The serious discussion about finding a successor would happen another day.
I went home, passed through the gate, and headed for the manor. As promised, I went to see Riv.
Then I moved to the lab and teleported to Heizen via Etrange.
Incidentally, Lupinus was in the lab's training room.
She said she wasn't going back to Heizen — she was staying here.
The reason was Kalm's shield.
She planned to keep training in the training room every day until she could handle it properly.
Well, I told her to do her best without pushing herself too hard. Also, Haiyahn wasn't there.
The Minosdor maids were still at the manor.
Dova and Sheshu from the Tasan family hadn't returned yet.
According to their letter, they'd be back within a week.
The witch had gone home instead of staying at Etrange.
It was because there were tasks she couldn't do at that workplace.
Meanwhile, Nekia had shut herself inside Etrange's bedroom.
She'd been hooked on romance novels lately.
What she'd been poring over recently was the love story of Knight Ludt of the Black Moon and the Radiant Princess Niniva.
I felt like I'd heard of it somewhere before?
Well, I don't really read romance, so who knows.
When I got back to Heizen, I headed to see Isibara.
I took her to the lab for the usual body construction.
Narcissus and Megadia still hadn't returned.
Those two would probably be fine, but I worried a little.
The fact that I was relieved they hadn't come back was a secret.
I was about to return to Hydrangea with Isibara when a companion suddenly showed up.
—Is this the inside of a ship, desu?
—!
It was Shaldina and Anna Kreutzen.
They were here to serve as advisors for the body I was about to create.
And they also had a wish to ride on the Etranger.
We moved to the lab's hangar. From there, into the lab.
Lupinus wasn't in the training room.
When I entered the lab, Haiyarn was there.
Sitting in a chair in a white coat, drinking coffee.
—Hello.
—Rabbit. You came.
—Hm? Oh, the body, right.
—Haiyarn. Making it a Minosdoll, desu?
—Shaldina came too, huh. Oh, Anna Kreutzen.
—………
Anna Kreutzen gives a small bow.
"Haiyarn. How do you make a body?"
"The manufacturing process is similar to that of a Minosdoll... but there are concerns."
"What kind, desu?"
"The soul."
"What do you mean, da?"
"We designed the Minosdolls to not have egos, but look at them now. Having an ego is synonymous with having a soul. That means a vessel for a soul exists inside the Minosdoll."
"I see, desu. That's why they can use Relics, desu."
"Souls aren't needed. We have our own, desu."
"That's the issue. How do we make an empty body?"
"...For starters, why did a soul take up residence in the first place?"
There shouldn't be any rule that says building a body automatically attracts a soul.
If that were the case, the black spider woman would have gotten a soul the moment she was created, and Isibara wouldn't have been able to possess her.
Haiyarn groaned.
"Sorry. I don't know."
I thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Haiyarn. In cases like this, carefully re-examining the manufacturing process might give us an answer."
"That's it! Wait, how do you know so much about this, Wof?"
"The witch used to do that a lot."
"I see."
That's a lie.
It was the solution I'd adopted when I'd encountered a similar case in my past life's memories.
When something like this happens, there's usually a problem with the manufacturing process.
Hayyarn taps at the console panel.
The entire front glass becomes a monitor, and data begins to display.
There's a simplified diagram of the woman, so this must be the manufacturing process.
"I can't make heads or tails of this, dess."
Shardina stared and groaned.
Anna Kreutzen offered a faint, wry smile.
Hayyarn gazed at the monitor and spoke.
"It only displays specialized information, after all."
"...Hmm hmm. What is this 'spiritual fluid body,' da?"
"You can actually understand this!?"
"This much, mo. It's the dungeon's will, da. Something like this is trivial, nai. So it says to pour the spiritual fluid body into the base template, but what exactly is this 'spiritual fluid body,' da?"
"The spiritual fluid body is..."
Hayyarn stopped.
What's going on.
"Hayyarn?"
"That's it! That's what it was! So that's what this means!"
Hayyarn suddenly howled.
Someone reaches an understanding on their own. I'm a little surprised.
Judging by how the conversation's going... I ask.
"Hayyarn. Is that spiritual fluid the cause?"
"That's right. In the manufacturing process, the substance containing the most important spiritual fluid was lodging a soul into the base body."
"And what substance is that?" (Pakira)
"Lodging a soul into what?" (Isibara)
"Well, it's... the liquid from a phoenix's resurrection egg."
"A phoenix resurrection egg!? Ohhh, so that's what it was. You transferred it to the base body, huh."
I'd thought something seemed familiar, but I never imagined they'd used the actual thing.
