Sea Urchin Chair

Scattered pieces of steampunk. Piles of books. Bottled (R-18G).

The workshop in the castle, apparently used by the court magicians, was already Everis's lair.

A large room, which looked like a combination of a typical office and a home economics kitchen with a fantasy flavor, was filled with items brought in by Everis.

“I'm a World Conquest Consultant, but I'm a professional technician first. That I am."

Everis said while setting up something like a plasma ball, which she didn't know what it would be used for.

"I'll prepare everything ranging from artifacts to new types of monsters. ... The Princess's army is completely dependent on «Create Undead» at the moment, isn't it?"

"Yes, I think so. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls, liches ..., and maybe wraiths, which I haven't made yet."

«Create Undead» waas a convenient magic that could create undead on the spot, but it could not create all undead.

It could only create something that was an undead version of the target object.

In order to create advanced undead, complex formulas and techniques were required.

While unraveling a scroll, Everis rubbed her forehead with a fountain pen-like object made of some kind of bone.

“Eventually I'll have to think about having non-undead monsters under my command, but for now I think I'll stick with undead only. In this situation, it's great that they don't need much food. Corpse meat for the ghouls is all that is needed."

"That's what they're eating the zombies for now. The remaining bones can be turned into skeletons."

"There is no waste."

Everis laughed.

There was no supply, no food self-sufficiency.

The reason why René was able to have such an army was because all of the soldiers were undead.

If it were an army of goblins or orcs, just feeding them would be a challenge.

"Anyway, let's increase the variety of undead. This is land that was used by the human race, so it will take some time to make it good and tainted, but if we set up a ... proper workshop, we can produce undead that cannot be made by «Create Undead». It's a waste of good ingredients if all you do is roast them. You have to cook them properly."

"Such as?"

"I can make a simple one even now. How about this?"

While holding one hand over the scroll, Everis took out a test tube-like object that emitted a blue light with the other hand and popped the cork.

Then, an eerie bluish-white light shot out.

A humorous shadow floated softly.

It was a pumpkin-headed, lantern-carrying, big-headed ogre. It was a ghost that would be very active on Halloween.

"Jack-O'-Lantern. A low-grade undead with a spirit body that is perfect for arson. It doesn't have many tricks, but it can be made from the souls of people in the area! It's a spirit body undead, so it's also very mobile. Well, they are bound to the surroundings of the user, but René-sama can become a spirit herself, can't you? If we make enough of them, we can have them accompany the Princess, and with a single strike, they can set an entire city on fire and come right back."

"Good. However, the effect of fire attacks may be subtle because many houses in Ciel-Terra are made of stone. It doesn't mean that it is meaningless, though."

"That's right. You can take as much stone as you want. Stone can be magically treated to improve thermal insulation, which is great for a snow country."

The fluttering Jack-O'-Lantern rubbed its hands together apologetically as it listened to the two of them.

"... Speaking of which, Princess, you said you can change into other undead, but can't you become a vampire? It would be useful if you could mass produce bloodsuckers by sucking blood. "

“Vampires. I can become one, but ..."

Vampire.

Needless to say, they were a super-famous undead.

They multiplied their kind by bloodsucking. Turning into mist. They had distinctive and diverse abilities, such as turning into bats and wolves ... However, they also had various serious weaknesses, such as being extremely weak against holy power and being damaged by the sun's rays.

René changed her own appearance.

Her canine teeth elongate with an itching sensation, and her skin was slightly pale and bloodless.

From her human-like Revenant form, she changed into a vampire form. It would be a nice touch if she wore black leather or gothic-lolita style clothes, but alas, the clothes had not changed.

"... You hardly look different."

"Not only do I look the same, but my abilities have hardly changed at all. I can't even fly."

Yes.

Vampires were supposed to be able to fly with their wings, but René had no wings.

" You can't increase your army by sucking blood. You can't turn into mist, you can't turn into bats or wolves, and you can't get damaged by sunlight. You can't eat garlic, you can't approach the Holy Seal, and you get damaged by sunlight."

"Huh? I can't recreate those abilities."

