Money

In addition to the main building, the estate had a large warehouse.

Underground, there were passageways and an underground facility that showed signs of having been used for research, along with something resembling an underground dungeon.

In such a place, Damien was in high spirits.

"Nice! Nice! This is the perfect place for research! I'll set up a large Porter in the warehouse, and I'll conduct my research on creating the ideal woman right here!"

Damien's complexion was smoother than before. Eyes sparkling with delight, he spun around the underground facility in glee.

The three maids heard this and promptly—

"...Oh my, there's dust everywhere."

Running a fingertip along the furniture, she kept shooting glances toward Monika. Seeing that, Monika flailed her twin-tails about and fired back a retort.

"We just got back! This was low priority, so cleaning it was put on hold! If you lot want to live here, the least you could do is help out—desu!"

Damien pushed his glasses up with a finger to adjust their position. His excitement had made them slip.

"Feel free to use it as long as it doesn't interfere with my work. Now, I'd like to bring in some tools, but it seems like this facility might have a separate loading entrance somewhere else. Might not be a bad idea to look into that too. Oh, right—"

Saying that, Damien told Maid Number Three to "bring that out." Number Three produced a cylindrical object from the gap between her skirt and apron.

When she popped the lid, there was a soft click. She took out the contents and spread them across the desk, and it was immediately clear they were blueprints.

I leaned in for a closer look.

"What kind of blueprints are those?"

Damien looked over at Monika, who was exchanging glares with Number One and Number Two.

"It was her commission. She offered to cede some overlapping options in exchange for having me design a Golem for her. Specifically, one that makes use of an Automaton's core. You can't regenerate with just the core alone, but if you turn it into a Golem, you can manage to create a Golem with a will of its own."

I turned back toward Monika.

"So that's what you were talking about before!"

She flicked her twin tails back and placed her left hand on her hip, spreading her feet slightly as she struck a pose.

"You're allowed to compliment me, you know? No — you *must* compliment me, Chicken. I prepared this for your sake, after all."

But it was Damian who spoke.

"There are all sorts of experiments we'll need to run, though. We'll have to prepare a prototype, too. I've got the theory down and I can build the prototype, but... we don't have the materials."

It sounded like he couldn't build it due to a lack of funds.

I looked at the humanoid Golem sketched on the blueprint. It was the figure of a woman in armor. The design was completely different from the Golem Damian was currently using.

"This is *really* feminine-looking... How much would one of these cost?"

Damian looked up at the ceiling and muttered to himself...

"Two thousand gold coins just to set up the equipment. Then building the prototype, running more experiments... you'd need about three thousand to complete the first one, right? But after that, five hundred gold coins should be enough to mass-produce them."

I burst out laughing.

"I don't have that kind of money. And when you consider how many cores we'd need..."

Damian smiled.

"You'd better be prepared for tens of thousands of gold coins. Well, there are other problems besides money."

"Other problems?"

When I asked, Damian continued.

"Processing the metal is one issue, but even more so, we'll be using large quantities of rare metals. We have to build it according to the design, verify there are no problems, and then refine it further... And we'd need craftsmen who can work those rare metals, but commissioning that kind of work doesn't come cheap. So, at minimum, you'd need the amounts I mentioned."

No matter how far he went, it all came down to money. In other words, the figure Damian had quoted was the bare minimum, and there was a good chance even more would be needed.

Damian was still smiling.

"But it should be fine, right? There seem to be plenty of skilled craftsmen around here. The real problem would be securing the money and the manpower."

I.

"That's the hard part, though."

I felt like my knees were about to buckle out from under me.

(Several hundred thousand gold coins in total... That scale is beyond what I can manage on my own.)

Funds.

When it came to raising money as an adventurer, taking jobs from the Guild was the standard approach.

When I finally set foot in the Guild's Eastern Branch after so long, heads turned—adventurers and staff alike—as soon as I walked in.

I'd felt eyes on me walking through Baim too.

But inside the building, it was worse.

As I headed toward the reception line, a staff member called out to me.

It was Tahnia.

"Laiel, come with me for a moment."

"Huh?"

She pulled me by the arm away from the queue and led me up the stairs to the third floor. I'd never set foot above the second floor, where meetings and such were usually held.

Being brought to a place like that, I saw an adventurer emerging from a room.

A tall woman with long black hair that flipped outward at the ends grinned when she spotted me.

"Well now, the kid's already been called in here? I figured you had more promise than Crate or Albano, but this is awfully early."

Tahnia introduced the woman—Marina.

"Is this another subjugation request?"

Marina replied:

"I'm not interested in anything else. I'd prefer someone with a bit more fight in them, though... Word is you're pretty strong, kid? That little girl with the bare midriff was more my type, but you've piqued my interest."

With that, Marina took a step toward me. I dropped my weight back instinctively, my hand reaching for my weapon.

