"Well, the two-legged one won, but we've learned it has its own shortcomings too. Combined with the four-legged one's flaws, I'd like everyone to point out what needs improving. Let's start with the four-legged one."
The two-legged one was the one that crossed the finish line, so part of me felt we could just go ahead and mass-produce it as is — but there were clearly too many issues that needed fixing, so I decided to have everyone share what they'd noticed.
"The way it moves is creepy."
"It wasn't as fast as I expected."
"It can move in a straight line, but it seems like it can't handle sharp turns."
"It looks like it can't get back up once it falls."
"I couldn't see anything from where I was!"
In order, that was Amour, Grandpa, Jeanne, Primera, and Aura.
By "creepy," Amour meant she found the four-legged golem's movements unsettling — with its rectangular box-like body and dog-like legs as it ran. Grandpa's and Jeanne's opinions matched mine, which was the biggest problem with the four-legged one. And then, Primera brought up a new flaw: its inability to get back up.
It seemed
like it
couldn't
get back up.
The reason she worded it that way was that from where Primera was standing, she could only just barely see the four-legged golem after it had fallen, so she couldn't say for certain.
"It was just a little before the two-legged one came crashing down, but the four-legged one's legs were moving like they were flailing at the air. Then again, it might have just been trying to keep running."
Either way, I figured it was a new flaw. Whether it genuinely couldn't get back up, or it had fallen and simply kept moving its legs without actually rising, the point was the same — once it went down, it was game over.
"So then, how about the two-legged one?"
"It was slow, but it tried its best!"
"That's right. It was slow."
"It really does seem to be bad at curves."
"It looks like its poor body balance means it can't go down stairs."
" Its limbs are short and it looks ungainly."
At Aura's observations, Amour, who favored the bipedal one, tried to bite back, but—
"Oh, so that's how it tumbled down the stairs."
That struck me as the most critical flaw. Or rather, combining it with Primera's earlier observation, the flaw was: *because its limbs are short, it can't descend stairs.*
"Since its limbs are short, it loses its balance easily when trying to go down stairs. However, its limbs are thicker than the four-legged one's, which meant it could still move even after tumbling down."
"Hmm, I see… In that case, the bipedal one's flaws might actually be easier to improve than the four-legged one's."
Both units shared the flaw of being bad at stairs, but a bipedal that could keep moving was far more useful than a four-legged one that couldn't. And besides—
"Couldn't we actually use that flaw to our advantage? Like a tactic where it tumbles down the stairs on purpose?"
Even though it was small, having a Golem roll down from above would deal massive damage on its own. And if it could then run wild wherever it landed, it would be an absolute nightmare for the enemy.
"Whether or not there will actually be a scenario where it tumbles down stairs, having more tactics is always good. Though that does mean it'll need to be built sturdier."
"But won't small ones just get jumped over? Pursuers might not be able to jump over them, but what about magic and arrows or spears?"
"The bipedal one doesn't need to block those. Defending against magic and arrows is Chris's job. I'm sure Chris will use his own body to shield us from both arrows and magic."
Midway through my conversation with Grandpa, Aura voiced a question that had been bugging her, but Amour kicked her for it.
"Well, saying it's Chris's job isn't wrong, but to be precise, it's the job of the royal guards and escort Golems. This bipedal one's role is to physically obstruct the enemy—to create distance between them and His Majesty and the others. Taking down enemies or blocking attacks is a secondary or tertiary concern."
From the start, I'd planned to build the mass-produced model for obstruction purposes, so combat strength wasn't a high priority. It was really just a bonus. And even if its total length was only one meter, raising both arms would add another fifty centimeters or so of height—so depending on how it was used, it might even be able to block magic and arrows.
"Anyway, there's nothing to do but redesign it with the flaws improved as much as possible. Once we start moving it around, we might come up with uses we never originally intended."
