Unexpected New Weapon

 

I left the mechanical bow unit to Camsin and took Till and Arte with me to study the mechanical bows.

 

Borra asked me questions to no end, but I was sure Camsin would handle it. Good luck, Camsin.

 

Meanwhile, Van, with two beautiful girls, was walking around the village with Runtatta. They were headed for the material depot, which was full of materials. As soon as they arrive, they luxuriously prepare Mithril as their choice.

 

“Here is a chair for you. Please use it.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Till got me a chair, and there was a nice mechanical bow from Royal Capital sitting on a low table.

 

“Now let’s get to it.”

 

I excitedly disassemble the parts of the mechanical bow.

 

Checking the structure of the continuous-fire mechanical bow, I found that it was a moderately elaborate construction that also used gears and chains.

 

“Hmmm. When this turns, this rod pulls the bow and the next arrow comes down at the same time… With this, the installed Ballista can load a large number of arrows, can’t it? A dream of a hundred arrows in a row? No, no, no. If we go that far, it would be a disaster if it jammed in the middle. If that’s the case, I’d rather make it a five-round magazine type so that it can be replaced even if it gets jammed…”

 

As I looked at the disassembled parts of the mechanical bow and groaned, Till prepared tea and cookies for me. As I bite into the cookie and check the box part of the mechanical bow, Arte spoke.

 

“…Van-sama seems to be having the most fun right now.”

 

“Hmm? Do I? Well, it is a lot of fun.”

 

Turning around with a chuckle, Arte nodded with a gentle smile.

 

“It’s the hardest thing to come up with a mechanism, whether it’s a machine or politics. It’s wonderful who thought of it first, isn’t it?”

 

While soaking the design in, he tried to make each of the parts in Mithril.

 

Put them together and voilà.

 

“…great. Already done…”

 

With my nose pointed high at such impressions, I tried moving it without an arrow in it to see if it would work.

 

But it didn’t move. It wouldn’t move.

 

It was stuck in the middle as if it were locked.

 

“Huh? Oh, I see. Not only the bow part, but also the connection between the box and the mechanical bow, must be made of elastic material. The stick that’s supposed to make one turn is stuck and won’t turn…”

 

Bummer.

 

It was a failure. I should also verify if this is a good option if all the hard parts were metal parts.

 

As I was thinking about this, Arte muttered with a surprised look on her face.

 

“…Even Van-sama can fail, I see.”

 

It was a small murmur, but I reacted to it, and Arte hurriedly lowered her head.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry…! I never meant it in a bad way…”

 

She was already on the verge of tears. I chuckled as I let out a sigh of relief at Arte as she cowered behind me.

 

” also fail a lot, and besides, I don’t have anything to brag about except this magic.”

 

Arte shook his head from side to side repeatedly as she responded.

 

“That’s not true. I’ve heard from everyone that you have great talents in swordsmanship and study… I really have nothing, so I envy you.”

 

“Eh? Talent?”

 

I asked back involuntarily. Then I told the bewildered Arte.

 

“If you like, I can introduce you to a devilish butler and a Knight Commander. That way, Arte will be as good as me in three to five years.”

 

Sighing deeply after saying this, Arte let out a small chuckle. I looked at her profile and somehow uttered a question.

 

“Come to think of it, what kind of magical aptitude did Arte have? “

 

It was a question without a care in the world. No malice intended, of course, and no desire to pry.

 

But Arte froze. She looked sad, as if she had been sentenced to death, and I couldn’t say anything to her.

 

Till opened her mouth, as if she was unable to stand being in that atmosphere anymore.

 

“Van-sama is not trying to force you to talk. Well, if you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to say it, okay?”

 

When I called out to her gently, Arte shook her head from side to side, her hands clasped and opened.

 

Eventually, as if she was ready, Arte talked.

 

“No, I will say it.”

 

She said, taking two or three deep breaths, and then she spoke.

 

“…I have an aptitude for puppet magic.”

 

Till puts her hand over her mouth and raised her eyebrows sadly.

 

To the nobility, Camsin’s magic of theft, brainwashing, and puppet magic, referred to as lowly criminal magic, was an object of discrimination.

 

It was a good match for my production magic, which they called a symbol of incompetence.

 

But I honestly rejoiced and took Arte’s hand.

 

“That’s great, Arte! I’d love to see you show me some of that magic!”

 

Arte looked back at me in dismay.

 

“Eh, ah, umm! “

 

“Oh, it’s not often someone has an aptitude for puppet sorcery. Of course, there are probably many people who hide it. Still, I’m sure you’re the first person I’ve ever met. This is fate, Arte!”

 

I couldn’t help but grip Arte’s hand tightly and strongly, with excitement.

 

After all, she was a puppet mage I had been waiting for. It would be rare for me not to be excited.

 

“Alright. Let’s make something right away.”

 

So, I made a simple puppet out of wood. It’s about a size bigger than me.

 

“Can you move this? “

 

After confirming this, Arte began to exercise her magic, albeit fearfully.

 

And the doll stood up by itself.

 

“Oh! Now try to get it to move!”

 

“Ye, yes.”

 

Then the puppet begins to dance with delicate movements. It was a dance with a solid form that could not be considered as if it was improvised. Perhaps it was a dance that Arte had actually learned.

 

The puppet danced for several minutes without any sense of discomfort in its movements.

 

After watching the final bow, I applauded loudly and praised Arte.

 

“Amazing! Isn’t that great magic! This magic has tremendous potential, Arte!”

 

When I exclaimed this, Arte simply bowed his head, puzzled.

 

Even at a quick glance, it can be sent into dangerous areas where people can’t enter, and it can be a powerful force against dragons. If we kept an array of armor in the mansion as furnishings, it would also serve as Arte’s arsenal in times of need.

 

If used badly, it could easily be used for assassination.

 

But that would be something I would not mention to Arte, for now.

 

Since she seemed to have a terrible complex, it would be better to teach her only the positive uses of puppet magic for the time being.

 

Arte watched our reaction, still bewildered, and then was patted by Till on the back.

 

Then, with a huff, Till clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

 

“Oh, that was brilliant! It is wonderful, Arte-sama. I have never seen such wonderful magic before. Can Arte-sama also do that doll dance? “

 

“Oh, ha, yes. I, well, I can dance, too… but, I’m better at making dolls dance…”

 

She answered shyly, as if embarrassed.

 

“No, no, that is more than enough. Ask Van-sama to make you a lovely doll. The people of the village will be pleased when you make it perform the dance at a festival, don’t you think? “

 

“Eh, I doubt that…”

 

Till asked Arte, who looked anxious.

 

But I was too busy to think about other stuff compared to that.

 

Arte mentioned that she could move the doll as she wanted, rather than her own body. This was an even more astonishing discovery.

 

In other words, she could make the object move exactly as she had imagined. Then, depending on the object to be moved, it would be possible to make a puppet soldier stronger than anything else.

 

“I think I’ll need to gather gather a lot of Mithril ore.”

 

A Mithril puppet over two meters in size. This would be a phenomenal ultimate weapon. Well, it would be difficult to make the docile Arte fight, so all I could do was prepare and make her practice.