The third day of the Second Month of Fire. A night had passed since that birthday party which had—somehow—blown up into such a massive affair. I was currently occupied with organizing the mountain of presents I’d received.
While I was incredibly grateful, the sheer volume of gifts, combined with the commemorative items from the Six Kings Festival, meant it was going to take a significant amount of time to get everything sorted.
As for the flying castle gifted to Lilia-san... Shiro-san’s gift was apparently treated strictly as the castle itself; Chronoa-san had stepped in to reclaim the more hazardous additions, like the fountain that doubles one's magic power.
Even so, the castle on its own was an absurd gift, and Lilia-san had been racking her brain over how to manage it. The one who reached out with a helping hand was First Princess Amalie of the Kingdom of Sinfonia.
Apparently, Amalie-san wanted to turn Lilia-san’s new floating fortress into a tourist attraction for the Royal Capital, and she’d approached Lilia-san with a proposal immediately after the party ended.
Since the offer was a godsend for Lilia-san, the negotiations proceeded without a hitch. In the end, they reached a settlement where the Kingdom of Sinfonia would pay a rental fee to lease the castle from her.
Amalie-san seemed incredibly fired up. She visited the mansion personally this morning to finalize the contract and set off immediately to begin the transformation process.
Her decisiveness and initiative were truly remarkable—befitting the top candidate for the throne. Her swift action had certainly saved Lilia-san a lot of trouble, for which I was deeply grateful.
As I was checking and organizing the presents one by one, there was a sudden knock on my door.
"Yes? Oh, Hina-chan?"
"Kaito-senpai, Aoi-senpai says she wants you to come to the training space."
"Me?"
"Yes, well, both you and me, actually. She said she’s learned another new spell and wants to show us."
"I see... Well, shall we go then?"
"Yes!"
Since I didn't have anything particularly urgent to do, I agreed immediately and headed for the training space at the back of the mansion with Hina-chan.
This wasn't the first time I'd been invited like this. Aoi-chan had a profound interest in magic and was a diligent student, constantly mastering new spells. Whenever she learned something new, she usually made a point of showing it to Hina-chan and me.
While Aoi-chan usually conducted herself with maturity, she had a childish side in that regard. I could understand the desire to show off a new accomplishment; it was actually quite endearing.
We reached the training space about ten minutes later. Currently, Hina-chan was unleashing sharp kicks at a golem Aoi-chan had constructed.
Hina-chan excelled at physical enhancement magic, and her kicks were so fast and sharp that I couldn't even track them with my eyes. Yet, despite being hammered by such tremendous strikes, Aoi-chan's golem didn't budge an inch.
"A-Aoi-senpai... This golem is way too hard. My feet hurt. It looks like a normal golem, though..."
"Fufufu... This is the new magic I've mastered: the High-density Golem!"
Aoi-chan puffed out her chest proudly, looking every bit her age. I see, a High-density Golem. Hina-chan had been breaking her previous golems with relative ease, so I suspected Aoi-chan had learned this specifically as a countermeasure. She did have a bit of a competitive streak, after all.
Judging that their sparring—or rather, the demonstration—was over, I approached the two of them.
"I saw that new spell. It looks like a direct upgrade to the standard golem; it’s impressive."
"Thank you! With my current capacity, making even one is the best I can do, but... Oh, that aside, Kaito-san, I have a request."
"For me?"
"Yes. This golem... would you mind trying to break it?"
"Huh?"
Aoi-chan gave me a happy smile at my praise, then followed it up by asking me to destroy the golem. I tilted my head, wondering why she’d ask that—and specifically why she’d ask me, the weakest person here.
"Actually, I’ve incorporated an effect that triggers upon destruction, and I wanted to see if it functions correctly..."
"But why ask me?"
"Eh? Well, Hina-chan couldn't break it... and among us, Kaito-san, you're the strongest."
She stated it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I tilted my head further, but then it clicked. She was talking about my combat power when including my pets.