And so, I drew up blueprints that addressed the flaws as best I could. Grandpa and the others could help up to that point, but all the actual parts-making was on me. This time, instead of building each mass-produced unit one at a time, I decided to mass-produce each part separately and assemble everything once all the parts were ready. The finishing touches would require magic, so in the end only Grandpa and I could do that, but up to the dry-fit stage no magic was needed, so Primera and the others would help with that.
About a month and a half after starting mass production, snow was no longer a rare sight around the Royal Capital. Near the border of the Margrave's domain, the conflict had turned in the Kingdom's favor, and the Imperial Army had been driven out of the Margrave's territory. However, that withdrawal was partly because the snow made it difficult for the Empire to maintain its front lines on the Kingdom's side, and enemy forces still held positions near the Empire's border. Because of this, the Kingdom's army—centered on Margrave Houst's forces—couldn't withdraw despite the year drawing to a close.
The party hosted by the King, held amid all this, drew the smallest turnout in recent memory. By my rough estimate, attendance was about a third of what the previous year's party had seen. The reasons were as follows: among the Royalist Faction, many lords had returned to their own territories so they could mobilize at a moment's notice to reinforce Margrave Houst's domain, bringing attendance down to roughly half the previous year's numbers; among the Reformist Faction, friction with the Royalist Faction had grown increasingly conspicuous since the Empire's invasion, and for those and various other reasons, eight to nine tenths of their members had declared they would not attend—though they remained in the Royal Capital. The Neutral Faction, seemingly wary of the conflict between the Royalists and Reformists, had more than half stay away or return to their territories under various pretexts. Naturally, many of the common invited guests had also chosen to avoid the bad atmosphere.
As for me, invited to all of this,
"I just want to go home..."
From before the party had even begun, I could hardly bear how much I wanted to go home.
"Well, I understand the feeling, but it's necessary to show your face at times like these and advertise the good relationship we have with the royal family. Besides, there are things to give to Alex and the others, aren't there?"
For now the Reformists were staying quiet, but come spring when the Empire resumed its offensive, things would surely get noisy. To prepare for that eventuality, the Otori family needed to reinforce the impression that its relationship with the royal family was on good terms. Well, the relationship really was good, and we advertised it at every opportunity, so perhaps it was redundant, but there was all the more meaning in doing it now, with the Royal Capital so undermanned. That said, I had my own reasons for not wanting to attend, and when it came to the Otori family, I figured Grandpa could show up as a stand-in and that would be enough... but Grandpa, for his part, was saying he didn't want to participate because it sounded like a hassle, so after a standoff between the two of us, we ended up attending together in the end.
Incidentally, the reason I didn't want to attend was
"Tenma, help me... Ever since we found out Primera is pregnant, Eliza has been... Please, give me some recovery potions..."
Because of Primera's pregnancy.
I had been worried about Primera because she had been feeling under the weather around the time the mass-produced golems were being built, and shortly after, symptoms consistent with morning sickness appeared. Through Maria's connections, we were introduced to a midwife, and after an examination, we were told there was an extremely high likelihood she was pregnant. Honestly, if I hadn't caught the morning sickness in time, there was a strong chance I would have prepared medicine as usual, and that sent a chill down my spine. When I told the midwife about that, I got an earful. She said that from now on, whenever Primera needed medicine, the midwife herself would prepare it, so we agreed to leave it in her hands.
"So even the great Tenma was clueless when it came to pregnancy, huh?"
Grandpa had a good laugh at my expense, but I didn't see how I could be blamed for thinking pregnancy had nothing to do with me. Back when I was in Kukuri Village, nobody in the village had been pregnant, and while my mother's books did contain information about what to do during pregnancy, it hadn't seemed very useful from an adventurer's perspective, so I had glossed over it. Which meant I was currently playing catch-up on the subject.
"Says the guy who's no better... Here, take this nutritional tonic. Drink up."
