Chapter 605: Creation on the Final Day of Staying in the Royal Capital
Before they knew it, Tauro and his group’s month-long stay in the royal capital was coming to an end.
They had been extremely busy, spending their days visiting and greeting all the people who had supported them.
“It was great to be able to meet with Prime Minister Barriera.”
During a brief break, Tauro sighed in relief as he spent some quiet time with Aeris.
They were sitting on a bench in a small park within the royal castle grounds, where Aeris handed him a cup of water.
“It really was. We were able to properly report on the Empire’s movements, and it was good to learn about what’s been happening with the former Marquis Halagoura faction over the past year.”
The other party members were likely spending their time relaxing in the royal capital.
“Yeah. I had no idea that after Marquis Halagoura and his family were punished, even nobles from their faction faced consequences, leaving things unstable in various places. There seem to be many neutral nobles in the north.”
“Since your new territory used to belong to Count Lunesk—who was part of that faction—it makes sense the royal family confiscated it.”
“Count Lunesk had accumulated a huge amount of debt and gone completely bankrupt, so the royal family confiscated the estate in exchange for taking on those debts. Honestly, it’s kind of funny—they just wanted to recover their losses.”
Tauro chuckled, amused that the prime minister had told him the inside story so openly even though it concerned Tauro’s own territory.
“And then they investigated Garfish’s profits and found everything was under your name. Still, selling land without the owner present… that’s questionable.”
Aeris sighed at Tauro’s laid-back attitude.
“Well, the prime minister did apologize for going too far, so it’s fine. And it’s not like the value decreased… The real question is what to do next.”
Tauro grew thoughtful.
The former count’s domain had first been confiscated and made royal land, then passed into Tauro’s hands. Now its value had soared with the discovery of orichalcum, and with the surrounding situation still unsettled, managing it wouldn’t be simple.
And Tauro was still an adventurer.
Even if he appointed a proxy, it would have to be someone capable.
“There’s no point in worrying about it right now. Go see the land yourself and decide. The prime minister and Garfish will help, right? And it’s best to hire someone locally. We’re adventurers, we just have to act.”
Aeris encouraged him firmly.
“…You’re right. In that case, maybe we should buy some things in the capital to invest in the territory. Ah—it’s time for our next meeting. Let’s go.”
Tauro stood, took Aeris’s hand, and resumed their round of greetings.
The last day of their stay in the capital.
Tauro had successfully completed his greeting tour, finished buying the things in the royal capital that he thought his territory would need, and was finally able to rest.
…Or so it seemed.
“…So why are we doing an experiment on your day off, Leader?”
Ankh asked in exasperation as they stood in a forest on the outskirts of the capital. Tauro had been busy every day, so Ankh was dumbfounded that the leader wanted to conduct an experiment on his day off.
Aeris, Ragune, Zion, and even Seth—the childlike autonomous-thinking puppet—were all present.
As always, the slime emperor Pella happily bounced on Tauro’s shoulder.
“I thought I’d create a new companion today.”
“So, another doll like Seth?”
Ragune lightly patted Seth’s back.
“That’s great, Seth! You’re getting a new friend!”
Zion, who had grown quite close to Seth over the past month, beamed.
“This time, I thought I’d make it a different type from Seth, so I prepared a special core—reconstructed from the cores of four destroyed Rock-series puppets and combined with a top-grade magic stone the dragonfolk obtained from Babylon.”
Tauro took the core out of [Magic Storage].
Then he brought out large quantities of mysterious dungeon material, along with one of the destroyed Rock-series puppets.
“Oh? Looks like you’re making something pretty big.”
Ankh noted, eyeing the materials.
“Hehe… you’ll see.”
Tauro said, then immediately got to work.
Using [Creation Magic], he began shaping the parts, forming limbs from the Rock-series puppet and the mysterious dungeon material.
“…? Is this a hand? No, legs?”
Aeris tilted her head, already realizing that whatever Tauro was making wasn’t humanoid.
“It looks familiar somehow…”
Zion murmured.
Piece by piece, Tauro assembled the parts, connecting them into a complete form.
What emerged was a large, four-legged beast-like construct.
“…That’s the form of the Vampire Wolf King!”
Ankh exclaimed, recognizing it.
“Yeah. This is just the right size. I thought about making something like a vehicle at first, but that wouldn’t really suit this world—and it wouldn’t handle rough terrain well.”
“A vehicle…? I don’t quite get it, but I understand why you chose this.”
Aeris nodded. She still had plenty of questions, but she understood why Tauro had chosen that form.
“Even so, this mysterious material from Babylon feels strange. Its surface is elastic and almost feels like real muscle when you touch it.”
Ragune commented, touching the unfinished body.
The others touched and examined it as well, then nodded in agreement with Ragune.
“Alright, now I’ll insert the core.”
With that, Tauro activated [Creation Magic].
A flash of light burst forth—blinding everyone except Seth for a moment.
When their vision returned, a massive wolf-shaped construct stood before them.
It leaned affectionately toward Tauro, letting out a soft whine as if asking to be petted.