generation's opinion was similar to the Fifth's.
'In my case it was the same, but I was thinking of supplementing the numbers by preparing simple dolls that are easy to manipulate. Other than that, hiring people with money.'
The final one, the Seventh Generation.
'I was watching how you would clear the challenge, and how you would notice the problem and solve it... it's true, you know? By the way, my answer was to put out a request to defeat the boss of the thirtieth underground floor. Though I had also considered the utilization of golems.'
Hearing that, I talked back.
"No, in the first place, it was to make me notice other things, like communication with comrades!"
I thought so, but the ancestors just grinned.
The Second Generation spoke.
'We wanted to see how you would clear the challenge we set. It was good to see you tackling it seriously.'
The Third Generation said.
'Lyell, let's broaden your perspective. It's true we guided you as you thought, but the challenge we set was "defeat the boss of the thirtieth underground floor and return under skill usage restrictions." Ultimately... Lyell could have just fought the boss and left the rest to hired adventurers to return to the surface.'
The Third Generation started laughing.
What was all that about it being dangerous as it was when the skill restrictions were placed? While I was feeling dissatisfied, the Fourth Generation spoke.
'Don't be so angry. It's a fact that we wanted to see how you'd handle the challenge, and you noticed the problem more than we expected. Besides, you came up with a new way to use golems, didn't you? If you had only asked us, the Porter would not have been born.'
The ancestors seemed to have wanted to see how I would think and move. As a result, I probably produced an answer that satisfied the ancestors.
Though I can't accept it.
The Fifth Generation, who looked more cheerful than usual, spoke to me.
'The idea was good. Noticing the importance of the shield was also good. If you can break through the thirtieth underground floor safely with this, you pass.'
If I can break through safely.
That means I still haven't passed.
The Sixth Generation answered my dissatisfaction.
'Lyell, there is more than one way to solve a problem. In fact, taking time to raise everyone's basic strength is also a correct choice. But at the same time, hiring people is also a correct choice. Well, we did guide you to misunderstand.'
The Seventh Generation apologized.
'I think it was bad, but there are plenty of shortcuts in this world. There are times when the straightforward method just won't work. And besides,'
The Second Generation took over the Seventh's explanation.
'The moment you noticed the current problem and thought to improve it, our purpose was achieved. If you hadn't noticed, we would have given you a different challenge.'
Seeing me unable to accept it, the ancestors laughed.
The Fifth Generation spoke.
'You noticed your own shortcomings and improved them. For a problem we didn't notice, you relied on Clara and produced an answer. I was dissatisfied that you relied on her a bit too much, but that's not a mistake either.'
I asked everyone.
"Um, so you mean any method would have been fine? Even if I had cleared the challenge while ignoring these problems without noticing them?"
The Third Generation nodded.
'That's right. To put it extremely, even that would have been fine. If you had the strength to not even care about problems of that level, that is.'
However, the Sixth Generation spoke.
'However, if you had strayed from the path, we would never have let you use skills again. Lyell, you tackled the challenge we set seriously and produced a satisfying answer. Now, you just have to execute it and show your strength.'
There were parts I could accept, and parts I couldn't.
"Did you not think I might push myself too hard and fail?"
Then, the Second Generation told me with a serious expression.
'If you die from this level of thing, it just means you were only at that level. Your talent, your comrades, your environment... if you fail here, you'll eventually fail and be wiped out even if you move forward.'
As I fell silent under the Second Generation's pressure, the Third Generation followed up.
'Rest easy. Everyone here was looking forward to seeing how Lyell would clear the challenge. We gave you the challenge because we thought you could do it. If we thought you couldn't, I think we would have stopped expecting things from Lyell much sooner.'
No, that wasn't a follow-up.
These guys are intimidating me today.
What on earth did I do?
Finally, the Fifth Generation spoke while scratching his head.
'Every single one of you... Lyell, it's your life. You're the only one who can produce the answer. What you feel, and how you produce the answer. You decide.'
At the Fifth Generation's words, I remembered the First Generation's words.
[Lyell, you... have you decided on a goal?]
I felt a sharp pain in my heart.
(My answer...)