༺ Neg Diff ༻
Dungeons.
They either signified a threatening space created by a mad wizard or an ancient architectural structure built by a great being from the past. The dungeon we were going to explore was the latter.
After the advance party completed its conquest, it was now being used for practical training. It was managed by the Empire and anyone could use it if they followed the proper paperwork procedures.
Perhaps for that reason, it was incredibly bright and clean. To exaggerate a bit, it seemed cleaner than the laboratory of the Purple Magic Tower.
“I heard that even academy students often come here because of the facility’s cleanliness.”
“They really are gaining experience comfortably, aren’t they.”
“I know right? If you start your career as a hired soldier……..”
Senior Scarface and Beauty Mark Guy were walking ahead, chatting about how academy students raised in a warm greenhouse lacked balls or how they had once hired an alumni of the academy and he ran away at the sight of a goblin.
As time passed and their conversation drifted towards how their own lives were tougher than the other, I slightly slowed down and fell behind; I had heard the same story twice last night.
It seemed the beastkin rogue thought the same.
Seeing how she stuck by my side and asked with hand signals if I had any other interesting stories, she seemed to have enjoyed the Fiery Grand Bow1Lol it means bowing as if you’re doing a headstand with just your head. It literally means “Grand Bow” as in it’s the ultimate form of a Bow. See image below for reference :)) of Atonement accompanied by Illusion Magic, as well as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms2a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ending with the reunification of the land in 280 by the Western Jin. recitation session next to the campfire for two hours.
One had to receive something to give something as well. For the sake of a fair trade, I asked the beastkin rogue.
“Why do you not speak?”
After eating delicious food (an illusion) yesterday, she exclaimed in admiration, saying it tasted like home. Her voice seemed fine when I heard it then and she didn’t appear to be ignorant in speech.
Yet she mostly communicated through hand signals, so how could I not be curious?
The beastkin rogue hesitated for a moment, then stuck out her tongue.
There was a clear brand on her tongue, as if marked with something. It was a symbol I had never seen before.
The beastkin rogue retracted her tongue and spoke.
“I didn’t want to show this.”
I had memorized all commonly used symbols when I was at the Magic Tower. So if I didn’t recognize this one……..it meant it was secretive or used covertly. Since she seemed to want to hide it, it didn’t seem to have a good meaning.
I guessed roughly based on the shape of the brand.
“Vampire? Bat? Bloodsucker?”
“No. It’s the figure of a thorny bowl. A brand of offering, of a living sacrifice.”
“Is it used by Black Wizards?”
“Eung. I barely escaped. Thanks to Rowillen.”
The beastkin rogue looked at the back of Beauty Mark Guy with a strange gaze; it seemed to be a mix of goodwill, gratitude, affection, and more.
A backstory formed in my mind. Evil Black Wizards ambushed a beastkin tribe, killing those who resisted and capturing subjects for their experiments. Dark and gloomy days followed. Death loomed near, slowly approaching.
And right before she was sacrificed for a ritual, Beauty Mark Guy burst in with sunlight, brandishing a longsword and shield before charging in, then……..
Mmmm. Wouldn’t it have roughly been similar to something like that?
“By the way, is it okay to show me?”
If it was something she hated enough to resort to hand signals to avoid revealing, there seemed to be no reason for her to show it to me, whom she had only met a few days ago.
I carefully clutched at my necklace. It was one of the 49 artifacts the Tower Master tried to bestow upon me. I was internally tense, worrying if the beastkin rogue would declare, ‘Now that you’ve seen this mark, you cannot leave this place alive──!’.
The beastkin rogue pointed at me with her index finger.
“It’s because you smell similar.”
“……Similar?”
“Eung.”
If I was interpreting the flow of the conversation correctly, didn’t that mean I smelled like a slave as well? There’s no way though…..I clean myself daily with Clean Magic, though…….
Perhaps this was a sophisticated form of disdain for graduate students……?
Right as I pondered whether I needed to elucidate how good the corporate welfare in the Purple Magic Tower was, the beastkin rogue trotted ahead, leaving me behind. Something felt strangely off.
Was I perhaps missing something?
===============================================================
“KYAAAAAAAK-!!”
Startled, I covered my mouth. In terms of our images, I was the only one who seemed likely to scream KYAAAAAK among us. However, the scream continued even as I covered my mouth.
It was someone else. Who?
Was it time to start calling Beauty Mark Guy ‘Beauty Mark Gay’ again?
If not, was it the beastkin rogue or the elf archer showing an unexpected gap moe?
No. No, it wasn’t. The high-pitched scream that continued to rise was from Senior Scarface. Even Beauty Mark Guy looked at the senior in bewilderment.
The senior screamed as if she saw a bathtub crawling with cockroaches. Worried that a human centipede created by some wicked Black Wizard had made an appearance, I followed Senior’s gaze.
“……Golem?”
“It’s a golem. A Stone Golem.”
It was a golem.
Moreover, it was a small cleaning golem. It was barely a meter tall and didn’t even have arms to attack with. The only thing it possessed was a shabbily attached duster.
I patted the trembling Senior Scarface on the shoulder and stared hard at the golem. Was there something I couldn’t perceive because my realm was too low? Or was the golem embedded with Illusion Magic such as 『Limitless Disgust』?
As far as I could see, it was just a golem; one that didn’t seem to have any particular magic attached. Thankfully, Beauty Mark Guy asked what I was most curious about in my stead.
