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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Can’t you move faster?”
“A wheelchair isn’t meant for going fast.”
While it wouldn’t be bad to make it so it could move quickly in emergencies, in such situations the wheelchair would likely become useless anyway.
It might be better to use magic to create a wheelchair with legs to make it run.
…Thinking about it, that was a bit grotesque.
A wheelchair with legs instead of wheels moving around would look like something out of a horror game.
“This is boring…”
“…I’ll increase the speed a little more.”
“Okay!”
I lengthened my stride slightly.
The sound of the wheelchair wheels turning became clearer, tormenting my eardrums.
It was the sound of the iron bar connecting the two wheels scraping against the ring.
It would be better to reduce the noise even more.
Too much noise could easily inconvenience others and hinder stealthy movement in emergencies.
No, was the idea of stealthy movement in a wheelchair problematic to begin with?
“Johann? Why aren’t you moving?”
“I was just thinking about how to improve the wheelchair.”
“Can’t you think while walking?”
Had I been standing still for a long time?
I looked at the top of Millia’s head and started moving again.
We had circled about a third of Yeomyeong-gwan, so we still had about twice the distance we’d covered to go.
I moved diligently while observing the surroundings.
“Hum~hmhm~hmhmhm~”
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
“Yes! It feels like I’ve become a princess!”
“…It’s for patients though.”
Perhaps because it was a world without wheelchairs, Millia’s answer was quite fresh.
Come to think of it, it did feel like a rickshaw for one person.
In fact, the earliest wheelchairs were closer to the form of a rickshaw-
Clunk.
“Eek!”
“Millia! Are you alright!”
I approached Millia, who had fallen over after fidgeting in the wheelchair that had hit a rock.
Millia’s neck was bent at an angle that would be terrifying if seen in a dream.
Of course, she wasn’t hurt.
“Johann! Help me up!”
“Alright, wait…”
That was when it happened.
I quickly turned my head towards the source of the ear-piercing scream.
“…Uh…”
“…We’ve been caught, haven’t we?”
Millia, who had quickly restored her neck to its original position, and I, who had shielded Millia with my body, looked at each other and exchanged awkward glances.
“Wh-what should we do?”
“Insist it was an optical illusi- She fainted.”
Should I be happy about this or not?
I sighed as I looked at the purple-haired figure collapsed in the distance.
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“Miss Millia!”
“Huh? Did shomeone call me?”
“Swallow the cookie before you speak. And why are you eating all the cookies meant for guests?”
I gave Millia a light flick on the head and looked at Elisa, who had woken up on the bed.
Though Elisa shrank back when she saw me, she didn’t have a fit like before.
This alone was great progress.
Especially for me, who needed to become friends with Elisa.
…But how should I become friends with her?
To be honest, I didn’t know how to become friends with women.
“Um, why… am I here…”
“You suddenly collapsed, so we brought you here. Do you have any chronic illnesses?”
“N-no, it’s not that… but, surely, Miss Millia…”
“Huh? Me? What’s wrong?”
Elisa’s head naturally turned towards Millia.
Elisa’s expression was confusion itself.
I knelt in front of Elisa, who seemed about to have another fit, and matched her eye level.
Her teary eyes frantically looked back and forth between me and Millia.
To reassure her, I spoke to her in the gentlest voice I could manage.
“You can speak slowly.”
“I, I’m sure I saw… Miss Millia collapsed with her neck broken…”
“You must have been mistaken. Millia did fall today, but her neck was never broken.”
“I’m perfectly fine!”
Millia spread her arms wide, demonstrating her well-being.
Perhaps those efforts worked, as Elisa’s expression returned to normal.
It was hard to gauge whether this should be considered fortunate, given her expression that looked like she might cry if touched…
“I, I must have seen wrong…”
It was good that she believed it.
It would have been troublesome if she kept doubting us.
I inwardly sighed in relief while trying my best not to change my expression.
To prevent Elisa from suspecting further, I immediately changed the subject.
“Elisa, so what brings you to Yeomyeong-gwan?”
“Oh, that…”
Elisa explained her reason for coming in lengthy words.
Summarizing Elisa’s stuttering explanation, which was like a broken machine, it seemed she had come to check on Karina’s condition.
…But why did Elisa come instead of Professor Lennon?
When I asked Elisa, she hesitated before answering.
“The, the professor caught a co-cold, but said that I could go alone for just an exa-examination…”
A cold, huh.
Well, his lab didn’t look very healthy.
It was full of items containing all sorts of curses.
“Alright. You can go to see Karina as soon as you feel better.”
“I, I think I can go right now…”
If she said so.
I handed a handkerchief to Millia, who was sitting with cookie crumbs all over her mouth, and stood up from the floor.
“Let’s go!”
We walked towards Karina’s room in a peculiar formation, with Millia and I leading the way and Elisa following behind.
Normally, we would walk side by side, but given Elisa’s personality, it was inevitable as her mental state would likely crumble from the overwhelming social interaction.
“Johann, are you going to let me ride the wheelchair again after taking Elisa?”
“No. For now, I’ve found points to improve, so I need to fix those first.”
The wheelchair, or rather the Patrasche prototype as it would be called from now on, had quite a few points to improve after half a circuit.