I figured a nutritional tonic would be better than a recovery potion, so I handed one to Albert, and he downed it on the spot in one gulp. After drinking it, whether it was a placebo effect or not, he perked up considerably, but he was bound to crash again soon, so I decided I should hand over a few more bottles before I left.
"Come to think of it, I got a letter full of complaints from Father. Apparently, he's disappointed that he can't leave the border at a critical time like this. He also sent me a letter telling me I absolutely must not do anything that would burden Primera. Oh, and there's a letter for you too, Tenma."
If anything, I felt Eliza was more likely to be a burden than Albert... but that was probably included in the
or-
der, I supposed.
A wife's responsibility is a husband's responsibility, or something like that.
"Let's see... To sum it up, it says, 'Congratulations. I should be able to make it back before the baby is born, so let's celebrate properly then. Also, once spring comes, the wives will probably want to go out, so I'm counting on you to accompany them.'... Something along those lines."
There was more — excited ramblings, complaints, all sorts of things making the letter much longer, but that about sums it up.
"Come spring, Mother and the others will be coming here... though I doubt all three will arrive at once. They'll most likely come one at a time, in order. Otherwise, there'd be no one left to command in Lindau."
With Duke Sanga away on the battlefield, the mothers-in-law had to stay behind to defend Lindau — that was just how it was. Duke Sanga himself might be able to slip back to Lindau if the fighting bogged down, but he certainly wouldn't make it all the way to the Royal Capital, so it was best not to count on that.
"Whether the baby turns out to be a boy or a girl, finding them a match is going to be a headache. Meaning, choosing the right person."
"Given our situation, proposals are probably going to pour in from all directions. Unless the other party is truly awful, though, I'd rather not stick my nose into it... Personally, I care more about the compatibility between the children than the ties between families. But all of that is a conversation for after they're born safely and grow up healthy."
Considering the Ootori family's connections — the royal family at the top of the list — it was easy to foresee a flood of people eager to arrange a marriage for his child. He knew proper countermeasures would need to be put in place, but that was something he'd have to discuss with Primera. Given her current condition, there was plenty of time to sort it out once things settled down.
"That said, I hear Primera's morning sickness is pretty rough. Can't anything be done about it with magic or medicine?"
"The midwife says it's best to avoid medicine and magic during pregnancy as much as possible. In an emergency, of course, you have no choice — but when it's just severe nausea like this, the risks from magic or medicine apparently outweigh the benefits."
During early pregnancy, using magic or medicine carelessly could have adverse effects on the fetus through the Magic Power or pharmacological agents, so she had been told not to resort to them unless Primera was in real danger. And in such a situation, if you did have to use them, you had to be prepared to accept the loss of the child. Once she entered the second trimester, however, she wouldn't need to be quite as sensitive about Magic Power. Still, even then, strong magic could be toxic to the fetus, so it was safer not to use it if at all possible.
"I don't know what to say... it's a cliché, but becoming a mother really is something else."
"That's exactly why I wanted to stay close to Primera — but even she was told to attend the party. They said if anything happens, the ladies from Kukuri Village will be standing by at the manor, so I was told to go with Grandpa..."
"Men are the same whether they're at home or not, so go out and do your work — that's what I was told."
He wanted them to hurry up and start the party already, but it looked like there was still a little ways to go before things kicked off.
"Well, attendance this year is lower than usual, so it should be shorter than normal... probably."
He held onto that hope and resigned himself to waiting patiently for the King and the others to arrive.
"Oh, right — what happened to Eliza? And Lion and Cain?"
"Eliza came with Lady Sierra and got snatched up by the Royalist Faction's ladies almost immediately. Lion and Cain are doing their rounds of greetings. Lion especially is being extra thorough since the recent battlefield was in the frontier margraviate. Cain is covering for him. I could have gone along too, but three people making the rounds together would just get in the way, and depending on the situation, it might come across as pressure. I plan to go around and pay my respects after the two of them finish."
