NOVEL NEXT Chapter 246
The Bride Ship heading towards Belselphia.
As peaceful moments continued, I took out the Holy Sword of the Earth for the smooth operation of the Bride Ship.
Before me lay a massive chunk of marble.
While landing the Bride Ship momentarily on the ground to rest, I brought along a marbled chunk as large as the Demon God Bahamut into the hangar.
“Witch, what are you planning to do with this?”
Rosmas came down to the hangar.
She looked rather tired, her body covered in red marks.
“Why are you here at this hour?”
“I lost rock-paper-scissors.”
“What do you mean?”
“Today, Droniel and Yan are doing it together.”
“Oh, turns in rotation.”
The rotation started to come back around.
Just as I recalled all my clones, Lucius did the same, gathering all his clones around himself.
As a result, the three party members naturally had to face just one Lucius, and they agreed to take turns weekly.
On Monday, it was Rosmas.
Tuesday, Droniel.
Wednesday, Yan.
Thursday, Rosmas and Droniel.
Friday, Droniel and Yan.
Saturday, Droniel and Rosmas.
And on Sunday, all three.
It seemed like a reasonably rational distribution of personnel.
At the same time, it reflected Lucius’s crisis management skills well.
Consequently, aside from the days when all three monopolized Lucius, they would spend about four days a week with him.
What about Lucius, who had to deal with the party members all week?
—”It’s the path you chose as a Hero. Tough it out with grit.”
So he said.
—”But it’s them who are toughing it out with grit!”
—”What? Why are you already here?”
—”The kids all fainted. They can’t wake up right now.”
—”Already? Hey, have you turned into a full-fledged man? Would you manage just fine against a hundred?”
—”It depends on who those hundred are, Master. Today’s early morning workout is…”
—”Squats!”
—”…….”
Now, he was relaxed enough to put all three to sleep before 3 AM and come for the morning workout.
—”Are you used to clones yet? When a hundred rush at you, you should be able to handle them with a hundred clones.”
—”If I had my way, I’d create three clones now and have them each handle one.”
—”That won’t do. The main body is here, so how would the clones be satisfied?”
—”I admit that clones can’t replace the main body.”
Clones are just clones.
While Lucius has become capable enough to handle the other three with clones, it also indicates that the other three have sufficiently matured to face clones.
—”Seeing each other grow stronger is nice. Really. Compared to the Normans, isn’t it like day and night?”
—”Back then, they were just kids.”
—”And now they’re adults, huh?”
—”Isn’t that obvious? They’ve become real adults.”
—”I can’t deny that.”
As the three grew stronger, so did Lucius.
—”But if you’re an adult, at least clean your own room.”
—”…….”
—”Every time I walk into the room, it stinks. What good does it do to frequently air it out with Wind Magic? The smell of humanity is deeply embedded in the bed sheets.”
—”I’m sorry.”
—”You should also dry them in sunlight. The Bride Ship might be somewhat yours, but walking around marking your territory on the entire ship is a bit much, don’t you think?”
—”…….”
The four, becoming stronger and with better stamina, had done even more.
And to take care of these stronger party members, a lot of hands were needed.
Maidens to assist in their daily lives.
“You guys, isn’t it a hassle to change the bed sheets these days?”
“…We’re solving it with the cleaning magic you taught us.”
“But it’ll still feel gross, right? You can’t wash them properly. No matter how durable Belselphia is, you can’t get it wet beyond its limits.”
“But….”
Rosmas openly showed her discomfort.
“There’s no Marin around.”
“Haha. Now you know the inconvenience of not having her?”
Up until now, the party members had lived comfortably on the Bride Ship thanks to the manual labor of my Marins—my clones.
With the Witch’s clones gone, the three were once again in a position to clean their own rooms.
They now had to tidy not only their own rooms but also Lucius’s room.
“It must be annoying.”
The word ‘labor’ doesn’t just tag along for no reason.
The Hero Party’s lodging and various activities are impossible without someone’s sacrifice, and up until now, because I sacrificed, the party members could invest all their time solely in improving their abilities.
Night workouts?
That counts as ability improvement too.
A time for growth to increase their allure as women.
“Honestly, Marin, wouldn’t it be nice to have her around?”
“Yes…is that too much to ask?”
“No? They are people who deserve to be treated well; why should we care? Five hundred years ago, the Hero Party was provided with dedicated butlers or maids to maintain dignity from the Human Alliance. Though they were spies.”
“…Huh?”
“Turns out, one was actually the Demon King, that sort of thing.”