First, Patrasche itself shook a lot when moving, and the wheels made a loud scraping noise when rolling.
Also, there were no safety features, so if it hit a rock like earlier, the person sitting in it could be thrown forward… Anything else?
The last point was a bit ambiguous though.
We were moving in the wheelchair at jogging speed.
Still, I should reinforce it… Maybe I could make a safety belt?
“…That might be problematic in its own way.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing. Just talking to myself.”
I brushed it off and arrived at the room where Karina was resting.
Renny was leaning against the wall next to the door, yawning.
When Renny noticed us, she smiled awkwardly and said,
“Hey. What brings you here? And behind you who is… Elisa?”
“She says she’s here to check on Karina’s condition.”
“Where’s the professor?”
“Seems he caught a cold.”
“Oh, is that so? Come in.”
Renny kindly grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.
I was about to enter the room, but leaned against the wall next to the door under Renny’s sharp gaze.
“Johann, aren’t you coming in?”
“I’ll keep watch here.”
I couldn’t go in since Karina might need to undress or lift her clothes for the examination.
I remained alone in the corridor, leaning against the wall as Renny had done.
…How boring.
I looked around the corridor, turning my head this way and that.
Befitting the residence used by generations of Saints, Yeomyeong-gwan was far from extravagant.
That was not to say the furniture and objects placed there were cheap, though.
They boasted a quality that even I, who had crafted all sorts of items, had to admire.
Objects that would be called luxury goods if put outside were abundant here.
With my Insight having increased a level, the value hidden in that classic elegance was even more apparent.
How much money must have been spent?
Of course, some things looked a bit old, but even so, wouldn’t this have cost much more than a noble mansion that was just flashy on the outside?
I wanted to take apart a few pieces to check their structure and materials.
Though I had made all sorts of furniture and structures over 10 years, I couldn’t match the craftsmen who had devoted themselves to one field for decades.
Just absorbing the techniques of such craftsmen was quite tempting.
…If any furniture got discarded later, I should take it and dismantle it.
As I was licking my lips while looking at the furniture, I heard the sound of the door opening.
Renny, who appeared, looked at me and said,
“Lady Karina says she has something to say for a moment, so come in.”
I followed Renny into the room.
As always, Karina’s room exuded a cozy atmosphere.
Was it because of the unknown flower scent, or because Karina was the room’s owner?
There were only two unique points in this otherwise unremarkable room, so it must have been one of the two.
“Karina. How are you feeling?”
“There’s no particular problem. The curse is quiet too…”
Karina stroked Millia’s head, which was resting on her lap, with a gentle smile.
Millia’s appearance as she quietly accepted her touch was exactly like a puppy.
Elisa was looking at Millia with an expression that seemed strangely envious.
…What kind of composition is this?
“It’s good that nothing’s wrong. Karina, I heard you called for me…”
“I heard you’re making an interesting object. Could I… perhaps watch you make it?”
Pink and golden eyes met mine.
They were beautiful.
Eyes as beautiful as if stars had been embedded in them.
I stared intently at those eyes, then nodded.
“Shall we go right now?”
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some ball bearings may help rotate the wheel more smoothly, thought it would be a bit of a pain to create the entire set up.
It’s already quite impressive he was able to make metal wheels. There’s no way he could have learned forging on the island, so he was probably processing it like he did with ridiculously hard bones. I do hope he learns it soon, though. Aside from metal being incredibly flexible as a material, it also seems like the most impactful way to increase his combat power in the short term, with the unfortunate caveat that metal-rich environments are relatively uncommon and he would need to be able to choose the battlefield or just get lucky.
Somewhat befitting a saint, Karina seems to have both a good eye for people and the charisma to inspire loyalty relatively easily. Therefore, introduce the cat girl to her. She’s not trustworthy in her current circumstances, but it’s somewhat ambiguous whether she can be cultivated to become trustworthy. I lean toward yes. She’s currently desperate, so she’d be immensely grateful to a sponsor.
She isn’t of too much use rn, but she can be trained as the hidden type of guard for the saint, which her current escorts aren’t suitable for. Besides that, she can enroll in the academy alongside the saint during her training period, growing closer while remaining at her side even when her escorts can’t. The downside is that the escort knights are probably an official position with a budget, where raising your own from scratch might require personal funds.
The witch girl will probably end up being heavily reliant on the protection of the saint against people who would discriminate against her, probably ending up in a position somewhat like a magical advisor. She doesn’t really need to fight, she just needs to be able to identify and guard against magical threats difficult for normal warriors to even detect.
It’s highly likely Millia has a “skill” that she’s unaware of, that will also grant her some utility. The skill probably either relates to the undying keyword from her dungeon, or the peculiarities of being something like a living dullahan. Puppet magic was the first thing I thought of, but… Spatial distortion limited to her own body seems most likely? Her dungeon emphasised separated body parts. Spatial dismemberment while still being fundamentally whole offers the possibility of projecting an eye or an arm to act independently of the main body. A skill that directly explains how she’s alive with a severed head is nice. There’s also some potential for her to develop as… Probably a chimera? She doesn’t age and her body turned into a rampaging monster once, the cult did something that made her no longer human. Probably. There’s a small chance she was just linked to the dungeon and didn’t age before it was completed.