If it were Duke Sanga, he could afford to wait for others to come greet him — but as the heir, it didn't work that way. On top of that, his family had essentially been the ones coordinating this whole war, so there was a lot of diplomatic groundwork to be mindful of.
As they chatted about this and that, the King and his entourage finally made their appearance at the venue.
Of the royal family, everyone attended except Mizaria and Luna. Amy had come to the royal castle as well, but apparently wouldn't be joining the party. As for why she was at the castle in the first place —
"She's been keeping Luna-sama company"
That's what the butler told me, having snuck up behind me as usual.
He explained that since Mizaria-sama and Amy hadn't had much interaction up until now, the three of them were enjoying a tea party together to deepen their bond.
"The area around His Majesty is still going to be quite hectic, so Tenma-sama and Merlin-sama, please come this way. Ernest-sama said he's free and would like you to call on him."
He'd kept the golem part under wraps, but had informed them in advance that he'd be bringing a gift — so he probably wanted to confirm the contents with the King before handing it over. The old man seemed reluctant, but it would end the same way regardless: he'd inevitably show up halfway through the party and start drinking while bickering, so it was just a matter of sooner or later.
Kurif led us to a section reserved for high-ranking nobles inside a pavilion at the edge of the venue — the perfect spot for a private conversation with nowhere for anyone nearby to hide.
"Oh, Tenma! Sorry for dragging you out here. Also, congratulations to your wife on her pregnancy."
As we approached the pavilion, Ernest-sama called out to me the moment he noticed me — without so much as a glance in the old man's direction.
Ernest-sama, who usually preferred low-alcohol drinks at parties, was today drinking tea, of all things. He'd clearly gotten wind that my gift was no ordinary gift.
"I hate to rush you, but could you tell me about this gift of yours, verbally? Normally, anything presented to His Majesty would be inspected by the Royal Guard, but this time,
it
just
so
hap
pened
that their hands were full. So I ended up being the one to do the checking. The reason it needs to be verbal is that making a show of your gift at a party would be terribly unseemly."
He'd dressed it up in those terms to ensure that absolutely none of the gift's details leaked outside.
"I'm sure you've already heard from Din's report, but I've prepared approximately a hundred mass-produced golems. However, since these golems have fully formed bodies from the start, they take up considerable space despite being small-scale. I've prepared multiple Dimension Bags specifically for these golems, but depending on future mass production, we may run short on those."
When I revealed the true nature of the gift, not only Ernest-sama but even Kurif stood there dumbfounded. After all, golems were normally extremely difficult to produce, and even a single one cost several hundred thousand G at minimum. In my case, since I'd personally crafted nearly all the critical components, the labor cost was effectively zero. As for materials, while I'd had to purchase some additional iron, the vast majority had been gathered and stored by me myself. So the total cost for roughly a hundred mass-produced golems came down to the iron I'd been short on (about two hundred kilograms) and the commercial bags used to make the Dimension Bags, which together came to only about twenty to thirty thousand G.
"I reused old weapons for about half the iron and bought the bags used, so it didn't end up costing much."
After I explained the cost breakdown and was chatting and laughing with Grandpa about our mishaps during production,
"Tenma... whatever you do, never tell anyone that you can mass-produce golems cheaply. Absolutely not! If word gets out, House Ootori will be seen as a dangerous family secretly building a powerful army — and not just the Reformist Faction, but the Neutral Faction and even the Royalist Faction will have it out for you! No, being watched would be one thing — who knows what those who see House Ootori as a threat might do? If the hostility were directed at you or that idiot over there, that would be one thing, but they'd certainly target Primera, your unborn children, or anyone close to you who can't defend themselves!"
Ernest-sama's words were harsher than usual, and as always, the nobles who had been watching us from afar began to stir.
We were far enough apart that they shouldn't have been able to make out what we were discussing, but they probably assumed a fierce argument had broken out when they heard Ernest-sama raise his voice.
