Chapter 139

I closed the lid now that I was ready to leave. In the next instant, the box began to sink into the floor by itself, until the surface was perfectly level with the rest of the floor. For a moment, I wondered if there was some kind of trap, and I frantically turned around. But there was nothing to suggest the doors were going to close on me or that some guardians were going to appear out of nowhere. It was merely signaling the end of the attraction. And so I picked up the two pairs of glasses and left the room.

The hallway seemed a lot shorter this time, now that I wasn’t nervous. I felt like I reached the Automata again in no time.

“Well, well, what should I do about it…”

I tried appraising it with the glasses, and it was indeed an Automata.

‘Automata type F. Out of order due to lack of reactor core.’

You needed something called a reactor core to make it move. Type F must be for female… But what was a reactor core? Where did one acquire it? I tried flipping it over and searching. There was a barely visible slit on the back of its neck. I dug my finger into it and the skin rolled back.

“Uhhh…that’s bizarre…”

Underneath the skin, I could see bones that were similar to the other dolls in the room.

“…Ah, it’s no use. I don’t think I’ll be able to fix it.”

I wasn’t an inventor or scientist. Any more tinkering would probably result in permanent damage. I gently returned the skin flap to normal then searched through the dolls that had exposed bones. Upon searching one that was a similar model, I saw that there was a lid in between the shoulder blades and a hole which something could be inserted in. This was probably where this reactor core thing went.

So that was the next thing I searched for. I used the appraisal glasses to search each doll and see why they were out of order. If it was for a reason unrelated to the reactor core, there was a chance the doll still contained one.

“I haven’t found any so far…what about this one?”

I looked at one doll which had no arms or legs.

‘Automata type F. For lovers of sadism. Inoperable due to bodily damage. Currently out of order due to lack of magic energy.’

Sadism…? So it was broken by a sadist? Okay, these ancient elves really were perverts. Complete, total perverts.

However, there was good news too. If the reason was that it was out of magic…

“I knew it. So this is the reactor core.”

I opened the lid on its back and a multifaceted crystal-like object came out. It was like a large super ball. When inspecting it through the appraisal glasses, it displayed, ‘reactor core for Automata.’

‘Automata Reactor Core, Remaining Magic: 0’

So I could probably recharge it by sending magic into it. But I felt a little bad for the broken one… To end your run on such a note. I brought my hands together for a moment of silence.

Then I tried sending magic into the reactor core in my hand. It was pure void magic. Would it work?

‘Automata Reactor Core, Remaining Magic: 5%’

Well, it worked a little. Good.

I recharged and rested a few times. After this, I would sleep and meet up with Daniela tomorrow. It was safe down here, so I decided that this would be where I spent the night.

After repeating the process a few times, I checked it again with the appraisal glasses and saw that it had reached 100%. Now the Automata should move. …But it was kind of difficult to move that skin flap. So I decided to practice on a nearby doll.

That night, I forgot to eat dinner as the time went by and I tinkered with the machines.

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“…Mmm… Ahh…I fell asleep…”

I awoke in the room that was littered with the Automatas. As I had slept on the bare floor, my body hurt all over. And plus, it was very cold.

“I want a bath…and food…”

Though, there was no one there to make my wishes come true. I now had four more of the reactor cores in my hand. I had removed them from the other machines that I was tinkering with. Though, these ones were empty.

As for the skin peeling, I was quite good at it now. This was the result of practicing on models that were missing arms or legs. I even practiced on a complete model as well, and was able to return the skin to its former place.

And I made another discovery. The dolls were based on humans in both appearance and bone structure. Strictly speaking, they would move just like humans, in spite of being machines. Their joints could not move in the wrong way and they had no structural features that humans lacked. The only things that they didn’t have were organs and blood. They ran on the magic supplied by the reactor core.

There was a spherical object inside of their heads that acted as a brain. The appraisal glasses informed me that it was covered in magic patterns. I believed it held information, programming that made the machines move.

There were new discoveries the more I looked. These things were full of ancient technology.

After much searching, I realized that there was no switch, and they should move by just putting the reactor core into their backs.

“…But what happens then?”

I had been excited due to how unusual all of this was to me, but suddenly, I was struck by the dilemma of what to do after I turned it on. What was its purpose? Did it have a will? What if it turned out to be an enemy of all mankind? That would be incredibly annoying.

“Sometimes, romanticists meet cruel ends…”

Perhaps treasure hunters always had to take a degree of responsibility for what they uncover. As the first person. That meant I had to see this through. Sell it or manage it. If I wanted to claim ownership, I would have to remain responsible. Of course, I did.

“I’ll talk about it with Daniela.”

It was too difficult a problem for me alone. This was another world, and it had its own rules. I would just push the burden of the decision to Daniela, I mean, um, discuss it with her. Yes, that would be for the best.

However, it would be very cumbersome to carry this thing. It was the body of a woman with almost scientifically approved proportions. And naked. And so I took off my poncho and waist mantle to hide what needed to be hidden. The five reactor cores were small enough to fit into my pockets. Then I just needed to carry the thing on my back and I was ready.

“…I’ll just have to be careful that no one sees me.”

This was probably what people felt like when they did something shameful…

I tried not to pay any mind to the two cushions that pressed onto my back as I went down the hallways and reached the ladder…which I could not climb. And so I used Legs of the Forest Wolf to go up. After all, my hands were full.

“No one around…? Good…”

I searched the area with Presence Detection as I came out of the hole. There were no humans or monsters about. For a while, I wondered what I should do about the hole. If I buried, it would likely never be found by anyone again. And so I closed the hatch but decided to leave it as is. It wasn’t because I was lazy or anything. But a treasure hunter had to leave evidence of his great accomplishments.

I stepped on the air and vaulted up in a straight line towards the mountains in the south. The forest rushed below me, and I could see the burned village. Then I noticed some movement and stopped.

I could see that there were figures who were pulling down the burnt houses and cleaning the rubble. They had started with restoring the village. They were tough people… The village would likely return to its former state in very little time. I couldn’t help them as I was carrying something, but I wished them well in my heart as I continued to run towards the rocky mountains.