Boyd, giggling, leaned back in his chair and draped his right leg over his left knee.
“Even if they are long-term friends with the king, a mediocre wizard cannot just push ahead with national projects. But you can just talk about it here and there. Would that be okay?”
“Enough.”
Viscount Boyd grinned and hit his knee.
“Okay, accept it. But there is a condition. Take turns with our club members and play a game. It doesn’t matter if you lose To be honest, I’m pretty good right now, but not to the point where I can’t win. you need training I want to feel my slowed down heart beating fast again.”
Carrot held out a small hand.
“great. Let’s take a look. Archmage.”
“Clack! Feel so good. You’re the first automaton that made my heart flutter. don’t expect Drive me down.”
After finishing the story, I was about to go out to get a room at the inn, but there were many rooms, so when I was suggested to stay in a guest room in the mansion, the party immediately unpacked and went to the places that were allowed to guests in the mansion.
Carrot in general.
“Uh ha ha! All coat! Where are you!”
bang-!
Carrot burst through the door and found a little boy lying on his desk writing something, and approached him waving his arms.
“Let’s play! That’s what kids do!”
“I haven’t finished my homework yet.”
Carrot, who opened her eyes, squealed.
“My master said! They say they don’t need a killer who’s good at math! Even if it would slow down human progress! Let’s go, let’s play until the sun goes down I’ve got people to do it too!”
It was a hard-skinned automaton guarding the mansion that greeted Alcott, who was led out into the garden by Carrot’s hand.
Called Carrot, who picked up a branch and drew a picture on the floor.
“Spreading with Automaton!”
Seeing Carrot leaping into the painting on the floor with her hands behind her back and one leg raised, Alcott couldn’t contain her excitement and laughter for the first time in a long time.
“Bocchan’s Snack… … ?!”
I can’t see the boy who should be at the desk. Her eyes sharpened. As always, just as we were about to start searching and tracking, we heard a strange sound.
thud-! thud-!
Hiding behind the curtains by the window like an assassin, I peeked out and saw a hard-skinned automaton jumping and jumping with its arms outstretched and its arms fluttering behind its back, and the children around it holding their stomachs and laughing.
Seeing that, Maid Louise, who snorted, turned to pay attention.
After a while, the kitchen workers who came out to move the ingredients for the evening lifted their skirts and laughed when they saw the maid Louise who was engrossed in running around with the children.
The next day, we headed to the long-term club building in the city.
“Aristocrats with a lot of money are also different. I have a building as a simple hobby.”
“There are surprisingly many. Everyone spares money for their interests.”
The second floor of the building we were introduced to looked like a bar with a bar and even a bartender, and everyone seated at the table looked down at the checkerboard with serious faces.
As strangers opened the door and entered, the manager and bartender approached.
“If you are not a member, you cannot come in here.”
“I was introduced to Viscount Boyd. This is your letter of introduction.”
When Crank held out the letter, the bartender who had opened it and read it nodded and accepted it.
Carrot, who preoccupied the place for a while and exchanged greetings with the people sitting, sat in front of a man who had been drunk since morning.
“Nice to meet you. It’s Carrot.”
The man moved his chess pieces without saying hello.
“The great country has begun. Automaton, we will train you. Let’s see how far it goes, be careful not to overheat the calculation part.”
A cruel expression permeates Carrot’s cute face.
“You know how to taunt an automaton.”
“I am an assembler working in the automaton production department. You bastards know it even with your eyes closed.”
Swip swipe!
The chess pieces came and went quickly. Moments later, the drunken man ordered a strong coffee from the bartender. An absurd smile began to form on his face.
“Is this guy doing quite a bit?”
An hour later the man admitted defeat. The man was amazed, but so was Carrot.
“Did I win?”
“You lost to the automatons!”
The onlookers chatted a lot. Next came a man with a mustache. He moved the chess pieces with graceful hand movements. Carrot’s eyes began to shake.
“Ohhhhh!”
Carrot, driven into a corner without dividing a few moves, screamed. The mustache man quietly opened his mouth.
“I dug a trap. I was induced to put you on this side and this side here.”
“Judo? Will that work?”
“It’s kind of a trick. Ordinary automatons don’t understand that and are dragged in. Just like you now.”
Carrot nodded his head as he listened. Krank, who was watching from the side with his arms crossed, also nodded. But Ariete had a hard time breathing because the smell of cigarettes was so strong.
The match continued into the evening. Entering the afternoon, the number of people started to increase rapidly, and they lined up to play carrots and chess.
Inside the moving carriage, Carrot was staring into space with her mouth open.
“Oh, there are chess pieces floating in front of me right now. Interesting.”
“I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do for you. I really only receive help from you guys from one to ten.”
Crank, who was crossing his arms, said.
“I didn’t do it specifically for you. It’s a very good assortment right now. I’m trying to use this opportunity now. I have nothing to say about your unfortunate situation, even if you curse.”
“Couldn’t you make it a little better if you say the same thing? Then my heart may be inclined.”
Crank’s nonchalant gaze turned to Ariete, who was ashamed after speaking.
“Surprisingly, the pumpkin is talking.”
“Shut up!! Crank Oooh!”
puck puck!
Normally, I would have laughed watching the two of them bickering, but Carrot was not in that situation now.
Carrot’s brain was showing signs of overheating as he was organizing a large amount of input information and calculating the predicted number of long-term pieces.