Well, Ernest-sama was definitely angry... but it was a warning about my lax crisis management, not something that would leave lasting grudges or bad blood. So I wished the Royalist nobles would rest easy, and I especially wished the Reformist nobles would be thoroughly disappointed... even though I couldn't tell them the real reason.
"There's no need to make such a fuss — I understand perfectly well. Besides, Tenma's been off-kilter since way back."
"It's all well and good that you understand, but it's pointless if the one who matters — Tenma — doesn't get it! And if you understood, why didn't you warn him beforehand!"
"Well, that's... I just forgot to give him a small warning, that's all."
"You're just as much to blame! You and Tenma are two peas in a pod... no — if Tenma turned out this way because of your involvement in his education, then aren't you the root cause?!"
Now, I was actually the biggest culprit for getting carried away... but I couldn't deny that Grandpa had unknowingly influenced me. And sure enough, Ernest-sama — who had supposedly been scolding me — was already bickering with Grandpa just like always.
"That worked out well, Tenma-sama. Thanks to those two, the nobles who'd been eavesdropping seem to have decided it was just their usual argument. I don't think they meant to do that, but... as long as the result is good, right? Oh, shall I refresh your tea? I've prepared some especially bitter brew."
"Three cups, please. One with sugar at moderate bitterness, and the other two extremely bitter, without sugar."
After that, Kurif casually handed the two of them the extremely bitter tea — cooled just enough to drink in one gulp — and pinned the blame on me.
"I raised my voice just now, but I'd like the royal family to make use of these. Also, I may end up requesting additional ones, so it would be a great help if you could take that on within your means."
"How about that — taking them after all that yelling. You sure change your tune fast."
"If nobody says anything, you and Tenma will just keep running wild! If you two had even a little self-awareness that you're beyond ordinary, I wouldn't have to say things like this!"
"I appreciate that. I'll accept additional orders as well, so... please consult with Maria-sama first and then get back to us."
For a moment, I was about to say "Don't hesitate to ask," but I stopped myself — if I did that, people would show up at our door to place orders directly, and that would definitely attract attention. Entrusting this kind of management to Maria-sama was the surest bet. She could decide who received how many without anyone raising a fuss, and if she sent Aina or Chris to collect the golems, even a visit to our house wouldn't stand out — and even if the Reformist Faction grew suspicious, it wouldn't seem unnatural.
"That sounds good. I'll pass the word along. Well then, this matter is settled. Tenma — His Majesty's entourage should be calming down around now, so if you want to speak with him, now would be the time. If you wait too long, he'll probably come looking for you himself."
"That's going to get messy," Grandpa said as he stood up, so I parted ways with Ernest for the time being and headed toward the King. Ernest had said things should be calming down by now, but nobles still had the surrounding area staked out. I didn't want to get roped in by any of them — part of me wanted to do an about-face and kill a bit more time — but before I could, the King spotted me and was already heading over, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and endure it.
The problem was, the King just had to blurt out Primera's pregnancy right there in the middle of a place where people were still milling about, so we ended up standing out — though for entirely different reasons than before. Well, it wasn't like we'd been keeping it a closely guarded secret or anything, but we had been making sure that no one outside of close acquaintances knew about it until Primera's condition settled down (even Lion hadn't let it slip to a single soul), so...
I was about to voice my displeasure, but the moment the King let the cat out of the bag, Maria-sama sprang into action, and once again I could only watch the two of them disappear somewhere as usual. For the record, Caesar-sama offered an apology on behalf of the incident, followed by Zane and Lyle, so I had to accept their apologies without letting any visible irritation show on my face. Well, that was about par for the course.
After that, they made sure to keep at least one member of the royal family nearby as much as possible, so I was able to get through the rest of the party without any particular problems... but starting the very next day, marriage proposals began pouring in — for the child Primera and I were expecting.