“Dullahan and Lich are only made up of things that are in the human body, right? Vampires have many abilities that are different from those of humans, so they can't use their abilities well unless you bring materials to compensate for them or make it possible for your vampire body to produce them on its own."

"Hmph... Even though I can turn into all kinds of undead, it's a lot of trouble."

Everis nodded with interest.

René can change her body into various kinds of undead with the Divine Protection she received from the Evil God.

But it was not the ability to create something out of nothing.

For now.

"But could it be possible to do that after gaining power through ... soul-eating?"

Everis's eyes, which were like purple crystals, glowed with curiosity.

"Maybe."

" Ummm... breaking up and absorbing souls! And with that, strengthening oneself and gaining new abilities? It's no longer the work of God! No, it's an act of God, isn't it? Oh God, I want to see it so badly. If you get a chance, by all means, try it in front of me! Maybe it's so beyond human knowledge that I wouldn't understand a thing!"

"Yeah, if I get the chance..."

Slightly withdrawn, René agreed.

Indeed, Everis was a technophile. And she was a nerd. The type of person who talked too fast and couldn't stop if you asked them to talk about their area of expertise.

For the time being, René was mindful that she should be careful not to be unexpectedly dissected or something. Although it would be fine if she could switch bodies anyway, she would not want to be used as a guinea pig for that purpose.

"And. If you say you can add abilities with soul-eating, I think you should be able to vampire properly, actually. Let's get the vampire ability! I think bloodsuckers are excellent as disposable soldiers that can be procured locally and grow on their own. They don't have any tricks, but they can secure energy just by sucking blood, so it won't be a burden on the Princess."

"I'll think about it."

"I'll think about using vampires for our next operation... And, besides the undead, is there anything else we're missing right now? I can make magic and items."

Everis smiled and wrote a complicated formula with a pen that was made of some kind of bone.

"Creating magic, you don't mean assembled spells, do you?"

"No, no, no. That's like combining several pre-made spells, but I'm talking about creating new spells from scratch. If you want to build an army, you need to have magic developers."

Being a developer of new magic was not a very common job.

But for some professionals and state institutions, such as the military, it was indispensable.

There were already enough types of magic in common use, and many people have improved them to a high degree of perfection. However, there were often situations in which ordinary magic was not enough.

It was the job of the magic developer to assemble custom-made magic, such as magic that was too niche in its use to be generally circulated, or peaked magic that was specialized for a particular situation without being versatile.

"Right..."

René was a little lost in thought, but then she quickly came up with an idea.

“I wonder if it would be possible to use storage magic to divide the storage into multiple spaces. Some things need to be stored separately from the looted corpses."

"Of course."

"The size of one space can be very small."

“Hmmm, but if you build a partition in the subspace, ... no, make it so that multiple spells can be maintained in parallel? Ah, but if we change the anchoring method from subspace to the magician, it would be possible to maintain multiple spells. The magic consumption will go up, but if it's small enough, it's not that much, and I'm sure Princess won't mind. I'll try to draw up a formula while I'm setting up the workshop, so can you give me a few days?"

"Okay."

If that was the case, one of her concerns would be resolved.

But until Everis developed that storage magic, she would need a temporary measure.

"Do you know of any powerful alert magic that could reach the other side of the country?"

"Yes, there is. I don't have to make it. If the range is within Ciel-Terra, the Princess can make an emergency communication while she is on an excursion. As long as it's not voice transmission or something like that, there are a lot of ways to do it."

" I'd like to have that set in the treasure chest. I mean, can I get the treasure chest with not only an alert but also a bunch of curses and stuff that will kill the person who opens it three times?"

"Hmm, the kind where the contents blow up?"

"No way!"

“Hoi hoi. Well then, I'll prepare a nice, high-kill box for you."

Everis accepted the task lightly. It was probably a simple job for her.

René felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"And..."

There was one more magic spell she really needed to create.

But in asking for it, René could not look Everis directly in the eyes.

“Can't you make a magic spell that can wash things clean and dry them? It would be nice if it could wash something as big as a bed mat. Could it be done as inconspicuously as possible, so that sounds and other things don't leak out into the surroundings?"

"Hmm... secret laundry magic? I think I can make it, but what would you use it for?"

"I'll keep quiet!!"

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