I didn't draw it, though, because Tahnia had already inserted herself between us. Pure killing intent... I felt it, and a cold sweat broke out across my skin.

Tahnia stood there.

"You're playing too rough. Private fights within the Guild are strictly prohibited."

Marina brought a hand to her lips, laughing.

"Don't give me that scary look. Still, fighting you wouldn't be half bad either... Well, I suppose I'll go get my request done. See you around, brat."

After Marina left, I watched her black coat disappear from view.

Inside the Jewel, the Fifth Generation gave his assessment of Marina.

"There are always a few like her. Beasts in human form, you might say—battle-crazed maniacs, but absurdly strong above all else."

The Seventh Generation seemed to have a particular distaste for that type.

"Born with overwhelming strength. People who are simply different from everyone around them. Not the kind who honed their skills through martial training—this is the wild, untamed variety. Personally, I've never been comfortable around them."

The Fourth Generation spoke with amusement in his voice.

"...She's like the First Generation, you know. There's no grand secret to it—she's just strong. No particular reason, no special philosophy. Just someone who happens to be overwhelmingly powerful. For those of us who built our strength through careful refinement, that kind can be the most troublesome to deal with."

The Third Generation mulled it over for a moment.

"I'd still want her on our side, of course. But that sort doesn't care about money or loyalty, so it'd be a tough sell. Anyway—Lyle."

At his words, I turned back to Tahnia.

She had moved ahead and was beckoning me in front of a door.

"Lyle, over here."

I followed her direction and headed for the room. Tahnia stepped inside, and I followed close behind. It was a calm, well-appointed space.

A table sat in the center of the room, flanked by luxurious chairs. Refreshments had been laid out as well.

"What kind of room is this?"

I looked around the room and asked, and Tahnia answered.

"It's a room reserved for select adventurers. Those who have topics they'd rather not have overheard, as well as those with proven skill, conduct their registration here. If you have acquaintances in the Eastern Branch, Lyle… aside from Marina, that would be Alette."

Listening to Tahnia's explanation, I realized this was meant for a certain subset of adventurers.

Only adventurers recognized for their skill were handled here. It wasn't just about raw strength—you had to meet certain conditions set by the Guild before you were even allowed through these doors.

"…Recognized by the Guild?"

"More like, they have no choice *but* to recognize you. Between Zayin, Rolfis, and Selva, your epithets are circulating everywhere, Lyle. 'Holy Knight' was the most common one, I believe? There are plenty of adventurers with epithets in this room—people looking to make a name for themselves. To avoid unnecessary trouble, private registrations like this became necessary."

From within the Jewel, the Third Generation seemed to nod in understanding.

'Ah, I see. At the first-floor reception, there's always the chance of someone eavesdropping. So this is a countermeasure for that.'

Satisfied, I settled into one of the chairs. It appeared Tahnia would handle my registration from here.

Wearing a slightly weary expression, Tahnia spoke to me.

"Most of the adventurers who come through here normally wouldn't set foot in this room at all. Plenty of parties with real strength still register at the first floor."

The Fourth Generation, in a tone of comprehension.

'So this is also a way to keep an eye on the conspicuous ones. Does that put you on a watch list? Lucky you, Lyle.'

(This isn't lucky at all!)

Tahnia sat across from me and produced a set of documents. Several requests had been prepared.

Glancing them over, I noticed the amounts were different from what I'd seen before.

"These don't feel like the usual requests I see on the first floor?"

I looked up from the documents and met Tahnia's gaze. She tilted her head slightly with a smile.

"For skilled adventurers, we want them tackling requests that match their caliber. The compensation has been set accordingly."

In other words, the requests posted here were high-difficulty jobs that would be difficult for large groups of adventurers to complete. Looking at the contents, everything from Griffon extermination to Dragon hunts was listed.

And not just around Baim, either.

"You're dispatching people outside the Baim area as well?"

"That's right. Many region-focused Guilds can't handle unexpected Monster appearances on their own. They reach out to other Guilds for backup. But skilled adventurers aren't always available, you know. Since Baim has plenty of skilled adventurers, those kinds of requests tend to flow in here."

I rested my chin on my hand and looked over the documents. Every single one offered compensation ranging from several dozen to several hundred gold coins.

"Even if we complete these, the extermination requests for the Dungeon are—"

"Those will still be prioritized. But since these carry less risk than venturing into a Dungeon, many adventurers do prefer to take these on first."

Several hundred gold coins — choosing these was certainly the more stable option. A mysterious Dungeon where we had no idea what kind of enemies lurked inside.

Compared to tackling that, the targets here were clearly defined, making these considerably safer.

But the Successive Heads expressed their reservations.

The Fourth Generation spoke first.

"Look at the travel distance and the time each hunt takes — the efficiency is terrible. A Dragon hunt would be up north, right? Two weeks by ship one way? A month round trip. And even then, eight hundred gold coins or something..."