Anyway, the first day’s performance wasn’t bad. However, from the second day, Carrot’s losses increased. And on the third day, Carrot, who finished playing with almost all the members of the long-term club, suddenly became less talkative.
After returning to the mansion after the match, the sight of her eyes moving around while sitting still looking up into the air was grotesque, which made Ariete worry.
“Ka, Carrot?”
“It is being sorted out. Don’t touch it.”
Crank, who cautioned Ariete, who was making a fuss, looked at Carrot and then turned to look at Lotte and Venus, who were sitting quietly in their chairs.
“This may be an opportunity. Let’s mobilize all possible numbers.”
* * *
Eventually, the promised day.
Shoot aaa!
It rained all day that day. Looking at the spring rain pouring outside the window, Ariete’s face grew pensive.
“I feel skeptical that I am of no help. Did I come here for this?”
“You can come out when you have something to do. If anything, come over here and help out. I need a hand.”
Ariete approached Krank’s call after putting Lotte and Venus on the bed and examining their heads.
“omg?! What are you doing?”
Crank placed a towel-covered tabletop on Ariete’s hand and pulled out a small jewel-like object from the automaton’s head with tweezers. Lotte came out three, and Venus came out four.
“What is this?”
“It’s an arithmetic fix. don’t drop Weak to shock.”
Crank, who had moved, took off Carrot’s wig, which was also lying still, and tore the soft skin to open the head armor plate.
From noble mtl dot com
Ariete’s eyes widened when she saw the inside of the automaton’s head for the first time.
“pretty… … !”
It was as if the lid of a jewelry box had been opened. Around the large black jewel, small crystals of various colors gathered like sparkling stars.
“Are there few empty seats?”
Ariete, who pressed her face close to Crank’s shoulder, murmured. Carefully picking up the arithmetic crystal from the table she was holding, Crank filled in the blanks left in Carrot’s head.
“Wait, Crank. How many arithmetic crystals does Carrot have?”
Crank did not answer Ariete’s question as she looked at the same shape of the arithmetic crystal and widened her eyes. I just focused my attention on assembling.
After meticulously filling in the few blanks between the dense jewels and marking the notebook with pictures, he now closed the carrot’s head and covered the soft skin. The torn soft skin began to heal rapidly.
In gratitude to Tuna for giving him this strange healing power, Crank also brought Venus’s heat-resistant wig.
When the always lively red ponytail girl became a long green hair with a roll, it created a slightly grown-up atmosphere.
“Venus’s are all made of radiant yarn. It will be longer and will have better heat dissipation than Carrot’s.”
“Looking at it this way, Carrot is definitely a doll. It’s kind of a strange feeling.”
Crank said looking down at the sleeping Carrot.
“When you open your eyes, you won’t be the guy you know. Don’t be surprised.”
“huh?”
Crank called out Carrot’s name.
Ching-!
Carrot opened her eyes. Then I got up and sat down. Ariete came.
“Carrot? Will you recognize me?”
Carrot, half-opened, looked back at Ariete. Then he collapsed on his side and lay down. Carrot, whose face had become troublesome, shut her mouth and closed her eyes.
“Do not sleep. I have work to do.”
Carrot replied with her eyes closed.
“Know. Are the warriors ready to stand against me?”
Surprised, Ariete looked at the crank.
“Isn’t it Carrot?”
“right. It’s just that your arithmetic skills have crossed the limit and your personality has changed slightly.”
“Isn’t it a bit?”
* * *
The match against the automaton was a big concern for the long-term club. People who have become bored with living ordinary lives within the safe walls of the city sometimes waste their time and lives in search of a different sense of refreshment.
Adventure stories of adventurers were like that, and so were board games like Janggi.
After all, rest and entertainment are just as important as work.
“Can I beat the viscount after only 3 days of practice? That little doll lost to me too.”
“No, he was different from the other automatons.”
“you’re right. It really gave me goosebumps when I realized that the reason the kid was stuttering wasn’t because of some of the previous numbers, but because of my own actions.”
“What are you counting? Nonsense!”
“ah! I felt that way!”
Bob, the automaton assembler who was not drunk today, handed over his rain-soaked coat to the maid and muttered as he walked through the hallways of the mansion.
“The reason automatons are stupid is for safety. If you put 5 or more arithmetic crystals in it, your ego will become stronger and you won’t listen. But he is smart and listens well. What have you done?”
The club members were ushered into the party hall. There were simple drinks and food on the table, and two chairs and a checkerboard were prepared on the table in the center of the hall.
“Welcome, friends.”
“Oh oh! Viscount!”
“President!”
Members of the chess club greeted Viscount Boyd, who appeared each holding a cane. Just in time, Carrot also appeared. I didn’t come on foot, but Crank brought me.
Viscount Boyd sat down and looked at the little doll with green hair sitting across from him, then shifted his gaze to Crank.
“What is this?”
“We tried every possible means and method.”
Crank took the scroll out of his pocket, tore it open, and placed his hand on Carrot’s head.
“Enchant.”
Chiiing-!
All stats increased rapidly, and at the same time, golden smoke began to rise from Carrot’s body. The green heat-resistant wig was dyed blonde before she knew it.
A mad smile bloomed on the face of Viscount Boyd, who was watching.
“Uhhhhh! That’s cool!”