Isn't that just Bell being strong, and not me? Well, since Aoi-chan and Hina-chan considered me a monster tamer, I suppose it wasn't entirely inaccurate.
Still, I hadn't expected things to go this way, so I hadn't brought Bell with me. I figured I'd have to go fetch him for my junior's sake, but just as I was about to leave...
"Hey, what are you doing, you idiot..."
The moment I moved to call Bell, Alice suddenly appeared in front of me, wearing a sash that read 'Pet No. 3.' There were so many things I wanted to say, but mainly: why couldn't she have come out in one of her kigurumis for once?
"Um, Aoi-chan, is this okay?"
"Well, as long as it gets broken, I don't mind if the Phantasm King-sama does it..."
"I thought Aoi-senpai’s new golem was a total cheat... but as I thought, Kaito-senpai really is the most amazing of all."
Well, if Aoi-chan was fine with it... Still, I felt like Alice was up to something. As if to confirm my suspicion, she handed me a piece of paper.
Alice-chan Sword: 1 Copper Coin Alice-chan Punch: 1 Silver Coin Alice-chan Kick: 1 Gold Coin Five-body Fusion Great Alice-chan Robot: 1 Platinum Coin
I was extremely curious about that last one. A robot? A five-body fusion robot? That was every man’s dream. Honestly, I really wanted to see it, but I suspected I wouldn't be able to guarantee the safety of the training grounds—or Lilia-san’s mansion—so I decided against it.
That left the other three. I wondered why the sword was the cheapest. Perhaps at Alice’s level of strength, her bare fists were simply more effective than a weapon? Regardless, I went with the sword.
I pressed a single copper coin into Alice’s hand. She produced a sheet of paper from thin air and began rolling it up into a tube—the kind children use for pretend sword fighting.
"Alice-chan Sword!"
With a single swing, Aoi-chan’s pride and joy, the High-density Golem, was sliced clean in two. The naming was a joke and the material was just paper, but the power was undeniable.
Well, that fulfilled Aoi-chan’s request. But as I looked at the severed golem, nothing seemed to be happening.
"O-Oh? It isn't regenerating... Did I mess up the magic formula?"
It seemed Aoi-chan had built a regeneration function into the golem, but it wasn't triggering.
"I added 'Regeneration Nullification' as an optional effect to the slash—ow!"
"You..."
It wasn't a flaw in Aoi-chan’s formula; it was because Alice had added an unnecessary extra effect to her attack.
"Well, looking at it, the formula is textbook-perfect, so it should have worked fine. It's just a bit slow, so whether it would be practical in a real fight is another story..."
"I-I see... As expected, is the Phantasm King-sama a master of golem production as well?"
"Hmm, well, I can handle the basics. Like this."
"——!?"
Faced with Aoi-chan’s eager questioning, Alice lightly pointed toward the ground. A small magic circle appeared, and out of it came a magnificent bird-shaped earth golem that flapped its wings and took flight. Aoi-chan’s eyes went wide with shock.
"Amazing... Ph-Phantasm King-sama! Please, even if it's just a little bit, could you teach me your golem magic?"
"No. I’m not so bored that I’d spend my time on some random riff-raff."
Her refusal was swift and brutal. I wondered if I should step in and ask on Aoi-chan’s behalf? Just as I was about to speak, Alice said something completely unexpected.
"Besides, if you want to learn about golems, wouldn't you be better off asking Kuro-san than me?"
"Kuro?"
"Yeah. After all, more than twenty thousand years ago, Kuro-san was already creating golems that possessed self-awareness and the ability to grow. Well, strictly speaking, they’re Magical Dolls, so it’s a bit different, but still."
"Ah..."
Alice’s words triggered a memory. I remembered Zwei-san, a Magical Doll, mentioning that her body had been a gift from Kuro.
Dear Mother, Father—looking back, the hints were all there. If Kuro was the one who created Zwei-san, then when it comes to the field of golem creation, it means she possesses the world’s finest level of technology.