The Third Generation shared the same opinion.

"Factor in equipment and everything else, and the actual profit drops to less than half, doesn't it? I mean, it's not a big deal, but grinding money doing just this alone is... not nearly enough."

Dragon extermination — the target was a Dragon, but a subspecies.

A nostalgic opponent, that one. After all, it was a Land Dragon — a large, flightless, front-heavy variant that I'd fought in the First Generation's memory room.

If it were a flying Dragon, the reward would have been in the thousands of gold coins.

Tahnia was watching me.

"A Land Dragon subjugation. Does it catch your interest? It seems to have settled in the forest and driven off an entire knight squad. Taking it down would certainly make a name for you."

I kept my eyes on the documents.

"That does pique my interest. It's an opponent I've fought once before."

When I said that, Tahnia gave me a puzzled look.

"Before you became an adventurer? The Land Dragon is a subspecies of true Dragons. It's not the hardest opponent to defeat, but... it's also a Monster that has claimed the lives of countless adventurers and knights who underestimated it."

I took the document back from her with a smile.

"My ancestor took one down single-handedly, though. Besides, it holds sentimental value for me, so I'll take the job. I could also really use the money right now."

As I grumbled, Tahnia said to me.

"Money, you say... Perhaps that problem could be solved sooner than you think. Well, assuming you complete that commission, that is."

I looked at her with interest.

"What do you mean?"

Tahnia —

"You really have forgotten, haven't you? What kind of city this is. It's known as a city of adventurers, but it's equally a city of merchants, Lyle."

Hearing that, the Fourth Generation spoke up.

"Oh my, supporting adventurers, you say? In Banseim, the lord hired them directly, but merchants tended to go for bodyguards or exclusive contracts. Judging from what the receptionist said, though, it sounds like they'd be willing to put up a decent sum."

The Fifth Generation, as if remembering something upon hearing that.

"If there's a sea and many merchants own ships, then it stands to reason that quite a few of them run large shops. And if there's no lord here, they can set their own taxes, so to speak. Quite a different situation from Banseim."

The Seventh Generation sounded pleased as well.

"They must have amassed quite a fortune. Let us put some of those funds to use for the sake of the continent's peace."

The Third Generation summarized everyone's thoughts.

"Let's ask them for an upfront investment. I'd forgotten we were in a foreign land. That's right — if you don't have money, just borrow from those who do!"

I thought to myself.

(What's going on? These people seem darker than usual.)

Tahnia was looking at me with a puzzled expression, noticing I seemed troubled.

"What's wrong, Lyle?"

"Ah, well... Tahnia, could you tell me more about the situation around here?"

—Shannon was looking at the blueprints Monica had brought.

More precisely, she was looking at the paper that had a slightly strange reaction to it. The ink had a bit of mana mixed in, so Shannon could see the lines as well.

However, what they represented was completely incomprehensible to her.

Besides Shannon, the ones looking at the blueprints spread on the table were Clara and May.

It was an unusual combination, but the rest of the group had gone out shopping and wouldn't be back for a while.

Monica had left the three of them alone and was busy cleaning the room.

Clara was looking at the blueprints while gripping her glasses.

"Why is it shaped like a woman? If you wanted it to look imposing, a golem in armor like Professor Damian's would be best."

May answered, sounding uninterested.

"Humans do incomprehensible things all the time — isn't this just one of those? Or maybe it's one of Damian's or Lyle's hobbies?"

May ate the snack in her hand while looking at the blueprints, scattering crumbs everywhere. Monica came over and started cleaning up around May.

"Please don't drop crumbs everywhere. Besides, there are stains on the blueprints... well, it's a copy, so it doesn't matter, I suppose."

At the word "copy," Clara flinched slightly. But she turned her gaze back to the blueprints again.

Shannon turned to Monica.

"Hey, why is it shaped like a girl?"

Monica replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's the core for my sister. Obviously a girl's form is the way to go. Plus the equipment is unnecessarily elaborate — it's armor designed to look like a dress. You wouldn't believe how much it cost."

Clara said it like it was nothing.

"Huh? Couldn't you just trim that down?"

Then—

"Girls are expensive. That Chicken better put in the effort to cover it. Well, if I explained everything, there's actually a reason for the dress-shaped armor too. But going into the technical details would be tedious... Yep, I'll just stick with: girls need to dress up!"

Shannon said whatever came to mind.

"Weird. Anyway, how many of these sisters of yours are there?"

"I can give you a few answers. By serial number... probably on the order of several hundred thousand? For the same type, that narrows it down to a few thousand? These are the cores I have on hand, though."

Monica produced a glowing cube from her palm. Multiple small cubic units were clustered together, forming a shape.

Shannon...

*(Something's weird. But more importantly, this is pretty cool.)*

Unable to make sense of it all, Shannon shook her head and once again gazed at the blueprint where glowing lines were visible—.