“Why are you so scared, or rather, disgusted……? It’s just a golem.”
Senior Scarface took a moment to catch her breath and then mumbled.
“If asked to pick one thing Illusion Wizards should fear the most, I would choose golems, Esteemed Junior.”
“Generalizing personal experiences into a universal category isn’t a good attit…….”
“Go fight it and try winning, Esteemed Junior. If you win against ‘that thing’, I’ll carve 30 human modelings.”
“I’ll be right back.”
I rolled up my sleeves and stepped forward. There was no reason to refuse a guaranteed win. Defeating just this one Stone Golem that was used for cleaning meant 30 modelings; it was practically Modeling Copy Magic. Free fucking real estate, ain’t it?
No matter how much I devoted my life to simulation composition for TRPG, who did she take me for? I was basically the direct disciple of the Purple Magic Tower Master. There was no way I could lose to a rock.
The fluttering butterfly obstructed my view as if vehemently opposing, but a mere insect couldn’t stop my passion for 30 modelings.
I pulled out my staff…….
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“『Impartment of the Primordial Nightmare』! 『Despair of the Abyssal Maw』!”
It didn’t work.
“『Illenyal’s Target Reset』! 『Spatial Coordinate Maelstrom』!”
It didn’t…work……!
The golem’s eyes flashed red. Wee-e-e-ing. With an unpleasant noise, it approached me. While taking on all my magic head on!
“C-Come forth 『Heart』-!”
I used my trump card, rallying the maximum number of holograms I could summon without any assistance── A whopping 10 illusions capable of physical force charged forward at my command!
Heart, the Butler Corps, and even the newly joined Knights with full plate armor! (I put a mask on Heart just in case her face caused trouble)
They charged at the golem and pounded at it, but── It wasn’t enough. Their physical force was nowhere near enough!
The golem had no faith or belief, so the strength that the holograms could display was at the level of a child’s fist. The cleaning golem advanced steadfastly against the barrage. As if to say all my efforts were trivial, even as it clattered!
“This, this can’t be……Are you telling me it isn’t even ticklish-?!!”
-Beep. Brrrrr.
“Keu, keuaaAAAGGGGGH!!”
Whack! Whack!
The golem swung its duster. Enclosed in a corner of the dungeon, I could only crouch and endure the golem’s hits. The duster swept beat every little part of my body, sweeping off all the dust……..
I was in such despair that I almost shed tears.
I had to come up with a strategy. There had to be a way to turn the tables. I couldn’t just lose. It was just a cleaning golem, wasn’t it! I……..!
“D-DON’T, DON’T WANT TO……….LOSE……..!!”
A golem did not have a soul and was not equipped with advanced sensory organs that could be disturbed. Illusion Magic didn’t work on it. If it had been a more advanced golem instead that was capable of thought, I wouldn’t have been so powerless!
I desperately crafted magic. If the golem couldn’t think and that was why Illusion Magic didn’t work, then I just had to imbue it with thought and hit it, didn’t I?!
Such magic didn’t exist. If it didn’t I just needed to create it!
“Hanging upside down, you, who walked on the sky and fell to the ground, come full circle and descend from heaven── 『Forced Impartment of Persona⋯⋯』KEUAAAAAAGH!”
The duster was stuffed into my mouth. My magic, about 80% complete, shattered into pieces. I lost all will to fight and collapsed on the floor…..
The cleaning golem, as if declaring victory, bitch-slapped my face three times with the duster, before departing into the depths of the dungeon. Only then did I understand the meaning behind Senior Scarface’s scream. It was a deep lament……..
An absolute incompatibility.
All my resistance was utterly crushed.
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The adventure was……successful. I obtained combat data from Beauty Mark Guy and the other adventures and also learned how ogres moved. The first step was significant. If I input the data into the AI and let it run endlessly in accelerated time── Do you understand what that means?
Original Swordsmanship and Martial Arts would emerge.
Wasn’t it said that an infinite amount of time and an infinite number of monkeys could even write Shakespeare’s plays? Since I included the basic data, the probability was even higher than that. And the more data I added, the higher the probability of pulling out something plausible.
Martial Arts…….was possible!
After the crushing defeat to the golem, I became interested in increasing my combat power as well. Wasn’t it a bit fucked if someone passing by could just poke me and I’d drop dead?
If I could bestow martial arts on the holograms by linking the previously explained combat data, perhaps I could actually use them as a kind of summoning spell. Basic physical strength also needed to be enhanced. That part required both a budget and effort.
Using all these gains, I would create a session to entertain the First Princess.
But for today, I just wanted to sleep quietly, nursing the bitter wounds of defeat…….
That night, I dreamt of being chased by a golem.
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In a room of the dungeon that the adventurers had left, a cleaning golem in standby mode ‘awakened’. And then, it pondered. Why could it think? What was its identity? Who was it and what was this knowledge that had been imparted?
And then, it realized a void; about 20% of empty space. After following the missing links, contemplating its own existence, and piecing together the gathered puzzle pieces, its first answer was…
Q. Who am I?
A. Professor Abraham of Miskatonic University3a fictional university located in Arkham, named after the Miskatonic River which flows through the town. The school appears in numerous Cthulhu Mythos stories by Lovecraft and many other writers. Lovecraft depicted Miskatonic University as a highly prestigious university, on par with Harvard University; in fact, at least in the 1920s, Harvard and Miskatonic are the two most popular schools for the children of the Massachusetts “Old Gentry”..