"Hey, Wof. You. Do you know about this?"
"I wouldn't say 'know' exactly... how should I put it..."
I hesitated for a moment, then pulled the egg from my pouch.
And set it on the table.
"As a matter of fact, I have one."
"...What!? No way—is that the real thing!?" (Hayyarn)
"You have one!? That can't be—this is the real deal!" (Isibara)
Hayyarn and Isibara's reactions were almost identical.
"An elixir, and now a phoenix too... you actually have one?"
"You have an elixir too!?" (Isibara)
"I do."
I set them down gently. Two eggs lined up on the table.
Looking at them side by side, the differences were barely noticeable.
"Oho, so these are the three eggs of the Hyaline."
"You know about them too, Isibara?"
"They're famous in the Bald Man's Song."
"I'm not bald!"
The Hyaline barked.
Whenever the Bald Man's Song came up, it always ended with him being called bald.
"Only one more for complete collection."
"...!"
"Right..."
Not like I was collecting them on purpose or anything.
"What's the last one?"
"A talisman. The Eternal Egg talisman."
"It extends your lifespan, right?"
"Something that trivial? No — drink it and you stop aging entirely."
"But it doesn't make you immortal, da na."
"Even just eternal youth is incredible though."
"...!"
Even if it didn't grant immortality, anyone would want eternal youth if they could get it.
Then Hayan murmured softly.
"It's not that great of a thing. Anyway, the cause is identified. The psychic fluid, huh."
"So the Phoenix resurrection egg's components are inside that psychic fluid."
"That's right. They're mixed in at a pretty high dilution."
"Wait—you're saying the psychic fluid is made from a blend of all three eggs' components?"
"Exactly."
Hayan admitted it without hesitation. I held my breath.
"You're mixing them all together, huh."
"I can't believe it, des."
"...!?"
Everyone was stunned, too.
Can you blame them? Nobody would ever think to mix three eggs together.
And yet the proof that someone had done it was right here in this lab.
"The psychic fluid is what you get when you dilute the components of all three eggs considerably, blend them, and refine the result."
"Without adding it, you can't make a Minosdor?"
"...It's a liquid necessary to turn inorganic matter into a living organism. But even diluted, the Phoenix's effect seems to have been meaningless... huff."
Hayan crossed her arms and sighed.
Her expression was rabbit-like, but I could sense a complex torment beneath it... or so it seemed.
No—since she was a rabbit, I couldn't really read her expressions at all. So maybe I was wrong about that.
"Even diluted, the soul still takes root in it, des."
"That's what takes root, na."
"That's right. No wonder every test subject went berserk and rebelled, no matter how many times I changed the formula and tried again in the past."
"Hey."
This rabbit just casually dropped something completely insane.
"Then we can't make one, no? Our bodies..."
"That's too bad..."
"............"
"So that's how it would end up... I'm sorry."
When Haiyan apologized so sincerely and upfront for once, Isibara looked crestfallen.
Hmm. There was nothing anyone could do about this one.
Seeing Isibara so dejected made my heart clench.
I wanted to do something for her somehow... if only there were a way... this was exactly the kind of moment past life memories should come through.
No, well... even past life memories wouldn't help with—... Huh?
"...Magical modification..."
There it was.
—————————
Everyone.
Happy New Year to you all!
Thank you as always for your readership.
So, to commemorate the New Year—
To those who found this story enjoyable and feel they're looking forward to what comes next.
Especially you — Wof! Mineha! Pakira! Knife! Shiro! Narcissus! Witch! Neckia! Isibara!
Bido! Yomido! Megadia! Ambrosius! Chaldiner! Annakruizen!
Someone from Torquetam and Thunder Fang! Someone from the Death King's crew (the departed included)!! Someone among the First-Rank Delvers! And everyone else!
And everyone else… (inanimate objects included)!!!
If you could spare a thought for your favorites (there may be more than one),
please consider following, starring, or hearting — it would truly encourage me. Heh heh heh heh heh.
If you just thought "come to think of it, I haven't starred or hearted this yet," hitting that button now would make me very happy.
Follows, stars, and hearts from readers are the greatest source of motivation and energy and all sorts of fuel for writing. I mean it. It lifts my spirits. It keeps me going!
Also, the manga adaptation is currently running in serialization!!
It's being serialized on Square Enix's Manga UP!
The art is by Okada Samurai-dai.
Please enjoy the manga version of "Dungeon My Life, Sort Of" as well — it has its own unique charm.
I hope you'll continue supporting both the original and the manga this year too!!!!