Five hundred years ago.
I heard from the Human Alliance that they were recruiting porters, maids, and secretaries for the Hero Party and infiltrated my clones.
—”Haha, a maid sent by the Human Alliance? Let’s see…she’s cute? I wonder if she can take care of my night, Lilieta Bekabroyas?”
—”Cursed! Self-destruct!”
—”Eh?”
And I took care of the Heroes.
Since they were clones made from magical power, each had “Explosion” magic attached to their hearts, which allowed me to annihilate or disrupt many heroes and party members.
“Be careful. You might think someone is insignificant, only to realize they are an enormous existence. Such things happen surprisingly often in this world.”
“Like how the Pope is the Demon King?”
“Exactly.”
Sudden bizarre situations popping up.
While we might say ‘out of the blue,’ for the enemy, it could have been a long-prepared situation.
Everyone has their own story.
Anyway.
“Everything’s ready. Care to step back for a moment? I need to start creating one or two things soon.”
“You mean, you’re going to make something with this…? Wait, are you making a Marin?”
“That’s right.”
I waved the staff forward.
“Rise, Pangea.”
What looks like a staff on the outside is, in fact, the Holy Sword of the Earth.
“Wake Up, Bahamut.”
Grugrugru.
The entire marble started to squirm.
Simultaneously, the Demon God, who had been asleep in the hangar, reached out its hand.
“Yikes…?! M-Madam Witch?! The Empire’s Demon God!”
“I know. I’m the one controlling it.”
“…Huh?”
“There’s no need to be surprised.”
I wasn’t specifically trying to awaken the Spirit Device, but having become the master of the Holy Sword and learning the activation word, I automatically became the master of the Spirit Device.
—”Hey, Bahamut. Am I your master now?”
—”Hah, damn it.”
—”Can I fix and change the exterior and other details?”
—”Makeover?”
—”Full change.”
—”All Right, My Master.”
Since I knew Bahamut’s name, it was only natural.
“Look closely. All the damaged parts have been completely repaired, right?”
“That’s… true?”
“You haven’t really bothered to check since you don’t come to the hangar often. Look closely, this is the power the Earth’s Demon God possesses.”
In addition, my power of magic.
“Great Magic. ‘Pygmalion’s Hand.'”
Grugrugru.
Bahamut’s hand glowed brown and scooped a handful of marble as if it were clay.
Crack, crick.
The sound of clay being kneaded rose from inside Bahamut’s hand, and brown smoke began to rise.
“Ta-da.”
As Bahamut spread his hand left and right, there stood a rather tall figure of a woman in a modest posture.
“This is….”
“A mannequin. A type of golem, but sculpted to look exactly like a real human being. Now, onto this….”
I floated up with flying magic, directly pulling magic from my heart.
“…a blessing.”
Vroom.
Red magical power burst forth from behind me.
Although it was a bit embarrassing and bashful for the magic to scatter like wings, I approached the mannequin and gave a kiss upon its crown, as if blessing the birth of a new life.
“Wow.”
Leaving a deep lip mark, I stepped back.
Soon, purple mana began to flow forth from the crown, dispersing downward like hair.
Searr.
The marble-made doll transformed into a human in an instant.
A woman with purple hair resembling a nun and eyes that blended purple and red stood, and I opened my arms in celebration of her birth.
“Happy Birthday, Belerze. Congratulations on being reborn.”
“…I knew, but it’s a bit surprising.”
The clone, Belerze, scanned her new body with a perplexed expression.
“Whose body is this?”
“A woman I know.”
I couldn’t use Asydia’s body.
I couldn’t use Bel’s body either.
It would be awkward to use the body of the heartless girl now stored in a glass container.
So I decided to borrow the body of the most appropriate woman among those I knew to replace the existing Marins.
No matter how much a clone, the bodies aren’t all the same.
“You’re supposed to be a maid, so why are you in a nun’s habit?”
Belerze pointed to the white nun’s outfit she was wearing.
“What’s up with this?”
“It’s a nun’s habit.”
“I mean, why a nun’s habit?”
“Isn’t it pretty? Right, Rosmas?”
“…….”
Rosmas swallowed hard as she pointed at the nun’s habit.
“I want one too. If I wear that…”
“Lucius would totally lose his mind, right?”
“……Yeah.”
I gifted Rosmas a very special nun’s habit.
And then.
“Well then, how about we casually… make just thirty more clones?”
Producing real-type clones using Bahamut.
These clones shall be named ‘Belskinrabins.’